What did I do "wrong"?

MelissaPhippsFeagins

When I joined MFP five weeks ago, I weighed 192lbs. I let it choose my calorie goals for my height and sedentary activity level and said I would do 30 minutes of exercise 6 days/week (I have a dog. She keeps me honest about doing at least that much walking/running.) I set my goal to lose 1 pound/week since I have yo-yo dieted for years (to the point of anorexia in my early 20s - definitely not going back there.)

I have lost 12.5 lbs as of this morning - 2.5 lb/wk. So what did I do wrong? Did I underestimate my regular activity level? I have a desk job and do light housework most days, so I thought that sedentary was the right choice. I'm not really complaining about the quick weight loss, just wondering what I've done that has kept it consistently 2.5/wk for this long, even with some days that I was sick and didn't exercise at all.

Does anyone have any idea why I am dropping the weight faster than MFP thinks I should be? ( I could ask the docs I work for, but they would just tell me not to complain that I'll hit a plateau sooner or later - and they may be right, but I would have expected it to be sooner.)

jboccio90

I honestly wouldn't worry about the .5 extra average of weight loss.

It's just water weight.

ChrisM8971

I have lost faster than expected to start with as well. If it continues I may up my calorie goal manually but gonna leave it six weeks to see if things settle down

3dogsrunning

The activity goal of 30 minutes 6 days a week does not affec your calorie intake. MFP expects you to log it and eat those calories back. So if you are walking your dog 6 days a week, you are doing extra that isn't accounted for.

And also, keep in mind it's all just an estimate. MFP estimated what your body needs based on averages. You may be on the higher side and need more. You may be over estimating how many calories you really eat. Any number of factors.

If you feel you need more food, you can bump up your calorie goal to where you are losing but at a slower rate if you want. Or you can keep going. It's not likely that you'll keep averaging that much in weight loss, it will slow eventually.

fleetzz

I wouldn't change anything, as you get closer to goal weight you will be asking yourself why your are losing much slower than expected.

Keep up the good work!

3dogsrunning

I honestly wouldn't worry about the .5 extra average of weight loss.

It's just water weight.

She is averaging 1.5 lbs a week extra. Her goal was 1 lb a week. While I do agree some is water weight.

42hockeymom

Well, your diary isn't open so there's no way to tell if you're eating all of your allotted calories or not. Are you eating back your exercise calories? Are you eating enough of the right macros? Are you measuring and/or weighing out your food?

These can all be answered if your diary was open.

Yes, you're losing more weight than what you have your settings at, and if you're concerned, I'd definitely open my diary if I were you. There are people here who've been here and are successes that can help you out some. The only thing is, is that you're going to have to be able to take the good with the bad. I do promise you that there will be criticism about the types of food you're eating. But in all the mish mash there will be some helpful suggestions. Also, remember that the views here shouldn't be considered medical advice.

If you're REALLY concerned and want a professionals opinion then you'll have to think about the services of a nutritionist. That would be the best and most ideal but no everyone can hire a nutritionist, which I understand.

Good luck with this.

joshdann

I doubt much of that is water weight. If anything, the additional exercise should have added water weight (assuming you stay hydrated). There's nothing wrong with 2.5 lbs per week, if you have the fat mass to support the necessary deficit. MFP's arbitrary limit on its progress goals has led people to believe that 2lb/week is the maximum safe weight loss. That's ridiculous, especially for obese people. I'm averaging about 4 lb/week, perfectly safely, and it could have been 5+ if I had focused on exercise more.

31kcal per lb of body fat. that's the max deficit you should shoot for. For many people, in particular obese people, that calculation results in a very large deficit that is not only fast weight loss, but is also very, very safe as long as you also get your minimum recommended protein (.65g per lb of LBM. 1g is even better). So sayeth science.

Enjoy your success, you've earned it! Most of all, keep at it

helpfit101

What does MFP know? Just increase your daily calories gradually until your weight loss levels off.

Increase 200 calories now and wait another week or two.

