High deficit, very slow weightloss.

dawnrpurvis

I've lost weight before using MFP but unfortunately put it back on due to ill health.

I started logging again early last year to stop me from gaining any further weight whilst sick.

A minor miracle happened and I got better from my illness and set about losing the weight.

I've thrown myself into activities/excercise and can honestly say I'm the fittest I've been my life.

My calorie allowance is 1200 a day and I do lots of activity which is logged through my fitbit but only eat about 25% of my exercise calories back. I log/weigh everything I eat as well.

I'm only losing around .5lb a week though...!? If I eat any less I'll not be able to fuel my workouts and I don't really have time to do more than the 8+ hrs of exercise I'm already doing.

My diary is open, any ideas?

shans34

Eat more. Up your caloric intake to 1400-1500 calories a day. Full those extra calories with fruits, veggies and lean protein.

lmbotoday

Shans34 is right. If you eat too little, your metabolism will slow down because your body with think you're starving and will naturally want to slow you down. Eating the proper amount will keep your metabolism up and give you fuel for your workouts. Eat small meals during the day.

dawnrpurvis

I do eat a 'proper' amount, I don't go hungry and most of my meals are nicely balanced.

I thought that the effect of the metabolism slowing down (eg. Starvation mode) had been disproved, or at least found not applicable to humans on a diet?

I already eat 4-5 small meals a day, I don't think I could fit any more in!

kimny72

madebs666 wrote: »

I do eat a 'proper' amount, I don't go hungry and most of my meals are nicely balanced.

I thought that the effect of the metabolism slowing down (eg. Starvation mode) had been disproved, or at least found not applicable to humans on a diet?

I already eat 4-5 small meals a day, I don't think I could fit any more in!

Yes, you're correct. Starvation mode isn't a thing. If you drastically under-eat for a long period of time, your body will adapt by slowing your metabolism a bit, but it doesn't sound like you've been doing that.

How long have you been trying to lose weight, and what do you have your deficit set at? And how many lbs are you trying to lose?

Seffell

Yes, starvation mode is rubish. You were just unlucky to get two answers with the wrong advice.

If you measure every bite with a digital scale, use the correct entries to log your food and stay at a deficit it is IMPOSSIBLE not to lose weight. It will show on the scale eventually. The rate will depend on your deficit where to lose 1lbs per week you need to make 500cal deficit per day.

So either you're not weighting your food with a digital scale,
or using wrong entries,
or overestimating your exercise calories (my fitbit overestimates for about 300cal per day),
or you need to speak to your doctor.
But I wouldn't do the last until I was sure it wasn't any of the previous (like 100% sure).

kimny72

I took a quick peek at your diary.

1. Are you using a food scale for everything, even packaged foods? I see a lot of grams, but I also see "servings", but I know you could be weighing those as well. If you aren't using the food scale for everything or almost everything, try to commit to it for a week or two, it might shine a light on something that is easy to correct.
2. Double check the entries you are using n the database, there's a lot of crap in there. Even when you scan something, an incorrect entry can pop up.
3. Your calorie burns look high to me, but since you are only eating a quarter back, that probably isn't an issue.

Anything else I can think of will depend on the answers to my previous post

zyxst

shans34 wrote: »

Eat more. Up your caloric intake to 1400-1500 calories a day. Full those extra calories with fruits, veggies and lean protein.

She's not losing weight now.

shadow2soul

How much do you have to lose?
Are you sure your weight, height, gender, ect is correct with both sites?

That said, I noticed a lot of recipes. Double check the information for the entries you used. There are some basic food entries that are "verified", but really incorrect.

jemhh

What are your weight and height? Your calories eaten is not a low amount. Some days your calorie goal is pretty high and you don't appear to be eating all that little. I'm guessing that there could be a bit of exercise calorie inflation at play here.

fitmom4lifemfp

lmbotoday wrote: »

Shans34 is right. If you eat too little, your metabolism will slow down because your body with think you're starving and will naturally want to slow you down. Eating the proper amount will keep your metabolism up and give you fuel for your workouts. Eat small meals during the day.

Eating MORE will certainly not speed up weight loss.

fitmom4lifemfp

madebs666 wrote: »

I do eat a 'proper' amount, I don't go hungry and most of my meals are nicely balanced.

I thought that the effect of the metabolism slowing down (eg. Starvation mode) had been disproved, or at least found not applicable to humans on a diet?

I already eat 4-5 small meals a day, I don't think I could fit any more in!

I looked at your diary. You have very high amounts of exercise calories, and you do appear to be eating some of those. What is the activity that you are doing to garner such a high calorie burn?

Rocknut53

madebs666 wrote: »

I've lost weight before using MFP but unfortunately put it back on due to ill health.

I started logging again early last year to stop me from gaining any further weight whilst sick.

A minor miracle happened and I got better from my illness and set about losing the weight.

I've thrown myself into activities/excercise and can honestly say I'm the fittest I've been my life.

My calorie allowance is 1200 a day and I do lots of activity which is logged through my fitbit but only eat about 25% of my exercise calories back. I log/weigh everything I eat as well.

I'm only losing around .5lb a week though...!? If I eat any less I'll not be able to fuel my workouts and I don't really have time to do more than the 8+ hrs of exercise I'm already doing.

My diary is open, any ideas?

