Need ADVICE

blk7363
blk7363 Posts: 17 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Started MFP in Jan 2016
Lost 22 lbs
Over the last 6 months I gained back 10
So I started walking 3 miles a day about a month ago
Have not lost anything and feeling frustrated and depressed

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    have you recalculated your calorie goal since losing 22lbs?
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,244 Member
    If you're not losing for a month it is very likely you are eating as much as you are burning.
    So you need to eat less.

    Do you use a food scale? What deficit are you aiming for?
  • blk7363
    blk7363 Posts: 17 Member
    No
    Just kept starting weight and the goal weight
    Where I wanted to be with losing a lb a week
    1200 calories a day
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    edited May 2018
    Edited out because I completely misunderstood original post...
  • blk7363
    blk7363 Posts: 17 Member
    I use a food scale for everything and the last week have not used the calories I burned from activity
    So should I just focus on my 1200 calories and ignore the activity calories I earn every day?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    you gained 10lbs while eating 1200 per day?
  • blk7363
    blk7363 Posts: 17 Member
    Yes over the last 6 months
    I got down to 130 and now I’m 140

    Is walking everyday considered active or lightly active?
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited May 2018
    blk7363 wrote: »
    Yes over the last 6 months
    I got down to 130 and now I’m 140

    Is walking everyday considered active or lightly active?

    You should set up MFP to lose .5 week not 1. Walking as you described is considered exercise not part of your activity.

    Did you setup MFP as sedentary, light active, active? Are you adding your walking on top of that?

    Can you open your diary?
  • blk7363
    blk7363 Posts: 17 Member
    I set it up for light active
    Not sure how to open it for anyone to see
  • blk7363
    blk7363 Posts: 17 Member
    I earn the exercise calories on top of my 1200 per day in my diary
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited May 2018
    blk7363 wrote: »
    I set it up for light active
    Not sure how to open it for anyone to see

    On the Web​

    Click "My Home" then "Settings" then "Diary settings".

    Via Phone

    In the Menu tap "Settings" then "Diary Settings" and then "Diary Sharing"

    Select preference "Public"


  • beaglady
    beaglady Posts: 1,362 Member
    How active are you while you're at work? If your day is spent at a desk, you may want to change your base setting to 'sedentary' if you plan to add your walking calories separately as exercise. Per my fitbit, the number of steps required to get me from 'sedentary' to 'lightly active' is approximately equivalent to 3 miles. On days where my work requires sitting at my desk all day, it takes my intentional lunchtime walking to get me out of negative calories. If you aren't really active, and add your exercise calories separately, you might be double dipping.

    Plus you might want to make sure your logging is precise and accurate.
  • blk7363
    blk7363 Posts: 17 Member
    I’m not working
    I walk 3 miles a day and have UA record synced with MFP and MapMyWalk also
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    blk7363 wrote: »
    Yes over the last 6 months
    I got down to 130 and now I’m 140

    Is walking everyday considered active or lightly active?

    you're eating more than 1200 cals then.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    blk7363 wrote: »
    I’m not working
    I walk 3 miles a day and have UA record synced with MFP and MapMyWalk also

    I looked at your diary. You have been trying to eat +/- 1200 calories for a really long time (I went back a couple of months).

    It appears at a glance you are consuming more food than what you have logged. Do you weigh/measure your alcohol? In addition many foods are not weighed using a food scale unless I am not understanding your 'method' of how you weigh your food.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    edited May 2018
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    blk7363 wrote: »
    I’m not working
    I walk 3 miles a day and have UA record synced with MFP and MapMyWalk also

    I looked at your diary. You have been trying to eat +/- 1200 calories for a really long time (I went back a couple of months).

    It appears at a glance you are consuming more food than what you have logged. Do you weigh/measure your alcohol? In addition many foods are not weighed using a food scale unless I am not understanding your 'method' of how you weigh your food.

    you also may want to consider not 'spending' quite so many calories on alcohol.
  • blk7363
    blk7363 Posts: 17 Member
    I do record alcohol as part of my calories
    Use a food scale all the time where it has to be weighed like chicken breast pork meat and prepackaged foods
    I go by what the nutrition facts on the label say
  • blk7363
    blk7363 Posts: 17 Member
    I’ve been doing it this way for so long
    I’ll have to be more aware going forward and try to not always eat the max
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    blk7363 wrote: »
    I’ve been doing it this way for so long
    I’ll have to be more aware going forward and try to not always eat the max

    if you are only eating 1200 calories, which you have said upthread, when are you 'eating to the max'?
  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,138 Member
    edited May 2018
    blk7363 wrote: »
    I do record alcohol as part of my calories
    Use a food scale all the time where it has to be weighed like chicken breast pork meat and prepackaged foods
    I go by what the nutrition facts on the label say

    Yes but you need to be VERY careful about what the package describes as a serving. Just scanning the barcode and eyeballing a serving is where some folks go off the rails. Not saying you are doing that, but you need to really measure and weigh EVERY LAST THING you put in your mouth. If it wasn't weighed or measured than you really have no idea how much you are eating.

    At 1200 calories and 3 miles/day walking you should be losing weight unless you have a medical condition. Have you been to a doctor? Otherwise, you are eating more than you think you are.
  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,138 Member
    And are you measuring the alcohol? A "glass" of anything can be way more then you think. For example, when I get a beer, a bottle is 12 oz, but the bar serves them from the tap at 16 oz a pop. That can add up if its more then one or even daily...
  • blk7363
    blk7363 Posts: 17 Member
    I appreciate all the advice
    I do measure alcohol and being that I don’t really do the bar thing
    I have a shot glass that I use to measure the alcohol as well
  • tomorrowperfume
    tomorrowperfume Posts: 67 Member
    blk7363, I see that you've been diligently logging your food and that's great! The reason you're not losing is because the things you're logging in your diary aren't quite accurate. For example, let's look at yesterday's diary:

    Beefsteak - Hearty Rye Seeded, 2 slices - there is a lot of variation in packaged bread, especially with the bigger slices like this. You really should weigh these slices of bread.
    Brummel & Brown - Spread, 1 tbspoon (14 g) - make sure you're actually measuring the spread - 1 tablespoon doesn't go a long way on two slices of bread!
    Generic - Sandwich-Mate American Cheese Singles - this is fine - a slice of American cheese is always the same size
    Great Value - Large Egg Corrected, 1 egg - I know you're not eating it raw. Is it boiled? Scrambled? Fried? If you cooked it in any kind of oil or butter, you have to log it - a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan is like 120 calories.
    Great Value - Breakfast Turkey Patties, 1 patty - fine

    The pierogi guy - Farmer cheese, 5 pieces - holy moly, these look amazing. I am super jealous. Are you boiling these? Keep in mind the same thing with the egg - if you're frying them, you have to add the calories from the oil, too.

    Walmart - Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast*, 7.8 oz - This is the entry for an uncooked chicken breast. How did you cook it? Did you weigh it before or after it was cooked? A 7.8 oz raw chicken breast cooks down to be a bit lighter. I found an entry for a 7.8 oz grilled chicken to be 290 calories, much higher than the 234 found here.
    Sodexo Campus - Corn on the Cob, 2 Ear - it's pretty hard to measure corn on the cob, so I'm cool with this. Make sure to add any butter or salt! A tbsp of butter is 100 calories.

    Pretzel Crisps - Garlic Parmesan, 1 crackers -eh, it's fine.
    Alcohol Lady Bligh - Spiced Rum, 3 shot - Spiced rum is my jam. You sound like you had an awesome day. A regulation-sized shot is only 1.5, or three tablespoons. Most people are a bit more generous with their pours. If you're out and about, you'll have to wing it, but at home it's pretty easy to measure this. If you always use the same glasses, it becomes pretty easy to tell how much liquid is in the glass after a while.

    Sorry for the wall of text, but these are my thoughts!
  • OHFlamingo
    OHFlamingo Posts: 239 Member
    One-quarter to one-third of your daily goal of calories is spent on alcohol! Make certain you have set your calorie goal to the proper amount based on your stats. Like others have said, weigh and log everything you eat accurately. Eat a variety of foods you like.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    blk7363, I see that you've been diligently logging your food and that's great! The reason you're not losing is because the things you're logging in your diary aren't quite accurate. For example, let's look at yesterday's diary:

    Beefsteak - Hearty Rye Seeded, 2 slices - there is a lot of variation in packaged bread, especially with the bigger slices like this. You really should weigh these slices of bread.
    Brummel & Brown - Spread, 1 tbspoon (14 g) - make sure you're actually measuring the spread - 1 tablespoon doesn't go a long way on two slices of bread!
    Generic - Sandwich-Mate American Cheese Singles - this is fine - a slice of American cheese is always the same size
    Great Value - Large Egg Corrected, 1 egg - I know you're not eating it raw. Is it boiled? Scrambled? Fried? If you cooked it in any kind of oil or butter, you have to log it - a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan is like 120 calories.
    Great Value - Breakfast Turkey Patties, 1 patty - fine

    The pierogi guy - Farmer cheese, 5 pieces - holy moly, these look amazing. I am super jealous. Are you boiling these? Keep in mind the same thing with the egg - if you're frying them, you have to add the calories from the oil, too.

    Walmart - Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast*, 7.8 oz - This is the entry for an uncooked chicken breast. How did you cook it? Did you weigh it before or after it was cooked? A 7.8 oz raw chicken breast cooks down to be a bit lighter. I found an entry for a 7.8 oz grilled chicken to be 290 calories, much higher than the 234 found here.
    Sodexo Campus - Corn on the Cob, 2 Ear - it's pretty hard to measure corn on the cob, so I'm cool with this. Make sure to add any butter or salt! A tbsp of butter is 100 calories.

    Pretzel Crisps - Garlic Parmesan, 1 crackers -eh, it's fine.
    Alcohol Lady Bligh - Spiced Rum, 3 shot - Spiced rum is my jam. You sound like you had an awesome day. A regulation-sized shot is only 1.5, or three tablespoons. Most people are a bit more generous with their pours. If you're out and about, you'll have to wing it, but at home it's pretty easy to measure this. If you always use the same glasses, it becomes pretty easy to tell how much liquid is in the glass after a while.

    Sorry for the wall of text, but these are my thoughts!

    In addition to this, grab a shot measure instead of using a shot glass and log your booze in ounces. I bet you're drinking 2+ where you're thinking it's 1, and 3 at a time that's going to blow 1200 cals out of the water.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    If you've been doing the same thing and getting the same results, perhaps try something else. In my experience, 1200 calories is far too low for almost everyone. For someone at 140#, your estimated BMR with light activity is 1430 (which is probably conservative). Based on what I saw for your diet journal, you're eating below the RDA for protein. If you were my client, I would tell you to increase your calories to AT LEAST 1500, eating 25% of those calories from protein (95 grams or more), and stop having 5 shots of liquor.

    But eating too little won't stop OP losing weight. The fact is she isn't eating too little, she's eating too much.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    the answer is in here

    buz3jjcsnen9.jpg
This discussion has been closed.