Help!!!

clovas

Hi, I've been using MFP for 3 weeks now and really like all the tools, motivation etc, only problem is I'm not losing weight! Calorie allowance was 1200 and I lost one lb 1st week, then nothing the 2nd week. After reading lots of posts and advice given to others I increased to 1350 and still no loss this week :frown: . I am tracking all food and excercise and staying within allowance over the week (some days a litlle under and others a little over). I'm not sure what else to do. Should I try going back down to 1200, or increasing a little more? Would value any advice available. :flowerforyou:

xraychick77

first..dont listen to the starvation mode myths..or the 1200 cal myths or any other.

this is how it is... you need to use the harris benedict formula to caluclate your BMR, use the activity level to calculate your T.E.E. (total energy expenditure). Now from there you should reduce your calories as appropriate. Try to reduce by 500 a day for the first few months. You need some wiggle room, and going straight to 1200 cals or lower gives you very little wiggle room. We all tend to stall in weight loss..this is due to adapation. your body likes to stay in a state of homeostasis, so it works towards that whenever we change things up..so you need to change things up every few months to stay on top of weight loss.
you need to be consistent with your calorie intake and exercise.

without any more info than you gave..thats about all i can say

kandrews24

Hi, first of all, it is okay. Stay with it. Relax. Be patient. This system works. You will lose weight (at 1200 or more).

Open up your food diary (change the privacy setting), so that we can see and better assist.

What is your current BMI?

lauraemthomson

MFP aim is to lose weight slowly so that it stays off. 1lb off a week is normal. ( but i feel ur pain, it just doesnt come off quick enought for me either) ;o) good luck

bubbles143

Hit the gym and join a good supporting class, my cycling class keeps me motivated, and the card helps me drop the pounds also stay more consistent with your diet, trying not to consume too many calories, and don't let them be bad calories! 1200 calories can be tons of fruits and veggies, or a tub of ice-cream, a burger, and chocolate milk, it's what you eat, not just the calories

Jade_Butterfly

First off. .. Measure your INCHES. .. . .If you are rockin the workouts. . that is where you are going to see a difference. . even if the scale is not moving. . .

After having my daughter I started going to the gym 6 days a week and didn't change anything else. . .and lost 3 sizes in my clothes and still was weighing the same. . .

Body composition is a tricky thing, but you want to do it right. . .

My other suggestion would be invest in a food scale. . $20 at walmart. and if you don't have a HEART RATE MONITOR. . . when you can, obtain one, because this is really going to tell you accurately just how many calories you are burning versus the food you are consuming. . . I picked up my Sportline at Walmart with a chest strap for 47$ and absolutely love it. . If you have more funds. . about 90% of people here will tell you to go with a Polar F4 or F7. Hope this helps.

Wish you luck. . You can do it!

evesacks

I would say:

1. look at your diet, and try and cut down on processed foods, refined carbs etc and have lean protein at every meal. Some people lose weight easily eating 1200 without worrying about what they eat, others need to be more careful about diet. I have 100-150 calories a day of a treat (dark chocolate, ice cream etc) but the rest are good calories - fruit, veg, lean protein and dairy.

2. Regular exercise makes a massive difference, but I only eat exercise calories if actually hungry and I only eat them on proper food (ie extra wholegrain carbs) - if I ate 500 calories of chocolate after the gym I'd gain weight.

3. Eat 3 meals a day at regular times.

4. I agree about getting another method of measuring, either tape measure or body fat scales.

Fatty_Fatass

Starvation mode is not a myth. It is absolutely real.

Its not something that will affect you if you are very fat, because your body will convert stored fat into energy rather than catabalizing muscle mass.

If you are trying to lose those last few pounds then starvation mode is something you should think about , and here is why.......

While you are in starvation mode you will absolutely continue to lose weight. The problem is your body becomes more efficient at using the few calories you give it to maintain itself. This is not really a problem for awhile if you are very inactive, however, if you start to become more active (which is probably everyones goal) you will find that you poop out quicker, and because you lack high amounts of fat storage your body will start to draw from your muscles. This can be very dangerous.................... your heart is a muscle.....

