MFP doesn't seem to be working

jedibunny

Thought to chip in because I'd been frustrated with no (literally, zero) loss after my initial "oh dear we're not getting enough calories anymore" couple of pounds... I hit a plateau hard and fast. Started researching etc. Here's a little of what I found/what was shared with me.

Disclaimer: I'm obviously neither male nor extremely tall/heavy. The info I'm sharing here is pretty generic, but I'll pepper it with my own numbers here and there to illustrate.

MFP calculates based on height/weight/activity level/desired weight loss. This you know. It seems you already know the factors it uses as well, so I won't point them out. When I started here I also listed myself "sedentary" since I teach and work in data management - so literally 12+ hours/day at a computer (I teach long distance) counting leisure. Then I started working out, 20--30 mins of cardio/day 4--5 days/week and a little strength training here and there. I still listed myself as sedentary. I drank lots of water. I didn't lose a pound. At that point, MFP was telling me to net 1200 calories, which I was doing (adding back exercise calories, sometimes going slightly over on days I didn't work out).

What I didn't realize was that I was eating WELL below my BMR, and so my body was storing all the food it got. Yes, my job was still "sedentary," but *I* was not. I used a variety of tools (Fat2Fit Radio, a custom spreadsheet from the "Eating for Future You" group here, etc.) and each one came up with a figure that surprised the hell out of me.. somewhere close to 1500 in order to maintain my current weight, and closer to 1310 at my "goal weight". Below that becomes a danger zone.

My brain, being a stickler for detail and quite the Devil's Advocate, was yelling at me about not wanting to add calories to its diet now that my body was "used to" eating less. It also told me that if I was eating lower than my BMR I'd lose weight. Wrong. The more I read about all of this the more I understood that I actually NEED a good amount of calories (good calories, mind you). If I'm burning on average 161 cals/day ((225 * 5) / 7) PLUS my normal daily activity of walking around, cleaning the house, gardening, carrying stuff (like my 6 y.o. niece), even pushing grocery carts, that all adds up to an average 475 cals/day. So if I want to maintain my current weight, I would eat 1975 cals/day. If I want to lose--which I obviously do!--I need to eat about 1785.

That's crazy, right?

The WHOLE point of this thread is that you're probably not "sedentary" - especially if you're working out or even just walking at a moderate pace 3 to 4 days a week.

I'd suggest looking at some of those tools I mentioned, but also bumping your activity level to "active" for a little while and seeing if it helps. Of course, the basics need to be addressed in order to manage healthy weight loss: drink water, take a vitamin or two, eat well. My weight is starting to come off again since I've adjusted.

If I can be any help, let me know, and feel free to add me.

Mawkish1983

You're not going to meet it every single week. You just aren't.

Hmmm. Disappointing, but that is a message I'm getting over and over Thank you.

Mawkish1983

Are you sure your recording is accurate? When I started I wasn't weighing foods and when I started weighing them I discovered I'd been eating twice as much as I'd thought.

I've been very careful to weigh my foods as much as is possible and I tend to intentionately overestimate my energy consumption.

Mawkish1983

MFP is a tool so only the person using the tool can be doing it incorrectly.

Hmmm, sadly very likely to be true. Thank you for the advice.

Mawkish1983

If you eat below you BMR you don't just lose fat but you lose muscle mass.

I have never heard this before. May I ask where you found this out so I can read the source myself? Thank you

Mawkish1983

Thought to chip in because I'd been frustrated with no (literally, zero) loss after my initial "oh dear we're not getting enough calories anymore" couple of pounds... I hit a plateau hard and fast. Started researching etc. Here's a little of what I found/what was shared with me.

Thank you for your post, I enjoyed reading it. One thing rang alarm bells with me though:

I actually NEED a good amount of calories (good calories, mind you).

'Good calories' makes no sense to me. Energy is energy, it has no moral bias.

Anyway, that aside, thank you for the advice.

jedibunny

One thing rang alarm bells with me though:

I actually NEED a good amount of calories (good calories, mind you).

'Good calories' makes no sense to me. Energy is energy, it has no moral bias.

Anyway, that aside, thank you for the advice.

Ah - what I meant there was foods that have nutritional content. I don't always eat 100% healthily, but I'm striving to eat better than I had been in the past. I used to eat, for example, a ton of sugary snacks...

d2footballJRC

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.

If you want the most accurate go and get your body fat measured. From then you can use one of the much more accurate calorie formulas. Especially with your height.

MFP estimates my calories way low for my body type. I had been eating 1700-1900 per MFP, after getting a water dip BF test and a metabolism test and figuring out my new amount I actually can eat 2.35k and be at a 1k deficit daily, first week I gained 3 pounds and was worried and it's been coming off since then.

Also remember once you start to exercise your body takes on more water.

Mawkish1983

Ah - what I meant there was foods that have nutritional content.

Ah, I understand. Thank you for the clarification

Mawkish1983

If you want the most accurate go and get your body fat measured. From then you can use one of the much more accurate calorie formulas. Especially with your height.

