CONFUSED! Please help if you have been losing weight....
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Terpnista is completely right about the BMR and TDEE. other tricks that we have with loosing weight are working out making sure you are drinking enough water. I dropped 15 in the past 6 weeks or so, I am doing p90x which I attribute all of my success too. Doing any kind of strength training will raise your BMR since muscle takes more to maintain calorie wise than fat. so you will actually be burning more calories while your resting. Drinking a lot of water is important because when we are dehydrated our cells retain water for fear that we will not get enough ( like they were saying when we under eat our body goes into starvation mode and it slows our metabolism down and you will not loose) So when you do actually hydrate yourself you will flush the access water out of your body I think one week I had like almost a 6 lb lose from water alone. the good rule of thumb for that is half your weight in ounces every day. so for you at 173 that would be at least 86.5 ounces of water a day. another bonus to drinking enough water I no longer crave any kind of soda or juice that is calories that don't help at all so that cut back a ton of cals every day. Best of luck to you if you want you can add me as a friend for encouragement I am planning on trying to loose another 30 in the next 4 months we can motivate each other0
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Terpnista is completely right about the BMR and TDEE. other tricks that we have with loosing weight are working out making sure you are drinking enough water. I dropped 15 in the past 6 weeks or so, I am doing p90x which I attribute all of my success too. Doing any kind of strength training will raise your BMR since muscle takes more to maintain calorie wise than fat. so you will actually be burning more calories while your resting. Drinking a lot of water is important because when we are dehydrated our cells retain water for fear that we will not get enough ( like they were saying when we under eat our body goes into starvation mode and it slows our metabolism down and you will not loose) So when you do actually hydrate yourself you will flush the access water out of your body I think one week I had like almost a 6 lb lose from water alone. the good rule of thumb for that is half your weight in ounces every day. so for you at 173 that would be at least 86.5 ounces of water a day. another bonus to drinking enough water I no longer crave any kind of soda or juice that is calories that don't help at all so that cut back a ton of cals every day. Best of luck to you if you want you can add me as a friend for encouragement I am planning on trying to loose another 30 in the next 4 months we can motivate each other
Sorry--yes WATER!!! I need to increase. I do pretty good. About 70-80 a day. But could always improve. I am so tempted to do PX90! I am starting out with Jillian's 30 Day Shred first and then will move that direction! I am not so worried about a scale moving, as my body changing and I just haven't seen either happen! I will add you! Thanks so much!0 -
The less you have to lose the harder it is. Just keep working the 1300 or even drop it to 1200.0
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1.5 lbs a week is too high a goal when you have so little to lose. .5-1lb a week
Please please please before you start slashing your calories try logging consistently.
Why not start with the easy solution first?0 -
okay ive read all the comments thus far. I have a question. know a person who is doing the following. insanity, p90x and the gym. EVERYDAY. Yes you read that correctly. She is barely eating yet losing massive amounts of weight. she lost 5 pounds just this past week alone. If the body truly goes into starvation mode and hangs on. How is she down about 20 pounds in 4 weeks... Hows that work.
A. Lots of water weight
B. She may be very heavy (obese or very overweight), in which case large deficits and larger weight losses can be sustained. Cannot be sustained with little to lose.
C. "Starvation mode" is way over used...but yes, eventually she will stall out. A month is nothing...see where she's at in a couple months...my guess is a nice long plateau. It generally takes the body 4-6 weeks to adjust itself. Not really "starvation mode" though...just the body protecting itself by shutting down non-essential functions because it's not getting the energy it needs...think of rolling black outs in a city where the power plant can't provide enough energy...same concept.0 -
When I first started I was also confused by all the information on here. The site that helped me the most was http://www.fat2fitradio.com/. I figured out how many calories I should be eating then customized my goals. I still track my exercise but I change the calories burned to 1 so I can keep up with how much I exercise, but that is already figured in to my calories for the day. Also if you don't have a food scale I would recommend getting one. I was amazed at what an actual portion size was. I use my scale for every meal, and I think that has helped me more than anything.0
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Hi Erica,
It looks like you are trying to drop 15 lbs, a very reasonable goal. My suggestion is that you use TDEE - 15 or 20% as this gives you a calorie goal that is constant every day based on your weekly exercise rather than boomeranging around based on how much you exercise each day.
An example - my TDEE is 2800 so I am at 2300 kcal a day to lose a lb a week (this is about 20%. Because I eat food high in protein and with lots of whole grains, I probably only eat 2100-2200 a day on average (occasionally in the 2400 to 2500 range if I have a beer with friends).
