Do I have to give up sweets to lose weight???

mxmkenney

Ok, I love sweets and I refuse to give them up completely. I thought as long as you have a calorie deficit, you will lose weight. My weight loss has been very slow (averaging .5 pound a week if that). I am anal when it comes to tracking what I eat (I measure and weigh my food whenever I can) and I exercise 3-6 days a week for 45-60 minutes per work out. Based on my calorie deficit, I should be losing roughly 1.5 pounds a week. My question is, Is my eating chocolate/sweets the reason why I'm not losing weight? Lately I have been limiting my sweets to 20% of my daily calories (roughly 300 calories from sweets). It used to be closer to 40-50%... :embarassed:

I still have 20 pounds to lose
I'm eating 1500 calories + HALF my exercise calories UP TO 300 per day
I am burning anywhere from 200-500 calories per workout
I try to hit my macros, but usually go over carbs by a little
My diary is open - please take a look and tell me what you think.

I do not want to give up bread, chocolate, dairy or anything completely, but I am interested to see what y'all think my problem is.
Please be nice!

19TaraLynn84

You do not have to give up sweets! Losing .5 pound a week is slow, but perfectly fine and perfectly healthy! Keep doing what you're doing.

ETA: i also hve 20 pounds to lose and am averaging .5 pound per week. As long as the scale keeps going down, I'm a happy camper.

mxmkenney

You do not have to give up sweets! Losing .5 pound a week is slow, but perfectly fine and perfectly healthy! Keep doing what you're doing.

ETA: i also hve 20 pounds to lose and am averaging .5 pound per week. As long as the scale keeps going down, I'm a happy camper.

Thanks, I guess I just worry that I'm not getting the results I am after especially since I work my butt off! I wish I was losing .5 pound a week consistently. For the last 3 weeks I have gone down, then up, and then down 0.2 pounds, so basically I stayed the same weight. Just wish I could see a consistent decrease in that # that pops up on the scale.

KarenJanine

You do not have to give up sweets! Losing .5 pound a week is slow, but perfectly fine and perfectly healthy! Keep doing what you're doing.

ETA: i also hve 20 pounds to lose and am averaging .5 pound per week. As long as the scale keeps going down, I'm a happy camper.

Thanks, I guess I just worry that I'm not getting the results I am after especially since I work my butt off! I wish I was losing .5 pound a week consistently. For the last 3 weeks I have gone down, then up, and then down 0.2 pounds, so basically I stayed the same weight. Just wish I could see a consistent decrease in that # that pops up on the scale.

Weight loss is never linear so expecting to see a certain number each week is setting yourself up for disappointment. You may find it helpful to plot your losses on a graph and look at the overall trend. There are apps such as Libra or Happy Scale that do this for you.

In terms of your original question, eat what you want within your calorie goal. Those who have the best chance of long term success at weight loss eat all the foods they enjoy in smaller portions.

David_AUS

Make sure your are getting enough hydration. Reducing sweets and bread will be supportive. Not sure of how you are getting exercise calories if it is jogging or walking be wary of eating these calories back.

hkristine1

Not sure of how you are getting exercise calories if it is jogging or walking be wary of eating these calories back.

Why does it matter how you're getting your exercise, in terms of eating back calories?

rachrach7595

I eat sweets, pizza, soda, mcdonalds, burgers....
Moderation is the key. I eat 1400-1500 and some of my exercise calories and I'm consistently losing.
Good luck

rachrach7595

Not sure of how you are getting exercise calories if it is jogging or walking be wary of eating these calories back.

Why does it matter how you're getting your exercise, in terms of eating back calories?

What? Ridiculous. All exercise is good exercise.

JesterMFP

No you don't, and 0.5 lbs a week is a very good rate of loss if you only have about 20 left to lose. Weight loss isn't linear. It fluctuates naturally even if you basically maintaining. There's no way around that, so don't let it get you down. Look at the overall trend over weeks rather than day to day.

Reducing sweets and bread will be supportive.

Supportive of what? Increasing a calorie deficit? What if she replaces them with something else? Sweets and bread are very easy to overeat, taking you over your goals, but it doesn't sound like that's the issue here.

Not sure of how you are getting exercise calories if it is jogging or walking be wary of eating these calories back.

Why? OP is only eating half back and her estimations don't seem to be hugely inflated. Even if she ate them all back, the kind of numbers she is talking about are probably less than her deficit anyway. In any event, she will be burning some energy during her workouts so it's silly not to eat any of them back, if she's using the MFP method to calculate her goal.

MelodyandBarbells

Not sure of how you are getting exercise calories if it is jogging or walking be wary of eating these calories back.

Why does it matter how you're getting your exercise, in terms of eating back calories?

Actually this observation was my question as well. OP thinks she should be losing 1.5 lbs a week based on her deficit, I thought her question was why her big numbers weren't translating to the scale = what you're eating or what you burn. If MFP tells you a 150lb woman burned 500 calories from walking a mile and you inhale those calories back, your efforts may not be reflected on the scale from where you sit.

So OP we're about the same age, what are you doing for exercise to burn approximately how many calories (gah just realized this would be in your diary probably!). I have to work really intensely for an hour to burn 500 calories personally --> like jacks, heavy kicks, plyo jumps

JesterMFP

I just want to add that it's so important to look at the long term here. It's all well and good losing the weight, but how are you going to keep it off? imo that's why it's so important not to make drastic changes to your diet that you can't sustain. If you can't seriously see yourself a year, 2 years, 10 years from now eating a diet that has no sweets, bread or dairy in it, then there's no point cutting them out now. There's no good reason to completely cut them out anyway, unless you have a particular medical condition, allergy or intolerance that dictates that you should.

Nutrition is very important for health but any changes you want to make can happen gradually over time. To start with, make sure you get a good balance of macros (carbs, protein, fats). Eat plenty of fruit/vegetables. If you don't feel you're getting enough of something, gradually work more into your diet. The way I eat now is so different from when I started on MFP, but it's all been small, gradual changes, and I've cut nothing out. I still regularly eat bread, dairy and chocolate, because I enjoy them and they're not evil. Balance and portion control are key. It's great that you've moved from 40-50%ish sweets to 20%ish - you're likely getting a much better nutritional balance now.

Do what works for you, and do what you can sustain indefinitely. Look at making progress over time, not being perfect. Any further changes you want to make to your diet - make them gradually and make sure you can live with them. Eat the food you love. The more you feel like you're "on a diet" the more likely it is that you won't manage to keep it up in the long term.

amusedmonkey

Our bodies are wired slightly differently with hormones and genetics playing a role. First make sure you have no hormone problems (thyroid, PCOS... etc) and if you don't take a closer look at the stuff you are doing. All food calories are just "estimates" so are workout calories. Maybe some of the sweets you are eating have a higher error margin and since they are calorie dense, it may add up. If you are using a heart rate monitor to gauge your calorie burn remember that the value you are getting is the "gross" value (ignores calories that would have been burned even if you did nothing), now if the majority of your workout is strength, heart rate monitor tends to really overestimate that.

What you can do to troubleshoot the issue is list any possible problems then start eliminating them one by one testing things out:
1- Are your hormones working against you? Get every blood work your doctor suggests to treat the core issue if any.

2- Are you underestimating the calories you are consuming? Look for the products that constitute the majority of your diet and replace them entirely with the same calorie count of veggies and fruits for a week and see if that changes things. If it does, start adding back your favorite sweet products one by one each week and see if one of them triggers reduced weight loss. Once you identify the product you can calculate the actual calories with better accuracy.

3- Are you overestimating your burn? Try to go 1-2 weeks without working out and see how much that affects your weight loss. By the numbers, you can more accurately estimate the average you burn doing your usual workouts.

4- Are you stressed? Sick? Bloated? Do you take medications? If you do, how do they affect weight? Watch for these signs and try to do something about them.

5- Grazing and nibbling can add up. If you are sure you are logging everything then good, but if you notice that you usually take a bite here and a sip there without logging, no matter how small it is try to log it.

6- If all fails don't be discouraged. You are doing well. As long as the trend is going down you are making progress.

MelodyandBarbells

So I looked at the exercise diary. OP I will give you the exercise bike if you want - even some of those burns being fairly high, but you regularly count things like walking, cleaning, strength training. Those are very low burn items I would suggest either not counting them or not eating them all back. If you're measuring them using a HRM please note that it works best for steady state activities that actually get your heart rate consistently up there, and even then people question the accuracy. You can google the source of these numbers but the net calorie burn from walking at less than a 5mph pace is:

0.3 times your body weight (lb) times distance in miles

For running replace .3 with .63.

I'm not an expert on really heavy strength training but I see a lot of 1 calorie logs or around 150 calories per hour max - in people's diaries, that is, possibly factoring the resting and setup times involved. I know the - calorie loggers may be doing the TDEE method but still strength training #'s can be fairly low for the workout itself.

Can you share the basis for your belief in the 1.5 lb/week number? TDEE calculations, etc?

Your food diary seems way more sophisticated than mine, you seem to know what you're doing. I saw a couple 100 calorie muffins - from my muffin for breakfast days, these must be super tiny, and sausage/egg/cheese at 133 calories - 133 would maybe be a portion of my sausage total but I do use two fairly thick slices for breakfast

Oh, and MFP has me setup at 1560 to lose .5 lb a week.

SezxyStef

I looked at your diary and you say you weigh/measure everything. Your diary does not reflect that.

about 2/3 of the entries are not weighed...

As well some of the entries you use are suspect....generic/homemade or entries that start with an asteriks are suspect.

then looking at your exercise log...you are logging cleaning? dancing? you did all that prior to joining MFP so logging those is suspect as well.

Weight loss is about a calorie deficet and if you are not losing like you feel you should the equation is off somewhere...either at the intake part or output part...try not logging cleaning and dancing and only eating back 50% of the calories burned...tighten up the logging as well...no more 1/3 banana, 2 egg rolls etc, weigh your turkey pepperonni etc.

@JaneiR36 any purposeful exercise should be logged..walking, strength training etc. Using a HRM for weights is not a good plan and weight lifting is not a "low burn" activity. MFP actually under estimates Strength training calories burned.

meankeen

To answer your question: No. You don't have to cut sweets, candy, whatever to cut your weight. In fact, you can eat sweets all day long as long as you stay beneath your calories.

Now there will be a problem if you eat your calorie goal AND sweets on top of that, mind you.
In short you can basically eat everything for as long as you keep your calorie goal to lose weight. But whether candy will fill you up for 3 hours long with the same calorie-intake as some beans and chickens, is doubtful.

MelodyandBarbells

Okay Sexystef. What kind of numbers would you typically expect for strength training? 500 calories per hour sound about right? If so I guess the OP can keep it up. As for walking I believe she logged 30 minutes of walking as 280 calories for a XX lb woman, which is just too much

SezxyStef

Okay Sexystef. What kind of numbers would you typically expect for strength training? 500 calories per hour sound about right? If so I guess the OP can keep it up. As for walking I believe she logged 30 minutes of walking as 280 calories for a XX lb woman, which is just too much

there is no way to know exactly what calories are burned during weight lifting. It is all defined by sets, reps, weight lifted, the person doing it, rest between sets, exercises done...but it is not a low calorie burn.

As you said in your post you are not an expert in weight lifting, you don't lift weights so saying it is a low calorie burn reflects your lack of understanding of weight lifting.

As for the rest if you noticed I said eat back 50% of the calories logged as MFP over estimates on cardio exercise which is reflected when you do a HIIT session from fitness blender (me personally) and the calorie range is between 164-253 and when I log it on MFP it gives 274...

Samstan101

I have chocolate every day pretty much and have lost 99lbs in a year. I do wonder if you're overestinmating your exercise cals though as I'm considerably heavier than you but working out to a similar level and my TDEE is around 2700 on average and I'm eating 1900 a day and losing around 1.5lbs a week. You have much less to lose than me and say you're eating around 1800 a day. If your TDEE is closer to 2300 than the 2600 then you'd be losing less than you think you should despite logging your food accurately.

That aside a 1.5lb a week deficit when you don't have that much to lose is a very aggressive deficit.

MelodyandBarbells

You are correct I'm not an expert , just going by what I thought numerous experts have said. So basically you don't know what calorie numbers are to be expected either, you just know it's not... low? Perhaps that's why folks have logged it as a low burn because the # is so unpredictable. Either way even half of 300 is different than half of 600, for example. *Shrugs*

Francl27

I have sweets every day. No problem. Just try and reach your protein goal (30% is ideal I think).

Holly_Roman_Empire

You are correct I'm not an expert , just going by what I thought numerous experts have said. So basically you don't know what calorie numbers are to be expected either, you just know it's not... low? Perhaps that's why folks have logged it as a low burn because the # is so unpredictable. Either way even half of 300 is different than half of 600, for example. *Shrugs*

People that regularly do weight training follow the TDEE method for this reason. Weightlifting burns vary person to person because of exertion, rest between sets, etc. A few days of monitoring your intake and keeping to a regular weightlifting schedule should help pinpoint how much you can eat and still lose weight.

Springfield1970

I think the incorrect calories that the OP is logging for strength training (which varies WILDLY from person to person) is small fry compared to the possible inaccuracies in her food logging.

A lesson for everyone! AGAIN! Me included.

DamePiglet

I just want to add that it's so important to look at the long term here. It's all well and good losing the weight, but how are you going to keep it off? imo that's why it's so important not to make drastic changes to your diet that you can't sustain. If you can't seriously see yourself a year, 2 years, 10 years from now eating a diet that has no sweets, bread or dairy in it, then there's no point cutting them out now. There's no good reason to completely cut them out anyway, unless you have a particular medical condition, allergy or intolerance that dictates that you should.