Oh, I hadn't considered that! Wonderful advice sir, thank you.

Also remember once you start to exercise your body takes on more water.

I'd better not exercise then!

jwlav

It is very simple... calories in vs calories out. It just takes time. I have gone an entire month with staying the same weight and then the next I will lose a lot.
Just stick with it and be cognizant of what you are eating and step up the cardio when you can. It will come off!

stacymama5

I was stuck for awhile until I was recommended to take a B complex vitamin. This might help you as well.

ribena1958

Oh please PLEASE do not stand on the scales daily, at the very least, stand on them around the same time, same scales, same place at the same time, if you have eaten before you weight, then ALWAYS do that, if you don't, they do not eat before you weight. You can loose 5lb over night!!! depending on the time of day you weight, so tis best to stay with the same routine of things.

If you have calculated your calories on there, then that is the amount you need to eat, try to get as close to it as possible. You don't HAVE to eat the calories you earn, but I suggest you eat at least half of them.

Fill up on your protein food [meat, fish etc] cut down on carbs more as they tend to hold water more in us bigger size loverly people *wink* lol, that's what I find anyway, or it maybe because I am a female? I don't know all the ways around this, but I've been loosing my weight for 2 and half years.............as you can see from my ticker. Do not expect to loose every week, and don't ever compare yourself to someone else, we are all on our private journey. Its the not giving up.....giving up, that works.

We can all get different advice, but you need to play around with your foods. If you have just started, then just substitute healthier alternatives bit by bit and its gradually that you won't notice the difference.

For instance I have been using FRY LIGHT for years now, and I can't abide fatty foods swimming in oil now they make me feel sick! even at McD I can only have the chicken burger, never the beef one............so yes, your tastes buds will change in time.


Just stick with it, its the sticking with it that brings success, all good healthy eating plans work, its the keeping at them that brings results. HONEST. I am someone that lost with WW, and lost with SW and now following WW but on here too, as lets face it, WW is calorie counting really. 40 calories is 1 PP so..............

Think about what you eat. Then see in that if there are any substitutions you can make, for instance, if you like sausages, find a low fat version that you may like.............I've worked through them all with my family, believe me!!! lol

But please, don't jump on the scales more than once per week. My son took 2 yrs to loose 10 stone, he went to the gym every day after work, sometimes he would PUT ON and yet his food diary was brilliant! just keep with it and your body will catch up.

I wish you all the best my friend

yoovie

Its going to take you about a year to a year and a half to lose the first 50.

Maybe it will take less- but count on it taking a year.

heybales

The energy expended is the work done in moving and heating my mass. The work done moving my mass is easily calculated by multiplying the force required to move my mass by the distance over which that force acts. The force applied can be calculated by multiplying my mass by my acceleration and then adding the sum of any forces working to oppose my motion. As for heating my mass, my body maintains a uniform temperature. These are the two biggest ways in which the body 'expends energy'. The rate of respiration within my cells is largely irrelevent here.

Very knowledgeable then.

Now for a shocker for you.

Take a long hard look at your BMR figure again. That is the amount of energy spent by your metabolism doing very basic functions, actually dealing with fluid levels with the cells.

And you think you burn that much on a daily basis through ALL of your activity?

You are sadly unaware of how the body works, and how energy is expended.

Your metabolism, BMR specifically, is probably burning more than ALL your daily activities and part of your workouts burn combined.

To think you burn more moving around is sadly mistaken.

Fubar_Bill

Well, I am not a certified anything, but following the formula:

10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) - 5 x age (y) + 5

Note: this formula is only for men, women have to subtract 161 instead of adding 5

I found your Basal Metabolic Rate to be approximately 2875 calories for a sedentary life.

Using a pedometer to add calories from walking that you would otherwise do normally will not help you.

One problem is that there is a general rule stating that you should not consume less calories than 8 times your weight.

In your case, that adds up to 2256 calories. This is a net daily loss of 619 calories a day or just over a pound a week.

If you want to lose more, then you will have to work for it. That's right, excersize!

It will help you feel better and have more energy.

After doing some research, I found the formulas on the internet. Take it or leave it, but it might help you understand why things are starting at a slow pace.

Best of Luck!

- Bill

Mawkish1983

It is very simple... calories in vs calories out. It just takes time

Makes sense to me Thank you

Mawkish1983

I was stuck for awhile until I was recommended to take a B complex vitamin. This might help you as well.

Interesting, I will look into that. Thank you

Mawkish1983

Oh please PLEASE do not stand on the scales daily

Having seen the myriad advice warning against daily weigh-ins I am going to operate contrary to my own intuition and weigh myself just once per week, at the same time of day and on the same day. There would be no point me asking for advice if I had no intention of listening to the advice that is given

I wish you all the best my friend

Thank you very much, and congratulations on your remarkable losses!

Mawkish1983

Its going to take you about a year to a year and a half to lose the first 50.

Oh that's disappointing, I was hoping to have a BMI of 25 by Christmas. Oh well, thank you for the warning