Problem please need opinions!

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fitgirlcookie
fitgirlcookie Posts: 54 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I hit a goal I have been striving for a few months for now. I have officially lost 60 pounds! Now I know losing 60 pounds is far from a problem. My problem is with working out. Now please let me explain deeper. I have never been the best at working out. I will decide to start something. I feel great doing it. I can go for a month, 2, even 3 doing something, but then comes the disappointment. No weight loss. None at all. Now I know what you're going to say, "measure measure measure that's what it's all about". However even when I do that there is no change. So for the time I have worked my butt off to get NOTHING! Then once I stop working out for at least 2 weeks if not more the weight comes off. It comes off in nice amounts too. Is this normal for people? I don't have (and can't afford) a hrm. I know mfp over calculates exercise calories. I usually try to eat them back, but what I'm wondering is should I start under calculating the calories I'm burning? I'm just afraid that when I exercise and track it using mfp calculations that it puts me at the calorie level to maintain my current weight which is not what I want. Please any advise!
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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    For someone who exercise, you don't seem to eat much. There are ways to set up your account to "pre account" for exercise calories. For example, if you workout 5 days a week, set your account at moderately active and aim for the same goal each day. Or post your height, weight, age and exercise routine and I can run numbers. Another thing I noticed is you are high in carbs and low in protein. I suggest changing that to 35% c, 40% p, and 25% f. High protein diets are much more effective. Also, as you approach a normal weight it takes a lot longer to lose. The last 10 lbs of fat can take 4-6 months.
  • fitgirlcookie
    fitgirlcookie Posts: 54 Member
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    I'm 23. 5'8". Cw 179.5 right now my gw is 160. If you look father back in my diary you will get an idea of the way i truly eat. I dohave my diary preset for workout added in. I know it takes time for the weight to come off.
  • Hendrix7
    Hendrix7 Posts: 1,903 Member
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    I don't really understand the question but if think your calories are wrong Use the TDEE method and work out your calorie needs yourself instead of using what MFP gives you.
  • Spliceintuit
    Spliceintuit Posts: 26 Member
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    Great suggestions. It took me almost 4 months to lose 1 lb. However, I am not restricting my diet when it comes to dinner. Which can be a lot of calories. I do a lot of walking and jogging weekly. I am not in a rush to lose the rest of my weight. I enjoy my daily routine. I work hard and play hard. But following a low carb and high protein with proper calories count can give you a faster goal.
  • brneydgrlie
    brneydgrlie Posts: 464 Member
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    OK, so a few questions. 1) How many days a week are you exercising? 2) At what type of intensity? 3) Are you doing strictly cardio, or do you lift weights as well?

    If you do not lose any weight when you are exercising, but drop weight once you stop, that makes me think a couple of things could be happening. Either you are not eating enough for the intensity you are working out at, so your body is holding on to everything because it needs more fuel. OR, you are working out without giving yourself enough needed rest days. Exercise causes micro-tears in the fibers of your muscles. This causes water retention, and sometimes weight gain. On rest days, the muscles repair and build up again, excess fluid is flushed out, and weight will drop.
  • LordBear
    LordBear Posts: 239 Member
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    for starters..you need to watch what you eat a bit more..try keeping it around 1200... u been close.. eat smaller meals thru out the day.. forget bout the weight loss and just exercise...exercise does more for u than just help you lose weight. and a person that has a bit more weight and is healthy and exercises is better off than a skinny person. also see from your diary you need to do more exercise..

    you look great and dont have a ton of weight to lose so it will take more work and more dedication.. you can do it if you put your mind to it and just do it.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    I'm 23. 5'8". Cw 179.5 right now my gw is 160. If you look father back in my diary you will get an idea of the way i truly eat. I dohave my diary preset for workout added in. I know it takes time for the weight to come off.

    What type of exercise do you do and for how long. The lowest calories would be 1600 but if you exercise, it would be more around 1900 calories daily. Gotta fuel the body to burn fat.
  • fitgirlcookie
    fitgirlcookie Posts: 54 Member
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    When it's a normal week I workout minimum of 3 days for at least 30 minutes. That's at a minimum though. I do a lot of biking, walking, zumba. I am also walking and moving a lot at work. I do normally eat back my exercise calories. Sorry my diary lately has been a bad example. Not much on the weight lifting because I don't really have the equipment or money for a gym membership. I was doing 30 day shred for a bit, but got sick and just haven't gotten back into it.
  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Losing weight after you stop a period of hard workouts usually means that you are not eating enough while you are doing your workouts.
    Follow the link to see how to set yourself up with a % deficit from your TDEE - this gives you a calorie target with both your deficit and your exercise burn built in. It makes it easier to plan your meals so you do not have huge calorie burns to chase after.

