Needing a little help

Abby_Lynn_O

Hi! My name is Abby. I actually joined in the hopes of some support, as well as the fact that I have a lot of questions and I thought maybe you guys could help me out! Sorry if any of my questions are a little dumb...just bear with me, please, haha. I'm twenty years old and I'm not actually new to the whole dieting thing. When I was around twelve or thirteen I lost some weight, and then at sixteen I lost around 40 pounds. However, I've gained a good deal of it back. I went to a nutritionist a few years ago, when I was probably seventeen or eighteen, and she helped me out quite a bit but now a lot of my circumstances have changed.

So, as I mentioned, I'm twenty years old, 5'1" (actually a little closer to 5'2"!), and I currently weigh around 216. It's so hard for me to post that number, as I have a very difficult relationship with my weight and body image, but I'm being brave and doing it! I'm just ready to lose it. I'm tired of living life this way. I don't exercise, at least not as far as going to a gym, but I work a job where typically three days out of the week I am on my feet throughout the entire day (and cannot sit down) and do a bit of heavy work (i.e. lifting, squatting, a good deal of physical activity). I'm trying to get into working out as well. We have a treadmill at my home and I do use that, but infrequently, so I'm trying to get into the habit of actually working out more.

Okay, so here's the actual issue. Sorry for all the rambling. My calories are currently set at 1,730, as that is what the nutritionist told me to do when I started. However, I was 192 pounds at that time. I've been doing it steadily for around a month now, and lost around three pounds, but it has gone back up now and I am not losing weight at all. Whatsoever. Every week, it's the same, 216. There's a slight variance in ounces but that's it. Typically with my diets before I would lose a pound a week, sometimes half a pound, but still I could see myself making progress.

I track my calories with My Fitness Pal. They recommended that, at my height, weight and with everything else I should be eating 1,860 calories, but I'm afraid to do that. I don't want to gain any weight.

Can anyone help me out? I just need some advice, however it comes, and if y'all can help me out with calorie amount, that would be fantastic too. Thank you so much. And forgive me for being a newbie!

janejellyroll

Welcome! None of these questions are dumb.

How long has it been since you've lost weight? Do you know how much of a deficit 1,730 is for you?

Also, if you open your diary we may be able to help you troubleshoot your logging. There are some common things that can result in us eating more than we think we are and that can keep us from losing weight.

tinkerbellang83

I'd say from the stats you've posted and the information you've given so far, it's most likely a case of underestimating your calorie intake - it's easily done.

• Whilst it's not totally necessary for weight loss, weighing foods is the most accurate way to determine calories. It's wise to at least do this with more calorie dense foods. Guesstimating portion sizes can be well off.
• Be wary of your choices from the database and scrutinise them the first time you use them against the nutritional information on either the packaging or the USDA database. The database on MFP is user-entered and some of the entries are completely off.
• Additionally be wary of using meal/recipes that you didn't create yourself, for example something like "Chicken Tacos" you can't know what the person who created it used or if it's accurate.

Abby_Lynn_O

Thank you to everyone who has replied thus far! @tinkerbellang83 I think this is a good idea and I don't have a food scale, so I will look into that. Thank you guys! You've all given me something to think about.

somethingsoright

Yes, get a food scale! It's funny, I was just talking to someone at work who isn't losing weight and she's set on buying a fitbit, but she won't consider a buying a food scale for a quarter of the price. Before I got my food scale, I spent WEEKS not losing and getting frustrated. Weighing everything was an eye-opener, especially with pre-packaged stuff. I was inadvertently getting in about an extra 200 calories a day by not weighing my food.

HoneyBadger302

Yup, definitely invest in a food scale, and weigh everything, including packaged "single serving" foods - I found what I thought I was consuming was way off on some things, and some of those were pretty calorie dense (like pasta - weight that dry prior to cooking). Butter was another one where it was far too easy to have an extra 50 calories sneak in and think I was accounting for everything. Coffee creamer too. Just a few that were eye opening for me!

At your height, the calories seem a bit high. I tried entering your stats, with a one pound a week loss, as lightly active (since your job is only 3 out of 7 days a week, I don't think it would qualify as more) and it gave me 1530 kcal/day. That right there would be the difference between losing and not losing.

Another option would be to eat an "active" calorie goal on the days you work, and a sedentary goal on the days you don't work - would give you some extra calories on days you're using them, but keep you down on the days you're not. I prefer to eat about the same every day, so I tend to average out those differences over the week, but some people prefer to have more on days they are more active.

palmuphandopen

Food scale really helped me when the numbers weren't moving. A couple of other things... how is the stress in your life? Are you sleeping? Eat the recommended calories! but make sure you're being accurate (back to the food scale) and honest in your logging.

I started at 242 - so I know you can do this! I'm at 167 today but some weeks my weight doesn't budge. Are you willing to be patient with yourself? Don't give up! this is a slow and steady process and you can do it! ((hugs))