2,000 Calories per MFP and not losing weight
fjm0534
Posts: 6 Member
I'm 58, weigh 270, height 5-11. I've been below the 2,000 calories now on most days: In 90 days, I've been over 2,00 calories 35 times. I don't get enough exercise on most days, like maybe 5 out of 7 days.
My plan has been to reduce my calorie intake until my weight starts dropping then get more active. But my weight has not budged. Should I reduce my calories, and if so, how far?
My plan has been to reduce my calorie intake until my weight starts dropping then get more active. But my weight has not budged. Should I reduce my calories, and if so, how far?
0
Replies
-
Do you use a food scale to weigh everything you eat, and then log it all, no skipping, cheating or forgetting? Start there.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p121 -
Thank you for having an open diary. One thing I see, your logging shows foods added as "pieces" or cups, with few items posted as weight. Weighing is key for accuracy and it does make a huge difference, This may be one reason you are not losing. Hope you get more suggestions. Don't give up!13
-
2000 on 'most days' - how are you recording those 2000 cals - are you using a food scale? are you recording absolutely every single thing you eat?
Exercise while not essential it is good for us also helps create calorie deficit which helps.
Have you not lost any weight in 90 days?
if so, then you are eating more than you think.13 -
You might first want to tighten up your logging, it's quite possible based on your diary you are eating more than you think. Check out these threads:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10012907/logging-accuracy-consistency-and-youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think/p1
I'd also add that if you are going over your calories 35 times in 90 days, that's alot. Before you start worrying about whether this calorie goal is right for you, you need to make a concerted effort to actually use it. So tighten up your logging, hit that calorie goal as close to all the time as you can get, and give it another few weeks. Good luck!17 -
Agree with the others. If you aren't using a food scale then get one. Also when I looked at the last few days of your diary you list red wine 1 glass (3.5oz). Are you sure it was only 3.5 oz? Most pours are 5+ oz depending on who is pouring so right there you could be consuming more than you think. Also if you are below 2000 "most days", what about the others?4
-
Thank you for the above responses! I weigh or measure almost everything I eat. If I don't weigh it or measure it, then I will rely on the MFP database. I almost always go over my estimations but after four months of measuring I am pretty accurate now. Maybe the days where I have a 'calorie blow-up' there is residual???3
-
Thank you for the above responses! I weigh or measure almost everything I eat. If I don't weigh it or measure it, then I will rely on the MFP database. I almost always go over my estimations but after four months of measuring I am pretty accurate now. Maybe the days where I have 'calorie blow-up' there is residual???
It is true that so called cheat days/ blow ups can take away any weekly calorie deficit - you need to log everything you eat on such a day so you can account for that.10 -
Thank you for the above responses! I weigh or measure almost everything I eat. If I don't weigh it or measure it, then I will rely on the MFP database. I almost always go over my estimations but after four months of measuring I am pretty accurate now. Maybe the days where I have a 'calorie blow-up' there is residual???quiksylver296 wrote: »Do you use a food scale to weigh everything you eat, and then log it all, no skipping, cheating or forgetting? Start there.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1
10 -
Thank you for the above responses! I weigh or measure almost everything I eat. If I don't weigh it or measure it, then I will rely on the MFP database. I almost always go over my estimations but after four months of measuring I am pretty accurate now. Maybe the days where I have a 'calorie blow-up' there is residual???
It looks like you're using a lot of generic/homemade entries created by other people. These can be incredibly inaccurate. For the stuff you're preparing at home, you should be creating your own entries. You've got some entries that look like guesses, like 2.63 slices of pizza or 1.3 of a fried pickle or .67 of a pastrami sandwich. You have lots of entries that are expressed in pieces. Weighing would be a more accurate way to log these. You have some days when you have foods logged, but 0 calories listed (pork sausage, waffles). If you're meaning to track these and they aren't showing any calories, this is counter-productive.
It really seems like your logging may be the issue here.
