1 month in and no difference!!

joannalouise92
joannalouise92 Posts: 49 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've recently tried to lose weight this past month yet somehow it seems I'm fluctuating around the same weight constantly. In fact I'm week 1 I lost 1.5kg and then have put it all back on since then.. I don't understand.

My BMR is 1530, I've dropped my calorie intake to around 1100 daily, I've only been eating "clean" so fruit veg wholegrain, no refined sugar no alcohol.. and I've been doing a 600-700calorie cardio workout at the gym 2-3 times a week...

What am I doing wrong here?? It's so frustrating to get on the scales every week after working so hard, saying no to that glass of wine my friends are all having, no to the chips people offer to split with me.. and it seems to be having no impact!

In terms of measurements I've managed to lose only half an inch of my stomach and hips, and an inch from my waist (though that was all in week one).
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Replies

  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
    edited January 2017
    The first week was mostly water weight; most people get a large weight drop the first week due to that and some weight comes back. What are you current stats? If you're already in a healthy weight range, the weight will come off slowly and will be masked by things like ovulation and menstruation. Do you use a food scale?
  • joannalouise92
    joannalouise92 Posts: 49 Member
    Hi Bonnie, unfortunately that profile pic is very old just after I had first lost weight when I was at my lowest of around 65kg. I've been steady at around 69-70kg in the past two years my maintaining healthy eating and intermittent gym.

    But then last year I had some personal issues and let it all slide for 4 months and I find myself at 73.5kg.. which is a lot for me relatively. I know I don't have a lot to lose so I'm not expecting it to fall off.. but even a progress of 0.5kg a week would do right now.. instead of nothing!

    Do you recommend eating 1200 regardless of how much walking I do in the day.. or do you think 1200 net.. ?
  • joannalouise92
    joannalouise92 Posts: 49 Member
    Also I do weigh my food when I can to try and be accurate; and maybe I'm not quite burning as much as I think at the gym but an hour of cardio as an addition to my calorie deficit (I won't log it in my diary) should be making a difference surely?

    Stats: 73.5kg, 5ft6, 24yo female
  • joannalouise92
    joannalouise92 Posts: 49 Member
    And actually it's on average I do eat 1300 cal per day, but walk off 200-250 which I put into my diary ..

    So should I eat more or less?
  • gdsmit1
    gdsmit1 Posts: 137 Member
    Could be that you are taking off some fat and building muscle.
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
    You're a decent weight for your height so as stated above, it's going to be slow. You would have a smaller calorie deficit and that means inaccuracies are going to harm you more than someone with a deficit of 1000 calories. Use your food scale and accurate entries. Adjust your expectations and eat enough to fuel your activity.

    Also, are you confusing BMR with TDEE? Always eat above your BMR and under your TDEE to lose weight.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    maybe consider focusing on recomp rather than weight loss

    and you should take in 1200net (minimum) - MFP is designed with the idea of eating back exercise calories. if you think you have a fairly routine workout/activity schedule - then maybe try some of the TDEE calculators (where you don't eat back calories)
  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
    If your BMR is 1530, your TDEE is higher than that. BMR should be the absolute lowest number of calories you consume. That is what fuels your heart, kidneys, and other parts of you that operate whether or not you ever get out of bed in the morning.
  • subcounter
    subcounter Posts: 2,382 Member
    You aren't doing anything wrong. Simply take your time while losing weight. Don't expect it to happen instantly. I think most people get frustrated way too early, starve themselves, and then give up. Simply keep eating the same calorie MFP offers you for your target weight-loss.

    Sometimes its just that those days you are retaining too much water, or you still have food in you etc. There are some days, I "gain" 4.5 lb's, even though I simply eat the same calories every day. Thats completely normal. Just keep on working out, which will increase your metabolic rate, and follow MFP calorie goals. (Don't forget to add your daily calories in to it, so you aren't starving yourself). Say 1500 calorie goal, 400 calories burned, eat 1900 calories that day.

    And just in case you're not doing so, make sure you weigh your meals, and cook them yourself if you can. Definitely 100% accurate that way. Sometimes some companies (especially unknown brands, like a store bought sandwich) write less calories than it really is on the label, Casey Neistat had a good video about it.
  • jdwils14
    jdwils14 Posts: 154 Member
    Because you don't have much to lose, try focusing on your physical output. How fast can you run 3 miles compared to a month ago? How about how much more easily you can climb that hill?

    I like to focus on that. It can be an indicator of how your body is progressing. And don't forget to push it!
  • joannalouise92
    joannalouise92 Posts: 49 Member
    So my BMR is 1460, and my TDEE is 1760.. which therefore recommends cutting 500 off each day so daily intake of 1260 net. But this is below my BMR.. do you think this is harming me, is it possible to take in too few calories to lose weight or should I stick to me 500 calorie deficit.. or even increase it seeing as it isn't working
  • subcounter
    subcounter Posts: 2,382 Member
    joannalouise92 wrote: »
    So my BMR is 1460, and my TDEE is 1760.. which therefore recommends cutting 500 off each day so daily intake of 1260 net. But this is below my BMR.. do you think this is harming me, is it possible to take in too few calories to lose weight or should I stick to me 500 calorie deficit.. or even increase it seeing as it isn't working

    1300/day for about 1 lb/week sounds to fit your stats but that depends on your energy levels really too. As long as you're feeling active during the day, and you add the exercise calories and eat them, you will certainly lose the weight. Sometimes it just takes time. Can show up two weeks later but will still lose them. Keep on going consistent!
  • AFGP11
    AFGP11 Posts: 142 Member
    I think MFP has a downside in that it encourages most people to eat too little. When you are already close to your goal weight, the goal is no longer the number on the scale, but converting some of the remaining body fat into muscle. I think you might want to start paying attention to macros more than just the calorie number. It's actually one of my pet peeves about this app and the community. What works for someone who is obese will need to be tweaked a lot to work for someone who has far less to lose. Cardio alone won't have the same effect anymore. You need to add strength training if you want to see a real change in your body composition.

    I am a good deal heavier than you, but here is an example of why MFP calorie numbers are not great. When I plugged my goal into MFP, it told me to eat 1200 calories. Meanwhile my BMR is 1500!!! I had my numbers done by an actual professional (after losing 60lbs on 1200 which is a VERY RESTRICTIVE DIET!!!) and now I eat up to 1800 calories a day and I'm losing on schedule. I have also lowered my body fat percent meaning that while the numbers haven't moved like they did on the restrictive diet, I am not damaging my muscles by letting them waste away like I have in the past. I am getting stronger and smaller at the same time. If you pay attention only to the scale, you WILL lose weight, but if you pay attention to fitness and nutrition, you will have far more control of your goals and results.

    Now it does seem that most people here are kind of against doing these things because it's a lot of work. I believe my body, health and life are worth the work. I'll put two hours into finding a show on netflix I want to watch, I should be able to put a few hours a week into my body.
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
    joannalouise92 wrote: »
    So my BMR is 1460, and my TDEE is 1760.. which therefore recommends cutting 500 off each day so daily intake of 1260 net. But this is below my BMR.. do you think this is harming me, is it possible to take in too few calories to lose weight or should I stick to me 500 calorie deficit.. or even increase it seeing as it isn't working

    I would say that means you can't really afford to lose a pound a week and should go for half a pound a week to be on the safe side.

    250 calorie deficit ensures you get the nutrition you need for your body but that also means accuracy is key.

    Or you can move more to increase your TDEE. But then again, output numbers for those can be overestimated.
  • joannalouise92
    joannalouise92 Posts: 49 Member
    Unsure how to reply directly to messages.. but

    Samanthaluangphixay - do you think that by decreasing by more than this, say to 1300 net, it would not be helpful towards my weight loss goal?

    Subcounter - I certainly think increasing just to 1300 may be worth a try.. do I really need to eat back what I burn at the gym though? I never find I'm lacking energy or hungry .. and I would say maybe it would even our in the week say I might have two nights where I go out for a big dinner and maybe go over my daily allowance.. I'd imagine it evens out, but if it's the case that by being so far into deficit on that one day I do cardio that I'm hurting my weight loss efforts, obviously I'd try do something about it
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,089 Member
    BonnieDundee78 wrote: »
    I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to post the infamous "Why aren't you losing" flowchart - but my first thoughts are that you aren't eating enough to fuel your body. 1200 calories should be the absolute minimum - and it should be more if you are doing big workouts. Your BMR is the amount needed for basic body function, i.e. heart, lungs, brain, etc. Going so far below that for a long period doesn't seem healthy.

    If you're one of the ladies in your profile pic, it also doesn't look like you have much (if any) weight to lose, so that might explain why it's not coming off quickly? So.. probably not what you want to hear, but eat more and reduce your expectations?

    If she's maintaining her weight, she is eating enough to fuel her body. Most likely she is not accurately tracking her calorie intake.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,089 Member
    joannalouise92 wrote: »
    So my BMR is 1460, and my TDEE is 1760.. which therefore recommends cutting 500 off each day so daily intake of 1260 net. But this is below my BMR.. do you think this is harming me, is it possible to take in too few calories to lose weight or should I stick to me 500 calorie deficit.. or even increase it seeing as it isn't working

    No, if your BMR is 1460, 1760 could possibly be your NEAT, if your daily activity other than exercise is sedentary, but it's not your TDEE, given that you're doing two or three cardio workouts a week.

    Eating below your BMR is not harming you, especially since the fact that you're not actually losing weight pretty much discounts any possibility that you're actually eating below your BMR. But even if you were, there's nothing magical about your BMR. Your body doesn't have a switch that lets it tap energy reserves like fat to fuel a workout but refused to tap energy reserves to fuel basic bodily functions.

