I'm at a loss.

Posts: 21 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I don't know what I'm doing wrong honestly. I'm meal prepping and can't lose weight I eat around 1400 cals a day and work outside building stuff all day. Can't seem to lose weight. Any tips?

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Replies

  • Posts: 1,868 Member
    limzzz wrote: »
    I don't know what I'm doing wrong honestly. I'm meal prepping and can't lose weight I eat around 1400 cals a day and work outside building stuff all day. Can't seem to lose weight. Any tips?

    Dianne covered the "how to" part. If you're eating "around" 1400 calories a day and not losing you need to have very accurate logging to see where your slip up is. Maybe you're really eating closer to 1500 a day. Or 1600?
  • Posts: 21 Member
    And the majority of the carbs come from broccoli and long grain brown rice. (Unless I eat oatmeal for breakfast but I'm getting burnt out on it.
  • Posts: 908 Member
    Open your diary and you'll get better feedback.
  • Posts: 1,921 Member
    Where's the flowchart?

    OP - simplest answer is that you're eating more than you think you are. Are you logging all of your food every day? Do you weigh your portions with a food scale?

    The second simplest answer is that you just need to give it more time. How long have you been trying to lose?
  • Posts: 1,921 Member
    limzzz wrote: »
    I scale everything out to the gram. I'm wondering if my carb intake is high. I just kinda need those carbs for being outside all day.

    The amount of carbs you choose to eat or not to eat will not impact your weight loss efforts as long as you are staying within your calorie targets. The only issue with some carbs is that many people find them low on the 'bulk vs. calorie' scale. That is, they provide a lot of calories relative to how full they leave you feeling after you eat.

    For example, for the same 200 calories that you would eat in a cup of brown rice, you could also choose to have another 4 ounces of chicken breast, or massive amounts of vegetables. Depending on the person, the latter choices may leave them feeling fuller for longer for the same amount of calories.
  • Posts: 49,027 Member
    limzzz wrote: »
    I don't know what I'm doing wrong honestly. I'm meal prepping and can't lose weight I eat around 1400 cals a day and work outside building stuff all day. Can't seem to lose weight. Any tips?
    So you work in construction? For like 8 hours a day, are male and only eat 1400 calories? If so, then your NET calorie intake is WELL under 1000 calories (I'm thinking it's around 600) and under eating can stifle your weight loss IF your body realizes that there's not enough calories to burn for normal every day function.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • Posts: 49,027 Member
    scarlett_k wrote: »

    They never stated they are male; its best not to assume someone's gender, especially since MFP doesn't provide any options other than male/female to display on one's profile.
    Lol, I have a 50% shot I guess. Either way, that's still going to be well under 1200 if the person's job is physically active for 8 hours out of a day.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • Posts: 1,921 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    If so, then your NET calorie intake is WELL under 1000 calories (I'm thinking it's around 600) and under eating can stifle your weight loss IF your body realizes that there's not enough calories to burn for normal every day function.

    You may want to clarify this so as not to give new energy to those who believe that starvation mode is real.
  • Posts: 14,776 Member
    limzzz wrote: »
    And the majority of the carbs come from broccoli and long grain brown rice. (Unless I eat oatmeal for breakfast but I'm getting burnt out on it.

    I would get burnt out on broccoli and brown rice, too. I often find that when I'm reaching the stage where I feel burnt out, I get lax with my logging and exercise (my NEAT goes down some, too). It might be time to change things up a bit just for your own mental well being.

    You still haven't given us much information. We don't know how many carbs you eat. We don't know your stats. We can't see your food diary. We're all just guessing unless you want to share more.
  • Posts: 49,027 Member
    DX2JX2 wrote: »

    You may want to clarify this so as not to give new energy to those who believe that starvation mode is real.
    Not "starvation mode" (which is a myth), but the body adapting to utilize what calories it has available to just function. It's not "holding" fat, but reducing metabolic rate to compensate.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • Posts: 125 Member
    Are you using the free version? I hate paying the $10/month, but it does provide a lot more information like carbs and fat.
  • Posts: 21 Member
    To clarify I am a male but do get confused for female due to my long hair. (LOL) but I have opened my diary for everyone to see.

  • Posts: 14,776 Member
    limzzz wrote: »
    To clarify I am a male but do get confused for female due to my long hair. (LOL) but I have opened my diary for everyone to see.

    The first thing anyone is going to ask is are you using a food scale. I see some things measured in grams, ounces, cups, patties, etc. If you have a food scale, then I'd make sure you're using it for everything -- even prepackaged stuff -- for a couple of weeks to see if you spot any issues. Things like peanut butter can be especially annoying when you start weighing instead of measuring.

    Are you weighing your chicken cooked or uncooked? The entry you use doesn't specify so I just want to be sure your method matches up with the entry.

    I don't see any cooking oils listed in your log. That's cool if you're not using any, but it's something a lot of people forget about. We had someone recently who was using almost a whole can of Pam spray every day and not accounting for it! Those little things add up fast.

    I went back a month and it looks like you've missed about 10 days of logging out of the last 30, but it also looks like you're buckling down more recently and logging every day since the 31st. That's great! Have you seen absolutely no change on the scale or just not as much as you like?
  • Posts: 14 Member

    The first thing anyone is going to ask is are you using a food scale. I see some things measured in grams, ounces, cups, patties, etc. If you have a food scale, then I'd make sure you're using it for everything -- even prepackaged stuff -- for a couple of weeks to see if you spot any issues. Things like peanut butter can be especially annoying when you start weighing instead of measuring.

    Are you weighing your chicken cooked or uncooked? The entry you use doesn't specify so I just want to be sure your method matches up with the entry.

    I don't see any cooking oils listed in your log. That's cool if you're not using any, but it's something a lot of people forget about. We had someone recently who was using almost a whole can of Pam spray every day and not accounting for it! Those little things add up fast.

    I went back a month and it looks like you've missed about 10 days of logging out of the last 30, but it also looks like you're buckling down more recently and logging every day since the 31st. That's great! Have you seen absolutely no change on the scale or just not as much as you like?

    I see a mistake I might be making.
    I am weighing cooked chicken, beef etc.
  • Posts: 21 Member

    The first thing anyone is going to ask is are you using a food scale. I see some things measured in grams, ounces, cups, patties, etc. If you have a food scale, then I'd make sure you're using it for everything -- even prepackaged stuff -- for a couple of weeks to see if you spot any issues. Things like peanut butter can be especially annoying when you start weighing instead of measuring.

    Are you weighing your chicken cooked or uncooked? The entry you use doesn't specify so I just want to be sure your method matches up with the entry.

    I don't see any cooking oils listed in your log. That's cool if you're not using any, but it's something a lot of people forget about. We had someone recently who was using almost a whole can of Pam spray every day and not accounting for it! Those little things add up fast.

    I went back a month and it looks like you've missed about 10 days of logging out of the last 30, but it also looks like you're buckling down more recently and logging every day since the 31st. That's great! Have you seen absolutely no change on the scale or just not as much as you like?

    I use my slow cooker for everything. Its way and healthy. But the chicken I don't know honestly I just know I weight it to meal prep after I cook it. But yes I try and use my scale as much as possible. And no I have been stuck at 262 for about 2 weeks.
  • Posts: 14,776 Member

    I see a mistake I might be making.
    I am weighing cooked chicken, beef etc.

    Most nutrition labels on packaging have the information for either the raw weight or the "as packaged" weight in the case of things like frozen foods that are pre-cooked, unless the package says otherwise. There are entries in the database for both the cooked and the uncooked weight, so it you prefer to weigh it after cooking that's cool as long as you're picking an entry that matches the way you're weighing it.
  • Posts: 14,776 Member
    limzzz wrote: »

    I use my slow cooker for everything. Its way and healthy. But the chicken I don't know honestly I just know I weight it to meal prep after I cook it. But yes I try and use my scale as much as possible. And no I have been stuck at 262 for about 2 weeks.

    As I said upthread, two weeks may not even be enough time to worry about. You're making a lot of changes in your diet and your body may do some weird things for a couple of weeks in response. In the meantime, get your logging in order. If you don't know what entries you're using then you need to find out. If you're weighing things after cooking then you need to make sure you're using entries that match or are using the recipe builder. It's a lifesaver for things like that.

    There's a great sticky in the "must reads" post at the top of the General Weight Loss section that has really good tips on making sure you're calorie counting accurately: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads#latest
  • Posts: 14 Member

    Most nutrition labels on packaging have the information for either the raw weight or the "as packaged" weight in the case of things like frozen foods that are pre-cooked, unless the package says otherwise. There are entries in the database for both the cooked and the uncooked weight, so it you prefer to weigh it after cooking that's cool as long as you're picking an entry that matches the way you're weighing it.

    Agreed because water has no calories, so when cooked the foods typically become more dense (proteins).
    It has been fairly close though (for what I am making)
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