Anyone Else not Lost since Joining??

Jlwebb07

bump

rkgb

Weigh and measure you food don't guess and if you can get a fitbit worked great for me. I had no idea how many calories I burned a day. Yes I know the fit bit is not 100% but it worked great for me. I also use a HRM when I workout. I lost 15 lb in 100 days doing this. That does not sound like much but I started at 128 so 15 is a lot for me.
BTW I lost 4 lb in the first mo then nothing for 2 weeks. During this time I was tired and sick feeling, I had no idea I wasn't eating enough. The HRM was good but the fitbit was great. Anyway once I had a more accurate measurement of calories out things have been pretty easy. I am still trying to loose 4 more lb but i am doing it really slow. Good luck.

StarvingDiva

I went up on my calories, 1200 calories with 6 workouts a week, was not getting the job done, I was just sitting at the same weight, or going up and down within the same 2 lbs. Since I upped my calories, I've lost weight.

MinkyMoo13

Don't give up! It may take a little time to figure out what works for your body. I have some info that you might find helpful. I merely copied and pasted Helloitsdan's OP on the subject of figuring out calorie goals. Here it is:

This is the best I can do!

I'll hand you the tools for a successful and sustainable diet that you can use and manipulate to achieve your goals.
If you are looking to lose weight, you just eat the calories given by doing the simple math and following the directions on the page.
If you are looking to maintain weight, you add 20% to the number given and youll know approximately what your TDEE is.
The link is at the bottom of this grand post!

I've said it several times here on this forum and i'll say it again and again:

True dieting needs the knowledge of 3 very important numbers.

1) TDEE or Total Daily Energy Expenditure.
This is the amount of calories you burn all day.
From before you wake up in the morning and pee to the time you lay your head down at night to sleep and into the night.
One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing a post on the forum or on someones Diary "Ugh! I feel sooo guilty because I went over calories today!" when the person went over a few cals over a 40% cut from TDEE.

Knowing TDEE allows you to understand that anything above TDEE is a surplus and you will "eventually" gain weight.
Anything at TDEE you maintain weight.
Anything below TDEE you lose weight to an extent. (see BMR)

2) BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate or RMR Resting Metabolic Rate.
If you were in a coma and in the hospital, the doctors would feed you your BMR in calories.
This ensures you have enough nutrients for vital organs to function.
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/science-homework-help/107443-ten-essential-organs-in-the-human-body/
This is just a small list of vital organs in the human body.
Eating at BMR and staying in bed should maintain things as long as you do nothing at all.
Most people who start using MFP dont really understand the importance of this BMR number.
They jump in with both feet thinking "I'm going to lose soooooo much weight and be fantastic!"
What they dont understand is by not eating back calories from working out, they are netting below BMR.
The only people who should be eating below BMR are folks who have had Gastric Bypass, 500-700 cals/day, or people who are morbidly obese and only for an extremely short time and only prescribed by their "Nutritionist".

Most people who eat at or below BMR will lose weight for a short time.
20-50% of most weight lost on a Very Low Calorie Diet is from Lean Mass.
This is the opposite of true dieting.
Most people who diet want to have better looking bodies and live a healthy life.
They want to reduce fat mass and raise lean mass.
Eating at BMR or lower actually maintains fat mass while dropping lean mass.

If the body does not get enough energy from calories in, it will seek ways to slow itself down.
Leptin levels drop, cortisol levels rise.
Anabolism stops and catabolism begins.
The body switches gears hormonally and tries to maintain fat, a non active tissue that stores energy, by burning lean mass, an active tissue that uses calories.
So in essence fat mass starts to stay the same while lean mass drops.
You can see how this can extend your dietary lifestyle right?

Eating at or below BMR with intentions to eat back calories from working out is a convoluted way of thinking.
We should be eating the proper amount of nutrients first, then creating a deficit with our workouts!
That way if you miss a workout, you still have the proper nutrients in your system.
Youll actually have more energy eating right and sleeping right than if you jumped into a VLCD.
This has been proven!

