Is three weeks too short a time to see results?

jbeebs101

So, the issue is that I've been eating right in relation to calorie intake and healthy choices, exercising 5x a week, and only drinking water (74oz+/daily).

My exercise is usually moderate intensity on strength training/toning days, and high intensity on cardio days. I actually monitor my heart rate to make sure I'm reaching these intensities.

According to MyFitnessPal, I should only be taking in 1200 calories a day to lose a pound a week. I tried that for about a week and I felt that it just wasn't enough, that it was starving my body at that low. My RMR with activity level is about 2,100 calories/day, so I knew 1200 was way too low. I moved up my calories to 1400 per day, and honestly, I struggle to eat that much, I don't really have much of an appetite and tend to eat only when I'm hungry or if I know it's been three or four hours.

I haven't been following my macronutrients very well, and this may be to my detriment. I just recently changed the ratios, and discovered that I am way behind on protein consumption. Anyway, I haven't lost a single pound in three weeks. I can feel that I'm getting stronger, able to do more bodyweight and dumbell exercises before muscle failure, and I understand that muscle weighs a lot more than fat.

My body fat scale shows that I've gained .5% of muscle and lost no body fat. I don't understand how that's possible, but okay. I have a EatSmart Precision GetFit Digital Body Fat Scale. I do weigh myself under the same conditions...before eating in the morning every time I weigh. I will be going to see a personal trainer tomorrow to get accurate measurements, RMR (not breathing test, though), macronutrient breakdown, and muscle/body fat percentages. I'm really hoping it will help, but I have a feeling it's going to be the same information that I already have. /sigh

I have never had any issues with thyroid disease, but it is in family history. Any advice in the matter would be greatly appreciated.

ritchiedrama

MyFitnessPal is a poor indicator of the macros you sshould be taking in.

If you aree weight training, use this calculator..

Set it to "Little/No Exercise" as it over-estimates needs (usually).

http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

ElliottTN

1. 3 weeks is not enough time.
2. 1200 is not too low. You may have felt like you were starving if your macros were way out of whack. Maybe mix in some slower digesting things like oatmeal and such. If you want to know what's arcing feels like then drop those calories down to around 600 for a week ad then your 1200 will feel like a binge.(I don't suggest you do this but just saying it for a reality check)
3. If you are doing any part of strength training: protein protein protein. This is the only piece of the macros on mfp that I don't agree with. It really doesn't take into account strength training when it calculates them.
4. If you are suppossed to be at 1200 a day, depending on what methodology you used to calculate it, you may need to be eating the calories back you burned. I'm guessing if it calculated 1200 then you need to be eating those back.
5. Bf scales are so wildly off its insane. They are useless. The closest you can come to a round about is by a high quality calibers. Even then those can be off by 1 or 2 percentage points. If you want the real deal on your bf% then you will need to go to a doctor or local university if they have the equipment.

jbeebs101

Thank you for the website. According to the formula using no/little exercise, I should be eating between 1236 -1476 calories to lose weight. It seems to put a real emphasis on protein while carbs is very low. It's good to know that I have that range in case I can't really fit in the 1400. I exercise in the morning and eat a light breakfast, I suppose I need to plan my meals better. I wasn't saying I was starving on 1200 calories, I thought my body was going into starvation mode because the intake compared to my RMR was too low. I have that range to go by now and I really do need to bury myself in protein. I use the body fat scale as more of a progress tool than taking the numbers seriously. I honestly think my BF is less, but that's to be determined.