Meanies of MFP - Bring it On

Ready2Rock206

Okay - I need a smack down. I like to think I am doing everything right, but clearly I am not. I know I need to eat less and move more. I just looked at my progress chart. I've been losing and gaining the same couple pounds since NOVEMBER!! That's absolutely zero progress in 7 months. That's ridiculous.

My calorie goal is 1670 (obviously too high - need to figure out what to lower it to - I follow IIFYM so I don't track exercise) - I go to kickboxing twice a week, see a trainer once a week and go to the gym one additional day (obviously not enough).

I have a scale and I use it. I've cut back on eating out (not enough obviously). If I don't start seeing some progress on the scale soon I'm going to lose it. I've been steadily gaining weight this month and the whole situation is just making me miserable. I want to quit - but then I'll just be more fat so that's not an option.

I'm 5'8 - 185lbs (ugh - did I just admit that) and 41 yrs old. I do NOT want to have to eat only 1200 calories a day or do any ridiculous fad diets, but I am desperate to see some progress. Oh and I've not lost ANY inches - not a single clothing size - so noooo I don't need to throw out the scale and just measure myself.

walleyclan1

The way I see it, 1670 with your current exercise habits is your maintinance for 185 lbs. Drop your calories a little, increase your workout intensity or time a little and you should see a budge. Gooid luck. Oh an of course make sur you weigh/log accurately etc

PikaKnight

I took a look at your diary.

You say you use a scale - I'm assuming you mean food scale.

If that's the case, it doesn't actually look like you use it for a majority of your food. I see a lot of tablespoon and cup measurements.

I also see quick add calories which could mean you are underestimating your intake even more.


And are you consistent with your logging (logging everything and doing it everyday)? Asking because there was a 317 calorie day.

You also say your calorie goal is 1670. I don't think this is too low, but rather that you are consistently eating more than that. Especially since you aren't actually weighing your food, I think this is a case of you eating much more than you think.

Also, since you are going with TDEE method, did you choose your correct activity level? If your activity has decreased or increased, make sure to take that into account.


So my advice is to use your food scale for everything and log it all and do it everyday while staying close to 1670.

Aaron_K123

Well I have been refered to as a meany on multiple occassions on these forums so I suppose I qualify.

41 years old, 5'8, 185 pounds. Using my calc of choice (not saying its 100% accurate just the one I use):

http://exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

Plugged in 12 hours resting, 12 hours "very light" not bothering to track the kick boxing and assuming you have a desk job or some equivalent:

I get that your BMR is 1579, your activity would be 400 calories so your NEAT would be close to 2000 calories. At that without exercise a diet of 1670 should have you losing about half a pound a week which from November would have been something like 15 pounds which would show up on a scale even with normal bodyweight fluctuations due to water.

Therefore my meanie opinion is something is off with your calorie logging and you are not actually averaging an intake of 1670 OR that online calculator is way off, thats basically your choices.

Now I don't have a lot of time at the moment to look through your diary in detail (maybe later) but flipping through I saw a couple days not logged and I saw that many days you were over your goal (presumably unlogged exercise but idk).

I suppose what this calls for would be an overhaul on how you log food to see if there are any mistakes OR just keep logging like you log and drop your goal calories down by a couple of hundred. Its possible that you are underestimating what your intake is but if you drop your goal down then your caloric intake should still go down (even if you are eating more than you think you are).

How is your energy level and strength?

AdventureFreak

Maybe it is time for a heart rate monitor and eating calories from exercise back? You metabolism could be needing a bit more input to feel comfortable eating fat instead of storing it. How is your alcohol intake?

How OCD are you about your food measurements? Maybe a food scale is in order if you don't use one yet. Do you eat high sugar? Get that under 50G a day for sure if not already. How about sodium intake? I saw huge improvements in losses when I I cut my sodium consistently back to under 1500MG a day which means piles of vegatables which in and of themselves are awesome for weightloss.

Finally, how about your sleep? Are you getting enough to heal and let your metabolism do its thing? My best losses I was sleeping 10+ hours a day. Are you under 7 hours consistently?

UpEarly

I'm (almost) 5'9" and 42 years old. I went from 202 to 136 in about 8 months and have maintained that loss for a little over two years now. While I was losing, I walked every day and tried (but often failed) to lift weights twice a week for 45 minutes a session. I ate about 2000-2200 calories a day and still lost 1-2 lbs a week.

I'm not sure how you're coming to the conclusion IIFYM means you don't track exercise? I tracked my exercise carefully and also followed an IIFYM philosophy. I was also super, super vigilant about accurate calorie tracking. Maybe your calorie counts are off?

The thing I personally found made the biggest difference was being active throughout my day, instead of just focusing on workouts.

Aaron_K123

Maybe it is time for a heart rate monitor and eating calories from exercise back? You metabolism could be needing a bit more input to feel comfortable eating fat instead of storing it.

No, there is NO way that the reason you are not losing weight is that you are not eating enough.

AdventureFreak

ahh... yes. Open diaries are nice. Sodium is very high at times and mostly over goal on most days. Cut that out and eat better foods that are more whole and less processed.

PikaKnight

Maybe it is time for a heart rate monitor and eating calories from exercise back? You metabolism could be needing a bit more input to feel comfortable eating fat instead of storing it. How is your alcohol intake?

How OCD are you about your food measurements? Maybe a food scale is in order if you don't use one yet. Do you eat high sugar? Get that under 50G a day for sure if not already. How about sodium intake? I saw huge improvements in losses when I I cut my sodium consistently back to under 1500MG a day which means piles of vegatables which in and of themselves are awesome for weightloss.

Finally, how about your sleep? Are you getting enough to heal and let your metabolism do its thing? My best losses I was sleeping 10+ hours a day. Are you under 7 hours consistently?

If she's following the TDEE method, you don't eat them back because they are already included in the amount..which is why it's important to pick the correct activity level.

PikaKnight

ahh... yes. Open diaries are nice. Sodium is very high at times and mostly over goal on most days. Cut that out and eat better foods that are more whole and less processed.

I disagree. It's not the "processed" food, it's the amount she's eating.

SunofaBeach14

You're not weighing your food or consistently logging, ergo you're eating more than you think

AdventureFreak

Maybe it is time for a heart rate monitor and eating calories from exercise back? You metabolism could be needing a bit more input to feel comfortable eating fat instead of storing it.

No, there is NO way that the reason you are not losing weight is that you are not eating enough.

BMR is 1600 which she is at. If I eat at BMR and don't eat exercise back I don't loose crap.

AdventureFreak

You're not weighing your food or consistently logging, ergo you're eating more than you think

bump

Ready2Rock206

Maybe it is time for a heart rate monitor and eating calories from exercise back? You metabolism could be needing a bit more input to feel comfortable eating fat instead of storing it.

No, there is NO way that the reason you are not losing weight is that you are not eating enough.

I definitely agree with this. My problem is not eating too little. I have a HR monitor but they're only accurate for cardio so I never use it.

psych101

I went through something similar and for me, it was because I had become a little lax in my logging.

I've had a look over your diary and I think you are likely eating more than you realise. 1670 sounds ok and I wouldn't lower it, but I would recommend tightening up your logging. Weigh your foods (I see some cups and tbs measurements, weighing is a better guide), there are many days when you're over your calories - even if its just a hundred or so, this can eliminate any weekly deficit. I see quick added calories and generic entries, as well as an incomplete day.

My advice - go back to basics of logging. Log everything, weigh everything, eat to your calories and see how you go.

:flowerforyou:

Aaron_K123

Maybe it is time for a heart rate monitor and eating calories from exercise back? You metabolism could be needing a bit more input to feel comfortable eating fat instead of storing it.

No, there is NO way that the reason you are not losing weight is that you are not eating enough.

BMR is 1600 which she is at. If I eat at BMR and don't eat exercise back I don't loose crap.

You might retain water due to stress that would make your scale weight not go down short term but the idea that if you eat to little your body "holds on" to fat is ludicrous sorry to say.

QuietBloom

ahh... yes. Open diaries are nice. Sodium is very high at times and mostly over goal on most days. Cut that out and eat better foods that are more whole and less processed.

The MFP sodium goal can be treated as a minimum, as long as you have healthy kidneys. I think she is fine, from what I saw. 5 g/day is an OK number.

Aaron_K123

I went through something similar and for me, it was because I had become a little lax in my logging.

I've had a look over your diary and I think you are likely eating more than you realise. 1670 sounds ok and I wouldn't lower it, but I would recommend tightening up your logging. Weigh your foods (I see some cups and tbs measurements, weighing is a better guide), there are many days when you're over your calories - even if its just a hundred or so, this can eliminate any weekly deficit. I see quick added calories and generic entries, as well as an incomplete day.

My advice - go back to basics of logging. Log everything, weigh everything, eat to your calories and see how you go.

:flowerforyou:

By the way OP when I said consider "lowering" your goal its because I think as this poster surmised you are probably eating more than you think you are but if you kept your logging the same and continued to overestimate if you dropped your goal to 1400 and tried to eat that you might actually be eating 1650 and be where you want to be.

Alternatively, and probably the better way, would be to be a little more strict in your logging and a little more careful about how you estimate calories when you do eat out.

Just to stress I do NOT believe you need to eat less than 1650 ACTUAL calories per day, I was just guessing your logging was a bit off.

Aaron_K123

ahh... yes. Open diaries are nice. Sodium is very high at times and mostly over goal on most days. Cut that out and eat better foods that are more whole and less processed.

The MFP sodium goal can be treated as a minimum, as long as you have healthy kidneys. I think she is fine, from what I saw. 5 g/day is an OK number.

+1. I wouldn't worry about your sodium intake, it isn't the problem.

nosebag1212

you aren't eating 1600 cals. period. because if you were the fat would be melting off at 185 lbs

Ready2Rock206

I took a look at your diary.

You say you use a scale - I'm assuming you mean food scale.

If that's the case, it doesn't actually look like you use it for a majority of your food. I see a lot of tablespoon and cup measurements.

I also see quick add calories which could mean you are underestimating your intake even more.


And are you consistent with your logging (logging everything and doing it everyday)? Asking because there was a 317 calorie day.

Usually with the cup and tablespoon measurements I've still weighed it to match the grams for that amount, but that's just how it shows in the database. I've been getting a lot better about weighing but there is still room for improvement there. I need to make that a priority.

And you got me. I ate far more than 317 - we ate german for lunch and it was so hard to log I didn't. Which is a terrible habit - I've just been so frustrated lately - I've been slacking because it doesn't make a difference anyway. Of course that's a terrible mindset because it only makes things worse.

Aaron_K123

OP do you think that at least temporarily you would be willing to stick to home-prepared meals of whole foods? Not because I think eating "clean" is necessary for weight loss but it would allow you to easily and more to the point accurately track your intake using a food scale.

If you ate chicken breast and broccoli and other whole foods where the nutritional content is a known entity and you did that for about a month or two you could really nail down what your maintenance and weight loss calories are. After that you could maybe relax that and just be rigorous about estimating calories in things where the values are not so clear cut.

Its a learning process but it might be easier to learn if you pick foods whose values are fully known.

Examples would be:

Chicken breast
Tuna
Protein powder
Vegetables
Fruits
rice
beans
etc etc

....basically anything you prepare at home from whole ingredients rather than prepackaged where your food scale will give you the portion and from the portion you will know the exact nutrition since it is a whole food.

Just to be clear I don't think so called "Clean" eating is necessary for weight loss but it can make accurate calorie logging a whole lot easier. When I started my diet it was chicken breast tuna and broccoli for me until I got a handle on it after which I relaxed it a bit into things like occasional take-out or other processed things.

AwesomeGuy37

I was eating 1700 calories per week and only dropping 1.5 pounds per week. MFP says I should of dropped 2 pounds. The reason is that calories are not a perfect science and/or I am making errors in my food intake. So.. adjust something somewhere to where you are burning more or eating less and it should fix your miscalculations. I cut 200 calories/day and this week lost 2.2 pounds.

nosebag1212

The reason is that calories are not a perfect science

this makes no sense, a calorie is a calorie, period. don't listen to anyone's bull**** who tries to tell you otherwise, body doesn't care, if you're in a deficit you will lose weight

Aaron_K123

The reason is that calories are not a perfect science

this makes no sense, a calorie is a calorie, period. don't listen to anyone's bull**** who tries to tell you otherwise, body doesn't care, if you're in a deficit you will lose weight

I think he meant that our personal ability to accurately log and track calories is not perfect and comes with some error, not that a literal calorie is somehow not a scientific measure.

AwesomeGuy37

The reason is that calories are not a perfect science

this makes no sense, a calorie is a calorie, period. don't listen to anyone's bull**** who tries to tell you otherwise, body doesn't care, if you're in a deficit you will lose weight

Calories are a perfect science? :drinker:
http://youtu.be/ETdoQDP0gc0

I was not referring to anything to do with a calorie not being a calorie.. I meant to say the whole entire system we use has it's inaccuracies The formulas for finding your TDEE and exercise expenditure are anything but exact. Probably avoided if I could communicate better. My apologies..

MyChocolateDiet

Okay lemme sharpen my pencil before I begin...

MyChocolateDiet

Okay - I need a smack down. I like to think I am doing everything right, but clearly I am not. I know I need to eat less and move more. I just looked at my progress chart. I've been losing and gaining the same couple pounds since NOVEMBER!! That's absolutely zero progress in 7 months. That's ridiculous.

My calorie goal is 1670 (obviously too high - need to figure out what to lower it to - I follow IIFYM so I don't track exercise) - I go to kickboxing twice a week, see a trainer once a week and go to the gym one additional day (obviously not enough).

I have a scale and I use it. I've cut back on eating out (not enough obviously). If I don't start seeing some progress on the scale soon I'm going to lose it. I've been steadily gaining weight this monthand the whole situation is just making me miserable. I want to quit - but then I'll just be more fat so that's not an option.

I'm 5'8 - 185lbs (ugh - did I just admit that) and 41 yrs old. I do NOT want to have to eat only 1200 calories a day or do any ridiculous fad diets, but I am desperate to see some progress. Oh and I've not lost ANY inches - not a single clothing size - so noooo I don't need to throw out the scale and just measure myself.

After concurring with my associate I think look at the following.

1- pregnancy test due to recent gain.
2- start logging your workouts maybe you are burning more than you think
3- your cal goal isn't very high for your height, redo TDEE
4-commit to ONE WEEK or two of eating ONLY what you can measure accurately at least to give you an idea of scale or measure is the issue
5-get one of those HRM or fitbit things to see if your daily activity isn't what you think it is.

(please not to cringe at the pregnancy idea you said we could say anything. it's a real possibility for most ppl...and your weight gains are only recent.)

prattiger65

OP, you have been around enough to know what's wrong, you're eating to much. But I'm glad you invited me to be a meanie, most people are mad when they call me that! As for advice, double down on your logging accuracy, weigh and measure EVERYTHING at least for a little while until you are back on track. Good luck!

ravenmiss

Log your food properly and maybe stop eating out so much.

You know you can do this!

SunofaBeach14

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