Why is it not coming together??

Jess830409

Ok, so I want to believe that if you burn more calories than you consume you would create a defecit and therefore lose weight...right??

I am 5' 3" and 145lbs. I wear a FITBIT and it tells me that on average I burn 1600 calories per day.... 2 days a week I work at night, which brings my calorie burn to about 2,000

So one would think that by eating 1200 calories (my goal) and burning 1600-2000 I would have a defecit of 400-800 calories a day

For the week that would put me at 2,800 -5,600 calorie defecit

One pound equals 3,500 calories

Why has my weight not budged????

I have been consistently between 144-147 for the last 6 months on this plan

Please help, anybody....what do I need to do to get the weight loss going??

Thank you in advance

Fit4LifeHeather

I would love to help you, can you tell me what you are eating?

kdiamond

You should be losing weight, especially over 6 months. However, if you are having a day off (i.e. weekend day or something), you can easily undo everything for the week.

Are you measuring accurately?

withchaco

Are you weighing your food? Don't guesstimate your portions; weigh your food. Measuring cups/spoons are only reliable with liquids.

Also, I see your diary and it seems like you're not logging everything. How are you keeping track of calories without logging? (genuine question; I've been using a non-MFP program for calorie tracking, so I'm wondering if you've been doing something similar)

Jess830409

My food diary is open - but I do admit it is not complete (I get busy in the evenings with the kids and dont usually log dinner)

I eat almost anything - I dont have any off limit foods...just make it work in my calorie goals.

I do know I have to watch the sodium, as with age this is starting to be a factor

Any advise would be helpful...thanks so much

Jess830409

I do use a non MFP calorie site to check my calories on foods and at night I am away from my computer so my logging has not been complete as of lately...I want to get better at that but I always know going in to dinner time what I have left for the day and go from there

I do have a food scale at home that I use...digital

kellicci

Probably b/c your BMR is 1352 right now. If' you've been eating 1200 for a long time and nothing's happening it's b/c your body thinks you're nuts and it wants more food. (j/k you're not nuts but your body needs more especially in days you work)

I would suggest upping your goal to 1300 (the extra 50 will probably work itself out in roundign and estimating) then eat and extra 30-400 on your night work days. I would also suggest adding some other exercise a couple days a week even if it's a home video, jogging or walking.

I'm 5'1" and started mfp this Aug at 138. I'm now down to 130 (and ready to break into the 120s any day!) I have an office job I eat 1300 a day and do boot camp once a week and some cardio 2-3 other days (just started C25K). So this eating at your BMR worked for me and it seems we have similar height/weight starting points.

DanaDark

You might need more protein. Given you do not log everything is is hard to really know.

As well, your stress levels can play a major factor. Sleeping poorly or lack of sleep can cause an issue with weight loss for example (that is a stress).

withchaco

Unlogged dinners could definitely be the culprit.

Do you weigh EVERYTHING? (well, except certain condiments like black pepper or herbs, I guess)

I would suggest upping your protein and fiber intake. Some people, myself included, retain a lot of water when they eat too much carb.

Diharp

Definitely up your Protein and Fiber I was at the same place and now I finally am loosing inches.

kevin3344

Something is missing in your diary. You can try ball-parking dinner if you are busy in the evening, but you'll need a complete log to see your weak spots. Try logging what you might eat for the day in the morning and adjust it accordingly.

My sister-in-law was at a stalemate for a long time. She was eating clean, exercising, always under her calories. What we found was a couple times a day, while sitting at the computer, she would eat candy....of course, she didn't think it amounted to much but when we looked at the calories, it was 150-200. After she gave up the candy she steadily lost 17lbs in about 4 months!!! Literally 150 cals a day is all it takes...

It might be something as simple as an additional glass of wine in the evening or a snack while watching t.v....try logging as accurately as possible and I'll bet you see it

alcon79

I would suggest eating more. A larger deficit doesn't necessarily mean you're going to lose weight faster. Based on your current stats, you most likely don't have a lot to lose, so you should really aim for .5 - 1 lb loss per week.

