MFP doesn't seem to be working

delikium

Hi Mawkish.

Just want to say keep trying!

Maybe the lifestyle you have atm has not allowed you to loose weight 'fast enough' even after the changes.
The thing is you are re-educating yourself and your body needs time to adapt and follow your lifestyle changes.
Our bodies are survivors, no matter what WE do to it...it will try to cure itself, repair, protect, make sacrifices and everything else it needs to do to keep going.
Just imagine if your body would not have put up a fight during your old unhealthy lifestyle...where would you be now?

Secondly I would like to share with you something from my own experience.
I have recently (after saving for it) finally purchased a ' juicer'. This has had a huge impact on my health and lifestyle.
Just think about which has the most nutrition instead on focusing on calories only?
200 calories from cereals and milk or 200 calories from fresh homemade carrot, celery, beetroot, apple, parsnip, spinach juice.
When I want to have a snack...I just take 3 apples and a slice of lemon. If that's not enough I'll go back to the kitchen and make another carrot&celery juice. It helps me to consume a great variaty of veggies and fruit that I normally would not like to eat nor cook.
I can juice as much as I want because there are no negative health consequences. (no added sugar, preservatives, aspartame, other poisons...)
I have noticed an improvement in my skin, energy levels, mood, muscle strength, concentration, weight and shopping habit.
If you do not want to buy a juicer, you could just put everything in the blender.

I believe that in my case being overweight is only 1 consequence of my "not healthy enough" lifestyle.
So to come to my final tip: Have you tried a detox? Detox can balance your hormones, cleanse your intestines, flush toxins and reset your mindset.
There are so many ways out there: fasting, juicing, aloe-vera tablets, apple cider vinegar, fruit & veggie fast and some are achievable in 2/3 days.

I hope this motivates & good luck in reconnecting to your body's needs!

Mawkish1983

I use a phone app called "Libra" that does a weighted moving average calculation to plot weight trends, so I weigh daily and plug the numbers into that.

Yes, that's the sort of thing I mean. More data = more accurate tracking of trends.

I always wonder if these calorie estimates from gadgets, apps and gym machines are gross or net - do they take account of the fact that you would have been using 50 - 80 calories an hour lying down ? So is 240 calories burned in an hour 240 extra?

A really good question! I have wondered this too. I added the calories I burned one week when doing the ironing by looking up what the calories burnt whilst ironing were and subtracting the fraction of my BMR equivalent to the time I spend doing it... it didn't work out to be a lot.

Mawkish1983

Don't give up!

I shan't.

Mawkish1983

1. How are you weighing yourself?

I don't think I understand the question; I stand on the scales and note down the number?

2. What is your sodium intake looking like? Make sure you rinse your tuna and if you buy can goods get the veggies that are in water.

Rinse my tuna you say? Interesting. I hadn't even considered that.

3.What type of Cardio are you doing?

I walk.

Mawkish1983

Im sure others have posted but my 2 cents is maybe weight yourself only once a week, or every other week.

More data = more reliable tracking of trends.

if you find that maybe 2000 is too high maybe customise it down to about 1800. Its not that much but since men should consume 2200-2500 it might make a bigger change.

I am very large indeed, so the 2200-2500 is not suitable.

To tell if im actually hungry or craving i drink 1 big glass of water and wait 15 mins.

I drink throughout the day, so I'm not sure how that would fit in.

Mawkish1983

You asked about sodium

I did, and this answer confuses me. How would salt 'encourage the body to retain water'? More salt in my blood would mean less water in the cells of my body because of osmosis. Unless the body has some sort of homeostatic mechanism that detects salt level and adjusts the retention of water accordingly, which would mean there would the same amount of water in the cells. I'm not a biologist, so I really don't know.

Have you tried upping the [activity] level... and not adding back the calories for your normal daily movements?

That shouldn't make a difference, and is less accurate. It doesn't take into account the difference in my activity level from week days to weekends.

You also said you were (over-)estimating calories consumed at lunchtime.

It's possible.

would it make more sense to take a packed lunch?

The assumption being that I don't? I take a packed lunch, which is prepared by my wife (I am very fortunate!) I try my hardest to add the correct food items into my diary.

eat less and move more

Yes, I'm working on it. Many thanks for replying!

Mawkish1983

I recommend taking measurements and a "before" photo. Stick at it for a month, and your guarantee'd to of lost atleast a cm over the month!

