Frustratingly slow weight loss, why?

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  • kroonha
    kroonha Posts: 102 Member
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    in 9mos? That is not slow. That is fantastic!!! What are you expecting per month??? 1lb a week is great and you are over that at times.

    Weight loss is not linear. Some weeks are going to be higher, some are lower. You are 21.....relax! I know you want your weight to be gone right this minute but it's not going to happen. It takes time and you are doing fantastic. You are losing at a sustainable rate. Dropping weight too fast by slashing calories is not healthy and in the end you will gain back weight because you have deprived your body of needed fuel.

    Anyone telling you that you are not losing weight at a good rate is unrealistic and not one to pay attention to!

    Keep up the good work and just realize that losing weight is not instantaeous and is a journey.

    Keep doing what your doing!!

    Thanks for the kind words! :) I know it is progress, but for instance this month when I've just stayed the same, it is disappointing. But I'm not intending on giving up!
  • kroonha
    kroonha Posts: 102 Member
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    Are you tracking everything meticulously? Not just estimating, but really tracking and recording everything? Even on your treat day? If you're just guesstimating the 100-200 over, you could be eating more than you think you are. No one likes to admit that the problem is with their recording, but a lot of times it is.

    If you're 100% sure that you're recording every thing you put in your mouth, and recording it accurately, have you thought about increasing your calories for a bit? Maybe up to 1700 or 1800? You said that you've had everything tested, so you're not a scientific anomaly. I don't believe in the "starvation mode" thing, but maybe eating a little bit more will give your body a break and kind of reset things? I don't know, some people say it works for them. I've also heard people suggest calorie cycling. So keep your 1500, but 2 days a week bump it up to 1700, and 2 days a week down 1300 on the days you don't workout. Use one of the higher calorie days for your treat day, that way you'll stay within your calorie goal for the week.

    Just some suggestions. :) Good luck!

    I track very carefully, even when I go over budget I count those calories that day, everything that I eat and drink gets logged (Except water, but that's because I go through at least 2 litres a day and can't be bothered to enter them cup by cup)

    I will try the calorie cycling - eating more on some days and less on others. Currently i just eat the 1600 flat out, without eating back my exercise calories.
  • kroonha
    kroonha Posts: 102 Member
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    Do you weigh your food on a digital food scale? Do you log everything? Do you eat any exercise calories back, or is it a flat 1600?

    Yes, yes and no, flat 1,600 because I calculated my TDEE according to exercise 3x a week.
  • lindasusan57
    lindasusan57 Posts: 2 Member
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    Congratulations on your weight loss. Maybe you could adjust the times you are consuming the greatest calories. Spread them out more through out the day and have the lesser amt of calories for your evening meal. continue with your fitness training and be meticulous with your food logging and exercise logging. You have success! It will continue, slow and steady wins the race. :flowerforyou:
  • RedJess31
    RedJess31 Posts: 4 Member
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    Are you doing TDEE or adding back exercise calories? I think TDEE already accounts for your exercise calorie burn, so you shouldn't eat you exercise calories back.
  • kroonha
    kroonha Posts: 102 Member
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    Maybe you over estimated your TDEE or maybe you over estimated your calorie burn from exercise.

    Don't make this more complicated than it has to be. Your problem likely is one of these things:

    Problem: Inaccurate logging
    Solution: Re-evaluate food entries, make sure everything you eat is logged, ensure portions are correct (measure with a scale)

    Problem: Calorie goal too high
    Solution: Lower by 100 calories per day, eat at this level for 2 weeks, re-evaluate rate of weight loss

    Problem: TDEE estimate too high
    Solution: Reduce calories as noted above, add in additional workouts, or re-run calculator with lower activity modifier to establish new calorie goal

    Hope some of this helps - good luck.

    I've decided to lower to 1,500 for now and see where I go from there.
    I will also recalculate my BMR and TDEE and see what the average across different calculators is.

    Thanks for the response!
  • kroonha
    kroonha Posts: 102 Member
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    Are you doing TDEE or adding back exercise calories? I think TDEE already accounts for your exercise calorie burn, so you shouldn't eat you exercise calories back.

    I'm doing TDEE with exercise 3x a week included, minus 20%.

    I don't eat back my exercise calories.
  • smn76237
    smn76237 Posts: 318 Member
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    How about you open your diary? That will help people evaluate.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    You have possibly overestimated your TDEE. Remember that these calculators just give you a good estimate to start with...nobody has exactly XXXX calories as their TDEE...you have to make adjustments as per real world results. If your TDEE - 20% is 1,600 calories then that would suggest that your TDEE is 2,000 calories per day...which seems about right as per statistical averages, but perhaps you fall outside of those averages. As per your real world results, you should see a loss close to around 1 lb per week if those numbers were accurate. As it is, it would seem you are losing closer to 1/2 Lb per week which would suggest that your real world calorie deficit is only 250 calories which would put your TDEE at around 1,850.

    It is further possible that you have relatively accurately determined your TDEE but you are underestimating your intake...this is pretty easy to do and even professional nutritionists and dietitians have issues accurately estimating intake.

    Either way, your real world results suggest that your calorie deficit is only around 250 calories...so if you're fine with your current rate of loss then leave it be...if you want to lose a little faster then find something in your day to day to cut out around 250 calories more per day....should be as simple as cutting out a snack somewhere during the day or spending a bit more time exercising.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Try changing things up. Find a new cardio, or change your intensity level. Add in strength training. Try eating at maintenance for 2-3 days and then your new (as you determine to be appropriate) calorie intake level.
  • kroonha
    kroonha Posts: 102 Member
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    How about you open your diary? That will help people evaluate.

    Unlocked now :)

    Although you forget this is MFP, they don't evaluate, they just criticize and complain ;) But I'm up for dietary suggestions. I just don't want people telling me that a cookie is the result of slow weight loss, even if it fits into my calories.
  • kroonha
    kroonha Posts: 102 Member
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    You have possibly overestimated your TDEE. Remember that these calculators just give you a good estimate to start with...nobody has exactly XXXX calories as their TDEE...you have to make adjustments as per real world results. If your TDEE - 20% is 1,600 calories then that would suggest that your TDEE is 2,000 calories per day...which seems about right as per statistical averages, but perhaps you fall outside of those averages. As per your real world results, you should see a loss close to around 1 lb per week if those numbers were accurate. As it is, it would seem you are losing closer to 1/2 Lb per week which would suggest that your real world calorie deficit is only 250 calories which would put your TDEE at around 1,850.

    It is further possible that you have relatively accurately determined your TDEE but you are underestimating your intake...this is pretty easy to do and even professional nutritionists and dietitians have issues accurately estimating intake.

    Either way, your real world results suggest that your calorie deficit is only around 250 calories...so if you're fine with your current rate of loss then leave it be...if you want to lose a little faster then find something in your day to day to cut out around 250 calories more per day....should be as simple as cutting out a snack somewhere during the day or spending a bit more time exercising.

    I've decided to lower my calories to 1,500 for now, and see how the next month goes and if necessary, I will go to 1,400.
    Initially the 1,600 was fine, and then suddenly I've started to stall.

    Thanks for the thorough answer though, much appreciated.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
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    It's water retention (due to changes in your monthly cycle, or sleep pattern or stress levels)

