Stalled for weeks and I'd just gotten started! Diary public. Advice?
GB333
Posts: 261 Member
I'm 38 years old, 5'8" tall. To give you some perspective, I am small framed and weighed about 120 through my twenties, which was a size 0/2. In my thirties, at 140 I am a size 4/6. So 140 is my goal weight.
I started in January at 176 and by just reducing to 1200 calories or less a day (no exercise), I quickly lost 11 pounds. (I also had the flu during this time, so I think that helped move that scale at the start of my journey.) I've been sitting at 165 for almost three weeks now and the scale HAS NOT BUDGED! Well, actually it has - I've "gained" and "lost" the same 2 or 3 pounds every day since January. Up, down, up, down, up, down - but never below 165. How am I possibly not losing weight eating less than 1200 calories a day???? (My maintenance calories are 1772 according to the Mifflin-St Jeor Formula.)
This isn't my first go round - I have a digital kitchen scale and weight my food. The only things I don't log are La Croix water and occasionally I won't log an alcoholic drink, which is a whiskey and coke zero a few nights a week (but I'm trying to be better and log these!) If I cheat and eat a piece of chocolate, I log it. I quit caffeine (except for the occasional coke zero and whiskey!) at the start of all of this - I was ADDICTED for years previously! I haven't touched junk food and have limited my sugar intake drastically. I was trying to eat paleo but with this stall over the last few weeks, I have slowly brought in a few carbs trying the "eat more to lose more" philosophy. (Plus I just really missed having an english muffin with my eggs!)
So what have I done to try to fix this?
1. I have now added in 30 minutes of cardio every morning - a brisk walk on the treadmill. I know it's not much, but it is better than nothing, right? I'm getting about 8,000+ steps a day now. (I sit at a desk job all day!) This has only been for the last three days, so nothing on the scale yet.
2. I have decided to cut out all alcohol (and coke zero) until the scale starts moving again. Starting today.
3. It's really hard to convince myself to eat MORE when the scale isn't moving, but I am trying to eat my full 1200 calories a day even though I'm not hungry and can do just fine on less, especially since I'm doing a little exercise now. (I was eating about 800 a day). I've tried to throw in snacks when I can. Today I had an english muffin AND my normal hard boiled egg for breakfast, trying to up the calories. Now that I'm moving away from paleo, I may add back in some oatmeal in the mornings.
4. Eat more veggies. I've been eating a lot of meat since I was doing paleo. I've allowed back in greek yogurt and a little bread now. But I wasn't eating enough veggies, I don't think, so I'm trying to up that.
So what do you say, oh wise MFP friends? What am I doing wrong and what else can I do to jump start the scale moving again? I can't blame THREE weeks on hormones!
One note: Lifting weights isn't going to happen, so although I agree it's a great idea, yeah - it's not me. Should I continue to try to eat more, even though I'm not hungry? Should I diversify my foods more? Am I getting too much sodium? (My diary is public.) What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is going on here?!!?! HELP!!!!!!
I started in January at 176 and by just reducing to 1200 calories or less a day (no exercise), I quickly lost 11 pounds. (I also had the flu during this time, so I think that helped move that scale at the start of my journey.) I've been sitting at 165 for almost three weeks now and the scale HAS NOT BUDGED! Well, actually it has - I've "gained" and "lost" the same 2 or 3 pounds every day since January. Up, down, up, down, up, down - but never below 165. How am I possibly not losing weight eating less than 1200 calories a day???? (My maintenance calories are 1772 according to the Mifflin-St Jeor Formula.)
This isn't my first go round - I have a digital kitchen scale and weight my food. The only things I don't log are La Croix water and occasionally I won't log an alcoholic drink, which is a whiskey and coke zero a few nights a week (but I'm trying to be better and log these!) If I cheat and eat a piece of chocolate, I log it. I quit caffeine (except for the occasional coke zero and whiskey!) at the start of all of this - I was ADDICTED for years previously! I haven't touched junk food and have limited my sugar intake drastically. I was trying to eat paleo but with this stall over the last few weeks, I have slowly brought in a few carbs trying the "eat more to lose more" philosophy. (Plus I just really missed having an english muffin with my eggs!)
