Any suggestions for successful weight loss

Mafutalabda

I have been dieting for 5 months now and have lost a total of 5 pounds. I exercise daily and eat 1200 calories per day. I’m not sure what to do. Every time I log my weight the app tells me that I will lose about 10 pounds in 5 weeks, but it doesn’t happen. I am healthy and active. I’m so frustrated and don’t know what to do. Any suggestions?

kshama2001

There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public. In the app, go to Settings > Diary Setting > Diary Sharing > and check Public. Desktop: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

Retroguy2000

The app saying you'll lose X pounds in 5 weeks is dumb. If you don't close your diary you won't see it. I've never closed mine. You don't need to.

How certain are you that you're taking in only 1200? Do you track literally everything? Have you double checked that the nutrition info is correct? (database entries are user created, may be wrong or out of date) Do you weigh everything?

csplatt

How are you calculating the 1200 and how are you calculating calories burned exercising? Is your diary public so we can look at your logging?

tomcustombuilder

What is your height, weight and gender? 1,200 calories every day for 5 months would cause a good amount of fat loss unless you’re a very small woman. You’re most likely taking in more calories on a weekly basis than you think due to a few possible factors.

xbowhunter

Your eating way more than 1200 calories.

Start weighing your food and when you get to a true daily 1200 calories the weight will come off.

zebasschick

People who aren't losing weight aren't eating at a deficit unless you have thyroid issues.

Do you weigh and log every bite of food you put in your mouth, and have you chosen only accurate database entries ( many here aren't accurate at all). Are you including alcoholic drinks, glasses of milk, juice, and even the cream you put in your coffee in your logging? Do you include weighing the oil and butter you use in cooking and foods, which can be surprisingly high in calories. Estimating and eyeballing portions never worked for me or anyone I know. And even things like slices of bread can have surprising variation in weight and therefore calories.

How are you estimating the calorie room for your workouts? Almost every fitness tracker and fitness watch, calorie burncalculator, and both home and gym fitness equipment I've used dramatically overestimates calories burned. I'm talking about 200 to 300% higher.

sollyn23l2

zebasschick wrote: »

People who aren't losing weight aren't eating at a deficit unless you have thyroid issues.

Do you weigh and log every bite of food you put in your mouth, and have you chosen only accurate database entries ( many here aren't accurate at all). Are you including alcoholic drinks, glasses of milk, juice, and even the cream you put in your coffee in your logging? Do you include weighing the oil and butter you use in cooking and foods, which can be surprisingly high in calories. Estimating and eyeballing portions never worked for me or anyone I know. And even things like slices of bread can have surprising variation in weight and therefore calories.

How are you estimating the calorie room for your workouts? Almost every fitness tracker and fitness watch, calorie burncalculator, and both home and gym fitness equipment I've used dramatically overestimates calories burned. I'm talking about 200 to 300% higher.

Agreed. I will say, though, that even with thyroid issues, if you aren't losing weight, you aren't in a deficit. At one point, while trying to figure out what level my medication should be at, I was severely hypothyroid AND very underweight. And this continued for a year plus.

yirara

There's some literature out there that suggests that calorie reduction is only up to 4% of non-active calories, which makes sense as organs still need energy to function properly and keep you alive. Thus even with being hypo, TO should lose weight if she really just ate 1200 calories.

zebasschick

yirara wrote: »

There's some literature out there that suggests that calorie reduction is only up to 4% of non-active calories, which makes sense as organs still need energy to function properly and keep you alive. Thus even with being hypo, TO should lose weight if she really just ate 1200 calories.

To be fair, I'm a 5'4 " female over 60, and if I don't exercise, I don't lose weight at 1200 calories per day. I'm low muscle at this time, which maybe it contributing factor.

westrich20940

Stop 'finishing' your diary. That little estimate isn't reliable or accurate. Ignore it.

You are losing ~1lb/month....which is consistent weight loss so you may not even need to change anything about what you are doing.

It depends on how much room you have to create a deficit. Some people just don't have the wiggle room to create enough of a deficit between their diet and/or activity that will lead to faster weight loss.

schelyne

It's not just about calories in and calories out and I can attest to that. I had bariatric sleeve and only lost 25lbs - all while on the liquid portion of the plan. I've stayed strict on the recommended diet and can eat very little at one sitting. Between my dr and my nutritionist, we're struggling to understand, but what I can tell you is eat more protein and more fiber. For me personally, I have cut out all sugars except an occasional piece of fruit, stayed away from carbs except from veggies and eat my protein first in every meal per recommendations from my dr. The pounds are starting to come off again. I also have started taking a probiotic/digestive enzyme supplement to help restore my gut health. Please talk to a physician or dietician before making such a drastic dietary change, but please know you have to find what works for you and not just focus on calories in and out.
PS are you logging beverages like coffees, sodas, juices, alcohol and more? They offer extra calories, sugar, sodium and even caffeine can prevent some people from losing. I lose more when I drink decaf believe it or not. Hope this helps you or anyone who is frustrated.

ddsb1111

schelyne wrote: »

It's not just about calories in and calories out and I can attest to that. I had bariatric sleeve and only lost 25lbs - all while on the liquid portion of the plan. I've stayed strict on the recommended diet and can eat very little at one sitting. Between my dr and my nutritionist, we're struggling to understand, but what I can tell you is eat more protein and more fiber. For me personally, I have cut out all sugars except an occasional piece of fruit, stayed away from carbs except from veggies and eat my protein first in every meal per recommendations from my dr. The pounds are starting to come off again. I also have started taking a probiotic/digestive enzyme supplement to help restore my gut health. Please talk to a physician or dietician before making such a drastic dietary change, but please know you have to find what works for you and not just focus on calories in and out.
PS are you logging beverages like coffees, sodas, juices, alcohol and more? They offer extra calories, sugar, sodium and even caffeine can prevent some people from losing. I lose more when I drink decaf believe it or not. Hope this helps you or anyone who is frustrated.

Congrats on the 25 lbs lost so far. I know you’re hoping for more but I bet you feel even a little bit better. I noticed in your other thread that your health care providers kept tweaking your diet and you’re now back on track. I’m glad you found something that works for you. High protein/low carb certainly works for some, especially those who have weight loss surgery, and have hormonal +/- thyroid issues.

One thing I wanted to note for others is that whether you’re on a high protein/low carb diet, low fat diet, or anything in between, you still have to consume less calories than you eat to lose weight. For example, if you’re doing Keto and you eat 500 calories over your TDEE everyday for the week, you will gain 1 lb of fat. Keto has no magical properties to lose weight, nor does any other diet. CICO isn’t a diet but the scientific explanation and rule of physics.

The benefit for you is likely adherence to the diet and feeling satiated. We all have different ideas of what that looks and feels like. Most of my diet are carbs and I have to make sure I get around 80-90 grams of protein a day. I’ve never had an issue consuming fat 😆. Anyway, I digress. The point is, you found something that makes sense for you and that’s the only thing that matters. I wish you the best of luck and hope you keep us all posted on your progress.

elisa123gal

I was the same when counting calories. it didn't work overall for me. I changed my method of losing weight to something that works for me. I found counting calories so helpful.. of course. we need to learn what foods we are eating that are high in calories and have hidden calories.
However.. i eat by cutting out entire bad foods out of my diet and only eating certain low calories. lean protien ..low fat..heahty whole foods. And i learn how to cook the food i eat in tasty meals. That works for me.. and i lose all need..and dont get stuck at 10 pounds like i did when counting calories.

Vis77

Well first off age, sex, and height. Current weight and goal weight (set by BMI).
After that BLOOD work. Thyroid level, cholesterol level, and Blood pressure.
After that is stable (may need meds) Sleep and Active times adjust as required.
Well now we can Talk calories. What is your hold calorie level? Weighing everyday on digital scale. Once known (not estimated) start subtracting cals slowly like 200 to 500 max. losing .5 to 1 pd a week. Be happy with a daily drop of .1 or holding. OTHERWISE Flab and Rebound this has been my own experience and I am well over 5 years into this. Currently I am 11 over on rebound. I was down 75. Be prepared for a long battle, especially over 50 years old or 50 pounds over I am 61. oH yea flab. No one told me so I am telling you. Think a stretched water balloon. It may... suck in over time, they say give it a year, that means HOLDING a year..

karenrachelwhittingham

1200 is too low, go on janes Smith academy and calculate your calories limit , its much more realistic 1200 a day isn't enough

spiriteagle99

Knowing your height and weight is helpful in figuring out how much weight you have to lose and what your likely calorie needs are. If you are already fairly small and only have a few pounds to lose, then 1200 may mean a very slow loss. For example, I am over 60 and mostly sedentary. MFP says that I need 1400 calories to maintain my current weight of 123. If I wanted to lose more weight, MFP would give me 1200, since that is the lowest the program goes for women. That would mean I would lose less than half a pound a week, if I was absolutely perfect about weighing and logging every bite I ate. Most of us aren't perfect. If you are close to goal weight, then weight loss is going to be slower than when you have a lot of weight to lose. There is less wiggle room for errors in logging.