Please bear with me..

lisasp4

Please bear with me while I explain my situation and confusion. This may be glaringly obvious to more experienced people but I’m clueless.

I have gained almost 2 stone over the quarantine period and have just split my second pair of jeans. It’s time to do something about it.

Two weeks ago, I started logging my food on here. My Apple Watch seems to think I run on 1600 calories a day, so I set my calorie limit as 1200 thinking that was a decent deficit to start seeing results.

I have stuck to the 1200 calories and exercise 3 time’s a week. I do 3 30 minute strength exercises and go for walks every other day, usually lasting about 30 mins in total.

I understand things take time but I weighed myself for the first time in 2 weeks and I’ve made no progress. I weigh the same as when I started.

Please can you offer any advice? Am I eating too much, eating too little, not exercising enough, not giving it enough time to see results?

Any advice would be helpful as I just have no idea.

Thank you and apologies again if this is obvious to everyone else but me

harper16

When you set your weight loss goal on MFP to 1 lb a week what does it set your calories to?

Since I can't see your diary on App are you logging everything that you eat, and using a food scale?

Do you log your exercise separately and eating back those calories?

Two weeks isn't a lot of time to make any real determinations. The weight loss might be masked by water retention from increasing/starting a new exercise program.

lisasp4

I originally put my MFP goal to 2lbs a week. When I put it at 1lb a week it says I should be eating 1540 calories. I don’t know how accurate Apple watches are but if my calories just to live are 1600, surely 1540 wouldn’t be enough of a deficit?

I am logging everything and writing everything.

I haven’t been eating back my calories because I thought it would make even more of a deficit, therefore speeding the weight loss up even more. Is that wrong?

MostlyWater

have you had your thyroid checked?

harper16

lisasp4 wrote: »

I originally put my MFP goal to 2lbs a week. When I put it at 1lb a week it says I should be eating 1540 calories. I don’t know how accurate Apple watches are but if my calories just to live are 1600, surely 1540 wouldn’t be enough of a deficit?

I am logging everything and writing everything.

I haven’t been eating back my calories because I thought it would make even more of a deficit, therefore speeding the weight loss up even more. Is that wrong?

What is your height and current weight?

lisasp4

I’m 5’7 and am now 11 stone 6.

lisasp4

I have never had my thyroid checked.

janejellyroll

Two weeks is a little early to get worried, but there are a variety of logging errors that can result in people accidentally eating more than they think. In my observation, this is a common cause of people not losing weight when they feel like they're in a deficit. If you open your diary, we may be able to help you troubleshoot.

Terytha

Do you have a food scale? Do you weigh and log all your food, including oils and drinks, double checking the calorie info against the USDA Food Database?

The most common reason to not lose weight is eating more than you think. If you are estimating your food or measuring using cups/spoons, or leaving out anything, you are definitely eating more than you think.

If you open your diary we can take a look.

AnnPT77

What they said/asked. Also, how long have you had your Apple watch? Have you double-checked that your personal settings in your Apple set-up are correct?

I don't know how old you are, but if I assume you're 40, your sedentary TDEE would be estimated 1700+ at completely sedentary, and BMR (calories you'd burn if you laid in bed all day, basically) just under 1500. 1600 total isn't impossible, but it would be surprisingly low. (Even if I assume you're 60, BMR's still around 1400, and that's with zero daily life activity and zero exercise). I grant those are estimates, but you'd have to be quite placid to be exercising and only hitting 1600 on average, IMO, or there's some other issue.

For sure, 2 weeks isn't long enough to evaluate. If you're pre-menopausal, you want at minimum to be comparing the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles. If you just started the exercise routine alongside calorie counting, that makes water weight fluctuations a more likely factor in what you're seeing on the scale. This is a good read:

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

I get that it's frustrating. Hang in there!

Strudders67

You also asked about the weight loss rate "I haven’t been eating back my calories because I thought it would make even more of a deficit, therefore speeding the weight loss up even more. Is that wrong?"

Trying to lose 2lb a week is quite fast and only really suitable for those who are obese. You're still in the healthy BMI range, even if you have put on 2 stone.

MFP is also designed such that you should eat your exercise calories.

Enter your stats in to the Guided Setup and aim to lose 1.5lb a week. When you've lost about 10lb, go back to the Guided Setup and lower the rate of loss to 1lb a week. After the next 10, lower it again. This will change your calorie target but be aware that it is (and should be) slow going to lose the last 10 lbs. Log your exercise manually in MFP and eat back atleast 75% of the calories given. If you know the speed that you walk at, my experience is that MFP is pretty accurate for calculating calories burned whilst walking. Strength exercises won't give you many calories, although it's good for toning.

As asked above, if you open your diary to be Public, others can pick up on potential logging inconsistencies as well. If your logging is inaccurate, that won't help.