My net cals and stats for one week. Why no weight loss?

focuseddiva

Okay, today is day 7 on MFP. I am 41, female, 5'8", 180 lbs. Looking to get to 155. I've battled weight my whole life. Got to my goal of 140 several years ago. Maintained it by running a lot, and sticking to 1200-1500 cals a day. That's what I had to do to maintain. Old habits slipped back in. I started a pattern of binging and restricting. Yadda yadda .. here I am at 180. Note that this entire time, I have been and have stayed on Jenny Craig food. I go in once a week to weigh in. Even though I am on their 1200 cal plan with their prepared food, I obviously have eaten off the plan. Some days I'd be on. Some off. Too inconsistent.

Throughout all of this, I have never given up exercising. I do lots of cardio and strength. Though I can't run like I used to b/c of weight, I still try to walk at least 3-4 miles, 4-5 days a week. Okay, so now it's the morning of Day 7 on MFP -- which set me to 1200 cals to lose two pounds a week. I have tried to be careful eating back my exercise cals.... aiming for eating maybe 25-50% back. This has been the first week in a looooong time where I haven't gone off the rails and binged... well, okay, there was one day this week I had some snacking issues but it was NOT a full-out binge. Here are my daily calories consumed, my exercise calories burned, and my NET. I am very careful logging (and since on jenny Craig, it really is all accounted for, plus veggies and fruit). I got on the scale this morning ... AND .... NADA. Any ideas? Here are the numbers:

Day 1: Cals eaten: 1462 Cals burned:136 NET: 1326
Day 2: Cals eaten: 1391 Cals burned:476 NET: 915
Day 3: Cals eaten: 1878 Cals burned: 707 NET: 1171
Day 4: Cals eaten: 2240 Cals burned: 408 NET: 1832
Day 5: Cals eaten: 1382 Cals burned: 470 NET: 912
Day 6: Cals eaten: 1220 Cals burned: NONE (rest day) NET: 1220

All this and no weight loss. Is it because I need to be more consistent? Is it Day 3 and 4 where I ate a little more? Shouldn't it average out if this is a game of numbers? Maybe my body is just on delay mode, and I'll have this massive loss of 5 lbs next week? Garh. Just frustrated and feel old. It's like I can actually HEAR my metabolism grinding to a complete halt.

Any realistic thoughts/practical advice on what I should tweak moving into week 2 of this to get a fire going here and start some weight loss? Thanks!

prdavies1949

Just be patient, log every thing including vegies and fruit. If you eat at a deficit you will lose weight,

arrseegee

Your net calories are lower than your BMR, which is not recommended. I recommend you have a look at the group Eat More to Weigh Less (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less) and start increasing your calories.

I can't explain why you didn't see a loss in that week though, because with such low intake you should be losing. Perhaps, as you say, next week you'll see it. But I recommend you look at that group simply because when you were maintaining you had to eat such low calorie amounts - it is quite possible that you have altered your metabolism by eating at such a deficit for so long, and the posts in that group will show how you can 'reset' your metabolism by eating more yet still lose weight.

k8mcminn

I am in the same situation. I actually gained weight and am beyond frustrated. I am eating well, under target, not starving, exercising daily yet I am up 3 lbs.

Eleonora91

You definitely need more time... you can't expect to see results after a week. I mean, sometimes you do, but I wouldn't get discouraged.

LishieFruit89

It's been a week...
Be patient.
Weight loss isn't linear.
Some weeks you might lose 2 pounds, other 0.5 pounds, and others none.
And 1200 cals might not be the appropriate goal for you.

angelamangus1

Do you weigh/measure all your food?
When tracking exercise do you use the numbers provided from MFP?

These are 2 big questions you need to answer. First, if you are not calculating your intake accurately, you could be eat well over your calorie goal. Weighing / measuring all your foods helps you to really see what portions look like, it is pretty shocking with some foods! Secondly, for the majority of people on MFP, the calories burned tend to be high estimates. I usually burn 50 to 100 less then what is stated (sometimes more). With these 2 you could be actually eat more than you think.


