18 days...no change.

northbanu

Also the quality of food eaten is a major component to successful weight loss.

I disagree, depending on your definition of quality. Define "quality".

bridger48

For this discussion I define Quality Food as the ratio of single ingredient food items to the number of process items ingested. Food quality increases with a decrease consumption of processed foods. Example; corn on the cob is better than canned corn is better than corn flakes is better than food contain corn sugars or corn starch. Taken over all the food types consumed daily food quality is improved by reducing process. Benefit include letting the body breakdown foods instead of some factory resulting in number of beneficial outcomes, improved nutrition, increased fiber intake, longer periods of satiation, indirect weight loss caused by increased energy required to digest and stabilization of insulin peaks and valleys.

myrtlebeachgirl123

:happy:

myrtlebeachgirl123

:flowerforyou: sorry for double posts....I can't see where to "delete" this and it won't let me edit it to blank so here's a smiley with some flowers and my real post is after this....lol #technologystupidoverhere

myrtlebeachgirl123

First, I empathize with you in that it can be very frustrating to not see the scale drop after 18 days. In reviewing your post I also
agree that the "free meals" may be stalling your weight loss.

If you figure you need to have a deficit of 3500 calories over the course of 7 days, and that is basically 500 per day less than you need to eat to maintain your weight, then each day that you don't meet the 500 calorie deficit, you will come up short on the chance of meeting the 3500 by the end of the week.

Have you considered instead of having "free meals," having a free "snack" instead? A meal can be a LOT of calories and like some other posters have said, the free meals could be basically cancelling out whatever deficit that you have earned in the week, resulting in no loss.

One other thing that might be impacting your weight loss is if you do eat the extra calories that MFP credits to you for your activity for the day. So, for example when you finish logging for the day it will often say that you have earned a certain number of calories for your activity (or exercise). I usually do not eat any more calories than my goal calories per day. If it says I have an extra 400 or more calories for the day due to my activity, I just ignore that.

I also have found that you have to be careful because the MFP calorie counts can be off a bit. I will often scan my items if I can (if there is a bar code), but if I cannot then I will search and look at several examples to try to find the most accurate calorie count possible. I also err on the side of overestimating the number of calories rather than underestimating because I want the calories to be as accurate as possible or I am just misleading myself.

You do need to weigh things and measure. Studies have found that those who measure do lose more weight. It is easy for portions sizes to creep up in size over time if you are not measuring regularly. Have you ever measured a 1/4 cup of rice for example? I still am shocked each time when I see how little that actually is. The measuring also teaches us what a normal portion size should be. In this country, our portion sizes are outrageous, no wonder so many people are obese!

Another positive is that losing it slowly allows for you to learn the measured sizes of portions and the calorie levels which takes time to learn. I have also read that the body and skin also adjust better to weight loss if it is 1-2 lbs. per week. Drink half your weight per day in water (according to Dr. Daniel Amen), and don't drink your calories, eat fresh fruits, veggies, and whole grains as much as you can. Good luck!

This is GREAT advice!!! All the way around!! Thanks for posting...I think I needed to read that too! I'm down 40 pounds but it's kind of been a little SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW not....I'm still training w/ a trainer and eating whole foods.....but I always always eat my workout calories I've earned from MFP.....thinking I should maybe leave those alone and see if it makes a difference?


M*

malibu927

For this discussion I define Quality Food as the ratio of single ingredient food items to the number of process items ingested. Food quality increases with a decrease consumption of processed foods. Example; corn on the cob is better than canned corn is better than corn flakes is better than food contain corn sugars or corn starch. Taken over all the food types consumed daily food quality is improved by reducing process. Benefit include letting the body breakdown foods instead of some factory resulting in number of beneficial outcomes, improved nutrition, increased fiber intake, longer periods of satiation, indirect weight loss caused by increased energy required to digest and stabilization of insulin peaks and valleys.

For strictly weight loss only, all that matters is calories in<calories out. You can lose weight consuming nothing but McDonalds and Coke, as long as you're under your TDEE. It may not give you the nutrition you need, but it still works.

bubbly_charm2k9

Calorie Deficit is the key