    No, it's not possible to take in too few calories to lose weight. It's possible to take in too few calories for good health and to cause your body to conserve energy by cutting back on or even stopping functions like reproductive processes, maintenance and repair of skin, immune system maintenance, etc., and to make you so lethargic that you'll use less calories than you would if you were eating a healthy amount. But you would pretty much continue to lose weight, albeit more slowly, until you died. One month in, having no net loss to show, you are not in this situation.

    You should give it a couple more weeks while you focus on tightening up on your logging (weighing all your food, or at least as much as you can, and making sure that you're using accurate MFP database entries, and, obviously, logging everything, even if it's a "treat" or a "cheat" or "just one bite").
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    joannalouise92 wrote: »
    So my BMR is 1460, and my TDEE is 1760.. which therefore recommends cutting 500 off each day so daily intake of 1260 net. But this is below my BMR.. do you think this is harming me, is it possible to take in too few calories to lose weight or should I stick to me 500 calorie deficit.. or even increase it seeing as it isn't working

    No, if your BMR is 1460, 1760 could possibly be your NEAT, if your daily activity other than exercise is sedentary, but it's not your TDEE, given that you're doing two or three cardio workouts a week.

    Eating below your BMR is not harming you, especially since the fact that you're not actually losing weight pretty much discounts any possibility that you're actually eating below your BMR. But even if you were, there's nothing magical about your BMR. Your body doesn't have a switch that lets it tap energy reserves like fat to fuel a workout but refused to tap energy reserves to fuel basic bodily functions.

    No, it's not possible to take in too few calories to lose weight. It's possible to take in too few calories for good health and to cause your body to conserve energy by cutting back on or even stopping functions like reproductive processes, maintenance and repair of skin, immune system maintenance, etc., and to make you so lethargic that you'll use less calories than you would if you were eating a healthy amount. But you would pretty much continue to lose weight, albeit more slowly, until you died. One month in, having no net loss to show, you are not in this situation.

    You should give it a couple more weeks while you focus on tightening up on your logging (weighing all your food, or at least as much as you can, and making sure that you're using accurate MFP database entries, and, obviously, logging everything, even if it's a "treat" or a "cheat" or "just one bite").


    You make a good point about how the OP is probably not eating below BMR if she isn't losing weight. I didn't think of that point when I replied.

    But I do think true eating below BMR can be detrimental to one's health in the long run and should be avoided.

    I would definitely echo the above advice about being diligent about your intake and using the food scale. With not that much to lose, there really is little room for error. A few unlogged bites can wipe out your deficit.

    Why don't you try a set calorie goal and try to be as precise as possible when eating to that goal? Try it for a month and see if you lose weight. If you do, then it was your logging that was the issue.
  • joannalouise92
    joannalouise92 Posts: 49 Member
    I feel like I am being precise even down to the amount of oil I use to cook with or the condiments I put with things.. but if it is the case I'm underestimating then surely I should reduce my goal intake and not increase it as everyone has suggested previously ?
  • joannalouise92
    joannalouise92 Posts: 49 Member
    By the way - thank you all for your comments it's good to know people want to help! :)
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    can you open your diary up please that will help folks to help you
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    General consensus, I think, is that you should improve the accuracy of your logging AND aim for a reasonable deficit which may only be ~250 calories per day based on current size. And from there, have patience.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    FreyasRebirth wrote: »
    If your BMR is 1530, your TDEE is higher than that. BMR should be the absolute lowest number of calories you consume. That is what fuels your heart, kidneys, and other parts of you that operate whether or not you ever get out of bed in the morning.

    I was thinking she may be thinking her TDEE was actually her BMR. That's a very high BMR for someone with those stats.
  • joannalouise92
    joannalouise92 Posts: 49 Member
    Okay so I'm happy to have a deficit of just 250 per day; but my difficulty is knowing what to take that from.. anyone have any idea what seems reasonable? Given I've been doing what I think is net 1200 per day (before gym workout calories) and not getting anywhere... is 1200 reasonable?
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
    joannalouise92 wrote: »
    Okay so I'm happy to have a deficit of just 250 per day; but my difficulty is knowing what to take that from.. anyone have any idea what seems reasonable? Given I've been doing what I think is net 1200 per day (before gym workout calories) and not getting anywhere... is 1200 reasonable?

    Why don't you try to net 1200 and see how it makes you feel? If you are hungry and need more energy, eat more.

    You should be able to net 1200 and lose weight, but you might be hungry. I have similar stats to you and I know that 1200 calories makes me quite hungry.

    As for making cuts...if you drink regular milk, switch to skim. Use less cheese. Eat leaner cuts of meat. Fill your plate with more veggies so you get to eat more (volume) without eating more calories. Use things like peanut butter carefully.

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