Please help me....In desperate need of expert advice
Replies
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Fitbit may be overestimating calories. I actually have a Charge 2 and sometimes I know it does. Also, lack of sleep and stress interfere with hormones that help to burn fat. Sometimes just getting a handle on those help.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I wasn't stressed till today lol.
Sleeping isn't too bad, on average 7 to 8 hours every night1 -
sunshine12870 wrote: »BrunetteRunner87 wrote: »I don't believe in starvation mode, but it still doesn't sound like you're eating enough calories. I don't know your age but your BMR would be somewhere around 1800. I couldn't imagine eating 400-600 calories below my BMR, I would have no energy. It may or may not be related to you not losing weight, but I'd imagine that eating 1200-1400 calories would not be sustainable for you in the long run, especially if you are going to start going to a gym and doing more strenuous exercise, you can't exercise at your full potential if you have no energy.
Sorry keep leaving info out...
I'm 46
Well you see this is what I thought, so when people were saying 1200 calories is no where near enough and leaving no room to manoeuvre as your weight drops, I thought they were probably right, hence why I started upping it, but now I'm gaining weight it's starting to worry me and just left me really confused.
It can be scary to eat more calories! But think of it this way, your weight is already going up, so you don't have much to lose by trying. I would try eating maybe 1900 for a few weeks and see how it goes, if it doesn't work you can always try something else. It can be tough to find that sweet spot where you are eating enough to fuel your exercise but also lose weight.0 -
sunshine12870 wrote: »Are you taking any meds. that cause weight gain? I know if I just count calories, it will take me forever to lose just 1 lb. I have to exercise hard to really lose weight. It's always been that way. Being in pain isn't helping you either cuz you are limited as to what you do. Can you bike? Running has been the best thing for me, but I'm thinking that's out of the question for you. How about looking into getting a personal trainer? Maybe they could help you out a bit.
Have to have a B12 injection every 10 weeks for the rest of my life because of that deficiency.
I take a very strong prescription VitD supplement to try to counteract that deficiency.
Pain killers when the pain is literally unbearable.
Apart from that no other meds, I try not to take anything if I can help it.
Can't afford a bike but when I join the gym in March I can use theirs and they will have personal trainers there
Hi. What D supplement are you taking? Many people complain that prescription D2 makes them gain weight. Switch to D3 (which is OTC, cheaper and much more easily absorbed by the body).
Many Dr's just prescribe D2 because of $. I had a deficiency that I fixed entirely through taking OTC D35 -
I checked a couple of days of entries in your diary.You're not weighing your food.Or at least not all of it. I see entries for slices of bread,slices of cheese, pieces of this or that.Do you weigh each bread slice? I know mine differ. 2 slices could be anywhere from 44grams,to 58grams. For eggs you use an entry for medium. Medium could be 50grams or 45 grams. I had cans of soup that said they were 560ml and when weighed they were over 600ml. All this in the course of a day add up. Do you weigh oils, ketchup,mayo, things like that? If you get the tracking In order,i'm sure on 1200 you will lose weight. But right now you're underestimating your intake.
edit: i went back a bit further and there are also days that are half filled, and dates where you went over your goal. Couple that with the inaccurate entries/improper logging, and with perhaps an overestimation of your exercise, and it's easy to see why your weight loss stalled.9 -
VintageFeline wrote: »How long have you been doing everything? At your start weight, even with a lower than average BMR, the weight should be dropping off at your weight and intake.
Oh I totally agree....at my size, calories I'm on and exercising every day...absolutely it should just be dropping off....hence the confusion and frustration I'm feeling today.
I've been back since Sep last year, so 5 months I've been giving 100%, but clearly something is wrong0 -
Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »sunshine12870 wrote: »Are you taking any meds. that cause weight gain? I know if I just count calories, it will take me forever to lose just 1 lb. I have to exercise hard to really lose weight. It's always been that way. Being in pain isn't helping you either cuz you are limited as to what you do. Can you bike? Running has been the best thing for me, but I'm thinking that's out of the question for you. How about looking into getting a personal trainer? Maybe they could help you out a bit.