Edit: And, yes, "blow up days" could absolutely be part of the problem here. Many of us have no problem eating enough on "cheat days" or "blow up days" to keep us from losing weight even if we're perfect the rest of the time. And since your logging is so uncertain, you may have less wiggle room than if you were consistently eating 2,000 on the days which you stay on plan.16 -
The combination of not accurately weighing everything and going over your calorie goal over 1/3 of the time you've been logging is why you're not losing. Fix both of those things and do it consistently for several weeks.
It is highly unlikely that you will commit to even fewer calories if you're not willing to buckle down on consistency and accuracy with your current calorie goal. Unfortunately, people seem to think this will solve all of their problems with logging inaccuracies and it won't because they're unwilling to address the real issues keeping them from losing weight.13 -
I'm 58, weigh 270, height 5-11. I've been below the 2,000 calories now on most days: In 90 days, I've been over 2,00 calories 35 times. I don't get enough exercise on most days, like maybe 5 out of 7 days.
My plan has been to reduce my calorie intake until my weight starts dropping then get more active. But my weight has not budged. Should I reduce my calories, and if so, how far?
To the bolded, you're putting in 60% of the effort and expecting 100% of the results.24 -
Thank you for the above responses! I weigh or measure almost everything I eat. If I don't weigh it or measure it, then I will rely on the MFP database. I almost always go over my estimations but after four months of measuring I am pretty accurate now. Maybe the days where I have a 'calorie blow-up' there is residual???
Weigh everything but liquids for a little while, just to see. Don't rely on or trust the MFP database too much. There are a ton of erroneous entries there. Double-check everything.5 -
OK, again, thank you everyone for you responses. This is great to have this input. I will work on all of these things starting today.12
-
Stephen_Lyons wrote: »At 58 years/270 lbs/5'11" your BMR is approximately 2100 calories. I would not recommend going too much under 2000.
I might recommend you focus on 2 things...
1. Focus on the quality of the calories that you are eating. Not all calories are equal. Cut back on the processed foods, sugar, high fructose corn syrup)
2. Don't wait, start exercising low-intensity now. Even just walking for 30 minutes a day just to get your body moving. Later work in 1-2 minute burst of speed walking/jogging. Even small decisions like taking the stairs everywhere you can. Every decision you make now can make a difference later.
Later you can focus on things like macro nutrients and gradually increasing the intensity of your workouts.
Good luck!
While the "quality" of calories may affect his satiety and health, it will not keep him from losing weight if he is at the right calorie level.11 -
Stephen_Lyons wrote: »At 58 years/270 lbs/5'11" your BMR is approximately 2100 calories. I would not recommend going too much under 2000.
I might recommend you focus on 2 things...
1. Focus on the quality of the calories that you are eating. Not all calories are equal. Cut back on the processed foods, sugar, high fructose corn syrup)
2. Don't wait, start exercising low-intensity now. Even just walking for 30 minutes a day just to get your body moving. Later work in 1-2 minute burst of speed walking/jogging. Even small decisions like taking the stairs everywhere you can. Every decision you make now can make a difference later.
Later you can focus on things like macro nutrients and gradually increasing the intensity of your workouts.
Good luck!
Logging accurately to consistently hit a calorie deficit is going to probably help more than arbitrarily eliminating certain foods and hoping that somehow results in a calorie deficit.14 -
Looking at your diary, it seems like you eat out a lot and also eat a lot of sweets, alcohol, processed foods, fried foods. I am all for flexible dieting and eating foods you enjoy, but if you are not preparing your own food most of the time then your calorie counts are a complete guess. The restaurant you go to may have calorie counts, but the cooking methods and amount of food used vary so much that it really is a guess.
If this has not been working for you for 90 days, then try something different. Prepare 80% of your food at home. It doesn't have to be complicated recipes if you don't like to cook. Try to make 80% of that food "real food" - meat, veggies, etc. That's 2,800 calories a week to play with fun foods. That could be one 1,000 calorie meal at a restaurant a week plus 250 calories of sweets/processed foods/alcohol each day. Try that for a month and see what happens.
10 -
I noticed that you often log cookies from Starbucks but never any drinks, are you getting coffee/drinks from Starbucks as well? I also noticed that you log alcoholic drinks pretty much every other day, cutting these out completely would probably help you as alcohol is just empty calories.
