Calories In Versus Calories Out = CRAP!

sleibo87

I do agree that you may not be eating enough and your body is reacting to it. Also Don't let one week discourage you! Once week I didn't lose an ounce! But the next week I lost 4! I averaged a 2 pounds a week loss for the first month or two of weight loss so that was my two weeks right there! Just keep at it. And if you want to open your diary I am sure we can offer some suggestions always looking for new friends if you want to add!

livinbb

Okay so I know that a lot of people on here are very successful, but is it at all possible that it just doesn't work that way for everyone? I might get a lot of flack for this but I am feeling the same way as the OP. I have been doing this (watching my cals, exercising more, etc) since the end of August and I've only lost a total of 4 lbs. I know that my ticker says 7 lbs lost but that's not what the scale says and I can't bring myself to log the gain. Its just too disheartening.

That being said, I have had some off days, but I've had more good days then bad. At least I think so. Maybe I'm kidding myself. Any help (not BASHING) is greatly appreciated.

I have had my blood work done and no there are no thyroid issues. I CANNOT eat a lot of dairy and we CANNOT afford for me to eat copious amounts of meat either, so I am really struggling with meeting my protein goals. If you look at my diary over the past couple of days, my sodium is high because we've been eating out more lately as people have been taking me out for my B-day. I turn 33 tomorrow, and I DO NOT want to be overweight for my entire life. However, over the last couple of weeks with no loss, I am seriously beginning to think that its just my lot in life to be this way forever :sad:

I am attempting to be good with all of my levels perhaps I just don't have the right information? Eat back exercise cals, don't eat back the exercise cals? If you are under cals but over on some of the macros is that okay? I don't have a HRM but I am hoping to get one for Christmas this year. So all of my exercise cals are what MFP says when I log my time and activity.

HELP? Advice?

cwolfman13

Seriously? An 1,800 calorie deficit at times? It's not working because you are starving yourself and your body is taking anything it can and storing it. If you've really been doing that, your metabolism is completely out of whack.

Keep in mind, losing weight doesn't happen over night...that's the problem, everyone wants it to. Also, it isn't linear...it's a trend over a period of time; your body could give a rats *kitten* about a straight up 7 day week. I've had weeks where I show no loss...then a week later about .5 Lbs...then a week later, it's suddnely like 2.5 Lbs and then another Lb a few days later.

The only point I agree with you on is that it's not all about calories in calories out...I think macros are pretty important too as well as the foods that make up those macros. As they say, garbage in/garbage out.

Muddy_Yogi

Is it just me or are there an awful lot of snowflakes lately? I mean I know it is winter and all but ....

Just sayin'

UsedToBeHusky

Okay so I know that a lot of people on here are very successful, but is it at all possible that it just doesn't work that way for everyone? I might get a lot of flack for this but I am feeling the same way as the OP. I have been doing this (watching my cals, exercising more, etc) since the end of August and I've only lost a total of 4 lbs. I know that my ticker says 7 lbs lost but that's not what the scale says and I can't bring myself to log the gain. Its just too disheartening.

That being said, I have had some off days, but I've had more good days then bad. At least I think so. Maybe I'm kidding myself. Any help (not BASHING) is greatly appreciated.

I have had my blood work done and no there are no thyroid issues. I CANNOT eat a lot of dairy and we CANNOT afford for me to eat copious amounts of meat either, so I am really struggling with meeting my protein goals. If you look at my diary over the past couple of days, my sodium is high because we've been eating out more lately as people have been taking me out for my B-day. I turn 33 tomorrow, and I DO NOT want to be overweight for my entire life. However, over the last couple of weeks with no loss, I am seriously beginning to think that its just my lot in life to be this way forever :sad:

I am attempting to be good with all of my levels perhaps I just don't have the right information? Eat back exercise cals, don't eat back the exercise cals? If you are under cals but over on some of the macros is that okay? I don't have a HRM but I am hoping to get one for Christmas this year. So all of my exercise cals are what MFP says when I log my time and activity.

HELP? Advice?

Your total body weight is comprised of muscle, lean body mass (hair, skin, organs), stored fat, and water. LBM should never change much. Muscle and stored fat are affected by "calories in vs calories out" and the rate at which each is lost is dependent upon what you eat, how you use your body, and cortisol. Water is impacted by electrolyte balances and estrogen.

If you are having trouble losing, the problem is one of the following:

1. Too few calories in and too many calories out - causing the body to produce cortisol.
2. You entered the bi-monthly period when your body produces estrogen - ovulation and menstruation.
3. You consumed too much of one of the electrolytes - usually sodium, but too much potassium causes this problem too.


Hope this helps.

UsedToBeHusky

Seriously? An 1,800 calorie deficit at times? It's not working because you are starving yourself and your body is taking anything it can and storing it. If you've really been doing that, your metabolism is completely out of whack.

It's not taking whatever it can and storing it, it is more effecient at using what she is giving it.

GauchoMark

Okay so I know that a lot of people on here are very successful, but is it at all possible that it just doesn't work that way for everyone? I might get a lot of flack for this but I am feeling the same way as the OP. I have been doing this (watching my cals, exercising more, etc) since the end of August and I've only lost a total of 4 lbs. I know that my ticker says 7 lbs lost but that's not what the scale says and I can't bring myself to log the gain. Its just too disheartening.

That being said, I have had some off days, but I've had more good days then bad. At least I think so. Maybe I'm kidding myself. Any help (not BASHING) is greatly appreciated.

I have had my blood work done and no there are no thyroid issues. I CANNOT eat a lot of dairy and we CANNOT afford for me to eat copious amounts of meat either, so I am really struggling with meeting my protein goals. If you look at my diary over the past couple of days, my sodium is high because we've been eating out more lately as people have been taking me out for my B-day. I turn 33 tomorrow, and I DO NOT want to be overweight for my entire life. However, over the last couple of weeks with no loss, I am seriously beginning to think that its just my lot in life to be this way forever :sad:

I am attempting to be good with all of my levels perhaps I just don't have the right information? Eat back exercise cals, don't eat back the exercise cals? If you are under cals but over on some of the macros is that okay? I don't have a HRM but I am hoping to get one for Christmas this year. So all of my exercise cals are what MFP says when I log my time and activity.

HELP? Advice?

I don't know how tall you are, but using age 33 and 176.5 lbs and estimating 5'7", your bmr is 1583. If you estimate a TDEE using sedentary activity (honestly, most people are sedentary) your TDEE is 1898. It looks like you have your goal set at 1868, so you are on a deficit of 30 calories per day. That could be it, if my estimate is close.

cwolfman13

Okay so I know that a lot of people on here are very successful, but is it at all possible that it just doesn't work that way for everyone? I might get a lot of flack for this but I am feeling the same way as the OP. I have been doing this (watching my cals, exercising more, etc) since the end of August and I've only lost a total of 4 lbs. I know that my ticker says 7 lbs lost but that's not what the scale says and I can't bring myself to log the gain. Its just too disheartening.

That being said, I have had some off days, but I've had more good days then bad. At least I think so. Maybe I'm kidding myself. Any help (not BASHING) is greatly appreciated.

I have had my blood work done and no there are no thyroid issues. I CANNOT eat a lot of dairy and we CANNOT afford for me to eat copious amounts of meat either, so I am really struggling with meeting my protein goals. If you look at my diary over the past couple of days, my sodium is high because we've been eating out more lately as people have been taking me out for my B-day. I turn 33 tomorrow, and I DO NOT want to be overweight for my entire life. However, over the last couple of weeks with no loss, I am seriously beginning to think that its just my lot in life to be this way forever :sad:

I am attempting to be good with all of my levels perhaps I just don't have the right information? Eat back exercise cals, don't eat back the exercise cals? If you are under cals but over on some of the macros is that okay? I don't have a HRM but I am hoping to get one for Christmas this year. So all of my exercise cals are what MFP says when I log my time and activity.

HELP? Advice?

Hey there...I took a quick look at your diary. It seems to me that you are pretty consistently way below your targe calorie goal, with some days going over. It would appear that you are eating almost none of your exercise calories back. If you set yourself up properly on MFP then there is already a calorie deficit built into your goal...you need to eat to your goal. If you log exercise, MFP ups your goal because you need to eat most of those calories back...you are not fueling your body. If you're eatting too few calories, your body shuts down the metabolism and just starts storing anything it gets. IMHO, you're not eating enough.

This seems to be very counterintuitive to a lot of people around here...and quite frankly, most seem to be women. They think that being consistently way below the goal is just that much better. It's not...you're doing far more harm than good.

I don't know how you have yourself set up...you may also have your goal set too high...closer to maintenance and you're trying to do exercise to get to your deficit...in that case, you need a 500 calorie exercise deficit/day from maintenance intake to lose 1 Lb per day...if you're not consistently getting that, you may only be losing anywhere between .25 and .5 Lbs per week.

I think maybe go back and take a look at how you set yourself up. YOu have to be honest with MFP to get the proper recomendations.

47Jacqueline

When I started weight training I plateaued for about two months, but this week the scale just showed a two pound loss ;-). My nutritionist said the plateau was due to my gaining muscle and that I was probably losing inches. She also had me increase my daily calories because she said I was probably starving myself.

It takes patience and perseverance.

Sarauk2sf

Content of the calories can be more important than the absolute number.
If I have too many carbs but still at or below target, weight loss can slow to a crawl.
Upping fat and reducing carbs speeds things up again.
An uptick in salt can mess everything up.

Everything you said is wrong

Agreed!

I agree with the agreed!

EvilShenanigansTX

I did not have a loss this week

so what?

Exactly! I worked my *kitten* off a few weeks ago and didn't have a loss. I did have a loss with inches though so I was satisfied. Take your measurements.

^ This FTW!!

onyxgirl17

I would suggest altering your expectations. Weight loss is about trends, not weekly results. The science is there and is proven you lose weight and fat by consuming less calories than you burn.

Agree

hkry3250

Content of the calories can be more important than the absolute number.
If I have too many carbs but still at or below target, weight loss can slow to a crawl.
Upping fat and reducing carbs speeds things up again.
An uptick in salt can mess everything up.

Everything you said is wrong

Agreed!

Please explain that to the hundreds of bodybuilders who cut carbs a few weeks before a show to get more deffinition, then add carbs a day or two before the show to add some size if needed.

ETA, I was talking to the person who said that it was wrong.

livinbb

Okay so I know that a lot of people on here are very successful, but is it at all possible that it just doesn't work that way for everyone? I might get a lot of flack for this but I am feeling the same way as the OP. I have been doing this (watching my cals, exercising more, etc) since the end of August and I've only lost a total of 4 lbs. I know that my ticker says 7 lbs lost but that's not what the scale says and I can't bring myself to log the gain. Its just too disheartening.

That being said, I have had some off days, but I've had more good days then bad. At least I think so. Maybe I'm kidding myself. Any help (not BASHING) is greatly appreciated.

I have had my blood work done and no there are no thyroid issues. I CANNOT eat a lot of dairy and we CANNOT afford for me to eat copious amounts of meat either, so I am really struggling with meeting my protein goals. If you look at my diary over the past couple of days, my sodium is high because we've been eating out more lately as people have been taking me out for my B-day. I turn 33 tomorrow, and I DO NOT want to be overweight for my entire life. However, over the last couple of weeks with no loss, I am seriously beginning to think that its just my lot in life to be this way forever :sad:

I am attempting to be good with all of my levels perhaps I just don't have the right information? Eat back exercise cals, don't eat back the exercise cals? If you are under cals but over on some of the macros is that okay? I don't have a HRM but I am hoping to get one for Christmas this year. So all of my exercise cals are what MFP says when I log my time and activity.

HELP? Advice?

I don't know how tall you are, but using age 33 and 176.5 lbs and estimating 5'7", your bmr is 1583. If you estimate a TDEE using sedentary activity (honestly, most people are sedentary) your TDEE is 1898. It looks like you have your goal set at 1868, so you are on a deficit of 30 calories per day. That could be it, if my estimate is close.

Thanks so much for your response. I am 5'5.5" ( I have to mention that 1/2 inch, it means a lot to me LOL) I currently have my goal set to 1580. When I exercise and log it MFP puts my goal up but I honestly try never to eat that much. I try to eat close to my goal of 1580 BEFORE exercise. If I don't eat my exercise cals back MFP (depending on the day) says that I am under as my net is lower than 1200 at times. I guess this is where I am confused. I know that if I set MFP up the way I did in the beginning it said I was supposed to eat 1200 cals a day NET. But now that I changed it manually and have it set for my BMR, I don't know if I am supposed to eat back my exercise cals or not.

marycmeadows

I've been saying that all along. it's NOT as simple as calories in vs calories out..... weight loss is NOT linear.

Feed/fuel your body properly. work out hard. that's what works. period.

kiramaniac

some new research coming on this:

http://www.nature.com/news/treat-obesity-as-physiology-not-physics-1.12014

The energy in–energy out hypothesis is not set in stone, argues Gary Taubes. It is time to test hormonal theories about why we get fat.

weird_me2

Okay so I know that a lot of people on here are very successful, but is it at all possible that it just doesn't work that way for everyone? I might get a lot of flack for this but I am feeling the same way as the OP. I have been doing this (watching my cals, exercising more, etc) since the end of August and I've only lost a total of 4 lbs. I know that my ticker says 7 lbs lost but that's not what the scale says and I can't bring myself to log the gain. Its just too disheartening.

That being said, I have had some off days, but I've had more good days then bad. At least I think so. Maybe I'm kidding myself. Any help (not BASHING) is greatly appreciated.

I have had my blood work done and no there are no thyroid issues. I CANNOT eat a lot of dairy and we CANNOT afford for me to eat copious amounts of meat either, so I am really struggling with meeting my protein goals. If you look at my diary over the past couple of days, my sodium is high because we've been eating out more lately as people have been taking me out for my B-day. I turn 33 tomorrow, and I DO NOT want to be overweight for my entire life. However, over the last couple of weeks with no loss, I am seriously beginning to think that its just my lot in life to be this way forever :sad:

I am attempting to be good with all of my levels perhaps I just don't have the right information? Eat back exercise cals, don't eat back the exercise cals? If you are under cals but over on some of the macros is that okay? I don't have a HRM but I am hoping to get one for Christmas this year. So all of my exercise cals are what MFP says when I log my time and activity.

HELP? Advice?

My advice for you? Look at the portion in bold. That's most likely your problem. If you just think you have more good than bad, that tells me that you aren't tracking everything. That really doesn't work very well, especially if you are having some "bad" days. That's how I maintained my weight for almost 3 months. Unfortunately, one bad day can be far worse than one good day can be good. Say you do well all day and then have a bad evening where you go out to dinner with some friends. Maybe you share some mozzarella sticks for an appetizer and have most of a burger and some french fries. Then, you have dessert. That could be 2000-3000+ calories for that one meal and enough to wipe out the deficit from a week of good days! Shoot, one slice of cheesecake from the cheesecake factory can weigh in at 1200+ calories and then you have to add more for the whipped cream!

To the OP, a week isn't a long enough time period to provide evidence to support your theory. Too many things effect our weight that have nothing to do with what we eat, especially for women. Maybe it's getting close to your TOM and hormones are causing a temporary gain. Maybe you did have too much sodium and that's causing a gain. Maybe you were simply dehydrated at the first weigh in and are hydrated now. You have to track for a while and see if a trend appears. Maybe you'll have a deficit next week that would indicate a 1 lb loss but you end up losing 3. I've been weighing daily for quite a while and am now tracking my daily weight + my calorie intake and comparing averages. So far I'm actually losing faster than my calorie deficit would indicate, probably because I estimated a bit low on my TDEE.

edited to say that this is what I meant to highlight: That being said, I have had some off days, but I've had more good days then bad. At least I think so. Maybe I'm kidding myself.

pinkraynedropjacki

I've lost 10grams in 4 weeks ... ONLY. Despite working out every day for a minimum of 600 cals, then also eating at a deficit. It's called a plateau. It means now s the time to change your workout routine or exercise.

GauchoMark

Okay so I know that a lot of people on here are very successful, but is it at all possible that it just doesn't work that way for everyone? I might get a lot of flack for this but I am feeling the same way as the OP. I have been doing this (watching my cals, exercising more, etc) since the end of August and I've only lost a total of 4 lbs. I know that my ticker says 7 lbs lost but that's not what the scale says and I can't bring myself to log the gain. Its just too disheartening.

That being said, I have had some off days, but I've had more good days then bad. At least I think so. Maybe I'm kidding myself. Any help (not BASHING) is greatly appreciated.

I have had my blood work done and no there are no thyroid issues. I CANNOT eat a lot of dairy and we CANNOT afford for me to eat copious amounts of meat either, so I am really struggling with meeting my protein goals. If you look at my diary over the past couple of days, my sodium is high because we've been eating out more lately as people have been taking me out for my B-day. I turn 33 tomorrow, and I DO NOT want to be overweight for my entire life. However, over the last couple of weeks with no loss, I am seriously beginning to think that its just my lot in life to be this way forever :sad:

I am attempting to be good with all of my levels perhaps I just don't have the right information? Eat back exercise cals, don't eat back the exercise cals? If you are under cals but over on some of the macros is that okay? I don't have a HRM but I am hoping to get one for Christmas this year. So all of my exercise cals are what MFP says when I log my time and activity.

HELP? Advice?

I don't know how tall you are, but using age 33 and 176.5 lbs and estimating 5'7", your bmr is 1583. If you estimate a TDEE using sedentary activity (honestly, most people are sedentary) your TDEE is 1898. It looks like you have your goal set at 1868, so you are on a deficit of 30 calories per day. That could be it, if my estimate is close.

Thanks so much for your response. I am 5'5.5" ( I have to mention that 1/2 inch, it means a lot to me LOL) I currently have my goal set to 1580. When I exercise and log it MFP puts my goal up but I honestly try never to eat that much. I try to eat close to my goal of 1580 BEFORE exercise. If I don't eat my exercise cals back MFP (depending on the day) says that I am under as my net is lower than 1200 at times. I guess this is where I am confused. I know that if I set MFP up the way I did in the beginning it said I was supposed to eat 1200 cals a day NET. But now that I changed it manually and have it set for my BMR, I don't know if I am supposed to eat back my exercise cals or not.

you may want to estimate your bmr using the katch mcardle equation and go with that for a while and see if it helps. it uses your lean body mass to determine your needs

AntWrig

some new research coming on this:

http://www.nature.com/news/treat-obesity-as-physiology-not-physics-1.12014

The energy in–energy out hypothesis is not set in stone, argues Gary Taubes. It is time to test hormonal theories about why we get fat.

Hormones, play a factor but not by much. Going by that logic, my "hormones" would steer me to being a fit slob.