Help! I’m not losing
katherineleggett
Posts: 129 Member
This month I have gone from an office job and no exercise to a more active job and the gym 5 days a week. I’ve gone from 3 takeaway a week to 1 and making healthier choices for all my meals. I have kept this up now for 4 weeks. Been to get my measurements. My bmi is the same. My body fat % is the same and I’ve only lost a pound! What am I doing wrong?!
0
Replies
-
Do you weigh absolutely everything you eat?5
-
-
How many calories a day are you eating? "Making healthier choices" is a relative term. If you are eating the same amount of calories as you are burning, you will not lose weight. And if you're not properly hitting macros as well as weight training, you will still lose weight on a deficit but will be losing more muscle mass than necessary and less fat than you could be.9
-
You're being impatient.9
-
djeffreys10 wrote: »How many calories a day are you eating? "Making healthier choices" is a relative term. If you are eating the same amount of calories as you are burning, you will not lose weight. And if you're not properly hitting macros as well as weight training, you will still lose weight on a deficit but will be losing more muscle mass than necessary and less fat than you could be.
Eating between 1200-1500 a day. Burning 400-500 active calories a day
3 -
TavistockToad wrote: »You're being impatient.
And are you actually eating less?2 -
The most reliable way to lose is to count your calories. But if you’re not losing over a long period of time then we can safely assuming you’re eating too many.
Edit: if you’re not weighing then your calorie ‘estimate’ is redundant.5 -
how do you properly hit macros?
what is that?
0 -
katherineleggett wrote: »djeffreys10 wrote: »How many calories a day are you eating? "Making healthier choices" is a relative term. If you are eating the same amount of calories as you are burning, you will not lose weight. And if you're not properly hitting macros as well as weight training, you will still lose weight on a deficit but will be losing more muscle mass than necessary and less fat than you could be.
Eating between 1200-1500 a day. Burning 400-500 active calories a daykatherineleggett wrote: »
You don't weigh your portions, you estimate. You're eating more calories than you think. Weigh/measure EVERYTHING you put in your mouth.12 -
TavistockToad wrote: »You're being impatient.
And are you actually eating less?
2 scrambled eggs and spinach or porridge for breakfast
Soup or salads for lunch (minimal sauce and no potatoes)
Fish and veg, pasta dishes, home made curry’s and chillis for tea.
Cut down snacking and loads of water (never used to drink any. Now I have 2 litres a day)
5 -
djeffreys10 wrote: »katherineleggett wrote: »djeffreys10 wrote: »How many calories a day are you eating? "Making healthier choices" is a relative term. If you are eating the same amount of calories as you are burning, you will not lose weight. And if you're not properly hitting macros as well as weight training, you will still lose weight on a deficit but will be losing more muscle mass than necessary and less fat than you could be.
Eating between 1200-1500 a day. Burning 400-500 active calories a daykatherineleggett wrote: »
You don't weigh your portions, you estimate. You're eating more calories than you think. Weigh/measure EVERYTHING you put in your mouth.
I can’t always do that as I live with parents now who make my tea. I do it when I can1 -
getskinny1973 wrote: »how do you properly hit macros?
what is that?
Macros are protein/carbs/fat. You properly hit them by eating the amount of grams of each that you have planned, depending on your goals. When I am trying to gain weight, I may shoot for at least 200 grams of protein, at least 500 grams of carbs, and whatever fats. But I get to the point that I have to eat over 4000 calories a day when I am trying to bulk. Cutting may be more like 180 grams of protein, 100 grams of carbs, and whatever in fats going for around 2000 calories a day.0 -
katherineleggett wrote: »djeffreys10 wrote: »katherineleggett wrote: »djeffreys10 wrote: »How many calories a day are you eating? "Making healthier choices" is a relative term. If you are eating the same amount of calories as you are burning, you will not lose weight. And if you're not properly hitting macros as well as weight training, you will still lose weight on a deficit but will be losing more muscle mass than necessary and less fat than you could be.
Eating between 1200-1500 a day. Burning 400-500 active calories a daykatherineleggett wrote: »
You don't weigh your portions, you estimate. You're eating more calories than you think. Weigh/measure EVERYTHING you put in your mouth.
