Not losing eventhough tracker says I should be

Tahoechic

I've been tracking again everyday for a month. Everyday when I complete my entry it says in 5 weeks I should weigh approximately 6 to 10 pounds less than what I weigh. However my weight hasn't changed in a month. It's frustrating. Any advice?

Thanks

sexynurse801ms

Most people on here say don't put too much thought into the tracker. There are multiple variables in our daily intake that makes the tracker off. Weight loss is not linear. Keep yourself in a deficit and the weight will come off.

apullum

I would ignore those projections. They assume “every day is like today”...which doesn’t happen in real life.

Having said that, if you haven’t lost any weight at all in a month, then there’s a good chance you aren’t in a calorie deficit. Are you weighing ALL of your food with a food scale, and consistently hitting your calorie goal without going over?

diannethegeek

Stalls can be frustrating. Any chance you'd be willing to change your diary settings for a bit so that we can see it? I understand if you're not interested, but it really can help to see the whole picture while you're trying to troubleshoot this.

Otherwise, these would be my generic tips:

1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right.

2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one and use it for everything. Everything. For a couple of weeks to see what kind of discrepancies you're running into. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries. Don't trust the barcode scanner or restaurant entries 100%.

5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight, happy scale, or libra to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.

bosque1234

Otherwise, these would be my generic tips:

1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right.

2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one and use it for everything. Everything. For a couple of weeks to see what kind of discrepancies you're running into. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries. Don't trust the barcode scanner or restaurant entries 100%.

5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight, happy scale, or libra to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.[/quote]

Phenomenal advice all in one post!!! ^^^^ Truth.

LivingtheLeanDream

If you're using a food scale to weigh your food and eating consistently in calorie deficit you will lose.
I am tackling a summer weight creep, have been since beginning of August, it took me 6 weeks to see any progress on the scales, I got my whoosh of 3lbs last week - so stick with it, weight loss is not linear, CICO works.

kshama2001

There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

ChackoSupreme

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about a plateau until you've been stuck at it for 2 months.

They are natural as your body is getting used to the caloric deficit.

You may need to increase the intensity of your workouts, or cut calories, or switch up your routine OR calories are sneaking in somewhere that we can help you find if you turn your diary public.

quiksylver296

Food scale.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

Also, if you started new-to-you exercise, your muscles will retain water to repair themselves. This will mask any fat loss that has happened during that time.

http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

beulah81

LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »

If you're using a food scale to weigh your food and eating consistently in calorie deficit you will lose.
I am tackling a summer weight creep, have been since beginning of August, it took me 6 weeks to see any progress on the scales, I got my whoosh of 3lbs last week - so stick with it, weight loss is not linear, CICO works.

Do you mean the scale was not moving for six weeks and then one day last week you stepped on it and you were 3 lbs. lighter?