In 5 weeks you'll lose 10lbs... why is it not working?
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Bump for the resolutioners... Myself included!0
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Thank you for this information. I struggled a lot with 'what am I doing wrong'?? Why? Because I am not losing 2 pounds a week. Following the 1200 calories I'm allotted I tend to maintain or lose only a couple of oz. The same when I followed WW for over a year. Now I have a better understanding of why. I'm 5' 1", have an office job and less than 15lbs to lose. I'm probably NEVER going to lose 2lbs in a week. Now I won't feel like a failure. I will tweak my calories (ie: eat a little less than 1200 every day), walk a bit more (and NOT add exercise calories to my total) and hope to lose around .5lbs a week. Based on my understanding of reading this that is what I should expect. Adjusting my expectations has actually made me feel better about myself and the process. I'm in it for the long haul!!!3
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cmlibby2016 wrote: »Thank you for this information. I struggled a lot with 'what am I doing wrong'?? Why? Because I am not losing 2 pounds a week. Following the 1200 calories I'm allotted I tend to maintain or lose only a couple of oz. The same when I followed WW for over a year. Now I have a better understanding of why. I'm 5' 1", have an office job and less than 15lbs to lose. I'm probably NEVER going to lose 2lbs in a week. Now I won't feel like a failure. I will tweak my calories (ie: eat a little less than 1200 every day), walk a bit more (and NOT add exercise calories to my total) and hope to lose around .5lbs a week. Based on my understanding of reading this that is what I should expect. Adjusting my expectations has actually made me feel better about myself and the process. I'm in it for the long haul!!!
I love this! (I'm the OP, just under a new Username).
I am so glad to hear that this helped ease some of the frustration for you. :flowerforyou:0 -
MFP tells me I will lose a measly 1 lb in 5 weeks if that. I'm losing slightly more than that, about 2 lbs.0
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I have never, ever lost on "Mfps schedule"
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Good info. I don't set any goal dates. Just know what I need to lose, eat healthy and exercise. My body has a mind of it's own. I just wait for it to surprise me and most of the time it does. And if it doesn't, I pat it on the back and say good job. Keeps down the anxiety and disappointment!
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bump0
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Desperation leads a LOT of people to try to lose weight. Desperation leaves little room for patience. I was naive and desperate at one time, too. Not now. In fact, I kinda wish they would do away with that little pop up that tells you how much you will weigh in 5 weeks..... it's essentially useless.
The bottom line is how long did it take for you to gain the weight? Then realize it's going to realistically take awhile to get it off. And the less you have to lose, the longer its going to take. If you can't face that, you aren't ready.4 -
Bump1
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bump!
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just tagging to refresh my memory. ty0
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This is brilliant info 🙂 thank you for sharing!0
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I don’t even bother to close my diary. In July 2015 when I started this journey, I was excited to see that declaration. Soon I realized it was not true.
I’m a whoosh loser. I can go days, even a couple weeks with no loss on the scale. I’ve learned to keep at it and then for a 2 to 4 days, the pounds tumble off. Then plateau again. Yes, the scale has the ability to sometimes control my moods, but if I don’t weight everyday I fall off maintenance, badly. And for this reason the past 60 days I have been religious logging and measuring and walking my bum off. 🥴
That closing message is evil. 👿2 -
Im the only one it seems that likes the pop up prediction for the next 5 weeks. It gives me hope!5
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Soo, mfp set me at 1450 per day. That's my maintenance calories? If I exercise 4-5x per week to lose 1-1.5 lbs weekly, then I'd have to eat back calories to even out at 1450? I have 100 lbs to lose. Thanks0
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LinkedEmpire wrote: »Soo, mfp set me at 1450 per day. That's my maintenance calories? If I exercise 4-5x per week to lose 1-1.5 lbs weekly, then I'd have to eat back calories to even out at 1450? I have 100 lbs to lose. Thanks
I'm a little unclear on what you're asking, but I think not.
