Not losing weight in a deficit
Replies
-
DonnaMiles1966 wrote: »You think you're doing the right thing, but not much in the way of results sadly. It's got to come together eventually and all just "click I didn't excersise for over a year and strangely enough lost weight, down to 71kgs, then 6 months ago I started training again and it's working the opposite. I dunno what's going on, UGH!!! Think my system is in need of an overhaul. If I don't eat sufficient calories I can feel it while working out, I don't have the stamina at all. I tried eating less and that was the result. No up and go. Maybe I'm exercising too much? Too little? *sigh* You guys have been amazing and I appreciate all the input xx
I'm sorry your struggling! Just to give you some perspective... I spent my 30s trying to lose 20 lbs by doing every diet I could. I felt like I was eating next to nothing and was staying active and nothing worked. Assumed there was something wrong with me.
Then I did two things that changed everything - I started using a food scale and a step tracker. I discovered that I was eating several hundred cals more than I thought, and was only getting 4-5000 steps per day! So why was I hungry and unsatisfied? Because I was eating foods I didn't like and didn't fill me up, just because I was told they were "healthy diet friendly foods". Then I'd occasionally have one day where I ate far more than I thought I did because "I deserved it" for eating all that "healthy" food.
Once I was weighing and logging food accurately every day, I could eat foods I liked, but in a moderated amount. I started to learn which foods filled me up and which were a waste if precious cals. I kept having a weighed out serving of ice cream after dinner because it satisfied me, but had to ditch those advertised lower cal chips and crackers because I had to over eat them to feel like I'd eaten anything. I was able to use my food log history to play around with my macros. And I didn't need a break from it because it was food I liked. Plus as I focused on increasing my step count, it slowly increased my calorie needs.
The diet industry really gets so many of us running around in circles focused on unimportant stuff without any actual data. And it's so easy to feel like you're not eating anything but not noticing all the calories you waste. Starting with a dead accurate food log made it easier for me to figure out what food and calorie level worked for me personally. I bet focusing on recording some really accurate data in your food log for a few weeks will answer some questions for you. Good luck!
OP- please, read this and then read it again. Let it sink in. People often get the best advice and just glaze over it and continue to wonder why what they’re doing is not working. This quote has about everything you need to know and do. I would add to weigh at the same time consistently and follow your weight trend on Libra or another weight trend app, and stick to the program. Now it’s whether you will heed this advice, that is the question.5 -
Like others have said, it's likely a combo of not having accurate food portions and also over-estimating the calories burned in exercise. 300 from a weights session sounds very high to me. As a guy I enter 130 for myself, which I got from the formula below. The treadmill is probably over-stating your calories too. That could put you off by about 1,000 calories per week just on the exercise.
It sounds like you're going to be plenty diligent enough when you get the right numbers input, so I'm sure the gains will swiftly follow.
It's also possible that you are gaining some muscle from all that training.
Did you enter the correct activity level to MFP? i.e. sedentary/active/etc. That would be your typical daily activity not including the workouts you're tracking separately.
https://btn.academy/blogs/news/how-many-calories-do-you-burn-during-weight-training2 -
Retroguy2000 wrote: »Like others have said, it's likely a combo of not having accurate food portions and also over-estimating the calories burned in exercise. 300 from a weights session sounds very high to me. As a guy I enter 130 for myself, which I got from the formula below. The treadmill is probably over-stating your calories too. That could put you off by about 1,000 calories per week just on the exercise.
It sounds like you're going to be plenty diligent enough when you get the right numbers input, so I'm sure the gains will swiftly follow.
It's also possible that you are gaining some muscle from all that training.
Did you enter the correct activity level to MFP? i.e. sedentary/active/etc. That would be your typical daily activity not including the workouts you're tracking separately.
https://btn.academy/blogs/news/how-many-calories-do-you-burn-during-weight-training
Two pounds of muscle mass gain in a month would be a really good result, for a woman, under ideal conditions. Ideal conditions include a good progressive strength training program faithfully practiced, excellent nutrition (especially protein), favorable genetics, relative youth, and a calorie surplus (some of which unfortunately don't apply to me or to the OP).
On the flip side, two pounds a month would be about the slowest observable rate of fat loss (250 calorie daily deficit).
I wish it were otherwise, but the sad conclusion is that it's fairly unlikely that a woman is failing to see weight loss on the scale while eating low calories, because of muscle mass gain.10 -
OP just curious: have you invested in a food scale yet? They’re fairly cheap so I really really think if you haven’t yet, you should get one NOW.
Best of luck!2 -
She thinks she is in a calorie deficit but the fact she is maintaining or gaining weight suggests otherwise. This, combined with her high protein intake and high levels of working out suggests she may well be gaining muscle while also losing some fat.Two pounds of muscle mass gain in a month would be a really good result, for a woman, under ideal conditions. Ideal conditions include a good progressive strength training program faithfully practiced, excellent nutrition (especially protein), favorable genetics, relative youth, and a calorie surplus (some of which unfortunately don't apply to me or to the OP).