I started at the same weight as you (and 1 inch taller), and it took a full year, but I got to goal weight. The 1st 6 months on about 1600 cals and the last 6 months eating 1900 cals per day.

LoraF83

My food diary is open - but I do admit it is not complete (I get busy in the evenings with the kids and dont usually log dinner)

I eat almost anything - I dont have any off limit foods...just make it work in my calorie goals.

I do know I have to watch the sodium, as with age this is starting to be a factor

Any advise would be helpful...thanks so much

Your first line is your problem. You need to log everything. EVERYTHING. No excuses about kids - logging takes just a few seconds and we are all busy.

I don't care what you eat (and I'm a believer in moderation, with nothing being off limits), but if you don't log it, you're setting yourself up for failure.

Don't be surprised by the results you don't get for the work you didn't do.

kenazfehu

I suspect that your guesstimates are off. Sometimes I get in a hurry and start eyeballing my portions, and often when I double back and check with measurements, I discover that my portions were bigger than they were supposed to be.

onyxgirl17

How long have you been doing this?

If only for the last week you haven't given your body enough time to adjust. Water weigh fluctuations are much higher than the calorie deficit you pointed out so a loss wouldn't be apparent yet.

That's my guess. That's also what keeps me in check from week to week. I technically haven't lost weight for over 2 weeks but I know the way my body works it only lets the weight go at certain times of the month, but it does end up being the deficit I worked for all month long. For example last month I hadn't lost any weight for 2 weeks and in the third week I lost 3 pounds, and I'm on close to a 1 lb a week caloric deficit.

krickeyuu

I can only comment basd on my own experience, but I am 5'4" (I am 52 yo, so a bit older than you) My starting weight was 153. I calculated my TDEE, sedentary (BMR X 1.2) for my goal weight of 130 and it is about 1500 calories. Then I eat most (or all) of my exercise calories. It worked quite well for me--lost about a pound a month. I have slowed down now that I am within a pound or two of goal.

TDEE sedentary for your height, weight and age is about 1513. Or, you can do BMR X 1.2 for your current weight and subtract 10-15% for a loss of .5 - 1.0 lb per week. Approx 1352 X 1.2=1379. Then eat back any exercise calories burned. Log everything, even if you go over.

Jess830409

Thank you all for your responses - some very useful info.

Bottom line I do need to log more completely, was doing so in the past and life got in the way. Thought I was dioing a good job calculating in my head but that is not working it seems

Appreciate all the helpful hints and congrats to everyone who has been successful

psuLemon

Thank you all for your responses - some very useful info.

Bottom line I do need to log more completely, was doing so in the past and life got in the way. Thought I was dioing a good job calculating in my head but that is not working it seems

Appreciate all the helpful hints and congrats to everyone who has been successful

You also need to eat more, especially if you are exercising and not overweight. Try eating 1700 calories for a month and completely log your food. You can also adjust macro's to 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats so you can ensure you are getting enough protein.

Also, if you haven't started weight training, then you should be. It's much better for fat loss.

ChristyRunStarr

You already said this but, yes, you need to log more. I get that it can be busy with kids but do you use the phone app? Or pre-log your dinner if you know what you're going to be making? Maybe up your calories, I stopped losing after a bit on 1200 so I upped them a bit and have started losing again. Try doing that for a few weeks and then see where you are. Also, I can't remember, did you say if you take measurements too or just use your scale for your weigh ins?

californiagirl2012

Ok, so I want to believe that if you burn more calories than you consume you would create a defecit and therefore lose weight...right??

I am 5' 3" and 145lbs. I wear a FITBIT and it tells me that on average I burn 1600 calories per day.... 2 days a week I work at night, which brings my calorie burn to about 2,000

So one would think that by eating 1200 calories (my goal) and burning 1600-2000 I would have a defecit of 400-800 calories a day

For the week that would put me at 2,800 -5,600 calorie defecit

One pound equals 3,500 calories

Why has my weight not budged????

