Not losing. :(

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Rooskie73
Rooskie73 Posts: 30 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
MFP has me at 1650 calories, I set it for light activity. I joined a gym the end of June. I do weights and weight machines 3 days a week. The other days I either walk or ride a bike. I lost a couple pounds at first, and I am not losing. I have gone over 1650 a few days, but most of the time, I am below. Advice?

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  • Deanner03
    Deanner03 Posts: 371 Member
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    Are you weighing your food? Even if you're measuring with a measuring cup, etc, you may be eating more than you think. Weight (in grams) is the best way to estimate. Also, are you eating back your exercise calories? MFP overestimates them a great deal.
  • 2011rocket3touring
    2011rocket3touring Posts: 1,346 Member
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    Over how long a length of time? Have you gotten slimmer? Firmer?
  • Rooskie73
    Rooskie73 Posts: 30 Member
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    I didn't put some info in my original post. I am 62 years old, I am 5'8" tall, and I am currently 198. I am down 50+ pounds from a few years ago, so I know what to do.

    I do measure and weigh my foods. There have been a few times, very few, that I have gone over the calories that I am given for the day, but never more than 200 calories.

    I started at the gym the end of June, so I have been doing this a little less than 2 months. When I am at the gym, I am there 45-60 minutes. When I bike, it is for at least 20 minutes, and my walks are anywhere from 20-45 minutes. I started doing Map My Walk the beginning of July I believe.

    I know that I am stronger, and I feel better. I am more comfortable in some of my clothes, so maybe there are changes being made. My grandson is almost 20 pounds, and it is much easier to lift him.

    I go back to my oncologist on Friday, and I was really hoping to surprise her with more weight lost. I am on several medications because of health issues, and one of them was changed last month. Wonder if that could be part of my problem.

    I am going to set the thing for sedentary, and try that for a while and see what happens. Thanks everyone!
  • MommaGem2017
    MommaGem2017 Posts: 405 Member
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    Have you reset your calorie goal after losing the first 50 lbs? Our calorie needs reduce when we weigh less.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
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    I plugged your stats into a TDEE calculator and it looks like your Sedentary TDEE is about 1800. Keep in mind that "Sedentary" usually means some minimal walking about and light, short workouts, but mostly lots of sitting and lying down.

    So on a lazy day, to maintain your weight, you'd eat 1800 calories a day. That's only a 150 calorie difference from your current calorie goal! Forgetting to log (or mislogging) a couple tablespoons of peanut butter would be enough to put you right back up at Maintenance calories.

    Pair that with the fact that gym equipment and fitbits and online trackers (like Map My Run) can be inaccurate and you could simply be eating too much.

    Do you eat back 100% of the calories that the machines and apps are telling you that you're burning? If you are - I'd recommend only eating back 25-50% of what it tells you you've burned, to be safe.
  • Rooskie73
    Rooskie73 Posts: 30 Member
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    Mommagem, the 50 pound loss was a few years ago. I haven't gained what I had lost, and I was restarting to try to get more weight off. My calories are less than what I was eating then. Also, I was not doing the exercising like I am now, so it's amazing that I did get it off.

    toxikon, I am retired, but I really don't do much sitting or lying down. We watch our grandson 3 or 4 days a week, he is 10 months, so I am on the go with him when we have him. We take walks with him. We have the granddaughters one day a week, and we usually take them hiking, something active.

    My husband helps me with the measuring and logging of my foods. Funny that peanut butter was mentioned because he uses gobs of it, and I don't even eat a tablespoon at a time.

    I know all of the gym equipment, etc. isn't accurate for what they calculate, and I take that into consideration when I am planning a snack at night. I never eat all of the "exercise calories", I know that would be a definite gain. I do feel like my journaling is accurate. I have done Weight Watchers, First Place for Health, and 2 sessions at the hospital with a dietician, and we would turn in our journals to be "graded". I put down chocolate fudge once, and one of the leaders scolded me for it. For a while, I cheated and didn't put anything down like that on the paper I turned in, but I would include it in my own copy.

    I should have written a book!!
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
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    You are doing so many things right! I tracked exercise and diet very carefully for about 6 months, and my data told me that to maintain at about 155# (5'6", age 64 at the time), I could eat about 1600 calories as long as I walked about 30 miles a week and did strength training 2-3 times a week. So, when I wanted to drop a few pounds, I knew what I had to do. Trust your data. If you are not losing weight at 1650/day (or 11,550 a week) you need to consume fewer calories.

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