Slow weight loss
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Hey, you know what? I sometimes get a deepfreeze pizza just because I don't feel like cooking. The salami pizza I like comes in at 750kcal for the whole pizza. I try to eat 600kcal, thus about 80% of the pizza. Now here's the thing: the last pizza I had was about 20% heavier! Thus I also ate 20% more pizza than planned. Ok, I don't know if this was mostly dough, cheese, veggies or a mix of all, but I assume that I didn't eat 600kcal but 120kcal more than planned. That's a lot for lil'me. Thus also weigh pre-packaged food!10
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OP I know you don’t want to hear “calories in, calories out” so I’m going to try to put it another way.
I am in my 9th year of maintenance so a “veteran” at this calorie counting thing and still I can get tripped up at times. I’ve been on a break the last couple of weeks and just started back to logging this week. Things are going great, logging away and then yesterday as I was logging my lunch I realized the day before I forgot a handful of things I had grabbed. A snack bar here, a cheese stick there. I was logging by what I usually eat and not what I had actually eaten. Until that moment I really did forget I ate those things. I also forgot that while I had gotten all my steps in I had put my flights of stairs on hold because I tweaked my knee but I was still eating as if I had got them in. I’ve been operating on auto pilot rather than actual real data.
So my advice is this: stop looking for what it might be and start looking at the data in front of you. Toss what you already have or what you did before and reset. Change the batteries in your food scale and the ones in your body scale. Log before you eat and/or pre-log your day if you can. Get rid of old, possibly inaccurate entries and start fresh with your own so that you KNOW down to the gram exactly what you’re eating and can be confident in it. It’s so easy to get complacent, take charge. If you do this and stay brutally honest you *will* see a change.18 -
I am not here to judge I am here for the same reason as you! I started here in 2015 and lost 4o pounds, fell off track loss of father in law then mother in law has added stress in my life and I stopped eating good and started consuming Bud Ritas along with Mikes Harder drink which has helped me gain 40 pounds back that I once lost.
It makes me sad because I worked hard to lose that weight. I am trying to get started because I once figured out what worked but seemed to have lost it. I am here again to restart my weight loss goal once again. One thing I have done is looked at my past diary and decided to try to do what I once did. I will tweak some things since I have learned a lot along the way. I need to reset my body and get back into the fitness mind set. One of the first things I need to so is surround myself with like minded people and I love MFP for just that! Lots of knowledge and people here with the same goals in mind! I just know getting all the junk food and bad habits out of my daily routine is going to take some serious work on my part. I have been feeling pretty uncomfortable with this extra weigh back on and miss wearing all my nice things I worked hard to fit in. I hope you find the strength and what once worked for you. I think if you look in your past diaries it might help to get you whee you once were. I know that is my plan take care and get healthy!! 
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nadizm0228 wrote: »stress much? sleep little? I ALWAYS stall when I don't get adequate sleep. And, when I'm stressed, I don't sleep well. Could be a factor that you haven't considered...
Very stressed. Not so much right now, but still am. I lost my job of 24 years last June and was unemployed until June this year. That is when I gained 55 pounds back.
You gained 55 pounds back after becoming employed in June? I wonder if your NEAT is much lower now that when you lost the 100 pounds before.
But, as others have said, do focus on tightening up your logging. Just from today I see so many "pieces", '1 bun', '1 patty', etc. - I know from my own experience that it's not possible for them to all be exactly the grams on the package.
Maybe try eating more protein and fiber (veggies) and see if you find that more satiating.8 -
Redordeadhead wrote: »elsie6hickman wrote: »I have been reading this whole thread - and I guess my question to you is what are you trying to get from this discussion? People have said everything they know about losing weight, and apparently you know all of this. If you are eating what MFP tell you to eat and you are not losing weight, then drop your calories by 100 and see what happens. Are you wanting everyone to agree there is something medically wrong with you? And then what? You still aren't losing weight, even if everyone agrees with you. You say you have met with Drs. and met with a nutritionist and you've gotten nothing from seeing them. Perhaps you will need to turn to bariatric surgery this time. I can only imagine how frustrated you are. And btw, if you want to look at my food diary, please do.
It took a lot for me to even begin this thread. I knew exactly what everyone was going to say. I guess I was hoping people that maybe had have similar stories with mine would be able to give me constructive help. Eat less this, eat more this. Dont eat at this time. Eat more breakfast. Exerecise more. Something helpful. Not "eat less" . You dont measure. Less cals is less weight. That isn't helpful. Or maybe someone would say "oh have the dr run this test".
