Adjustments to MFP when weight loss is stalled

jmf552

I am 69, 260 pounds, which is 70 over where I want to be. I am using MFP every day, tracking everything. I have all the settings right. I list myself as sedentary, which is true outside of my vigorous exercise. I train in Brazilian Jujitsu and Muay Thai kickboxing four to five days a week, one hour classes that are max effort for me. I also walk the dogs for 20 minutes every day.

I am keeping my calories within what is prescribed even without the exercise, but I am not losing, just holding steady. I am not interested in a different diet. I like MFP and I'm actually doing it. That is not always a given with diets I've tried. I'm wondering what adjustments I can make to MFP. Can I enter a lower calorie goal somewhere? Could I up the number of pounds I say I want to lose a week? Can I change the exercise values that come up from the database? Just be more patient? Anything else?

debtay123

I used the edit button and changed my macros (%) of protein carbs and fat-- I did not go keto or even low carb-- but I did adjust so that I hit protein a little bit more and that helped move the scale for me- I am a woman 60-- so it might be different for you.

kshama2001

jmf552 wrote: »

I am 69, 260 pounds, which is 70 over where I want to be. I am using MFP every day, tracking everything. I have all the settings right. I list myself as sedentary, which is true outside of my vigorous exercise. I train in Brazilian Jujitsu and Muay Thai kickboxing four to five days a week, one hour classes that are max effort for me. I also walk the dogs for 20 minutes every day.

I am keeping my calories within what is prescribed even without the exercise, but I am not losing, just holding steady. I am not interested in a different diet. I like MFP and I'm actually doing it. That is not always a given with diets I've tried. I'm wondering what adjustments I can make to MFP. Can I enter a lower calorie goal somewhere? Could I up the number of pounds I say I want to lose a week? Can I change the exercise values that come up from the database? Just be more patient? Anything else?

Yes, everything is editable

Goals are at the bottom of this page:

https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

For exercise, the Calories box is editable.

That said, what is your current weekly weight loss goal? How long have you been at this? If the exercise is new, you are likely retaining water, which would mask weight loss on the scale.

AnnPT77

jmf552 wrote: »

I am 69, 260 pounds, which is 70 over where I want to be. I am using MFP every day, tracking everything. I have all the settings right. I list myself as sedentary, which is true outside of my vigorous exercise. I train in Brazilian Jujitsu and Muay Thai kickboxing four to five days a week, one hour classes that are max effort for me. I also walk the dogs for 20 minutes every day.

I am keeping my calories within what is prescribed even without the exercise, but I am not losing, just holding steady. I am not interested in a different diet. I like MFP and I'm actually doing it. That is not always a given with diets I've tried. I'm wondering what adjustments I can make to MFP. Can I enter a lower calorie goal somewhere? Could I up the number of pounds I say I want to lose a week? Can I change the exercise values that come up from the database? Just be more patient? Anything else?

Be aware that your calorie goal and the exercise calories are just estimates.

The MFP-calculated calorie goals are close for most people, because most people are close to average, and the estimates are built on statistical averages, essentially. But they can be a bit further off (high or low) for a few people, and quite surprisingly far off for a very rare few.

To adjust for that, one ought to follow the recommended calories for 4-6 weeks, and adjust intake based on the average weight loss (or non-loss/gain) over that time period. That personalizes the goal. (Premenopausal women should average weight changes over whole menstrual cycles, but you're obviously not in that demographic.)

That said, if you're new to calorie logging, it is a skill that most of us need to work at refining, at first. Logging accuracy - while keeping it practical of course - is useful to dialing in a good routine. If you're willing to open your diary, if only temporarily, would be an efficient route to getting help from experienced folks in refining that logging, if it's a factor.

The MFP database calorie estimates are reasonable for some things, quite howlingly bad for others, and variably accurate for things that different people do differently. I'm not a MA practitioner anymore, but I used to be (Chinese martial arts in the Kung Fu family as a generality). My sense is that MA would be things that would vary quite a lot in calorie burn from person to person, or at least from one school/dojo/kwoon/class/whatever to another. I'd feel some skepticism of the MFP estimates for MA on that basis alone.

There's also a theoretical flaw in how the MFP exercise database estimates exercise, in my understanding (it double counts BMR/RMR and a bit more), but that's not arithmetically terribly meaningful for typical short-session exercise of half an hour to an hour or so. (It's more of an issue for long, slow things, like lengthy slow walks.)

Obviously, if you're not eating exercise calories, that's not a factor for you in losing or not, but you asked about the database estimates. You can indeed change the calorie number that comes up when you use an MFP exercise database entry, or you can also create your own exercise entry to use going forward. When you do that, MFP will take the initial entry's calorie estimate, then use that to scale your future uses of the entry based on duration and bodyweight. For example, if you enter "XYZ Exercise" as 300 calories for 60 minutes the first time, and later enter the same exercise at 30 minutes, it would default to 150 calories unless you override it; and it will assume that as you lose weight, you'll burn proportionately fewer calories per minute doing that thing (proportional to estimated BMR, not bodyweight per se).

FWIW, in case you're wondering, it's not an "age thing" in any generic way. I'm 65 now, lost from obese class 1 to a healthy weight at age 59-60 using MFP, have maintained a healthy weight since after previous decades of overweight.

Best wishes!