Zero pounds lost, trying to keep up morale

toomanycurves

I'm wondering if anyone else had a really slow start on MFP? I've been here about a month and have lost neither pounds nor inches! Maybe it is because I was naturally very thin until my mid-40s. Maybe it's because I'm kind of old now. Perhaps it is because I've tried and failed to find a local workout partner. I dunno. Insights welcome!:flowerforyou:

sarahkittymeow

A workout partner (my sister) made ALL the difference for me...when she wasn't around to workout with me, I just sat around not working out but never accepting my body...basically just hating myself for how I looked and for not doing anything about it. Now that we've been working out for a while, I am motivated enough to work out alone. But I think that was the determining factor for me

AZackery

Hi Toomanycurves. You can do this. Age is nothing but a number. Sometimes, people need a workout buddy, but if no one is available, then it's best to go at this alone. You are on the healthy track alone. People will not always be around.

How much calories are you eating? How much water are you drinking? What's your fiber intake? And last but not least, what kind of workouts are you doing?

ThinUpGirl

im a little confused about how bmi, bmr and rmr (is that right?) play into weight loss?!?
I understand what each of them mean, but I'm confused about.....

how many calories I need to consume to lose?
how my calories burned plays into all of this?

If someone could explain this is simpler terms, that may help!!!



Basically, I'm trying to lose 3 lbs. per week. My BMR is 1620.
I'm eatting 1200-1300 cal. per day.
My target to burn is 400 cal. 6x's per week on my treadmill.
(in addition to that I do basic strength training at home: lunges, squats, curls, etc.)

Help please!

Laoch_Cailin

Wasn't gonna reply to this but seen your picture. IS THAT YOU??? My god you look amazing for a 60 year old. You must be doing something right.

Someone with alot more knowledge will be able to help you out on the diet thing. Best of luck x

toxicmikki

I could see where you would start to get discouraged, but DON'T GIVE UP!!! I am certainly not an expert when it comes to this subject, and I am sure that there are a lot of qualified people on this site that could give you some very good information on why you are not losing any weight after being on the program for a month. Just by looking at your food diary the only thing that I would suggest is not to "quick add" your foods that way you can get the nutritional breakdown and maybe there is something there that might help like too many carbs, ect. Other than that your diary looks great and your water intake is good as well. It also looks like your getting some moderate exercise which is fantastic!
I agree that age is just a number and whether you’re getting in shape for the first time in your life or getting back into shape after slacking off for a while, it is possible at any age! Hang in there and I’m sure your be losing in no time!

Meg_78

I def had what I called "teething issues" in the first few weeks of MFP, it takes time to get all your setting right, an find exactly what works for you, just hang in there and keep trying, if you not seeing any change maybe try something new and different. Find yourself some inspiring and motivational friends too!

angbunny22

We are all here to support you even if you can't find someone to work out with....we can support you virtually! feel free to add me....

Hezzietiger1

Your food diary is closed so I can't offer a lot of detailed thoughts.

You can try increasing or decreasing your calories by 100. What are your macros set at? Sometimes it isn't so much of how much you eat, but what you are eating. Try to get carbs and protein together at every meal. They work together. If you can get your diet spot on, you can lose the weight without any exercise at all.

Adding exercise will just assist and add tons of other benefits like increased muscle mass, better metabolism, more energy, tighter and toned body, etc.

Good luck!!

toomanycurves

Thanks to all for the advice.:flowerforyou: I checked my food diary settings and it was not set to public. Now it is! I just completed a 30 minute Pilates workout. Mikki, you're right about not "quick adding" my foods. I typically do that when I've eaten out and can only guestimate the calories I've consumed but sometimes I do it just because I am in a hurry. I can certainly slow down enough to avoid the latter!

Lozze

Looking at your diary for a week and you're hundreds of calories under each day. I would try to eat at my recommended calorie level first before changing anything.

hanniejong

I am having problems losing at the moment been here since january and for the last month I am stuck in the same place and it is discouraging, but the main point is DON"T give up on yourself. I am older than you and I have an idea why I am stuck, Iretain fluid and having a few other problems at the moment. I have a good friend who is overweight and I got her to join me and that has motivated her and now her ovrweight sister also joins in. If you can't find a buddy can you go to a gym to workout and maybe make a friend there, or just the fact there are other people there would help.

I love encouraging people do feel free to add me!!

