Really struggling with MFP
edoll61
Posts: 22 Member
Not so much inputting the information, but the claim of "I should weigh X amount in X weeks if I keep eating this way" when I finish my journal.
For the purposes of a little background info, I'm 315 lbs, 30, male, and put my initial goal at 300. I put my activity level as light as I work on my feet everyday and do light exercise. I don't have money for a gym membership, work midnights, and have 2 young children, so there's not a lot of extra time in my day.
I'm pretty good with my journal entries and generally stay below my daily nutritional goals. When I complete my entry it says I should weigh anywhere between 304 and 306 within 5 weeks if I keep this up. It's been about 4 weeks and my weight is pretty much the same. I do slack occasionally with some extra snacking, but I still input the numbers and most of the time I'm still within my goals. I'm eating pretty well overall every day and drinking a ton of water.
Is anyone else having similar frustrations? I know it takes time, but I was hoping for at least minimal results.
For the purposes of a little background info, I'm 315 lbs, 30, male, and put my initial goal at 300. I put my activity level as light as I work on my feet everyday and do light exercise. I don't have money for a gym membership, work midnights, and have 2 young children, so there's not a lot of extra time in my day.
I'm pretty good with my journal entries and generally stay below my daily nutritional goals. When I complete my entry it says I should weigh anywhere between 304 and 306 within 5 weeks if I keep this up. It's been about 4 weeks and my weight is pretty much the same. I do slack occasionally with some extra snacking, but I still input the numbers and most of the time I'm still within my goals. I'm eating pretty well overall every day and drinking a ton of water.
Is anyone else having similar frustrations? I know it takes time, but I was hoping for at least minimal results.
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Replies
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If you haven't lost weight in 4 weeks, either you're eating more than you think, you aren't as active as you thought, or it's a combo of the two.10
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If you haven't lost weight in 4 weeks, either you're eating more than you think, you aren't as active as you thought, or it's a combo of the two.
My calorie goal is about 2900 and some change a day. I'm usually 3-400 below that. I'm also below my fat intake and sugar intake everyday as well. I record nearly everything I eat. With the exercise, I'm not sedentary by any means. I walk a ton at work everyday and do might workouts at home. I'm wondering if working midnights night impact it.0 -
Open up your diary and we can take a look and give help. Are you weighing everything in grams on a food scale ?5
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Unfortunately, I have found the "you will weigh x amount in 5 weeks" to be totally useless. It would be much more helpful if they averaged for a week. Don't be disheartened though-- keep working at it. I know how frustrating it is but; you need to keep entering amounts and do some of your own calculations-- the site will work for you.
You are probably eating more than you think. Great job starting!3 -
Open up your diary and we can take a look and give help. Are you weighing everything in grams on a food scale ?
I'm keeping to the serving sizes on the labels, which includes using cups to measure as well as the scale. I use that often for my meats. Even if it's not down to the exact gram on some items, it's a miniscule difference. I'm talking say a carrot stick or two or an ounce of milk. Forgive my ignorance, how do you share your diary on here?0 -
runningforthetrain wrote: »Unfortunately, I have found the "you will weigh x amount in 5 weeks" to be totally useless. It would be much more helpful if they averaged for a week. Don't be disheartened though-- keep working at it. I know how frustrating it is but; you need to keep entering amounts and do some of your own calculations-- the site will work for you.
You are probably eating more than you think. Great job starting!
You're likely right. The amount of food or recommends seems really high and I often struggle to meet the calorie goal due to trying to keep my fats and sugars in check. Maybe I do just need to be more meticulous.0 -
Open up your diary and we can take a look and give help. Are you weighing everything in grams on a food scale ?
I'm keeping to the serving sizes on the labels, which includes using cups to measure as well as the scale. I use that often for my meats. Even if it's not down to the exact gram on some items, it's a miniscule difference. I'm talking say a carrot stick or two or an ounce of milk. Forgive my ignorance, how do you share your diary on here?
Ok. Cups can be off by a massive amount you'd be totally surprised. Even packet weights can be of. I once had a pack of nuts that had 25g on the label but when weighed was around 47g that is almost double the calories.
Almost everything has a substantial margin of error that can and does have a massive impact on your calorie intake.
If you are saying what you are currently doing is not working for you then it is time to look hard at what could be wrong and the easiest thing to do is start to weigh in grams everything you are eating.
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Open up your diary and we can take a look and give help. Are you weighing everything in grams on a food scale ?
I'm keeping to the serving sizes on the labels, which includes using cups to measure as well as the scale. I use that often for my meats. Even if it's not down to the exact gram on some items, it's a miniscule difference. I'm talking say a carrot stick or two or an ounce of milk. Forgive my ignorance, how do you share your diary on here?
Ok. Cups can be off by a massive amount you'd be totally surprised. Even packet weights can be of. I once had a pack of nuts that had 25g on the label but when weighed was around 47g that is almost double the calories.
