What am I doing wrong?? I could use some input....

armaretta

2. Do not eat your exercise calories. Your calories consumed from food should be less than your calories burned from normal daily activity. This will start your daily calorie deficit. Not too much because you need food to fuel your exercise. I believe you stated that you are burning 600 calories per day from exercise, so if you consume the same amount that you burn from normal daily activity ( zero deficit), you would maintain your weight, but when you add the 600 calories burned from exercise, you would be at a 600 calorie per day deficit (if everything is perfectly accurate) to burn body fat, 500 calorie per day deficit = 3500 calories deficit per week (7x500=3500) that is 1 pound of body fat lost per week.

This is WRONG. If you are using the MFP system. They already work in the deficit into your caloric goals. If she did what you said, she would only be eating 1350 calories/day, and netting 750. That is dangerously low.

please please please eat your exercise calories! You can lose at first, especially if you have a lot to lose, by not eating them, but you will plateau and your energy will plummet eventually.

I would say make sure you are logging every last gram of food and watch your sodium and sugar levels, especially if you are eating a carb heavy diet. Drink plenty of water and try upping your protein. Protein keeps you fuller longer, and helps build that fat burning muscle!

Also, a HRM is a incredible investment for your weight loss journey.

tangdalun

Whatshesaid,

There is also another way to calculate it all. The fitness guide that came with P90X, and what my coach, who had fantastic results, did, was this.

I would assume the your nutrition level is level 1, which means your daily calorie intake would be 1800 calories, to live and fuel your exercise. My coach, in the first three months (fat shredder), only consumed 67% of his recommended amount. If you did the same, which is a bit extreme mind you, your daily calorie intake that you setup in your goals on this website would be 1206, then you can eat you exercise calories.

If you wish to calculate for yourself, the P90X nutrition guide shows this:
Calculate your RMR (resting metabolic rate) calories burned to stay alive basically = your weight x 10
Calculate your daily activity burn (varies by person, needs tweaking over time) = your RMR x 20%
Add the calories required for your exercise needs. P90X has been calculated at 600. This gives you your Energy Amount
1800 - 2399 = Level 1 = 1,800 Calories per Day
2400 - 2999 = Level 2 = 2,400 Calories per Day
3000+ = Level 3 = 3,000 Calories per Day
Round down to the lower limit of your level to provide a slight calorie deficit.
My coach did this and then only consumed 67% of what was suggested. His was 3,000 calories per day. For three months he set his intake to 2,000 per day with 50% of calories coming from protein, 30% from carbs, and 20% from fat.
If you do it this way, you should just be able to make sure that you totals remaining in each category (calories, protein, carbs, fat) on this website track food page, all equal zero at the end of the day.

I could be wrong because I'm no genius, but I think that is correct.
Best of luck to you.

tangdalun

Amaretta,

I am sure you are right, as I am pretty new to this system, but I did it the way you say when I first started because I too saw that they calculated the way you say, and I lost nothing after weeks of hard work. When I changed it to the way I stated, which may very well be wrong, I started losing. Of course it takes a lot of tweaking because we are all different. The most important is listen to your body, it will tell you if you are consuming too little. Thanks for setting me straight on how MFP works.

Best,
tangdalun

LaraRN

Thanks or the post! You practically took the words right out of my mouth - this is EXACTLY how I'm feeling right now. I have done a complete and total turn-around with my dieting and eating habits and have been working out five days a week on average and my scale hasn't budged since the 5lb initial weight I lost in the beginning.

I wish I could give you some advice, but just know that you are not alone. I am 5' 1" and now weigh 145lb. I know how you are feeling, it's sooo confusing to even comprehend that your body isn't losing when you change your diet, and add exercise!?

Good luck, and i'll keep my eye on this post for other's suggestions....

Lara

whatshesaid

Thanks everyone for all the support and advice... I will definitely pick up a HRM in the near future because I suspect that may be a huge part of my problem with not losing anything. I think I will stick to eating back my exercise calories, however i don't think it would be a bad idea to have a few left over everyday to help speed things along!

I guess i'll just keep on truckin and hoping for the best, and try to ensure i'm choosing the best foods everyday while allowing myself the odd treat here and there to prevent any unnecessary suffering

atessieri

i would say as far as working out you are doing amazing and you are an inspiration... as far as what your eating i think the slimfast shake is hurting you more than helping you, it seems to be pretty high in almost everything and probably doesn't fill you up... maybe try more lean meats and veggies and filling your plate with food but low calories...my favorite it 2 mini flat breads warmed on a skillet with a tad of olive oil and greek seasoning then fill them like a taco (just fold in half) with shredded lettuce, small ammount of fetta cheese and newmans light italian dressing, then i make a salad uning the filling on the side and also sautee some zuchinni and sqaush it's around 300 calories for the whole meal and tastes delicious good luck also i mad has stuck with mfp and says he has moments of platue's too but sticks with it and he keeps losing weight

kapeluza

I am 5'-0" and was 170's this past week. I am only doing 1200 and only had a few of my exercise calories. I suaully burn 300-500 calories a day and for the moment I very rarely ever eat my WHOLE exercise calories back.At the max I am logging in only 1500 max a day (with exercise included). I would reduce the amount you are eating to net 1200 for a while. Also, might want to add more fresh vegetables/fruits to your diet.