If I remember to take my measurements tonight, I'll hold you do that guarentee

Mawkish1983

when you weighed in a few days after your orignal weigh in, tell us what you were honestly expecting to see the scales to show? a few lbs? please be honest

The implication being that I am dishonest? My original weigh in was thirty days ago: more than a few. I was expecting to lose 2lbs per week, as per the settings I had selected. I lost slightly less over the month, but significantly less this week so far than in previous weeks of the same duration. My weight loss appears to have indeed slowed down. As per the advice here, I will continue to wait

Mawkish1983

Don't be discouraged, it will happen if your calorie intake is set right and you stick with it.

I hope so.

Mawkish1983

Don't forget the figure you see on MFP already includes a deficit

The implication being that I had forgotten?

you said you want to loose 2lb per week so MFP will have already deducted 1000 cals per day from your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). TDEE is BMR * activity level (1.2 for sedentary).

Yes, I know.

2500 recommended is averaged over all men

Yes, I know.

as a tall guy with some weight to loose, yours will be somewhat higher than that.

Yes, I know.

Best to leave it as is for now and see what happens over a whole week

The implication being that I have been using MFP for less than a week?

two weeks

See above

If after a month your weight isn't dropping...

My weight is dropping, or should I say it has dropped, but I do not believe it is dropping at the correct rate.

Mawkish1983

If you follow your plan and dont cheat the pounds will come off.

Yes, cheating is something I am trying to stop.

Sometimes you tend to overestimate the portions.

I suspect I do, but I am amazed you know such things for certain

Music_is_my_soul

bump

mrmanmeat

Hello people,

MFP decided that I should have a goal calorie intake of just over 2000. I'm 282lbs right now and 6'7" tall (in the evening, closer to 6'8" in the morning). I'm a teacher, and I think I spend about half of my time sitting down. I decided to plump for the sedentary lifestyle setting on here and simply add all of my exercise by using a pedometer to calculate how many calories I burnt throughout the day.

I have a target weight loss of 2lbs per week. I weighed myself on Saturday morning and I was 282lbs. I weighed myself this morning and I am still 282lbs. Although slightly heartbroken by the scales revealing my efforts bearing no fruit, I have decided to stick to MFP for the time being.

I have been careful to record all of the food I eat and at a 2000 calorie target I can eat rather a lot. I'm concerned that perhaps the 2000 calorie target is too high though. I'm also concerned that many people I've spoken to told me how they lost a lot of weight initially, and the weight loss slowed down dramatically after the first couple of weeks to a steady 2lbs per week; my weight loss started at 2lbs per week and I'm concerned that it may slow down dramaticaly to a steady 0lbs per week from now.

Could any of you kind people please help me with my concerns? Based on what I've said, do you think I'm using MFP correctly/effectively?

Many thanks in advance.

You didn't gain the weight overnight. Don't expect to lose it overnight. Plain and simple.

Mawkish1983

In addition I can't recommend enough monitoring your sodium at this stage

Then that is what I shall do

Added you as a friend. I also teach (as part of my PhD) so I have some understanding of the difficulties of your work and it's impact on your lifestyle. We also have in common the fact that I, one day apparently will die.

But hopefully not before your viva

JennaM222

user error

Mawkish1983

Maybe I'm slightly misunderstanding how this all works, but when you choose "sedintary" does that still include an estimation of how many calories are burnt from your day to day activity. So if your adding calories based on general movement, are they not *also* taken into account by MFP anyway? Like I said, I'm not sure about that, but could it be you're essentially adding exercise that is already accounted for?

I chose the lowest setting so that any movements above and beyond 'sitting at a desk', including walking around the classroom, could be carefully monitored and recorded. It seems more precise than the 'multiply the BMR by an arbitrary factor' method.

Mawkish1983

I hope this motivates & good luck in reconnecting to your body's needs!

Thank you. A juicer is a tempting idea I hadn't considered.

secretlobster

I think you are setting yourself up to fail for no good reason. I see absolutely nothing wrong with losing 2lbs per week.
To put it in perspective, you are losing double this off your body every week:

Mawkish1983

You didn't gain the weight overnight. Don't expect to lose it overnight. Plain and simple.

The implication being that I expected to lose all of the weight I gained overnight? I expect to lose 2lbs per week, as per the plan to which I am subscribed. I am concerned that this target isn't being met, hence this thread.

Mawkish1983

user error

I do not understand.