    Give me a shout if you have questions.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    When it's a normal week I workout minimum of 3 days for at least 30 minutes. That's at a minimum though. I do a lot of biking, walking, zumba. I am also walking and moving a lot at work. I do normally eat back my exercise calories. Sorry my diary lately has been a bad example. Not much on the weight lifting because I don't really have the equipment or money for a gym membership. I was doing 30 day shred for a bit, but got sick and just haven't gotten back into it.

    You really dont need to spend a lot of money for weights, i would suggest going to walmart, target or amazon and buy a few different resistance bands. You can get them for like $10. Then you can go on youtube or www.bodyrock.tv and look up resistance training programs.

    Since i know you exercise i would bump calories to 1750 each day and not eat back exercise calories. Its already in your tdee calc.
  • fitgirlcookie
    fitgirlcookie Posts: 54 Member
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    I guess the tdee/bmr stuff is still confusing to me. I'm just afraid if I up my calorie intake I will gain weight. That's not what I'm aiming for. Idk. At a point of loss.
  • karenboatright
    karenboatright Posts: 5
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    I'm sure this has already been brought up but you need more calories. I know it sounds weird but that is the truth.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    I'm sure this has already been brought up but you need more calories. I know it sounds weird but that is the truth.


    In the last 6 days or so, she is averaging about 1450 with a high day near 1800 and a low day at 900. On what basis would you come to the conclusion that she needs more calories?
  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
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    Based on the info you posted
    Your BMR
    Harris-Benedict Formula
    Based on this formula, your current BMR is 1650 calories.

    Your TDEE

    Activity Level Daily Calories
    Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1980
    Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2269
    Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2558
    Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2846
    Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 3135

    Your 1400 target is less than you BMR - which is why you have stalled out.
    With 20 lbs to go you can take a 20% cut from your TDEE - based on your stated exercise routine you are light to moderate so take you cut from around 2400. So a reasonable target would be around 1900

    since you have been at such a large deficit for a while you may see a bump if you go all the way up to 1900 in one jump.
    Try going up to your BMR for a bit and then add 100 calories a week until you start to lose or until you get to 1900.
  • fitgirlcookie
    fitgirlcookie Posts: 54 Member
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    I'm sure this has already been brought up but you need more calories. I know it sounds weird but that is the truth.


    In the last 6 days or so, she is averaging about 1450 with a high day near 1800 and a low day at 900. On what basis would you come to the conclusion that she needs more calories?

    This is what I'm wondering. I guess I don't understand. My original question was just wondering why when I without and eat back my exercise calories I don't lose weight, but when I just eat my daily allotted I do. That's over a long period of time too. It's not like I go a week even 2 working out and not lose and give up. I go months working out no lose. However when I eat my basic calories and don't workout I lose. Just wondering if this happens to anyone else and if it does what have you done to beat it. If it is the tdee method I guess I'm just confused.
  • fitgirlcookie
    fitgirlcookie Posts: 54 Member
    Options
    Based on the info you posted
    Your BMR
    Harris-Benedict Formula
    Based on this formula, your current BMR is 1650 calories.

    Your TDEE

    Activity Level Daily Calories
    Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1980
    Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2269
    Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2558
    Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2846
    Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 3135

    Your 1400 target is less than you BMR - which is why you have stalled out.
    With 20 lbs to go you can take a 20% cut from your TDEE - based on your stated exercise routine you are light to moderate so take you cut from around 2400. So a reasonable target would be around 1900

    since you have been at such a large deficit for a while you may see a bump if you go all the way up to 1900 in one jump.
    Try going up to your BMR for a bit and then add 100 calories a week until you start to lose or until you get to 1900.

    Ok thank you this does help. Makes more sense. I more active then I was when I started too so understandable.
  • lyttlewon
    lyttlewon Posts: 1,118 Member
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    I'm sure this has already been brought up but you need more calories. I know it sounds weird but that is the truth.


    In the last 6 days or so, she is averaging about 1450 with a high day near 1800 and a low day at 900. On what basis would you come to the conclusion that she needs more calories?

    This is what I'm wondering. I guess I don't understand. My original question was just wondering why when I without and eat back my exercise calories I don't lose weight, but when I just eat my daily allotted I do. That's over a long period of time too. It's not like I go a week even 2 working out and not lose and give up. I go months working out no lose. However when I eat my basic calories and don't workout I lose. Just wondering if this happens to anyone else and if it does what have you done to beat it. If it is the tdee method I guess I'm just confused.

    Are you over estimating your work out calories and under estimating your food intake?
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Options
    I'm sure this has already been brought up but you need more calories. I know it sounds weird but that is the truth.


    In the last 6 days or so, she is averaging about 1450 with a high day near 1800 and a low day at 900. On what basis would you come to the conclusion that she needs more calories?

    This is what I'm wondering. I guess I don't understand. My original question was just wondering why when I without and eat back my exercise calories I don't lose weight, but when I just eat my daily allotted I do. That's over a long period of time too. It's not like I go a week even 2 working out and not lose and give up. I go months working out no lose. However when I eat my basic calories and don't workout I lose. Just wondering if this happens to anyone else and if it does what have you done to beat it. If it is the tdee method I guess I'm just confused.

    The plan that psulemon put up is a good one I think. It ups your calories a little and you don't eat back exercise calories. Also, and if someone else asked this, my apologies, but how long have you been eating restricted calories without at break at maintenance? If for longer than 3 months or so, you are stalling because you could use a hormonal reset. This normalizes gherlin/ leptin which get's out of whack with prolonged calorie restriction. You would eat at maintenance or TDEE for 2 weeks, then resume calorie deficit. There can be various reasons why we stall. Inaccurate calorie logging. Over estimating exercise burns. Metabolic and hormonal adaptations. I'd use psulemon's plan as a starting point and measure progress. If not losing slightly increase deficit until you are.
  • fitgirlcookie
    fitgirlcookie Posts: 54 Member
    Options
    I'm sure this has already been brought up but you need more calories. I know it sounds weird but that is the truth.


    In the last 6 days or so, she is averaging about 1450 with a high day near 1800 and a low day at 900. On what basis would you come to the conclusion that she needs more calories?

    This is what I'm wondering. I guess I don't understand. My original question was just wondering why when I without and eat back my exercise calories I don't lose weight, but when I just eat my daily allotted I do. That's over a long period of time too. It's not like I go a week even 2 working out and not lose and give up. I go months working out no lose. However when I eat my basic calories and don't workout I lose. Just wondering if this happens to anyone else and if it does what have you done to beat it. If it is the tdee method I guess I'm just confused.

    Are you over estimating your work out calories and under estimating your food intake?

    I could be. I don't have a hrm, but so many people say mfp over estimates workout calories so I do have a tendency to put in a shorter time span then what I did as to not over do my workout calorie. I also scan all bar codes, measure my serving sizes, and also try as much as I possibly can to put in what I'm eating as what I'm eating. Matching brands, eating the serving size it says. On the food aspect I am typically more so spot on.
  • fitgirlcookie
    fitgirlcookie Posts: 54 Member
    Options
    I'm sure this has already been brought up but you need more calories. I know it sounds weird but that is the truth.


    In the last 6 days or so, she is averaging about 1450 with a high day near 1800 and a low day at 900. On what basis would you come to the conclusion that she needs more calories?

    This is what I'm wondering. I guess I don't understand. My original question was just wondering why when I without and eat back my exercise calories I don't lose weight, but when I just eat my daily allotted I do. That's over a long period of time too. It's not like I go a week even 2 working out and not lose and give up. I go months working out no lose. However when I eat my basic calories and don't workout I lose. Just wondering if this happens to anyone else and if it does what have you done to beat it. If it is the tdee method I guess I'm just confused.

    The plan that psulemon put up is a good one I think. It ups your calories a little and you don't eat back exercise calories. Also, and if someone else asked this, my apologies, but how long have you been eating restricted calories without at break at maintenance? If for longer than 3 months or so, you are stalling because you could use a hormonal reset. This normalizes gherlin/ leptin which get's out of whack with prolonged calorie restriction. You would eat at maintenance or TDEE for 2 weeks, then resume calorie deficit. There can be various reasons why we stall. Inaccurate calorie logging. Over estimating exercise burns. Metabolic and hormonal adaptations. I'd use psulemon's plan as a starting point and measure progress. If not losing slightly increase deficit until you are.

    I have been eating the calories mfp has recommended to me since I started. Of course it has gone down as I have lost weight, and I have had my cheat days. I have been eating back my exercise calories the whole time though.

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