Almost everything has a substantial margin of error that can and does have a massive impact on your calorie intake.
If you are saying what you are currently doing is not working for you then it is time to look hard at what could be wrong and the easiest thing to do is start to weigh in grams everything you are eating.
Fair point. Never really thought there would be any significant margin of error from the label. Good advice0 -
Open up your diary and we can take a look and give help. Are you weighing everything in grams on a food scale ?
I'm keeping to the serving sizes on the labels, which includes using cups to measure as well as the scale. I use that often for my meats. Even if it's not down to the exact gram on some items, it's a miniscule difference. I'm talking say a carrot stick or two or an ounce of milk. Forgive my ignorance, how do you share your diary on here?
Ok. Cups can be off by a massive amount you'd be totally surprised. Even packet weights can be of. I once had a pack of nuts that had 25g on the label but when weighed was around 47g that is almost double the calories.
Almost everything has a substantial margin of error that can and does have a massive impact on your calorie intake.
If you are saying what you are currently doing is not working for you then it is time to look hard at what could be wrong and the easiest thing to do is start to weigh in grams everything you are eating.
Fair point. Never really thought there would be any significant margin of error from the label. Good advice
Just try it for today as an experiment. Log like you do it for a living. I know it probably seems like a pain but after a few weeks doing it on the scale it will become second nature. Even maybe take something you do in cups and compare it. I think you'll be surprised.
The way I see it, if you are gonna invest the time logging your food and getting healthier then why cheat yourself by not doing the numbers 100% accurate.
Good luck and let us all know how it works out.
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Open up your diary and we can take a look and give help. Are you weighing everything in grams on a food scale ?
I'm keeping to the serving sizes on the labels, which includes using cups to measure as well as the scale. I use that often for my meats. Even if it's not down to the exact gram on some items, it's a miniscule difference. I'm talking say a carrot stick or two or an ounce of milk. Forgive my ignorance, how do you share your diary on here?
Ok. Cups can be off by a massive amount you'd be totally surprised. Even packet weights can be of. I once had a pack of nuts that had 25g on the label but when weighed was around 47g that is almost double the calories.
Almost everything has a substantial margin of error that can and does have a massive impact on your calorie intake.
If you are saying what you are currently doing is not working for you then it is time to look hard at what could be wrong and the easiest thing to do is start to weigh in grams everything you are eating.
Fair point. Never really thought there would be any significant margin of error from the label. Good advice
Just try it for today as an experiment. Log like you do it for a living. I know it probably seems like a pain but after a few weeks doing it on the scale it will become second nature. Even maybe take something you do in cups and compare it. I think you'll be surprised.
The way I see it, if you are gonna invest the time logging your food and getting healthier then why cheat yourself by not doing the numbers 100% accurate.
Good luck and let us all know how it works out.
[/quo]
I appreciate it. Just needed a pick me up I think. Will try even harder1 -
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I started back with MFP in Jan. Had already lost a bit on my own. I was 295, 5'10 and 37 years old .. I put in sedentary and got a Fitbit to use for steps etc., so my calories are adjusted. Anyway. My cal goal was set at around 1500. And I did lose steadily, as long as I weighed EVERYTHING I ate. No guesstimating for like 3 months. Even ketchup or butter / oil etc. Weigh everything, if you aren't. And to me 2900 seems high for your current weight.1
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eringurl33 wrote: »I started back with MFP in Jan. Had already lost a bit on my own. I was 295, 5'10 and 37 years old .. I put in sedentary and got a Fitbit to use for steps etc., so my calories are adjusted. Anyway. My cal goal was set at around 1500. And I did lose steadily, as long as I weighed EVERYTHING I ate. No guesstimating for like 3 months. Even ketchup or butter / oil etc. Weigh everything, if you aren't. And to me 2900 seems high for your current weight.
The calorie goal has me really confused, but I put in my numbers on a few different weight loss calculators and it came up with a similar number. I'm not sure how that's calculated.0 -
Hmmm, well I was 337 and I kept my calories pretty low for the first few months..averaging like 1500 calories..this allowed me a lot of wiggle room with logging..if I forgot to log a banana or wasn't able to weigh my portion of peanut butter it wasnt going to break my diet.
Worked pretty well for me, I've lost 100ish pounds and these days I stick to my MFP suggested goal for 2250 a day.7 -
yeah using measuring cups, you overeat by several hundred calories a day.. start weighing everything.
if you can't weigh it all, then just eat less of those cups. and if that doesn't help, eat even less of them.1 -
If you don't want to adjust how you measure, you can just lower the number of calories. Maybe go for 2500 a day.2
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I agree, the projected weight should be able to be turned off. I feel like I'm setting myself up for disappointment.2
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I you weigh over 300 the calorie estimate is probably somewhat high. Eat 1800 for 2 weeks and see what happens.1
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Sandee_Bee wrote: »I agree, the projected weight should be able to be turned off. I feel like I'm setting myself up for disappointment.