3) Body Fat%
So many people dont really know what their body fat% is.
I'm shocked every time I ask a member and they dont have a clue!
Some people dont even know what a safe BF% should be!

Athletes (6-13% for men, 16-20% for women)
Fitness (14-17% for men, 21-24% for women)
Acceptable (18-25% for men, 25-31% for women)
Obese (25%+ for men, 32%+ for women)

A good way to diet correctly is to set a body fat% goal as opposed to a weight goal.
The human body fluctuates up to 5lbs on average daily!
That would drive any person crazy who likes jumping on the scale every 30 mins!
Measuring body fat is a more sane approach to the diet.
Expecting a 2-5% change in a month is certainly acceptable in the lower ranges.
In the higher ranges it really depends on your BF%, macronutrients and workout routine.
An interesting paper written by Martin Berkhan, creator of www.LeanGains.com talks about the amount of fat the human body can burn in a day. After reading it I started working out 3 times a week and had better results than working out 5 days a week.
https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=160054937436250

Understanding body fat and how you lose it will certainly keep you from hopping on the scale every day and probably have you running up to GNC for a handy set of calipers $20.

So now that I have given you the 3 most important numbers to always know while dieting, i'll give you a good source to figure all this information out on your own.
This was the first source I used to help myself and countless others to lose weight.
Once you have this link you can keep using it as you drop weight and body fat to recalculate your numbers.
Remember that as lean mass rises and fat mass drops, youll have different nutritional needs!

To truly benefit from a FAT BURNING program you will need to have some type of resistance training.
If you are not lifting weights or doing body weight workouts, you will have a very hard time maintaining lean mass while in a caloric deficit.
I always suggest for gym goers, the Stronglifts 5x5 or Starting Strength programs.
Both teach basic compound moves and can help catapult your strength.
I'm sure you can find many other lifting programs but do keep in mind, if you lift Minnie Mouse dumbbells youll have Minnie Mouse muscles. =D

Cardio is great for accelerated fat loss but if you are overweight or obese I would only recommend a brisk walk.
Every pound of fat on your stomach is 8 on the knees and 10 on the upper back.
Once you get down to an acceptable BF level then run to your hearts content.

So here is the link.
Use it in good health!

visit http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/
Do the Military Body Fat Calc first, then the BMR tool.
The Military BF calc is accurate up to about 2%.
The BMR tool will give EXACT calories to eat on a daily basis.
This number is static and I only recommend eating back so your NET is at least 200 above BMR.
Add 20% to suggested calories to know your TDEE.
Use the Katch McGardle BMR number to know your BMR.
Never eat at or below BMR.
For Fat loss plans set up macros at 30% Protein/Fat.
This % is only because MFP wont allow single %.

For more fine tuned macronutrients.....
1g Protein per lean body mass or total goal weight.
.35-.60g Fat per LBM or total goal weight.

Most of the time these numbers are close to 30% of total daily cals.

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.
If I missed something important please let me know.

Hugs!
=D

"Great bodies are built in the kitchen and while we sleep! Everything else is secondary."

OK firstly wow that motivated me!! Secondly;

If the body does not get enough energy from calories in, it will seek ways to slow itself down.
Leptin levels drop, cortisol levels rise.
Anabolism stops and catabolism begins.
The body switches gears hormonally and tries to maintain fat, a non active tissue that stores energy, by burning lean mass, an active tissue that uses calories.
So in essence fat mass starts to stay the same while lean mass drops.
You can see how this can extend your dietary lifestyle right?

That sounds about right for whats happened to me!!

and Thirdly.. I now want some of those scales that give you your body fat as i would much rather be fixated on that then my weight!

Thanks for this am going to get all my measurements done in the morning.. my tape measure is in my bed side drawer next to my sleeping husband!!

itsjustdawn

Try increasing your calories. MFP isn't a diet. The 1200 is a minimum.

