At a stand still

Mhari2015

I have been losing weight since January this year and for the last 3 weeks nothing has happened. I am still at 13stone! I feel that I am at a stand still.

I am 5,2 and eat 1200 calories but was asked to go to 1400. I think I may just need to go back down to 1209. I also try and get to the gym at least 5 times a week and only drink water. I also weigh myself at the same time every Monday

size102b

How much weight have you lost ?

Why are you only eating 1200 calories ?

Are you not eating any exercise calories ?

If your only eating 1200 you will lose weight unless your doing tons muscle exercises ?

Are you logging absolutely everything you eat and drink ?
Are you weighing all foods and measuring all liquids ?

Are you measuring yourself ?

Is your diary open ?

Mhari2015

Hello!

I have lost 1stone 5 on 1200 calories. I do quite a bit of exercise strength and cardio. Been advised to go up to 1400 but nothing is coming off when I did!

I weigh everything correctly, I log everything correctly (I sometimes forget to log water), sounds weird but I don't eat exercise calls because I thought that was cheating (like stuffing your face and then saying ooh look I have extra calls now let's do it again ). My diary is open too I think

size102b

If you don't want to think your eating exercise calories you'll need to set your calorie intake with exercise included
Research TDEE BMR it helps understand weight & weightloss / gain etc

If you've just upped them your body's adjusting but on 1400 you should be losing I lost weight on that at your weight

If you set your calories as sedentary then eat 1/2 your exercise calories as they are always over estimated on most devices you should lose weight

Your fuelling your body eating exercise calories that's how you'll need to do this long term

Your body will be burning a good amount not exercising so eat some exercise calories are needed if you've set them at sedentary

sijomial

Your diary contains an awful lot of suspiciously round numbers and servings!
Do you actually weigh 100g of banana and sweet potato for instance?

You really should include protein on your tracking - it's very important when in a deficit and exercising,
Tracking carbs, protein and fat also helps pinpoint bad database entries - that Turkey fillet for example must be either tiny or good chance it's inaccurate!

First step would be to focus on improving your logging accuracy for a month, then you would have more reliable data to go on.

BTW - regarding a legitimate calorie need of your body (exercise) as "cheating" is a very strange mind-set. Exercise is for health and should be fuelled properly.

On the other hand.....
If your calorie intake is in fact accurate then it isn't enough to fuel "I do quite a bit of exercise strength and cardio" - which causes stress on your body and that can lead to water retention which masks fat loss.

It comes back to having accurate data to base decisions on though or it's just speculation.

Mhari2015

I did say the cheating part was Strange lol

I do measure and have been doing the same sort of thing for the past couple of months was steadily losing weight and then nothing. Just not sure what's wrong

sijomial

So not going to record protein? (A minute to change diary settings.)
Or check accuracy of your frequently used diary entries? (A few minutes.)
Or fuel your exercise properly? (A change of mind-set.)

OK - best of luck, we all have to find our own way in the end.

Mhari2015

I don't understand what you mean by record protein? I input it into the diary?

size102b

sijomial wrote: »

So not going to record protein? (A minute to change diary settings.)
Or check accuracy of your frequently used diary entries? (A few minutes.)
Or fuel your exercise properly? (A change of mind-set.)

OK - best of luck, we all have to find our own way in the end.

I can't see her diary until I go online but what do you mean no protien - turkey as you stated that's protien ?

size102b

Tbh I'd not worry about macros I lost 71lbs in 11 months and didn't stress about carbs etc

kommodevaran

Mhari2015 wrote: »

I do measure and have been doing the same sort of thing for the past couple of months was steadily losing weight and then nothing. Just not sure what's wrong

A smaller body uses less fuel. What you are doing, was enough to create a calorie deficit as long as you were heavier. The way you are eating, is the maintenance level for your current body weight. You are not (and I repeat, not) eating 1200 or 1400 calories. Your logging is obviously off, or you would be losing weight. To keep losing, you have to reduce your calorie intake. The safest way to do this, is to log correctly, and aim for your calorie goal, and set up MFP to track protein, fat and carbs, and aim to hit those goals too - because you don't want to inadvertently eat too little, either, and sloppy logging can lead to unbalanced nutrition (and you'll want to eat well). Do as instructed by previous posters.

ladyreva78

size102b wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

So not going to record protein? (A minute to change diary settings.)
Or check accuracy of your frequently used diary entries? (A few minutes.)
Or fuel your exercise properly? (A change of mind-set.)

OK - best of luck, we all have to find our own way in the end.

I can't see her diary until I go online but what do you mean no protien - turkey as you stated that's protien ?

Her diary only shows calories and carbs, not fat and protein.

I think what @sijomial meant was 'track' protein (as in seeing how much of it OP is consuming on a daily basis). A legitimate question since it's a pretty important macro to help retain as much LBM as possible.

OP: under http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings you can chose which nutrients to track in your diary. I warmly suggest adding fat and protein back into what is visible in your diary. Both of these are pretty darned important (much more so than carbs, IMO).

Also, since you don't want to 'eat back' your exercise calories, maybe consider using a TDEE method to set up your calorie budget (MFP assumes calories BEFORE exercise). Use a TDEE calculator (such as this one: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) to get a goal and use that in your diary. It's what I do, meaning I don't bother logging my exercise anymore (I don't deal well with a moving calorie target, so I don't add exercise unless it's above and beyond my weekly average and I need to give my body a smidgen more fuel). Using this method I get 1763 Calories per day to use. I work out 3 times per week and get my 8K steps per day. But instead of having ~1400 one day and close to 2100 on another, I just even it out over the week.

