Need Assistance--Is undereating stalling my weightloss?
fultimers
Posts: 153 Member
Sarah or Side Steel (or anyone else for that matter),
I've been in this group for a few weeks now and have tried to read as many of the excellent links that have been provided. I have been attempting to eat at my TDEE minus 20%. Scooby calculates my TDEE as 2339 based on light exercise which means I should eat 1871 calories per day. I admit--I have been falling short of this by eating an average of 1650-1700 calories per day.
I got a Fitbit Flex a few days ago and here is what they say: ( I have synced it with MFP)
August 19: Burned 2277 calories, I ate 1666 calories out of 1777 recommended. (Underate by 111 calories)
August 20: Burned 2477 calories, I ate 1812 calories out of 1979 recommended. (Underate by 167 calories)
August 21: Burned 2297 calories, I ate 1745 calories out of 1799 recommended. (Underate by 54 calories)
August 22: Burned 2753 calories, I ate 1671 calories out of 2255 recommended. (Underate by 584 calories)
August 23: Burned 2585 calories, I ate 1642 calories out of 2087 recommended. (Underate by 445 calories)
Should I consider the calories that Fitbit says I burned to be my TDEE? The reason I tried to eat less than what Fitbit/MFP
said I should is that I didn't know if my calories burned were being overestimated.
Note: I have set my diary to public but it's not showing up for anyone to see. What do I need to do differently?
I'll try to answer the questions that you ask us to fill out:
Things you should try to provide for specific intake questions:
Provide your stats (height/weight/age/bodyfat% if you know it/etc) I am 5'5" and weigh 239.4 (I weighed 239.8 on August 7 and have been going up and down between 237.6 and 240.6 for the last 17 days). I am age 63. I tried on several websites to get a body fat % but they varied wildly. I was using a hip measurement of 53.5, waist of 49.5, neck 15.75, forearm of 10.5 and wrist of 6.5. One site told me I needed to lose 149 pounds which would put me under 90 pounds goal weight.
What's your current gross intake of calories, on average? In the last week I have been grossing between 1642 and 1812 calories per day.
What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams? (GRAMS, not percent!) Currently, my target intake of carbs is 181 gr (50%). My target intake of fat is 43 gm (25%) and my target intake of protein is 97 gm (25%)
Do you use a food scale and measure everything? Yes, I weigh most things but measure liquids.
Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?) Yes
Do you take cheat days or days off? Never
How much weight have you lost so far and over what time period? I restarted MFP 65 days ago at 249.8 pounds and quickly lost about 4 pounds (water weight I'm sure) and was gradually losing about 1/2 to 1 pound a week until the last 17 days in which I have basically maintained (but trying to lose) I've lost only 10 pounds in the last two months despite the fact that I don't go over my calories (well maybe by 50 calories one time) and I have exercised consistently.
Describe your activity (exercise and non exercise) and did you change that activity within the last couple of months? **In the first month, I was riding about 7-8 miles on my exercise bike per day. Then I read that someone said that cardio doesn't really help anyone lose weight so I started doing body weight strength training. Since I got my Fitbit about 6 days ago, I have added about 1 hour cardio everyday (walking, and exercise bike)
How long have you been stalled and if it is not a complete stall please be very specific as to how much you have lost over the stalled period. **Stalled for last 17 days. I know compared to some, that isn't very long but I want to figure out if I need to up my calories .
Are you breastfeeding? No
Do you have thyroid issues/risks or PCOS? **Just this last week my lab test came back showing that I am hypothyroid. My doctor put me on synthroid (generic) which I have only taken for 3 days. I have no idea how long I could have had this condition but it makes sense since I have never been able to lose more than 1/2 pound to 1 pound a week.
FINAL QUESTION FOR YOU: Should I just eat what Fitbit/MFP tells me to eat (which is based on my exercise)?
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
I've been in this group for a few weeks now and have tried to read as many of the excellent links that have been provided. I have been attempting to eat at my TDEE minus 20%. Scooby calculates my TDEE as 2339 based on light exercise which means I should eat 1871 calories per day. I admit--I have been falling short of this by eating an average of 1650-1700 calories per day.
I got a Fitbit Flex a few days ago and here is what they say: ( I have synced it with MFP)
August 19: Burned 2277 calories, I ate 1666 calories out of 1777 recommended. (Underate by 111 calories)
August 20: Burned 2477 calories, I ate 1812 calories out of 1979 recommended. (Underate by 167 calories)
August 21: Burned 2297 calories, I ate 1745 calories out of 1799 recommended. (Underate by 54 calories)
August 22: Burned 2753 calories, I ate 1671 calories out of 2255 recommended. (Underate by 584 calories)
August 23: Burned 2585 calories, I ate 1642 calories out of 2087 recommended. (Underate by 445 calories)
Should I consider the calories that Fitbit says I burned to be my TDEE? The reason I tried to eat less than what Fitbit/MFP
said I should is that I didn't know if my calories burned were being overestimated.
