Always under my daily calorie total, walking most days but not losing weight
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CoastalGirl67
Posts: 15 Member
Hi All, I'm after some advice. I'm fairly new to all this but have been with MFP for two months religiously logging what I am eating every day. There has probably been 2 days where I have been over my allocated calorie amount, but here I am two months in and only 3 pounds down.
What am I doing wrong ? Is it that I am eating the wrong things ? I'm really after some help and guidance.
What am I doing wrong ? Is it that I am eating the wrong things ? I'm really after some help and guidance.
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Replies
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Are you logging accurately? A food scale is a valuable tool to ensure the accuracy of your portion sizes.
Are you sure your settings are accurate to your activity and what your loss rate should be?
Strictly for weight loss, CICO is all you need to concern yourself with though it can be hard to get good numbers on both sides of the equation.
Also, 3 lbs in 8 weeks isn't nothing; that works out to 0.375 lbs per week.5 -
How much weight do you have to lose? If you're within 10-15 pounds of goal, a 1/2 pound a week loss would be good progress. As Steve pointed out you are losing, just not very quickly.
A food scale is a good idea. You might double check your food entries too. Plenty of entries in the database are flat out wrong.1 -
I’m 13 stone 12 and only 5 foot 5 so I’ve probably a stone and a half to lose at least. I have been quite particular about my entries and have scales to make sure my portion size is right.
When I look back at what I have been eating perhaps I’ve too many snacks that I need to substitute for healthier options but I’m not really sure exactly what I should be eating. I’m 53 with a digestive disorder so I don’t think that helps me either.1 -
CoastalGirl67 wrote: »I’m 13 stone 12 and only 5 foot 5 so I’ve probably a stone and a half to lose at least. I have been quite particular about my entries and have scales to make sure my portion size is right.
When I look back at what I have been eating perhaps I’ve too many snacks that I need to substitute for healthier options but I’m not really sure exactly what I should be eating. I’m 53 with a digestive disorder so I don’t think that helps me either.
What you're eating doesn't matter; it's all about calories for weight loss.
That said, there are plenty of different foods that help people feel more satisfied or full than others. It's common guidance to also explore different macro ratios as some will have better adherence to a calorie deficit with higher protein or fat values, however that's all just a matter of preference.
As far as goals are concerned, losing 1.5 stone would be great but still have you as overweight by BMI standards. Getting down to 10 stone 10 (150lbs) would put you at the top end of "normal" by BMI.
As far as loss rate is concerned, the maximum recommended amount is often referenced at 1% of total body weight. However, I've personally found that aiming for closer to 0.5% is far more tolerable. However, it's worth noting that I'm at a stage where I'm closer to optimal weight for my height and trying to improve body composition. Though this approach of a more moderately aggressive target loss rate has shown to lead to more successful completed diets by the crew over at Renaissance Periodization and their user base (they have a paid diet app that functions like MFP but has a little more a coaching/prescriptive approach). They also found that limiting diet phases to 6-9 weeks is best for maximizing adherence and achieving overall loss goals. They're also proponents of undergoing maintenance phases lasting at least half as long as the dieting or massing phase before starting the next phase to minimize adverse hormonal and psychological impacts dieting for long periods of time can have. It's common to see folks able to maintain an aggressive loss phase for well beyond that but rebound hard. A better approach could be to string a number of these moderately aggressive loss phases together interspersed with diet breaks if it means a more sustainable and maintainable weight loss in the big picture. It often provides the benefit of practicing maintenance prior to getting to one's final weight loss goal which eliminates some of the mystery of how to adapt to life after losing weight.
Yes, this is a very long-game approach but following it OP could be down in the 150s in 15-18 months without ever being overly restrictive and already be well-practiced at maintenance.4 -
Thank you for that. If it doesn’t matter how I make up my calories I can’t understand why I haven’t lost very much. I’m quite an active person too so I thought that might have helped.