I hope you get this sorted out! :flowerforyou:


Edit : and ditto on the HRM!!!!!!!! The machines at the gym say I burn 500 calories and my HRM show me 350 calories! It makes a HUGE difference

Tegan74

I didnt see whether you are drinking water daily? I've been drinking well over my 8 glasses of water by filling a 20 oz bottle and keeping it with me all the time.
For the rest of it I feel you on the trying to exercise and eat right and not losing a thing. I started this life style change the end of May, at that point I didnt have a scale, I was measuring inches. I dropped 2 inches just not drinking mt.dew all day since I've had the scale I've dropped 2 lbs. I got the scale cause the inches werent moving and I'm getting very frustrated. Not enough to quit trying but enough to start trying to figure out what the #@#$@%$@#$%% I'm doing wrong. So far I've learned: I'm not eating enough (such a strange thing to say to someone whose trying to lose weight) I only managed 800 calories yesterday, and 400 of those were 'bad' calories from a fast food burger (I only ate half of it other wise it would've been more) and I'm not exercising enough. I'm going to the gym daily, ok, great, but I'm only doing say 20 reps per exercise. Thats not enough to really burn calories. I should be doing twice that. So last night I stepped it up and this morning I feel it LOL but its a good thing, muscle burns fat so the more muscle I put on the more fat I burn. I'm using the machines at the gym that target my belly, including that one where you just hang and pull your legs up (did 40 reps on that.... yeahhhhhh I was sucking wind at the end but I did it) Plus 3 nights a week I get on the tread mill as well ~ walk at 3.5 for 30 min's.
My point to this ramble is: Drink lots and lots of water (I add 1/2 an inch of tea to mine cause our water tastes horrid) make sure you are eating enough veggies and protien ~ also I agree with the poster that said the slim fast isnt helping, I was drinking that and eating 1 meal a day and didnt lose a freaking inch or lb ~ eat lots an lots of protein ~ lean protein like boneless skinless chicken breast or baked fish. protein helps build muscle and again the more muscle you have the more fat you burn
I've lost weight before, so I know its doable ~ we'll get there just gotta force our bodies to reset!!

Just1forMe

Thanks guys, my daily goal is 1350 calories and then with the exercise I do it brings me up to as much as around 2000 per day. That seems like a lot! The reason it's 1350 as a starting goal rather than 1200 is i found that when my goal was to lose 2lbs per week (HAHAHA, right?) i was having a hard time staying with the 1200 cals, so I changed my goal to 1lb per week and that upped my calories to 1350 as a base. which is much easier for me to do without starving all day!

I think you are right on with your daily goal. I am also 5'3" and weigh 178 and it would be ridiculous for me to try to set my goal at 2 lbs a week, even though I also would like to lose another 30-40 lbs. I am also "doing everything right" and have been STUCK for about a month now. I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis so this happens to me once in a while.
Have you ever had your thyroid checked? Just something to consider. You may try zig zagging your calories (search "zig zag" on here) if nothing moves in a few weeks. I wholeheartedly agree with the heart rate monitor, but I would recommend a Body Media Fit instead. That monitors your burn 24 hours a day, in addition to your exercise burns (90%+ accuracy) so you have a fairly accurate idea of your true NET. Keep doing what you are doing...I know it's frustrating, but you have the right attitude so it's bound to come off at some point! Good luck!!

evesacks

Maybe only eat exercise calories if actually hungry. I rarely eat them all, eg yesterday earned 700 calories (ran 7 miles, so reasonable estimate) but it would have been greed to eat them all.

Make sure you always hit protein target and cut out processed food and processed carbs from diet. Cut the slim fast!

jfinnivan

I don't trust the calories burned numbers from the machines, and even, to some extent, the heart rate monitor. I found out that by eating half my exercise calories, as shown by the HRM, and subtracting my TDEE (total daily energy expenditure, about 80 cals per hour for me) calories, I lost between .5 and 1 pound per week.

Crashwebb

what is (fat shredder)?

whatshesaid

Thanks again everyone... I will try to stop eating all of my exercise calories and get a HRM to see where I really stand as far as that goes. Also, I'm not really a champion of drinking Slimfast.... I had some cans to get rid of and I've been using half of one each morning to make my breakfast smoothie which gives it some flavor - with unsweetened almond milk, frozen banana, tablespoon light pb or almond butter, 1 cup of spinach and some flax seed. So calm down, it's good stuff and fills me up for hours!!

jerryellis

2. Do not eat your exercise calories. Your calories consumed from food should be less than your calories burned from normal daily activity. This will start your daily calorie deficit. Not too much because you need food to fuel your exercise. I believe you stated that you are burning 600 calories per day from exercise, so if you consume the same amount that you burn from normal daily activity ( zero deficit), you would maintain your weight, but when you add the 600 calories burned from exercise, you would be at a 600 calorie per day deficit (if everything is perfectly accurate) to burn body fat, 500 calorie per day deficit = 3500 calories deficit per week (7x500=3500) that is 1 pound of body fat lost per week.

MFP has already deducted the 500 calories from your calorie count so you need to eat some of your calories back because if you don't, and you are burning 600 calories without eating any back, you are giving yourself an 1100 calorie deficit and that is way too much a day. If you were to eat back, say, half of the exercise calories, 300, you would then be on track to lose about 1 1/2 lbs. a week. 1100 calorie deficit is more than a 2 lb loss per week and not really a good idea.

dls06

You may not be burning all the calories you think you are.