Confused and not losing

inukshuk1960

Ho long have I been at it. Two months and I have been tryign for over 8 months with no success.
Guess I am lost, should I be following MFP or TDEE...I am more confused than when I started.

bkyoun

Ho long have I been at it. Two months and I have been tryign for over 8 months with no success.
Guess I am lost, should I be following MFP or TDEE...I am more confused than when I started.

Here is a great site that explains TDEE really well and also calculates it for you: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

Basically, BMR is the amount of calories your body burns just by being alive. TDEE is BMR plus whatever calories you burn doing whatever activity you do during the day. It is important to be accurate with your exercise level in the TDEE calculator.

Most people on MFP lose weight 1 of 2 ways:
1. Calculate TDEE, subtract 20% and don't eat back exercise calories (because TDEE already factors them in)
2. Use MFP with activity level set to sedentary and eat back calories burned with exercise

Both ways work.

If using TDEE, make sure to be honest about your weekly exercise.

If using MFP and using MFP to calculate calories burned working out, only eat back 50-60% of your calories because MFP can overestimate your burn. Getting a heart rate monitor will give you a more accurate idea of calories burned for cardio.

Either way is fine, as long as you are eating at a deficit, you will lose weight.

If you have gone 8 months without losing, read this: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

Best of luck to you!

Francl27

My TDEE at sedentary is 1700ish as well but I've been losing at 1600 because I do some kind of exercise or walk every day. If you burn 400-500 calories 4x a week, you can probably easily eat 1500 and still lose weight.

inukshuk1960

Your post is confusing, because I cannot tell how much you are actually eating. Since you won't open your diary, there is not a lot I can do except to suggest that your numbers are off somewhere. That you are either eating too much, or not burning as much as you think.

Best of luck!

I am willing to open to friends...I can add you as a friend and then you can look and maybe see where I am going wrong

inukshuk1960

Ho long have I been at it. Two months and I have been tryign for over 8 months with no success.
Guess I am lost, should I be following MFP or TDEE...I am more confused than when I started.

Here is a great site that explains TDEE really well and also calculates it for you: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

Basically, BMR is the amount of calories your body burns just by being alive. TDEE is BMR plus whatever calories you burn doing whatever activity you do during the day. It is important to be accurate with your exercise level in the TDEE calculator.

Most people on MFP lose weight 1 of 2 ways:
1. Calculate TDEE, subtract 20% and don't eat back exercise calories (because TDEE already factors them in)
2. Use MFP with activity level set to sedentary and eat back calories burned with exercise

Both ways work.

If using TDEE, make sure to be honest about your weekly exercise.

If using MFP and using MFP to calculate calories burned working out, only eat back 50-60% of your calories because MFP can overestimate your burn. Getting a heart rate monitor will give you a more accurate idea of calories burned for cardio.

Either way is fine, as long as you are eating at a deficit, you will lose weight.

If you have gone 8 months without losing, read this: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

Best of luck to you!

Thanks for responding. The information is helpful....

If it is true that weight loss is eating less than you burn then I should be losing hand over fist but I am not. I am at a big deficit...would it help to open my diary for you...

jonnythan

(for security reasons I will not open it to all).

What the heck kind of "security reasons" do you have for not opening your diary?

Do you have some state secrets in your food notes that you'll set SOME anonymous internet people (your friends list) read, but not others?

jonnythan

If it is true that weight loss is eating less than you burn then I should be losing hand over fist but I am not. I am at a big deficit...would it help to open my diary for you...

If you are not losing weight, you are not at a calorie deficit.

Open your diary and you will get helpful information, I assure you. There are no security risks in your food log.

born2drum

Ok ... so I have read about TDEE and net calories and BMR and thought I had it...apparently not because I am not losing weight.
My general understanding is that you need to eat 3500 fewer calories to lose one pound....sounds easy enough
And I did it but I am not losing
My calorie count is set at 1200 cal, and my BMR is 1410 with a TDEE of 1725 for sedentary (I work out 4 days a week but sit at a desk most of the day otherwise). If I am expending approximately 400-500 cal for exercise 4 days a week I should be losing more than 0.2 pounds a week...I would think.
Am I missing something. I am very frustrated.
Only constructive suggestions please, derrogatory comments are not helpful. I am trying to learn and silly comments hurt they don't help.
I will open my diary to friends...(for security reasons I will not open it to all).
An FYI I am vegan as well

VEGAN MEANS NOTHING! VEGAN FOOD has a crap load of sodium. I know because I eat it every now and then. Also, VEGAN food provides little protein which is essential in the aid of fat loss. You can only get so much protein from legumes. Even then, those numbers do not provide the necessary amount to maintain lean mass. IF anything, take protein supplements since you cant get natural occuring proteins/creating from animal meat.

What's your workout routine like? Your calorie intake should be set to 1380. No more, no less. Workout 4 days a week and do cardio 20-25 min after each session. You will lose weight but at a really slow pace given your low BMR.

bkyoun

After looking through your diary, if it is accurate, there is no reason that you should not be losing weight unless there is a health issue.

Are you logging absolutely everything? Are you weighing your food? Things like the almond butter are very calorie dense. Are you weighing the 16 grams on a scale or estimating?

I would say you either are not logging everything, not logging everything accurately, or there is a health concern.

Even with no exercise, you would lose weight at the number of calories that you logged.

Make sure you are weighing everything and accurately logging. If you are and you are still not losing, you should see a doctor to get checked for thyroid or other issues.

inukshuk1960

Ok ... so I have read about TDEE and net calories and BMR and thought I had it...apparently not because I am not losing weight.
My general understanding is that you need to eat 3500 fewer calories to lose one pound....sounds easy enough
And I did it but I am not losing
My calorie count is set at 1200 cal, and my BMR is 1410 with a TDEE of 1725 for sedentary (I work out 4 days a week but sit at a desk most of the day otherwise). If I am expending approximately 400-500 cal for exercise 4 days a week I should be losing more than 0.2 pounds a week...I would think.
Am I missing something. I am very frustrated.
Only constructive suggestions please, derrogatory comments are not helpful. I am trying to learn and silly comments hurt they don't help.
I will open my diary to friends...(for security reasons I will not open it to all).
An FYI I am vegan as well

VEGAN MEANS NOTHING! VEGAN FOOD has a crap load of sodium. I know because I eat it every now and then. Also, VEGAN food provides little protein which is essential in the aid of fat loss. You can only get so much protein from legumes. Even then, those numbers do not provide the necessary amount to maintain lean mass. IF anything, take protein supplements since you cant get natural occuring proteins/creating from animal meat.

What's your workout routine like? Your calorie intake should be set to 1380. No more, no less. Workout 4 days a week and do cardio 20-25 min after each session. You will lose weight but at a really slow pace given your low BMR.

Just and FYI I eat clean and vegan. Meaning I start from scratch and cook my food from whole grains, fruit and vegetables because of the sodium content of prepackaged vegan meals...way too much salt. I do use a plant based protein powder (Vega One) when I see I am totaly off the mark with protein

inukshuk1960

After looking through your diary, if it is accurate, there is no reason that you should not be losing weight unless there is a health issue.

Are you logging absolutely everything? Are you weighing your food? Things like the almond butter are very calorie dense. Are you weighing the 16 grams on a scale or estimating?

I would say you either are not logging everything, not logging everything accurately, or there is a health concern.

Even with no exercise, you would lose weight at the number of calories that you logged.

Make sure you are weighing everything and accurately logging. If you are and you are still not losing, you should see a doctor to get checked for thyroid or other issues.

Thanks for checking out my diary. Yes I am logging everything...even the piece of candy I snatch from my kids. I have an ice cream scoop that is exactly 1/4 cup that I use for my grains..and a scale for my food.
naturaopath says I have andrenal fatigue which is why I wont lose...but I am not buying that...

jonnythan

Your naturopath is making things up.

jonnythan

Oh, and volume is not an appropriate way to measure ice cream. Use the food scale for that. If you weigh out your "1/4 cup" of ice cream you will probably be surprised.

What has your weight done over the past month? Be specific.

suziepoo1984

You clearly failed to comprehend the OP if you even read it.

BMR is clearly stated. Daily MFP Calorie goal is clearly stated and is clearly under BMR.

TDEE is not examined at all. TDEE, sedentary, of 1725+400 or 500 is a TDEE of 2125 or 2225. Subtract 20% from that and you've got at least 1700. Thanks for trying.

Either way, she will lose weight if accurately logging and eating the amount of calories she says she is eating.

She is certainly not stalled because she is not eating enough. If you eat at a deficit, you lose, period.

To use TDEE correctly, she would calculate it with her amount of exercise, agreed, but you clearly don't understand TDEE. Thanks for playing though.

She said TDEE at sedentary, which would mean she would still need to eat back exercise calories is my guess.
Good luck to OP :flowerforyou:

inukshuk1960

Oh, and volume is not an appropriate way to measure ice cream. Use the food scale for that. If you weigh out your "1/4 cup" of ice cream you will probably be surprised.

What has your weight done over the past month? Be specific.

I use the ice cream scoop to measure my quinoa and rice...it is exactly 1/4 cup. I am vegan and allergic to dairy ;-)

jonnythan

Oh, and volume is not an appropriate way to measure ice cream. Use the food scale for that. If you weigh out your "1/4 cup" of ice cream you will probably be surprised.

What has your weight done over the past month? Be specific.

I use the ice cream scoop to measure my quinoa and rice...it is exactly 1/4 cup. I am vegan and allergic to dairy ;-)

You need to weigh those items too. Inaccuracies in logging those items could absolutely cause enough error in your logging to halt your loss.

fouroclock

OP hang in there. I am in a similar situation. Vegan, female, 54 years old, eating 1200 calories, trying to drop from 153 lbs to 135 lbs. I am only losing .5 lbs a week, and this week I lost nothing.
I see that you already lost 8 lbs. Great work! Keep going, don't give up.

QuietBloom

Oh, and volume is not an appropriate way to measure ice cream. Use the food scale for that. If you weigh out your "1/4 cup" of ice cream you will probably be surprised.

What has your weight done over the past month? Be specific.

I use the ice cream scoop to measure my quinoa and rice...it is exactly 1/4 cup. I am vegan and allergic to dairy ;-)

You need to weigh those items too. Inaccuracies in logging those items could absolutely cause enough error in your logging to halt your loss.

I believe it is true that weighing is the most accurate from of measurement. But right now a scale (even a cheap one) is out of our financial reach. I have done just fine with measuring cups and spoons so far.