why am I not losing weight??
Replies
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Thank you! This is both helpful and confusing. Lol. I have never heard of any of the things you're talking about so its kind of hard for me to wrap my mind around it. Lol Do you happen to have any links?
Physiology is complicated.
Basics:
a) You need some energy for your every day activities (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). A fraction of this is used just to stay alive (Basic Metabolic Rate)
b) When you eat more than your TDEE, you gain weight.
c) When you eat less than your TDEE, you lose weight.
That's the simple part. Now the complications:
a) Losing weight fast leads to psychological complications like being hungry, annoyed, angry, upset, prone to binging, etc. If you were a prisoner with a food ration below your TDEE and no chance to eat more, you'd keep losing weight. This loss tends to slow down due to the body adapting to a low-energy environment. It does not appear to stop (e.g. starvation shutdown) unless you actually die. It also leads to physiological impacts like amenorrhea, impaired physical activity, cramping, suppressed immune response, etc. You don't want to eat too much or too little.
b) BMR is based on metabolically active body mass. And here's part of the variability: two people can be 200 lb, but one of them has 100 lb of fat and the other only 30. The BMR of the latter is much higher, since muscle requires energy and adipose tissue requires very little. That is one of the sources of uncertainty from the tables and calculators online.
c) Energy expenditure from exercise is also hard, due to individual variances. Some of it is efficiency (some people are more economic and burn less to do the same work). Some of it is terrain. And some of it is just laziness and inaccuracy for the calculators. My bicycle can calculate energy expenditure from heart rate or from actual work (force on the pedals). The first one overestimates from 10 to 20%. So if you're finding trouble, you need to find out a conservative, reasonable estimate for energy spent.
d) it is really a pain to measure and log accurately everything you eat. I don't track, for example, the coffee I drink (black) or weigh every slice of bread or bowl of rice. I do it about once a week to keep my estimates reasonable (eyeballing). Another hint: a "tablespoon" used to eat rarely measures an actual tablespoon (measuring, 15 ml or 1/2 oz). And so on. But if you're having issues, you may need to do this.
e) Not everybody loses weight for the same reason " to be thin". Or look good. That is a nice perk, but some are doing it because their doctor told them (and so may have a very restrictive diet, 800 cal/day. A relative had to do this before heart surgery, for 2 months - he didn't enter "starvation" mode and was losing about 5 lb/ week. I don't recommend that to anyone that's not bedridden and on death's door). I am trying to lose weight to be a better athlete - so I won't enter a large deficit to lose 2 lb/week if it starts messing my training. So the advice has to be weighed with those considerations.
Not intending to offend: there are lots of information out there. I come from a scientific/engineering background and am comfortable with journal scientific papers. I don't know you, so these are some generic resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_metabolic_rate
http://blog.trainingpeaks.com/posts/2009/8/7/cutting-calories-without-killing-your-training-by-matt-fitzg.html
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2011/08/weight-loss-for-cyclists/0 -
Thank you for being the only person to reply with something nice and helpful. I genuinely appreciate it.
I'm pretty sure much of the advice you received earlier was helpful, especially the links you didn't bother to read. Stop focusing so much on the delivery of the message and listen to the message.0 -
My dear, I think what needs to be understood here is that most of the initial posters who were saying your body is starving or that you were starving yourself did not mean you were depriving your body of necessary calories on purpose. They were telling you what was ACTUALLY happening and thus answering your question quite honestly. Hence the reason a few of them got upset when they told you essentially what others said more specifically and "nicer."
Take the wheat, leave the chaff. If someone says "HOLY CRAP, YOUR BODY IS STARVING! EAT!" and then provides a link that thoroughly explains why they said that, then you should read the link and ignore the delivery. You'll also begin to understand their reaction once you learn more about it.
That being said, some people who reply also don't realize you haven't scoured the forum for info before posting and probably need to take a chill pill and a half and suggest just that.