Have you just started?
Are you close to your Time of the Month?

If you just started you need to be patient. I know we all want results immediately, but for some it takes time. As a woman you need to be aware of your TOM. For me a week our 2 weeks before I begin to retain water, thus the losses are not significant or not there. After I tend to have a loss.

You show a deficit, so overall you should be losing weight. Therefore, your concerns would lean towards one of the above questions. If not you should talk with your doctor.

Good luck on your journey!

piratebear1

It could be as simple as the time of day you weighed yourself (Im sure you know all of this, and not meaning to teach you to suck eggs).

If you had an extra drink .. or not been to the loo before weigh in could all add up to a few pounds - which could have been your loss.

Do you feel any different?

I too am on a 1200 a day. First 8 weeks were OK - But boy have I found this week hard :-( Im down 26lb - and Im sure most is due to the time of day I weigh - and also I try not to go below my 1200 - even if I am not hugry I will try to make sure I eat 1200. I will still stay in the green with maybe a bit more exercise, but I just figure they tell us not to go below for a reason, and I dont wanna piss my bad metabolism off any more :-)

Good luck xxx

graysmom2005

If you are weighing everything, make sure you aren't over sodium....I can imagine Jenny Craig could be high in sodium since it's all packaged? If not..drinking water etc...then give it a bit more time. Many times when I start to lose weight it take a moment for my body to catch up. Keep it up!!!:flowerforyou:

angie007az

I have a question for the people who say to "eat more to weigh less". Why didn't that work for Ellen Degeneres's friend Portia de Rossi. I read the book she wrote. She ate next to nothing and was so skinny it almost killed her.

Just wondering because at one point, the logic just falls apart.

Pandora_King

Your net calories are lower than your BMR, which is not recommended. I recommend you have a look at the group Eat More to Weigh Less (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less) and start increasing your calories.

I can't explain why you didn't see a loss in that week though, because with such low intake you should be losing. Perhaps, as you say, next week you'll see it. But I recommend you look at that group simply because when you were maintaining you had to eat such low calorie amounts - it is quite possible that you have altered your metabolism by eating at such a deficit for so long, and the posts in that group will show how you can 'reset' your metabolism by eating more yet still lose weight.

DON'T LISTEN TO THIS!! That's what they told me when I asked. I also didn't see a loss in the first week and was disappointed. So I took this advice and started "eating more to lose more". Well I started gaining a pound a week. Really set me off! Eat at least a net of 1200 - 1500 a day, exercise at least 300+ calories off a day and time will show you a loss. It took me three weeks and then the pounds started falling off.

Pandora_King

I have a question for the people who say to "eat more to weigh less". Why didn't that work for Ellen Degeneres's friend Portia de Rossi. I read the book she wrote. She ate next to nothing and was so skinny it almost killed her.

Just wondering because at one point, the logic just falls apart.

It is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard and it really set me back when I followed that advice. Funny, it's something I usually hear from lifters.

angie007az

I have a question for the people who say to "eat more to weigh less". Why didn't that work for Ellen Degeneres's friend Portia de Rossi. I read the book she wrote. She ate next to nothing and was so skinny it almost killed her.

Just wondering because at one point, the logic just falls apart.

It is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard and it really set me back when I followed that advice. Funny, it's something I usually hear from lifters.

I understand the logic of calories in, calories out. That's logical. But eating more to weigh less, not so much. Now if you are eating lettuce and spinach, that's one thing. But upping the calories and expecting the weight to fall off, no I will not be doing that either.

I_Will_End_You

It is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard and it really set me back when I followed that advice. Funny, it's something I usually hear from lifters.

Then you were obviously doing it wrong. Eat More to Weigh Less is just a more sustainable method of weight loss. You still eat at a calorie deficit, just a more modest one that is easier to stick with, that will fuel your workouts. It results in a slower loss, but you aren't starving yourself or cutting out foods you love. If you gained, that's your own fault for eating over your TDEE, not weighing your food, over estimating your calorie burns, etc.


To the OP......why would you not log your fruits and veggies if you're logging everything else? They have calories, if you're counting calories you need to log them.

