Another why can't I lose weight thread

GlynIrish

I eat at a deficit of between 500 and 800 a day I weigh my food monitor everything to the last miligram
I strength train 3 to 4 times a week I do pushups dips and walking 6 days a week
I have lost 20lbs before joining mfp and have lost another 33 lbs since
For the past 3 months I can't seem to drop any more I'm at 5.11 215lbs 32 year old male at a rough guess 20% bf
Very active I get up at 8 am and don't sit down until 9pm
On my feet all day there are no liquid calories that I don't log
Any input would be appreciated

nutmegoreo

Have you taken a diet break at any point?

JeromeBarry1

What is your calorie budget? What is your activity level? What are you logging for exercise?

GlynIrish

Yes I ate at maintenance for 2 weeks and lowered the workout amount to see would it give me a kick start but made no difference I know I'm not gaining 10lbs of muscle in 3 months so that can't be the case

GlynIrish

Jerome im calorie budget is 2100 I eat at 1200 to 1600 30c40f40p
Workout I log is in my first post

Seffell

Do you use a food scale?

shadow2soul

Can you open your diary?

GlynIrish

Yes I use a scales all the time and I thought my diary was open already I will open it now

cmriverside

I am assuming you don't have much to lose now? Are you already in a healthy weight range?

WHY are you eating at 1200-1600? I am doubtful that your daily energy expenditure along with your exercise is only 2100...I'm a little old lady and retired and mine is more than that so as a man I would think you need more food, not less...unless you are very short. (I'm 5'7"ish)

GlynIrish

No I am 5.11 mfp gives me 2100 to work with so I eat at a deficit to that to lose weight I still have about 30 lbs to lose to be at a healthy weight for my height

Seffell

Lifterofheavystuff wrote: »

No I am 5.11 mfp gives me 2100 to work with so I eat at a deficit to that to lose weight I still have about 30 lbs to lose to be at a healthy weight for my height

Does MFP give you 2100 when you chose in goals to "maintain weight"? Or have you chosen some rate loss like 1lbs a week?

cmriverside

Lifterofheavystuff wrote: »

No I am 5.11 mfp gives me 2100 to work with so I eat at a deficit to that to lose weight I still have about 30 lbs to lose to be at a healthy weight for my height

MFP is already figuring your deficit.

Set it to "Lose one pound per week." If it gives you 2100, you want to NET 2100. That means when you exercise, add that exercise into the Exercise tab and eat a little more so that your bottom line on the FOOD page comes to zero at the end of the day. You don't deduct from what MFP tells you - the deficit is already calculated. The minimum you want to eat, ever, is 2100.

On days you do purposeful exercise, eat more. Like 2500 or so.

Here, read this:

https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/410332-how-does-myfitnesspal-calculate-my-initial-goals-

shadow2soul

I would avoid entries like this (unless you created it):
Homemade - 3 Scrambled Eggs

You don’t know what was used and in what amounts either.

French Fries, Homemade, 1 potato
what size was the potato. Baked or fried. Any oils used. Etc...

It appears you might not be actually weighing everything you eat. So you might want to tighten up on that. Nuts are actually pretty calorie dense and that is one of the things you are logging in cups/nuts not grams.

GlynIrish

I have it set to lose 2lbs a week so of mfp is already factoring in a deficit (I never knew that) am I sabotaging myself by eating at even more of a deficit
I find it hard to get in the calories to be honest

GlynIrish

Anything I have as homemade is because I have made myself and added the details
Regarding potato it's not often enough I eat them to worry really but if I make fries they are oven baked no oil and 1 average potato giving 10 fries I know the scale myself regarding weight etc I just don't put it down
Same goes for nuts when I do eat some I measure them at 50g which is always the same half cup etc

GlynIrish

I am fairly meticulous with my logging I know what I am logging and I am a chef by trade but now I am thinking am I putting myself into starvation mode by not actually eating enough

cmriverside

Lifterofheavystuff wrote: »

I have it set to lose 2lbs a week so of mfp is already factoring in a deficit (I never knew that) am I sabotaging myself by eating at even more of a deficit
I find it hard to get in the calories to be honest

Set it to "Lose 1 pound."

You don't have enough weight to lose to set it at "2."

This under eating thing is going to catch up to you, and one way that happens is your body starts to slow down unnecessary functions because it isn't getting sufficient nutrition. You'v messed with your hormone levels by under eating if you've done it for a while, that's why your hunger signals aren't there.

Absolutely take a diet break and eat at maintenance for a week.

