Can't Understand Why I'm Not Losing Weight

godlikepoetyes

When you set my MFP goals, did you put in "male" or female?" There's no way MFP gave you 1,200 calories if you're a man. You should be getting the "you're not eating enough message every day." Unless you have a medical problem, it is impossible for you to eat 1,200 calories and not lose weight. Which means you are eating more than you realize. That aside, it sounds like you only had a week where you stalled. That's just normal.

paulK_uk

Ok, so let's scotch this 1200 myth in respect of MFP. Yes, as I said above, I have recorded myself as male. MFP recommends a 1200-1500 calorie level for men trying to lose weight and 1000-1200 for women. It will warn and not give predictions if I drop below 1200.

I'm not sure where you posters are getting 1500 minimum for men from or how that is arrived at. Also, a TDEE of just over 1800 it doesn't give me much leeway, especially if underestimating on the calorie intake (don't always believe the labels!)

I guess one reason I'm concerned is that when I lost weight a few years back I consistently lost every week over a 5-month period except the weeks I went away for the week-end or on holiday. The rest of the time I measured and use the CICO approach.

Those posting about water retention, thanks. It may give an answer as to why I had a 9,000 plus calorie deficit, but put weight on! I weighed myself around 36 hours after a 7 hour walkies with step-daughter's dog in the mountains - or what passes for mountains in the UK

Last week, when I put weight on, I let MFP come up with the calories balance. Prior to that I had opted for high protein, low-carb on the basis I was doing some weights, x-trainer for cardio a few times a week and 30-60 minutes cycling daily. It's along the lines of the recommendations from my personal trainer when I lost weight last time, I recall.

Nevertheless, I'll go with MFP recommendations, but eat back a portion of my exercises as others have suggested. Fitbit tells me that to reach my goals in a fairly aggressive manner I need a 750 deficit per day, so I'll definitely have to exercise each day else I'd be dropping to a 1020 daily intake.

Thyroid and diabetes have been checked out as OK. I guess might make another visit to my GP if the weight doesn't start dropping.

Thanks again for all the suggestions and covering a number of possible angles.

BTW not sure who's diet that link went to. It isn't mine.

PAV8888

if your TDEE does not support an aggressive caloric reduction (hint: safe deficit as % of TDEE is probably 15% to 20%, maybe 25% while still obese), this means that you may want to change your goal to something that is more appropriate given your TDEE.

For people with a TDEE in the ~2000 range a deficit of <400 Cal may be more appropriate... at least compared to a deficit of 750 Cal which would be more suitable for someone with a TDEE in the 3000+ range.

JohnDavid1969

Just to jump in here and add a little anecdote about how water retention influences your weight...

One Saturday last summer I went out and put in about 25 miles on my road bike. On a whim, I weighed myself that morning before setting out (and I had a light, mostly carb breakfast to fuel up for the ride, but that was all). The temperature was in the high 80s/low 90s (F). I downed a full water bottle of Gatorade on the ride, but nothing else. I sweated up a storm that day.

When I got home a couple of hours later, I weighed myself again. I had lost six pounds.

Six. Pounds.

Just something to think about.

VintageFeline

paulK_uk wrote: »

Ok, so let's scotch this 1200 myth in respect of MFP. Yes, as I said above, I have recorded myself as male. MFP recommends a 1200-1500 calorie level for men trying to lose weight and 1000-1200 for women. It will warn and not give predictions if I drop below 1200.

I'm not sure where you posters are getting 1500 minimum for men from or how that is arrived at. Also, a TDEE of just over 1800 it doesn't give me much leeway, especially if underestimating on the calorie intake (don't always believe the labels!)

I guess one reason I'm concerned is that when I lost weight a few years back I consistently lost every week over a 5-month period except the weeks I went away for the week-end or on holiday. The rest of the time I measured and use the CICO approach.

