2,000 Calories per MFP and not losing weight

fjm0534

OK, update: I decided to lower my daily calorie count on the MFP app to just about 2,000 a day (previously it was 2,100+ a day). I did this to compensate for the times when my estimating is off. I have tried to stay below this mark and it has been successful. I was down 1 lb the first week and 2 lbs this last week.

Again, thanks for all the input, it appears that my estimating and accepting the amounts listed in the database was where I was off.

fitoverfortymom

OP, I feel you have missed the big message behind what the MFP community is trying to offer you here. Adjusting your calorie goal isn't going to help you. It's perfectly sound to think that you could lose weight eating 2100 calories a day if you actually eat that amount each day. Based on your logging entries and the fact that you aren't losing weight, you are eating MORE than 2100 calories a day because you are eating more than you think.

Stop estimating. At least think of estimating as an every once in a while thing rather than how you manage your daily intake.

Get a food scale and weigh your food in grams and accurately log what you eat so you know much more precisely what your calorie intake is.

fjm0534

I have a food scale, I use the food scale, it measures in grams, even.....but when I can't use the food scale I use the database. The database isn't very accurate so I tweaked the calories per day. It is working for me. So, in this case, adjusting my calorie goal is working and it can work for others in this same situation.

This is why I took a moment to post this, so that others might benefit from it.

Thanks for your concern, I am sure it was well placed.

wmd1979

fjm0534 wrote: »

I have a food scale, I use the food scale, it measures in grams, even.....but when I can't use the food scale I use the database. The database isn't very accurate so I tweaked the calories per day. It is working for me. So, in this case, adjusting my calorie goal is working and it can work for others in this same situation.

This is why I took a moment to post this, so that others might benefit from it.

Thanks for your concern, I am sure it was well placed.

But you only adjusted your calorie goal by 100 calories a day which would work out to 1/5 of a pound a week difference. That in itself wouldn't account for the fact that you are now losing weight, and that doesn't fix your problem. Its not that the database isn't very accurate, it is that you aren't being very accurate and that is what people are trying to tell you. Your estimates may have been a bit more accurate in the last couple of weeks, but that is not always going to be the case.

RaeBeeBaby

I'm sure there will be some who disagree, but I think age is also a factor. Personally, my metabolism has slowed. (Yes, I know - not true for everyone but very true for me.)

At 58 I have to be super tight and accurate in weighing and logging to stay in a deficit. One restaurant "blow-out" meal can ruin a whole week for me of eating in a deficit. Basically, pushing me over for the week and I'll stay the same or even have a slight gain. When I was younger I could have cheat days or meals fairly often and still lose or at least maintain. Those days are gone.

Exercise has been the game changer for me. Bottom line, working out allows me to eat more, got out to restaurants, have drinks and enjoy life while still staying in the weight loss game.

Good luck!