Glad some people on here were able to clarify it better for you, but don't knock or even believe the replies because of how they say something, rather WHY they say something. :flowerforyou:0 -
Obviously since it was my cheat day I wasn't going to log all that. That is exactly why I made a food note to say it was my cheat day. If I was going to lie about what I post, why would I make a note that on my cheat day I ate much more than what I posted......
The point was is there are frequent missed meals and days where you barely log anything at all...so are you eating or not eating? Be honest in your food diary and if those low days with missed meals are accurate then obviously you are not eating enough. If you are exercising to the extreme that you say you need to eat more food to fuel those workouts. If you want to be able to figure out what the issue is, then you have to be accurate if you don't think it's important then good luck to you.
You have received lots of good advice and have chosen to take some of it as a personal attack. If you don't want the feed back then why post the question?
I have been completely honest about everything in my log. I did not log on my one chest day but I did however make note that I hardly logged anything that day. Its not that I'm taking it as a personal attack but its how several people come across that angers me. If you can't understand that then I don't know what else to say.0 -
this could help you http://www.venusfactor.com/welcome/ jsut watch the video and learn more how to maintain your body0
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Obviously since it was my cheat day I wasn't going to log all that. That is exactly why I made a food note to say it was my cheat day. If I was going to lie about what I post, why would I make a note that on my cheat day I ate much more than what I posted......
This doesn't work.
If your "net" days account for a deficit of 800 calories/day, and your cheat day (once/week) is a heavy superavit (say, 5,000 cal) you're not losing. You're gaining.
So you have your answer there: your cheating is wrecking your accounting. Most MFP complaints or "failures" are simply a result of faulty math. Either they don't log everything significant they eat, they don't measure it accurately, or they don't log their exercise and basic metabolic rate within reason. Most frustrated guys at MFP eventually resort to more accurate logging - or quit altogether.
This is like a budget: if you are under budget 28 days per month but you splurge 3, and don't know how big the splurge is, you don't know if you're in the black or in the red. If you have lots of money, well - no problem. If your finances are tight, you need better tracking.
I'll give you an example: my body is lazy. Really lazy. I am a reasonable cyclist and can go hard, but if I am just lying down or in a desk (like 8 hours a day for my job) my BMR is lower than an average person of my size. My resting heart rate is less than 40. It took me a while to figure out that I wasn't losing weight at the rate I wanted because my BMR and TDEE were overestimated. This was, after many iterations, actually weighing my food on a scale, avoiding cheating meals/days, and avoiding eating foods with dubious calorie content. That was two weeks of no fun, but at least I got an explanation (from a physiologist). Now I understand better.
Just one note on starvation mode: the main study is one from a college in the USA (michigan?). That study stated that, upon heavy calorie deficits, the weight loss would slow down - but not stop. So, if you're actually in a massive deficit you would not stop losing weight, you would just slow down a bit (it wasn't even that much). Starvation mode is not a myth, but it also doesn't completely shut you down. Unless you die famished. Then yeah, you don't lose weight metabolically anymore.
I missed the part about cheat days not being tracked.
This is most likely your problem.
What you need to do: Track everything. Maintain a modest deficit over the course of a week and you will lose weight. You are not in starvation mode. I'm glad you're going to net more calories. If you do, you might not have those binge days that destroy all your work.
Well I have only had one cheat day over the course of my dieting. Would one day of bad eating really throw off the 14 days that I have been dieting and exercising?
Depends on the accuracy of your non cheat day logging and how bad your cheat days truly are. Unless you have a legit medical reason, some sort of metabolic disorder, there is no way you are not losing weight based on the information you've provided. Weight loss will slow with massive deficits like you've been putting yourself through but not by much. Your body won't actually 'hold onto weight' until you're down to 7-8% body fat. So either you're not logging accurately (daily and your cheat days are massive) you have a metabolic issue. Since metabolic issues affect less than 1% of the population, the odds are in favor of less than accurate logging.
That's what I'm so unsure of because I have literally logged every single thing I eat or drink (besides water, I forget to log all my water). I track my work outs using the Ostrava app. Sometimes I will OVER log some things just in case. (Example sometimes I use plain yogurt in recipes and it doesnt give me the option of using 1 table spoon so I log 1/4 cup) I have only been dieting for 2 weeks so maybe its too early? I'm not sure. I'm really trying to understand all this but its more complicated than I originally thought.0 -
Thank you! This is both helpful and confusing. Lol. I have never heard of any of the things you're talking about so its kind of hard for me to wrap my mind around it. Lol Do you happen to have any links?
Physiology is complicated.
Basics:
a) You need some energy for your every day activities (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). A fraction of this is used just to stay alive (Basic Metabolic Rate)
b) When you eat more than your TDEE, you gain weight.
c) When you eat less than your TDEE, you lose weight.
That's the simple part. Now the complications:
a) Losing weight fast leads to psychological complications like being hungry, annoyed, angry, upset, prone to binging, etc. If you were a prisoner with a food ration below your TDEE and no chance to eat more, you'd keep losing weight. This loss tends to slow down due to the body adapting to a low-energy environment. It does not appear to stop (e.g. starvation shutdown) unless you actually die. It also leads to physiological impacts like amenorrhea, impaired physical activity, cramping, suppressed immune response, etc. You don't want to eat too much or too little.
b) BMR is based on metabolically active body mass. And here's part of the variability: two people can be 200 lb, but one of them has 100 lb of fat and the other only 30. The BMR of the latter is much higher, since muscle requires energy and adipose tissue requires very little. That is one of the sources of uncertainty from the tables and calculators online.
c) Energy expenditure from exercise is also hard, due to individual variances. Some of it is efficiency (some people are more economic and burn less to do the same work). Some of it is terrain. And some of it is just laziness and inaccuracy for the calculators. My bicycle can calculate energy expenditure from heart rate or from actual work (force on the pedals). The first one overestimates from 10 to 20%. So if you're finding trouble, you need to find out a conservative, reasonable estimate for energy spent.
d) it is really a pain to measure and log accurately everything you eat. I don't track, for example, the coffee I drink (black) or weigh every slice of bread or bowl of rice. I do it about once a week to keep my estimates reasonable (eyeballing). Another hint: a "tablespoon" used to eat rarely measures an actual tablespoon (measuring, 15 ml or 1/2 oz). And so on. But if you're having issues, you may need to do this.
e) Not everybody loses weight for the same reason " to be thin". Or look good. That is a nice perk, but some are doing it because their doctor told them (and so may have a very restrictive diet, 800 cal/day. A relative had to do this before heart surgery, for 2 months - he didn't enter "starvation" mode and was losing about 5 lb/ week. I don't recommend that to anyone that's not bedridden and on death's door). I am trying to lose weight to be a better athlete - so I won't enter a large deficit to lose 2 lb/week if it starts messing my training. So the advice has to be weighed with those considerations.
Not intending to offend: there are lots of information out there. I come from a scientific/engineering background and am comfortable with journal scientific papers. I don't know you, so these are some generic resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_metabolic_rate
http://blog.trainingpeaks.com/posts/2009/8/7/cutting-calories-without-killing-your-training-by-matt-fitzg.html
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2011/08/weight-loss-for-cyclists/
okay, im definitely getting somewhere. I calculated my tdee and BMR. My BMR = 1571 and my TDEE = 2298. So if I only eat 1200 calories a day I will lose weight. HOWEVER, If I exercise and burn 500 calories then I should eat 500 calories to make up for that. Bottom line my net calories at the end of the day should be at least 1200. Am I right?0 -
I have been eating less than 1200 calories per day, my carbs have been less than 30 grams daily, and I have been walking 6 miles on hilly trails daily burning 1000 calories and not eating those calories back. So why am I not losing any weight at all???
Bull ****.
If you were eating 1200 calories a day, within a matter of days it would be impossible for you to burn "1000 calories daily" hiking. And you would be dropping weight like a concentration camp victim.
Your logging is highly messed up.0 -
Thank you for being the only person to reply with something nice and helpful. I genuinely appreciate it.
I'm pretty sure much of the advice you received earlier was helpful, especially the links you didn't bother to read. Stop focusing so much on the delivery of the message and listen to the message.
Thank you so much!! You are exactly right. Thank you!!0 -
My dear, I think what needs to be understood here is that most of the initial posters who were saying your body is starving or that you were starving yourself did not mean you were depriving your body of necessary calories on purpose. They were telling you what was ACTUALLY happening and thus answering your question quite honestly. Hence the reason a few of them got upset when they told you essentially what others said more specifically and "nicer."
Take the wheat, leave the chaff. If someone says "HOLY CRAP, YOUR BODY IS STARVING! EAT!" and then provides a link that thoroughly explains why they said that, then you should read the link and ignore the delivery. You'll also begin to understand their reaction once you learn more about it.
That being said, some people who reply also don't realize you haven't scoured the forum for info before posting and probably need to take a chill pill and a half and suggest just that.
Glad some people on here were able to clarify it better for you, but don't knock or even believe the replies because of how they say something, rather WHY they say something. :flowerforyou:
That's true. Never thought about it that way. Thank you.0 -
I have been eating less than 1200 calories per day, my carbs have been less than 30 grams daily, and I have been walking 6 miles on hilly trails daily burning 1000 calories and not eating those calories back. So why am I not losing any weight at all???
Bull ****.
If you were eating 1200 calories a day, within a matter of days it would be impossible for you to burn "1000 calories daily" hiking. And you would be dropping weight like a concentration camp victim.
Your logging is highly messed up.
all I know is that I log every single bite of what I eat and when track my jogging with the Strava app and it says I'm burning 1000+ calories. I truly don't know what I'm doing wrong.0 -
I have been eating less than 1200 calories per day, my carbs have been less than 30 grams daily, and I have been walking 6 miles on hilly trails daily burning 1000 calories and not eating those calories back. So why am I not losing any weight at all???
Bull ****.
If you were eating 1200 calories a day, within a matter of days it would be impossible for you to burn "1000 calories daily" hiking. And you would be dropping weight like a concentration camp victim.
Your logging is highly messed up.
all I know is that I log every single bite of what I eat and when track my jogging with the Strava app and it says I'm burning 1000+ calories. I truly don't know what I'm doing wrong.
Okay, so I looked up Strava. It looks like most people are saying that it has a 50% margin of error. That's huge. So you're probably overestimating your cals burned by up to 50%.
That's only part of the issue though, since even without exercise, you still only think you're eating 1200 calories. So you use a digital scale and weight everything you eat?
My continued impression is that you're overestimating calories burned, underestimating calories eaten and that you don't have a metabolic issue. It's entirely possible just highly unlikely.
Get checked out just in case but when the results come back, just know that you're going to have to be accurate with your food logging (to the gram) and you're probably going to have to estimate your calories burned by half.0 -
Uhm I don't understand what y'all are saying because yesterday I ate 1229 calories and burned 1045 by walking. So I AM eating . lol
"lol" yes you are eating less than 200 calories net, congratulations. You are going to severely injure yourself and destroy your health if you keep that up.0 -
hi! most of the responders here have given you some excellent resources and advice. I completely understand how you would not know a lot of this right off the bat. Read the links, and spend some more time on line or at the library. Our bodies are complicated, and to be honest, most people who have been battling any weight issues for a long time can get very knowledgeable about the subject....cause we have obsessed about it, and studied diet plans and their effects.... and tried a lot of them. I remember when I was in high school.... probably the first "diet" I ever went on... my best friend and I decided that to lose weight, we should eat 500 calories a day. sometimes we would eat 500 cals. of fish sticks or 500 cals of ice cream. ....just crazy! (and sooo not right!) now that I am in my mid 50's, I have read many books on nutrition, the zone series, lots of nutritional almanacs, etc,, and I have read most of the links. we do need to eat enough cals. to lose weight. those cals. need to meet our body's nutritional needs, too, cause being deficient can affect everything!
also, don't be a slave to the scale all the time either, in that it can vary so much from one day to the next regardless of what you are doing. last week, it showed I dropped 4 lbs, and this week, thusfar, I am up 3 from that. I have been eating the right amount of cals, and not doing anything unusual. last week, my body didn't actually lose 4 lbs. some of it has to have been water, etc., because my deficit is 700 cals a day (thus I am losing almost 1 1/2 lb a wk) and now my body is "normal" as far as being where it should be.
please don't take offense to advice, but you can overlook those who are being too hard about it if you want. great that you are figuring out more about how things work now in your life. it took me quite awhile, and I am still learning. its complicated! once you figure out more about what your body needs, its all long-term goal math from there. you're learning more than I knew at your age! good luck with all.0 -
My dear, I think what needs to be understood here is that most of the initial posters who were saying your body is starving or that you were starving yourself did not mean you were depriving your body of necessary calories on purpose. They were telling you what was ACTUALLY happening and thus answering your question quite honestly. Hence the reason a few of them got upset when they told you essentially what others said more specifically and "nicer."
Take the wheat, leave the chaff. If someone says "HOLY CRAP, YOUR BODY IS STARVING! EAT!" and then provides a link that thoroughly explains why they said that, then you should read the link and ignore the delivery. You'll also begin to understand their reaction once you learn more about it.
That being said, some people who reply also don't realize you haven't scoured the forum for info before posting and probably need to take a chill pill and a half and suggest just that.
Glad some people on here were able to clarify it better for you, but don't knock or even believe the replies because of how they say something, rather WHY they say something. :flowerforyou:
^^^This
Also, if your primary mode of exercise is walking on hilly terrain, you should consider purchasing and wearing something like a Fitbit One. It counts steps and calculates your calories burned. It can tell when you are increasing in altitude (hills, stairs, etc) and so it factors that in too. I think your estimations of your exercise are probably overestimated by the program you are using.0 -
I ate 1229 calories yesterday but burned 1045 by working out. I'm not starving myself?
Since the average walk burns 100 calories per mile, did you walk 10 3/4 miles? Nope. And you aren't accurately logging your food or accurately measuring your caloric burn. But, other then this, you are doing great. Seriously, read some the links provided at the top of the thread and allow the drama that is MFP to take hold from here.0 -
I saw a couple of OP's responses, so take them with a grain of salt. But your people is storing your cals not burning them. Read the links, or search metabolic damage and effects of metabolic damage to the the human body. Or, do not. Like most things the choice to learn is up to you, just like the choice to seek and ask for advice and either take it or not. Good luck.0
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Thank you for being the only person to reply with something nice and helpful. I genuinely appreciate it.
I'm pretty sure much of the advice you received earlier was helpful, especially the links you didn't bother to read. Stop focusing so much on the delivery of the message and listen to the message.
Some people only like UPS; see what Brown can do for you; but I digress. Yes, place rainbows in the front and unicorns at the end of links to help someone at the now world famous "1200 calories dilemma" that is MFP's #2 drama closing by " you MEAN bass turds of MFP land, I'll never listen to you."0 -
Eat some Carbs .. end of story. And some calories would help too.0
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Never mind0
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Best wishes on your every success. I had written another response but I now see you answered the question. Most of the time, we don't lose because we under estimate our calories and over estimate our exercise. Occasionally, you may hold on to some extra fat because of "starvation mode" BUT, that will NOT cause you to gain weight, neither will it cause you to maintain long term. Increased sodium may cause you to retain your water for a while. But eventually, you will lose anyway. It IS possible that you may actually have a slow metabolism. Going to the doctor for a thyroid evaluation may not be a bad idea. A slow thyroid can cause weight gain and slow metabolism...0
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Thank you! This is definitely the most helpful and mature rely I have gotten. I did not realize that I need to eat back the calories I burn. I'm not lying about anything I post, I just thought that my cheat day could be one day break from logging.
Don't call it a "cheat" day for a start.
It's a day.
This is a lifestyle change and not some fad diet ...
Also understand how the MFP system works!
As someone has pointed out MFP has already worked out what your deficit should be hence eating back some/all exercise calories.
One thing to note though, the MFP exercise database is terribly off half the time so you could be over-estimating the calories burned.
