Is it more than just counting calories?

Yasmine91

I'm sure this has been asked many times and I know the answer might be right under my nose but I've hit a wall :P

I've lost quite a bit of weight so far and as a former 500cal dieter, I'm very happy and proud of myself for being able to lose a nice amount of weight the healthy way. But lately my weight has stopped at 14st 9lbs (205lbs) and it's not budging. I had the same issue when I was only 4lbs heavier. I upped my calories a bit and the weight came back down but now it's stopped again.

I went from eating 1300cals to 1580cals, it's went down to 1530cals when I got to 205lbs (current weight).

I was thinking to myself this week that perhaps it could be what I'm eating because maybe at the end of the day it isn't down to calories as a whole, but I'm really not sure what to make of it.

I excersise as much as a can, usually it's an hour a day of zumba, pump it up sometimes I'll do one after the other in a day with weighted wrist bands.

I wouldn't mind if anyone would like to look into my diary and see where I'm going wrong.

This year has to be the year that I lose all my weight, I intend to take a fitness instructor course by the end of 2013 so I really need to be fit and at target this year.

Thanks xxx

GauchoMark

how long have you been stalled and how many measurements have you taken to prove it?

Yasmine91

I've stalled for over 2 weeks now, and my measurements haven't changed at all either.

Mokey41

Try not eating your exercise back. Also are you weighing and measuring food? Eyeballing portions is a really good way to get off track. All that said, 2 weeks isn't a long time, sometimes your body just needs to take a rest break.

1223345

I have seen a lot of people here who eat back those exercise calories. If you burn it off, and then eat it back, you have not created a calorie deficit. Not sure if that is what you do, just putting it out there.

GauchoMark

I have seen a lot of people here who eat back those exercise calories. If you burn it off, and then eat it back, you have not created a calorie deficit. Not sure if that is what you do, just putting it out there.

umm... wrong.

Your calorie deficit is built into the number MFP spits out. If you eat back your exercise, you still maintain your calorie deficit that you have setup in your goals.

Tanja_CHH

Please do eat all your exercise calories back or youll be going much under, especially if you burn as much as I burn during one of those classes (about 600 calories)
Clean eating and drinking tons of water might help you reduce bloating, not be hungry all the time and possible help you overcome your stall, however its all about trial and error. try cutting out certain food and see if your weight loss kick starts again. I personally have finally started losing again after not losing since around Summer by cutting out wheat, grains, legumes, anything processed and sugar and currently dairy but Im planning on introducing that again.
Experiment and youll find what works for you! Maybe look at cutting back on the work out, it might help you lose more as you might be over working your body. Or changing it up such as adding in heavy lifting 2-3 days a week and only doing 1-2 days cardio.

Yasmine91

Try not eating your exercise back. Also are you weighing and measuring food? Eyeballing portions is a really good way to get off track. All that said, 2 weeks isn't a long time, sometimes your body just needs to take a rest break.

I did that before and I didn't lose weight so I tried eating some back and for a while it worked. But again I keep hitting stops. And I measure EVERYTHING. lol even lettuce.

Yasmine91

Please do eat all your exercise calories back or youll be going much under, especially if you burn as much as I burn during one of those classes (about 600 calories)
Clean eating and drinking tons of water might help you reduce bloating, not be hungry all the time and possible help you overcome your stall, however its all about trial and error. try cutting out certain food and see if your weight loss kick starts again. I personally have finally started losing again after not losing since around Summer by cutting out wheat, grains, legumes, anything processed and sugar and currently dairy but Im planning on introducing that again.
Experiment and youll find what works for you! Maybe look at cutting back on the work out, it might help you lose more as you might be over working your body. Or changing it up such as adding in heavy lifting 2-3 days a week and only doing 1-2 days cardio.

I hate trial and error lol really makes me anxious.

From what you said are you saying that I should cut out everything except meat and fish etc? sounds like a keto diet.

Can I ask, how does excersising less make you lose more weight? I never understood that lol

GauchoMark

my advice is to just stick with what you are doing and give it some more time. Two weeks is not long enough to say you are "stalled". Depending on water retention, scale error, etc, it can seem like you aren't losing weight when in reality you did.

I weigh daily so I can create a trend of my weight loss. It is the only way to really tell how you are doing without waiting a couple of months, but it stresses some people out to see a number move up and down every day.

GauchoMark

oh, and I wouldn't "cut out" anything. Moderation, yes, but not elimination.

DeanBurrows

You have not logged any water consumption at all, drink at least 8 cups/glasses a day.
This will help

Mich4871

Just from taking a quick glance at your diary, you are going over your sugar intake everyday. Cut back on the sugar. Also, check your sodium as well. I started tracking my sodium intake when I had hit a plateau, and cut it down drastically and the weight started to come back off.

1223345

I have seen a lot of people here who eat back those exercise calories. If you burn it off, and then eat it back, you have not created a calorie deficit. Not sure if that is what you do, just putting it out there.

umm... wrong.

Your calorie deficit is built into the number MFP spits out. If you eat back your exercise, you still maintain your calorie deficit that you have setup in your goals.

No. Not wrong. The people who have talked about eating back their calories, are going by the little caption under their diary that tells them how many calories the earned through exercise. They are going back and eating what that little caption tells them.

KenosFeoh

Sometimes, you just have to keep the faith and stay the course. I remember from former weight loss attempts that the scales will do funny things, like bump up for no reason, or stay the same for weeks on end, again for no reason that I could pinpoint. The body has to make a lot of internal adjustments that we know nothing about to convert from fat storage to fat burning, so if you keep doing what you're doing, results should show up eventually.

Be sure to change up your exercise regularly. If you do the same things all the time, the body becomes very efficient and burns fewer calories.

Tanja_CHH

Please do eat all your exercise calories back or youll be going much under, especially if you burn as much as I burn during one of those classes (about 600 calories)
Clean eating and drinking tons of water might help you reduce bloating, not be hungry all the time and possible help you overcome your stall, however its all about trial and error. try cutting out certain food and see if your weight loss kick starts again. I personally have finally started losing again after not losing since around Summer by cutting out wheat, grains, legumes, anything processed and sugar and currently dairy but Im planning on introducing that again.
Experiment and youll find what works for you! Maybe look at cutting back on the work out, it might help you lose more as you might be over working your body. Or changing it up such as adding in heavy lifting 2-3 days a week and only doing 1-2 days cardio.

I hate trial and error lol really makes me anxious.

From what you said are you saying that I should cut out everything except meat and fish etc? sounds like a keto diet.

Can I ask, how does excersising less make you lose more weight? I never understood that lol

Nono I said thats what Im doing, however Im not in keto as Im eating plently of vegetables and fruit. I just said as an example. You could just try cutting out dairy for a few weeks, sugar, wheat, just one thing and see how it affects you.
Trial and error is really the best way to find what works for you though, and if you don't want to cut out any food you could look at adding different foods like different types of vegetables or snack on fruit and nuts during the day instead.

If you over work your body keeping it healthy and getting it to let go of fat is typically very hard, this is especially true if you never have a rest day. There more science behind it of course than just that, but that is the general jist.

katevarner

You are eating under your BMR. Figure your BMR and TDEE and eat more. Probably a lot more.

If you need help, post or message me your stats and I'll figure it for you, but you don't need to eat much below your BMR for an extended period.

Tanja_CHH

Also remember to take different measuresments than just weighing yourself.

My1985Freckles

my advice is to just stick with what you are doing and give it some more time. Two weeks is not long enough to say you are "stalled". Depending on water retention, scale error, etc, it can seem like you aren't losing weight when in reality you did.

I weigh daily so I can create a trend of my weight loss. It is the only way to really tell how you are doing without waiting a couple of months, but it stresses some people out to see a number move up and down every day.

Agreed that two weeks isn't long enough to tell if you have really stalled...especially as a woman ;-) my weight-loss follows a pattern, I drop a LOT the weigh-in after TOM, then a little the next week, the UP the next two weeks, Repeat. So it is trending down, but 2 out of 4 weeks I see a slight increase.

My1985Freckles

You are eating under your BMR. Figure your BMR and TDEE and eat more. Probably a lot more.

If you need help, post or message me your stats and I'll figure it for you, but you don't need to eat much below your BMR for an extended period.

THIS TOO!!!!

Definitely eat more! check out the "In Place of a Roadmap" thread.

GauchoMark

I have seen a lot of people here who eat back those exercise calories. If you burn it off, and then eat it back, you have not created a calorie deficit. Not sure if that is what you do, just putting it out there.

umm... wrong.

Your calorie deficit is built into the number MFP spits out. If you eat back your exercise, you still maintain your calorie deficit that you have setup in your goals.

No. Not wrong. The people who have talked about eating back their calories, are going by the little caption under their diary that tells them how many calories the earned through exercise. They are going back and eating what that little caption tells them.

yes, wrong. I promise.

DeanBurrows

Also, your macros are set up wrong as you should have Protein/Fats/Carbs in orders of priority whereas you have Carbs as your highest

DeanBurrows

I have seen a lot of people here who eat back those exercise calories. If you burn it off, and then eat it back, you have not created a calorie deficit. Not sure if that is what you do, just putting it out there.

umm... wrong.

Your calorie deficit is built into the number MFP spits out. If you eat back your exercise, you still maintain your calorie deficit that you have setup in your goals.

No. Not wrong. The people who have talked about eating back their calories, are going by the little caption under their diary that tells them how many calories the earned through exercise. They are going back and eating what that little caption tells them.

yes, wrong. I promise.

This man speaks truth

1223345

I have seen a lot of people here who eat back those exercise calories. If you burn it off, and then eat it back, you have not created a calorie deficit. Not sure if that is what you do, just putting it out there.

umm... wrong.

Your calorie deficit is built into the number MFP spits out. If you eat back your exercise, you still maintain your calorie deficit that you have setup in your goals.

No. Not wrong. The people who have talked about eating back their calories, are going by the little caption under their diary that tells them how many calories the earned through exercise. They are going back and eating what that little caption tells them.

yes, wrong. I promise.

Umm.... unless you have been reading my messages, you have no clue what I am talking about. I know when someone tells me that their calories OVER their daily plan are because they ATE BACK THEIR EXERCISE CALORIES BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT IT WAS OKAY! Geesh. Carry on.

My1985Freckles

I have seen a lot of people here who eat back those exercise calories. If you burn it off, and then eat it back, you have not created a calorie deficit. Not sure if that is what you do, just putting it out there.

umm... wrong.

Your calorie deficit is built into the number MFP spits out. If you eat back your exercise, you still maintain your calorie deficit that you have setup in your goals.

No. Not wrong. The people who have talked about eating back their calories, are going by the little caption under their diary that tells them how many calories the earned through exercise. They are going back and eating what that little caption tells them.

yes, wrong. I promise.

Umm.... unless you have been reading my messages, you have no clue what I am talking about. I know when someone tells me that their calories OVER their daily plan are because they ATE BACK THEIR EXERCISE CALORIES BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT IT WAS OKAY! Geesh. Carry on.

You are to eat your exercise calories back. The deficit is already built into MFP's calculation. The man lost 118pounds, pretty sure he knows what he is talking about.

professorRAT

I have seen a lot of people here who eat back those exercise calories. If you burn it off, and then eat it back, you have not created a calorie deficit. Not sure if that is what you do, just putting it out there.

umm... wrong.

Your calorie deficit is built into the number MFP spits out. If you eat back your exercise, you still maintain your calorie deficit that you have setup in your goals.

No. Not wrong. The people who have talked about eating back their calories, are going by the little caption under their diary that tells them how many calories the earned through exercise. They are going back and eating what that little caption tells them.

You are wrong. MFP builds in a calorie deficit. If you eat all exercise calories back you will be right at the initial deficit MFP created for you based on your goal inputs. The only exception is if you built your calorie burns into your TDEE by choosing highly active or moderately active. In this case, exercise estimates are already there and adding them again would be double counting. Most people set activity level to light or sedentary. In this case, eating exercise calories back IS what you should do and you will still have your target DEFICIT.

exercisemania

You can move past a plateau by bumping up your calories and mixing up your workout. don't eat less. it tricks your body and gets you burning again. at least i think that's what jillian michaels said.

DeanBurrows

I have seen a lot of people here who eat back those exercise calories. If you burn it off, and then eat it back, you have not created a calorie deficit. Not sure if that is what you do, just putting it out there.

umm... wrong.

Your calorie deficit is built into the number MFP spits out. If you eat back your exercise, you still maintain your calorie deficit that you have setup in your goals.

No. Not wrong. The people who have talked about eating back their calories, are going by the little caption under their diary that tells them how many calories the earned through exercise. They are going back and eating what that little caption tells them.

yes, wrong. I promise.

Umm.... unless you have been reading my messages, you have no clue what I am talking about. I know when someone tells me that their calories OVER their daily plan are because they ATE BACK THEIR EXERCISE CALORIES BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT IT WAS OKAY! Geesh. Carry on.

Here is my example, your 'GOAL' should be your calorie deficit so even if you eat back your exercise calories (which you SHOULD) then you will still be in your calorie deficit.

Please know what you're talking about before giving out wrong info.
Thanks

amycarol59

It is a a lot more than just calories. Hormone changes, water fluctuation, nutrient differences, exercise differences and the list goes on and on. I was stuck between 220 and 210 for months now I am fluctuating at 195-198 for the past 3 weeks. Every time this happens I just do research and make small adjustments until it works. Just stay strong and focused and listen to your body. Make slight adjustments if you think you need to but if you just stay strong it will start moving again. I think your diary looks good you are not eating back all your exercise calories but are eating some which is good the suggestion I would say is you definitely need more veggies a woman needs 9 fruit and veggie servings a day. Hope this little bit helps and you can get ready for your test at the end of the year. Good luck!!!

eyeshuh

I have seen a lot of people here who eat back those exercise calories. If you burn it off, and then eat it back, you have not created a calorie deficit. Not sure if that is what you do, just putting it out there.

umm... wrong.

Your calorie deficit is built into the number MFP spits out. If you eat back your exercise, you still maintain your calorie deficit that you have setup in your goals.

No. Not wrong. The people who have talked about eating back their calories, are going by the little caption under their diary that tells them how many calories the earned through exercise. They are going back and eating what that little caption tells them.

yes, wrong. I promise.

Umm.... unless you have been reading my messages, you have no clue what I am talking about. I know when someone tells me that their calories OVER their daily plan are because they ATE BACK THEIR EXERCISE CALORIES BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT IT WAS OKAY! Geesh. Carry on.

Wow, no, you are STILL wrong! MFP sets up a calorie deficit already. If you eat back those exercise calories, you are still at a deficit for the day. Also, you would NOT go over your daily goal this way. You would still be in the green. If you go over it is not because you are eating your exercise calories back, it is because you are eating more than your exercise calories.

tekwriter

How long have you stalled? When I was in weight watcher's they did not consider it a stall until it hit six weeks. (of course they are making money the whole time) Just a thought.