Frustrated doesn't even begin to cover it

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  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    So you say:
    I know slow and steady wins the race.

    but then say...
    It is just frustrating to put this much work in and not see results. Patience isn't a virtue of mine in this arena.

    work on that.
  • luvmypuggle
    luvmypuggle Posts: 36
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    I was out of town this past weekend, so I didn't log like I should have. Got busy and forgot sometimes. MFP has me at 1920 calories a day. I will only max at 1800. Most days not even that though. 1800 is just a number to stay under.
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    I asked to see if anyone was in the same phase as me. I don't need sarcastic comments. I am reading all the advice and experience and taking it in. I just know that I do watch my calories carefully. Maybe the treadmill and MFP are overestimating me. That I can't control. I don't eat those back anyway though.

    You say that you are reading and taking all the advice and experience in but then when people try to give you good advice you immediately shoot it down and say that can't be it.
    There is no way I am not creating a deficit between cutting calories and exercising. There is just no way. I am too careful with calories and workout 5-6 days a week.

    You should be eating above your BMR, which you admit you do not do, you eat less. If in reality you are only netting 900 calories a day, then that's a huge part as to why you may not be losing. At the very least you should net at least 1200 - minimum.
  • luvmypuggle
    luvmypuggle Posts: 36
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    I know, easier said that done. I am trying to mentally think it is more about my health and not get caught up in numbers. It is taking some time to come to grips with that though. Work in progress.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    I was out of town this past weekend, so I didn't log like I should have. Got busy and forgot sometimes. MFP has me at 1920 calories a day. I will only max at 1800. Most days not even that though. 1800 is just a number to stay under.

    ....why? If you're using the app, why are you willingly not doing what it says?

    and if
    I know, easier said that done. I am trying to mentally think it is more about my health and not get caught up in numbers. It is taking some time to come to grips with that though. Work in progress.
    is actually how you feel, then why are you frustrated about numbers on a scale?
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    MFP has me at 1920 calories a day.

    In my experience, a caloric deficit greater than 1000 total calories is counter productive to sane, healthy, predictable weight loss. If you have MFP set to "lose 2 lbs per week" and it gave you 1920 calories per day, that means your TDEE is 2920. If all of these numbers are true, and you're truly diligent and accurate with your intake and exercise (buy a heart rate monitor or/and a FitBit to get closer to accurate, if you like) then you should not eat less than 1920 every day, if you want reliable, predictable weightloss.

    Here, plug your numbers into this calculator, and tell us what it says your BMR and TDEE is.
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
  • luvmypuggle
    luvmypuggle Posts: 36
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    Weekends I do tend to not log as consistently if I am out of town. I am staying aware though. During the week I am pretty consistent. I am going to work on logging every food and not quick adding since so many of you are recommending it. I am not looking for a quick fix. I know it takes hard work. That is why I get up at 5:30 every morn and bust my tail in the gym. I have lost a large amount of weight before. I know the sacrifice it takes. It just has never been this difficult to get off or at least to get in a steady groove of dropping weight.
  • luvmypuggle
    luvmypuggle Posts: 36
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    BMR of 1983
    TDEE of 3074
  • AmyZ46
    AmyZ46 Posts: 694 Member
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    I do pretty good at tracking most times but I do admit ( to myself ) lol that when I don't lose weight it's because my cheerios were probably 2 servings instead of one and my oatmeal too , then I probably ate a 7 oz steak not a 4 oz steak ... Sigh, I bought a scale and havent used it yet hahaha.

    I know deep down that I am probably underestimating my calories because when I don't do that - I lose weight .

    I hope this helps because you can document till you are blue in the face- but If you aren't weighing it you may be wrong and it's obviously upsetting you .

    Good luck , I know it's hard ,but we can all do it !!
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    bust my tail in the gym.

    You don't have to work out to lose weight. Maybe you should just relax for a while and stress out less about it. Don't get me wrong, exercise is great for the heart. But weightloss? Meh. Lifting weights help maintain the muscles you have. But a bunch of cardio at the gym? Why do more than 20 min/day or so? (Unless you're building your endurance for a 5k or something.)
    I know the sacrifice it takes.

    I'd say it takes consistency more than sacrifice, in the long run. It took me 2 years to lose 100 lbs. Patience and consistency helped more than anything else did.
  • luvmypuggle
    luvmypuggle Posts: 36
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    I meant I am trying to get to the mentality just think of it as getting healthy, but we all want to see that scale drop. It will take time to get past not getting hung up on the scale.

    I use it to track calories. I figure if drop calories lower than they do I will lose more weight and/or should I over estimate calories somewhere I would be ok because I am eating less. Make sense?
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    BMR of 1983
    TDEE of 3074

    so start there. ACCURATELY log your food. Weigh it. Don't just quick add everything to death.
    15% of your TDEE is 2613. That's STILL at a deficit.

    So here it comes. WEIGH and ACCURATELY log EVERYTHING. Eat up to that amount, but not 3000 calories.

    Give it 4-6 weeks.

    Reassess at that point. Then since you've ACCURATELY logged everything, you'll have more data to use for comparison.

    ...or you can take my advice from earlier, since you seem to be arguing about the calculators online too. Don't work out and go nuts, find your maintenance/tdee pick your own deficit and go from there.
  • luvmypuggle
    luvmypuggle Posts: 36
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    I do several races a year, so that is why I run consistently. I am doing the Color Run in March. I also do several mud/obstacle runs a year. Hoping to be fit enough to do a Spartan Sprint this year. That is one of my goals.
  • luvmypuggle
    luvmypuggle Posts: 36
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    Thanks!
  • luvmypuggle
    luvmypuggle Posts: 36
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    Thank you for the advice!
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    Hoping to be fit enough to do a Spartan Sprint this year. That is one of my goals.

    Netting under 900 calories won't help you reach that goal. Eating less than your BMR won't help you reach that goal. Eating at a caloric deficit greater than 1000 calories under your TDEE will not help you reach that goal. I don't know a single human being who can train for a run by eating on average less than their BMR.
  • 1Cor1510
    1Cor1510 Posts: 413 Member
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    OP. I'm right where you are. I am 62 days in.

    8 lbs down the first 30 days and now as of this am I'm up 3 of those 8. I too started working out a month in, and have been very diligent about logging (I do weigh and measure everything and enter everything.)

    I would be more discouraged than I am right now except I took pics and measured at the beginning. I have lost 10 inches since I started, 5 inches per month, and the pictures and my clothes tell me what I'm doing is working. I can tell you that I am sore...everywhere, but I keep exercising 5-6 days a week because I really want to lose this this time, AND be strong, not just skinny fat like I was in a previous life (late teens).

    It's frustrating AS HELL that I can't say HEY! I LOST 20 lbs in 2 months! or whatever numbers you probably (as I do) see your friends losing on the home page. It's frustrating AS HELL to have everyone saying, "well, you're eating more than you think or overestimating your burns or you need to see a Dr." or whatever it is (Sorry to all of you out there, I know you're just speaking the truth, because it probably really is that simple, it's just hard to swallow when you THINK you're doing everything you're supposed to and the scale is NOT budging.)

    The only thing I've gotten encouraging from this thread this far is maybe we haven't given it enough time, especially since we radically changed the exercise routine. THAT makes me want to keep going. I know that I personally don't drink enough water and so I'm working on that for the next couple of weeks to see if that makes a difference in the scale.

    As a side note, I have a fitbit flex. It's telling me my daily average burn over the last 30 days has been 2367 and intake has been 1581. That is a deficit of 786 per day for 30 days, I should have lost 6.7 lbs. I am up 3. AGAIN, I weigh and measure ALL of my food.

    Anyway, OP, feel free to friend me if you want. I intend to keep on keepin on.
  • kshadows
    kshadows Posts: 1,315 Member
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    BMR of 1983
    TDEE of 3074

    so start there. ACCURATELY log your food. Weigh it. Don't just quick add everything to death.
    15% of your TDEE is 2613. That's STILL at a deficit.

    So here it comes. WEIGH and ACCURATELY log EVERYTHING. Eat up to that amount, but not 3000 calories.

    Give it 4-6 weeks.

    Reassess at that point. Then since you've ACCURATELY logged everything, you'll have more data to use for comparison.

    ...or you can take my advice from earlier, since you seem to be arguing about the calculators online too. Don't work out and go nuts, find your maintenance/tdee pick your own deficit and go from there.

    THIS. x32165745321123
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    The only thing I've gotten encouraging from this thread this far is maybe we haven't given it enough time.

    There has been lots of info given on this thread. About finding your TDEE (which I have done that on my own and I no longer stress or worry about my calories burned via exercise, I log it as 1 calorie burned and call it a day - because the burns are already calculated into that number).

    Weight loss does take time, you will have times where it goes up and down, and sometimes it won't move at all. With any changes sometimes you have to realize your body takes time and needs to adjust and during those times you may not lose at all. I know it can be discouraging, but weight loss that is lasting takes time.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    ...I am 62 days in. ...8 lbs down the first 30 days and now as of this am I'm up 3 of those 8. .... It's telling me my daily average burn over the last 30 days has been 2367 and intake has been 1581. That is a deficit of 786 per day for 30 days,

    Math...
    62 days x 786 = 48,732
    Projected loss = 13.9 lbs
    Actual loss = 5 lbs
    Error rate = +/-282 per day

    Hmmm. If this trend continues for another 30 days, I personally would go into my FitBit settings and change my stride length. By tweaking my settings, I've been able to get my error rate to +/- 70 over the long term.

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