Why isn't this working?

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I'm still fairly new to MFP but I think I must be wrong because I don't seem to be losing any weight. I started a few months ago and actually seemed to be losing a few pounds but then went on a vacation and stopped counting but didn't gain or lose. Then I've come back here with more commitment than when I started and have kept under my calorie count for the past 20 days (which I think may be pretty low because MFP sets my daily goal as my BMR, so I try to eat back exercise cals so I don't starve) but I may be even be gaining. And maybe this is part of the problem but recently I feel like I have to stuff myself to get my BMR which makes me nervous because I don't want to under-eat if that will make things worse. Does anyone have any advice or support, I'd really appreciate it

Replies

  • Big_Daddy6
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    I would say give it more time. You might also consider scaling back on the amout of caloric deficit you have. Set your goal to loose 1 pound a week or .5 pounds.
  • dawnp1833
    dawnp1833 Posts: 264 Member
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    Are you drinking water? If not, get your 8 glasses a day in. Also watch your sodium and make sure it is not high. Those 2 things messed up my weight loss. It looks like you eat pretty healthy.

    By the way - your profile pic is awesome.
  • jammypack
    jammypack Posts: 3 Member
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    Generally I try not to touch my exercise calories unless I'm on a cheat day. I do set my daily limit about 200 calories above what MFP sets for me and it seems to be doing me fine. I think eating less does make you feel like you're starving at first, but once you get used to it--and it takes a couple weeks of being strong--a smaller intake becomes your new norm and you don't notice. Do you exercise everyday or every other day? Even something as simple as a daily walk around the block helps. If you do more, great.

    Most importantly, take it seriously. If you only log when you want to log, your progress is likely to reflect that lack of commitment. When I started out, to get through the first 40 lbs, I was dogmatic about it, weighing my food, making healthier choices, exercising more and more. The more I lost, the more determined I got. Friends ribbed me for eating light at parties, but I never took my eye off the prize. Of all the friends who joined with me, I lost the most. The difference? They counted calories. I made a life change.

    Good luck to you. Hope there's something you can use or latch onto in there. If it's not working at first, keep trying new things until they do and stick with the things that work. Take care.
  • trdepalo
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    I pretty much drink only water so I drink about 2-4 liters a day. And I do exercise a decent amount currently I weight train 2-3 days a week, run 2 days a week, and do yoga two days a week (so mondays wednesdays fridays weights and tuesdays thursdays 90 minutes of yoga and a run).
  • AVinmill
    AVinmill Posts: 88 Member
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    Possibly not eating enough for the amount you are exercising. Do you measure and weigh all of your food or do you estimate?
  • trdepalo
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    I measure it when I cook it myself which ends up being about half of the food I eat in a day. I eat out a lot for dinner so I try and eyeball it with the skills I acquired from measuring at home. I know it's not perfect
  • hobbyhungry
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    With the types of exercise you are doing, you are probably gaining muscle mass and it will take longer to see the weight loss on the scale. You may want to try tracking your other body measurements (waist, hips, etc.), I have a feeling that's where you are going to notice it the most . ;D
  • dinosnopro
    dinosnopro Posts: 2,179 Member
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    A lot of maybes in there. If you don't know for sure, you won't know.
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
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    Hmmm... doesn't look like you're making any of the obvious mistakes. Fairly healthy eating, good mix of exercise, water and looks like you're probably getting a pretty good amount of fiber.

    You're headed in the right direction. How fast have you set your goals in MFP? How many weeks has it taken you so far? Have you taken into consideration where you are in your monthly cycle?

    Nothing obvious. Make sure you are recording as accurately as you can. Try for a bit longer. Good luck!

    EDIT: I re-read. 20 days - 3 pounds or about a pound a week. That's pretty good if you can keep it going. Or am I misreading again?

    By the way, if I understand it correctly, MFP doesn't usually set the daily goal at or below BMR. (EDIT again... oops, I was wrong about that. It will set goals below BMR.) How did you calculate that? What's your BMR and TDEE?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    I'm still fairly new to MFP but I think I must be wrong because I don't seem to be losing any weight. I started a few months ago and actually seemed to be losing a few pounds but then went on a vacation and stopped counting but didn't gain or lose. Then I've come back here with more commitment than when I started and have kept under my calorie count for the past 20 days (which I think may be pretty low because MFP sets my daily goal as my BMR, so I try to eat back exercise cals so I don't starve) but I may be even be gaining. And maybe this is part of the problem but recently I feel like I have to stuff myself to get my BMR which makes me nervous because I don't want to under-eat if that will make things worse. Does anyone have any advice or support, I'd really appreciate it

    So you were eating at X and lost some.
    Went on vacation and ate at Y and did not gain or lose. (bummer you didn't log - that would have been your TDEE to take a deficit from - well, for that level of activity anyway).

    Now you have been eating at X - 100 to 200, plus exercise calories, and maintaining.

    So you have seen that eating less still resulted in equilibrium and no loss. Sure you want to keep going that direction?

