Help.... scale won't budge

gotfatincollege89

Geez. I'm at my wit's end here.

I've been meticulously logging everything in MFP for over a month now and nothing has happened. My weight has fluctuated up and down a few lbs, but overall I've just stayed the same and I'm like 40 lbs away from my goal. This is really frustrating.

is my calorie goal too low? some people have said it needs to be higher but I guess I don't understand how that works.

I don't log my water, but I have a 25 oz water bottle that I refill 5 times a day, so I'm getting almost a gallon of water everyday.

I'm honest about my food diary. I don't cheat myself and I measure everything to make sure I'm getting exactly what I think i am.

is it just my diet? I know my fat and sugar go over sometimes, but is that enough to completely throw me off?

Maybe it's my workout. I've been doing elliptical workouts pretty often, only 20 mins a day but I do sweat quite a bit and get my heart rate up during them, I'm not just casually pedaling along. In the last 2 weeks I've also added a circuit workout 3 times a week consisting of 3 sets of planks/crunches/supermans, pull ups, squats, and push ups. Do I just need to step up the intensity or what?

Anyway... any help is greatly appreciated.

quiqui29

You can incorporate more exercises or working out a little longer sometimes a little change in activity is what's needed. Good luck I'm talking my own advice I have to start back on the elliptical being doing the treadmill only.

gotfatincollege89

Oh and I forgot to mention that I do a cheat day once a week. Is that too much? should I cut it down to a cheat meal or just cut out cheating altogether until my weight starts going down?

PikaKnight

Do you use a food scale?

Do you record everything you drink/eat (even condiments, seasonings, etc)? do you do this everyday?

Are you recording measurements as well as the scale #?



Here's some reading material for you

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1105036-article-on-flexible-dieting-by-armi-legge?page=1#posts-17068746

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1122891-9-reasons-fat-loss-is-always-slower-than-you-d-like

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

Cranquistador

your weight goal is way too light IMO....that's what a woman that height might weigh and still look thin.
and how bout lifting some heavy weights?

gotfatincollege89

Do you use a food scale?

Do you record everything you drink/eat (even condiments, seasonings, etc)? do you do this everyday?

Are you recording measurements as well as the scale #?

I don't use a food scale... what's the point if I'm measuring stuff by the cup/tbsp/etc? The only thing I eat by the ounce is ground turkey... i buy it by the pound and separate it into four equal parts... so that has to be 4 oz right?

I record everything I eat. I only drink water and I dont record that, but it's easy enough to count 5 refills a day on my water bottle. I rarely use condiments, but if I do I count it (all i can think of is an occasional tbsp of ketchup or tartar sauce). I didn't realize I needed to record spices.... I don't use salt but I season ground turkey with garlic, paprika, oregano, etc..... didn't realize that mattered!

And yes I'm recording measurements as well as my scale number. My waist has gone down but why isn't the scale number going down too? I can't be gaining muscle this quickly, not to mention I'm not eating near enough calories for that to be the case.

twonesix

IMO that is a lot of water! Maybe too much. What type of food are you eating? If you are eating a lot of salty or high seasoning food with lots of water intake, your body will retain water. Are you feeling stronger now that you have been working out regularly? Remember your weight will be the net of the weight you lose from cutting calorie and the muscle you gain. But the more muscle you have the more idle calorie you will consume.

PikaKnight

Do you use a food scale?

Do you record everything you drink/eat (even condiments, seasonings, etc)? do you do this everyday?

Are you recording measurements as well as the scale #?

I don't use a food scale... what's the point if I'm measuring stuff by the cup/tbsp/etc? The only thing I eat by the ounce is ground turkey... i buy it by the pound and separate it into four equal parts... so that has to be 4 oz right?

I record everything I eat. I only drink water and I dont record that, but it's easy enough to count 5 refills a day on my water bottle. I rarely use condiments, but if I do I count it (all i can think of is an occasional tbsp of ketchup or tartar sauce). I didn't realize I needed to record spices.... I don't use salt but I season ground turkey with garlic, paprika, oregano, etc..... didn't realize that mattered!

And yes I'm recording measurements as well as my scale number. My waist has gone down but why isn't the scale number going down too? I can't be gaining muscle this quickly, not to mention I'm not eating near enough calories for that to be the case.

A food scale is way more accurate than measuring cups. Please read the links I posted. You are likely consuming more calories than you think.

MsPudding

As above.

Cups and teaspoons aren't accurate. Get digital scales and weigh everything.

If you're not losing anything it's probably because your weekly 'cheat day' is offsetting any calorie deficit you have the rest of the week.

cafeaulait7

I'd stop the full cheat day and only get a cheat meal if your cardio goal is reached for the week. It sounds like you used to run a ton and now don't do much fitness (but you are adding!). Your appetite matches more fitness, probably Mine, too! I gained back my weight by eating like I hit the gym the same way when I didn't any more.

Definitely watch the tracking, and that includes any tracking of calories burned, too. MFP overestimates exercise often, so eating them all back can be a problem.

I'd add heavy weightlifting to gain more muscle, honestly. I'm doing that again, too. You could do that at a small calorie surplus from maintenance, or maintenance at lowest, and then you'd have more lean mass to support your appetite better. It's awesome that way!

But what I think has you stalled is that you are probably overeating on that cheat day, and you may be overestimating your caloric burn or even overall activity level at this point. I'd change both a bit and see how that goes

Francl27

1) set a reasonable goal. I like http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ more than MFP, personally, just be realistic about your workout intensity
2) use a scale. Spoons and cups can be inaccurate by up to 30% (it goes both ways really).

That's really all there is to it. Be honest with yourself and you will lose weight.

I agree that a cheat day a week is probably too much too... depending on how much you go over your goal. Personally I like eating a bit more every day (using the Scooby goal), so I can eat whatever I want within my calories pretty much (to an extent) and maybe have a cheat meal once a month... but not a whole day and not a 3000 calories cheat meal either, and still try to eat healthy the rest of the day.

MityMax96

I did cups and stuff initially....
But I have since switched to a scale....
I also agree with the others, a scale would be better, and do things by Grams.

ashandstuff

Yeah I support everyone else in getting a food scale.

It made a huge difference for me. No more guess work or assumptions. It's all in the numbers man.

And YES log ALL the ingredients you have in a dish. It really adds up sometimes, especially salt (wow hello Sodium).

Also, try not doing the cheat day for two weeks and see where that takes you?

stumblinthrulife

Do you use a food scale?

Do you record everything you drink/eat (even condiments, seasonings, etc)? do you do this everyday?

Are you recording measurements as well as the scale #?



Here's some reading material for you

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1105036-article-on-flexible-dieting-by-armi-legge?page=1#posts-17068746

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1122891-9-reasons-fat-loss-is-always-slower-than-you-d-like

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

^this. Plus the calorie burn reported by elliptical machines is unreliable at best - it's not been subject to anywhere near the amount of research that running calorie burn has. The two combined are easily enough to wipe out your deficit.