Those posting about water retention, thanks. It may give an answer as to why I had a 9,000 plus calorie deficit, but put weight on! I weighed myself around 36 hours after a 7 hour walkies with step-daughter's dog in the mountains - or what passes for mountains in the UK

Last week, when I put weight on, I let MFP come up with the calories balance. Prior to that I had opted for high protein, low-carb on the basis I was doing some weights, x-trainer for cardio a few times a week and 30-60 minutes cycling daily. It's along the lines of the recommendations from my personal trainer when I lost weight last time, I recall.

Nevertheless, I'll go with MFP recommendations, but eat back a portion of my exercises as others have suggested. Fitbit tells me that to reach my goals in a fairly aggressive manner I need a 750 deficit per day, so I'll definitely have to exercise each day else I'd be dropping to a 1020 daily intake.

Thyroid and diabetes have been checked out as OK. I guess might make another visit to my GP if the weight doesn't start dropping.

Thanks again for all the suggestions and covering a number of possible angles.

BTW not sure who's diet that link went to. It isn't mine.

Show me where MFP advocates 1000 for women and 1200 for men. You can manually change the goal but MFP should never auto default to 1200 for men. There have been glitches in the past that have done this but that's what it is, a glitch.

Now, how are you getting a TDEE of 1800 when your BMR is 1573 and you're exercising as much as you say you are? My TDEE is over 2000 and I'm a 5'5 172lb female! I gross anything up to 1900 calories per day for 1lb per week loss.

You had one week where the scale wasn't to your liking. This means nothing from a meaningful data perspective.

smotheredincheese

i6Shot wrote: »

Don't count calories. CICO doesn't work long term for most people. It usually damages your metabolism.

So all those people over on the Success Stories board are hallucinating their weight loss then?
And if you are so anti CICO why are you posting here, on the forum of a site dedicated to calorie counting?

psuLemon

i6Shot wrote: »

psulemon wrote: »

i6Shot wrote: »

Don't count calories. CICO doesn't work long term for most people. It usually damages your metabolism. Instead I would recommend following a diet similar to that of LCHF or Keto. The basic principle is this:

you eat carbs (could be sugar rich or it could be whole wheat bread). This dumps a fair amount of sugar into your blood. You create insulin to help move this sugar out of your blood. Your liver takes some and stores it as Glycogen as does some of your muscles. If you don't deplete your muscles of Glycogen you will only take a small amount in from your blood. This means any sugar that is left over in your blood (blood usually has only 1 teaspoon worth and any given time) will be stored as fat.

If insulin levels are high constantly through constant eating such as 3 meals and 2 - 3 snacks you could be stopping yourself from releasing fat for energy. This is usually because while insulin is high you aren't able to get at your stored fat.

Another side effect of following a diet higher in carbs is that if you spike your insulin lots throughout the day you quickly shift the sugars meaning you feel hungrier more often. Then you produce more of a hormone called Ghrelin which makes you crave food. There have been reports also that your satiated hormone called leptin, is partially blocked if your insulin is high which means your brain doesn't receive the message that you are full.

If you follow a higher fat, moderate protein and lower carb diet you will lower your insulin naturally which in turn allows you to get at your fat to burn it for energy. You turn that fat into ketones and you use that in place of Glucose for energy.

You should read up here for more information on the topic.

This is a typical response from a low carber. CICO is NOT a diet or eating strategy. It is an energy balance, in which all diets obey. It takes into consideration basal metabolic rate, non exercise activity thermogenesis, thermal effect of food and thermal effect of activity. Low carb follows this. If you eat more calories than you expend, you will gain weight.

Also, there is a lot of debate on whether insulin suppresses or encourages appetite. Either way, appetite is more individual and based on overall dietary context. A diet high in protein and fiber (something that we all advocate for), will typically keep most people full. Not everyone gets full off a fat and many of us are full off of carbs. Personally, a potato is more filling than fat for me. This is the reason why the first thing I cut is fat. In I have been able to maintain a loss of 50 lbs for about 6 years now and working on getting into single digit body fat (around 16% now).

The fact is, dietary strategies are personal. Some strive on high carb plant based diets, some very low carb, and others in the middle. And there is no reason to over complicate and confuse people with half truths about diets, which is what you are doing. Because if you want, I will gladly discuss all the other hormones/enzymes, our body produces on high fat diets to inhibit lipolysis (breakdown of fat) and induce lipogenesis. Because if one thing is certain, it's our bodies ability to store fat.

Wasn't trying to confuse. Just trying to give what I believe to be the truth about diets and our bodies. I agree with you that we are all different and that some thrive on high fat others on high carbs. To be completely honest, I don't know what the poster eats and I'm only making assumptions to his diet. Based on this I posted my reply as I did.

I really don't think counting calories is the answer to maintaining a healthy weight / lifestyle. To me, counting / weighing all my food is unsustainable over a long period of time. I like to listen to my body and eat a keto / LCHF lifestyle. I feel full and I'm losing weight. I don't count a single calorie, all I do is I make sure my carbs are low and my fats are higher. Works for me so I'm sure it could work for others.

CICO for me, is when people say all calories are equal and as long as you reduce them you will lose weight no matter what the calorie is. Hopefully you will agree with that not all calories are the same and what our body doesn't deal with them all the same? Yes you can overeat with low carb just like any food plan but on a personal level, once I figured out where I was in terms of what I could and what I couldn't eat I found a happy medium.

Just like most of the advice posted it is a personal experience, I know what is working for me and I'm fairly sure it could work for others based on the evidence I have seen and read. Each to their own, I'm not selling anything, just suggesting a different lifestyle that has helped me and may help others.

Foods have different impacts in terms of satiety, muscle retention, energy, nutrient absorption, but not so much when it comes to weight loss. If two widely different diets both has equal calories, there will be equal fat loss (I won't say weight because if you just start up low carb, you have increased glycogen depletion).

Even more so, no one concerned about health would tell you to just eat whatever, but if you want to and could sustain it, you could. The below thread is interesting:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10348650/cico-still-skeptical-come-inside-for-a-meticulous-log-that-proves-it/p1

psuLemon

paulK_uk wrote: »

Ok, so let's scotch this 1200 myth in respect of MFP. Yes, as I said above, I have recorded myself as male. MFP recommends a 1200-1500 calorie level for men trying to lose weight and 1000-1200 for women. It will warn and not give predictions if I drop below 1200.

I'm not sure where you posters are getting 1500 minimum for men from or how that is arrived at. Also, a TDEE of just over 1800 it doesn't give me much leeway, especially if underestimating on the calorie intake (don't always believe the labels!)

I guess one reason I'm concerned is that when I lost weight a few years back I consistently lost every week over a 5-month period except the weeks I went away for the week-end or on holiday. The rest of the time I measured and use the CICO approach.

Those posting about water retention, thanks. It may give an answer as to why I had a 9,000 plus calorie deficit, but put weight on! I weighed myself around 36 hours after a 7 hour walkies with step-daughter's dog in the mountains - or what passes for mountains in the UK

Last week, when I put weight on, I let MFP come up with the calories balance. Prior to that I had opted for high protein, low-carb on the basis I was doing some weights, x-trainer for cardio a few times a week and 30-60 minutes cycling daily. It's along the lines of the recommendations from my personal trainer when I lost weight last time, I recall.

Nevertheless, I'll go with MFP recommendations, but eat back a portion of my exercises as others have suggested. Fitbit tells me that to reach my goals in a fairly aggressive manner I need a 750 deficit per day, so I'll definitely have to exercise each day else I'd be dropping to a 1020 daily intake.

Thyroid and diabetes have been checked out as OK. I guess might make another visit to my GP if the weight doesn't start dropping.

Thanks again for all the suggestions and covering a number of possible angles.

BTW not sure who's diet that link went to. It isn't mine.

MFP doesn't delineate between males and females (it's a limitation of software) but it does have a minimum of 1200 calories. Only those who manually change it have a goal below that and MFP won't allow them to finish their diary.

justinfarmer919

How long have you been eating this low of calorie? You may have a major drop in metabolism... You may need to eat more to lose more. This happened to me. Also have you considered Keto? I love low carb and I lost 30 pounds on it. Anyone I know who has done it correctly has had great success.