15 days in mfp and...Only 1 pound lost. what?!

focuseddiva

I averaged around 1500 cals eaten. I exercised a lot. Only one pound? What the what? This week, I'm going to try 1300 cals with higher protein. My diary is public. Oh and I'm 175 lbs, 41, female, 5'8. Want to get to 150. Sigh. So slow.

AmyRhubarb

I wouldn't cut calories - I'd say you're right on track. It's only been three weeks - assuming new eating habits and exercise in that time, your body is adjusting to new things and is not going to just suddenly drop pounds, especially since you don't have a lot to lose. And weight loss isn't linear - some weeks you may lose 2-3lbs, some weeks you might not lose any. You may gain a pound once in awhile - totally normal and not a big deal.

I'm your height and close in age, and had similar weight loss goals. Make sure you are eating enough to fuel your normal daily activities as well as your exercise - if you're using MFP's setup for you, that means eating back exercise cals. You want your net cals at or near goal each day.

If you're not already, start taking your measurements as well as weighing, and some photos are a good idea too. Often times you'll find that you're dropping inches and seeing improvements in the mirror while the scale is busy trying to mess with your head. I dropped a full pants size without losing a pound on the scale.

Have patience - you didn't gain it overnight, you're not going to lose it overnight. But developing new healthy habits that you can stick with your life, losing the fat and maintaining the fitness is totally worth it, no matter how long it takes. Good luck!

lokepa

Took a quick look at your diary... you're all over the map... your daily goal changes on a daily basis... and if you're going to be honest about your goals, you should be honest about what you're eating... what's the 'quick added calories'?? 1300 one day... 1000 another day... It looks like you're starving yourself some days, and binging other days. Find your balance... be patient... ignore the scale (at least for a little while)... and you'll soon see and feel the results you're looking for.

littleburgy

You really won't be able to fully appreciate the loss until a few weeks in, way more than 15 days. Some people go weeks and don't lose anything at all. At the very least you're losing, there's nothing wrong with losing slowly.

You might also be experiencing water retention. I recently lost 2 pounds in 2 days.....errr.....sort of. Actually I just drank water after eating salty food. If only it were always so simple.

ETA: also, and this is just a personal opinion, be careful about eating just Jenny Craig unless you plan on doing that for the rest of your life. I think you should add more variety. All too often people eat specialty diet food and gain all their weight back when they stop eating it, or they get very tired of it. Make sure your diet is varied enough that you don't have to radically change anything when you enter maintenance phase and your body has been able to experience normal food that is varied and enjoyable, rather than just being accustomed to one type of food. Cheers!

focuseddiva

Consistence is my issue. My quick add cals are days when I'm sooo hungry... And a bowl if cereal, a piece of bread, and three cookies later I've added 1000 cals. But I hoped that it would avg out over the last two weeks. For sure I need to stop that and try to be consistent. I think I exercise a lot and that makes me so hungry sometimes. Even 1500 doesn't feel like enough. I just weighed in at my local jenny Craig and am trying their diabetic menu, even though I'm not diabetic. It is 1300 caps with more protein.... String cheese, cottage cheese, nuts. I am hoping this keeps me satisfied. I have been exercising forever. I just want to get into the 160s... I haven't seen those in 15 months.

focuseddiva

Btw... High to the poster with the pgh pens icon. Woooo pgh
snowing here now.

littleburgy

Thank you! I love my Pens

Make sure you keep track of your exercise calories and eating them back. (I personally switched to the TDEE system because I exercise a lot too and my intake is about 1700-1800 calories and I feel better.)

I also think lots of vegetables and lean protein makes keeping calories down a lot easier. Sometimes I'll eat a candy bar, sweets or some pasta/yummy carbs but I'm finding that I have to do some calorie acrobatics to work around it and often feel a little hungry.... but if I eat a large salad with lean chicken or fish at lunch, and some eggs, veggies and lean meat at dinner, I feel more satisfied.

Also make sure you are drinking lots of water...and be safe in that snow!

lokepa

Consistence is my issue. My quick add cals are days when I'm sooo hungry... And a bowl if cereal, a piece of bread, and three cookies later I've added 1000 cals. But I hoped that it would avg out over the last two weeks. For sure I need to stop that and try to be consistent. I think I exercise a lot and that makes me so hungry sometimes. Even 1500 doesn't feel like enough. I just weighed in at my local jenny Craig and am trying their diabetic menu, even though I'm not diabetic. It is 1300 caps with more protein.... String cheese, cottage cheese, nuts. I am hoping this keeps me satisfied. I have been exercising forever. I just want to get into the 160s... I haven't seen those in 15 months.

Are you not logging your workouts? Consider, whatever you're burning, eating back. I fear (a layman's fear, undoubtedly) that 1300 calories is simply not enough... If you're only eating 1300 calories... and burning, at a minimum, 300-500 calories a day, you're netting 800 to 1000 calories... not nearly enough... Log your workouts... then eat those calories back... you'll feel more satiated, will still be on track to net your calorie goal, and you're actually fueling your body, not starving it.

tottie06

It's only been two weeks. Don't go less than 1500, and if you are exercising hardcore, you will probably need more. Your changing from the inside out, so be patient. I love what she has to say:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1090814-one-year-can-change-your-life-pic-heavy

Cheeky_and_Geeky

Get a food scale, log EVERYTHING you eat honestly & accurately. Calculate your TDEE -20% & go from there. Google is a wonderful thing for calculating TDEE-20%. You are far too tall to only be eating 1300 btw. Good luck!

micktbaby

OK' some tips that have worked for me, I have struggled with slow loss also. I am 59 yr old female, so right there that equals slow loss . I have exercised regularly for 30 years, so I had that going but pounds kept creeping on. Try getting rid of processed food, and sugar that was major in appetite control dept. I ever kicked my lifetime diet coke habit, those diet sweeteners do have the opposite effect. I didn't believe it till I tried it. Also I did have to drop my calories to around 1200' ,did that gradually. Working on slow permanent loss. I am tired of starting over so this time NO giving up.

lovebig30

if you exercise a lot you need to eat more your eating average calories for a sedentary person who does not exercise. work on logging everything before you worry about the lose of only 1lb in 2 weeks that's still .5 lb a week a healthy rate for anyone with around 20 lb to lose

kirianna55

focuseddiva

Lokepa: Yes, I log my exercise. In fact, I usually log it right on the machine I'm on, as soon as I am done. In very general terms, I stick close to cardio machines at the gym. I probably do a walk/run combo of 5-6 miles 2-3 times a week, straight brisk walking a couple times a week, and fill in with the elliptical to break it up. I also see a personal trainer and we do circuit/strength for an hour twice a week (kettle bell swings, dead lifts, squats, etc).

I'm always a big sweaty mess when I'm done exercisig, so I know I'm not phoning it in. To give some context, about 4 years ago, I was at my goal weight of 140 lbs but I was running 35 miles per week. I can't run like that anymore. PLus, I kept getting injured. So my body is used to lots of exercise. It's the eating I have trouble with... all the exercise makes me hungry. I have tried eating back my exercise calorie,s but when I get in that hunger zone, an extra 400 cals of yogurt, fruit, lean protein doesn't come close to helping and I wind up shoving bread in my face.

To give you even more context, I was obese my whole life -- always over 200 lbs and my high was 350 lbs until I got it in control about 12 years ago. 9 years ago I was 180. I lost 40 lbs on Jenny Craig. I maintained (by running, doing races, and eating about 1200-1300 cals a day -- I was starving). Over the past two years, I let cheat days become cheat weeks. And here i am, back at 175. Trying to be realistic and aim for 150-155 instead of 140. I think that was too low for my age, my height and considering I used to be 350 lbs, too. (I am quite sure I had a good 10 lbs of loose skin on top of that, so I like to think I was more like 130 lbs).

Anyway -- this week I'm going to see what adding in some egg white and cottage cheese will do to my hunger level. I have logged everything accurately on my diary. The only thing in question is the quick add calories on 4-5 days in the past 15 days. I may have even overestimated those .. but it was junk. Bread, crackers, cereal, cheese... almost always eaten in about 20 minutes late at night when th ehunger is driving me nuts.

Greenrun99

15 days.. I would just quit.

focuseddiva

Wow, really? Thanks so much for the encouragement!

Ahole.

ChrisM8971

The two bits of advice I would offer are:

1. The food scales are far more important than the body scales! Weigh everything you eat and log absolutely everything on MFP, never hide anything. I drink too much but still log it and just make it fit into my daily calorie intake.

2. Be careful of exercise calories from MFP and exercise machines as these can be an over estimate. Even a HRM isn't always 100% accurate but mine generally gives a burn about 70% of those MFP show me. So if I am not using the HRM I just log 70% of the MFP totals

I always eat back my exercise calories (I just don't exercise much at the moment)

Underestimated calories and overestimated burns are often the cause of no/slower than expected weight loss

Saramelie

Consistence is my issue. My quick add cals are days when I'm sooo hungry... And a bowl if cereal, a piece of bread, and three cookies later I've added 1000 cals. But I hoped that it would avg out over the last two weeks. For sure I need to stop that and try to be consistent. I think I exercise a lot and that makes me so hungry sometimes. Even 1500 doesn't feel like enough. I just weighed in at my local jenny Craig and am trying their diabetic menu, even though I'm not diabetic. It is 1300 caps with more protein.... String cheese, cottage cheese, nuts. I am hoping this keeps me satisfied. I have been exercising forever. I just want to get into the 160s... I haven't seen those in 15 months.

I kind of disagree with consistency.... if you keep in mind a weekly average. My daily calories is 1800. I cycle my calories, which means that one day I might eat 1400 and the next I'll have 2200, but it average's out at 1800. Started MFP December 1st and already lost 9 pounds (I`m heavier than you and it`s water weight, of course) doing it this way.

meshashesha2012

you've only been at this 2 weeks. you've started a new exercise routine (a lot by your words) so there is probably some water retention you're having around this.


jeez, give it longer than 2 weeks. remember weight loss isnt linear.

it's also very possible that you are eating more than you think you are or burning less calories during your workouts than you think you are. being a sweaty mess at the end is no real indication of how hard you've worked or how many calories you burn.

asimmons221

It's a marathon not a race.

fruttibiscotti

Ever heard of the saying "easy come, easy go"?

Losing about 0.5 lbs per week is reasonable goal to have.

Here's another saying: "slow and steady wins the race"

Good luck.

DavPul

there's quick added calories in the diary? then i think we've identified the problem.

Fullsterkur_woman

So, if you are truly being accurate with logging your intake, that would mean you maintain at 1750 calories per day. That seems about right. When I lost weight back in 2007-2008, my maintenance calories were around that, at one inch shorter than you and not quite 10 years younger. I had less muscle and did more cardio back then too. Now I lift a lot more and do a lot less cardio. I'm 35 pounds heavier (I wish it was muscle; 2/3 of that is just fat!), about your same weight, and am maintaining on about 1950-2000 calories a day now.