Nutrition is very important for health but any changes you want to make can happen gradually over time. To start with, make sure you get a good balance of macros (carbs, protein, fats). Eat plenty of fruit/vegetables. If you don't feel you're getting enough of something, gradually work more into your diet. The way I eat now is so different from when I started on MFP, but it's all been small, gradual changes, and I've cut nothing out. I still regularly eat bread, dairy and chocolate, because I enjoy them and they're not evil. Balance and portion control are key. It's great that you've moved from 40-50%ish sweets to 20%ish - you're likely getting a much better nutritional balance now.

Do what works for you, and do what you can sustain indefinitely. Look at making progress over time, not being perfect. Any further changes you want to make to your diet - make them gradually and make sure you can live with them. Eat the food you love. The more you feel like you're "on a diet" the more likely it is that you won't manage to keep it up in the long term.

Well put. I agree.

Go_Mizzou99

I eat sweets, pizza, soda, mcdonalds, burgers....
Moderation is the key. I eat 1400-1500 and some of my exercise calories and I'm consistently losing.
Good luck

Plus I consume alcohol...just stay in your calorie goal.
Deprivation is not fun.
Moderation is much better.

mxmkenney

Not sure of how you are getting exercise calories if it is jogging or walking be wary of eating these calories back.

Why does it matter how you're getting your exercise, in terms of eating back calories?

Actually this observation was my question as well. OP thinks she should be losing 1.5 lbs a week based on her deficit, I thought her question was why her big numbers weren't translating to the scale = what you're eating or what you burn. If MFP tells you a 150lb woman burned 500 calories from walking a mile and you inhale those calories back, your efforts may not be reflected on the scale from where you sit.

So OP we're about the same age, what are you doing for exercise to burn approximately how many calories (gah just realized this would be in your diary probably!). I have to work really intensely for an hour to burn 500 calories personally --> like jacks, heavy kicks, plyo jumps

Janie - I am doing weights for 30 minutes, and then jogging or stationary bike for 30-60 minutes per day 3-6 days a week. I usually burn roughly 500 in an hour of stationary bike based on what MFP says. I know weight training doesn't burn much.

mxmkenney

Okay Sexystef. What kind of numbers would you typically expect for strength training? 500 calories per hour sound about right? If so I guess the OP can keep it up. As for walking I believe she logged 30 minutes of walking as 280 calories for a XX lb woman, which is just too much

there is no way to know exactly what calories are burned during weight lifting. It is all defined by sets, reps, weight lifted, the person doing it, rest between sets, exercises done...but it is not a low calorie burn.

As you said in your post you are not an expert in weight lifting, you don't lift weights so saying it is a low calorie burn reflects your lack of understanding of weight lifting.

As for the rest if you noticed I said eat back 50% of the calories logged as MFP over estimates on cardio exercise which is reflected when you do a HIIT session from fitness blender (me personally) and the calorie range is between 164-253 and when I log it on MFP it gives 274...

@ JaneiR36 and SexyStef - I try to only eat 50% of my calories back up to 300, so if I burned 500, I would eat back 250, but if I burned 700, I would only eat back 300. As for the homemade items in my diary, those are my recipes that I added, so I know they are accurate. I will give you the fact that the 1/3 banana probably is not as accurate as using grams, which I try to do most of the time. You know you can adjust the serving by the drop down menu too - so if I want to have 6 slices of turkey pepperoni, I can change it to per slice to get an accurate calorie count. Like I said, I really try to measure and weigh everything, but if I don't I will always over-estimate the portion to be safe. And conversely, I try to under-estimate calories burned and eat only half back just in case MFP's stats are high.

mxmkenney

I just want to add that it's so important to look at the long term here. It's all well and good losing the weight, but how are you going to keep it off? imo that's why it's so important not to make drastic changes to your diet that you can't sustain. If you can't seriously see yourself a year, 2 years, 10 years from now eating a diet that has no sweets, bread or dairy in it, then there's no point cutting them out now. There's no good reason to completely cut them out anyway, unless you have a particular medical condition, allergy or intolerance that dictates that you should.

Nutrition is very important for health but any changes you want to make can happen gradually over time. To start with, make sure you get a good balance of macros (carbs, protein, fats). Eat plenty of fruit/vegetables. If you don't feel you're getting enough of something, gradually work more into your diet. The way I eat now is so different from when I started on MFP, but it's all been small, gradual changes, and I've cut nothing out. I still regularly eat bread, dairy and chocolate, because I enjoy them and they're not evil. Balance and portion control are key. It's great that you've moved from 40-50%ish sweets to 20%ish - you're likely getting a much better nutritional balance now.

Do what works for you, and do what you can sustain indefinitely. Look at making progress over time, not being perfect. Any further changes you want to make to your diet - make them gradually and make sure you can live with them. Eat the food you love. The more you feel like you're "on a diet" the more likely it is that you won't manage to keep it up in the long term.

Well put. I agree.

Thanks, this makes sense. I don't want this to consume my life, I just want to be healthy and happy.

mxmkenney

Your food diary seems way more sophisticated than mine, you seem to know what you're doing. I saw a couple 100 calorie muffins - from my muffin for breakfast days, these must be super tiny, and sausage/egg/cheese at 133 calories - 133 would maybe be a portion of my sausage total but I do use two fairly thick slices for breakfast

Oh, and MFP has me setup at 1560 to lose .5 lb a week.

The muffins are actually pre-portioned muffin tops, and the sausage/egg/cheese cups are a homemade recipe: 3 turkey sausage patties, 12 egg whites and 1/2 cup shredded lowfat cheese makes 12 of these cups, so 1 cup is just under 50 calories. I'm telling you I really try hard to get the numbers right.

I have a deficit of close to 500 a day just from food, plus the extra calories from working out that I do not eat back (half) which should show a loss of at least one pound a week depending on how many days I work out that week. But about 3500 to 4800 calorie deficit per week based on a TDEE of 1950. The numbers aren't exact, but I know I should be losing at the very LEAST 1/2 pound a week for sure. Been stalled for 3 weeks now.

hkristine1

Janie - I am doing weights for 30 minutes, and then jogging or stationary bike for 30-60 minutes per day 3-6 days a week. I usually burn roughly 500 in an hour of stationary bike based on what MFP says. I know weight training doesn't burn much.

I know that it's really difficult to estimate calories burned if you don't have a heart rate monitor, but I would recommend not adding in any of your strength training calories. I also would not add any calories for cleaning, unless you're going around like a crazy person and keeping your heart rate up while doing it.

Also, 500 calories on a stationary bike seeems pretty high UNLESS your workout is super intense. That's the problem with these guestimates that MFP puts out - it gives the same number to everyone but doesn't know if you're pedaling at a "ho hum" pace while reading a book and barely breaking a sweat, or whether you're dripping sweat and you keep up a high intensity for the whole ride (or at good intervals, with combinations of hills and sprints, etc).

I do a spin class several times a week, and while I feel it is a really good workout every time (dripping sweat after 10 minutes), there are definitely days when I KNOW the workout was more intense, or I pushed myself harder, or whatever. One online program tells me that a 60 minute spin class burns 615 calories on average. Another program says it's closer to 530. I go with the lower number to be "safe" - even though I know there are some days when the intensity must get me closer to the 615. (I also only eat back a portion of my exercise calories).

So, ask yourself with your stationary biking, are you pushing yourself to the total max on your rides? If not, your calorie burn is probably lower than 500. (I know you make up for some of this by only eating half of the calories). Also, I understand (although I can't explain the physics behind it) that doing intervals burns more calories than a steady ride. So, rather than ride at the same pace/gear etc for 60 minutes, it's better to do a mix of sprints / hills / resting... My favorite (I know I'm crazy because a lot of people HATE them) are "jumps" where you're out of the saddle for a count of 8, in the saddle for 8, up for 4, down for 4, up for 2, down for 2, up 1, down 1, up 1, down 1 (etc. for about 30 seconds of up/down on a 1-count), and then start over at 8... do this for about 3-5 minutes... then do something else to change it up.

Good luck.

hkristine1

I have a deficit of close to 500 a day just from food, plus the extra calories from working out that I do not eat back (half) which should show a loss of at least one pound a week depending on how many days I work out that week. But about 3500 to 4800 calorie deficit per week based on a TDEE of 1950. The numbers aren't exact, but I know I should be losing at the very LEAST 1/2 pound a week for sure. Been stalled for 3 weeks now.

This happens to me, too - I will drop a bunch, and then stall out and drop nothing - but then, after a few weeks, I'll drop another 2-3 lbs pretty quickly... then stall out again.

I think a lot of this is hormonal. I also notice, for me, that my water and salt intake are HUGE factors in seeing the scale drop. If my water is too low, and salt too high... the scale refuses to budge no matter what my caloric intake is for that time period.

ninerbuff

No, you just have to give up eating too much of them.

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