How do I know if I’m eating enough for weight loss?

Pittgirl3

I’m sure I’m not the only one to ask this question.
I’ve been working on trying to lose weight for the past few months. My goal was to lose 2lbs a week. Which would put me under 200lbs going into the new year. Unfortunately, I have barely lost any weight. In the past 3 months, I’ve only managed to lose 9lbs.
Daily calories are set around 1300. I try to work out at least 3-4 times a week for about 30-40mins. I’m 5’6, 211lbs.
I try my best to stick to my calorie goal. Some days I’m under (I still try to get at least 1200, but sometimes I’m not successful) and someday I’m over (15-1600 range). I weigh and I measure my food, but I’m not seeing my hard work reflected on the scale.
So I decided to come here for help instead of binging on the Costco sized bag of Smart Pop I have in my cupboard.

How do I know if I’m eating enough?
What qualifies as a sedentary lifestyle vs. slightly active?
Positive advice is welcomed.

yirara

Quite simple: You know that you're eating enough because you've not lost a lot of weight. Your body doesn't decide to not use any energy if you eat too little because your body doesn't want to die. So hey, that's good news! And you did lose weight, even if it's less than you wanted. And btw, 9lbs lost in 3 months might not sound a lot, but you are on the right path. So well done!

It's more likely that you're not measuring your calorie intake carefully enough. Can I ask you if you're using a food scale for everything? Do you double check all database entries for accuracy? If you want to you could open up your diary temporarily and let us have a look. Maybe we spot some easily made mistakes

Dogmom1978

Food scale for everything, not measuring cups and tablespoons. Check accuracy of what’s in the database.

Also, if you are in the US you can use a nickel and set the scale to grams. It should weigh 5 grams. If not, either your scale needs to be replaced or it needs new batteries.

nanastaci2020

Congratulations on the progress you've made so far. As others have said, do what you can to improve your logging accuracy. Myfitnesspal is a great tool, but some of the information on food entries is inaccurate due to user error (entered wrong data) or items changing. And if you're scanning labels, you should still weigh the food because what the label says the product weighs: is not always accurate.

As to how to choose an activity setting... It is not a perfect science. But MFP bases your activity level on your job, hobbies, home life which does not count 'exercise'. Are you on your feet a good bit thru your day? Or sitting? Personally I have a desk job. Without intentional exercise, I only get in 2000-2500 steps per day. So for that 'lifestyle' the lowest activity level is a good choice. On the other end of the dial, if I were a SAHM of young kids, my day to day would include a lot of movement around the house and a higher activity level setting would probably be more accurate.

You can log your exercise, and consider eating some of those extra earned calories. Just be careful not to overestimate the calorie burn. Personally I don't try to track strength training. It burns a much smaller # per minute than does cardio. In cardio, you're moving multiple major muscle groups for an extended period of time. In strength training (for me at least) I'm moving less of my body and at a slower pace.

nanastaci2020

Ps-also as someone else said, there is not really a way to NOT eat 'enough' for weight loss. Though it is possible to eat too little with a result being that you feel cranky/lethargic/lack of energy. And if that is the case then your workouts can suffer and you can end up feeling quite miserable.

I've heard it said before (by someone here but I don't know the source) that the goal is to eat as much as you can while still losing weight. So it is not about reaching some finish line as quickly as possible. But losing weight in a way that is sustainable, meaning you can stick to it long term.

kshama2001

I see in your diary for yesterday you had "Baked Ziti, 1 serving" - if that's not your own recipe you made in the recipe builder, the calories could be way, way off.

I also saw a lot of entries for eaches or cups.

https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/



Do tighten up your logging, for a full month, and report back.

Also, what's your goal weight? I'm your height and have been your weight and would eat my arm off at 1200 calories.

Do you ever have weeks like this?

nanastaci2020

I see your diary is open. Some thoughts/questions.

Are your eggs always 50g each? Like you I often have 1-3 for breakfast, and they are typically not the same weight. The 'large egg' according to the package tends to be 52-58g instead of 50g. Instead of each being 70 cals, they're often 75-80. 10-15 eggs a week: that adds up.

For the homemade/meal items such as turkey salad spread, shrimp & sausage zoodle, baked ziti: are these recipes you entered or items you found in the database that sound similar to what you made? Using other people's recipes or generic/homemade type entries is inaccurate because they won't match the nutritional values of what you're cooking. And it is impossible to know how much food someone else's '1 serving' equals.

If you use cooking oils, keep in mind those have calories. If you're using the recipe builder, you can account for them in your recipe of course. ONe way to do it: weigh your final dish, and make the # of servings in the recipe builder = to the # of grams. Then when you put food on your plate, you weigh your portion. SUch as I made turkey meatballs the other day. The entire batch was 2365 grams. I put the mixture into a mini muffin pan to bake - and put 34g into each muffin space. So today I had 4 for lunch, and logged 34 x 4 'servings'.

