I need help! Please! What am I doing wrong?

javagsd

As others have said, you're eating the wrong things. Looking at about 10 days of your diary, your protein is low almost every day. More protein and veg, less fat.

emphoto2003

I just did my 30 minutes of step and my HRM said I only burned 107 calories, where MFP says I burned 618. That's a huge difference! I don't understand why everything I have read on the internet..every calculator, etc says that step areobics burns a ton of calories and then my HRM says 107. That is so discouraging. I set it up with my age, weight, height, gender, etc. This is all so complicated. How can this be accurate. I don't know what to put in the diary.

emphoto2003

I had a thought...sorry if I'm being annoying. I appreciate the help thus far. Maybe this HRM is only logging the steps I'm doing and not the energy/exertion needed. Wouldn't that make a difference?

Lozze

I had a thought...sorry if I'm being annoying. I appreciate the help thus far. Maybe this HRM is only logging the steps I'm doing and not the energy/exertion needed. Wouldn't that make a difference?

If it was logging steps it would be much higher.

This is not the answer you want but the lower number is correct. Turn it into a positive you now know why you were struggling to lose weight.

tashajayne2011

Just wanted to say, WELL DONE for giving up the coke. As a fellow caffeine junkie I can appreciate what an achievement that is. Keep it up x

jwk979

HR monitors are pretty accurate. I would use what the HR monitor says. Online calculators give you the "best case" scenerio as far as calorie burn. I will tell you that I instruct High Intensity Interval Training classes for 55 minutes and I usually only burn around 400 calories. As the instructor I can't cheat in anyway and work my booty off. All of the online HR calculators always WAY overestimate my calories burned doing anything. Don't get discouraged by the difference. Use what your HR monitor is telling you. Try switching your fast food choices to some healthier items such as baked or broiled items and not fried and I promise you will lose weight. Remember, this is NOT a fast process. It has taken me 3 years to lose 75 pounds and yes, I have lost weight before at rapid speed only to gain it back. I truly believe and have witnessed over and over that the longer it takes you to lose the weight the less likely you are to gain it back, It is a lifestyle change...not a diet! Good luck!

sarahleeroy

I just did my 30 minutes of step and my HRM said I only burned 107 calories, where MFP says I burned 618. That's a huge difference! I don't understand why everything I have read on the internet..every calculator, etc says that step areobics burns a ton of calories and then my HRM says 107. That is so discouraging. I set it up with my age, weight, height, gender, etc. This is all so complicated. How can this be accurate. I don't know what to put in the diary.

Just put what your HRM says, that's what I do. But, the calories burned can vary based on so many things. Were you taking it easy with your workout, and not getting your heart up very high? Did you sweat? You can add to the calories burned in step by added another riser if you want to. Also some people too have a naturally lower heart rate which means you burn less per workout.

sarahleeroy

And, good luck to you! I remember how hard it is at first to adopt healthy eating habits when you've been eating a certain way for a long time. Nutrition used to be such a mystery to me with all of the bad information out there! It takes time, but you will get there.

katejkelley

I looked at the past few days of your food diary, and it appears you eat a lot of prepared procesesed food. These foods contain a lot of sodium and very little nutritional value - even if they're marketed as "low-fat", "healthy", or "lean". I would try eating more fresh veggies and fruit. You can eat quite a lot of that and not go over your calories - plus it's very filling. Make sure you're drinking your water each day, too. There also seemed to be a lot of fast food, which is almost never helpful. Try making your lunches ahead of time and taking them with you. I bring a salad or something else from home every day to work. I also bring health snacks (I eat a lot of apples), so I don't get hungry and binge when I get home.

heybales

I just did my 30 minutes of step and my HRM said I only burned 107 calories, where MFP says I burned 618. That's a huge difference! I don't understand why everything I have read on the internet..every calculator, etc says that step areobics burns a ton of calories and then my HRM says 107. That is so discouraging. I set it up with my age, weight, height, gender, etc. This is all so complicated. How can this be accurate. I don't know what to put in the diary.

What did it report as the avgHR for the entire workout, what maxHR did you reach at any one point in the workout?

And what brand of HRM?

Step aerobics can be a big burn, anything can be a big burn for that matter.
And anything can also be a little burn.

Depends on your effort put into it.

MFP calorie burns overestimate for so many because they aren't getting their HR up there to about 75% of their HRmax. MFP usually underestimates for me and others. Depending on the activity. Walking flat it nails it within 25 cals in 30 min.

Also, most probably have an important stat incorrect or not possible to change on their HRM - HRmax. Which means the HRM isn't anywhere near accurate either.
Most HRM's default to calculation of 220-age.
And for women - you have more chance being 10 bpm outside that estimate then in it. Men luck out a bit more.
I don't. I'm 17 bpm higher.

If I left the calculated HRmax on the HRM, I'd have inflated calorie burns all the time.

So your HRM is probably missing an important stat too that is giving you deflated calorie burns.

For me doing steps, it appears I'd have to use a 12" step with 25 steps a min to reach the same calorie burn as a slow run, about 10 cal/min.

http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/StepMETs.html

yarwell

Got the HRM..Just have to figure out how to work the thing now. How accurate are these things anyway?

you don't want to know ;-)

Depends what model you have and how well it's set up. Can over-read by as much as a third at worst, and the reported calories includes your BMR ie they're gross calories some of which MFP has already accounted for in its calculations of your daily burn.

Robin_Bin

Use the values from your HRM. But I also think you probably selected the wrong exercise. Step-ups burn that much, step with a 6-8" step (pretty good sized one) only burns 362 calories in 30 minutes, a 10-12" step burns 462. Aerobics in general, just 277 for that half hour. Low-impact aerobics is only 217 for the 30 minutes. Even though I use a step part of the time, I tend to count my home aerobics as low-impact... I'm not really pushing myself the whole time. Many people say that MFP estimates are high, but I tend to think many people are counting time warming up as high impact, etc.

Also, don't "double count" your exercise. If you already adjusted your activity level because you considered the fact that you're exercising regularly, then don't also count your exercise. Because my work is mostly desk work, I've got my level set to sedentary, so I count basically any exercise I do as above and beyond.

If you're overly "optimistic"... counting any speck of exercise, and not counting every thing you eat, your results will be off.

emphoto2003

I don't know if I adjusted it or not. I workout 6 times per week for 30 min but I put in the app settings that I am lightly active. Should I adjust that?

javagsd

Could it be that you aren't really exerting yourself to your limit when you exercise? Use the monitor to track your heart rate to make sure you are pushing to aerobic exercise.

heybales

I don't know if I adjusted it or not. I workout 6 times per week for 30 min but I put in the app settings that I am lightly active. Should I adjust that?

MFP is designed that the activity levels you select have nothing to do with exercise, and really could not because they don't go high enough.

That's why you add exercise in later when actually done - the deficit is still there.

Now, if daily activity has you moving somewhat, or you were to walk to work 5 days a week as normal part of routine, that would increase the level.

Lightly Active is right, but would not include any exercise.

emphoto2003

So I would need to eat back those exercise calories then, because MFP does not already add them into the lightly active zone?

schustc

I am not so sure I agree - the heavier you are, the more you burn. at nearly 300 lbs, 30 minutes of High Impact exercise, could get a really good burn.

I edited this after reading that she tested with the HRM - I do think it's possible for someone to burn 500 calories in a half hour, given the activity performed and the weight of the person doing it. Someone at 150 pounds burns less doing the same activity for the same time frame, as someone 300 lbs. Try tacking an extra 100-150 lbs to a person who weighs 150, and see if they burn the same amount of calories all other things being equal

Candito24

Hello, everyone I am new to MFP and I am so confused on what I am doing wrong. I am working out at night is that a good thing or a bad thing. I do not understand what I am doing wrong and also how to write in a half of something in to my food diary.

bradp1979

Hello, everyone I am new to MFP and I am so confused on what I am doing wrong. I am working out at night is that a good thing or a bad thing. I do not understand what I am doing wrong and also how to write in a half of something in to my food diary.

It's difficult to know if you're doing anything wrong. The basic fact behind all of the weight loss, is that if you create a calorie deficit, your body is going to need to use something else for fuel, in most cases, muscle and fat. If you are lifting weights, you are going to be maintaining your muscle weight (and even adding some), while your body uses extra fat as fuel. However, it is imperative that you eat enough calories for your body to be comfortable using the fat you have as fuel. Otherwise, you go into "starvation mode", and your body will not only resist using the fat you currently have as fuel, but will pack on as much as it can from the foods you DO eat to have extra reserve. I know this can be confusing, but as a general rule of thumb, always eat more than 1200 calories a day regardless of other activities to prevent this.

