Not reaching calorie goal and not losing weight

pippabc
pippabc Posts: 81 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've been using MFP for 2 months now and realise that I am under my calorie goal most days. Reading other forum posts, I am beginning to see that this may be why I am not losing any weight.

I'd love to hear what people know about this. Advice welcomed.

(I thought I knew enough about nutrition, as I have previously lost 45kg and managed to maintain a healthy weight for a few years, but gained weight after having children and haven't been able to get my head back in the right place to focus on my health - until now!).

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    open your diary
  • girlsjustwanna
    girlsjustwanna Posts: 16
    not reaching your calorie goal regularly will slow down your metabolism and make your body store fat easier and quicker when you do eat more as it is in "fight or flight" mode meaning it thinks you are starving it so it's hanging on to what it can for survival (this goes back to our ancient ancestors when they did have to survive on little food and needed the insulation).

    You can really eat pretty much what you choose but stay within your calorie goal (and not too much below!) and add some extra calories a day from exercise as this will help kickstart your metabolism too!

    Also getting enough sleep is a key factor to a good metabolism and obviously stress is not great as it spills cortisol into our system which has the nasty effect of helping to store fat too.

    Try eating a little more with a little cardio exercise thrown in!
  • Mslibb
    Mslibb Posts: 69 Member
    Are you weighing your food for greater accuracy on calorie intake? Also, MFP's calorie burns are somewhat over estimated - if you're eating back cals then you might want to bear that in mind. Otherwise, not sure without being able to see your diary :smile:
  • pippabc
    pippabc Posts: 81 Member
    The sleep thing is probably quite a major - my 14 month old is going through a teething phase and has been waking a few times a night. I find it really hard to go back to sleep.

    The diary thing - I feel a bit weird about opening my diary. Not sure if this is feeling bad about some of the choices I make, even though I am not going over the calorie goal. I am not a secret eater, not ashamed to eat in public or anything like that, so it shouldn't be an issue. Maybe that's my next challenge - loosen up about opening up!
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    Don't open your diary if you feel uncomfortable with it. But go back over the past few weeks and see if there's a pattern of how much you under-eat, or what you are eating - I'm not obsessive about macros myself, but it is helpful to keep them roughly in balance, so make sure you're getting enough protein, and not too much salt. Also, are you drinking enough water?

    Personally I have not found the estimates of calories burnt on MFP excessive - I log what it says and have been losing weight Ok. If you have a toddler you may be burning more caloies than you think anyway - are you set on sedentary or moderately active? Try fiddling with that.

    All I can think of for the moment -hope it helps!

Categories