And it works!
check out - http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
Well I thought I figured my TDEE out qand it was 1,677 (my BMR 1220 x 1.375 light activity)., if I drop that it is down to 1,177.....MFP says 1,300 so maybe I am over eating?
You've gone wrong somewhere - your BMR according to that particular calculator is 1537.0 -
I've lost 30 so far, I'm at 170 and my calorie intake adjusted to 1280 a day, make sure you eating small meals throughout the day, and also what really helped me was I became EXTREMELY SERIOUS & made sure I only ate 1 serving, you might think you are but the best results I've seen have come from me using measuring cups, measuring spoons and VERY small plates. It takes a bit longer to prep your meals but it is worth it. You would be shocked at what an actual serving is!
It won't look like much at first but soon 1 cup of soup and half a sandwich will fill you up no problem. You'll be hungry again about 2-3 hours later so make that snack healthy, almonds, a slice of turkey with a thin slice of cheese no bread! Don't buy packaged those "100 calorie" snack things, they don't do anything but make you fat I don't care what the label says!
Also, be VERY aware of your sugar intake! There's a great book called Sugar Busters and it explains it very well, if you don't keep your blood sugar levels steady, weight loss will be much harder. A lot of the sugar comes from the "healthy" protein bars, energy bars, "100 calorie" packaged snacks, avoid processed foods if possible. Fresh is ALWAYS best! Sugars from fruit are ok, but the fruit needs to be fresh from a farmers market or the produce section, NO CANNED AND/OR PACKAGED FRUIT!!
And if you really are on the run and have to run through a drive through, get the smallest kids meal they have.
Watch your SODIUM intake as well, sodium will make you retain water more and this makes weight loss harder as well, and it may sound odd but drink LOTS of WATER WATER WATER!! NO cokes, dr peppers, none of that! If you must have your coke, make sure it's a diet coke and limit those to maybe one a day 2 at the most!
SO, to sum it up, CALORIES COUNT! But not just that, sugar, sodium, processed food, and large portions are BIG BIG NO NO'S! Exercise will only account for about 20% of weight loss BUT if you do like to work out, eat healthy that day, you'll feel so much better!
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This post is step by and explains it rather well. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-120
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I'm 5'8" and when I started MFP I was 174 - today I weighed in at 158 (my lowest on MFP about 6 months ago was 156).
Of course everyone is different, but here's what worked for me...
- lose pounds in the kitchen, get fit at the gym. this motto has worked well for me. I eat 1400 - 1550 calories (about BMR) on week days and 2000 on weekends (because I'm not giving up alcohol or birthday cake! lol), and try to do a minimum of 3 days of cardio for 30 minutes, and an hour of yoga every week, plus if I can, "something active" on the weekends - biking, hiking, roller skating, a long walk, something. Right now I'm rehabbing a muscle issue so i'm only stretching every day - and still losing weight eating this way.
- currently I lose .5 pound - 1.25 pound every week or two (2 - 5 pounds a month, slow, but I know my weekends kill faster progress for me, but i think its worth it). I also tend to gain two pounds every time I get my period - but it always falls off after (water retention, i think).
- What you eat matters. I make it a priority that all my breakfasts and lunches are whole, plant based foods, with maybe a hard boiled egg or some tuna thrown in for protein. At night I find it's harder to stick to, so I still eat some processed dinners....but even just making that change has helped me speed up how much I'm losing. (peanut butter and fruit for breakfast, nuts or hard boiled egg for snack, salads or veggie soup or veggie sandwiches on whole grain for lunch, veggies with homemade dressing for another snack or another fruit)
I hope this helps and feel free to add a friend on a similar journey! 0 -
Sent you an email to your Inbox - take a read and let me know.............helped someone else out too and I really think you are WAY under in eating, seriously.................sent you the link that helped me..............0
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I have been tracking my calories on and off now for about a month.
there's lots of good info in the other answers... but if you don't consistently track, (almost) every single day, you can't really know what you are doing right or wrong.
I agree and intend to do better Even when I have a really bad day. Thanks! 0 -
Even though I am male, I am 5'7 and was 172 at the beginning of the year.. I want to get to 165... I have a base calorie intake
of 1800 and then I add my exercise.. I do exercise everyday and can burn as much as 1000... So if you want to lose about .1/2lb a week I think about 1600 as a base but add your exercise calories.