    The weight loss goal YOU selected has resulted in the daily goal being about estimated BMR - the amount of calories your body would like to burn just sleeping all day.
    But you don't sleep all day, you have very active workout routine plus normal daily life.

    Exercise calories for eating back are determined by what exactly?
    And for what types of workouts?

    Unless you are lifting heavy 3 x week or more and eating lots of protein, you are not adding on muscle, but if doing cardio you can be adding on glucose/water stores for that effort. But that will stop after about 3lbs max. Though if you weigh at the wrong time you can see bad false weight gain/loss.

    The fact you have to stuff yourself probably just means stomach has shrunk. Possibly metabolism is slowing down.
    One good, one not.

    Just remember, you feeling full is very different and has no bearing on your body being fed fully for the level of activity you put it through.
  • trdepalo
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    Lots of questions, so here's a bit more info.

    I am 22, I am 6'5.5'' and weigh 146.6 pounds, and I'd like to weigh (ideally) 125 though I could settle for 130.

    I have set MFP to lose 1 pound a week.

    I've been trying to lose weight for three years. I started weight-lifting then two or three times a week, so I can't imagine I'm building much more muscle weight. I have lost 15 from my heaviest weight three years ago and completely changed my lifestyle (I became gluten free and eat fruits and vegetables everyday which I refused to touch three years ago).

    This last year has been pretty static which was why I joined MFP. I wanted to be more mindful with the quantity I put in my body since I had already changed the quality.

    I calculated my BMR and TDEE from one of those newbie threads I read on here, which said my TDEE was 2316, which would put a 20% loss at 1853. However, MFP sets me up around 1410, which is about my BMR.

    I think that is all the relevant information. Does that mean I should be eating more? How can eating more help me lose?
  • healthy4heidi
    healthy4heidi Posts: 113 Member
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    Your BMI is already around 17 which is underweight. If you are 6 feet 5.5 inches tall you probably should be eating more calories than BMR. I'm no expert but you probably look pretty hot if not a little on the thin side right now. I wouldn't focus on weight but on the muscle tone and shape of your body. Curves are kick'in!
  • trdepalo
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    whoops meant 5'5.5''
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Lots of questions, so here's a bit more info.

    I am 22, I am 6'5.5'' and weigh 146.6 pounds, and I'd like to weigh (ideally) 125 though I could settle for 130.

    I have set MFP to lose 1 pound a week.

    I've been trying to lose weight for three years. I started weight-lifting then two or three times a week, so I can't imagine I'm building much more muscle weight. I have lost 15 from my heaviest weight three years ago and completely changed my lifestyle (I became gluten free and eat fruits and vegetables everyday which I refused to touch three years ago).

    This last year has been pretty static which was why I joined MFP. I wanted to be more mindful with the quantity I put in my body since I had already changed the quality.

    I calculated my BMR and TDEE from one of those newbie threads I read on here, which said my TDEE was 2316, which would put a 20% loss at 1853. However, MFP sets me up around 1410, which is about my BMR.

    I think that is all the relevant information. Does that mean I should be eating more? How can eating more help me lose?

    65", or 6'5"? Big difference in BMR there, 150, which makes TDEE estimate even bigger difference. Sounds like you used 65" though.

    So 20% deficit is appropriate now for amount to lose, but it soon won't be.

    How can eating more help lose? It's eating more than an extreme deficit for your level of activity would give you, but still less than what would maintain.
    Vast majority have no idea what maintain calories would actually be, purely estimates.
    But if you start on the low side, especially with exercise, you can slow your metabolism down, and weight loss slows down and may stop.
    But if start on the high side, especially with exercise, you get benefits from exercise, and while weight loss may be slow, body measurements improve, and you can always cut out a few more calories from this direction and be alright.

    Now, if you at MFP's suggested 1410 and correctly ate back exercise calories like it's intended to work, would you be above 1850 anyway, on exercise days? Or more?

    Because you did select wiser goal than many start out with at least, good job. You could keep doing it the MFP way, and log all exercise, and eat back all of those calories, and you'd get the same results.

    Or go the manual method, manually set 1850 which includes exercise, don't eat exercise back, so if you log it do it as 1 calorie or after you met daily goal.

    For logging your stats for changing them as weight changes, try the spreadsheet.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm
  • kls13la
    kls13la Posts: 377 Member
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    I measure it when I cook it myself which ends up being about half of the food I eat in a day. I eat out a lot for dinner so I try and eyeball it with the skills I acquired from measuring at home. I know it's not perfect

    I wonder if this is your problem. You could very well be vastly underestimating your calories if you are estimating on average half the food you eat in a day. It's shocking how high calorie restaurant foods can be. Have you tried not eating out at all for a couple of weeks and doing all your own cooking? That way you can get a more accurate read on your actual calorie intake. Based on your diary and calorie intake as logged, nothing is jumping out at me as vastly wrong with what you are doing.

    Also, are you using an HRM to calculate your exercise calories? Is it possible you are overestimating those?

    And have you lost any weight since you got back from vacation? I don't understand what you mean when you say you "may even be gaining." Have you gained, lost, or stayed the same in the past 20 days?