So what have I done to try to fix this?
1. I have now added in 30 minutes of cardio every morning - a brisk walk on the treadmill. I know it's not much, but it is better than nothing, right? I'm getting about 8,000+ steps a day now. (I sit at a desk job all day!) This has only been for the last three days, so nothing on the scale yet.
2. I have decided to cut out all alcohol (and coke zero) until the scale starts moving again. Starting today.
3. It's really hard to convince myself to eat MORE when the scale isn't moving, but I am trying to eat my full 1200 calories a day even though I'm not hungry and can do just fine on less, especially since I'm doing a little exercise now. (I was eating about 800 a day). I've tried to throw in snacks when I can. Today I had an english muffin AND my normal hard boiled egg for breakfast, trying to up the calories. Now that I'm moving away from paleo, I may add back in some oatmeal in the mornings.
4. Eat more veggies. I've been eating a lot of meat since I was doing paleo. I've allowed back in greek yogurt and a little bread now. But I wasn't eating enough veggies, I don't think, so I'm trying to up that.
So what do you say, oh wise MFP friends? What am I doing wrong and what else can I do to jump start the scale moving again? I can't blame THREE weeks on hormones!
One note: Lifting weights isn't going to happen, so although I agree it's a great idea, yeah - it's not me. Should I continue to try to eat more, even though I'm not hungry? Should I diversify my foods more? Am I getting too much sodium? (My diary is public.) What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is going on here?!!?! HELP!!!!!!7
Replies
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It doesn't look like you are weighing all your food -- things like sweet potatoes, apples, bacon, and squash look to be by the piece, not weighed. Even the weights look very similar -- all your bananas are exactly 118 grams? You've got some entries that are less accurate (Eggs fried in oil -- how much oil? Better to log the individual eggs and the actual cooking oil).
I would take a few weeks and really focus on accurate logging before I determined that things were not working.13 -
I'm going to ask the obvious first question about your logging. The last few days are all I looked at but your quantities are all very round - full and half ounces, and "servings" and items. Do you weigh out to these amounts or are you actually fudging a little.
Second, if you haven't been logging your whisky, that's 200 cals for 3oz any given day and that will most certainly set you back. Now you're being mindful, give it another week or two with the booze logged and see how you go.6 -
They eggs were actually cooked in butter and I did log the butter.
I chose the fried listing rather than just adding two eggs so the calories would be a little high instead of low. I always try to air on the high side. The banana, you may be right - I chose the larger of the listings I could find for one banana, not a small one. Would you weigh it with or without the peel? If I am eating 1000 calories a day, and my banana and zucchini are slightly off, that still does not put me over 1200 a day. Half of a bell pepper is 18 calories.... so if I actually ate more than half (I actually did not even eat the full half), does that 10 calories really throw me off that much? I honestly don't think it's because I haven't weighed my squash, but I can certainly try that!! It can't hurt! 1 -
3. I am trying to eat my full 1200 calories a day even though I'm not hungry and can do just fine on less, especially since I'm doing a little exercise now. (I was eating about 800 a day).
These numbers are very low and to me suggests you may be eating more calories than you think. It is very easily done. Tighten up the weighing and logging and see how you get on.
Also, there is nothing wrong with the odd glass of whisky, but definitely log them as they can really add up (I love my whisky too!)3 -
There are also some of my "Recipes" in there, which I know you wouldn't be able to see. These are made up of all of the ingredients, weighed and added in, and then divided up by servings into equally sized containers. I really do make an effort to try to be accurate or on the high end, whenever possible. 2
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Bananas I weigh without the peel, peel is heavy haha!
I don't think it's the squash either, but I would never choose a listing for something that claimed to account for how it was cooked if I was seriously logging - like fried or baked or whatever. I always break down the components and because I am not going to weigh pans before and after to see what oil I did or didn't use, I either log everything I put in the pan or just poach the damn thing.