Note: I have set my diary to public but it's not showing up for anyone to see. What do I need to do differently?
I'll try to answer the questions that you ask us to fill out:
Things you should try to provide for specific intake questions:
Provide your stats (height/weight/age/bodyfat% if you know it/etc) I am 5'5" and weigh 239.4 (I weighed 239.8 on August 7 and have been going up and down between 237.6 and 240.6 for the last 17 days). I am age 63. I tried on several websites to get a body fat % but they varied wildly. I was using a hip measurement of 53.5, waist of 49.5, neck 15.75, forearm of 10.5 and wrist of 6.5. One site told me I needed to lose 149 pounds which would put me under 90 pounds goal weight.
What's your current gross intake of calories, on average? In the last week I have been grossing between 1642 and 1812 calories per day.
What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams? (GRAMS, not percent!) Currently, my target intake of carbs is 181 gr (50%). My target intake of fat is 43 gm (25%) and my target intake of protein is 97 gm (25%)
Do you use a food scale and measure everything? Yes, I weigh most things but measure liquids.
Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?) Yes
Do you take cheat days or days off? Never
How much weight have you lost so far and over what time period? I restarted MFP 65 days ago at 249.8 pounds and quickly lost about 4 pounds (water weight I'm sure) and was gradually losing about 1/2 to 1 pound a week until the last 17 days in which I have basically maintained (but trying to lose) I've lost only 10 pounds in the last two months despite the fact that I don't go over my calories (well maybe by 50 calories one time) and I have exercised consistently.
Describe your activity (exercise and non exercise) and did you change that activity within the last couple of months? **In the first month, I was riding about 7-8 miles on my exercise bike per day. Then I read that someone said that cardio doesn't really help anyone lose weight so I started doing body weight strength training. Since I got my Fitbit about 6 days ago, I have added about 1 hour cardio everyday (walking, and exercise bike)
How long have you been stalled and if it is not a complete stall please be very specific as to how much you have lost over the stalled period. **Stalled for last 17 days. I know compared to some, that isn't very long but I want to figure out if I need to up my calories .
Are you breastfeeding? No
Do you have thyroid issues/risks or PCOS? **Just this last week my lab test came back showing that I am hypothyroid. My doctor put me on synthroid (generic) which I have only taken for 3 days. I have no idea how long I could have had this condition but it makes sense since I have never been able to lose more than 1/2 pound to 1 pound a week.
FINAL QUESTION FOR YOU: Should I just eat what Fitbit/MFP tells me to eat (which is based on my exercise)?
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
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Replies
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Tagging0
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Bump: 2 days0
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Tagging and apologies for the delay!0
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I don't believe that your weightloss plateau is the result of undereating.
However, given that you were recently diagnosed as hypothyroid and new to this medication, we would like to get a good idea as to what changes may occur due to the medication.
Please set your intake to the following, and try to hit these numbers as close as you can, daily:
1620 calories
150 carbohydrate
60 fat
120 protein
We would like you to follow up with us in 1 week with an update. SOONER if you have issues.0 -
Thanks, Side Steel! I'll do it right now.0
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One more question: Do I eat back my exercise calories? I have a Fitbit Flex and it seems to be fairly accurate in showing me how many calories I burn. It is coordinated with MFP so the extra exercise calories I burn show up on my daily food log.
P. S. As you know MFP won't let you get the target macro percentages exactly as you want to but I got as close as I could to your suggestion.0 -
P. S. As you know MFP won't let you get the target macro percentages exactly as you want to but I got as close as I could to your suggestion.
Re: macros targets, check out the link below. I use both the macro script and the food diary script that fixes the calorie totals (this one only works on the web site, not the mobile app.) It's made life much easier now, lol!
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1084428-repost-setting-your-intake-in-1g-increments0 -
One more question: Do I eat back my exercise calories? I have a Fitbit Flex and it seems to be fairly accurate in showing me how many calories I burn. It is coordinated with MFP so the extra exercise calories I burn show up on my daily food log.
P. S. As you know MFP won't let you get the target macro percentages exactly as you want to but I got as close as I could to your suggestion.
No eating of exercise calories back.0 -
Thanks! I'll just exercise because it's good for me and because my doctor told me to do it!0
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Thanks! I'll just exercise because it's good for me and because my doctor told me to do it!
Yes, exercise is wonderful and you should continue to do it. As Sara mentioned you do not eat back exercise calories with the recommendation I gave you because I am considering your exercise when I make these recommendations.0 -
Locking this thread for administrative purposes and so that it looks like I actually do stuff around here. LOL.
PM either myself or Sarauk2sf with a link to this thread in the PM when it comes time to update us and we will unlock it.
Thanks and good luck!0
This discussion has been closed.