3dogsrunning

I doubt much of that is water weight. If anything, the additional exercise should have added water weight (assuming you stay hydrated). There's nothing wrong with 2.5 lbs per week, if you have the fat mass to support the necessary deficit. MFP's arbitrary limit on its progress goals has led people to believe that 2lb/week is the maximum safe weight loss. That's ridiculous, especially for obese people. I'm averaging about 4 lb/week, perfectly safely, and it could have been 5+ if I had focused on exercise more.

31kcal per lb of body fat. that's the max deficit you should shoot for. For many people, in particular obese people, that calculation results in a very large deficit that is not only fast weight loss, but is also very, very safe as long as you also get your minimum recommended protein (.65g per lb of LBM. 1g is even better). So sayeth science.

Enjoy your success, you've earned it! Most of all, keep at it

She does not appear to be obese to start with (based on her start weight/weight loss goal and photo I'm guessing she didn't start in the obese category). I do agree that for some more than 2 lbs a week is a fine goal, with around 50 lbs to lose it wouldn't be a recommended goal or attainable for most.

matthewsism

So you work for a Dr but your concerned with what an app predicts and you are asking random app users?
Are you not feeling good?
I don't understand.
Congratulations on the weight loss

reddaddie

check your Reports tab and see what your actual consumption is in relation to your goal, a little under on eating + a little over on exercise can make that differential in results. and like someone already said estimates of cals consumed could be high, that is really an art you've got to calibrate your eyeballs for the portion sizes.

joshdann

I doubt much of that is water weight. If anything, the additional exercise should have added water weight (assuming you stay hydrated). There's nothing wrong with 2.5 lbs per week, if you have the fat mass to support the necessary deficit. MFP's arbitrary limit on its progress goals has led people to believe that 2lb/week is the maximum safe weight loss. That's ridiculous, especially for obese people. I'm averaging about 4 lb/week, perfectly safely, and it could have been 5+ if I had focused on exercise more.

31kcal per lb of body fat. that's the max deficit you should shoot for. For many people, in particular obese people, that calculation results in a very large deficit that is not only fast weight loss, but is also very, very safe as long as you also get your minimum recommended protein (.65g per lb of LBM. 1g is even better). So sayeth science.

Enjoy your success, you've earned it! Most of all, keep at it

She does not appear to be obese to start with (based on her start weight/weight loss goal and photo I'm guessing she didn't start in the obese category). I do agree that for some more than 2 lbs a week is a fine goal, with around 50 lbs to lose it wouldn't be a recommended goal or attainable for most.

well, with 50 lbs left to lose, and assuming that goal weight would put her at a very normal 20%BF, she has about 75 lbs of fat mass. that 75 lbs of fat mass can safely support over 4.5 lbs per week without any loss of LBM, assuming she meets her macros. That might not be attainable for many, but perfectly safe and perfectly possible... and illustrating my point that 2.5 lbs/week is well within the acceptable safety range

MelissaPhippsFeagins

So you work for a Dr but your concerned with what an app predicts and you are asking random app users?
Are you not feeling good?
I don't understand.
Congratulations on the weight loss

I could ask any of the docs I work for, but this community was here today when I had the question. If I think about asking Dr. K (the bariatric surgeon in the bunch) if I am losing at a safe pace, I will. But I've heard him say to staff before, you will hit a plateau eventually, don't worry about it. The truth is that I am more likely to email one of the wellness coaches that they hired for us in the last couple of months and ask her. Half of them are registered dieticians and half are nurses.

I did open my diary for those of you who asked. I thought that I had opened it before I posted - sorry. Before you comment on my macros, I have celiac disease so my carbs are rarely if ever eaten for a day and I eat more protein and fat most days. My PCP and a wellness coach from work are working on that with me, but I may never be able to get it to the right balance because I don't buy enough GF breads and crackers to replace the wheat that was in my diet before. Most of it has too much added sugar and there is diabetes in my immediate family and ALL of it is expensive. I use a small loaf of bread every three weeks. I do take a multivitamin every day, but I don't always remember to put it in the diary. As a general rule, I trade a 15oz glass of water for a 12oz mug of coffee (yes, I'm an addict, no I don't care) and I nearly always forget to log my water. Since I've asked for help, I'll try to do a better job of that.