The reason nobody said those things is because (perhaps apart from the doctor in some specific cases) none of them impact your weight loss. You can eat whichever foods you want, so more or less of a particular food will do nothing. It doesn't matter what time you eat. Of course exercise can help increase the calories you burn, but it's not a requirement for weight loss if you control your calories in.
At the end of the day, the only thing that matters for weight loss is calories in <calories out.
Perfect. Did you look at my diary? I weigh about 310 pounds right now. I am 6 feet tall. Male, 41 years old. MFP tells me to eat 1940 cals a day to lose 2 pounds a week. I avg 1700-1900 a day, and have plateued. I lost 10 pounds the first 8 weeks, and now nothing.
I did actually look at your diary, but several other posters have already raised issues I would (such as appearing to log 1 piece, 1 package, 1 bun etc.) so I didn't repeat them.3 -
Redordeadhead wrote: »elsie6hickman wrote: »I have been reading this whole thread - and I guess my question to you is what are you trying to get from this discussion? People have said everything they know about losing weight, and apparently you know all of this. If you are eating what MFP tell you to eat and you are not losing weight, then drop your calories by 100 and see what happens. Are you wanting everyone to agree there is something medically wrong with you? And then what? You still aren't losing weight, even if everyone agrees with you. You say you have met with Drs. and met with a nutritionist and you've gotten nothing from seeing them. Perhaps you will need to turn to bariatric surgery this time. I can only imagine how frustrated you are. And btw, if you want to look at my food diary, please do.
It took a lot for me to even begin this thread. I knew exactly what everyone was going to say. I guess I was hoping people that maybe had have similar stories with mine would be able to give me constructive help. Eat less this, eat more this. Dont eat at this time. Eat more breakfast. Exerecise more. Something helpful. Not "eat less" . You dont measure. Less cals is less weight. That isn't helpful. Or maybe someone would say "oh have the dr run this test".
The reason nobody said those things is because (perhaps apart from the doctor in some specific cases) none of them impact your weight loss. You can eat whichever foods you want, so more or less of a particular food will do nothing. It doesn't matter what time you eat. Of course exercise can help increase the calories you burn, but it's not a requirement for weight loss if you control your calories in.
At the end of the day, the only thing that matters for weight loss is calories in <calories out.
Perfect. Did you look at my diary? I weigh about 310 pounds right now. I am 6 feet tall. Male, 41 years old. MFP tells me to eat 1940 cals a day to lose 2 pounds a week. I avg 1700-1900 a day, and have plateued. I lost 10 pounds the first 8 weeks, and now nothing.
Given your stats, if you're not losing weight eating 1700-1900 calories a day (over time), the only possible answer is that you're not eating 1700-1900 calories per day. It's obvious you don't want to hear that, but there's no other possible answer.
Even if you were an outlier in terms of metabolism and/or have experienced some degree of metabolic adaptation from dieting, there's no way it would be anywhere near 1000 calories/day (your projected TDEE is over 2800 calories, even at sedentary activity levels). I'm 15 years older than you and over 110 pounds lighter than you, and my weight would drop like a rock at 1700-1900 calories/day.16 -
kshama2001 wrote: »nadizm0228 wrote: »stress much? sleep little? I ALWAYS stall when I don't get adequate sleep. And, when I'm stressed, I don't sleep well. Could be a factor that you haven't considered...
Very stressed. Not so much right now, but still am. I lost my job of 24 years last June and was unemployed until June this year. That is when I gained 55 pounds back.
You gained 55 pounds back after becoming employed in June? I wonder if your NEAT is much lower now that when you lost the 100 pounds before.
June of last year to June of this year.0 -
I looked up calories for someone his on the NIH. Even if his Rmr did not uptick and he burned the calories of a sed guy. Maintanace is projected to be 2400. If you take into account regain. At a 50/50 fat to muscle ratio, just carrying the extra load would add about 300 cals to projected sed maintenance. That's just what i came up with. Very little science, just some research. Fat adds 3 cals a point and muscle 5-8..Redordeadhead wrote: »elsie6hickman wrote: »I have been reading this whole thread - and I guess my question to you is what are you trying to get from this discussion? People have said everything they know about losing weight, and apparently you know all of this. If you are eating what MFP tell you to eat and you are not losing weight, then drop your calories by 100 and see what happens. Are you wanting everyone to agree there is something medically wrong with you? And then what? You still aren't losing weight, even if everyone agrees with you. You say you have met with Drs. and met with a nutritionist and you've gotten nothing from seeing them. Perhaps you will need to turn to bariatric surgery this time. I can only imagine how frustrated you are. And btw, if you want to look at my food diary, please do.