Have to have a B12 injection every 10 weeks for the rest of my life because of that deficiency.
I take a very strong prescription VitD supplement to try to counteract that deficiency.
Pain killers when the pain is literally unbearable.
Apart from that no other meds, I try not to take anything if I can help it.
Can't afford a bike but when I join the gym in March I can use theirs and they will have personal trainers there
Hi. What D supplement are you taking? Many people complain that prescription D2 makes them gain weight. Switch to D3 (which is OTC, cheaper and much more easily absorbed by the body).
Many Dr's just prescribe D2 because of $. I had a deficiency that I fixed entirely through taking OTC D3
I'm on Fultium D3 800u capsules. So all good on that one1 -
Your logging is not tight enough. You have to weigh e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. When I tried to fudge and only weighed part of what I ate, I didn't lose either. I would do a good solid month or two of weighing literally everything you put in your mouth. If at that point you haven't started losing (eating based on MFP calorie set), then I would suggest getting your thyroid checked b/c the only time I haven't lost with this app is either when I'm not weighing everything or when my thyroid tanks and I need to increase my meds.3
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I'm going to disagree a little bit with some previous posters telling you to weigh your slices of bread and individual eggs, and here's why...if you were in the ballpark of a deficit, you'd be seeing something of a downward trend. You say that you're not, which means that we're missing something big. With your stats, it should be relatively easy for you to hit a deficit, even if it's not exactly where you want to be. For the most part, you need to look at weighing individual slices of bread when you're very close to your goal weight (for example, if you're 130 pounds and want to lose 5 more) or if you're really trying to hit a certain rate of loss (if you're losing 0.3 pounds on average per week and want to lose 0.5). Start by looking at the things that will make the most difference and have the most impact first, find your deficit ballpark, and then fine-tune from there. Weighing individual slices of bread is a fine-tuning issue.
If it were me, I'd start by exporting my calorie data into a tool like Excel and figuring out what my actual average intake is. Delete any partial days so they don't interfere with your calculations, and then figure out what you're actually eating. Sometimes that magic "1200" number looms so largely in our heads that we don't realize that the days we go over have an impact on the average.
Then, I'd look at my logging, specifically for places where I'm missing things that have a big impact (fats and calorie-dense foods). I don't weigh slices of bread, or individual eggs, or pre-cut slices of cheese, or salad greens. If you're off by a couple of grams on those things, that's not going to add up to enough calories per day to kick you out of a good deficit, if you can get yourself into one.
I did notice that you're using entries for prepared dishes sometimes (for example, scrambled or fried eggs) where you should be entering all of the components separately (the eggs + the oil/butter + the milk, if you add any). I'd make it a rule that anything that is calorie-dense needs to get weighed and entered as a separate entry.
Ultimately, your body is telling you that you're not in a deficit. That sucks, but that's the story behind the results you're seeing. Most typically, that's because of some kind of data-entry error (overestimating exercise, underestimating food/logging incorrectly, or not logging everything in total). Since you should be able to lose anywhere in the 1200-1600 calorie ballpark, smart money says it's a combination of incorrect logging and not logging completely.28 -
I looked at a few days of your food diary.
The first thing I want to mention is that you're tracking trans-fats and consistently getting "0". While "0" is wonderful for trans fats, it's a waste of one tracking column. I wanted to see sodium, so I looked at the printable view of your diary to see the sodium column. One thing I know has sodium is bread, so I looked at your Weight Watcher's Danish White Bread and see that your diary lists your WW white bread as having "0" sodium. That's basically false. A 20 gram slice of that bread has 200 mg sodium. This leads me to suspect that you have other errors in your tracking, and it's your job to diligently record your nutrition accurately. Myfitnesspal users are permitted to edit the food database. This is great power. Use it well.6 -
JeromeBarry1 wrote: »I looked at a few days of your food diary.