MinkyMoo13

Weigh and measure you food don't guess and if you can get a fitbit worked great for me. I had no idea how many calories I burned a day. Yes I know the fit bit is not 100% but it worked great for me. I also use a HRM when I workout. I lost 15 lb in 100 days doing this. That does not sound like much but I started at 128 so 15 is a lot for me.
BTW I lost 4 lb in the first mo then nothing for 2 weeks. During this time I was tired and sick feeling, I had no idea I wasn't eating enough. The HRM was good but the fitbit was great. Anyway once I had a more accurate measurement of calories out things have been pretty easy. I am still trying to loose 4 more lb but i am doing it really slow. Good luck.

Lol my Fitbit died on me! Got a refund on it. I use a HRM when i work out and weigh and measure my food. Its been 75 days for me.. I want to be nearly there by my birthday which is september..

shanahan_09

I've lost the same 4-5 lbs since I've joined. BUT, I know what I'm doing wrong. I sabatoge myself at night with stress eating (so much going on right now. Worry doesn't even begin to describe it). Yet, I'm not the best support system feeling the way I do, sooo I upped my game big time. Added heavier weight to my weights...doubled up on the cardio to a.m and p.m. workouts...and going to try like hell (ok, no try, only DO) not to reach for the comfort food at night. Actually the smartest thing I can do is just go to bed and get the much needed sleep my body is craving--a good amount of zzz's always will aid in the fat loss.
Hang in there. Don't start fresh the next day when you fall off the wagon...start immediately. No time like the present to bring positive change. I'll be cheering you on!! :flowerforyou:

JBsCrazyGirl

Never give up, never give in. That, will not get you anything.
Mix it up! Drink more water! Move, more. YOU can do it.
If you have not seen any change, you have to change, something and keeping changing something until you find something that works for you! It is possible, and you can do it! You just got to hang on!
good luck :flowerforyou:

IL2012

Don't get discouraged! No one said it was going to be easy, I know, I've been there, done that. I've been on it a little over a week now and haven't seen any weight loss either but, I do feel better already and actually get full faster so I don't eat as much. The total calories may be a point. Remember, if you exercise, keep track cause you get those calories burned added to your daily intake, which in turn will allow you to consume more food.

Hope this helps.

Derpina7

I think perhaps you're not eating enough at 1200 calories, your body might be thinking it's in 'starvation mode' and holding onto everything it gets. Be honest too with your logging, I know I feel soo guilty still when I go over, but I try to make a point of logging it as well - even if you're not keeping an accurate food journal, your body still is, right? Keep in mind too with being a woman, we very often fluctuate within a couple of pounds when on our 'time of the month'. I never used to watch that before, but I remember this one week I didn't lose weight and kind of panicked - it also happened to be my T.O.M. The next week I weighed in, was down almost 3lbs! Part of it is usually the water weight that is retained. How often do you weigh in? I myself find once a week is ideal - I try to weigh in on the same time of the same day of the week, it typically happens that our bodies will fluctuate within a couple pounds on a day to do basis due to water/food/etc. And yes to measurements! You could likely just be toning up really well... most important, don't give up!

MinkyMoo13

woah my BMR is 1485 and my BMR is 2120!!! How the hell am i supposed to eat 2120 calories a day when i only eat 1200!! :laugh:

MinkyMoo13

I think perhaps you're not eating enough at 1200 calories, your body might be thinking it's in 'starvation mode' and holding onto everything it gets. Be honest too with your logging, I know I feel soo guilty still when I go over, but I try to make a point of logging it as well - even if you're not keeping an accurate food journal, your body still is, right? Keep in mind too with being a woman, we very often fluctuate within a couple of pounds when on our 'time of the month'. I never used to watch that before, but I remember this one week I didn't lose weight and kind of panicked - it also happened to be my T.O.M. The next week I weighed in, was down almost 3lbs! Part of it is usually the water weight that is retained. How often do you weigh in? I myself find once a week is ideal - I try to weigh in on the same time of the same day of the week, it typically happens that our bodies will fluctuate within a couple pounds on a day to do basis due to water/food/etc. And yes to measurements! You could likely just be toning up really well... most important, don't give up!

I weighed every day!! Made a pact not to weigh until 1st June to try and break the habit

Zandia_1

Bumping for reference.