KeriA

I didn't lose well on MFP using the guided settings. I was only wanting to lose a pound a week and set my calories accordingly. When I didn't lose I thought it was because I needed to lower them but now with hind sight I feel I needed to up them. It has taken my a year to lose 30 pounds and then I stalled. I find out now that it isn't that healthy to eat below your BMR to lose. You want to eat between your BMR and TDEE. To do that it takes a little thought and trial and error since you can get estimates but to customize to you it may take a bit of work. The reason I feel that I did not lose well following MFPs settings was that the settings were too low. They were below my BMR which is the calories you need if you are in a coma. It worked for some but not me. Everytime I started to up my exercise I would stall out even though I ate back most of my exercise calories. I really lost on weeks I eased up on my exercise and calorie goals. Now I am eating at a 15% deficit from my assumed TDEE (Total daily energy expenditure) and I seem to be losing again. Many say calories in calories out but it wasn't that simple for me. You need to find that sweet spot for you not some typical person. Everytime you try something you need to give it 2-3 weeks before your body responds to what you have changed. I like this thread which talks about how to customize MFP. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/557201-how-to-lose-weight-correctly

Before I started on here I had already started exercising and have focused on that. I did lose inches but losing pounds were slow I think since I was exercising I needed more calories to lose. I am not saying you are eating too few calories but that what works for many may not work for you. So yes my start was slow and my middle was slow and hopefully from now on I will see a steady loss.

tomakehermine

i am having a very slow start as well - you aren't the only one hee hee c:

don't let the joined date fool you - i really didn't start until 50 ish days ago.

em9371

im a little confused about how bmi, bmr and rmr (is that right?) play into weight loss?!?
I understand what each of them mean, but I'm confused about.....

how many calories I need to consume to lose?
how my calories burned plays into all of this?

If someone could explain this is simpler terms, that may help!!!



Basically, I'm trying to lose 3 lbs. per week. My BMR is 1620.
I'm eatting 1200-1300 cal. per day.
My target to burn is 400 cal. 6x's per week on my treadmill.
(in addition to that I do basic strength training at home: lunges, squats, curls, etc.)

Help please!

Have a look on helloitsdan's post 'in place of a road map'
This explains all about bmr / tdee etc and has cal calculators.
Just based on what you said, if your goal is 1200-1300, that is net so when you account for 400 cals of exercise you should be eating 1600-1700.
However - If your bmr is 1620, ideally you should NET above this, you shouldn't be aiming for 3 or even 2 lb losses with the amount you have to lose its not healthy.
I'd change your goal to 1.5 and eat all your cals including exercise.

taylmarie

I def had what I called "teething issues" in the first few weeks of MFP, it takes time to get all your setting right, an find exactly what works for you, just hang in there and keep trying, if you not seeing any change maybe try something new and different. Find yourself some inspiring and motivational friends too!

Yup! This is me right now. I am still making adjustments and finding what works for me:

Step 1: Started at 1200, realized on days I might not get to workout for extra cals this would not be sustainable.
Step 2: Learned about TDEE and decided to increase calories to 1450, much more suitable for me.
Step 3: Increased protein, lowered carbs (trying to focus on complex) and tried to get my macros in sync

Just made little adjustments here and there until I felt like I had a plan that would work for me. I have only lost 3 lbs since I started, I stopped weighing myself awhile ago. I am just going to give it some time and see what happens. Good luck!

sweetpotatofry

I feel your pain! I'm trying to take a very long-term approach to this lifestyle change - mostly increased fitness level, diet not a huge adjustment because I am a moderately healthy eater (only problem being sweets... major problem, actually) - and as a result the weight is coming off extremely slowly. Hang in there!

em9371

OP - as others have said the first thing is to make sure you are eating to your calorie goals - try this for a few weeks, if it doesn't work adjust your cals.
Too many Quick adds are no good as they don't account for other macros. Ideally you should measure and weigh everything - under or over counting can easily affect your loss.

autumnk921

I have been on here since Jan 2012 and was only losing a little under 2lbs each month...Talk about slow...UGH! Finally this past month I started losing a little bit each week...It just takes time for your body to adjust to what you are doing now & you have to tweak your calories per day a little to get the right fit for you & your body....It WILL happen!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!

One thing that helped me is by upping my calories from 1200 to 1400/day...Now they are at 1600/day & just make sure that you net your BMR at the very least....HTH!

Bob314159

I have not lost a pound in a month (since I started), but I'm much more aware of what I'm eating (though I must be eating more than what I log).

However, I'm much fitter than I was 3 weeks ago, I started a walking program and my progress there makes up for the lack of weight loss. But if I don't lose 2 pounds this week I will be not so happy.