Having trouble with general weight loss

gabrielleelliott90

PLEASE HELP. Okay, so I've lost about 32lbs over a couple of years. I did slimming world, then I did MFP. They have both worked for me namely SW, which I lost most of my weight with. However, MFP has helped with 12lb of weight loss. I prefer MFP for sure. But with 5lbs til what I call 'goal' - which I will probably change down the line after I reach it, I decided to do a quick week of SW to see if that helps, as MFP was not really helping apart from the loss of 0.5, and let's face it, my goal is to get to my goal weight before my birthday, October 6th. Losing half a pound a week won't get me there. I try to eat 1200 calories 5 days a week, as I don't track my exercise when walking a lot, the other two days I have no idea on calorie burn so I eat 1760- my maintenance calories. And I haven't been seeing progress for a month.

I must admit I do switch my calorie intake- sometimes eating enough to lose half a pound, sometimes a pound, but I aim for 1200 calories most days so I can get 1.5-2lb in weight loss. I am not sure if I have lost anything from this SW plan yet, it's been three agonising days, where I have had to eat heaps of fruit, baked beans, ham and 300 calories of bad food. Yes it is boring. And it is hard. And that was just to reach 1200 calories! I have not been counting calories, but I have been logging what I eat (just to make sure I've eaten- It's part of my ocd of which I have been diagnosed with since 10- 11 years now; I know it is odd) and paying no attention to how many calories I eat as with them you can eat however much you want..... it's great for big eaters, but it feels like a chore, eating does not feel fun. I don't like the sw diet very much, and it's only very temporary so I can shift these last few pounds.....

I just need help because I'm not sure how to go about losing my last 5lb and probably 14 more in the future, with MFP anymore. Will 1200 cal 5 days a week and two days maintenance calories work in the long run? Because calorie counting is not working for me at the moment. I have always had trouble losing weight really. I'm currently 10st8 (148lb).

Please be nice, and although I am not fond of sw, to others it may be amazing, so please don't take offense if you do it. If you want to know what SW is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slimming_World

ana3067

You already posted a thread asking for advice not too long ago, and I (and possibly others, I forget) told you that you should not be focusing on losing it all before your birthday but instead should be focused on eating a sustainable deficit from your maintenance needs.

1200 + a few maintenance days will not help you reach your goals.

If you want to use MFP net method, then change your goal to 1lb/week or 0.5lb/week, put your activity level as lightly active if you are fairly sedentary (the true sedentary option is too low for most people), and then log any exercise you perform and eat back at least 50% of the calories.

Otherwise, calculate your average TDEE from a website like health-calc.com or exrx.net (former estimates higher, but I prefer it over exrx.net) and then subtract ~15% (I'd actually recommend 10% but I doubt you'd be willing to eat so close to your maintenance). Try eating this much and see whether you maintain or lose. If you maintain after a few weeks/month, then lower by 50-100 cals and monitor.

You're either under-eating or you are not logging/tracking accurately, meaning you are eating more than you think you are. Buy a food scale, weigh out your normal portions for a typical day, and see how many calories it is. If it's pretty on-point with what you've been logging for calories, then you are not eating enough. If it's above your estimated maintenance or at it, then you are not eating at a deficit.

I have not been counting calories, but I have been logging what I eat (just to make sure I've eaten- It's part of my ocd of which I have been diagnosed with since 10- 11 years now; I know it is odd) and paying no attention to how many calories I eat as with them you can eat however much you want.....

No, you cannot eat however much you want. If all you eat is nutrient-dense non-starchy fruits and veggies, and very small portions of lean protein, then yeah you can probably eat way more food because it will be high volume but very low calorie. BUt this does not mean you can eat however much you want, because if you happen to eat above your maintenance needs you will not lose weight. You should perhaps consider tracking how many calories you are eating right now with this method and compare to your estimated TDEE.

Branstin

Forget SW and stick to MFP. A weekly weight loss of 0.5 lb. is advisable for a person with 5 lbs. left to lose. You have 5 weeks before your birthday. At 0.5 lb. per week, you will lose 2.5 pounds with 2.5 pounds left to lose which isn't anything to stress over. Who is going to notice?

BigGuy47

I try to eat 1200 calories 5 days a week, ...

I have not been counting calories, ...

I'm not following here. Are you counting calories or not?

Slimming World sounds like Weight Watchers. I'm not familiar with SW. All that matters is CICO (Calories IN Calories Out). How many did you consume today? How many did you burn? The particular program is more or less irrelevant. WW, SW, MFP, Spark People, Lose It, etc., etc. etc. It doesn't matter, what matters is maintaining a calorie deficit.

The closer you get to goal weight the harder it gets to drop the weight. Keep tracking and be patient.

gabrielleelliott90

I know, but I didn't really get enough answers, only two. And I don't want to be a pain, I am just really struggling here. Thank you for your reply. Problem is, changing it to active doesn't help in the slightest however for me on the maintenance days, as it only gives me 50 more calories. And I know if I just ate 1250 calories on those days, I would be undereating and have no accurate way of knowing how many calories I have burnt those days. Ideally, I would like to eat 1200 calories 7 days per week, but I don't want to undereat. I have been weighing food for a long time. And my family thinks I'm bizarre for doing it, but still do it.

Slimming world, as I said, you can eat 'however much as you want' as they say it is unlimited. Of course not completely, it's a lie. But I used to eat heaps of fruit and stuff on it and I either maintained or lost. I guess HUGE eaters can gain on it. But not a small eater like me. I have been tracking it with MFP, but *TRYING* to follow the sw plan. Which is not working out well as I don't feel happy with it. I REALLY do not want to eat at my TDEE, as that puts me at 0.5lb loss per week, which is too little when my birthday is just over a month away and I have 5lb to lose. I just want a way where I can lose 2lb a week without having to undereat two days a week. I don't have a way of measuring the calories efficiently, as my cheap temporary replacement activity tracker puts me at over 1000 calorie burn when just walking and putting things away, even when standing, and it is not correct. I had a fitbit that died on me, if I still had it working, I would not be in this position.

gabrielleelliott90

I try to eat 1200 calories 5 days a week, ...

I have not been counting calories, ...

I'm not following here. Are you counting calories or not?

Slimming World sounds like Weight Watchers. I'm not familiar with SW. All that matters is CICO (Calories IN Calories Out). How many did you consume today? How many did you burn? The particular program is more or less irrelevant. WW, SW, MFP, Spark People, Lose It, etc., etc. etc. It doesn't matter, what matters is maintaining a calorie deficit.

The closer you get to goal weight the harder it gets to drop the weight. Keep tracking and be patient.

I've confused myself as well. I'm just logging what I eat, but eating healthy foods allowed on slimming world, with very few treats chucked in. I'm just logging the foods to make sure I eat enough, as without MFP I would for sure undereat, with all the low calorie foods I am consuming. Slimming world is very similar to weightwatchers.

ana3067

I know, but I didn't really get enough answers, only two. And I don't want to be a pain, I am just really struggling here. Thank you for your reply. Problem is, changing it to active doesn't help in the slightest however for me on the maintenance days, as it only gives me 50 more calories. And I know if I just ate 1250 calories on those days, I would be undereating and have no accurate way of knowing how many calories I have burnt those days. Ideally, I would like to eat 1200 calories 7 days per week, but I don't want to undereat. I have been weighing food for a long time. And my family thinks I'm bizarre for doing it, but still do it.

Slimming world, as I said, you can eat 'however much as you want' as they say it is unlimited. Of course not completely, it's a lie. But I used to eat heaps of fruit and stuff on it and I either maintained or lost. I guess HUGE eaters can gain on it. But not a small eater like me. I have been tracking it with MFP, but *TRYING* to follow the sw plan. Which is not working out well as I don't feel happy with it. I REALLY do not want to eat at my TDEE, as that puts me at 0.5lb loss per week, which is too little when my birthday is just over a month away and I have 5lb to lose. I just want a way where I can lose 2lb a week without having to undereat two days a week. I don't have a way of measuring the calories efficiently, as my cheap temporary replacement activity tracker puts me at over 1000 calorie burn when just walking and putting things away, even when standing, and it is not correct. I had a fitbit that died on me, if I still had it working, I would not be in this position.

Excluding exercise, how active are you? Do you stand a bit, walk a bit, but mostly sit? Then you're probably lightly active. Do you do a lot more standing/walking? you're probably active. This is your net calorie intake before exercise. Select 0.5lb/week or 1lb/week from the goals menu dropdown and your deficit should be much more reasonable. Log exercise and eat back cals.

Or calculate your TDEE, subtract 10-15%, and don't eat back cals because you're already factoring them in.

As mentioned, you might not lose 5lbs but you'd lose a few lbs. And you'll be much less stressed over your eating.

Eating at your TDEE means you eat for maintenance. If you eat at your TDEE and you are losing, that is not your TDEE and your TDEE is maybe 100 cals higher or more.

You don't need to accurately track/calculate your burn calories. You just need to estimate it with a calculator or trial and error, and then adjust your intake accordingly.

There is no way to lose 2lb/week without undereating because for most 2lbs/week is excessive unless severely obese. And even then the goal should not remain at 2lbs but instead maybe 1-1.5 as initially a lot of waterweight will be lost anyways and help create a larger initial loss. You have a month before your birthday, and you want to lsoe 2lbs a week, so you want to lose it in 2 weeks basically. That's not necessary.

Camo_xxx

The only scientificly proven way of losing fat is to consume less calories then you burn.

Perhaps a refresher course on the basic fundamentals of how this works.

http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/

That link should answer all your basic questions and provide the solid foundation needed to manage your calories for the rest of your life.


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gabrielleelliott90

I know, but I didn't really get enough answers, only two. And I don't want to be a pain, I am just really struggling here. Thank you for your reply. Problem is, changing it to active doesn't help in the slightest however for me on the maintenance days, as it only gives me 50 more calories. And I know if I just ate 1250 calories on those days, I would be undereating and have no accurate way of knowing how many calories I have burnt those days. Ideally, I would like to eat 1200 calories 7 days per week, but I don't want to undereat. I have been weighing food for a long time. And my family thinks I'm bizarre for doing it, but still do it.

Slimming world, as I said, you can eat 'however much as you want' as they say it is unlimited. Of course not completely, it's a lie. But I used to eat heaps of fruit and stuff on it and I either maintained or lost. I guess HUGE eaters can gain on it. But not a small eater like me. I have been tracking it with MFP, but *TRYING* to follow the sw plan. Which is not working out well as I don't feel happy with it. I REALLY do not want to eat at my TDEE, as that puts me at 0.5lb loss per week, which is too little when my birthday is just over a month away and I have 5lb to lose. I just want a way where I can lose 2lb a week without having to undereat two days a week. I don't have a way of measuring the calories efficiently, as my cheap temporary replacement activity tracker puts me at over 1000 calorie burn when just walking and putting things away, even when standing, and it is not correct. I had a fitbit that died on me, if I still had it working, I would not be in this position.

Excluding exercise, how active are you? Do you stand a bit, walk a bit, but mostly sit? Then you're probably lightly active. Do you do a lot more standing/walking? you're probably active. This is your net calorie intake before exercise. Select 0.5lb/week or 1lb/week from the goals menu dropdown and your deficit should be much more reasonable. Log exercise and eat back cals.

Or calculate your TDEE, subtract 10-15%, and don't eat back cals because you're already factoring them in.

As mentioned, you might not lose 5lbs but you'd lose a few lbs. And you'll be much less stressed over your eating.

Eating at your TDEE means you eat for maintenance. If you eat at your TDEE and you are losing, that is not your TDEE and your TDEE is maybe 100 cals higher or more.

You don't need to accurately track/calculate your burn calories. You just need to estimate it with a calculator or trial and error, and then adjust your intake accordingly.

There is no way to lose 2lb/week without undereating because for most 2lbs/week is excessive unless severely obese. And even then the goal should not remain at 2lbs but instead maybe 1-1.5 as initially a lot of waterweight will be lost anyways and help create a larger initial loss. You have a month before your birthday, and you want to lsoe 2lbs a week, so you want to lose it in 2 weeks basically. That's not necessary.

I'm very close to being my ideal weight as my bmi, I'm a few pounds literally overweight. Mainly I am sedentary, but now and again I'll do some zumba, go on just dance, do some hiit. The reason which I should of explained I put myself at maintenance those two days a week is because I exercise by doing a lot of walking, I don't sit down for hours, only for 5 minutes eating on my break if needs be, but today not until I got home 7 hours later. I go upstairs a few times and down, which I also do a lot at home, walk around checking items are the right way, on the hanger correctly, reach down into a basket to get things and put them on shelves. I will walk around town for nearly an hour on my lunchbreak. And even after it I will walk, but usually not for too long, to get where I need to be to be picked up, or get something I forgot to buy, for example today, I needed to get an umbrella, so I quickly bought one from the pound shop- I know if I put myself at maintenance I won't stay there as I am exercising just by walking and probably burning a few hundred odd. But mainly 5 days a week I classify myself as sedentary. A lot of the time I am sat at my laptop. To be honest now, I am so overwhelmed by this pressure I've put on myself, I just am apathetic. I guess it doesn't matter too much. I can always lose it by Christmas. I am finally starting to understand all this. I'm sorry I just haven't had my brain switched on lately. It's all making sense now. What I am thinking is, I will use my exercise watch but only when I am walking, I won't have it switched on when standing. I'll pause it in those moments. It should be more accurate. That way I can eat 1200 calories every day. I may just end up switching to 1280 (enough for me to lose 1lb per week) as it is easier. I'm sorry everyone I'm just all over the place here.

gabrielleelliott90

And also, I have quite a few calories still left to eat- the last day til my birthday that I eat at maintenance calories- so I'm just giving up slimming world right here and now and coming back to myfitnesspal for good. Can't deal with this schiesse anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to try and eat healthy, but not to where I'm eating more than 5 pieces of fruit a day and snacking on ham and having diet drinks! I'm just doing it my own way and the way I'm happy. Whatever will be will be I guess the saying goes- I'm not an unhealthy weight so I shouldn't be so determined to lose 5lb in a month.