The first thing I want to mention is that you're tracking trans-fats and consistently getting "0". While "0" is wonderful for trans fats, it's a waste of one tracking column. I wanted to see sodium, so I looked at the printable view of your diary to see the sodium column. One thing I know has sodium is bread, so I looked at your Weight Watcher's Danish White Bread and see that your diary lists your WW white bread as having "0" sodium. That's basically false. A 20 gram slice of that bread has 200 mg sodium. This leads me to suspect that you have other errors in your tracking, and it's your job to diligently record your nutrition accurately. Myfitnesspal users are permitted to edit the food database. This is great power. Use it well.
And with that great power comes...great responsibility! (Sorry, I couldn't resist)
But this is very true. I've personally found many errors in the database, and I know others have as well. I'm guilty of eyeballing the entries and choosing one that looks reasonable when I'm in a hurry, but I try to compare to packages whenever possible.
OP: Take advantage of the option to change up the columns you see by default on your diary. I'll track sodium for a while, then switch it up to sugar, then something else I want to track might catch my eye. I always keep total fat on there, but ignore trans fat. I try not to eat a lot of prepared foods, so it's not really something I concern myself with.0 -
I am 41, 5'2" and started at 161.2 lbs. I lost 5 lbs. in my first 2 weeks. I have 1200 calories/day - however Sunday is my day that I go over that (splurge day). I cut out all pop, alcohol and sweets. I drink a lot of water. Please make sure you weigh everything! Don't go by the package, I scan the barcode when entering, but if it says the 'grams' per serving, I'll weigh it to be sure it's what they say. I stay away from pre-packaged frozen foods to - a lot of sodium. We are ALL in this together - feel free to add me Sunshine12870, I'll help any way I can
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Obligatory:
Measure your food more accurately for a start.
If you get into weight training / weight lifting it will probably help a great deal, especially when it comes to osteoporosis.10 -
Someone on here mentioned about checking what my BMR is...
So out of curiosity I have just entered all my stats into a BMR Calculator to see what it says for a woman my size.
It says my BMR is - 1783
So 1783 is what my body uses just to function and tick over normally.
I burn approx between 500-700 calories per day through exercise.
I eat 1200
Does this seem right ?
I've also the more days and weeks go by been getting more and more tired and weak.
I have taken everything on board that you have all said about my diary needing to be more tight and accurate and I will double check everything here on in.0 -
sunshine12870 wrote: »I burn approx between 500-700 calories per day through exercise.
Sorry, I doubt that. What do you think you do to burn all of these calories?
I would do well to burn 500 to 700 calories per day with exercise.
I exercise around 3 hours a day when I coach boxing and jiu-jitsu.
Four days a week I also have an hour of heavy compound weight training - deadlifts, squats, bench, press, etc.
Don't eat back your "exercise" calories and you may be on the right track.
As a rule of thumb, if you are not working hard enough that you need to let your heart rate slow every few minutes and/or control your breathing then you are not exercising anywhere near as hard as you think.
It is math: you are eating more than you think & need.
You are also not exercising as hard as you believe so...
It is simple Calories In, Calories Out (CICO) at this point.
Get on a real weight training program for at least 3 months to help prevent osteoporosis, offset sarcopenia and raise your BMR.
"Thinner Leaner Stronger" or "StrongLifts5x5" are good choices.
SL5x5 is free, TLS has a lot of information on proper nutrition in it.
If you don't do the hard work then you cannot expect the results you want.
All of the numbers (calories, macros, BMR, calories burned, etc.) are just estimates anyway.
You must track everything and adjust accordingly.
You are responsible for your own tracking, measuring and results.
Good luck. You can do it if you want it bad enough.5 -
Hey, I'm pretty new to this community but I saw your post and can't help wondering if you've had your thyroid or insulin levels checked lately? If you've tried everything, it couldn't hurt to ask. (Insulin levels, Not just blood glucose. Thyroid's something different though).3
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I hear you load and clear. I have stuck with my allowance religiously, but I was stuck solid for over 9 months, it's just started to move but oh so slowly and I need to stick it out, I'm a lot older and that has a part to play for me. Have you got a digital food scale, that's my latest purchase and I did not believe how far out I was with my estimated measuremnts, cup fulls just don't stack up. I wish you verygood luck.2
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sunshine12870 wrote: »I burn approx between 500-700 calories per day through exercise.