Maybe think about using a HRM for a slightly more accurate calorie burned number (although these are not 100% accurate either they are better than the MFP numbers by a country mile!)
Log everything accurately so that you understand the impact.0 -
One more thing. In my experience, the exercise calorie calculators are inflated. They overestimate the calories spent. Specifically in my case, riding a bicycle at 30 km/h corresponds to the database entry for 19-23 km/h. That's about 2 entries removed, or about 400 cal / hour. That is a massive difference.
Second, related item - exercising to burn more than 500 cal/h is a pretty hard workout that is unlikely to be achievable (or at least repeatable) by an untrained, or beginner athlete for an hour or more depending on weight. Especially for non-load bearing activities like riding, rowing and weight training (non-circuit). It's simply too hard work to sustain.
I use strava too. It grossly overestimates expenditures, unfortunately.
For running or "on foot" activities, a better estimate is derived from distance, profile, and weight. Basically, you don't burn more by running faster, just by going longer (or climbing higher). Of course, if you go faster you traverse more distance in the same time.
Since you hike and use strava (and so know the distance and elevation gain) I would use a tool like this:
http://hikingscience.blogspot.ca/p/calculate-calories-burned_22.html0 -
Eat back about half your exercise calories to allow for overestimation of burn/underestimation of calories eaten.
After four weeks, take a week off and eat at maintenance mode. Your body might think it's starving and/or have gotten used to your current routine so if you switch it up a little there is a good chance you'll drop a little weight.0 -
1000 calories with a 6 mile walk? I'm sorry but I don't think that is accurate. Not sure where you got those numbers but I think you probably burn half if walking. Run instead, or add another exercise like lifting.
Also, eat more.0 -
How are you measuring the food that you log, OP? Do you guesstimate and eyeball portions or use measuring utensils? When/if you measure, how precise are you?
The issue is not starvation mode. You can eat more than 1200 calories a day and lose weight, but first we need to figure out what is tripping you up.
My weight went up 1.3 lbs overnight. It's not fat. Even with eating more than my cut for two days, the absolute most I could have gained in fat would be .5 lbs, and that's counting my yard work as just walking. Why did my weight go up so much? Well, my muscles hurt from the yard work, so they probably have some water retention. I have more food in me than usual, so some of it is probably just digestion. I had way more sodium than usual, so the rest of me is probably holding onto water.
All that said, yes, unlogged and unrestrained cheat days will absolutely throw off your progress if they happen more than once in an every great while. I ate when I was hungry yesterday and still was way over my TDEE. If you give yourself permission to eat whatever you want and not log it, you will likely go overboard because you are seeing it as a free day. Your body doesn't see it that way though. There's nothing wrong with treats. But account for them.0 -
OP, I replied then deleted last night because you seemed pretty angry at some of the replies and convinced others were saying you were lying. Well, I agree with those who say your calories estimations are off and that's why you are not losing weight. You are unintentionally underestimating food and overestimating calorie expenditure. There is no way you burned over 1000 calories with that exercise. If say more like a quarter or half, but I could be wrong.
Also, forget the stuff about starvation mode. Its not at play here. If you were really eating that low of calories you would lose weight.
Weight loss requires trial and error, just think of yourself as being in that phase right now.
I wish you well.0 -
1000 calories with a 6 mile walk? I'm sorry but I don't think that is accurate. Not sure where you got those numbers but I think you probably burn half if walking. Run instead, or add another exercise like lifting.
Also, eat more.
running 6 miles still wouldn't burn 1000 calories, probably around the same as walking 6 miles but with shorter time span...0 -
1000 calories with a 6 mile walk? I'm sorry but I don't think that is accurate.
You would have to be a 500 pound person to hit that.
OP - scale accordingly. If you're using numbers from Strava for hiking/walking calories, cut them by 2/3.0 -
Holy christ. I'd be ravenous if I burned 1000 calories a day and ate as little as you do. It's a struggle for me to get to 500, usually I average 250-400.
You're not eating enough to sustain that level of exercise. Period. Even if the calories burned is inaccurate like others are saying, you just can't walk six miles a day and eat less than 1200 calories.0
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