Doubting MFP's value!

juanwilly

HELP NEEDED! What am I doing wrong? I have logged religiously for the last 18 days and been UNDER my calorie count for the day from 60 to 80% everyday and have exercised more than ever--last week nearly 55000 steps and 608 Intensity Minutes (where the weekly goal is 150 minutes) as per my HR monitor and Fitness Tracker AND I have still gained more than 2 pounds!!!! Not sure that I can exercise more as per my body's reaction! What am I doing wrong? I see everyone else losing pounds and me gaining! What value do Friends/MFP Pals/Connections have on this site? Please talk me off the ledge in that I am VERY discouraged and disappointed in MFP and my lack of progress!

deannalfisher

if you started a new workout regime - it could be water weight...weight loss isn't going to be linear

are you eating back exercise calories? MFP is built on this premise - being under your calorie count each day isn't something to strive for - your goal calories is based on your activity level established when you set up your goal weights

try2again

Your body retains water to repair muscle after exercise, and it sounds like you are really pushing the exercise. Over time, that will level out and stop masking your weight loss.

malibu927

How long has this gain occurred over?

More importantly, why are you eating so far under your goal? What did MFP give you and how much are you eating a day?

pinuplove

Breathe.
You don't have to kill yourself (eating 60-80% of your calorie goal, huge activity burns, etc.) By all means, work out hard if you want to, just be sure to re-fuel your body when you do. Small, sustainable changes are more likely to bring you long-term success than blowing up your entire life and subsequently burning out.
Water retention for muscle repair is a *kitten*. 18 days isn't long enough to throw your hands up and declare it isn't working, though. Give your body time to adjust to the new normal.
Make sure your logging is tight. Use correct database entries, weigh solids, and measure liquids.

orionaimee

One of the best things I ever did was buy the Fitbit digital scale. It not only measures weight but body fat percentage as well. This is really helpful. For example I was out of town on business last week and did not have access to my regular gym and fitness routine. I still worked out ever single day and tried to eat the best I could. I ended up logging a gain of 1.5 lbs but a loss of 1% body fat. I was building different muscle groups with changing up the work out. Take measurements and also pay attention to other factors besides the scale. That is the best advice I can give.

malibu927

orionaimee wrote: »

One of the best things I ever did was buy the Fitbit digital scale. It not only measures weight but body fat percentage as well. This is really helpful. For example I was out of town on business last week and did not have access to my regular gym and fitness routine. I still worked out ever single day and tried to eat the best I could. I ended up logging a gain of 1.5 lbs but a loss of 1% body fat. I was building different muscle groups with changing up the work out. Take measurements and also pay attention to other factors besides the scale. That is the best advice I can give.

Body fat scales are notoriously inaccurate

StarvingDiva

you seem pretty carb heavy yesterday you didn't seem to have a lot of protein at all. you were pretty low calorie wise yesterday, but then I see other days you were much higher. But you do seem to be heavy on carbs, I would add a bit more protein and eat more greens and berries for your carbs as opposed to corn and bread. Not that you have to give up that stuff altogether.

cqbkaju

juanwilly

Thanks to everyone...keep it coming!

polarduke

A large portion of your carb intake is sugar. If your body is getting enough fuel from this, it won't have reason to burn fat. In my experience, cutting sugar is a great contributor to enable fat loss. As another poster suggested, try upping your protein, and also cutting back on sugar. Starting every morning with 3 teaspoons of sugar may not be the best choice. It's not just about a calorie deficit, although that is a critical component. There are other factors at play and we all have to find what works for us best individually.

juanwilly

Thanks everyone--keep it coming!

keeponkickin

What everyone said above is true. You haven't been at it long, weight loss is linear. I've lost a ton of weight with the help of mfp. If I had a graph you'd see I went up and down on the scale along with way. I don't know your calorie goal and if you're eating that much under your calorie goal and working out as much as you say....then that's not good. MFP is a valuable tool and friends on here are just as valuable....mfp isn't to blame.

ILoveGoal

When constipated for a bit, can add up to a few pounds of food remnants inside the body. Gaining more muscle mass can occur to when working out while body fat has lowered, possible being at the same weight but being leaner.

jessiferrrb

StarvingDiva wrote: »

you seem pretty carb heavy yesterday you didn't seem to have a lot of protein at all. you were pretty low calorie wise yesterday, but then I see other days you were much higher. But you do seem to be heavy on carbs, I would add a bit more protein and eat more greens and berries for your carbs as opposed to corn and bread. Not that you have to give up that stuff altogether.

macro percentages aren't relevant to weight loss. if you're in a calorie deficit you can lose weight eating bread and corn all day long. *macros are important for health and nutrition and different people will feel better with different combinations of protein, fat and carbs.

polarduke wrote: »

A large portion of your carb intake is sugar. If your body is getting enough fuel from this, it won't have reason to burn fat. In my experience, cutting sugar is a great contributor to enable fat loss. As another poster suggested, try upping your protein, and also cutting back on sugar. Starting every morning with 3 teaspoons of sugar may not be the best choice. It's not just about a calorie deficit, although that is a critical component. There are other factors at play and we all have to find what works for us best individually.

sugar intake isn't relevant to weight loss. if you're in a calorie deficit and don't have health issues which would cause you to avoid sugar there isn't a reason why you should avoid it as part of a overall healthful diet. if your body is getting enough fuel from anything it's not going to burn fat, because you aren't in a deficit. if you are consistently in a caloric deficit you will burn fat regardless of sugar intake. for weight loss it is just about a calorie deficit. *for health and nutrition there are other factors at play, not for weight loss.

StarvingDiva

jessiferrrb wrote: »

StarvingDiva wrote: »

you seem pretty carb heavy yesterday you didn't seem to have a lot of protein at all. you were pretty low calorie wise yesterday, but then I see other days you were much higher. But you do seem to be heavy on carbs, I would add a bit more protein and eat more greens and berries for your carbs as opposed to corn and bread. Not that you have to give up that stuff altogether.

macro percentages aren't relevant to weight loss. if you're in a calorie deficit you can lose weight eating bread and corn all day long. *macros are important for health and nutrition and different people will feel better with different combinations of protein, fat and carbs.

polarduke wrote: »

A large portion of your carb intake is sugar. If your body is getting enough fuel from this, it won't have reason to burn fat. In my experience, cutting sugar is a great contributor to enable fat loss. As another poster suggested, try upping your protein, and also cutting back on sugar. Starting every morning with 3 teaspoons of sugar may not be the best choice. It's not just about a calorie deficit, although that is a critical component. There are other factors at play and we all have to find what works for us best individually.

sugar intake isn't relevant to weight loss. if you're in a calorie deficit and don't have health issues which would cause you to avoid sugar there isn't a reason why you should avoid it as part of a overall healthful diet. if your body is getting enough fuel from anything it's not going to burn fat, because you aren't in a deficit. if you are consistently in a caloric deficit you will burn fat regardless of sugar intake. for weight loss it is just about a calorie deficit. *for health and nutrition there are other factors at play, not for weight loss.

But he's not losing weight which is the crux of his entire post despite being at a calorie deficit. Every body is different. I cannot eat at a calorie deficit and eat carbs and have weight loss. I just can't, would love too, as I love carbs, and I am pcos, so it just doesn't work at all for me. My friend on the other hand could eat potatoes all day as long as she's at her set calorie range and lose.

avadahm

What if you did lose fat but also gained muscle?

I'm not a fan of tracking weight per se. It's too variable. I recommend tracking your strength (do you keep track of workouts and improvement?) and your nutrients (not just calories-maybe consult a nutritionist). Make sure you're kicking your metabolism back into gear by eating right (perhaps a bit closer to calories with nutrient-dense foods) and then focus on increasing cardio if you wish.

Stella3838

OP are you using a food scale to weight solid/semi-solid food and cups/spoons for liquids? (Scales are cheap if you don't have one!! Not sure how the "logging religiously" might equate to accuracy. Another person already mentioned about really tightening this up. It's very possible you are eating more than you think. Also, be cautious of the entries in the database. They can be notoriously wrong too. Not creating a calorie deficit is why people don't lose. So it's most likely either eating more than you think or any exercise burn is being over-estimated.

jessiferrrb

StarvingDiva wrote: »

jessiferrrb wrote: »

StarvingDiva wrote: »

you seem pretty carb heavy yesterday you didn't seem to have a lot of protein at all. you were pretty low calorie wise yesterday, but then I see other days you were much higher. But you do seem to be heavy on carbs, I would add a bit more protein and eat more greens and berries for your carbs as opposed to corn and bread. Not that you have to give up that stuff altogether.

macro percentages aren't relevant to weight loss. if you're in a calorie deficit you can lose weight eating bread and corn all day long. *macros are important for health and nutrition and different people will feel better with different combinations of protein, fat and carbs.

polarduke wrote: »

A large portion of your carb intake is sugar. If your body is getting enough fuel from this, it won't have reason to burn fat. In my experience, cutting sugar is a great contributor to enable fat loss. As another poster suggested, try upping your protein, and also cutting back on sugar. Starting every morning with 3 teaspoons of sugar may not be the best choice. It's not just about a calorie deficit, although that is a critical component. There are other factors at play and we all have to find what works for us best individually.

sugar intake isn't relevant to weight loss. if you're in a calorie deficit and don't have health issues which would cause you to avoid sugar there isn't a reason why you should avoid it as part of a overall healthful diet. if your body is getting enough fuel from anything it's not going to burn fat, because you aren't in a deficit. if you are consistently in a caloric deficit you will burn fat regardless of sugar intake. for weight loss it is just about a calorie deficit. *for health and nutrition there are other factors at play, not for weight loss.

But he's not losing weight which is the crux of his entire post despite being at a calorie deficit. Every body is different. I cannot eat at a calorie deficit and eat carbs and have weight loss. I just can't, would love too, as I love carbs, and I am pcos, so it just doesn't work at all for me. My friend on the other hand could eat potatoes all day as long as she's at her set calorie range and lose.

but if you have pcos and are insulin resistant that is the "medical condition" that would make it helpful for you to eschew carbs.
barring medical conditions macro distribution does not matter for weight loss. CICO isn't a way of eating, it's an equation for energy balance and it applies to everyone.

as for not losing weight in the 3 weeks since he started tracking and upped exercise, my guess is that most of that is water retention due to increased activity coupled with some inaccurate logging.

eta: with only 9 pounds to lose it's going to go slower than if he had a lot of extra weight.

letsdothis_again

Make sure you weigh your food. I was shocked to see how much I was actually over eating, when I thought I was on track. Lower your carbs, up your protein. And if you're strength training, don't go by the number on the scale. Your weight will fluctuate so much because you're constantly tearing and repairing your muscles. Go by measurements. My body has drastically changed over the last year and I've only lost 8lbs, but gained a ton of muscle and lost inches.

Timshel_

juanwilly wrote: »

I am VERY discouraged and disappointed in MFP and my lack of progress!

MFP is simply a tool to track intake and exercise calories, then calculate and track projected and actual weight loss or such. It is only as good as the data that is entered. That is the common denominator in most post like this, the person using the app and what they enter.

• So make sure you are weighing and tracking food properly.
• Make sure you don't over-estimate calories burned.
• Strive to get a better understanding of your bodies niches for what works and what doesn't.
• Do this over time.