It took a lot for me to even begin this thread. I knew exactly what everyone was going to say. I guess I was hoping people that maybe had have similar stories with mine would be able to give me constructive help. Eat less this, eat more this. Dont eat at this time. Eat more breakfast. Exerecise more. Something helpful. Not "eat less" . You dont measure. Less cals is less weight. That isn't helpful. Or maybe someone would say "oh have the dr run this test".
The reason nobody said those things is because (perhaps apart from the doctor in some specific cases) none of them impact your weight loss. You can eat whichever foods you want, so more or less of a particular food will do nothing. It doesn't matter what time you eat. Of course exercise can help increase the calories you burn, but it's not a requirement for weight loss if you control your calories in.
At the end of the day, the only thing that matters for weight loss is calories in <calories out.
Perfect. Did you look at my diary? I weigh about 310 pounds right now. I am 6 feet tall. Male, 41 years old. MFP tells me to eat 1940 cals a day to lose 2 pounds a week. I avg 1700-1900 a day, and have plateued. I lost 10 pounds the first 8 weeks, and now nothing.
Given your stats, if you're not losing weight eating 1700-1900 calories a day (over time), the only possible answer is that you're not eating 1700-1900 calories per day. It's obvious you don't want to hear that, but there's no other possible answer.
Even if you were an outlier in terms of metabolism and/or have experienced some degree of metabolic adaptation from dieting, there's no way it would be anywhere near 1000 calories/day (your projected TDEE is over 2800 calories, even at sedentary activity levels). I'm 15 years older than you and over 110 pounds lighter than you, and my weight would drop like a rock at 1700-1900 calories/day.0 -
MiaisMIAinMiami wrote: »Don’t believe the packages. Literally weigh things that are individual items. 1 46g hot dog roll is let’s say 140 cals...well turns out, they don’t all weigh 46g. Some are even 60g. That’s 1.3x what it says. Those errors can add up!
Edit: typo
Yes!!!! I’ll bring up my frozen steak fries example from a couple of months ago, because I am still bitter ...
Bought some frozen steak fries. Love me some potatoes. Looked at the package and one serving was (approximately) 22 fries or 100 grams. Got a bowl and put it on the food scale and put some fries in. You know how many fries made up the 100 grams? Six. SIX. SIX!!!!!! They were all roughly the same size and weighed close the same amount after cooking. If I had counted, I would have eaten 4 servings instead of 1. I’ve had similar encounters with eggs, though they weren’t that off.15 -
First off, you've said you "can't lose weight," but you have lost 9 pounds. Sure, it's not the 100 pounds you last five years ago, or even the 25 pounds you averaged over a given three months of that weight-loss period; but it's 9 pounds more than zero pounds (and it's not the further gain you might have had if you had not been watching your weight). Take the to heart. Celebrate it. You worked for it, you got it, and it's yours.Hi all- I'll try to make this as short as possible. 5 years ago, I started myfitneespal and lost almost 100 pounds in a year. I went off the diet and maintained well for 6 months and then started gaining back. Went back on diet and lost about half of what I had regained (10 pounds out of the 20), and then plateaued. I would get frustrated go off diet, gain a bunch back, and then diet again but would always slow way down or plateaua after the first 5 or 10 pounds lost. Anyways, this went on for the last 4 years. This past year, gained almost all of the weight back, and started hardcore again first week of June. I lost 6 pounds the first month, 2 pounds in July, and only 1 pound this month. I weigh 309 pounds, am 41 years old male, net 1700-2000 cals a day and walk about 8000 steps a day. Cannot lose weight.
Please don't ask if I am weighing my food. I am. Please don't tell me I am eating more then I think. I am not. I did this the first time around and worked well, and now mu body just doesn't want to give it up. Any thought on medical reasons? I has thyroid checked last year and it cam back smack dab in the middle.
(And yes, what worked when you were 36 years old may not work when you are 41. We call that aging, my friend. You are just starting your thrilling journey into the exotic territory of middle age, which will be full of similar surprises.)
It looks like, over the past four years, you've had a history of plateauing after the first five or ten pounds you lose. That's something people's bodies do sometimes. It also seems like, in the past, you may have sometimes let those plateaus derail your weight loss - the trick will be not to let that happen this time.
If you keep doing what you did to lose those first nine pounds, I promise you will lose more. Not today, and maybe not next week, but next month in all probability; and I can just about promise you some real results by Halloween.
If you don't want to be that patient, you could always try some of the tweaks that others on this thread have suggested. My personal recommendation would be starting with a few little things to improve the quality of the food you are eating, like adding greens to your sandwiches and/or using multigrain bread.
(PS. To be just a little bit snarky: some people here have suggested that you're not accurately weighing your food. Feel free to prove them wrong by stringently weighing and recording everything you eat, down to the last milligram. This is a fun game because you win either way.
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There are things that I'll do when I'm gung-ho that I know I won't do over the long term. For weight management, if I won't do it over the long term, there's no point in doing it in the short term.
It's not a ton of work though. And the majority of people (no, not all) could very easily find the time in their schedules to shop for and make healthy meals if they valued their health more than they valued watching TV or fiddling around online or whatever time waster they get sucked into only to look up two hours later and realize it's time to go to bed.Hey i don’t really have any new advice for you. My best bets would be to cut out pre-packaged & convenience foods - maybe not completely, lots of people say 80/20 so 20% treats & convenience items (lunchables, pre-cooked stuff) and 80% straight up, I cooked all this oatmeal myself weighed the chicken raw etc.
But that is a ton of work and I feel tired just thinking about it. And having done this all before I can only imagine the frustration. Maybe that’s my future too. This is the first time I’ve successfully lost more than 10lbs.
OP, I've lost weight and kept it off by finding convenient things to eat that I like to eat and that keep me in my macro/calorie target range. The microwave is my go-to cooking tool. Most days, breakfast is a frozen sandwich, lunch is oatmeal and a pre-packaged boiled egg, dinner is a frozen dinner plus sauceless steam-in-bag veggies, and late-night snack is a protein bar. I drink tea between meals to keep my hands and mouth busy.
Ditto. My lunch each work day is a few servings of frozen veggies, some kind of grain (quinoa, potato, amaranth that I batch prepared on the weekend) and protein (usually chicken or canned tuna). I throw it all in a Pyrex dish and microwave it. Easy-peasey for me. I’m not much of a cook.4 -
OP I was in the same position, lost weight using MFP , gained weight back due to health and emotional issues which made me revert back to old eating habits,
Hopped back on the wagon sure I could do this as it was easy last time. But no, I struggled for a long time. Constantly asking "Why am I losing and gaining the same 3 pounds"
Then I went back to basics. Looked at my diary from a couple of years ago, re-educated myself on TDEE and BMR etc etc. and realised I was basically winging it. Taking package and serving calories as gospel. Not logging the odd thing here and there. I was also exercising much more back then. I was lifting heavy 3x week. I had managed to trick myself into thinking I knew how much I was eating because I had done it before so didn't need to try so hard as last time. (yup I knew it all already) Well I didn't and it took me a year to realise that.
I have tightened up on my portions sizes (still not absoloutly accurate) but enough to see a decent downward trend that I am happy with at this moment. If/when I hit another plateau I can tighten up even more as I still have wiggle room at the moment. Eating between 1350 and 1600 and averaging a half to a pound loss per week.
Excercise is on the back burner for the time being apart from walking when not in pain. But I am still losing.
Keep going, keep checking, keep logging, you will get there.
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bodojones, the main thing ... don't give up! I looked at a month of your diary entries. I'm not going to comment on your weighing/measuring, logging, etc. because others have said it already. But I did have 4 things I do want to comment on.
1. You have not logged any water. You have commented that you do a fair amount of exercise. If you are in a water-deprived state, your body will not eliminate as it should because it's protecting you from dehydration. So, I recommend you track your intake and increase it a bit on days you exercise.
2. Your sodium levels are off the charts! High sodium levels inhibit our kidneys from removing water from our bodies, puts an extra burden on our heart, and can lead to higher blood pressure. I recommend you re=evaluate your food choices to eliminate those that are high in sodium.
3. The protein stats were almost always under, sometimes significantly. We need sufficient protein in order to maintain and build tissues and muscles, maintain good energy, maintain our immune functions, etc. I recommend you increase protein choices.
4. You have little breakfast and huge snack segments. As you re=evaluate your food choices, I recommend you increase "good" choices in breakfast, lunch, and dinner ... and reduce the number of snacks.
Good Luck with your journey.
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