No progress; feedback on my intake?
yankeedownsouth
Posts: 717 Member
Although I made a post on the EM2WL board, I wanted to see what you all think. Three weeks ago, I upped my calorie goal from a net of 1410 to a simple goal of 1800 (assuming moderate activity). The numbers below are from the last three weeks. I’m making no progress at all. No weight loss and no loss in my measurements as of this morning. I'm trying to determine if I should give this more time or reduce my calories now (thinking about 1600).
I really appreciate any insight you might have!
1) What's your current intake of calories, on average?
1764 (1800 goal)
2) What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams?
Protein – 116
Carbs – 167
Fat – 68
3) Do you use a food scale and measure everything?
Except when I eat out, yes
4) Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?)
Yes
5) Do you take cheat days or days off?
If I “cheat,” I log it.
6) How much weight have you lost so far?
0
7) What is your activity like, both exercise and non-exercise? (big difference between a construction worker and a desk job) and did you change that activity withing the last couple of months. If so, what changed.
I have a sedentary desk job 5 days a week.
Typical week is heavy lifting three days, one day of HIIT cardio, and the rest lower intensity cardio (I walk my dog a lot, usually about 3 miles). I have one total rest day a week. I’ve been doing this for a more than a few months now, so it’s not really new to me. Also, my calorie burns seem to be a lot lower than most people’s for similar exercise. Not sure if this factors in. I use a HRM for all my cardio…
8) How long have you eaten at your previous amount and what happened in that time frame?
3 weeks. Changed from goal of 1410 net. However, I had a hard time staying at that consistently. I was so HUNGRY some days that I ended up way over. Other days, I was under.
9) What's your height, current weight and if you know it, bodyfat%?
5’7”, 140.6 pounds, 24-25% body fat, 44 years old
10) If you're stalled, for how long and is it a complete stall (zero change in weight)?
Zero change in weight since I upped my calories. Was previously losing about .5 a week. Went all crazy with my eating over the holidays and gained it back. Started EM2WL at the New Year.
I really appreciate any insight you might have!
1) What's your current intake of calories, on average?
1764 (1800 goal)
2) What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams?
Protein – 116
Carbs – 167
Fat – 68
3) Do you use a food scale and measure everything?
Except when I eat out, yes
4) Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?)
Yes
5) Do you take cheat days or days off?
If I “cheat,” I log it.
6) How much weight have you lost so far?
0
7) What is your activity like, both exercise and non-exercise? (big difference between a construction worker and a desk job) and did you change that activity withing the last couple of months. If so, what changed.
I have a sedentary desk job 5 days a week.
Typical week is heavy lifting three days, one day of HIIT cardio, and the rest lower intensity cardio (I walk my dog a lot, usually about 3 miles). I have one total rest day a week. I’ve been doing this for a more than a few months now, so it’s not really new to me. Also, my calorie burns seem to be a lot lower than most people’s for similar exercise. Not sure if this factors in. I use a HRM for all my cardio…
8) How long have you eaten at your previous amount and what happened in that time frame?
3 weeks. Changed from goal of 1410 net. However, I had a hard time staying at that consistently. I was so HUNGRY some days that I ended up way over. Other days, I was under.
9) What's your height, current weight and if you know it, bodyfat%?
5’7”, 140.6 pounds, 24-25% body fat, 44 years old
10) If you're stalled, for how long and is it a complete stall (zero change in weight)?
Zero change in weight since I upped my calories. Was previously losing about .5 a week. Went all crazy with my eating over the holidays and gained it back. Started EM2WL at the New Year.
0
Replies
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Please clarify for me: before you moved to 1800, what was your average intake of calories. I'm not looking for your intake-exercise expenditure, but just your average intake over the course of time prior to switching to 1800.0
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Please clarify for me: before you moved to 1800, what was your average intake of calories. I'm not looking for your intake-exercise expenditure, but just your average intake over the course of time prior to switching to 1800.
Also, how long were you on this caloric intake?
Also, how long did you go 'wild and crazy' for during the holidays?0 -
She stated before previous intake goal was 1410.
I'm also interested in responses as I am similar weight/age/body fat/activity level, etc. Also spent about 4 months at 1500 cals losing <0.5 lbs/week and recently upped it to 1800 because I was hungry. (Prior to that was under 1240 for about 6 months). Have decided I'm okay with not losing for a couple of weeks while I take a break- I thought maybe it had something to do with the freezing weather and might go away when it warms up a bit.0 -
She stated before previous intake goal was 1410.
I'm also interested in responses as I am similar weight/age/body fat/activity level, etc. Also spent about 4 months at 1500 cals losing <0.5 lbs/week and recently upped it to 1800 because I was hungry. (Prior to that was under 1240 for about 6 months). Have decided I'm okay with not losing for a couple of weeks while I take a break- I thought maybe it had something to do with the freezing weather and might go away when it warms up a bit.
We want gross numbers not net - hence why we asked to clarify.0 -
She stated before previous intake goal was 1410.
I'm also interested in responses as I am similar weight/age/body fat/activity level, etc. Also spent about 4 months at 1500 cals losing <0.5 lbs/week and recently upped it to 1800 because I was hungry. (Prior to that was under 1240 for about 6 months). Have decided I'm okay with not losing for a couple of weeks while I take a break- I thought maybe it had something to do with the freezing weather and might go away when it warms up a bit.
We want gross numbers not net - hence why we asked to clarify.
Oops! Sorry!
Still interested! 0 -
Please clarify for me: before you moved to 1800, what was your average intake of calories. I'm not looking for your intake-exercise expenditure, but just your average intake over the course of time prior to switching to 1800.
This is probably more information than you need or want, but maybe it'll help.
At the end of 2011, I lost about 10 pounds on 1400 - 1500 calories and tons of cardio. Once I got to my goal, I added strength training. (I know, I didn't know any better at the time.)
In May 2012, I weighed 132 pounds and was lifting heavy three times a week. Seeing great progress and strength gains. Maintaining at about 1700 give or take although I didn't always track my eating. Life interfered, and I totally fell off the diet/exercise bandwagon.
Came back to MFP in the fall, but didn't start working at it until late November. Tried 1700 calories for a few weeks, no progress so I gave up and went down to 1410 net. For the three weeks before Christmas, I averaged 1576 calories gross. Was losing about .5 to .75 a week. Similar activity level, although I sometimes only got two lifting days in a week.
Edited to add that I was "wild and crazy" for two weeks at Christmas. And I totally mean, crazy! DH and I had hot fudge sundaes five days in a row! Plus quite a bit of wine and tons of other food...0 -
I just want to clarify one thing.
You were on 1,700 before and maintained, dropped to a little under 1,600 before the holidays and saw losses and are now are at about 1,750 and are maintaining? Did you have similar levels of cardio and non-exercise activity during these periods?0 -
I just want to clarify one thing.
You were on 1,700 before and maintained, dropped to a little under 1,600 before the holidays and saw losses and are now are at about 1,750 and are maintaining? Did you have similar levels of cardio and non-exercise activity during these periods?
Yes. Ack, that makes me think I need to drop calories.
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We think you do also - sorry ;-(
The 1,600 was working before so you should really go back to that and see how you do for a month.
Protein: 106g - 25% (rounded to nearest 5%)
Fats: 49g - 30% (rounded to nearest 5%)
Balance: where you want.0 -
We think you do also - sorry ;-(
The 1,600 was working before so you should really go back to that and see how you do for a month.
Protein: 106g - 25% (rounded to nearest 5%)
Fats: 49g - 30% (rounded to nearest 5%)
Balance: where you want.
Sigh... that's what I was afraid of. I get a lot of conflicting advice ranging from decreasing calories to actually increasing by 100. However, I lean towards the decreasing, not because I want to, but because I think my body just doesn't burn as many calories as a lot of people.
However, the bright spot is that I only want to lose 5 pounds. So maybe I'll eat at 1600 for a month and then, assuming I've lost some weight, go back to 1800. I would be totally happy maintaining at 1750-1800. That's actually a ton of food, and I'm constantly full eating at that level.
Thank you for your help! I really appreciate it!
Dawn0 -
Just wanted to give an update and say thanks, Sarah and Sidesteel! In the last three weeks, I've lost 3.6 pounds! I've also been averaging one cheat-type meal per week, which keeps me sane. So far, I have enough energy for my workouts (I've started NRoL Supercharged, and it's a beating).
So thank you!0 -
Just wanted to give an update and say thanks, Sarah and Sidesteel! In the last three weeks, I've lost 3.6 pounds! I've also been averaging one cheat-type meal per week, which keeps me sane. So far, I have enough energy for my workouts (I've started NRoL Supercharged, and it's a beating).
So thank you!
Thank you so much for the update.0 -
Just wanted to give an update and say thanks, Sarah and Sidesteel! In the last three weeks, I've lost 3.6 pounds! I've also been averaging one cheat-type meal per week, which keeps me sane. So far, I have enough energy for my workouts (I've started NRoL Supercharged, and it's a beating).
So thank you!
BOOYA!0 -
I have a question about this - so if I'm reading this correctly, she was maintaining on 1700, then she cut her calories by 100 and then started losing a little under a pound a week, consistently? What gives? Thoughts on that?0
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I have a question about this - so if I'm reading this correctly, she was maintaining on 1700, then she cut her calories by 100 and then started losing a little under a pound a week, consistently? What gives? Thoughts on that?
Some of it will probably be water/food weight - we will need to see a longer term trend to actually make any reasonable conclusions. Also, the OP only tried 1,700 for a few weeks so that is not totally indicative of maintenance - she was on 1,750 until recently. In addition, the holidays would have given her a mini-boost, like a diet break. The results so far are encouraging however and I am looking forward to hearing hoe yankeedownsouth does in the following weeks.0