I really do think your sneaky whiskeys will turn out to be a factor.5 -
They eggs were actually cooked in butter and I did log the butter. I chose the fried listing rather than just adding two eggs so the calories would be a little high instead of low. I always try to air on the high side. The banana, you may be right - I chose the larger of the listings I could find for one banana, not a small one. Would you weigh it with or without the peel? If I am eating 1000 calories a day, and my banana and zucchini are slightly off, that still does not put me over 1200 a day. I honestly don't think it's because I haven't weighed my squash, but I can certainly try that!! It can't hurt!
For all foods, you only have to weigh the portion you're actually eating. You don't log things like peels or cores (unless you're actually eating them!).
The point isn't that the banana or zucchini alone are throwing you off (although I've had bananas that vary quite a bit), the point is that the constant flow of inaccurate entries can be enough to cause issues. It's never just one banana or some squash, it's the bacon and the Subway sandwich where the woman making the sandwich put more turkey than the nutritional information assumed and the whiskey you forgot to log and the Lindor truffle that was 15% bigger than the package assumed it would be and your homemade beef jerky having more calories than the generic database entry you chose and your baked potato being 50% bigger than you assumed, etc etc. They're all influencing your overall results.
Logging as accurately as possible when you can makes it easier for you to continue to lose weight when you're in situations where you do have to estimate or rely on someone else's measurement. If you're estimating or eyeballing all day long, you're eating up your margin of error for the times when it matters (that's my position anyway).
It's hard to make adjustments when you aren't sure what you are adjusting and that's why I generally recommend tightening up logging before making changes. Once you know how much you're actually eating, it will be easier to get an idea of what you might want to change.13 -
Gee, I sounded kinda rude! I didn't mean to come off that way! Please know I SOOOO appreciate you taking the time to look and respond!
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The subway sandwich was a bad day. I was at a meeting for work and it was catered. I have not eaten out at all this year except for that day. I totally don't trust restaurants!! I did not touch the chips or cookie that came in the box, and I stuck to my La Croix instead of the sweet tea they served!
You make some excellent points. I will definitely weigh EVERYTHING and see if I'm missing something.
I was very mad at my husband for buying those damn Lindor truffles for valentine's day! :-P
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I agree with others that tightening up the logging may solve your problem. When you're already at a fairly healthy BMI, the margin of error becomes quite small.
I'm 5'7", currently 145lbs and aiming for 135lbs and I try to stick to 1200 net cals. My weight has been shedding at a very good pace, most likely due to accurate logging.
I weigh all solids - even fruit and veggies - on my digital scale and record the gram weights. I search for USDA entries whenever I can, as they're more accurate (remember that all the MFP database is user-submitted and could be inaccurate!). I even log my couple tablespoons of almond milk in my tea, even though they're only 20 calories or so. It all adds up. 4 -
I log the creamer in my tea, as well! I never thought not weighing fruits veggies would amount to much since they are usually so low in calories to start with, but I will definitely give it a go!! No more Whiskey for awhile, so no need to worry about logging that. 0
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medium sweet potatoes; home made "this or that" Are those patties your recipe that you created? Just looks like generic logging to me. I would definitely suggest looking at your logging and entries chosen.1
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your deficit is going to be tight at that weight you can't afford to be picking entries like medium IMO1
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Gee, I sounded kinda rude! I didn't mean to come off that way! Please know I SOOOO appreciate you taking the time to look and respond!
From my point of view, you didn't sound rude at all. I know it's frustrating to not see the losses you want and it can be intimidating to ask for advice. Good luck!6 -
I can totally see what you mean. Many of the generic ones are my recipes, so you cannot see the detail. I weigh all meat - although with the most recent hamburger, my husband bought it from the butcher so I was unable to see the fat content (like how it's usually 93/7 and whatnot) so that one might be a bit off. In my stuffed peppers, that detail is included in the recipe (although I did not weigh each pepper) along with all of the other ingredients. I do weigh my beef jerky, but the person who mentioned that is right - I chose a "generic" entry. There is nothing in it that adds calories except the meat (I made it) and it's a VERY lean meat, but I could make a recipe for it next time. That one is difficult bc the weight before and after cooking is so extremely different - I wasn't sure how to go about it.3
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I can do this!!! Thanks everyone. My kitchen scale is going to be getting more of a workout! 9
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With all due respect, a medium sweet potato isn't a recipe and if you're not losing weight, you arent in a deficit. Take an honest look at your logging; the problem is in your logging. YOu're eating more than you think; burning less than you think or a combo of both. No weight loss for 4 weeks = maintenance.5
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mrsnattybulking wrote: »With all due respect, a medium sweet potato isn't a recipe .
