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.
CoastalGirl67
Member Posts: 14 Member
Member Posts: 14 Member
Replies
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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.
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.