If you told MFP you want to lose X per week, and you set your activity level correctly based on what you do in daily life before exercise (just stuff like job and home chores), then you're supposed to eat the goal calories MFP gives you (or very close) plus a reasonable estimate of your exercise calories.
MFP will only give you your estimated maintenance calories as a goal if you tell it you want to maintain, and then you're still supposed to eat back (realistic) exercise.
I'm like seriously old (64), sedentary big time outside of exercise (like 2000-3000 steps most days lately), 5'5", 130ish pounds, and MFP estimates I'd maintain at around 1500. I'd pretty much guarntee that 1450 is not your maintenance. (1500 isn't mine, either: MFP underestimates me.)
Set up your profile with accurate data, including the loss rate you want (don't make it the maximum extreme if you don't need to), and eat those calories daily (or very close) plus a reasonable estimate of your exercise calories. If you're worried that exercise calories might be overestimated, eat 50-75% to start, monitor for 4-6 weeks (full menstrual cycle minimum if pre-menopausal, to compare same relative point in two different cycles), then adjust as needed.
Best wishes!4 -
An old thread, but a good one.
I was thinking of starting a discussion re: "What is a safe rate of weight loss?" and found this discussion in a search.
I might still start that discussion, but if I do, I'll include a link to this one, for its valuable perspective.1 -
frankwbrown wrote: »An old thread, but a good one.
I was thinking of starting a discussion re: "What is a safe rate of weight loss?" and found this discussion in a search.
I might still start that discussion, but if I do, I'll include a link to this one, for its valuable perspective.
I'm glad you like it! (I'm the op)
It sucks because Photobucket moved to a not free service, so a lot of the links are broken now.
I thought about resurrecting it under my current profile and adding the missing images to the actual thread, I can still see them in my account. I just can't link to them anymore.1 -
This is my second time round on MFP, I am aiming for a loss of 1lb a week: today I have been logging for 5 weeks, and I have beaten that first message by 5.1lb
I do realise that it’s going to get harder, but I quite like the estimate - it gives me another incentive to say ‘no’ to that second glass of wine, or salty snack...1 -
I started at 212 pounds as a 58 year old 5 ft 5 in woman. I fully admitted I was sedentary and set 1200 calories which I stuck to religiously. I lost almost exactly 2 pounds per week until the very week I hit “ normal” BMI. Then my loss immediately went to 1pound per week and then .5. Now if I started at say 150 and wanted to lose 15 pounds ( getting to what is my current weight) that would mean I would feel that 2 pounds per week was impossible. If you have less to lose 2 pounds a week is just unrealistic. And even at higher rates it takes discipline and quite a bit of physiological luck.4
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Annie42019 wrote: »I started at 212 pounds as a 58 year old 5 ft 5 in woman. I fully admitted I was sedentary and set 1200 calories which I stuck to religiously. I lost almost exactly 2 pounds per week until the very week I hit “ normal” BMI. Then my loss immediately went to 1pound per week and then .5. Now if I started at say 150 and wanted to lose 15 pounds ( getting to what is my current weight) that would mean I would feel that 2 pounds per week was impossible. If you have less to lose 2 pounds a week is just unrealistic. And even at higher rates it takes discipline and quite a bit of physiological luck.
This is why MFP cuts off at 1200 cals as the lowest you can go, if you were to choose 2lbs per week at the stats you mentioned (i.e. 5 foot 5/150lbs/ 58yr old woman/sedentary) you'd still get 1200 even though that's not the 1000 calorie deficit required for 2lbs per week. Maintenance would be around 1575 at those stats so 1200 cals would be a rate of just over 0.5lbs per week.3 -
I just think it's easier to wear my Fitbit and go for a certain minimum daily calorie burn. I have MFP set at a custom calorie level which will allow me to lose about 5 pounds per month, or just a bit over a pound a week. I've got a lot to lose so at this point, it seems to be working well.3
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MireyGal76 wrote: »taken from my blog (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MireyGal76/view/in-5-weeks-you-ll-lose-10lbs-why-s-it-not-working-668182) - reposting in the threads (based on feedback received
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When someone signs up for MFP, they are gung ho about losing weight, and want to shed those pounds FAST!
