Newbie having troubles :-((

Breena_Bean5

Hello there, my name is Sabrina and I'm a stay at home Mom to 4 children all under the age of 4. I've been on MFP for a few months now, but I'm starting to second guess some things because I haven't lost any weight in about a month now...any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!!!!!!!

-I selected my Normal Daily Activities to Active and to lose 1.5 lbs a week with 6 workouts totaling 30 minutes a piece. I eat NO LESS than 1500 calories a day.
-I eat just about all of my exercise calories back (most days)
-I eat as healthy as possible (little to no crap food)
-I drink a STUPID amount of water (with an exception to my one glass of milk a day, this is ALL I DRINK)
-I run around with the kiddies as much as possible!!
-I do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred everyday (with the exception of 1 rest day per level) I just re-started this program because I was discouraged about the scale not moving so I'm now on Day 9 of Level 1.
-My BMI is 30.4
-My BMR is 1,579.2 or so I think...
-My TDEE is somewhere between 2100 and 2500 (I think)

Sooooooooooo, any help??

eblakes93

Hi Sabrina,

Wow, 4 kids under 4, you must be really busy!! Congrats on stepping up and making some healthy changes in your life.

How tall are you, what do you weigh, and how much weight are you trying to lose?

If you make your diary public, we will be able to give you better food advice. Are you weighing and measuring your food?

Chances are, if you are logging food accurately, then your BMR/TDEE calculation is too high and you should actually be eating less. If you are logging your food inaccurately, your BMR/TDEE calculation may be correct, but you are actually eating too much.

How are you calculating your exercise calories? A lot of people find that the calorie estimations from MFP are too high - so if you are eating all your exercise calories back, you may be eating closer to maintenance than you though you were.

RBianco1210

try upping your protein. I find this helps me with hunger and with portion control plus my hair and nails are greatly improved. maybe too much water? Ask a nutritionist about this. I also agree wih eblake93 who replied to your post. Exercise calories are hard to calculate and if you are eating them back then you'll find yourself maintaining, four under Four should count as at least 43,000 calories every day. hang in there and watch the portion sizes.

SomeGirlSomewhere

I agree with everything eblakes93 said and would like to add----when I asked my doctor if I should be eating back exercise calories she said I absolutely should not. :-)

BeachIron

I agree with everything eblakes93 said and would like to add----when I asked my doctor if I should be eating back exercise calories she said I absolutely should not. :-)

Then your doctor doesn't understand the calculations. MFP operates on a NEAT calculator not a TDEE. Did you bother explaining that to your doctor and do you understand the difference?

It's a matter of calculating and balancing energy input versus energy output. If the numbers are correct (TDEE or NEAT calculation, exercises calories burned if using NEAT, and all the food is weighed properly), then the OP will lose weight.

ETA: To avoid any confusion, eblakes' commets were spot on.

supermodelchic

Open up your diary, sometimes people think they are eating well and are not... Taking care of 4 little kids can be very stressful , which can increase your cortisol , which in turn makes you hold on to your fat stores..

ActivelyStatic

Don't give up, you are probably working against many years of inertia and your body isn't going to give up the weight without a lot of effort.

My advice:
- try to beat your recommended calories (start slow, by 100 cals or so).
- find one or more cardio activities that you can do at/from home any time to burn off at least 200 cals
- check your cal balance at the end of the day, if you are on the wrong side, do one of your cardio activities before going to bed
- weigh yourself every morning at the same time - before breakfast (and again at night if you want)
- stay positive, you will get fitter if you stick to working towards your goals

Good luck, remember, you can and will do this

Breena_Bean5

My diary is now public, I meant to do that in the beginning I just forgot. I 5'4 I weigh 177lbs and I'm looking to get to 140lbs. I have no intentions of giving up. Seeing how I barely understand what I'm doing quitting is the last thing on my mind. I do get discouraged and unmotivated but quitting is a no-go in my book.

Brandolin11

I do get discouraged and unmotivated but quitting is a no-go in my book.

That is the #1 attitude you can have for yourself. You will go very far if you stick to this philosophy!

Eleanorjanethinner

Hi there,

I'm not expert, but my thinking on seeing your food diary is just that you're eating way too many calories! I'm 5'4 too and sedentary (office job) and I'm on 1200 cal a day. That means snacks of around 100 cal, breakfast of 250ish, lunch of 300-400, dinner of 400+ plus some exercise to give me a bit of leeway.

MFP does massively overestimate the effect of exercise (I think). I don't lose 1kg (2 pounds) a week unless I'm under my goals by 100-200 most days.

Best of luck with it!
Cheers,
EJ

eblakes93

My diary is now public, I meant to do that in the beginning I just forgot. I 5'4 I weigh 177lbs and I'm looking to get to 140lbs. I have no intentions of giving up. Seeing how I barely understand what I'm doing quitting is the last thing on my mind. I do get discouraged and unmotivated but quitting is a no-go in my book.

I took a look at your diary. Your logging looks pretty good. I would suggest cutting back on eating your exercise calories for a little bit and seeing if that helps.

Good luck.

Tiernan1212

I would not eat back the calories for a couple of the exercises you're logging. Carrying an infant and cleaning seem to be part of your normal day, I wouldn't count these as calories to eat back. Definitely eat back some of the cals when you do the JM workouts, but I wouldn't for the other things.

Good luck!

Breena_Bean5

When I log my exercises (JM) I log the time I did it longer than what I actually worked out. I don't have a FitBit but I do take my pulse every 10 minutes during my workout. To my calculations (of all the different formulas to track your burned calories I use fitnowtraining.com formula) to find out how many calories I burn during JM. After a couple of different workouts, it seems to be that I burn 380-430 calories every 30 minute workout ( I do extra after the JM workout *shrugs*). I'll try and lower my calorie intake a bit but not too much. There's no way I'm going to consume only 1200 calories a day, lol that's a bit too low. I'll try 1400 instead of 1500 being my minimum calorie intake...

Breena_Bean5

Also, I'm going to only log my JM instead of everything else that I do during the day. I kind of feel like I use those earned calories as a way to eat more? I don't know...

Breena_Bean5

And thanks so much everybody for the feedback, really :-D

SomeGirlSomewhere

I agree with everything eblakes93 said and would like to add----when I asked my doctor if I should be eating back exercise calories she said I absolutely should not. :-)

Then your doctor doesn't understand the calculations. MFP operates on a NEAT calculator not a TDEE. Did you bother explaining that to your doctor and do you understand the difference?

It's a matter of calculating and balancing energy input versus energy output. If the numbers are correct (TDEE or NEAT calculation, exercises calories burned if using NEAT, and all the food is weighed properly), then the OP will lose weight.

ETA: To avoid any confusion, eblakes' commets were spot on.

I am a diabetic and my doctor is one of the better endocrinologists in her field....for those who don't know, an endocrinologist = a metabolic specialist.

lynn_glenmont

When I log my exercises (JM) I log the time I did it longer than what I actually worked out. I don't have a FitBit but I do take my pulse every 10 minutes during my workout. To my calculations (of all the different formulas to track your burned calories I use fitnowtraining.com formula) to find out how many calories I burn during JM. After a couple of different workouts, it seems to be that I burn 380-430 calories every 30 minute workout ( I do extra after the JM workout *shrugs*). I'll try and lower my calorie intake a bit but not too much. There's no way I'm going to consume only 1200 calories a day, lol that's a bit too low. I'll try 1400 instead of 1500 being my minimum calorie intake...

Why are you logging more minutes than you actually worked out? That will definitely overestimate the number of calories burned. Most people believe the MFP database entries for exercise are already inflated. I don't think you need to adjust you net calorie goal (1500). I think if you stop logging more exercise than you're actually doing, and maybe only eat back about a half to two-thirds of your exercise calories (or only log half to two-thirds of the amount of time, if that's easier), and try to weigh and measure everything you eat (I know that's probably a hassle when you're also trying to corral and feed four little ones), you'll likely see some results.

lynn_glenmont

I agree with everything eblakes93 said and would like to add----when I asked my doctor if I should be eating back exercise calories she said I absolutely should not. :-)

Then your doctor doesn't understand the calculations. MFP operates on a NEAT calculator not a TDEE. Did you bother explaining that to your doctor and do you understand the difference?

It's a matter of calculating and balancing energy input versus energy output. If the numbers are correct (TDEE or NEAT calculation, exercises calories burned if using NEAT, and all the food is weighed properly), then the OP will lose weight.

ETA: To avoid any confusion, eblakes' commets were spot on.

I am a diabetic and my doctor is one of the better endocrinologists in her field....for those who don't know, an endocrinologist = a metabolic specialist.

But endocrinologists are not mind readers, and there's no reason to assume an endocrinologist would be familiar with MFP and know that it uses a NEAT approach rather than a TDEE approach (the TDEE approach seems to be far more common).

lynn_glenmont

Also, I'm going to only log my JM instead of everything else that I do during the day. I kind of feel like I use those earned calories as a way to eat more? I don't know...

If by "everything else that I do during the day," you mean running around after the children, toting laundry and groceries, running up and downstairs, and all the other things you do to keep the home running smoothly, MFP has already accounted for that (at least roughly) because you told it you were "active," which I'm sure you are, but you can't count that activity again as exercise; it's like logging it twice.

Best of luck; you sound determined and optimistic, and that's half the battle.

SomeGirlSomewhere

I agree with everything eblakes93 said and would like to add----when I asked my doctor if I should be eating back exercise calories she said I absolutely should not. :-)

Then your doctor doesn't understand the calculations. MFP operates on a NEAT calculator not a TDEE. Did you bother explaining that to your doctor and do you understand the difference?

It's a matter of calculating and balancing energy input versus energy output. If the numbers are correct (TDEE or NEAT calculation, exercises calories burned if using NEAT, and all the food is weighed properly), then the OP will lose weight.

ETA: To avoid any confusion, eblakes' commets were spot on.

I am a diabetic and my doctor is one of the better endocrinologists in her field....for those who don't know, an endocrinologist = a metabolic specialist.

But endocrinologists are not mind readers, and there's no reason to assume an endocrinologist would be familiar with MFP and know that it uses a NEAT approach rather than a TDEE approach (the TDEE approach seems to be far more common).

Can you (or anyone) please explain to me what the NEAT approach and the TDEE approaches are? And it would also be helpful if someone could explain what those two acronyms mean. :-)

CandiJ89

Bump

Mischievous_Rascal

-My BMR is 1,579.2 or so I think...
-My TDEE is somewhere between 2100 and 2500 (I think)

Sooooooooooo, any help??

Don't net below your BMR. I lost steadily at TDEE minus 10-15%, and my activity level is nowhere near yours (desk job + lifting and walking for cardio). I'm maintaining at 2300.

AllonsYtotheTardis

Hi there,

I'm not expert, but my thinking on seeing your food diary is just that you're eating way too many calories! I'm 5'4 too and sedentary (office job) and I'm on 1200 cal a day. That means snacks of around 100 cal, breakfast of 250ish, lunch of 300-400, dinner of 400+ plus some exercise to give me a bit of leeway.

she's not sedentary, by any stretch of the imagination.

wilmnoca

Don't eat back exercise calories unless you are in maintinence!!!

imzadi481

Don't eat back exercise calories unless you are in maintinence!!!

Why? I do, and I still lose weight.

Breena_Bean5

In order to keep an ACCURATE (as possible) account of my calories burned, I use a formula to get my total calories burned. I don't just assume that everyone who does "circuit training" for 20 minutes only burns 214 calories. I don't believe MFP is accurate in their calculations there. As with most of their cardio the number of calories burned is sometimes waaaaaaay over or waaaaaaay under for me, so I adjust it to as close to what I actually burned. Do you see what I'm saying here?

Breena_Bean5

I run after a 18mo and a 4yr old. My twins are only 4 months old so I catch a slight break there, lol. I also have a 8yr old who only visits me on the weekends but he pretty much takes care of himself and would much rather play with the neighborhood boys than his Mom, lol. This time next year will be nothing but running around, as of now I can catch little breaks here and there

Boogage

I'm 5'4 and started my journey at 167. I have 5 young kids so I'm not sedentary either and I found 1200 cals was too low and made me ill once I started exercising so I wouldn't suggest you cut that much. I was doing JM's 30DS and using MFP's calorie burn estimations. I was losing around a 1lb a week eating 1350-1400 cals a day and only eating back around half of my exercise calories so I think maybe you are over estimating your daily burn and consuming maintenance level calories.

Breena_Bean5

Oh I know, 1200 is way too low for me, it made me feel shakey and light -headed also it's possible I have been over estimating my workouts. I'm being extra cautious when and how much I'm eating. I found myself snacking a lot when I was making the kids' lunch and dinner etc. I'd grab a few cheese cubes maybe pop a couple of pretzels in as well. I was doing it and didn't even realize it...ugh. Anyhow, no more of that!!! I've been doing pretty well at staying between 1300-1450cals these past few days :-) I believe I can swing this from now on :-)

Starfish1125

I'm 5'3" and 160 lbs and used a HR monitor to track my calories burned with JM and I was burning 275 for the entire workout - I think you may be overestimating your exercise calories. It's better to under estimate than over estimate those.

Good luck to you!!

wilmnoca

Don't eat back exercise calories unless you are in maintinence!!!

Why? I do, and I still lose weight.

Maintaining weight and losing weight are not the same thing...obvi.