Last thing for the day, if you're unhappy with the rate you're losing: try to be in control as much as reasonably possible of the food you're eating. If you eat food made at restaurants or made by friends or family: you are estimating its nutritional and serving sizes unless the person making the food is providing you with accurate details. You probably don't know if they use full fat dairy or lighter ingredients. If they're heavy handed on oils. Just examples. I am NOT saying there is anything wrong with food made by others, but it does involve estimating calories. And less estimation can lead to greater accuracy.

sijomial

9lbs is a significant amount of weight lost - well done.

Measuring with cups and spoons comes up time and time again on these message boards for people not getting the results they expect - calories are in relation to weight and not volume.
How much of that shredded mozzarella can your get in a third of a cup if you either sprinkle it lightly or cram it in?
Throw those cups and spoons away!

Is your food diary a complete list of every food and drink with calories that you have consumed?
Every meal, snack, dressing and drink?

As for sedentary or lightly active. Activity relates to your activity (but not purposeful exercise) for all your waking hours. Maybe you could give some clues as to your job and regular movement patterns? It's a great ambition to try to build as much movement into your normal activity as you can - if you think you might be on the cusp maybe simply try to move more?

Of course another option is simply to continue as you are with a steady rate of weight loss and accept it will take you a bit more time than expected to get to goal weight. The "prize" is in getting to goal (and staying there) rather than getting there quickly.

kshama2001

sijomial wrote: »

9lbs is a significant amount of weight lost - well done.

Measuring with cups and spoons comes up time and time again on these message boards for people not getting the results they expect - calories are in relation to weight and not volume.
How much of that shredded mozzarella can your get in a third of a cup if you either sprinkle it lightly or cram it in?
Throw those cups and spoons away!

Is your food diary a complete list of every food and drink with calories that you have consumed?
Every meal, snack, dressing and drink?

As for sedentary or lightly active. Activity relates to your activity (but not purposeful exercise) for all your waking hours. Maybe you could give some clues as to your job and regular movement patterns? It's a great ambition to try to build as much movement into your normal activity as you can - if you think you might be on the cusp maybe simply try to move more?

Of course another option is simply to continue as you are with a steady rate of weight loss and accept it will take you a bit more time than expected to get to goal weight. The "prize" is in getting to goal (and staying there) rather than getting there quickly.

Yes, how tightly to pack measuring cups was a constant source of stress for me - I was so happy when I switched to a digital food scale! Plus, less dishes to wash

janejellyroll

kshama2001 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

9lbs is a significant amount of weight lost - well done.

Measuring with cups and spoons comes up time and time again on these message boards for people not getting the results they expect - calories are in relation to weight and not volume.
How much of that shredded mozzarella can your get in a third of a cup if you either sprinkle it lightly or cram it in?
Throw those cups and spoons away!

Is your food diary a complete list of every food and drink with calories that you have consumed?
Every meal, snack, dressing and drink?

As for sedentary or lightly active. Activity relates to your activity (but not purposeful exercise) for all your waking hours. Maybe you could give some clues as to your job and regular movement patterns? It's a great ambition to try to build as much movement into your normal activity as you can - if you think you might be on the cusp maybe simply try to move more?

Of course another option is simply to continue as you are with a steady rate of weight loss and accept it will take you a bit more time than expected to get to goal weight. The "prize" is in getting to goal (and staying there) rather than getting there quickly.

Yes, how tightly to pack measuring cups was a constant source of stress for me - I was so happy when I switched to a digital food scale! Plus, less dishes to wash

For me, it was fruit and potatoes. I spent so much time trying to figure out whether my apple was "medium" or if my potato was "large" before I got a scale. Logging became so much easier once I got a food scale.

lemurcat2

janejellyroll wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

9lbs is a significant amount of weight lost - well done.

Measuring with cups and spoons comes up time and time again on these message boards for people not getting the results they expect - calories are in relation to weight and not volume.
How much of that shredded mozzarella can your get in a third of a cup if you either sprinkle it lightly or cram it in?
Throw those cups and spoons away!

Is your food diary a complete list of every food and drink with calories that you have consumed?
Every meal, snack, dressing and drink?

As for sedentary or lightly active. Activity relates to your activity (but not purposeful exercise) for all your waking hours. Maybe you could give some clues as to your job and regular movement patterns? It's a great ambition to try to build as much movement into your normal activity as you can - if you think you might be on the cusp maybe simply try to move more?

Of course another option is simply to continue as you are with a steady rate of weight loss and accept it will take you a bit more time than expected to get to goal weight. The "prize" is in getting to goal (and staying there) rather than getting there quickly.

Yes, how tightly to pack measuring cups was a constant source of stress for me - I was so happy when I switched to a digital food scale! Plus, less dishes to wash

For me, it was fruit and potatoes. I spent so much time trying to figure out whether my apple was "medium" or if my potato was "large" before I got a scale. Logging became so much easier once I got a food scale.

Me too. When people associate scales with stress or being more time consuming or whatnot, I always say that for me having to estimate was much more stressful and took more time. I sometimes estimate now and am not too bothered, but when I first started I found I'd think so much about it that it made me like logging less. I enjoy logging much more with a scale, and find it fun to weigh while I cook.