I’m trying to change the way I eat on a long term basis as a way of life rather than going forward through a temporary aggressive weight loss program. Thank you for your input though. 🙏🏼2 -
CoastalGirl67 wrote: »Thank you for that. If it doesn’t matter how I make up my calories I can’t understand why I haven’t lost very much. I’m quite an active person too so I thought that might have helped.
I’m trying to change the way I eat on a long term basis as a way of life rather than going forward through a temporary aggressive weight loss program. Thank you for your input though. 🙏🏼
Absolutely!
I will say if you're confident on the measurement of your input (calories from food) than the problem could be with the calories in your output (exercise/daily activity). How are you accounting for your activity?1 -
CoastalGirl67 wrote: »Thank you for that. If it doesn’t matter how I make up my calories I can’t understand why I haven’t lost very much. I’m quite an active person too so I thought that might have helped.
I’m trying to change the way I eat on a long term basis as a way of life rather than going forward through a temporary aggressive weight loss program. Thank you for your input though. 🙏🏼
Hmm.. you could open up your diary for us. Maybe we spot some logging errors there. There are many odd entries in the database with rather wrong calorie amounts. If you say you weigh everything you eat on a scale then it's likely wrong entries.1 -
I use an Apple Watch now so I might be doing something wrong as I definitely did have an issue with double entry to start with but I think I sorted it out fairly quickly. I’ll give it another month and cut down on my naughties and see if that helps.0
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without opening your diary, really the only thing we can say is that you are not logging accurately or giving too 'credit' for workout calories
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CoastalGirl67 wrote: »I use an Apple Watch now so I might be doing something wrong as I definitely did have an issue with double entry to start with but I think I sorted it out fairly quickly. I’ll give it another month and cut down on my naughties and see if that helps.
Are you eating all calories that you get from walking from your apple watch? how much do you walk and how many calories do you get?0 -
Ok then folks - plan of action is to not eat back all my exercise calories. That's gone down the pan tonight as I have had a couple of drinks so going to start tomorrow. Thanks for all your help. Watch this space
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@CoastalGirl67 we've asked you lots of questions but you've not really answered any of them but just jump onto something you picked up here. We want to help you, but in order to do that you need to help us with some information. We're just guessing here, and as such, all answers are based on guessing. MFP is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back, but it's easy to overestimate those, also with devices. Likewise it's easy to chose wrong database entries. But it's also possible that you're so stressed out from this whole process that your body is increasing cortisol, and with that holding a lot more onto water which hides weight loss. Maybe you're in fact undereating already!4
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Sorry, but I thought I had answered questions. Admittedly I did skirt around one comment - I have chosen to aim for a stone and a half loss as I think a three stone loss for me would be too great at the moment and if I could manage half of that then I would be delighted. If I reach that target and think I needed to lose more then I would go for it.
I use scales to check my food that I need to check portion size on, and use the scanner to input bought meals, always checking that the Calories on MFP match the packaging.
I use an Apple Watch to track my exercise/steps but as you say perhaps they are not being calculated correctly.
Yes, I mostly eat those calories back at the moment so I am going to try not to do that and see if that makes a difference.
My figures for the last week are as follows
Sat steps 10522 (calories earned +175) net total calories on day 263 remaining
Sun 11,182 cal 152 earned, 486 remaining
Mon 14,444 cal 236 earned, down -370 (bad day)
Tue 12,509 cal 417 earned, 404 remaining
Wed 12,509 44 earned, 366remaining
Thurs 6438 17 earned, 74 remaining
Fri 6932 186 earned, down -17
I average 10,000 steps per day but am an active person and have just started playing tennis and kayaking again as the weather is improving and social distancing is allowing.
Yes, I do get frustrated that I’m not losing weight but I have been overweight all my life so don’t think that I am really stressed about it.
I have teenage kids and there are always naughty things to eat in the house. That, as well as my age probably doesn’t help me.2 -
I think you are being too hard on yourself. Let's say you stick with this for a year - you will have gotten more toned from the walking and dropped at least 18 pounds. That is realistic, healthy and smart. It will also be 2 pants sizes. For weight loss and new patterns to stick, you need to be committed to the long game. I think the flow chart someone posted is fantastic, but I'll add some comments if you want to lose weight in a healthy way and a little faster: If you are only walking, do not eat your exercise calories. If you are still above 1200 calories a day, then every week reduce by 50 calories a day (Not every day, by the week! So week 1 you are at 1600 per day, week 2 you are at 1550 per day). This will allow for slow changes and for your body to adjust. If you find one day you are not as hungry, then do what you would normally do and do NOT eat just eat because you have calories left over. Figure out what works for YOU. Are there vegetables which keep you full (zucchini noodles!) or something that makes you hungrier (Oreos for me). Try to eat mindfully and pay attention to how you feel afterwards - full/bloated/satisfied/cranky. Remember that weight loss may not be linear. You will eventually have a "hungry day" (as I call them) and might go over - this is ok, but keep it in moderation. Also, consider adding weight lifting because muscle mass is important. You can adding a weighted vest (like 5-8lbs) or light HAND weights while walking. While walking, try to pick up the pace at times, add 5 minutes to your walk when you can. Use a curb to do some step ups. Squat every so often. Make your walk playful and fun! (I like to jump logs) or hop over lines. So, if you want to lose weight a little quicker: Increase your cardio, increase your weight lifting and decrease your calorie intake slowly over time. And, just always do what is your personal best. You got this, girl!
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How many calories are you totaling a day NET in consumption?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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@ninerbuff not sure what you mean. MFP is allocating me 1600 calories a day to consume. Last Sat i earned an extra 175 cals from exercise and consumed 1513 so had 262 remaining.
Sunday extra cams earned and remaining cals as above.
I haven’t been quite as good this week as was feeling a bit despondent. Previous weeks I have had a bigger gap between calories allowed/earned and calories consumed.0 -
@Jibby1017 thats all really helpful - thanks very much for your input. That all makes sense.1
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Apple watch doesn't work well with MyFitnessPal.
You could try syncing via an intermediary app (such as Pacer) to get the correct data across. Or simply don't sync it at all.
Making your diary public helps people help you.
It seems you are in fact losing weight but just slower than you expect. You don't actually have to change anything if you are prepared to be patient. If you want to lose quicker you could simply adjust your calorie goal down a little.2 -
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@sijomial i did use pacer but that doubled up stuff and I got really confused so removed it. 😂 Grief. It’s very complicated all this isn’t it.1
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CoastalGirl67 wrote: »@sijomial i did use pacer but that doubled up stuff and I got really confused so removed it. 😂 Grief. It’s very complicated all this isn’t it.
Only if you choose to make it complicated.
It's not necessary to use a tracker at all, if its data is suspect and it's adding confusion I'd question its value to you.3 -
@sijomial do you know what - that’s a valid point. If I take it off then I won’t be tempted to eat back those calories !!1
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Right all, have just worked out how to make my diary public so you can have a nose now and let me know your thoughts.0
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I’ve found Apple Watch to be quite accurate- as long as you have your sharing permissions and settings done right,and have your activity level set correctly in MFP. I’ve been pretty pleased at the quality of the calorie data synced to MFP, but even so I don’t eat all of them back.1
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First, let me show you the numbers:
Stats
I looked your food intake for the last 14 days and the average is 1643. Given your stats and weight loss (3 lbs over 7 weeks) the results show your TDEE is around 1853. This, of course, assumes your food intake is accurate.
Based on your stats, these are the TDEE estimates at varying activity levels:
Sedentary 1,783 calories per day
Your TDEE 1853
Light Exercise 2,043 calories per day
Moderate Exercise 2,303 calories per day
Analysis
I think 10k steps (with no other exercise) is considered light exercise on the TDEE spectrum. Eating 1643 per day at light exercise would give you a theoretical weight loss rate of .8 lbs per week.