Of even greater concern to some is that your body will hoard what you give it to eat, so when you go out to Applebees that one time and drink to excess and eat some dense junk food your body will not be able to process it efficiently. This will result in lethargy (because your body is expending a ton of energy to digest the food) and greater weight gain than you may expect.

I know this stuff because I am dealing with it right now. I have been eating 1200 calories a day for the last 9 months and burning more than 1200 calories a day thru excercise.... which gave me a negative caloric intake. I had a much higher BMI at the start which insulated me from starvation mode...... but as I slim down and become more active and require more food I find that it is a very real issue. I will probably start putting on weight again for a little while, but, when its over my metabolism will have that furnace effect that we all want....... so its worth the backtrack.

The ultimate goal of a healthy metabolism is to be able to convert all the food you eat into energy (calories are actually units of energy, they do not measure anything else) and then expend it.

If you are eating less calories than your CML (Calorie Maintence Level - also known as TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) )you should be losing weight........

The thing is a CML is a difficult thing to determine. The calculators on this site, and others like it, are intended to be used as a guide. If you know your BMI / LBM then the Katch-McArdle formula is probably the most accurate. If you don't know your LBM (and you really wouldn't unless you have been to a Doctor for that specific purpose) but you do know your BMI ( really know it, not what your Nintendo Wii said it was) then the Harris-Benedict formula is an adequate way to get a good estimate.

The truth tho, is that those formulas are still a guide, because even tho they take BMI / LBM into account there is no way to calculate an individuals metabolism into the equation. If you are really fat but have been out walking for 6 hours a day your metabolism is going to be flying and the numbers you recieve will not be accurate. The same is true if you are a marathon runner who hurt his leg and has been couch bound for 4 months. The BMI / LBM is a great set of guideline but it really is nothing more than that.

What you did was perfect, you increased your calories a little and saw that no weight loss happened.......... try lowering them again and see what the scale has to say. If you are losing a pound in a week, then you have found a number that works for you. Use that number to figure out a route to your goal. If you want to lose 2 pounds a week increase your calorie deficiet by 500 more calories (500 x 7 = 3500 = 1 pound)

You will definetly want to think about splitting the deficiet between lessened intake and increased excercise.

Just remember that as you burn fat and your body gets smaller your BMI will also go down, so you will have to tweak those amounts from time to time.

If you are 3 weeks into your diet, and losing 1-3 pounds a week you are probably on track and certainly not in any danger of approaching starvation mode. It takes a long time and very harsh circumstance for a body to enter starvation mode.

Remember also that Strength training is key. Strength training is not a great way to burn calories on its own. The type of muscle you will build thru strength training is anaerobic muscle. The benefit that this gives you is that anaerobic muscle requires greater amounts of fuel to perform aerobically.....

That sounds complex but its really not.......

Basically the more muscle mass you have the calories you will burn during the course of any activity.

You'll also want to watch your salt intake, thats really hard for me because there is so much salt in everything, but excess salt will definetly cause fluid retention which can result in "false" weight at weigh in time.

Eating back your excercise calories is something you will deinetly want to consider as you get closer to your goal. If you are trying to lose 5 or 10 pounds you definetly want to eat back at least some of them......... more than some if you are hungry.....but if you are 30 or 40 pounds (or more) overweight its fine to leave them, your body will convert fat stores to energy, its not quite as efficient as caloric conversion from food, but, it will give you all you need.

You may also try varying the excercises you do. If you do the same thing all the time it will become less effective. If you are not feeling very athletic try dribbling a basketball for a half an hour instead of taking a walk or rding the excercise bike on one of your workout days. This will not only work different muscle groups, it will make your body adapt to a greater array of motion........ which is good from all points of view.

Good Luck with your plans and I wish you great success !

clovas

Thank you so much to everyone for your very helpful advice. My BMI is 30.5, so I have a way to go yet. My BMR is 1360 (on this site, 1490 on another). Onwards and downwards (I hope). Good luck to you all on your journey.