I have been consistently between 144-147 for the last 6 months on this plan

Please help, anybody....what do I need to do to get the weight loss going??

Thank you in advance

I know it's not for everybody but once I ignored calorie burns for exercise I started losing weight. Of course you burn calories when you exercise, just not near as much as they say. I'm afraid I learned this the hard way running marathon after marathon and still gaining weight. It seemed like something was wrong. Nope, I just needed to eat less.

What you eat really does not matter. It's all about calories. People will tell you to eat more of this and more of that. It does not matter.

There is no mystery to weight loss, everyone thinks something is wrong, their metabolism is broken, they have low thyroid, they have menopause or whatever issue, they are as unique as a snowflake, whatever. I thought a lot of these things once too but once the doctor helped resolve the health issues for me I learned there is still no magic pill. Most people eat more than they need to and are not at good at estimating calories as they think they are. Most people have a lower BMR than they think they do. The only way to know for sure is to go to a lab and have it tested. It doesn't seem fair to have to eat less and feel a little hunger. It's hard to face the truth of it, very hard. It's not fun. It's drudgery at times. But if you learn to enjoy your smaller amounts of food (necessary to lose weight, since the reason we got fat in the first place was eating too much whether we knew it or not), and rejoice in your victories it can be done.

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

To say eat more is wrong.

To say eat less is wrong.

To find the exact calories needed for YOU to be in a healthy sustainable calorie deficit is the right answer. Wait, if you need to adjust by 100 do it, wait, adjust, wait, adjust, wait. The tortoise wins this race.

All that matters is calories. A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss. Don't make it complicated.

You want to eat as healthy as you can because it makes you feel better and perform better, and makes you healthier. There are a bunch of tricks and clean eating; reducing sugar (especially HFCS), fiber, white flour vs whole grain, low carb, low fat, on and on. All that matters is calories for weight loss. If you need to eat a certain way for health reasons or to feel better do it, but extensive good food and bad food lists will drive you insane at some point, it’s a constantly moving target. Just eat what you like, mostly healthy, mostly balanced, within a calorie budget.

Also people play mental accounting games with calories just like with finances. Make steps to make sure you are making accurate measurements. Packaged foods can have MORE than they say but not less (they get in trouble if less so they would rather error with MORE).

If you typically intake sodium at a certain rate your body adjusts, but if you make a sudden change then you will see a spike.

Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone. Losing fat with no muscle is ugly and cardio alone will not make you pretty. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

Everyone needs resistance training to improve their health and bone density and this will especially improve your quality of life when you get older. But you will not gain all that much lean body mass as fast as everyone thinks. Guys of course will gain more. A DXA scan will prove the point. There are lots of stories about changing size but no one REALLY knows unless they do a DXA scan. Here's more about that --> http://bradpilon.com/weight-loss/intermittent-fasting-and-bulking/ this is true whether you IF or not. My DXA scans proved that I really didn't gain that much lean body mass yet I look very muscular for a female. I have very high bone density from over 30 years of lifting yet my lean body mass is still only 104 lbs and my RMR is still only 1380.

I recently had my DXA scan done and at 51.5 years of age I have the bone density of a super athletic 30 year old. That is a direct result of lifting for over 30 years. Now if that is not scientific proof that lifting weights keeps you younger I don't know what is! Also I believe it is why most people think I look much younger than I really am. Because of this I don't have to worry about osteoporosis. If you wait until you are older and your bones start to deteriorate it's a bit too late, you can't get back what you lost, and you can only start a resistance routine that will prevent further damage.

Cardio is good for you but it is optional. I love cardio, but you can't out exercise too many calories. Of course you burn calories, but not near what all the HRM's say. I learned the hard way, running marathon after marathon (yes even multiple runs during the day), as well as hitting the gym hard, martial arts, staying active all the time, not eating while watching TV, not binging, not mindlessly eating, not pigging out, not having emotional eating issues, yet I gained weight year after year, each decade putting on the pounds. I worked harder and harder, not able to figure out what was wrong. It didn't seem like I ate too much, but for my small size I did and didn't realize it until just a few years ago when I finally started losing weight by eating less.

Everyone is different, but it's very easy to do a lot of cardio and think you can eat more than you really need, especially when you need to lose weight. It is also easy to think that you are burning more fat than you really are. Just do cardio if you enjoy it and because it's good for you.

Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.

What is the exact number of calories for you?

We’ve been trying to figure out an exact NUMBER of calories that everyone should be eating, without recognizing that everyone is slightly different. In truth, the calories aren’t the end game. Your body is. So the EXACT amount of Calories that are right for you is the EXACT amount that will allow you to maintain your ideal bodyweight no matter what some calculator or chart says.

In other words, an online calculator might tell you that you need to eat 2,500 calories
per day to maintain your ideal bodyweight. But the only way to know for sure if this is
the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many
calculators and text books say otherwise.

This doesn’t mean your metabolism is broken, it just means the estimate of your needs
was just a bit off.

-John Barban (The Body Centric Calorie Guide from the Venus Index and Adonis Index Manuals)

The good thing is you don't have to worry about the starvation mode myth if you are fat. Only skinny people have to worry about starvation mode. It does not mean you have the capability to eat at a large calorie deficit if you have emotional eating disorders or other issues going on, but at least you don't have to be afraid of it anymore.

I am short, petite, small; my RMR is low compared to others. With my doctors approval I had to eat less than or right around 1000 calories to lose weight. We are all different. There is no one size fits all. Even people my height and gender are different and some need more calories than I do. My doctor checked my hormone levels throughout my 60 lb weight loss journey (from obese down to 10% body fat) and everything was fine. I got stronger and stronger at the gym, my running and weight lifting strength improved even while eating on a significant calorie deficit. My DXA scan proved I did not lose lean body mass or go into starvation mode.

Also you do not have to eat the same amount of calories every day. You can think of it as a weekly calorie budget. You can eat low some days and high some days. You can be flexible. You can find what is sustainable for you.

The Theory of Fat Availability:
•There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
•The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

-Brad Pilon and John Barban (from The Reverse Taper Diet in The Adonis Index and Venus Index manuals)

For me it's all about a calorie budget. I had less of a budget available when I was losing weight, more to spend now that I'm maintaining and all the tools I used for weight loss come into play for the rest of my life maintaining.

When you have accumulated excess fat, you have accumulated a debt. It is hard to pay off the debt (you have less calories to spend). If you are sitting next to someone your same gender and height and they are not overweight and you are, they get to eat more than you (have more calories to spend) because they are debt free. You have less calories to spend because you are paying off your debt.

Wishing you the best! -Bobbie

Jess830409

Bobbie -

Thank you so much for taking the time to put all of those awesome tips down for me. I truly feel I learned something from what you posted and it gives me a different outlook and one that might just figure this out for me. Thank you so much!!

weird_me2

Well, just looking at the last two days of entries, I think you are probably using too many generic listings and it's underestimating your calories.

For today, 2 slices of whole wheat toast with butter - it's much better to log the actual bread that you had and measure the actual amount of butter and log that. The whole wheat bread I buy has 80 calories per slice. Two slices of bread alone is 160 calories and that doesn't account for the butter. Plus, butter and spreads like that don't look like you are using much, but if you measure how much you are using, you get a lot less than most would think, even if it's "just a little".

The grilled cheese sandwiches yesterday I think is probably way off, too. For two grilled cheese sandwiches to have only 370 calories, it could be difficult if you aren't making them yourself. I calculated that the grilled cheese sandwiches at my work cafeteria which are 2 slices white bread + 2 slices cheese + butter flavored oil are about 350 for one sandwich alone.

If you do are using these generic entries and they are off by even just a few calories per serving, it can add up to several hundred a day. That, plus not logging what you are actually eating at night makes it really easy to have your calories eaten be off. I would try actually weighing and measuring each and every item you eat for the next week or two and see if you start losing again and also just to help you see what 165 calories of wheat toast with butter or 370 calories of grilled cheese look like.