Your average weight loss is about .42 lbs per week, so that's a 190 calorie difference per day between expected and actual weight loss.
How much were you expecting to lose in 7 weeks ? When I run the numbers, the difference between what I'd expect and your actuals isn't that huge of a difference.
If you want to lose at a faster rate, you either have to eat less or move more.
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Thanks for that @FitAgainBy55 that's interesting. I haven't looked at TDEE before. So, I should reduce my food intake to 1543 if I want to lose weight. My calories were better controlled and I did more exercise for the first 6 weeks and think I have just got a bit down over the last fortnight. Will pick myself up , brush myself off and get cracking again.
I have now unpaired my Apple Watch from MFP so I cannot eat back any exercise calories so that should help !
UPDATE - just checked and the app is now picking up exercise stats from the Apple Health App. I have just "earned" 394 calories from a slow pace walk 2.2 mile walk. So I just ignore those calories and stick to my 1543 - right ?
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These posts were very helpful because I stopped entering food in MFP in December 2020. I had the COVID-19 flu during the Christmas holiday season. After I recovered in Jan 2021, I began the WW (weight watchers) online program. Two months of WW, I gained four pounds, so I changed the WW plan from Blue to Green points. I also began logging foods into MFP. I have IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, asthma, chronic fatigue, and arthritis. After menopause, my weight changed from 160 lbs to 230 pounds in less than ten years because of two serious accidents that damaged my knees and back. It is reasonable to say that eating fewer calories will cause weight loss. However, I only see weight loss by eating 1200 or fewer calories per day. Currently, I am eating between 900 and 1500 calories per day. I will continue using MFP because it has a better method for keeping track of calories than WW. Years ago, I received treatment and surgeries for PCOD, therefore my slow weight loss on a low-calorie diet may be caused by an undiagnosed hormonal problem.2
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callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »without opening your diary, really the only thing we can say is that you are not logging accurately or giving too 'credit' for workout calories
This graph is really helpful.
I started mfp 15 days ago and haven't lost anything, clothes still tight etc. I guess I've just got to sit tight and keep going.
I've done this before many times but the weight would come off much quicker.3 -
FitAgainBy55 wrote: »First, let me show you the numbers:
Stats
I looked your food intake for the last 14 days and the average is 1643. Given your stats and weight loss (3 lbs over 7 weeks) the results show your TDEE is around 1853. This, of course, assumes your food intake is accurate.
Based on your stats, these are the TDEE estimates at varying activity levels:
Sedentary 1,783 calories per day
Your TDEE 1853
Light Exercise 2,043 calories per day
Moderate Exercise 2,303 calories per day
Analysis
I think 10k steps (with no other exercise) is considered light exercise on the TDEE spectrum. Eating 1643 per day at light exercise would give you a theoretical weight loss rate of .8 lbs per week.
Your average weight loss is about .42 lbs per week, so that's a 190 calorie difference per day between expected and actual weight loss.
How much were you expecting to lose in 7 weeks ? When I run the numbers, the difference between what I'd expect and your actuals isn't that huge of a difference.
If you want to lose at a faster rate, you either have to eat less or move more.
A good example of an analysis to run.
Logging accuracy (and more importantly consistency) and whether a person happens to be one of the majority who are close to the mean, or one of the minority who is a bit of an outlier also have to be considered!
A small nit to pick: 10K steps is "active" (AF=1.6) for most people, actually square in the middle of the active range.
BUT, weight TREND change would be more relevant for an active female who is exercising more than before.
Too many water weight variations are possible and the start and end point of the 7 weeks would have to be considered very carefully if looking at straight scale weight.
Apple watch has issues and probably the Pacer connected numbers are more representative of the estimates even if the estimates match your results even less.
Taking the "life lesson" that exercise shouldn't be fueled is probably not the right way to go about things
Patience helps!
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Wee update from me. Ladies - your time of the month is very important !! Three days on and I’m now down another 3lbs to a half stone loss so much happy that I’m finally seeing results.5
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