They look at the calculator, enter their stats and are asked...
What is your lifestyle like... Sedentary? Lightly active?
This is such a subjective question!
Some people are fooling themselves... and think they're very active, when in reality, they work at a desk job, and go home and watch tv for most of the night. But... Sedentary seems bad... And they're not that bad... So they set themselves as very active - fooling themselves into thinking they're able to consume more calories.
Some other people are underestimating themselves, and think they're sedentary, when in reality, they walk to/from work, at lunch, around the office, then get home and chase kids and pets, not sitting down until they fall into bed at the end of the night exhausted. They're burning way more calories than they realize, but they hate themselves, so they pick sedentary. Determined to punish themselves into fitness.
The daily calories expended by the first and the second are dramatically different! And what they pick, can cause pretty significant results....
And then you have...
How many pounds do you want to lose per week?
How many pounds do I want to lose?
I WANNA LOSE EM ALL!!!
How many pounds CAN I LOSE? I can lose up to 2 pounds per week?
This is where the inevitable road to dissatisfaction and potential rage quit begins.
Stick with me...
According to a random website* (hehe) the average height and weight of a woman in america is 5'4" and 168 pounds. (I KNOW - GENERALIZE MUCH?)
According to another random website** (hehe), if they're sedentary, their daily calorie expenditure is 1838.
If that woman joined MFP and decided to lose 2lb a week... She'd be told to eat 1200 cals a day. If she religiously followed that plan, she wouldn't lose 2lb a week. If she's lucky, she'd barely scratch 1 pound a week.
Why?
Minimum calorie expenditure is 1200 cals a day. It's not safe for your to go below this value.
If your goal causes you to dip below that daily rate, then MFP lets you set it, but will reset your min calories to 1200.
There is no way that the average woman can lose at that rate, given the above calculations.
In fact... in order to possibly lose 2lb per week, you'd need to be burning (at maintenance) 2200 cals per day.
My settings currently have me at 2000 cals per day. I am 6'1" and 168 pounds.
I have many tiny friends who won't reach that calorie burn in a day.
Unless you are quite overweight...
TO EXPECT YOURSELF TO BE ABLE TO BURN 2 LBS A WEEK IS CRAZY
It is frustrating.
It is unsustainable.
And it is damaging to your goals.
Calorie counting is a simple concept, but it's fraught with variables...
- are you properly estimating your activity levels?
- are you properly estimating your exercise burns?
- are you correctly weighing, measuring, and logging your food?
If you find that you aren't making progress... start to look at those variables...
If you over estimate your activity levels, overestimate your burns, and under estimate your food... you won't succeed in your goals. All you will do is succeed at frustrating yourself.
What I recommend?
Unless you are obese (and have the help of a doctor), I strongly recommend focusing on the following:
- 0.5 lb to 1lb a week MAXIMUM loss.
- learn to weigh and measure your food. EVERYTHING.
(I suffer slow calorie drain by snacking. I KILL MY CALORIES BY SNACKS... 100 cals here, 200 cals there.. until I have nothing left for supper and then give up and go over )
- If you don't know how active you are... then go sedentary and log all exercise. LOG IT ALL. (But be honest with yourself in terms of burns... sitting on the couch folding laundry - not the same kind of housework as scrubbing floors)
And be patient with yourself. Give it time and adjust. Adjust.
A D J U S T.
You didn't gain the weight in a week, you won't lose it in as much.
Take your time.
You can do this!
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By all means, I welcome correction by those who know more than me...
* http://www.livestrong.com/article/357769-weight-height-for-the-average-american-woman/
** http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/daily-caloric-expenditure-calculator.aspx
^^^^^^^^^^^
This may have just saved my life4 -
So helpful!3
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I needed to hear this...glad this 7 year old post is still here! 2 -
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Sandy you truly are an amazing woman ... Ya 1
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Megan_smartiepants1970 wrote: »Sandy you truly are an amazing woman ... Ya
AWWWW! Love you too!!! xoxoxo1 -
Bump1
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