When you first start increasing your calorie goal, it is possible that you also 'gain' a bit of weight. More food in your digestive track, more carbs meaning a bit more water retention, more sodium (simply from more food) meaning more water retention, less than ideal timing (more water retention from TOM), etc. etc. etc. None of this is real weight gain, but it can have an impact on the scale for several days (worst case up to 2 weeks).

But, I would suggest double checking your logging accuracy as well. No offense meant, but how do you manage to always get exactly 100g of bananas or 30g of cheese (especially with the cheese, I'm always off by a good 20grs on that when I cut off a piece, in the wrong direction )... Second step is making sure you use accurate database entries. The database is user entered, meaning there's entries that are woefully wrong (worst I've seen is 50kcals for 100g of chicken, instead of the more widely accepted ~160kcals).

size102b

Oh she must changed her settings as its automatically set to track fat carb and protein

sijomial

Mhari2015 wrote: »

I don't understand what you mean by record protein? I input it into the diary?

Your diary only lists calories and carbs.
Protein is important for general health but becomes more important when dieting and again when exercising.
Fat is very important for hormonal health.
Worth a read - http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

By tracking all three macros it's also far easier to spot rogue entries in the database (4 cals per gram for protein and carbs, 9 cals per gram for fat). There's lots of dreadful entries in there as it's user generated for the most part.

You are eating the same foods day after day, if some of the selections you have made are wrong they are wrong day after day and that adds up.

You are making classic mistakes of going for the lowest possible calorie goal and then actually undercutting it by not eating back your exercise calories. Hitting the exercise hard but not fuelling it. It gets you so far and then you will hit problems.

It's a very short term view of "being on a diet". Think ahead to maintenance at goal weight - will you eat the same foods forever?

size102b

sijomial wrote: »

Mhari2015 wrote: »

I don't understand what you mean by record protein? I input it into the diary?

Your diary only lists calories and carbs.
Protein is important for general health but becomes more important when dieting and again when exercising.
Fat is very important for hormonal health.
Worth a read - http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

By tracking all three macros it's also far easier to spot rogue entries in the database (4 cals per gram for protein and carbs, 9 cals per gram for fat). There's lots of dreadful entries in there as it's user generated for the most part.

You are eating the same foods day after day, if some of the selections you have made are wrong they are wrong day after day and that adds up.

You are making classic mistakes of going for the lowest possible calorie goal and then actually undercutting it by not eating back your exercise calories. Hitting the exercise hard but not fuelling it. It gets you so far and then you will hit problems.

It's a very short term view of "being on a diet". Think ahead to maintenance at goal weight - will you eat the same foods forever?

You don't have to watch your macros to lose weight
Also some people eat similar foods daily as digestive problems I eat similar foods as I've bad ibs d and know what triggers me

I agree she should track all her foods and have macros set as mfp but watching you don't over eat carbs isn't neseccary I thought it was but I lost no more watching carbs then when I didn't

Mhari2015

I record my protein. Sorry I'm new to this stuff. Are you talking about the percentage of macros? I do eat protein. If it helps I always have a protein for dinner and tuna for lunch!

Mhari2015

I have never bothered with macros as I don't understand them that well. Basically I want someone to tell me how many calories I should eat!

sijomial

size102b wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

Mhari2015 wrote: »

I don't understand what you mean by record protein? I input it into the diary?

Your diary only lists calories and carbs.
Protein is important for general health but becomes more important when dieting and again when exercising.
Fat is very important for hormonal health.
Worth a read - http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

By tracking all three macros it's also far easier to spot rogue entries in the database (4 cals per gram for protein and carbs, 9 cals per gram for fat). There's lots of dreadful entries in there as it's user generated for the most part.

You are eating the same foods day after day, if some of the selections you have made are wrong they are wrong day after day and that adds up.

You are making classic mistakes of going for the lowest possible calorie goal and then actually undercutting it by not eating back your exercise calories. Hitting the exercise hard but not fuelling it. It gets you so far and then you will hit problems.

It's a very short term view of "being on a diet". Think ahead to maintenance at goal weight - will you eat the same foods forever?

You don't have to watch your macros to lose weight
Also some people eat similar foods daily as digestive problems I eat similar foods as I've bad ibs d and know what triggers me

I agree she should track all her foods and have macros set as mfp but watching you don't over eat carbs isn't neseccary I thought it was but I lost no more watching carbs then when I didn't

@size102b

No I agree - you obviously don't have to track macros or food or exercise to lose weight, tracking is a just a tool. But makes sense to use the tool better when not getting the outcome you desire.

I didn't mention carbs so not sure where you are going with that? (I'm very much pro carbs BTW.)

But for the OP what she is doing is no longer working - hence this thread.
Options:

• Give up
• Change nothing & hope to get a different outcome
• Change something

LivingtheLeanDream

You have had some great answers already and I'll not repeat what's been said by @sijomial (who knows what he's talking about) .

To answer 'how many cals should you eat'? well that's different for everyone. Personally I lost 1/2lb per week eating 1800 calories, I'm also 5ft 2 am active i.e exercise 1 hr a day 6 days a week and average 15k steps. I did track my intake as accurately as possible and wasn't overly bothered about macros apart from keeping an eye on protein.

If you are at a stand still it means you have been eating more than you think. That's the main reason for any stall. Tighten up your logging and you'll start losing again.