The keyword of that projected weight thing is "If". It is extremely rare that anyone eats the same exact number of calories per day. I feel like it's just supposed to be a fun fact/slight motivator and people put too much emphasis on its usefulness. Water weight, hormones, sodium, variance in calories, and a whole slew of factors vary. It is not a guarantee, as human beings are not input/output machines with regard to weight loss. If you stick to your goals you will lose weight and that's the gist of it. You may not lose the 10 pounds in five weeks like projected, but if you're doing everything right you may lose five to eight pounds instead and that is still making progress.2 -
If you don't want to see the projected weight, stop selecting the complete diary option.2
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My calorie goal is about 2900 and some change a day. I'm usually 3-400 below that. I'm also below my fat intake and sugar intake everyday as well. I record nearly everything I eat.
Forget then 'nearly everything' and record everything. You may be surprised.0 -
MultipleHigh5s wrote: »If you don't want to see the projected weight, stop selecting the complete diary option.
I saw no benefit to the "Complete my diary" option. Some people feel like once they click it they are done eating and won't add anything else, but it doesn't stop you from adding something else and then clicking "complete" again. All it does it calculate your deficit from today * 35 (days in 5 weeks) and then divide by 3500 (calories in 1 pound). Since weight loss is not linear and my deficit is never the exact same number every day, I found this frustrating and useless, so I don't ever click the button. I think it posts it on your home page news feed, so if you like your online friends to congratulate you, maybe it is useful for that.
As far as not losing weight as quickly as you are expecting, I repeat what everyone else has said: weigh everything, and then make sure you are using reliable database entries. You can find garlic from 0 calories to 400 calories. Bananas from 50 calories to 21,000 calories (no lie, I couldn't believe that one). Even so-called "verified" entries are only verified from other MFP users, not an independent source. The USDA has a website that has nutritional information for packaged foods, and I consider that a reliable source to verify if you aren't sure. If you are doing that and still not losing, cut your calories another 250 and see if that works after a week or two. Lastly, if you are weighing weekly, you may hit high and low days that mask your progress, because our weight varies every day because of sodium, stress, sleep, how much waste is in our colon, water retention from exercise, etc.2 -
If you haven't lost weight in 4 weeks, either you're eating more than you think, you aren't as active as you thought, or it's a combo of the two.
My calorie goal is about 2900 and some change a day. I'm usually 3-400 below that. I'm also below my fat intake and sugar intake everyday as well. I record nearly everything I eat. With the exercise, I'm not sedentary by any means. I walk a ton at work everyday and do might workouts at home. I'm wondering if working midnights night impact it.
2900 kcal seems a lot for someone who is trying to lose weight. 23 yo, 220lb and my goal is 158. I work on my feet as well, and MFP suggested 1640 kcal a day tops. I made my own diet, and i found out that i can fulfill my needs with something like 1100-1300 kcal a day, plus at least 30 mins bicycling and a 30 min walk to work. I lost 9 pounds in less than 2 weeks, and ive never felt more energy before.1 -
'I record nearly everything I eat' - this will be the problem and your calorie allowance does seem very high regardless of your current weight...0
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I don't think that allowance is that off...however you shouldn't count your "exercise" in your activity level.
without doing that your goals should be close to 2700....but even that wouldn't cause no weight loss.
I suspect you are eating more than you think.0 -
MultipleHigh5s wrote: »If you don't want to adjust how you measure, you can just lower the number of calories. Maybe go for 2500 a day.
That's what my new goal is now, if not lower. Making some adjustments0 -
Really appreciate the advice everyone. I think I know the changes I need to make and I'm feeling better about seeing results in the coming weeks. The biggest thing I'll have to get used to is the effects of eating less than usual. Going to take a few days to get used to it0
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Really appreciate the advice everyone. I think I know the changes I need to make and I'm feeling better about seeing results in the coming weeks. The biggest thing I'll have to get used to is the effects of eating less than usual. Going to take a few days to get used to it
It will but usually by day 3 or 4 you get more accustomed to it.1 -
Really appreciate the advice everyone. I think I know the changes I need to make and I'm feeling better about seeing results in the coming weeks. The biggest thing I'll have to get used to is the effects of eating less than usual. Going to take a few days to get used to it
Good for you buddy. You're taking on board the good advice and being honest with yourself. The amount of times people just really don't want to hear it is unreal and being successful at this is mostly about the attitude.
Good for you.1 -
If you haven't lost weight in 4 weeks, either you're eating more than you think, you aren't as active as you thought, or it's a combo of the two.
This. OP, if you make your diary public we can take a peek at it and offer suggestions. Are you weighing all your food on a food scale, set to grams, or are you estimating/using ounces and cups etc/using wrong entries etc etc. That's the culprit more times than not.0
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