There is nothing wrong with .5 pounds per week loss. If you don't have a lot to lose the rate you are losing is fine. Patience is key. As others have said your entries may be off and you are eating too much.

try2again

jemhh wrote: »

What are your weight and height? Your calories eaten is not a low amount. Some days your calorie goal is pretty high and you don't appear to be eating all that little. I'm guessing that there could be a bit of exercise calorie inflation at play here.

^ Unless you're an athlete in training, those numbers are likely terribly inflated. It's good if you're only eating 25%, but 25% of 1200 could still be too much for most activities. And it looks like your weekend (I only looked at one) was quite relaxed and used all those "extra" calories. That easily could have wiped out most of your deficit for the week. That being said, it looks like you could bring things under control with a little better portioning.

inertiastrength

You're either over estimating burns or underestimating calories....or both! Maybe instead of eating back said calories, eat a steady amount while you gather a few weeks of solid data to see what your observed tdee is. Calculators are only giving you their best guess. Tighten up logging in terms of measurements and perhaps pick a steady intake vs the eat back method.

rileysowner

Without further information it is difficult to give helpful advice.

rsclause

I always did better with a slight deficit. When I went for the big deficit I wouldn't lose weight and feel so bad I would have to stop my exercise for a couple of days and start over.

tabletop_joe

Have you been checking your measurements? With your rigorous workout routine, you may be building muscle and retaining a lot of water. I'm certain that if you've done what the others above have suggested (weighing correctly, logging the right entries, etc.), you must be losing fat.

trigden1991

I would suggest you pick a calorie goal (at least 1200cals), eat that amount for 4-6 weeks and see what happens to your weight.

Calorie burns on MFP and exercise machines are grossly overestimated and pre-packaged food weights can be underestimated.

StaciMarie1974

Looking at your diary... There are generic entries (Generic Chip Shop Chips) that can be wildly different in terms of quantity and calories from what you have. Other things such as 1 serving meals (medu vadai, chana masala, Morrisons Pie) are these recipes you have entered, entries from the data base that you're trying to match to what you're eating, or they actually weighed out and logged based on the nutritional info on the label?

For your protein powder, do you weigh it out or eyeball a 1/2 scoop?

You are losing, so that is a good bit of news. The log makes it look like you should be losing faster due to the extra deficit, yet you're not. I am assuming you're talking about weeks/months and not just 1-2 weeks of averaging .5 pounds per week. If its long term, then that shows that either you're not burning as much as you think or your food logging is not as accurate as you think.

If you're using generic database entries that don't actually match what you're eating, or using other people's recipes and hoping they match yours, or eating out: it is going to decrease your accuracy. I have no problem with eating out, but that is an area where you lose control as you don't know if the restaurant is heavy handed in how they prepare their dishes. THey may publish a dish as X calories, but if the chef uses extra oil, extra cheese, etc. - then you don't know if its accurate.

If that is your situation, then you can try to take better control of your calories in. YOu may think you're eating 1200 + 25% of your Fitbit calories, but if your logs are wrong then you're eating more. You don't want to cut back, so you may need to adjust so you're eating more lean meat, more veggies, less calorie dense items (so as not to decrease the amount of food you consume) and be more involved in preparing and/or creating your own recipes.

cmacphee3

I also want to point out that government regulations for packaged foods allow for a 20% variance from the nutritionals stated. This is done because many foods are a mixture of ingredients and getting the exact same amount of a mixture into every item can be very difficult. So sometimes you could be eating 20% more than that you think, other times 20% less. The only way around this is to make everything you eat from scratch and mix things entirely uniformly and weigh out each portion. This is obviously not convenient for many people, myself included.

Lou_trition

I was in the same boat as you. felt like I was not losing- and what I did was I upped my calorie intake to reflect my BMR with a 300 cal deficit. And since then have started using a nutrition coach who calculates my macro targets weekly.

There are some things to think about though: 0.5lb per week is a lot of weight to lose if you've already lost 'water'.
With your exercise, are you building muscle? Muscle takes up a lot less space so you may not be losing weight as fat is going but you are gaining muscle.

I stopped tracking exercise completely and try to hit a daily goal- making it easier to plan meals- I have 4 higher cal days and 3 lower cal days. I weigh myself daily but the ONLY reason I do this is to allow my nutrition coach recalculated my macros based off my weekly average. I am losing weight very slowly, but the changes to my body are crazy.

Ive recently obtained a diploma in nutrition too so I am knowledgable in food as fuel sources- and I used to weigh 270lbs so I do know what Im talking about (most of the time)

I suggest you up your cals a bit, when youve conquered that then look more closely at your macros- Are you eating too much of a particular macro?

my diary is also open if you want to take a look

StaciMarie1974

FWIW I think those who are saying eat more have not looked at your food logs. You are NOT eating '1200' calories. Your daily average intake is actually higher... AVerage for the past week is over 1800/day.

rileysowner

Building significant muscle at a calorie deficit is extremely difficult. It is hard to put muscle on even at a calorie surplus, doubly so for women. It is highly unlikely you have put on muscle, at least not so much that it is masking your fat loss. It is far more likely that your muscles are retaining water which can mask fat loss. If you are not using other measures to track your progress, you should probably start now with body measurements and photos. The progress with them is measured over several weeks, but they can often show you progress even when your weight is not changing. At this point you are losing, so maybe some fine tuning with your tracking (verifying the database entries you are using, avoiding generic entries, and making your own recipes [again verifying the entries you use in putting the recipe together] might take you from .5 pound to 1 pound a week.