Net calories under 1000 - not losing weight

Lydia_G_S

Hi all,

I am 5'3 (161cm) and weigh 141 lb (64kg). I have my activity level set to sedentary and want to lose 1 pound a week which gives me a calorie goal of 1200 kcal. I also have my fitbit connected to mfp and, since I work out 4-5 times a week sometimes twice a day (I also take around 10000-15000 steps a day), I get on average 700-900 extra calories a day. I eat most of these calories back but not all of them which is why I am currently eating an average of 900-1000 net calories a day. This should give me a daily calorie deficit of around 700kcal but I am not losing any weight Any ideas why? Do I eat too many of my exercise calories back or should I eat all of them back so that I eat at least 1200 net calories??

Any advice would be appreciated!!

deannalfisher

you should be netting at LEAST 1200 cal a day - but at 5'3" and 141lbs are you within the normal weight range for your height - so you should only have your goal set to lose .5lbs a week

are you logging everything correctly?

lynn_glenmont

How are you calculating the calories you consume? Are you using a food scale?

TavistockToad

How long have you not lost weight for?

Lydia_G_S

Thanks for your replies! I log everything I eat in mfp and I use a scale so I am fairly certain that my consumed calories are accurate. I haven't lost any weight for 3 weeks now.

TavistockToad

Lydia_G_S wrote: »

Thanks for your replies! I log everything I eat in mfp and I use a scale so I am fairly certain that my consumed calories are accurate. I haven't lost any weight for 3 weeks now.

3 weeks isn't long enough.

I agree that your deficit is too large.

GottaBurnEmAll

I too agree that on the face of it your deficit is too large, but not knowing your age can't say for sure whether it's a full 500 calorie deficit that's taking you down to a baseline of 1200.

So, how old are you?

That aside, I just thought I'd encourage you. I had a lot of weight to lose and was going along fine, dropping a pound a week, logging quite accurately when suddenly the scale just stopped moving. I even started a thread about it after three weeks. A few days later the scale finally moved and I dropped 3 pounds all at once. I stayed in that same stall/whoosh pattern for the rest of my weight loss and still tend to lose weight that way.

Lydia_G_S

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

I too agree that on the face of it your deficit is too large, but not knowing your age can't say for sure whether it's a full 500 calorie deficit that's taking you down to a baseline of 1200.

So, how old are you?

That aside, I just thought I'd encourage you. I had a lot of weight to lose and was going along fine, dropping a pound a week, logging quite accurately when suddenly the scale just stopped moving. I even started a thread about it after three weeks. A few days later the scale finally moved and I dropped 3 pounds all at once. I stayed in that same stall/whoosh pattern for the rest of my weight loss and still tend to lose weight that way.

Thanks for your encouragement! I am 23. My maintenance goal is 1710.

GottaBurnEmAll

Lydia_G_S wrote: »

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

I too agree that on the face of it your deficit is too large, but not knowing your age can't say for sure whether it's a full 500 calorie deficit that's taking you down to a baseline of 1200.

So, how old are you?

That aside, I just thought I'd encourage you. I had a lot of weight to lose and was going along fine, dropping a pound a week, logging quite accurately when suddenly the scale just stopped moving. I even started a thread about it after three weeks. A few days later the scale finally moved and I dropped 3 pounds all at once. I stayed in that same stall/whoosh pattern for the rest of my weight loss and still tend to lose weight that way.

Thanks for your encouragement! I am 23. My maintenance goal is 1710.

You should cut your deficit down to lose .5 pound a week at this point then. Hang in there and make sure your logging is tight.

Psychgrrl

There are a lot of incorrect entries in the database. Be sure and compare the entry to the food label the first time and then be sure and use the same entry each time.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

Lydia_G_S wrote: »

Hi all,

I am 5'3 (161cm) and weigh 141 lb (64kg). I have my activity level set to sedentary and want to lose 1 pound a week which gives me a calorie goal of 1200 kcal. I also have my fitbit connected to mfp and, since I work out 4-5 times a week sometimes twice a day (I also take around 10000-15000 steps a day), I get on average 700-900 extra calories a day. I eat most of these calories back but not all of them which is why I am currently eating an average of 900-1000 net calories a day. This should give me a daily calorie deficit of around 700kcal but I am not losing any weight Any ideas why? Do I eat too many of my exercise calories back or should I eat all of them back so that I eat at least 1200 net calories??

Any advice would be appreciated!!

your deficit is built in without exercise in mfp so you dont need to net so low either. eat what MFP gives you weigh EVERYTHING (you said you do weigh food,do you weigh everything solid and semi solid?) and eat back most of your exercise calories, and give it a few weeks and see what happens then. if you are at a healthy weight like some stated above then its going to take a lot longer to see a loss and you will have to be even more accurate with the weighing of your food

AnnPT77

Besides the walking steps, what else are you doing, specifically, that is estimated to be 700-900 calories daily? That's quite a lot.

lin_be

If you're not losing, you're either eating more than you think or not burning as many calories as you think. You seem confident about your calorie intake so take a look at the other side of the equation. Getting an extra 700-900 calories a day in exercise means you must be doing a ton of cardio (not walking 10k steps, especially at 141lbs). I think you're over estimating your calorie burn.

SuperKnight1

Every mile you fastwalk, jog, or run will get you about 125 calories extra so you would need to be doing 5 to 7 miles of cardio to log an extra 700 to 900 calories. For example I fastwalked/ran 3 miles today and my Garmin that is hooked to MyFitness Pal added 379 calories of exercise. I try not to eat back more than 75% of the exercise calories. I run at least 3 to 6 miles, 4 to 5 days a week.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

xcellant1 wrote: »

Every mile you fastwalk, jog, or run will get you about 125 calories extra so you would need to be doing 5 to 7 miles of cardio to log an extra 700 to 900 calories. For example I fastwalked/ran 3 miles today and my Garmin that is hooked to MyFitness Pal added 379 calories of exercise. I try not to eat back more than 75% of the exercise calories. I run at least 3 to 6 miles, 4 to 5 days a week.

the calorie burn is going to vary person to person though. so that 125 calories may be more or less for someone else. But to get a 700-900 calorie burn for most people would require running,biking or something like that for a period of time/ 10k steps may result in 200-300 calories maybe more. If I do 15k I get about 600-700 caloires for my height and weight,of course it depends on the speed too. someone taller than me or heavier than me may burn an extra 100-200 calories more but it just depends. I know for me it takes a lot to get 700-900 calories burned.

TavistockToad

xcellant1 wrote: »

Every mile you fastwalk, jog, or run will get you about 125 calories extra so you would need to be doing 5 to 7 miles of cardio to log an extra 700 to 900 calories. For example I fastwalked/ran 3 miles today and my Garmin that is hooked to MyFitness Pal added 379 calories of exercise. I try not to eat back more than 75% of the exercise calories. I run at least 3 to 6 miles, 4 to 5 days a week.

Not true, i get 84 calories per mile I run, less for walking.

Lydia_G_S

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Besides the walking steps, what else are you doing, specifically, that is estimated to be 700-900 calories daily? That's quite a lot.

I do strength training twice a week for around 40 minutes and I do cardio nearly every day of the week. I either run between 3 and 6 miles or I swim for an hour or I play squash for one and a half hours. I take a rest day once a week. Since my activity setting is set to sedentary and I wear my Fitbit all day, I assumed that the calories I get from exercise are fairly accurate. I get around 350 calories for 10 000 steps.

Copaiba

Did you ever figure it out? Sometimes I think that I’m not losing because I’m exhausted and sore (inflammation)

MichelleSilverleaf

Copaiba wrote: »

Did you ever figure it out? Sometimes I think that I’m not losing because I’m exhausted and sore (inflammation)

If it's been 4 weeks or longer since you've lost anything, the likely culprit is that you're eating more than you think. Hard to say without more information.

K9RSQ4ME

I don't think you're eating enough calories in general, but I would be curious to hear what your macro goals are. You might want to read the book Thinner, Leaner, Stronger by Michael Mathews. My trainer and I are completely on the same page when it comes to protein/strength training and that lean body mass is far more important than the weight on the scale. It has taken me years to learn that.

I do not have a fast metabolism by any means. I am 54, post-menopausal, strength train 2-3 days a week, and am generally active (15,000 steps a day or bike riding a couple days a week for cardio). AND I eat almost 1,700 calories a day when I want to lose a few pounds which is what I'm doing now.

There's such a thing as not fueling your body properly. If you don't have the right fuel in the tank the car's not gonna do what it's supposed to do.