I have to run hills for several miles to get that kind of calorie burn. Make sure you aren't overestimating...3 -
Sorry I haven't read all previous replies/tips, so apologize if I'm repeating someone. The B12 deficiency caught my eye. There's a 'reason' for that most likely, and the underlying cause for it may also be the underlying cause for your weight issues (and possibly any other problems). Thyroid conditions, such as Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroiditis) is associated with B12 deficiency, as can also be low levels of vit D. Joint pain, and all other that you mentioned, included. Don't know if you are leaving other health problems out, and are just operating on an assumption that this is all "food/calorie" related, but your weight struggle may not be only food related. It could possibly be another piece of a bigger health puzzle. I would recommend investigating that further, perhaps with a reputable endocrinologist who doesn't tend to go only 'by the numbers', as thyroid numbers alone don't always complete one's health picture. Are there known autoimmune disorders among any of your blood relatives? Women with autoimmune disorders often also have thyroid problems (not necessary to have all the usual identifying symptoms), autonomic nervous system dysfunction (including digestion). Both of these together can cause significant physical/joint discomfort besides weight issues. My daughter has Hashimoto's and dysautonomia (dinet.org), both which you can google to learn more about if interested in comparing whatever else you might also be dealing with. Take care, and wishing the best for you.2
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I read the entire post, but didn't see that you said how long it has been since you lost weight. How long have you been in this weight loss stall?0
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Yes- as others said, you should double check the calorie burn numbers..500-700 calories for me amounts to a 6-8 mile run (ie at least 1 hour of continuous non-stop cardio). And check thyroid as well (a thyroid problem can cause a significant decrease in BMR).0
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Definitely check your exercise! I do 45 minutes of treadmill and 30 minutes of progressive lifting 4 days a week and I only log 153 calories burned for those two things. That is and hour and 15 minutes of exercise a day. So I would definitely double check your numbers with your output.2
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sunshine12870 wrote: »Someone on here mentioned about checking what my BMR is...
So out of curiosity I have just entered all my stats into a BMR Calculator to see what it says for a woman my size.
It says my BMR is - 1783
So 1783 is what my body uses just to function and tick over normally.
I burn approx between 500-700 calories per day through exercise.
I eat 1200
Does this seem right ?
I've also the more days and weeks go by been getting more and more tired and weak.
I have taken everything on board that you have all said about my diary needing to be more tight and accurate and I will double check everything here on in.
All of the numbers you're talking about -- BMR, exercise burns, diary, MFP's calorie targets, etc. -- are just estimates. They're useful estimates, but that's all they are. Your results are telling you that you're not in a deficit. No online calculator can override the real-world data that says that what you're doing is not creating a deficit.5 -
She is 240lbs or so, her calorie burns for just walking will be a lot higher than those of us either at a healthy weight or close to one. So they may not be that wacky. Just wanted to point that out, you can't use yourself as a comparison if you're significantly smaller and fitter.10
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sunshine12870 wrote: »Someone on here mentioned about checking what my BMR is...
So out of curiosity I have just entered all my stats into a BMR Calculator to see what it says for a woman my size.
It says my BMR is - 1783
So 1783 is what my body uses just to function and tick over normally.
I burn approx between 500-700 calories per day through exercise.
I eat 1200
Does this seem right ?
I've also the more days and weeks go by been getting more and more tired and weak.
I have taken everything on board that you have all said about my diary needing to be more tight and accurate and I will double check everything here on in.
as others asked, how do you think you are burning up to 700 calories /day thru exercise??0 -
"A lot higher" does not mean much here.VintageFeline wrote: »She is 240lbs or so, her calorie burns for just walking will be a lot higher than those of us either at a healthy weight or close to one. So they may not be that wacky. Just wanted to point that out, you can't use yourself as a comparison if you're significantly smaller and fitter.
How much walking does a 240 lb person need to do to burn 600 calories?
How long are we talking about? What intensity? Duration?
Please show me some sort of math or formula that demonstrates how this is an order of magnitude higher than someone 50 lbs lighter or even 100 lbs lighter on the same surface at the same duration.
More work? Yes, a bit more intense because of conditioning.
600 calories more work? No, not at the same duration.
More like maybe 60 calories more than me - and that is probably being generous.
I understand the desire to help and be encouraging, but please don't be misleading.
Same thing with the various "thyroid" answers here...
OP, go to the doctor and make sure you do not have a medical issue.
If you do, then get it dealt with.
Regardless, you have to make some lifestyle changes if you want to lose excess fat.
A "thyroid problem" does not magically negate the need for proper exercise and healthy eating habits.
To the contrary, it means you must work a bit harder than some other people and you have less room for cheat meals.1 -
Regardless of exercise calories, her diary (the days that are completed) don't show her eating more calories than I average, and I'm sedentary, work an office job, and have less weight to lose. My money's on inaccurate diary entries (amounts) and whatever is in those missing days, possibly complicated by underlying health issues. But only the OP can determine what the problem really is and take steps toward fixing it.3
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sunshine12870 wrote: »Someone on here mentioned about checking what my BMR is...
So out of curiosity I have just entered all my stats into a BMR Calculator to see what it says for a woman my size.
It says my BMR is - 1783
So 1783 is what my body uses just to function and tick over normally.
I burn approx between 500-700 calories per day through exercise.
I eat 1200
Does this seem right ?
I've also the more days and weeks go by been getting more and more tired and weak.
I have taken everything on board that you have all said about my diary needing to be more tight and accurate and I will double check everything here on in.
Dear folks who are focusing on that "500 - 700 calories of exercise" bit:
Please note that OP says she weighs around 240 pounds at 5'4" and age 46. She says her BMR (BMR, not NEAT) is 1783. I checked that on a site I use, with her demographics. It looks about right.
She can easily be burning 500-700 calories on top of her BMR, i.e. NEAT of 2300, with routine daily life plus the paper routes as her activity level.
Ignore the "exercise" word.
I think you (those looking at the "exercise" calorie number) are barking up the wrong tree. OP almost certainly has a TDEE well above 2000, and she tells us she's eating 1200.
There could be a food logging problem (as some have suggested), there could be a medical problem (as others have suggested), but I don't think the classic "over-estimating exercise" problem is at the root here.
JMO, though.
OP: If you're weak/fatigued, please eat more. Try to feel better. See a doctor when you can. Tightening up your logging (while eating more) sounds like something you could do in the short run.
I hope you're able to feel better soon, and find a way to get some exercise without such awful pain!
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OP, I'm so sorry you are struggling. My suggestions, for whatever they are worth:
- You should weigh packaged food as well, a package might say the serving size is let's say 1 roll (28 grams). So you would assume if you weighed a roll it would be 28g, but usually it's not.
- Check the entries you are using, many entries in the database are wrong.
- Don't eat back all of your exercise calories, even burns from HRM trackers can be inflated.
- I don't mean this as an insult, but just make sure you are being honest with yourself and really are logging everything, including beverages, condiments, unplanned bites, etc. I'm not saying you aren't being honest, just do a quick gut check and make sure, because we've all been there.
- Honestly, regardless of all of this, you should be losing weight. I would suggest getting some blood work done and seeing if anything comes up.
Best of luck, hang in there!3 -
OP, any chance you are one of those rare people that sleep walks? You may eat at night, and you dont even know it.4
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OP, how are you weighing yourself? And how often? Do you use an app or spreadsheet to track your weight trend or rolling average?
I've been watching my weight for decades, and it STILL bums me out when I've been on a cut for 3 weeks with great compliance and I step on the scale and it's higher than when I started. Isolated data points can play with your head. Don't let it. Focus on data in context, trends, etc.4
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