On the flip side, two pounds a month would be about the slowest observable rate of fat loss (250 calorie daily deficit).
I wish it were otherwise, but the sad conclusion is that it's fairly unlikely that a woman is failing to see weight loss on the scale while eating low calories, because of muscle mass gain.
She didn't say anything about "two pounds", but she did say she noticed she has gained muscle. Basically I'm saying if she has gained X pounds of muscle and lost X pounds of fat, she shouldn't feel discouraged at that progress.4 -
Also, how's your sleep?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
1 -
Just curious if anyone else notices that many OP’s typically disappear once we all encourage a food scale? I just wish I could help them understand it’s not as scary or complicated as they think. And it could save them years of yo-yo dieting if they gave it a fair chance. 😔
OP- please come back and let us know if you have questions. We really are here to support you.11 -
Retroguy2000 wrote: »
She thinks she is in a calorie deficit but the fact she is maintaining or gaining weight suggests otherwise. This, combined with her high protein intake and high levels of working out suggests she may well be gaining muscle while also losing some fat.Two pounds of muscle mass gain in a month would be a really good result, for a woman, under ideal conditions. Ideal conditions include a good progressive strength training program faithfully practiced, excellent nutrition (especially protein), favorable genetics, relative youth, and a calorie surplus (some of which unfortunately don't apply to me or to the OP).
On the flip side, two pounds a month would be about the slowest observable rate of fat loss (250 calorie daily deficit).
I wish it were otherwise, but the sad conclusion is that it's fairly unlikely that a woman is failing to see weight loss on the scale while eating low calories, because of muscle mass gain.
She didn't say anything about "two pounds", but she did say she noticed she has gained muscle. Basically I'm saying if she has gained X pounds of muscle and lost X pounds of fat, she shouldn't feel discouraged at that progress.
@Retroguy2000
No idea why you are getting so many disagrees to what is a very reasonable post - can only think people are disagreeing with something you haven't actually said!
(Note to those disagreeing - It wasn't said that lack of weight loss was DUE to muscle gain, it was merely said that some muscle may well have been gained.)
OP says herself she is maintaining or even gaining a little weight (clearly not actually in a deficit), is weight training five hours a week and has been for months and is seeing some muscle gain.
The conclusion that someone may be recomping is entirely reasonable and should be encouraging to the OP that although weight loss isn't happening she is getting some payback from all her efforts.
4 -
Thank you. I just saw my post saying essentially what you just said has 4 dislikes and 1 like.@Retroguy2000
No idea why you are getting so many disagrees to what is a very reasonable post - can only think people are disagreeing with something you haven't actually said!
(Note to those disagreeing - It wasn't said that lack of weight loss was DUE to muscle gain, it was merely said that some muscle may well have been gained.)
OP says herself she is maintaining or even gaining a little weight (clearly not actually in a deficit), is weight training five hours a week and has been for months and is seeing some muscle gain.
The conclusion that someone may be recomping is entirely reasonable and should be encouraging to the OP that although weight loss isn't happening she is getting some payback from all her efforts.1 -
I think AnnP was talking generally, just to give an idea what kind of muscle gain might be possible for women under ideal conditions, not that TO is gaining 2lbs per month. That's how I understood it anyway. But yes, TO, please come back and let us know what you think.1
-
DonnaMiles1966 wrote: »Also I reckon I need to buy some scales
See if that can make things easier.
OP said the above yesterday, so I don't think she's anti using a scale or can be accused of disappearing. There's only so much that can be added after a certain point.
Personally, I find it easier to use a scale than to estimate with cups and size of a chicken thigh or banana or whatnot, but I often think it's less an issue with scale or no as just getting used to logging and avoiding the entries for complete dishes (such as "lamb stew, homemade" or "pancakes, homemade" -- these are hypothetical, not from OP's diary) and learning that you need to make a recipe or list all ingredients (including any added oils).1 -
I think AnnP was talking generally, just to give an idea what kind of muscle gain might be possible for women under ideal conditions, not that TO is gaining 2lbs per month. That's how I understood it anyway. But yes, TO, please come back and let us know what you think.
Correct interpretation. I said "2 pounds a month" and "half a pound a week fat loss" to make the math match up - to compare the rates in a relative sense.
Yes, OP may be gaining some muscle, especially if eating at maintenance (or even close). However, it's a common misconception that muscle gain can explain a lack of fat loss in a deficit, but that's an unlikely thing to occur. (And this is an OP who believes she's in a deficit, and who - if her calorie intake were accurate - would be very likely, in a statistical sense, to be in a deficit.)
The "muscle gain completely matches up with fat loss" scenario is possible, but pretty improbable, in general, if there's a solid rate of fat loss happening. That was my point.
She does seem to be effectively eating at maintenance, and could be gaining muscle mass (heck, that could happen even in a deficit). That muscle gain would be a nice consolation prize, but it's not the *explanation* of the non-loss at perceived low calorie intake for current activity level.