_jayciemarie_

Just because we WANT the weight to drop off every week doesn't mean it will happen every week--but it WILL happen. Last week (according to my scale) I gained weight--like .4 or .8 of a pound, even though I ate at a deficit. Thanksgiving happened and I ate drank too much, but the days after I was pretty good. This week I lost 4lbs. Do I believe I ate a deficit of 14, 000 calories this week? Absolutely not!!!!! Especially considering I weigh myself every Thursday so the 4lb weightloss happened during Thanksgiving. Sometimes our bodies take some time to process what we are doing. This is the hardest thing for me to follow, but BE PATIENT.

ccshopsalot

I'm 5' 9" & 40.. I'll be honest, when I first started REALLY watching everything, it took weeks for my body to figure it out. It was like it was waiting for me to fall right back into my old habits, but once I kept my consistency (averaging 1400 cals a day) and keeping my carbs/protein and fat in check i really started to feel a difference. Water was a key factor, i drink approx 90 ounces a day, more if I have something w/ a lot of sodium or am running. Don't look for the immediate results, you will set yourself up for disappointment, the weight didn't pile on overnight, it's not going to go away overnight. Keep logging, don't eat less than 1200 cals a day, drink your water and keep moving. Stop focusing on that scale for a bit and focus on small changes daily.. I also measured, lost 10 inches before I noticed a pound. You can do this!

melaniecheeks

"Eat more to weigh less" is just a catchy shorthand for a particualr way of calculating intake. It also reflects that consistently eating below your BMR over a long period will cause your metabolism problems. It should not be interpreted as "eat as much as you like and still lose weight".

OP, a week is a really short time frame - your body needs longer than that to make a change. And expecting a 5 pound loss in a week is probabaly unrealistic too. Set yourself longer term goals.

Greenrun99

1 week...

nikigmoney

Start eating more often. Every two hours you should eat something. Also up your protein for the day. Make sure your sugar and sodium are low. If you are lifting weights you should be consuming at least 100grams of protein a day..........that being said your calories look good, but eating more protein and eating often will kick your metabolism into high gear. Running is great, but don't neglect lifting. Muscle helps to create a fat burning machine. Don't be afraid of heavy weights, you won't become bulky because you don,t eat enough.......2500 excess cals = 1lb of muscle. 3500 cals = 1 lb of fat. If you eat between 1300 and 1600 cals a day and try to burn 3500 cals a week with exercise you should lose at least a lb a week. Also, going back and forth eating 1300 cals on easy workout days and 1600 on hard days you will build lean body mass and lose only fat. Hope this helps, eating this way changed my life.

nikigmoney

A lot of times when people say eat more, what they are really saying is eat more often. If I eat every 2 hours, I can still keep my cals low and fire up my metabolism eating high protein,healthy carbs and low healthy fat. When you are young, you gain a few lbs and you eat less and lose the weight. Over time your metabolism slows from age, and diets and this stops working. Of course people who starve themselves lose weight, but it is unsustainable. First 1200 cals works, then you have to lower it to keep losing. The question is if you want to look rock hard and healthy, or so skinny you might die..........

angie007az

According to recent research, eating more often just makes you want to eat all day long. Your body never gets a rest and you never get to tap into those fat stores. Dr. Michael Mosley mentioned this in his research. You body needs downtime to do repairs and to rebuild. Think about our ancestors. Do you think cavemen ate every 3 hours? Nope. They may have gone for days and not eaten a thing. Our bodies were made to tap into those fat stores when there is no food available.

Here are some links that may be helpful:

Documentary from Michael Mosley
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvdbtt_eat-fast-live-longer-hd_shortfilms#.UOOjXKz47XS


Link to Mosley's Website
http://thefastdiet.co.uk/


The Fast Guide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Aj6hRYg4A&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DW9Aj6hRYg4A&app=desktop


http://www.shape.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-strategies/10-unbelievable-diet-rules-backed-science

Bottom line, you have to find what works for you. Check with your doctor because everyone is different and one person's lifestyle may not be good for someone with health issues. Be safe.