As another commented said, there are many instances where something is listed in your diary as 0 calories. It's hard to tell if you are cooking your own meals or eating out a lot. If you eat out, restaurants are required to list calories but there is no guarantee of how accurate that is because the chef is probably not using exact measurements.
If you are cooking your own foods, it looks like you need to break it down. Some items I spotted:
Homemade - Fettucine With Creamy Red Pepper Sauce, 1.5 cup.
Homemade - Kung Pao Chicken, 0.25 cup
Thai Fried Rice With Chicken - Chicken Thai Fried Rice, 1 Cups
Homemade Vegetable Beef Stew - Beef Stew, 1.75 Cup
If you are cooking these at home, try breaking down the ingredients and measure each one as you add them. Once you complete cooking if you don't eat all of it, measure that portion of what you do eat instead of estimating by cups.8 -
Correct me if I am wrong, but it looks like a lot of your logging is just estimation based on things that are on mfb database just because they have similar names to what you are eating. For example, I see entries in a single dinner from 3 different restaurants which does not sound very likely, or homemade recipes that actually not homemade by you, so you have no clue how they correspond to what you are eating.
To give a simple example, I might have a homemade chocolate cake recipe which has no oil and no sugar and my serving is paper thin, so I can call this something like "L's homemade, chocolate cake, 90calories per slice". Then someone else might have a rich cake, complete with butter, syrup and frosting and cut 1 inch thick slices. This person's slice might again be called "M's homemade, chocolate cake, 500calories per slice". If you eat a slice of homemade chocolate cake your friend offered you, how are you going to log it? If you pick the first homemade entry, while your friend made something that is more like the second one, you risk underestimating a lot.
Try using entries by weighing single ingredients, using packaged things and again weighing, and if you eat out, it might be a good idea to intentionally overestimate a bit, since restaurant portions are not going to be that accurate in calories, and what you think is 1 portion might easily be e.g. 1.5.
10 -
Correct me if I am wrong, but it looks like a lot of your logging is just estimation based on things that are on mfb database just because they have similar names to what you are eating. For example, I see entries in a single dinner from 3 different restaurants which does not sound very likely, or homemade recipes that actually not homemade by you, so you have no clue how they correspond to what you are eating.
To give a simple example, I might have a homemade chocolate cake recipe which has no oil and no sugar and my serving is paper thin, so I can call this something like "L's homemade, chocolate cake, 90calories per slice". Then someone else might have a rich cake, complete with butter, syrup and frosting and cut 1 inch thick slices. This person's slice might again be called "M's homemade, chocolate cake, 500calories per slice". If you eat a slice of homemade chocolate cake your friend offered you, how are you going to log it? If you pick the first homemade entry, while your friend made something that is more like the second one, you risk underestimating a lot.
Try using entries by weighing single ingredients, using packaged things and again weighing, and if you eat out, it might be a good idea to intentionally overestimate a bit, since restaurant portions are not going to be that accurate in calories, and what you think is 1 portion might easily be e.g. 1.5.
This is exactly what I am doing. A lot of my entries that look like eating out or processed foods is because I assume those would give me higher estimates and it's easier to do. In actuality processed foods and eating out is a very small percentage of my diet.
Example: Chocolate chip cookie from Starbucks is really an all-natural chocolate chip or oatmeal cookie from my co-op. I just figure that the Starbucks cookie is going to be higher in calories/fat/sugar so it's an easy way for me to over estimate. .....and no I don't drink the coffee (blech) or the lattes or the ridiculously sweet drinks. I am a french roast coffee drinker.
I eat out 1-2 times a week and if I do eat processed food it's peanut butter, macadamia nuts, organic wheat crackers etc. No hydrogenated oils, no HFCS, no nitrites (unless naturally occurring), no nitrates. Except for a few indulgences I am low sugar/no sugar or low glycemic sugar (coconut).
......again this is great input. I will stay below 2,000 calories for 30 days and try to move more.0
Let us know how it goes! 
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 901 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.2K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions