only lost 1lb in 5 weeks! sos

emilyhbrown

I changed it to lose 1lb a week and my calorie numbers went up.

maikikuchi

I have the same problem of not losing weight after all these weeks, and sometimes my calorie intake is too low. However, I am scared to eat more calories than I do now, because I feel like I'm going to gain weight or is it the foods that I'm eating that's not helping me lose weight ?

ladyhawk00

I changed my setting to lose 1 lb a week.
and now i have a higher amount of calories a day...
Eating more calories will make me lose weight?

Yep. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but it is true. If you read the threads I posted earlier (in my first response), it will help explain why eating too little will actually slow the metabolism down.

Your body needs to KNOW that it is ok to burn fat stores - the only way it will know this is if you are fueling it sufficiently. Eating less will eventually make you lose weight, yes, but it will be a bad ratio of fat AND muscle and it will not be healthy or sustainable weight loss. You want to minimize muscle loss and maximize fat loss - and that requires good fuel.

Edit: MFP is set up to give you a calorie deficit - that means that if you meet your cal goals, you are at a deficit that allows for healthy weight loss.

JulieTX86

Also... implement more snacks throughout your day.... Eat Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, etc.... that way your metabolism keeps going throughout the day....

emilyhbrown

okay i added snacks! what kind of snacks do you recommend ?

JulieTX86

Here is a sample of what I had yesterday:

Breakfast: 2 Eggs w/ turkey sausage scrambled in.
Snack: 1/2 cup cottage cheese w/ 1/2 cup peaches (no syrup, if you use canned peaches, wash them off before eating them)
Lunch: salad w/ 2 cups spinach, 1/4 cup feta cheese, 3 ounces turkey, 1/2 cup corn, 1/2 cup black beans
Snack: 2 ounces of beef jerky (usually 1 ounce, but I knew I was going to be low on calories so I bumpbed it to two).
Dinner: 1 chicken sausage link, 2 cups broccoli
Snack: Light string cheese.

This was actually a very low calorie meal for me, so you could bump up the last snack I had in calories and higher protein, maybe do some more beef jerky, or I could have added in some dressing to my salad etc.
Oh and I drink Tons of water!

For every lb you weigh, drink at least half of that in ounces... for example... if you weigh 160 you need to drink 80 ounces of water a day... if you weigh 200lbs, drink 100 ounces etc.

millerll

From a quick look at a week or two of your diary:

You under eat many days.
You don't log dinner. Why not? Are skipping that meal or what?
Not enough fresh fruits and veggies.
Too much processed food.

I can see that you're making an honest effort, and I don't think you're doing all that badly. Just not good enough to meet your goals. Try to eat fresh, unprocessed food as much as possible. Watch sodium and sugars (that don't come from your fruits). Go easy on stuff like pancake syrup, cream cheese, ice cream, etc. - you don't really need that in your diet and it's just empty calories.

Just tweak your nutrition a bit and you should start to see losses. Good luck!

becalee26

The same thing has been happening to me the last 4 weeks. I have noticed though, my pants are fitting so much better!! This week I am going to try to eat more calories and see what happens. I am not going to give up because I am making this a lifestyle change for the long term. Besides not seeing the scale move, I do feel so much better. I am going to try to only weigh myself 2x a week. Just remember everyone is different and what works for someone else might not work for you. Experiment a little and see what works. Good luck!

emilyhbrown

thanks!

emilyhbrown

From a quick look at a week or two of your diary:

You under eat many days.
You don't log dinner. Why not? Are skipping that meal or what?
Not enough fresh fruits and veggies.
Too much processed food.

I can see that you're making an honest effort, and I don't think you're doing all that badly. Just not good enough to meet your goals. Try to eat fresh, unprocessed food as much as possible. Watch sodium and sugars (that don't come from your fruits). Go easy on stuff like pancake syrup, cream cheese, ice cream, etc. - you don't really need that in your diet and it's just empty calories.

Just tweak your nutrition a bit and you should start to see losses. Good luck!

Oh i do eat dinner! I just today changed my diary and put snacks in between so thats why it looks like i dont eat dinner.

lradloff

bump