No, that one is definitely not! Neither is a large banana. I'll start weighing those. Thank you! And I'll start weighing the produce that appears in my recipes, as well.
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mrsnattybulking wrote: »With all due respect, a medium sweet potato isn't a recipe .
No, that one is definitely not! Neither is a large banana. I'll start weighing those. Thank you! And I'll start weighing the produce that appears in my recipes, as well.
I think that's a good idea. I regularly have sweet potatoes and they vary SO MUCH. Also not sure if you weigh slices of bread but my bread says 40g/slice of 110 cal and I used to just grab a slice and log that but now that I'm trying to lose the last 10lbs I realized I have to weigh even that. that 40g slice was actually 65 grrrrrr3 -
So should you weigh a potato or sweet potato before or after cooking it? I imagine that could make a difference....?0
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I can totally see what you mean. Many of the generic ones are my recipes, so you cannot see the detail. I weigh all meat - although with the most recent hamburger, my husband bought it from the butcher so I was unable to see the fat content (like how it's usually 93/7 and whatnot) so that one might be a bit off. In my stuffed peppers, that detail is included in the recipe (although I did not weigh each pepper) along with all of the other ingredients. I do weigh my beef jerky, but the person who mentioned that is right - I chose a "generic" entry. There is nothing in it that adds calories except the meat (I made it) and it's a VERY lean meat, but I could make a recipe for it next time. That one is difficult bc the weight before and after cooking is so extremely different - I wasn't sure how to go about it.
The weight before and after cooking will 99.9% of the time be different. So, if you can, log the raw weight and just divide the jerky into the amount of servings you want.2 -
I don't eat bread but I have allowed back in english muffins occasionally. I can certainly weigh those no problem. I may need to buy a second kitchen scale for my work break room..... 4
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Yeah a 148g potato (medium) is very small actually.
Some of your entries don't specify cooked or raw either. Some like 'egg fried in oil' are too generic. If you're using inaccurate entries as the base for your recipes too, they can be off by quite a bit at the end.
In the end though, it's only been 3 weeks, and you're female, so it's possible that you're just retaining water if your period is due soon (I frequently retained water for 3 weeks when I was losing, then lost weight the week after my period).
Oh and I have absolutely no idea how you can not be starving with that diet. I'm jealous.3 -
I weigh everything I am going to cook when it is raw, and choose the appropriate DB entry.3
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Watch which entries you choose in the database as well, they're all user generated and are known to be inaccurate sometimes.
https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list
The above is a link to the USDA food database so you can check to see if the entry in the MFP database is accurate.2 -
dinadyna21 wrote: »Watch which entries you choose in the database as well, they're all user generated and are known to be inaccurate sometimes.
https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list
The above is a link to the USDA food database so you can check to see if the entry in the MFP database is accurate.
Thank you!!0 -
I think other people have made really good points about logging- 10 calories here and there soon adds up. It doesn’t matter so much if your bmi is high but you are a healthy weight already so it won’t shift all that easier. I would also say, I have a sticking weight which is around 10lb heavier than my goal weight and when I reach that weight it takes quite a long time and persistence to finally start losing weight again. I wouldn’t say 4 weeks is all that long to stall.4
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There are also some of my "Recipes" in there, which I know you wouldn't be able to see. These are made up of all of the ingredients, weighed and added in, and then divided up by servings into equally sized containers. I really do make an effort to try to be accurate or on the high end, whenever possible.
When you make a recipe, weigh the ingredients of everything that goes in, including water, so that you can say one serving is 1 gram. Then when you weigh your portion, you know how many grams you have and you log that.
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JeromeBarry1 wrote: »When you make a recipe, weigh the ingredients of everything that goes in, including water, so that you can say one serving is 1 gram. Then when you weigh your portion, you know how many grams you have and you log that.
Good idea, thanks!
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