UGH!! No loss!

annoz
annoz Posts: 68 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Three weeks of logging and also having a fitbit. I have a deficit of 300-600 calories daily and I am moving, moving, moving. Walks, jogs, weights.

Do I just need to be patient? So hard to do when my husband drops pounds just by breathing.

btw- I am 36, 5'3 and 149.5 pounds
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Replies

  • BiggestL0s3r
    BiggestL0s3r Posts: 18
    I'm probably going to get a lot of preaching for this, but..
    Don't eat back your exercise calories, that's what I did at first.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    Be patient. The one thing i do notice in your diary as you are pretty high in carbs. I would recommenf decreasing your carbs to 35% and increase protein to 40% and fats at 25%.

    Btw, is your account set at lightly active? Teachers tend to walk alot and require more calories. And since you dont have much to lose, its going to be harder to lose weight. If you eat back exercise calories limit it to 50% as mfp can over estimate.
  • LokiOfAsgard
    LokiOfAsgard Posts: 378 Member
    Especially with the weights, it could be muscle. I say just keep at it and be patient :3 And maybe what the previous poster said about not eating exercise calories. I know some people that works, some people they have to eat them all and some people can only eat half. You just need to find what works best for you.
  • annoz
    annoz Posts: 68 Member
    If I don't eat back calories then I'm only eating 1200 calories. I think I'd die on 1200 calories. I work out, wait tables, teach, and am a mom...I need food!

    The damn grape nuts that I love so much are a total carb killer for the day :(
  • Cathy7794
    Cathy7794 Posts: 223 Member
    Just be patient and stick with it. I sometimes go 2-3 weeks without losing much or anything at all, and then BAM, I'll suddenly be down 3-4 pounds.
  • ElviraCross
    ElviraCross Posts: 331 Member
    Just stick with it like others said. DO eat your calories back like you are.

    Try lowering the carbs (I eat a lot of carbs) and upping protein and watch your sodium intake.

    If you're working out try to do a variety of exercises. Keep your body guessing.
  • CrystalDreams
    CrystalDreams Posts: 418 Member
    measure! I havent lost anything this month weight wise, but i have lost inches.
  • supplemama
    supplemama Posts: 1,956 Member
    You need to eat some veggies dear. And drink some water, aim for at least 8 glasses a day.
  • Jessies_journey
    Jessies_journey Posts: 131 Member
    Be patient. It took me 10 months to lose 30lbs and now I've been stuck the last 7 months. Change up your workouts, change up your meals - but be patient and don't give up!
  • Chipmunk222
    Chipmunk222 Posts: 240 Member
    I feel your pain, I have not lost weight or inches since the 15th of July.... it is so frustrating !
  • healthyliving_girl
    healthyliving_girl Posts: 290 Member
    Try eating some metabolism boosting foods: spinach, ground turkey, and pistachios are my favorite. :)

    Best Metabolism Boosting Foods

    There are a wide range of foods that have the ability to boost your metabolism. There are four main categories of food to remember if you want to increase your metabolic rate: fibrous vegetables, lean meat, spices, and seeds and nuts.

    Fibrous vegetables such as spinach and broccoli are some of the best metabolism boosters, as the body requires a lot of energy to digest fiber. As your body burns more calories to digest these foods, it in turn speeds up your metabolism. A very good reason to start eating your greens!

    Lean meat is another one of the best metabolism boosters around. Meat is rich in protein as well as being thermogenic – meaning it helps the body to create heat. When your body heats up it burns more calories by using more energy. Some of the best lean meats for boosting your metabolic rate include turkey, chicken, eggs and fish. They also contain high vitamin B content – another metabolism booster.

    Spices work in a similar way to lean meat, in that they are thermogenic and raise the body’s temperature while boosting metabolism. One of the best metabolism boosting spices is cayenne pepper. Eating spicy food generally can help increase your metabolism – and you tend to eat less of spicy food too, minimizing your chance of putting on weight.

    Nuts and seeds work by providing you with the good fats that your body needs to be able to work properly – and are essential when you are exercising. The best nuts for metabolism boosting include almonds and sunflower seeds. The fats in these nuts work to suppress ghrelin – the hormone that tells you that you are hungry.
  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
    From what I can see of your diary you are probably not eating enough for the level of activity you are doing.

    Take a look at this thread


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12?hl=dans+roadmap

    Give it a try it works for a lot of people and makes a lot of sense about realistic goals and targets. Try to weigh/measure your intake and use a HRM to monitor you exercise.
  • AnitraSoto
    AnitraSoto Posts: 725 Member
    If you like Grape Nuts, have you ever tried Kashi Go Lean? The original one tastes a lot like Grape Nuts - not quite as crunchy, but same idea. It has a few less carbs, less calories, lots more protein, more fiber, and lots less sodium.


    Kashi - Go Lean High Protein and High Fiber Cereal, 1 CUP 140 30 1 13 10 85
    Grape Nuts Cereal - Post, 1 cup 400 96 2 12 14 580

    Can't make the columns, but that is calories, carbs, fat, protein, fiber then sodium..

    I thought I was eating something healthy before, but then started comparing labels and found Kashi Go Lean to be the best,,,
  • annoz
    annoz Posts: 68 Member
    You need to eat some veggies dear. And drink some water, aim for at least 8 glasses a day.

    I drink about 90 oz of water a day...I just never log them
  • irishkiss
    irishkiss Posts: 115 Member
    great post gonnabefitgir...lots of good info!
  • Mrsbrandnewmeslimandtrim
    Mrsbrandnewmeslimandtrim Posts: 267 Member
    Bump
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
    It's not muscle. It's incredibly hard to build muscle mass when eating at a deficit, especially for a woman. However, your muscles might be retaining water if you're doing new exercises or experiencing any soreness. Drink your water, eat healthy, whole foods as much as possible, and keep at it.
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
    If I don't eat back calories then I'm only eating 1200 calories. I think I'd die on 1200 calories. I work out, wait tables, teach, and am a mom...I need food!

    The damn grape nuts that I love so much are a total carb killer for the day :(

    Check your inches. There have been times I have not lost a lot of weight but was losing inches due to my weight training. I agree that it is hard to gain muscle but there is water retention associated with strength training. It is also possible to gain muscle as well -- just not as much as many would hope. Best wishes and keep at it.
  • annoz
    annoz Posts: 68 Member
    Great info guys!! Keep em coming!!!

    fat2fit says I should be eating 1616 to get to my goal weight if I'm sedentary and 1852 if lightly active. If this is true then I'm not eating enough calories.

    I will play around with my ratios and eat more protein and lower my carbs.

    It is so hard to be patient. I just want to say f*** it and sit down with a beer and pile of nachos...but that has never gotten me anywhere!!
  • annoz
    annoz Posts: 68 Member
    If my BMR is 1331 why does MFP have my goal calories at 1200? Even if I just sat around all day isn't 1200 too low?
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
    If my BMR is 1331 why does MFP have my goal calories at 1200? Even if I just sat around all day isn't 1200 too low?

    Someone once described MFP as a "dumb" tool. And he was right. MFP is great, but it can only take so many things into account. It gives 1200 as the minimum number of calories for everybody, regardless of age, height, weight, gender, or activity level, because 1200 is the absolute lowest recommended intake for almost everybody. But you're right, it isn't generally a good idea to eat less than your BMR. That's where the manual settings come in. It spit out 1200 for you because you told it you wanted to lose a certain amount per week, so it's trying to help you reach that goal. But it might not be possible or healthy for you to lose as fast as you wanted. I personally like to manually set my calorie goals, as well as my macro percentages, because then I know that my MFP goals are tailored for MY life and MY optimal health, not some vague ideal for the "average" person, whoever that is.
  • Kess31
    Kess31 Posts: 27 Member
    By you not eating back your exercise calorie did it help you lose .... My first 2 weeks i have lost 3lbs and I am working out and eating a fair diet
  • jennetters
    jennetters Posts: 16 Member
    be patient! keep doing what you are doing. i think it took me two months before i saw any kind of weight loss and i noticed i lost inches before the scale actually moved. i started going to a muscle class once a week when i started almost a year ago. after a while i tried to do some muscle training two more days a week. i really think the muscle work helped in my weight loss. it is a good motivator too. in the beginning i didn't eat back all of my calories everyday. but weekly i was always under but not by much. i look at my calories weekly rather than daily some days are easier than others.
  • KrazyAsianNic
    KrazyAsianNic Posts: 1,227 Member
    I would be patient. You could be losing weight but it's being replaced with muscle... which is a good thing.
  • SGT_Reg
    SGT_Reg Posts: 186 Member
    I'm probably going to get a lot of preaching for this, but..
    Don't eat back your exercise calories, that's what I did at first.

    This depends on how many exercise calories that you have every day. You should eat most of them back if they are greater than 600. This of course is my proffessional opinion. You don't want too big of a deficit, because you are just gonna get hungry and/or tired.
  • CallyBeth08
    CallyBeth08 Posts: 50 Member
    Also up your fiber intake. Fiber does wonders!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    If my BMR is 1331 why does MFP have my goal calories at 1200? Even if I just sat around all day isn't 1200 too low?