Those that say I don't appear to be obese - thanks, that photo was taken two years ago and I weighed 175 in it. I gained 20ish pounds trying to eat processed GF foods. When the wellness staff did my last evaluation in January, I weighed 193 and my body fat was 43%. I knew I needed to do something about it then, but I needed to get my gut healed from the celiac first. Those numbers (Iron absorption and all that) are moving in the right direction now, so I've got a green light to lose the weight. At my goal of 150, I will have a 23 BMI and my knees and back will feel better and my insurance rates won't go up next year. They will start charging us around $40 extra/month next year for being over a 27 BMI. Apparently, people who work for the largest healthcare system in my region are supposed to be healthy, who knew?

Hildy_J

I have a friend with celiac - everyone thought she was anorexic (me included) till she was tested for that. Horrible disease. Good for you for battling through.

You're doing great

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joshdann

Would you kindly give us a breakdown of how you got that she could lose 4.5 lbs of weight per week and lose no muscle.

Are you also saying that you personally can lose wight and lose absolutely no lbm?

Sure. Fat mass alone can support about 31kcal per day, per lb, with no other mitigating factors. After that point, the body will begin to break down LBM to cover the remaining deficit. For the obese, this is a very large deficit. For me, with about 80 lb of fat mass on my 6'6" frame, I can safely support a deficit of about 2480kcal per day. That puts my theoretical maximum fat loss per week (assuming 3500 kcal per lb of fat mass) at 4.96lb. A high protein diet along with regular exercise has shown to extend that 31kcal per lb number, and I meet both of those requirements, but I like to operate in the realm of safety. 5 lb per week is my current maximum rate of pure fat loss. I'm a bit of an extreme example, since my large frame not only allows me to burn more calories in the same amount of time than the average person, but also means my fat mass is not as encumbering, per lb anyway. My obesity also means that I can support a much larger deficit than an average person. Over the past 7 weeks I have a measured constant 205-210lb of LBM. There are fluctuations, (water and whatnot) but the trend is steady for LBM, while fat mass has dropped by just over 30 lbs. I can support less of a deficit now than I could 30 lbs ago, de facto. for contrast:

a 200lb man with 150lb LBM and 50lb fat mass (25%BF) can safely support a maximum of 3lb per week of fat loss.
a 150lb man with 125lb LBM and 25lb fat mass (16.5%BF) can safely support a maximum of 1.5lb per week of fat loss.

of course, each example requires a real dedication to diet and exercise, and it's a best-case-scenario... but those are the numbers. Here's a couple of quick references for your perusal:

(if you have access to the article): http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022519304004175

and if you can't access the full article above, here's a response to the same article from one of my favorite fitness authors (Lyle MacDonald). He is good at summarizing and making sense of the science:

http://forums.lylemcdonald.com/showpost.php?p=139222&postcount=3

enjoy!

smantha32

Enjoy it while it lasts? It WILL slow down.

I'd add in some weight training though so you keep up your muscle mass as you go.

unFATuated

Some people will react quite differently to starting to eat at a deficit, even if you haven't dropped to 1200 cals or anything too low for your body. I don't know that it can always be explained, although other posters have offered some good reasons why it might happen. I'm another who dropped consistently 1-2kg (not lbs, kg) a week AT FIRST, even eating 1600-1800 cals per day. Now I'm quite close to my goal it has slowed significantly, I'll lose a couple of hundred grams per week, if that. I don't mind that so much, I know it's coming off in a healthy way.

As long as you're not severely restricting calories, and you feel better/good then I wouldn't stress.

tonynguyen75

The simplest answer is usually the right answer....

IMO, the simplest answer is that MFP doesn't know everyone's metabolic rate to a T. Yours might be a little higher, that's all. Adjust by adding ~100-200 calories a day.

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joshdann

As the article states, it's all theories and pales in comparison to real world results. It's easy to say "this can happen" but to actually be able to do it is something else. It seems so easy to read something in the fitness world and believe it's easy to do.

