Need help!

MomoOnishi

5'5 Female, not losing weight. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.
I'ma start from the beginning, just because I have no idea what else I can do and so you guys can get an idea of what I'm doing. I'd really appreciate any help you guys can give me.

This time last year, I weighed 197Ibs. From last August through to December I managed to get down to 187Ibs eating at 1,200 calories and cycling for 40 minutes 4 times a week.
Then from January this year I just haven't lost anything. About a month ago I upped my calories from 1,200 to 1,400 after reading a couple posts around here, and also started running for 20 minutes 3 times a week.
After still not losing weight since I've recently upped my calorie intake from 1,400 to 1,600 but since college has finished I've only been running for 30 minutes 4 times a week.

I originally thought that perhaps my hips had gone in and just generally that my body has been changing since January, so I wasn't that worried. However after looking at some old photos of me today I think that thats not the case at all. I think thats everything.

Any help is appreciated, even pointing out common mistakes people often make.
Thank you

diannethegeek

Just to cover some of the usual logging pitfalls we see around here:

You're logging everything you eat? Including condiments, cooking oils, veggies, cheat days, etc? Are you using a food scale, measuring cups, or eyeballing your portion sizes? Most people can be off in their estimates by a whole lot when they eyeball portions. Measuring cups are better, but a food scale is always going to be the most accurate.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1290491-how-and-why-to-use-a-digital-food-scale

And make sure that you've calculated your calorie goals appropriately. Remember that these are just estimates. You may need to play around a little to find what works best for you.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

If you're exercising and eating back your earned exercise calories, be sure that you're using accurate estimates of your burn. MFP and gym machines have a tendency to overestimate certain activities, which can cause you to eat back more calories than you need to. Even a heart rate monitor isn't 100% accurate. If you're eating those extra earned calories it might be a good idea to eat only 50-75% of those.

Ninkyou

How confident are you that your logging is accurate? Are you weighing your food? It's hard to tell by your diary. Also, it could be inaccurate entries... for example the other day you had some sliced ham... that has zero sodium? That's like... not possible. lol. You really need to make sure you are putting in the right database entries.

AliceDark

I took a peek through your diary, and some of the entries seemed a little off. Specifically, most (if not all) of the Asda entries list 0g sodium, which can't be correct. This jumped out at me for two reasons:

1. Especially if you're sensitive to sodium, too much sodium can cause water retention, which will mask weight loss
2. When one piece of information on an entry is incorrect, it makes me suspicious of the accuracy of the entire entry

You could simply be retaining water, since you don't know how much sodium you're getting, or your overall calorie counts could be off due to inaccurate database entries. Either way, I'd suggest tightening up on your logging and double-checking that the information on the entries you select is all correct.

skyeny

Cheese, pizza, Burger King, milk, biscuits, pasta, puff tarts, bread... that's like 90% of your diet. No vegetables, no fruits, most of the food is prepackaged... Many people here think that as long as you're within your calorie limit, you can eat pizza all day long. I disagree, that's my opinion. For me, it's impossible to be healthy eating like that. And with high calorie density food, without measuring it (5 g of cheese??), it's very easy to eat more calories than you think. Sorry. There is no secret here, you just need to get a scale and measure everything in order to count the calories. Even pre-packaged food doesn't weigh what they put on the package. And an employee at the fast food chain might be in a great mood, and give you more fries/extra cheese, etc. than he's supposed to. You cannot trust the calories in the food you didn't make from scratch. It's still okay to eat them, but they shouldn't be the base of your diet.

MomoOnishi

Thank you everyone!
I'm fairly sure of my exercise calories, because I have a wii fit meter which seems pretty accurate (When I enter exercise calories it's always under what MFP says). Since I've upped my calories recently I find it harder to eat all of those calories back anyway. Though apparently my measuring isn't accurate enough, I do own a set of scales I measure stuff on but perhaps it's not that accurate/I'm rubbish at measuring. So I'll be more careful. Also, i'll look at what the boxes say more often to see what they're saying about sodium and stuff. I always wondered why I never went over my sodium intake.
I'll check out those links too Diannethegeek

And again, thank you everyone! I've been feeling so down about it all recently.

MomoOnishi

Even pre-packaged food doesn't weigh what they put on the package.

I didn't know this! Thank you for your help. I don't have much control over what I have for tea since I live with my dad, but I should at least be able to change my lunches.

sheedy17

Cheese, pizza, Burger King, milk, biscuits, pasta, puff tarts, bread... that's like 90% of your diet. No vegetables, no fruits, most of the food is prepackaged... Many people here think that as long as you're within your calorie limit, you can eat pizza all day long. I disagree, that's my opinion. For me, it's impossible to be healthy eating like that. And with high calorie density food, without measuring it (5 g of cheese??), it's very easy to eat more calories than you think. Sorry. There is no secret here, you just need to get a scale and measure everything in order to count the calories. Even pre-packaged food doesn't weigh what they put on the package. And an employee at the fast food chain might be in a great mood, and give you more fries/extra cheese, etc. than he's supposed to. You cannot trust the calories in the food you didn't make from scratch. It's still okay to eat them, but they shouldn't be the base of your diet.

but what a diet!!


I agree with everyone so far, it seems like you may be making mistakes in your diary.

KatJ_NZ

There have been some good suggestions here already.

I wonder, how have you decided on 1600 calories? Did MFP generate this for you? I ask this because I am 165cm tall and currently 67kg, and my maintenance calories are not much more than 1600. I suggest you check whether this is an appropriate quantity for you. Whatever you may have read on here, upping your calories will definitely not increase your weight loss.

Also, consider getting a tape measure. It can be useful (and more heartening!) to see cm fall off, even when sometimes your weight is static.

Good luck :flowerforyou: