Fit Bit Progress Report - How Could This Happen

4kuykesh

I know there are many posts about "why am I not losing weight" but I'm posting this anyway because I am just livid! I've already been whining to my MFP friends but this is going out to the greater community. Take a look at my Fitbit progress reports - I just don't get this!!! How could this be true?

Nov 18 - 24: Calorie Deficit -3746 and NO WEIGHT LOSS
Nov 25 - Dec 1: Deficit -4886 and NO WEIGHT LOSS
Dec 2- Dec 8: Deficit -4378 and NO WEIGHT LOSS

In fact, I've gained 3 lbs. I'm not weight lifting, only taking cardio (SPIN CLASS) 4-5 days per week!

sarahrbraun

I know there are many posts about "why am I not losing weight" but I'm posting this anyway because I am just livid! I've already been whining to my MFP friends but this is going out to the greater community. Take a look at my Fitbit progress reports - I just don't get this!!! How could this be true?

Nov 18 - 24: Calorie Deficit -3746 and NO WEIGHT LOSS
Nov 25 - Dec 1: Deficit -4886 and NO WEIGHT LOSS
Dec 2- Dec 8: Deficit -4378 and NO WEIGHT LOSS

In fact, I've gained 3 lbs. I'm not weight lifting, only taking cardio (SPIN CLASS) 4-5 days per week!

I know how you feel. I barely lose any weight anymore, despite having plenty to lose (50-60lbs) and having similar deficits

Nov. 18-24: calorie deficit -5713 0.2lb weight loss
Nov 25-Dec 1: calorie deficit -5667 NO LOSS
Dec 2-8 : calorie deficit -6172 NO LOSS

4kuykesh

Well Sarah,

I see I'm not the only one. Let me know if you find the magic weapon that works!

rileysowner

Standard questions since I can't see your food diary.

1) How carefully are you measuring your food?

2) Are you measuring something other than weight to chart your progress?

deecapuano

If you take SPIN 4-5 days a week, you are definitely building muscle! Although SPIN is a very high cardio class, it also builds muscle in the legs, especially the quads, hamstrings, glutes and calf muscles. Do you just sit and spin or do you actively participate in the climbs, jumps, sprints and heaven forbid the hovers. If you did any measurements of your legs, you should see a difference in the inches. I know I certainly have and I only spin twice a week. My calves and quads have much more definition and a lot less wiggle.

blues4miles

How tall are you? How much do you weigh? How many calories are you eating every day? How are you calculating calories burned?

Better yet, start here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Calculate your BMR, TDEE, and figure out an activity level appropriate. Then take a reasonable cut from your TDEE (10%, 20% less) and eat at that level (without eating back "exercise calories" since that's already calculated into your activity level).

A couple things could be happening here...(1) you're not accurately measuring your food and are eating too much .(2) You're overestimating calories burnt through exercise and are eating too much. (3) You told MFP you wanted to lose 2 lbs per week and it has you on a 1200 calorie diet, you probably lost weight at first, but eventually you lost a lot of muscle along with fat, and now your metabolism has slowed to a crawl in order to preserve as much of you as possible.

go to the above link, figure out a good number, eat that for at least four weeks before needing to adjust. Also strength training is your friend if you are not already doing that.

4kuykesh

Thanks for all the help everyone.

- 165lbs
- 1200 calories
- Calculate calories with Polar FT4 HRM and I use a fitbit
- I measure everything and track everything
- I lost the first 18 lbs with Weight Watchers; have not lost anything since joing MFP
- I participate fully during cycle class in and out of the saddle

I'm not giving up - will keep going and I know eventually something will reveal itself. Thanks

rileysowner

I'm with blues4miles. Read the link she provided. Very few people should be shooting for 1200 calories.

chuckles9189

a lot of the times with fitbit if you track your activity on MFP and continue to use your fitbit it's actually double counting your steps+activity. Example: If you ran for 20 minutes and logged in on MFP on the wrong time, then your fitbit will count the logged 20 minutes ALONG with the couple thousand steps for the 20 minute run. Therefore you are doubling you deficit when it shouldn't be.

hellraisedfire

up your calories. do you eat your exercise calories back? how tall are you? as someone else said, you're building muscle.scales are extremely deceiving, if I went only by my scale when I was weight training, I would've hung myself (10-15lbs on, lost 10" off my waist).

futurestarz

I was doing mainly running, and eating 1200 calories a day from july until December 1st, and had only lost 12 pounds. Then, on Dec. 1 I decided to change things up. I started eating 1700 net calories per day, and incorporated weight training into my workouts about 3-4 times a week. Since December 1st, I have lost over 5 lb.

...just something to think about.

4kuykesh

Thanks for all the tips. I am 5'3" and weigh 165. I will increase my net calories to 1400- 1500 to see if that helps, I admit I am afraid! lol. I have not always eaten my exercise calories back so, I'm netting less than 1200 on several days....

katevarner

Thanks for all the tips. I am 5'3" and weigh 165. I will increase my net calories to 1400- 1500 to see if that helps, I admit I am afraid! lol. I have not always eaten my exercise calories back so, I'm netting less than 1200 on several days....

You don't have enough to lose to net less than 1200 on a regular basis. Hope the increased calories work, but if not, add weight training. You may be losing muscle doing all that cardio and not eating enough. You don't have to lift heavy if you don't want to, but even body weight exercises will help preserve your muscle mass. Spin is great, but no need to do it and nothing else.

butterboots89

I agree that you are probably eating way too little especially for the amount of exercise you are doing. If you find it hard to eat more calories during the week, take a day on the weekend to just eat whatever you want. I find having a binge day helps with my weight loss.