I can’t always do that as I live with parents now who make my tea. I do it when I can
I'm not scolding you, just answering your question. You don't know how many calories a day you're eating because you don't actually know your portion size. Most likely, you're eating more calories than you think.16 -
djeffreys10 wrote: »katherineleggett wrote: »djeffreys10 wrote: »katherineleggett wrote: »djeffreys10 wrote: »How many calories a day are you eating? "Making healthier choices" is a relative term. If you are eating the same amount of calories as you are burning, you will not lose weight. And if you're not properly hitting macros as well as weight training, you will still lose weight on a deficit but will be losing more muscle mass than necessary and less fat than you could be.
Eating between 1200-1500 a day. Burning 400-500 active calories a daykatherineleggett wrote: »
You don't weigh your portions, you estimate. You're eating more calories than you think. Weigh/measure EVERYTHING you put in your mouth.
I can’t always do that as I live with parents now who make my tea. I do it when I can
I'm not scolding you, just answering your question. You don't know how many calories a day you're eating because you don't actually know your portion size. Most likely, you're eating more calories than you think.
I probably am. But I’ve been using this app and scanning all my food for 6 years now. I just can’t see how I’ve made so many improvements and it make no difference3 -
katherineleggett wrote: »This month I have gone from an office job and no exercise to a more active job and the gym 5 days a week. I’ve gone from 3 takeaway a week to 1 and making healthier choices for all my meals. I have kept this up now for 4 weeks. Been to get my measurements. My bmi is the same. My body fat % is the same and I’ve only lost a pound! What am I doing wrong?!
It's been 4 weeks. How do you know you've done anything wrong?
You may or may not be eating in a deficit. Can't tell based on what you describe, or what your goals are. Weigh and measure everything if you can. If you can't, at least give it some more time to account for fluctuations. If, after another 4 weeks, you are still at the same weight, you are probable eating at maintenance. If you are carrying extra water now, you might already be eating at a deficit, but your fluctuations could be masking it.
What are your goals? How much are you trying to lose? You can make all kinds of "healthier" choices for foods, but if you eat more than you burn, you'll gain weight.2 -
Oh no, another "help it's been a few weeks and I haven't lost any weight" thread.
You don't weigh your food.
It's been less than several months.
You say you don't eat big portions, which is all relative. A big portion for me is 3000 calories in one sitting. What's big for you may be puny for someone else. If I could eat 10,000 calories a day and get away with it, I would.
Look at your food objectively, as in weigh it down to the gram, eat below your TDEE, do that for 2-3 months, then come back with another thread saying you're not losing weight.
Spoilers: You won't.10 -
Looking at your food diary, you have some pretty generic entries, unfinished days, and blank days. If you're not logging accurately it's very common for a user to be consuming more food than they think, especially if relying upon volume measurements and stated portions of packaged foods, which can vary by up to 20%. Methods by which calorie burn are calculated/estimated can be inaccurate as well. If you're eating back all of those calories you could be diminishing your deficit that way, or some combination of both.
Additionally, going from 0-100 on your activity between your job change and exercise you're more than likely retaining glycogen (water) from working your muscles. I find that when I'm consistent with my workouts (weight lifting MWF) that the 1-2 days between workouts isn't enough to deplete my glycogen stores completely which results in around 2lbs of extra weight. That's not backed by any study, just what I've personally observed; if I take a full week off from lifting I see a good 2-3lb drop in the scale by Wednesday-Thursday of that week.
Four weeks ultimately isn't really all that long of a time to see results either.
- Tighten up your logging (highly recommend getting a food scale) so you know exactly how many calories you're consuming
- Wait another 3-4 weeks, if you're still not losing, however many calories you're consuming is too many, reduce by an modest/appropriate amount and re-evaluate again in another few weeks.
For reference these are the commonly referenced appropriate loss rates depending on how much weight needs to lose:
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lb/week is ideal
If you have 15-25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lb/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lb/week is ideal
7 -
Given your random measurements situation you're doing excellent and are just being impatient.
I am assuming you're going to a pharmacy to weigh yourself?
So your clothes are different, the time of day is different, what you've eaten or drunk is different. And normal weight fluctuations and new exercise can easily mask 5lbs. Even more of you take clothes and shoes into account.
So the answer is that you don't have the ability to evaluate your results yet. Except that they're encouraging (down 1lb)6 -
Think of it this way...
What would you say to your friend if they came to you and said "Help! I'm trying to save money by shopping at a different grocery store but it's not working, I'm still living paycheck to paycheck! What do I do?"
You'd probably respond "Well... you have to track your spending habits to see where you can save some money and set a budget and stick to it."
Same with calories. Without tracking your calories properly and sticking to your "budget", you have no idea what your intake actually is. If you want to be able to predict your results, you need data. "Healthy eating" means nothing in regards to weight loss.10 -
You are eating less than you burn exactly so much as to lose 1lbs per month. If you want to lose more you need to eat less (or move more). Healthy foods are often high in calories. So you can gain by eating healthy pretty easilly.katherineleggett wrote: »What am I doing wrong?!
You aren't weighting your food so you don't know how much you are eating. You are guessing and estimating. But you don't know.2 -
Think of it this way...
What would you say to your friend if they came to you and said "Help! I'm trying to save money by shopping at a different grocery store but it's not working, I'm still living paycheck to paycheck! What do I do?"
You'd probably respond "Well... you have to track your spending habits to see where you can save some money."
Same with calories. Without tracking your calories properly, you have no idea what your intake actually is. If you want to be able to predict your results, you need data. "Healthy eating" means nothing in regards to weight loss.
Yeah, for accuracy. But you could always say: shop less.
But here we have a situation where we don't even know what's in the bank account because the bank has a random service fees policy and one month can charge $1 in fees and the next $100 in fees and they don't even tell you which one they applied, just your final account balance!
So you will have to go through a few paychecks before you're sure that you're still living pay check to pay check or whether things have changed based on what you did!!!6 -
gebeziseva wrote: »You are eating less than you burn exactly so much as to lose 1lbs per month. If you want to lose more you need to eat less (or move more). Healthy foods are often high in calories. So you can gain by eating healthy pretty easilly.katherineleggett wrote: »What am I doing wrong?!
You aren't weighting your food so you don't know how much you are eating. You are guessing and estimating. But you don't know.
I can’t scan my food as I don’t cook it anymore. I’ve had to move in with my inlaws and they make tea before I get in from work. I feel so rude asking what’s in it1 -
katherineleggett wrote: »gebeziseva wrote: »You are eating less than you burn exactly so much as to lose 1lbs per month. If you want to lose more you need to eat less (or move more). Healthy foods are often high in calories. So you can gain by eating healthy pretty easilly.katherineleggett wrote: »What am I doing wrong?!
You aren't weighting your food so you don't know how much you are eating. You are guessing and estimating. But you don't know.
I can’t scan my food as I don’t cook it anymore. I’ve had to move in with my inlaws and they make tea before I get in from work. I feel so rude asking what’s in it
Then look at it this way, you're under estimating how much you're eating.
Eat a bit less.6 -
TavistockToad wrote: »katherineleggett wrote: »gebeziseva wrote: »You are eating less than you burn exactly so much as to lose 1lbs per month. If you want to lose more you need to eat less (or move more). Healthy foods are often high in calories. So you can gain by eating healthy pretty easilly.katherineleggett wrote: »What am I doing wrong?!
You aren't weighting your food so you don't know how much you are eating. You are guessing and estimating. But you don't know.
I can’t scan my food as I don’t cook it anymore. I’ve had to move in with my inlaws and they make tea before I get in from work. I feel so rude asking what’s in it
Then look at it this way, you're under estimating how much you're eating.
Eat a bit less.
I do eat less. I always do a smaller portion. I have less pasta, rice and skip on the garlic bread. I don’t know what more I can do when I don’t have the option to scan the food like I usually do3 -
TavistockToad wrote: »katherineleggett wrote: »gebeziseva wrote: »You are eating less than you burn exactly so much as to lose 1lbs per month. If you want to lose more you need to eat less (or move more). Healthy foods are often high in calories. So you can gain by eating healthy pretty easilly.katherineleggett wrote: »What am I doing wrong?!
You aren't weighting your food so you don't know how much you are eating. You are guessing and estimating. But you don't know.
I can’t scan my food as I don’t cook it anymore. I’ve had to move in with my inlaws and they make tea before I get in from work. I feel so rude asking what’s in it
Then look at it this way, you're under estimating how much you're eating.
Eat a bit less.
How do you know she needs to eat less?
What was her water weight, clothing, and water drunk, food eaten before the measurement variation between her two outside of the house scale measurements a month apart?8 -
katherineleggett wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »katherineleggett wrote: »gebeziseva wrote: »You are eating less than you burn exactly so much as to lose 1lbs per month. If you want to lose more you need to eat less (or move more). Healthy foods are often high in calories. So you can gain by eating healthy pretty easilly.katherineleggett wrote: »What am I doing wrong?!