Whether you work out at night or in the morning or in the afternoon doesn't matter. What matters is that you do the exercises. I work out at night most nights, and I haven't noticed anything negative as a result.

On MFP, to add a half of a portion, when you click "add to diary", and the window pops up, you have an option of how many servings to add. Just type in ".5" and it will add in half.

Hope all this helps, and I'm sorry if I confused you.

emphoto2003

Hello, everyone I am new to MFP and I am so confused on what I am doing wrong. I am working out at night is that a good thing or a bad thing. I do not understand what I am doing wrong and also how to write in a half of something in to my food diary.

I do my workouts at night. It's the only way I can squeeze them in. Sometimes they aren't until really late. I don't know if that's good or not but I'm sure exercising is better than not doing anything at all.

heybales

I do my workouts at night. It's the only way I can squeeze them in. Sometimes they aren't until really late. I don't know if that's good or not but I'm sure exercising is better than not doing anything at all.

Only bad if it effects your sleeping ability, getting you all pumped up and energetic.
Or if it causes you to overeat because you got really hungry, and the calorie burn allowance wasn't enough.

Some people find one workout type makes them tired, one type wakes them up.

I'm up anyway, might as well workout late if it fits in.

Candito24

Thanks for the advice I will keep it in mind.

emphoto2003

UPDATE: I increased my calorie intake by 350 calories and lost 3lbs this week! I have also stopped skipping meals and added more veggies and fruits! Thanks for the help everyone!

kiachu

UPDATE: I increased my calorie intake by 350 calories and lost 3lbs this week! I have also stopped skipping meals and added more veggies and fruits! Thanks for the help everyone!

Yay

shmo1969

Change up your exercise to keep you body guessing, it gets used to what you usually do and will stop working. Cardio is great for initial calorie loss and heart health, but once you stop exercising you stop buring calories. Add in some weight training for an all day calorie burn, the more muscle you build the more calories and fat you burn just sitting. Good luck!!

Marie31450

Cardio alone isn't always enough..I recently started to mix up my cardio..Zumba,treadmill,bike and elliptical and also added weight training. Make sure you're drinking lots of water and also track your sodium . Too much will retain fluid. Also, make healthier food choices add more fruits and veggies and try eating 6 small meals a day instead of three.I'm finally starting to see the scale move..so don't get discouraged!

TheRealParisLove

Have you tried changing up your daily macros? I was stuck until I reduced my carbs. I also increased my fiber goals, and watch my sodium carefully to avoid bloating and water retention.

I agree with the others that adding in strength training is important to weight loss. Muscle burns more calories than fat, so the more muscle you have the higher your metabolism is going to be, ergo the more fat you'll burn when at rest.

wftiger

First, none of these BMR or other calculators take into consideration the amount of muscle you have so basically unless you know, they are all wrong.

Second, you are eating too little protein. Cut your carbs and up that. Get your carbs from veggies and fruits.

Third, if you chronic cardio, stop it. Add weights. Even if you can lose all your weight on cardio you will have less muscle when you are done and that will lower your BMR.

Contrary to what people throw around, BMR is about many things -- age, height, weight and LEAN MUSCLE. You can't fix the age, height and sometimes weight but you have all the control in the world over the lean muscle.

KALMdown

Get a HRM. I find that MFP overestimates my calories burned by A LOT on all my workouts. Second, incorporate weights 3x a week and cardio 3x a week into your workouts. Cardio alone won’t cut it. If you have been doing the same thing over and over eventually it will stop working. You need different types of cardio so get creative. 3rd Look into HIIT or ladders as well. You can read about them online. 4th make sure you are tracking everything accurately. With these equations, you should be loosing. Try investing in a scale for your food. 5th think about a body fat tester and a measuring tape instead of a scale. Those are more accurate.

These are just some ideas but really play around with them and see where you go. If I were you I wouldn’t eat more though. 1800 is pretty good. I might even go down 100 calories to play with it and see what my body does. It is calories in vs. calories burnt. Something isn’t mathematically adding up here.

^This. MFP does overestimate calorie burn. Even my Timex HRM overestimates, so I enter it at 50% of what it says. MFP I enter it at 66% of what it says. And I also agree with mixing up your work out and definitely adding weight training/ resistance training.