    So if you know your BMR is about 1331 then lets do the math. Since you are a teacher - according to your profile - we will label you as lightly active. I say this as you will burn more calories than I will since I sit behind a desk all day. So with this information alone, your TDEE or total daily energy expended (total calories you burn from metabolic functions and daily activities) would be:

    = 1331 * 1.375 = 1830 <--- how many calories you burn if you just did your daily routine.

    Now lets say you exercise and burn 300 calories, so your new tdee is:

    =1830 +300 = 2130

    So that means you burn about 2130 (give or take some based on exercise) calories a day. This is where you form your deficit. The closer to a healthy weight (not goal weight) the smaller the calorie deficit needs to be to allow your body to have enough energy to burn the fuel and prevent the release of high amounts of cortisol, which can lead to prevenetion of weight loss.

    So caloric requirements = 2130 * .8 =1704

    This means you should for 1700 calories on this day.


    Now, there are other ways to figure out calories so you don't have to chase calories. You do this by including it in your tdee. So if you workout 4 days week and are lightly active, you are around moderately to very active.


    TDEE = 1331 * 1.55 (moderately active) * .8 = 1650
    TDEE = 1331 * 1.725 (very active) *.8 = 1836

    With this method, you do NOT eat back exercise calories but rather aim for the same calorie goal. You calorie deficit is over the week. So you feed your body on rest days to repair and rebuild. For you, I would recommend around 1700 calories to start. Watch that for a month. If you dont lose but don' gain, then increase your calories by another 200 (sounds crazy right). Unfortunately, we have to find your sweet spot while still working to maintain lean body mass (muscle) as lbm is what makes you have a defined and tight body.

    Another thing, in terms of macro nutrition, I generally suggest starting with 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats. This has been helpful for most people I work with. Now where you can see your largest fat losses is if you start doing heavy weight training (failing at 6-10 reps). It is proven that heavy weight training burns more fat than light weight/more reps and more fat than cardio.

    Hope this helps.
  • annoz
    annoz Posts: 68 Member
    If my BMR is 1331 why does MFP have my goal calories at 1200? Even if I just sat around all day isn't 1200 too low?

    So if you know your BMR is about 1331 then lets do the math. Since you are a teacher - according to your profile - we will label you as lightly active. I say this as you will burn more calories than I will since I sit behind a desk all day. So with this information alone, your TDEE or total daily energy expended (total calories you burn from metabolic functions and daily activities) would be:

    = 1331 * 1.375 = 1830 <--- how many calories you burn if you just did your daily routine.

    Now lets say you exercise and burn 300 calories, so your new tdee is:

    =1830 +300 = 2130

    So that means you burn about 2130 (give or take some based on exercise) calories a day. This is where you form your deficit. The closer to a healthy weight (not goal weight) the smaller the calorie deficit needs to be to allow your body to have enough energy to burn the fuel and prevent the release of high amounts of cortisol, which can lead to prevenetion of weight loss.

    So caloric requirements = 2130 * .8 =1704

    This means you should for 1700 calories on this day.


    Now, there are other ways to figure out calories so you don't have to chase calories. You do this by including it in your tdee. So if you workout 4 days week and are lightly active, you are around moderately to very active.


    TDEE = 1331 * 1.55 (moderately active) * .8 = 1650
    TDEE = 1331 * 1.725 (very active) *.8 = 1836

    With this method, you do NOT eat back exercise calories but rather aim for the same calorie goal. You calorie deficit is over the week. So you feed your body on rest days to repair and rebuild. For you, I would recommend around 1700 calories to start. Watch that for a month. If you dont lose but don' gain, then increase your calories by another 200 (sounds crazy right). Unfortunately, we have to find your sweet spot while still working to maintain lean body mass (muscle) as lbm is what makes you have a defined and tight body.

    Another thing, in terms of macro nutrition, I generally suggest starting with 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats. This has been helpful for most people I work with. Now where you can see your largest fat losses is if you start doing heavy weight training (failing at 6-10 reps). It is proven that heavy weight training burns more fat than light weight/more reps and more fat than cardio.

    Hope this helps.

    awesome! Thanks!
  • annoz
    annoz Posts: 68 Member
    I lost 2.5 pounds this week!!!! Came off in the last 2 days!!! Eating 1500-1600 calories
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    I lost 2.5 pounds this week!!!! Came off in the last 2 days!!! Eating 1500-1600 calories

    Awesome, I hope it stays that way.

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