You aren't weighting your food so you don't know how much you are eating. You are guessing and estimating. But you don't know.
I can’t scan my food as I don’t cook it anymore. I’ve had to move in with my inlaws and they make tea before I get in from work. I feel so rude asking what’s in it
Then look at it this way, you're under estimating how much you're eating.
Eat a bit less.
I do eat less. I always do a smaller portion. I have less pasta, rice and skip on the garlic bread. I don’t know what more I can do when I don’t have the option to scan the food like I usually do
Well I think part of your problem is that you're retaining water from increased exercise so you need to be more patient...
Give it another 3 - 4 weeks, but if you're still only losing a pound a month it's because you're not in a large enough deficit.1 -
Sorry guys the only answer is keep doing what you're doing. And making the best choices that you can while waiting out for more clear results over time.4
-
TavistockToad wrote: »katherineleggett wrote: »gebeziseva wrote: »You are eating less than you burn exactly so much as to lose 1lbs per month. If you want to lose more you need to eat less (or move more). Healthy foods are often high in calories. So you can gain by eating healthy pretty easilly.katherineleggett wrote: »What am I doing wrong?!
You aren't weighting your food so you don't know how much you are eating. You are guessing and estimating. But you don't know.
I can’t scan my food as I don’t cook it anymore. I’ve had to move in with my inlaws and they make tea before I get in from work. I feel so rude asking what’s in it
Then look at it this way, you're under estimating how much you're eating.
Eat a bit less.
How do you know she needs to eat less?
What was her water weight, clothing, and water drunk, food eaten before the measurement variation between her two outside of the house scale measurements a month apart?
Maybe look at my reply to OP...0 -
katherineleggett wrote: »gebeziseva wrote: »You are eating less than you burn exactly so much as to lose 1lbs per month. If you want to lose more you need to eat less (or move more). Healthy foods are often high in calories. So you can gain by eating healthy pretty easilly.katherineleggett wrote: »What am I doing wrong?!
You aren't weighting your food so you don't know how much you are eating. You are guessing and estimating. But you don't know.
I can’t scan my food as I don’t cook it anymore. I’ve had to move in with my inlaws and they make tea before I get in from work. I feel so rude asking what’s in it
I see. Then you need to go by estimating. If you're losing slowly then you're eating too much. There is only one answer really. It is always "too much food" (for the given amount of activity). But you knew that already I think because it is common sense. Everyone knows that to lose weight they need to eat less.
If you can't know exactly how much less then you have to go by your gut and see what works. What you have been doing the last few weeks works for 1lbs per month. Go by that. Eat less. If you start losing too quickly start eating more.
I'm sure you already know this so I don't know why I'm typing it.
You'll be fine.0 -
katherineleggett wrote: »djeffreys10 wrote: »katherineleggett wrote: »djeffreys10 wrote: »katherineleggett wrote: »djeffreys10 wrote: »How many calories a day are you eating? "Making healthier choices" is a relative term. If you are eating the same amount of calories as you are burning, you will not lose weight. And if you're not properly hitting macros as well as weight training, you will still lose weight on a deficit but will be losing more muscle mass than necessary and less fat than you could be.
Eating between 1200-1500 a day. Burning 400-500 active calories a daykatherineleggett wrote: »
You don't weigh your portions, you estimate. You're eating more calories than you think. Weigh/measure EVERYTHING you put in your mouth.
I can’t always do that as I live with parents now who make my tea. I do it when I can
I'm not scolding you, just answering your question. You don't know how many calories a day you're eating because you don't actually know your portion size. Most likely, you're eating more calories than you think.
I probably am. But I’ve been using this app and scanning all my food for 6 years now. I just can’t see how I’ve made so many improvements and it make no difference
scanned entries can be wrong and the serving sizes on packaged food can be off by up to 20% per serving. so yes you could be eating more than you think. same with the soup/salad. some salads are calorie bombs it all depends on whats in them. food calories and weights also change often so something that was a 28g serving may only now be a 24g serving or even more, and that serving can be as much as 35g per serving or more if you dont weigh it.
I had a protein bar that said 60g for the bar which was 1 serving. it ended up being 80g so that means more calories for the bar. same with peanut butter. a tbsp if not weighed can be as much as 2 tbsp. Thats an extra 100+ calories. its not hard to be off on calorie counts. If I scan something I make sure that the info matches up with the label. I only scan liquids though if I am out.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 426 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions