What am I missing?

kimny72

Commander_Keen wrote: »

kimny72 wrote: »

Commander_Keen wrote: »

hila_13 wrote: »

I’m a little embarrassed to write this because I’m a big believer in calories in, calories out and weight loss being a math equation. But, I’m struggling to see sufficient progress and perhaps someone can offer a nugget advice that will be helpful.

Over the last ten weeks I’ve counted calories carefully. Ensuring I’m eating at a 1000 calorie deficit minimum (according to fit bit) and typically sticking close to 1200 calories though going a little up or down within the week. I’ve also been hitting the gym frequently (weights and cardio 5 days a week). And while I’m no bodybuilder, I lift as heavy as I can.

After ten weeks I’ve lost only 7 lbs and am becoming increasingly frustrated. I’ve successfully counted calories and lost weight before (I actually ate relatively poorly but stayed within my daily allocation).

I’m 5’2, 152 lbs. I have weight to loose.

What am I missing?

If you are doing CICO and you are correctly measuring your meals, then the last variable needs to be increased.
Increase your cardio, by 100 calories ( should =10min) until you see the scale moving.

Considering OP already is accounting for several hundred calories of exercise, it's doubtful "more exercise" is the answer. With her stats, her expectations may just be too high.

What if her Fit bit was off?

The point is, she is trying to lose faster than is realistic for her size. The problem isn't that she isn't exercising enough, it's that she is expecting to lose weight too quickly. She should be losing @ 1 lb per week, and she is losing 0.7 lbs per week, which taking into consideration normal weight fluctuations, is pretty much on point.

Her subsequent posts suggest she's doing purposeful exercise for 2+ hours per day. That's more than most people

sefajane1

VioletRojo wrote: »

sefajane1 wrote: »

VioletRojo wrote: »

hila_13 wrote: »

I lift for about 40 minutes most days (10x3) for 8-10 different exercises. Then I do HIIT or the stair climber for 20 minutes before switching over to the elliptical for another 40. Most days I also walk another hour or 2 (I don’t always have time but I’ve made this a priority).

This is how I calculate calories burned:
For running the formula is body weight in pounds X .63 X miles.
For walking the formula is body weight in pounds X .33 X miles.
I don't bother counting lifting because there is no really good way to estimate calories burned.

How did you come across that calculation please?

These formulas were published in a running magazine (maybe Runner's World) years ago. I wish I could remember with certainty, but it was a long time ago and I've just used those formulas since.

Ok, well thanks for posting that because I've just compared it to the numbers that I log for exercise (50% ,ofwhat MFP gives me) and it's pretty spot on! 😊👍

AnnPT77

hila_13 wrote: »

I lift for about 40 minutes most days (10x3) for 8-10 different exercises. Then I do HIIT or the stair climber for 20 minutes before switching over to the elliptical for another 40. Most days I also walk another hour or 2 (I don’t always have time but I’ve made this a priority).

There's a decent chance a heart-rate-based estimator could possibly overestimate exercise calories from HIIT (HR out of sync with the work, drops gradually during the easy-pace phases even though the work drops quickly).

If your device doesn't know you're weight training (some devices let you tell them what exercise you're doing), and is using HR to estimate calories, then odds are pretty good that the device will overestimate calories for the weight training (heart rate increases due to pressure/strain in a way that is disproportionate to calorie-burning work).

Don't know about stair climber. HR-based calorie estimate for steady state on elliptical should be as close as anything else, probably.

hila_13

Thank you! This has been very helpful!

debrag12

sarabushby wrote: »

Just FWIW... 2200-2500 daily burn does seem fairly high and would certainly require a more active lifestyle in general as well as the cardio work.
E.g. yesterday I went to work (desk job) as usual and then had to do a 2hr / 30mile bike ride just to reach 2,225 calories burn on my fitibit charge with HR.
I’m a little taller than you at 5’5” but a little lighter - 120lb.

(Also FWIW I have a Garmin too which also does wrist based optical HR readings. I have noticed both devices can vary a lot and are affected by how you wear them, daylight, if you have sleeves covering them or not, they are definitely not THAT accurate all the time)

Yesterday I burnt 2205 and only did 7978 steps and 3.27 miles. I am 5'2" but slightly heavier than the OP (164).

cheryldumais

RelCanonical wrote: »

hila_13 wrote: »

Thanks. I do weigh my food. I don’t eat back any exercise calories but I make sure the arch is saying I’ve burned at least 2200 (and I aim for 2500 or more on all gym days). Maybe I’m just expecting too much.

Wait, are you saying you burn 2,200 calories on a gym day? That seems like an overestimate. Nvm, I read that wrong, that's your TDEE. Still potentially high, but not aggressively so.

Also, for us shorties, 1000 calorie deficit is just not really possible unless you're very overweight, and you're not very overweight. 1,200 calories + exercise calories isn't a 1000 calorie deficit. If you're using MFP for your calculations, it bottoms out at 1,200 for women no matter what you set for your deficit.

I think your answer is here^ If MFP assigned 1200 to you and you are assuming that your TDEE is 2200 you are assuming that you are 1000 cal short so 2 lbs/week. The trouble is that MFP won't assign anything less than 1200 so that may not actually be a 1000 calorie a day deficit. I am 5'5" and weigh 146 and my maintenance calories are actually around 1350. If I say I want to lose 2 lbs/week it will assign me 1200 calories but as you can see that is only 150 calories deficit per day which isn't even 1/2 lb/week. You are actually doing very well having lost 7 lbs so I would just try to be more patient. Good luck.