Here:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

GlynIrish

I'm going to try it thank you for your help

try2again

cmriverside wrote: »

Lifterofheavystuff wrote: »

No I am 5.11 mfp gives me 2100 to work with so I eat at a deficit to that to lose weight I still have about 30 lbs to lose to be at a healthy weight for my height

https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/410332-how-does-myfitnesspal-calculate-my-initial-goals-

MFP, this poster is a prime example of why this information needs to be front and center both when people sign up and each time they go back to update their diet & fitness profile, as well as guidance on how to choose the proper weekly weight loss goal.

Deviette

I suspect you're eating more than you think you are if you're not loosing. Can I ask, exactly how much have you lost in the last 3 months? Is it exactly 0 or is it just that progress is much slower?

Okay, so I've had a quick look. There are a few entries that might be explaining why you're struggling:

- "Nuts, pecans, 0.2 cup, chopped" - Cups for nuts, don't do this, weight it.
- "Nuts - Macadamia, 6 nuts" - How big is 1 nut? Weigh it.
- "Aladdin - Roasted Chicken Breast, 1.5 Each" - How big is a chicken breast? Weight it!
- I'm seeing some fried eggs. You using any oil on those?
- "French Fries, Homemade, 1 potato" - How big is a potato? I get that it's homemade, but a 150g potato and a 250g potato can look very similar in size if they're different shapes. Weigh your potatoes.
- "Boil-in-Bag - Brown Rice, 0.5 cup" - Don't use cups for solids, weigh them
- I'm seeing quite a few entries for things like ham that always seem to be 50g. Are you weighing those or assuming that 1 slice=50g?
- "cake - birthday cake, 1 Peice" - I mean ... sorry, but 250kcals seems very low for some cake. Even a smaller piece is probably closer to 350kcals
- "Curry - Curry, 100 gramm" - Unless this is an entry you've made yourself, this looks very suspect. 102kcals for 100g curry. Seems low to me.
- "Generic - Cashews, 23 pieces" - How big's a cashew? Weigh them.

So, can you see a theme here? Weigh all your foods. Don't guess. Weight it. There's quite a few nuts that I've identified here. Nuts are very calorie dense, so 10 or 20g off here and there can be hundreds of kcals. Also, there's a wonderful picture around somewhere (I can't find it right now) that shows the difference between eyeballing portions and weighing them (using peanut butter as the example) it's very informative, and really shows the difference and how many more calories that can add.

And, do you eat any vegetables? I'm seeing very little logged, is that because you don't eat any, or because you don't bother logging them?

Also, question: are you validating your entries again the entries on the database (does the 100g/ml on the database match the 100g/ml on the packet)

edit: another thought: Do you not eat lunch?

nutmegoreo

Lifterofheavystuff wrote: »

Yes I ate at maintenance for 2 weeks and lowered the workout amount to see would it give me a kick start but made no difference I know I'm not gaining 10lbs of muscle in 3 months so that can't be the case

The diet break isn't meant to kick start anything. It's purpose is to rebalance hormone levels. No one who has been here a while would suggest that you gained 10lbs of muscle in 3 months while eating in a deficit.

Lifterofheavystuff wrote: »

I am fairly meticulous with my logging I know what I am logging and I am a chef by trade but now I am thinking am I putting myself into starvation mode by not actually eating enough

Starvation mode isn't a thing, but there is something called adaptive thermogenesis which happens with deficits over a prolonged period of time. This is where the diet break is beneficial.


I know you say you are meticulous about your logging, but I am seeing some entries that I have suspicions about as well (like others have mentioned).

Generic - Boiled Bacon Joint, 100 g - is this your own entry? The generic entries can often be inaccurate. Did you weigh exactly 100g? I weigh all my foods and my entries are often 107g, or 98g.

Turnip - Turnip, 100 g - again, did you weigh out exactly 100g? Did you add anything to this? Butter? Spray butter (the kind that says 0 cal per spray on the bottle, but isn't really)?

Boil-in-Bag - Brown Rice, 0.25 cup - rice calories add up fast, was this weighed and then entered as a cup serving? You are better off finding an entry that allows you to enter it in grams, for accuracy purposes.

Ocean's Rise - Sardines in sunflower oil, 1 can - While I haven't had this specific item, in my experience canned fish tend to weigh more than what the package says.

These things add up over time. At least consider the possibility.


As for the diet break, here's some great information, and explains it much better than I can:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

ETA: I see the refeeds thread linked above. It must be good information!