I am in a deficit and not losing weight

chantalryan75

Not losing weight in defecit

sollyn23l2

Then you are not in a deficit. How long has it been?

totameafox

If you are certain you are in a deficit and you are not losing weight, you need to go see a doctor. But more information is needed to be able to help you.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/147555-speak-friend-and-enter

Alatariel75

You need to give a lot more detail if you're going to get any meaningful help!

How long have you been in a deficit? How are you calculating that? Are you weighing and measuring everything you eat? Can you open your diary and let people give feedback?

AnnPT77

If MFP, some other calorie calculator, or even a fitness tracker tells you you're in a deficit, that doesn't mean you're actually in a deficit. Those things give you estimates, not Truths.

Their estimate is based on average calorie needs of similar people, basically. You're not an average, you're an individual, and your personal calorie need numbers can differ from average, either higher or lower.

If you haven't been at this for at least 4-6 weeks, sticking close to what you think is the right calorie level for a deficit and weight loss the whole time, I'm sorry to say it, but you don't know yet whether you're actually in a deficit. Over shorter times, scale results are distorted by water retention shifts and digestive contents on the way to the toilet. It takes several weeks to get enough data for a reasonable average so you even know whether what you think is a deficit really IS a deficit. Hang in there.

If there's still no weight loss after that long, then high odds you're not in a deficit.

How do you make sure you're actually in a deficit? You stick close to a given starting calorie goal for 4-6 weeks, such as an estimate from MFP. Go for one whole menstrual cycle if you have those, to compare body weight at the same relative day in at least two different cycles.

You log food and activity as accurately as possible, no unlogged cheats, treats, slips, snacks, drinks, dressings, bites, licks, tastes, condiments, alcohol, soda pop, cooking oil or anything else skipped, for that whole time. Don't obsess - we all make the occasional mistake - but don't cheat or skip either.

At the end of that time, note how much your weight has changed. If your weight is in pounds, multiply the number of pounds change by 3500. If your weight is in kilograms, multiply the number of kilograms change by 7700. That will give you an estimate of how many calories those pounds/kilos of body weight represent.

Total up all the food calories you ate over the whole same time period. If you ate super close to goal every single day, it's OK to multiply your daily calorie goal by the number of days. That's your total food calories.

If you lost weight, add the weight calories to the food calories. If you gained weight, subtract the weight calories from the food calories.

Either way, you now have an decent estimate of the number of calories it would require over that whole time period to have held your weight steady. Divide by the number of days in the time period.

Now you have a decent estimate of your own personal daily maintenance calorie needs.

Subtract calories from that to create a daily deficit, and set your goal calories to that resulting number. For each pound per week you can sensibly lose, the number to subtract from daily maintenance calories would be 500. For each kilo you want to lose per week, the number to subtract from daily maintenance calories would be 1100 calories. If you want to lose fractions of pounds or kilos, use arithmetic to figure those calories, too.

Don't try to lose aggressively fast, because that tends to distort results, too . . . and ramp up health risks, besides.

That whole process will give you a new estimate to test drive, one that will be more likely to include a good estimate of your own personal calorie deficit.

Best wishes!

2deltacharlie

To be truly in a deficit and not lose weight would be in violation of the laws of physics.
That can't happen.
Therefore you are either not accurately logging the calories you have coming in or you are over estimating the calories you are burning.
Likely both.

paperpudding

Therefore you are either not accurately logging the calories you have coming in or you are over estimating the calories you are burning.

Or you are accurately logging but the calorie number is too high for you.

If you need be taking in, say, 1470 but you are taking in 2500 you won't lose weight. Your logging might be perfectly accurate, you are just logging the wrong number of calories for you

Which is what Ann was saying too - log as accurately as possible for 4 weeks and then adjust the calorie amount dependant on real life results.