Perhaps the PP to which I responded wasn't suggesting it was the explanation, but it could be read that way - not clear. That's why I wrote what I did. People can gain mass, perhaps even in a deficit, and almost certainly if eating at maintenance. It's just that it's not a speedy thing, and it's fairly common around here to see people who don't realize that.2 -
All I can add... is when I'm not losing. it is because something I'm doing isn't working. I take a hard look at what I've been eating and doing.. and adjust to moving more and eating less.. then I start losing.
3 -
First of all, the fact that you are counting, keeping track and becoming tuned with your body is huge. I have found myself in the same position as you. For me, I realized that if I ate the calories I thought I earned according to mfp, I didn't lose weight or belly fat. I monitor my macros but pay extra special attention to carbs. For me, carbs are a killer regarding my 1. weight gain and 2. type 2 diabetes.
Also: The "chart" says my "resting" allows me 2200 calories a day. If I eat that much even working out 4 times a week, I don't lose weight. I have spent a lot of time leaning my body and what food and how much of what food, does to me and my goals.1 -
@AnnPT77
We know she is gaining muscle, she said so herself. Nobody, least of all myself, implied she is gaining two pounds of muscle each month. That would only be true if she was around the calorie deficit she thinks she is. In fact I said she's likely not at that deficit due to some combo of: a) incorrect starting TDEE in MFP, b) not correctly counting all portions, c) over-counting exercise calories. So it follows that I would be attributing her muscle gain to be far slower than two pounds per month.0 -
First of all, the fact that you are counting, keeping track and becoming tuned with your body is huge. I have found myself in the same position as you. For me, I realized that if I ate the calories I thought I earned according to mfp, I didn't lose weight or belly fat. I monitor my macros but pay extra special attention to carbs. For me, carbs are a killer regarding my 1. weight gain and 2. type 2 diabetes.
Also: The "chart" says my "resting" allows me 2200 calories a day. If I eat that much even working out 4 times a week, I don't lose weight. I have spent a lot of time leaning my body and what food and how much of what food, does to me and my goals.
Just curious, do you use a food scale and log your calories? As an aside, carbs are not responsible for your weight (fat) gain. Only calories are the culprit for that.1 -
DonnaMiles1966 wrote: »The stair climber shows 100 cal burnt in 10 minutes maybe because I have the pace/level set toggling between 5 and 8, but like go hard most of the time on there with a slow to 5 until I catch my breath, lol. Sundays I generally don't log anything, as is my main day off, but continue to stay around the 1300 deficit. As for the bread, I don't share my loaf, my son hates it. He's a naughty white bread lad. Looks like I'm going to have to invest in some scales and eat less, which doesn't really leave me much for fuel in the gym. It's awfully complicated this dieting stuff, haha.
Cardio is tricky for that reason; you’re out of breath, covered in sweat, and your heart is pounding and you think you’re burning a ton of calories because you’re working so hard and the machine says you are. And it’s usually wrong. The algorithms calculating burn generally overestimate the burn for most people.
An hour at the gym on the elliptical and the machine tells me I burn 600+ calories. My two fitness trackers (Garmin and Fitbit) said ~340.
As others have pointed out, weight-lifting burns comparatively fewer calories than cardio per workout. Building muscle over time has great health benefits, though (as improving cardio fitness has health benefits).
3 -
If you are feeling discouraged about having a lower deficit than you thought, since you are already feeling like you are doing as much as possible, you may find that the more specific logging identifies some easy way to cut cals without feeling like you are eating less, or perhaps some ways to add more food without a lot of cals, based on what you are eating now and days that work well for you.1
-
Retroguy2000 wrote: »@AnnPT77
We know she is gaining muscle, she said so herself. Nobody, least of all myself, implied she is gaining two pounds of muscle each month. That would only be true if she was around the calorie deficit she thinks she is. In fact I said she's likely not at that deficit due to some combo of: a) incorrect starting TDEE in MFP, b) not correctly counting all portions, c) over-counting exercise calories. So it follows that I would be attributing her muscle gain to be far slower than two pounds per month.
Absolutely agree with all of that.
I think I was unclear, also. I never meant to imply that you (or she) said anything about 2 pounds a month of muscle gain. That's just a generic "good result" rate for a woman, under favorable circumstances. (If OP's gaining mass, it would be likely to be slower than that rate, so I think we agree on that, too.) My intention was to contrast a very generic good rate of muscle mass gain with a relatively slow generic rate of fat loss (half a pound a week), to clarify that muscle gain was unlikely to explain the scale holding steady, if she was in fact losing fat at a reasonable (but somewhat slow, though not positively minimal) rate. That's all.
I think you and I pretty much agree, but are talking past each other to some extent. I agree that the explanation is likely to be in your a-b-c list in the post I've just quoted. Her goal seems to be fat loss (rational at her current weight) plus muscle/strength/fitness gain (also rational for nearly anyone, with the muscle gain limited by other circumstances - generically speaking - in some scenarios).
0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions