D'oh. Just figured out why I'm stuck.

tapirfrog

I count that stuff so it stacks up in my vitamins/nutrients/fiber total. Makes me feel virtuous!

Anonycatgirl

OP, I love you. The subject of weight loss seems to make a lot of us lose perspective and our senses of humor. Kudos for keeping both!

tapirfrog

:flowerforyou: Thanks. For about thirty seconds I was extremely butthurt at the universe and I was all "Do you mean I've been doing all this hard work for nothing?!" and then that voice in my head (you know, the one that gets me in so much trouble when I let it talk to other people) said "You haven't been doing it for nothing, *kitten*. You've been paid quite well in pie."

And then when my ears drooped, the voice continued "The real problem you might want to work on is your inability to average a column of numbers."

So I told the voice to shut up, and after that I couldn't get all butthurt because really, where were the broken promises, lies, and betrayals here? Nowhere. The math worked exactly as math does.

Everyone here was much nicer to me than that voice was. Like I said, when I let it talk to other people I usually end up having to buy presents to smooth things over.

writergeek313

We all make mistakes! I think that's part of the learning process. I've been stuck for a few months. I recently got a food scale, and the first few times I used it, I kept saying "Oh...that explains it." Even with measuring I was eating way more than I thought I was, which means I've been eating at maintenance the last few months instead of at a deficit.

quirkytizzy

Math is a cruel, cruel mistress.

[places hands over face]
[shuffles off stage]

I love you so hard for that!

hmaddpear

You're doing great - working out why things aren't shifting is one of the harder bits of the battle.

The good thing is, now you know what's wrong, it's relatively easy to fix - and the results will start coming in again.

Good luck!

:flowerforyou:

lynn_glenmont

Just to be clear... Your goal is not your TDEE. That bar in the middle, it's your goal, not your TDEE. Your TDEE would be 500 calories over it (assuming you log exercise calories too). So just because you eat under or over your goal doesn't mean you're eating above your TDEE, ie, it doesn't mean you're eating at maintenance (unless you're not logging properly).

Yes, this is correct. If you're averaging around that line in the middle, you should still be losing.

Yes, but this doesn't sound at all like what OP is describing.

Well. In the last 45 days, I've racked up 27 days under my calorie goal ... by about 50 or 100 calories per day. And I've had 18 days over my calorie goal ... by anywhere from 250 to 1,000 calories per day. So, on average, I'm eating at maintenance. I'm just doing it in the way that makes me feel as deprived as possible.

27 * 100 = extra 2700 calories below target deficit
27 * 50 = extra 1350 below target deficit
18 * 250 = 4500 above target deficit
18 * 1000 = 18000 above target deficit

So, taking the smallest and greatest possible swings from those numbers, OP is averaging somewhere between 40 [that is, (4500 - 2700)/45 days total] and 370 [that is, (18000 - 1350)/45 days total] calories a day above OP's target deficit level. I don't think OP said what his/her goal loss per week, but if it's a half pound per week (250 calorie deficit), then the math works perfectly to be at maintenance. (370 > 250 > 40)

If OP's goal loss is one pound per week (500 calorie deficit), then the math suggests a weight gain of a half-pound to one and two-third pounds over 45 days, but I'd say that maintaining on that slight of a mathematical excess is well within normal errors (from measuring food intake, database errors, manufacuturer "leeway" in labeling food, times when estimating is unavoidable, natural variation in OP's measurement from amount of water stored, food in various stages of digestion/elimination, etc.).