I need advice as to why calorie deficit doesn't work for me

BernadetteChurch

I just had a quick look at your diary and either you log very inconsistently or you eat very inconsistently and are sometimes way under your daily calorie goal. I also see quite a lot of fast/processed food. Where you can, try and prepare all your own food, and weigh and measure everything so you know you're calculating your calories correctly and also fuelling your body with the right foods and the right number of calories to support all your exercise.

webdevsoup

With all the exercise you're doing, what is your total calorie consumption for each day?

In other words, on exercise day, are you burning a total of 2500 calories, but only consuming 1200, giving you a deficit of 1300? This could be the problem too. A deficit of 500 calories a day will lead to 1 lb loss per week. If you are in a deficit of 1300, you're not even consuming what your body needs to survive, and your body will go in to "starvation" mode, and store calories as much as possible. You should eat 500 calories less than your daily caloric needs. 3500 calories = 1 lb of fat, according to sources.

So if you burn 2500 calories, you should consume 2000 calories per day. Of good foods, not crap foods.

Samstan101

If I've read your posts correctly you're eating around 1000cals and not eating back your exercise calories - you are surviving on a net around 600cals a day! Its no wonder your metabolism is sluggish. You really need to eat more. Set MFP to the weight loss goal you want (max 2lbs a week dependent on the amount you're trying to lose), log all your exercise (my advise would be to do this via your Fitbit and the Fitbit website as I think MFP overstates calories used) and then eat within a 100 of the calories MFP is saying that you need each day to achieve your planned weight loss including any extra calories you burned during exercise. Log all your food, weigh & measure everything. Do that and ignore the scales for a month or 2 and you should find you've got your metabolism working and you'll start losing weight.

Good luck

amyismintal

Hey Everyone,

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it has totally changed the way I think and feel about food. I feel free from worrying about how many calories I am consuming and staying away from the "bad" foods. I used to go through binges and then promise to myself that I would compensate for this on "Monday" and beat myself up for eating a piece of cake! If any of you act like this then please read this book...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Have-Your-Skinny-Jeans-ebook/dp/B00B9JKNBC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1375705283&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+have+your+cake+and+your+skinny+jeans+too

Please note I have lost around 90lbs by dieting but I have been really struggling to maintain my weight without it ruining my life and I feel in a years time I could re-gain it all back but thanks to this book I feel differently. I actually let myself eat a bag of chips without guilt and stopped when I was full instead of eating through the whole bag as "I had ruined by diet anyway may as well finish..."

I would dread occasions where I would be going to a restaurant or a friends house in case there was food there and I'm not sure exactly how many calories would be in the food but now I feel completely in control.. I will eat WHATEVER I want but simply stop when I am full and also not feel guilty about what I just ate.
Hope this helps someone in a similar situation to me so PLEASE read it :)

ms_leanne

With all the exercise you're doing, what is your total calorie consumption for each day?

In other words, on exercise day, are you burning a total of 2500 calories, but only consuming 1200, giving you a deficit of 1300? This could be the problem too. A deficit of 500 calories a day will lead to 1 lb loss per week. If you are in a deficit of 1300, you're not even consuming what your body needs to survive, and your body will go in to "starvation" mode, and store calories as much as possible. You should eat 500 calories less than your daily caloric needs. 3500 calories = 1 lb of fat, according to sources.

So if you burn 2500 calories, you should consume 2000 calories per day. Of good foods, not crap foods.

THIS^^^^

You're definitely not consuming enough. Even on your rest day you should be eating more than 800 cals a day.

toutmonpossible

However, didn't you post in another thread that you spent years fasting for a day and then eating whatever for a day, then fasting again? If your body is used to that, and you aren't keeping your calories consistent now, it could be clinging to its resources for dear life. I definitely agree with those saying keep it consistent, eat ENOUGH for Long Enough and your metabolism will (hopefully) return to its natural state.

I don't know what she was eating, but Alternate Day Fasting is a form of Intermittent Fasting that has worked for people. Not eating or eating very little, every other day will not hurt your metabolism so long as you are eating a healthy number of calories over the course of the week.

The OP's calorie range-- 1,000 to 1,800 is VERY wide. I'm skeptical.

3laine75

a calorie deficit works for everyone - if you aren't losing, its because you aren't in deficit.

this may be as you have an unusually low BMR (like me) - in this case online calculators won't give you an accurate estimate and you should consider getting it measured accurately.

or, you are not logging EVERYTHING or not logging everything ACCURATELY.

hope this helps

jonnythan

If you open your diary, it will probably become very obvious what you're doing wrong.

leahgoldgirl

First, you don't look obese in your photo, so some stats might help (are you actually overweight, or are you trying to lose to an unhealthy extent?).

Second, if you are really overweight, have you had your thyroid levels checked? If you have and they are good and you are in fact obese and not one of these people who is at an unhealthily low weight and trying to lose more (honestly, I can't tell from your picture), than you are not eating only 1000 calories a day. There's just no way, unless perhaps, you have completely destroyed your metabolism through yo-yo dieting and starvation.

Calorie deficits work for everyone, 1,000 calories is insanely low and not healthy. Either you are eating far more than 1,000 calories and not realizing it or something else is going on that you're not telling us about.

Try eating a carefully measured 1,200 calorie diet of fruits, veggies, whole grains, a few good fats and lean proteins and see where it gets you. Avoid anything premade or in a wrapper. Measure everything, don't estimate. I think you'll be very surprised.

psuLemon

thank you all for your input, my metabolism got messed up by ssri's, I found out after taking them that they can cause a problem with the thyroid, but I have been off meds for about 6mths now, I am 5'2 and 44, so age is not helping either

Exercise

Mon zumba 1hr
circuits 1 hr
Gym
treadmill, interval running 15mins, elliptical trainer 15mins, rowing machine 10 mins, upright bike 10 mins
bicep curls 2 sets 15 reps, tricep press 2 sets 15 reps, rear deltoid 2 sets 15 reps, chest press 2 set 15 reps, ab crunch 2 sets 15 reps, leg press 2 set 15 reps


Tue zumba 1hr
pilates 1hr

wed Gym as monday

thur circuits 1hr
zumba 1hr

fri gym as monday


sat zumba 1hr

sun rest day


so as you can see I am active 6 days a week, but did notice that my fitbit said I only burnt around 1800 calories on my rest day ( sun) the rest of the time I go above 2000 sometimes above 2500 near to 3000

oh I had bloods done and glucose was fine fine but thyroid was borderline, here in the UK that means around 10, where as else where in the world above 5 is considered hypothyroidism

How much do you weigh?

Being that you were on antidepressants for awhile and being borderline with having hypothyroidism, it may be difficult to use the typical TDEE equations. What I would probably suggest is setting a standard calorie deficit, eating the same amount daily and then trying to develop a true tdee. What I mean is, set your calories at 1500 to start and eat that exact amount for 1 month. Within this month, you should meticulously track your calories (weight and measure) your foods and track your progress (not just weight, but also by photos and tape measure). After a month figure out how much you lost. At that point, we can figure out your true tdee. I would also suggest adjusting macro's to around 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fats.

More importantly, if you have the ability, get an RMR test. I have seen some very low RMR when it's associated with medication and conditions such as hypothyroidism. I can tell you after all my wife's medical issue, her TDEE is only around 1700 (about 400 calories than a typical person her size) even though she has a very active job.

Also, your workouts are fine. If anything, you can lift a bit heavier so you can get stronger and do a bit less cardio.

kitticus15

The reason I am obsessing is because the NHS started putting pressure on me telling me I was obese and need to lose weight, I will lose weight but come the day to be weighed by them, bang, up goes my weight, weird thing is it goes back down the next day, yes I did intermittent fasting in the past but it was due to financial rather than choice, as a single parent sometimes feeding my kids came before feeding me, but yes I was what the NHS called healthy, but everyone else said I looked ill, too thin.

I have been trying to shift this 50+ lbs since xmas but it aint working, I measure and weigh everything, and sometimes (due to laziness when logging I will look for whole recipe equivalents to what I cook, rathger than log all ings separately, sometimes I can't always find the right thing and when I try to input details it crashes or tells me its already in the databases.

last year, sept 2012, my thyroid was 1.19, now it is borderline, I really want to find a way of sorting it out as I have heard a side effect of medication can be weight gain.

I have been given orlistat from GP, and gained weight on it, so they could not give me it any more, however,while taking it my gas increased, but I never once had any of the nasty side effects of oily diarrhoea, in fact I was still constipated.

I have tried hypnosis, self hypnosis, fasting, eating MFP totals using slimming clubs etc, I find posting something here often gives you some useful advice from other people who have struggled and found what works for them, I know it's trial and error and I am grateful for all the advise and insights into this journey.

3dogsrunning

The reason I am obsessing is because the NHS started putting pressure on me telling me I was obese and need to lose weight, I will lose weight but come the day to be weighed by them, bang, up goes my weight, weird thing is it goes back down the next day, yes I did intermittent fasting in the past but it was due to financial rather than choice, as a single parent sometimes feeding my kids came before feeding me, but yes I was what the NHS called healthy, but everyone else said I looked ill, too thin.

I have been trying to shift this 50+ lbs since xmas but it aint working, I measure and weigh everything, and sometimes (due to laziness when logging I will look for whole recipe equivalents to what I cook, rathger than log all ings separately, sometimes I can't always find the right thing and when I try to input details it crashes or tells me its already in the databases.

last year, sept 2012, my thyroid was 1.19, now it is borderline, I really want to find a way of sorting it out as I have heard a side effect of medication can be weight gain.

I have been given orlistat from GP, and gained weight on it, so they could not give me it any more, however,while taking it my gas increased, but I never once had any of the nasty side effects of oily diarrhoea, in fact I was still constipated.

I have tried hypnosis, self hypnosis, fasting, eating MFP totals using slimming clubs etc, I find posting something here often gives you some useful advice from other people who have struggled and found what works for them, I know it's trial and error and I am grateful for all the advise and insights into this journey.

This confused me, are you logging consistently?

And how long are you trying these different things?

I assume you aren't willing to open your diary since several of us have requested it. It would really help.

Mokey41

Doesn't matter if you exercise 24/7 unless you are eating properly to along with it. All the BS about metabolism, starvation mode, etc isn't helpful or true. No one eating 1,000 calories a day and exercising a lot is holding onto 50 extra pounds. It just isn't possible. Your body will take from it's fat stores and will consume muscle mass until it isn't able to do that anymore, then it will start to conserve.

Something tells me that you don't log food correctly, eat back all your exercise without really knowing what you burn, or some other factor rather than the dreaded metabolism slow down.

jonnythan

The reason I am obsessing is because the NHS started putting pressure on me telling me I was obese and need to lose weight, I will lose weight but come the day to be weighed by them, bang, up goes my weight, weird thing is it goes back down the next day, yes I did intermittent fasting in the past but it was due to financial rather than choice, as a single parent sometimes feeding my kids came before feeding me, but yes I was what the NHS called healthy, but everyone else said I looked ill, too thin.

I have been trying to shift this 50+ lbs since xmas but it aint working, I measure and weigh everything, and sometimes (due to laziness when logging I will look for whole recipe equivalents to what I cook, rathger than log all ings separately, sometimes I can't always find the right thing and when I try to input details it crashes or tells me its already in the databases.

last year, sept 2012, my thyroid was 1.19, now it is borderline, I really want to find a way of sorting it out as I have heard a side effect of medication can be weight gain.

I have been given orlistat from GP, and gained weight on it, so they could not give me it any more, however,while taking it my gas increased, but I never once had any of the nasty side effects of oily diarrhoea, in fact I was still constipated.

I have tried hypnosis, self hypnosis, fasting, eating MFP totals using slimming clubs etc, I find posting something here often gives you some useful advice from other people who have struggled and found what works for them, I know it's trial and error and I am grateful for all the advise and insights into this journey.

Now try opening your diary so we can see what you're actually consuming.

Ericacarrino

What kind of calories are you taking in? Are they good clean whole foods?

cavia

A TSH of 10 is considered borderline? Do you have other symptoms of hypothyroidism? Fatigue, muscle pains, brain fog, hair loss? The American Association of Endocrinology recommended the range be narrowed to .3-3 back in 2003. The National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry believes it should be narrower still. I live an hour from the US border and when my doctor balked at my request for an increase I asked him how it was possible that I could cross a bridge all day long and swing from hypo to euthyroid simply based on the country I was in?

I think your thyroid may be the culprit especially if you are experiencing other hypo symptoms (you didn't say if you were or not).

megsmom2

Honestly? Eat at maintenance for a month or two. Real maintenance. What it should be for your weight, age and height. You'll gain weight short term, but then you'll be able to lose weight with a reasonable amount of calories. You got to repair your metabolism or you'll never be healthy.

The question is what were you eating to mess up your metabolism like this in the first place?

agreeing with this. something is wacky here. you should get some bloodwork done to make sure everything is ok, but it sounds like you've simply messed up your metabolic rate with yoyo dieting. Eating at real maintainance for a couple of months will help things settle back to where they ought to be. You'll probably gain a little weight doing that....that's ok. In the long run, it will help you get where you want to go.