Doubting MFP's value!

CaptainHandsome

malibu927 wrote: »

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

True, but if the percentage is consistently going in the direction you want it to go, the number itself might be wrong, but you're still accomplishing what you've set out to do.

MtnScramble

Great Information above including the flow chart. Time and patience are very important. With not a lot of weight to lose and the great increase in exercise your body is trying to find a new normal.

Additionally, a friend I work with was struggling with gaining weight. She increased exercise and cut back food. Was told that she must be logging incorrectly. etc. etc.

She switched doctors and the doctor and nutritionist went a few rounds. Now she eats small meals and does not go longer than 2.5 hours between bites, does not exercise and the weight has melted off.

Be patient, accurate, make some changes suggested above, keep paying attention and do not neglect getting medical/nutrition help if your hard work continues without weight loss/muscle gain.

juanwilly

Timshel_ wrote: »

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.

I don't think that I am overestimating my calories burned in that they are automatically entered in MFP by my Garmin Vivosmart HR+ tracker, and if anything, it tends to under report!

crushingitdaily12345

I am new to MFP... so thank you for reading this if you see it. I am a 39/m from Wisconsin. I am really motivated to get healthy for the first time in my life. I have been using MFP for 35 days, and have lost 24 lbs. I have noticed that I feel much better, and am excited to get looking and feeling better. Feel free to friend me for support, accountability, and friendship!

juanwilly

Thanks to all--keep it coming!

itsbasschick

i see you're listing things like half an avocado and a cup of orange juice. did you weigh the avocado meat? avocado sizes vary so that a small one could have less than half the calories of a large one. did you weigh your bread and butter and measure or weigh your OJ? a slice of bread, for example, is often more than a serving.

if you're not losing weight and you're

- accurately weighing all your food and
- choosing food listings (many listings here are very inaccurate) you know to match the USDA or label info
- you're either overestimating your calorie burns
- overestimating your activity level or
- are lower muscle than the average person your size.

keep in mind that many normal food items like break list a single serving weight as much smaller than one piece/serving. my husband's favorite large slice bread weighs in at about 2 servings per slice, for example, and a lot of items that use cup or tablespoon measurements are often way off. if you don't weigh your food, you don't know how much you're eating.

and here's a story i repeat often. there's a guy here who couldn't lose weight, so he posted. turns out that monday through friday he got an 8 ounce serving of potato salad at the deli. someone here posted it as 45 calories per serving with no serving size, and that was the entry he chose to use, so he was logging 225 calories per week for potato salad. turns out 8 ounces was not one but 2 servings, and each serving was around 450 calories, so he was under-logging by 4275 calories per week. and since he always chose a random listing, he had a few other less dramatic discrepancies, as well, so he was eating about 6,000 calories per week more than he was logging. choosing accurate food listings makes a big difference!

if you know none of those things are true, and they're the case for 99% of people who ask "why am i not losing weight?" you might want to get checked for diabetes and thyroid problems.

JeanieWww

juanwilly wrote: »

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!

You're only eating 60-80 percent or you're UNDER your calorie allotment by 60-80%? Either way, it sounds like you're not getting enough of your calories eaten. I stopped losing when I wasn't eating enough of my calories and a thread like this set me straight.

Keep in mind that the scale does not know the difference between water retention, fat, muscle or excrement. It could be any or a mixture of those.

JeanieWww

malibu927 wrote: »

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

I'm VERY interested in how it knows how much body fat you've lost. How does the fitbit work??

subcounter

I am not sure what you expect to hear honestly, I think people are pretty spot on. While you're not over-estimating, your HRM monitors app's algorithm can be over-estimating your burned calories. Simply eat less, and check back with the scale. I would start with eating back 80% of your total burned calories and go from there.

I mean another thing is you say you gained 2 pounds. Thats excess 7000 calories over 18 days, which is around 390 calories per day surplus. Lets say you picked up 1 lb/week loss as your goal, that makes you 500 calories deficit per day already. So you need to go above and beyond, and eat 890 calories surplus per day to gain 2 lbs accidentally. That doesn't sound plausible one bit.

If you are properly:

• using a scale and tracking right
• eating back correct values of calories back. This will need a lot of testing back and forth with scale.
• following MFP guided weight loss calories

There is absolutely no reason for you to not lose weight. Unless you have a problem with your metabolism & hormones. I would check that with your doctor.

Its probably some water retention, combined with over-estimation of your workout calories that kept you on maintenance.

Morgaen73

From my side ... I've lost 62kg with MFP so it does have value, if used correctly.

Are you not eating too little? Eating 60-80% UNDER your calorie goal and then still doing as much exercise as you can seems counter reductive. Just follow the guidelines mfp gives you.

I've been struggling with breaking through a barrier for months and the moment I upped my calories a bit my weight went down.

juanwilly

My activity tracker is a high-end Garmin Vivosmart Heart Rate + GPS device so I think that it is pretty accurate for calorie expenditures as well as Intensity Minutes of exercise. It is not the toy-like fitbit that many use; I had one of those and returned it immediately! A true joke! GOOD NEWS! I lost 1 pound today as per my Eat Smart Digital Scale!
Thanks to everyone and again, keep it coming!

juanwilly

These are my numbers from yesterday: 1,778 Consumed -787* Active = 991Net
* Active = Total Calories - BMR Calories; so I ate/consumed 1778+ calories and my goal as per MFP is 1700 cal per day. Thus I tried to not "eat back" many Active calories.

* 58% of 1,700 Net Calorie Goal