I must have done something wrong because I went from 217 lbs 35% to 143 lbs 10%. I lost 10 lbs of lbm.

yes, and I said many times that they are theories. I'm putting those theories to practice though, and my results have proven the theory out. Of course there is also the real world results that the theory is based on...

But yes, you may have done something wrong. You probably kept too large of a deficit once the fat started coming off. if at 150 and 12%BF, you had a 600kcal daily deficit, your body was being forced to break down LBM. Long, intense bouts of exercise (marathons, 3 hours in the gym, things like that) result in LBM loss because the body doesn't work in 24 hour increments. If you burn more than the nutrients in your bloodstream can handle, *and* eclipse the rate of fat mobilization... you will have to lose some LBM. If you're working out that hard, nutrient timing becomes important.

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michellekicks

Your activity level isn't likely sedentary. That's mostly for mobility-challenged people and anyone who actually doesn't move around. You are at least lightly active.

I'm a stay-at-home-mom who cooks some meals, doesn't keep a super clean house and spends time on MFP daily... not to mention takes naps... and I burn at the same as the "very active" MFP setting before I even exercise :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I originally set mine to sedentary with a goal of losing .5 lbs/week and I lost 8.5 lbs in the first 5 weeks without initial water loss (I'd been on a diet already and had already lost that). That's an indicator your TDEE is higher than predicted.

joshdann

You have lost 31 total pounds, over 2 months. Do you really feel that a long enough time frame to prove any theories?
How do you know that you have lost no lbm at all?

You are assuming that I had a large deficit the whole time or at any point. I lost it over 2 years. At no point did I ever go ahead and have a 1000-1500 calorie deficit. As I lost weight I adjusted to slow down my fat loss. My training sessions are never 3 hours, trust me. I don't have that much free time.

yes, I do think that 2 months is enough time frame to prove the *viability* of a theory... but I'm also not the only one who has ever tested it. Go read that article. The "theory" is based on studies that were done on real people over many months. As for my own results, I measure my body fat % and overall weight regularly. My LBM has remained constant thus far.

I assumed nothing. I suggested a possible cause, but I never once said you did anything specific. I'm sorry you didn't get the same results I'm getting, but it seems like you've sidetracked this thread to insist that your results are the only results possible. I gave OP the data I have to show that her body *can* withstand a much higher rate of loss than what she's currently afraid of. She was concerned that she lost more than the completely arbitrary 2lb/week limit that MFP puts on it's (already bad) diet planning. 2.5 lbs per week is *fine* for her, at least for now. She did nothing wrong, and the info I provided shows why that's true.

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joshdann

I'm not saying my results are the only things I believe in. I just find it interesting that I did "everything" you say should be done but still lost lbm, which is normal (loss of lbm). I suppose your training is more efficient, protein is higher and diet is more solid.

your definition of normal differs from mine, then. If you mean that it's expected, then I agree.

You do realize that you measuring your bf% is susceptible to user error right? However based on the majority of your posts in the past you are never wrong and you've read many things so you know enough.

I'm wrong all the time... but I also know how to keep my mouth shut about things until I've done some research. Some of my posts may come off that way because I just don't post things I'm not confident in. There's a pretty big difference between "needing to be right all the time" and "trying to make sure information is good before you give it out". That said, the "oh, I guess you're always right *rollseyes*" move is pretty lame. Not to mention rude and hardly called for.

2 months is not long enough to compare yourself to a study that was conducted over "many months"

this is plain ridiculous. Bro, do you even science?

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joshdann

I agree that it's not worth it... but I figured that was a rhetorical question. Of course, all measurements have user error, that's a given. I get that you're desperate to poke holes in my results, but they are what they are. It's impossible to know if I lost 1lb of LBM without an expensive scan, but based on the tools I have at my disposal, my LBM has stayed steady. By today's measurements it's actually 2 lb higher than it was 7 weeks ago. Even if I did lose 1 lb of LBM, it would be a 32:1 ratio, which is far and away better than the "fitness world" as you put it would have us believe is required.

You have your beliefs. I can't change that. I don't care to try. The advice I gave OP is sound, and backed by studies done by people far smarter than myself. 2.5 lb per week is fine for her.

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