    Water retention. grrr....this happens to me all the time. I try to watch sodium but sometimes I eat out and the next couple of days I tend to retain 2-3lbs of water.
  • OllyJ_79
    OllyJ_79 Posts: 126 Member
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    Your diary only seems to list food you've eaten, do you have any drinks with sugar, milk, alcohol, protein, fat in that should be going towards your calorie totals? They can make up a large proportion of daily intake.
  • Jennrich0725
    Jennrich0725 Posts: 17 Member
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    You could be eating too much sugar. Try adding more veggies to your diet. When I talked to a trainer and I was eating a yogurt and granola and some fruit for breakfast they told me throughout the day I was consuming too many sugars. Sugars turns to fat. Letting people see your diary may be a great way to see what you are eating. It could be the foods. I know that you said that you wont eat any less than MFP suggests. I am at 274 and mine is 1480. I am full at the end of the day and end up eating 1200 or a bit more. You have to find filler foods that will make you full. I make a protein shake in the morning and add a banana. That keeps me good till 10 or so and then I have my fruit. I eat my lunch and then that normally fills me up till dinner, but I always bring a veggie with my lunch and for a snack. Then I have my dinner. I always try to eat before 6. 6 is when your body is slowing it metabolism way down. When do you work out. Maybe that might have something to do with it. Also are you doing the same routine all the time or switching it up. Your body gets used to the workouts and becomes lazy inside with the same routine. I started my weight loss a month ago and lost 10 pounds and 3 inches in my waist. I work out 5 days a week and try to stay active. I would have lost more possibly but I had some hiccups in the weeks with being sick and fighting migraines. Weightloss is trial and error. I really hope you find your way.
  • kroonha
    kroonha Posts: 102 Member
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    Your diary only seems to list food you've eaten, do you have any drinks with sugar, milk, alcohol, protein, fat in that should be going towards your calorie totals? They can make up a large proportion of daily intake.

    If you look through the longer time frame, I do list any other drinks, i.e wine. I don't note my morning tea and the endless water I go through daily.

    My tea is 2 calories, I drink one a day.
  • OllyJ_79
    OllyJ_79 Posts: 126 Member
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    Thats fine for black tea with no sugar of course. My tea, 1 tsp suagr and 40ml of skimmed milk is 30 cal per cup, so over the coarse of a day they can mount into a significate amount. Also fruit juice or protein shakes can add quite a few calories.

    This link, whilst quite harsh, is true.

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
  • kroonha
    kroonha Posts: 102 Member
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    Thats fine for black tea with no sugar of course. My tea, 1 tsp suagr and 40ml of skimmed milk is 30 cal per cup, so over the coarse of a day they can mount into a significate amount. Also fruit juice or protein shakes can add quite a few calories.

    This link, whilst quite harsh, is true.

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

    Yepyep, I don't add any sugar or milk. When I do have a cappuccino or similar, I add it in my diary, I'm very aware of how drinks can account for a lot of calories, which is the main reason I drink almost only water.
    Thanks for the link, I'll give it a read.
  • akolacz
    akolacz Posts: 13
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    I agree to the calorie reduction posts. I recently had a struggle with the "slow weight loss process". I actually started to switch up my meals, because I was practically eating the SAME THING for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I decided to add more PROTEIN to each meal, which kept me fuller. I also added more H20 through out the day, which made a huge difference. Now that its summer, try staying more active because of the warmer weather. I love going for run's outside rather than slaving away in the gym on a sunny day. I also drink atleast 2-3 cups of green tea a day, which I am sure has helped rev up my metabolism.

    Oh, one more thing. I have also cut down on my fruit considerably, and switch a fruit snack to a protein source instead :)
  • lrmall01
    lrmall01 Posts: 377 Member
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    Just a few diary comments.

    1 - I see a lot of entries with the serving size in grams. This is good, provided you are using a food scale to measure those grams. Just as a sanity check wanted to confirm when I see something like:
    Albert Heijn - Noten-Rozijnen Mix, 20 grams
    that you actually are measuring and eating 20 grams. I ask because something like this is easy to just grab a handful and log 1 serving size. The caloric density of these nut mixes is pretty high so it could cause some error.

    2 - Homemade items, like this one - Homemade - Geroosterd Brood Bruin, 1 snee - can be hit or miss. Depending upon who created it, it may or may not be the same as your recipie. Hopefully you made this entry yourself to ensure it is accurate.

    In general everything seems pretty good. Your entries look like they are generally correct so I would have to guess that serving sizes are a little off. Probably be more diligent in using your food scale and when you have to estimate, try to be conservative.

    Anyway, just some ideas. Here is a good read on this type of stuff if you want some more ideas: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

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