I currently wiegh 167 and these last 2lbs are really tough..
Wow, I can't imagine a workout with almost 1,000 calories! Awesome! You are SOOO close!0 -
Measuring is key! I found I was grossly underestimating my intake and overestimating my exercise.
Don't guess! Measure and stay 50 calories under your daily goal for a week and see how you do.
Slow and steady wins the race!
When a small amount of weight (under50 lbs) is all that you need to lose, it is all about consistency!
Stay with it you'll see results in a week or two.
Good luck!
Agree--CONSISTENCY! I need it. I appreciate your comments!0 -
1. How many calories have you been consuming. That information is needed to determine why you aren't losing weight. You may be eating too many or not enough.
2. What is your physical activity level?
The different numbers you are getting are likely your BMR and TDEE. Your BMR is the calories that your body would burn if you did absolutely nothing all day (stayed in bed, watched tv, etc). My BMR is around 1500 (I am 5'4" 162lbs). Now your TDEE takes into account all of your physical activity. If you are sedentary then your TDEE would be more than your BMR but not significantly. If you worked out, for instance, 5-6 days a week your TDEE would be in the lower 2,000 range (let's say 2,300 for the sake of argument). So you would need to eat 2,300 calories a day, plus workout 5-6 days to MAINTAIN your weight.
Now in order to lose weight, there needs to be a deficit of your TDEE. Most people start off at about a 20% deficit, so you would need to eat 20% less calories than whatever your TDEE is to lose weight. How large or small your deficit is will determine the rate you lose.
1. On average I have been consuming 1300 per MFP (at the set rate of 1.5 lbs a week).
2. My physical activity level is I usually exercise 30 minutes 4-5 times a week. I have been adding that activity and allowing myself to consume those calories.
Ok, so thinking out loud now.... my TDEE is 1,677 calories a day (BMR x 1.375 light activity). If my goal is 1lb./week I need to have an average 500 deficiency per day--thus 1,177 (even less than MFP allows!).
Wow....maybe I am over eating.....
1177 is way too low. Your net carbs should be close to your BMR. So your calories in minus the exercise calories should be at least whatever your BMR is.
Your TDEE seems awfully underestimated. You should be at least up to 2,000.0 -
You don't have much to lose. Try setting your goal at either 1lb or 1/2lb a week, preferably the latter.
The less you have to lose, the less of a deficit you should have.
This^^^
You can't be aggressive when you don't have much to lose.
Also...you can't really track on and off for a month and expect results. The margin of error when calorie counting is relatively small. You have to be consistent or you'll never see results...calorie creep is way too easy to be lackadaisical about things.
Weigh, measure, log....
Weigh, measure, log---I need to make that my motto! Thanks for the new chant in my head...great reminder!0 -
Also, is your diary open for us to see?0
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Another thing people haven't really said.....
Track everything, every day. Not here and there. Everything from that one celery stick to the dressing you put on your salad. Weigh everything. Don't guess and don't try to measure with a spoon (believe it or not it could be more or less than an actual serving). Everything you swallow you log. If you are serious about losing the weight then you will do it.
As far as TDEE...since you are only trying to lose 15 pounds I would go for -10%. It will be slower...about half a pound a week at the most but it will come off and stay off. Also, I would try weight lifting. Toning does wonders to the body. And while you might not be dropping the pounds, weight lifting will help you tone and slim down.
I agree that I need to try weight lifting! I am soooo intimidated, but know it will do wonders for me. I also might have to reconsider my TDEE percentage......Thanks for your input!0 -
I'd say you need to eat more!
I'm 5'2", I've lost almost 6 pounds, and want to lose another 20+. I'm losing just under a pound a week eating 1400 calories a day, PLUS eating back my exercise calories.
I definitely eat back my exercise calories! Thanks for your help and good luck!0 -
If you're not trusting the calories that MFP provides for you, I would suggest logging everything you eat and all of your exercise to get an accurate account of what you are actually doing. (Keep in mind that for exercise calories, you should get a heart rate monitor b/c the numbers on any website are just estimates.) From here you can make adjustments as needed.
You should weigh/measure all of your food. You might be surprised how you are over/under estimating your portion sizes.
Instead of aiming for 2 lbs/wk loss, try for 1 lbs since you have very little to lose.
Good luck!
I definitely need to work better on not just estimating. I also agree, I might need to give myself more time to loose the weight.0 -
Well, I'm no expert, and I do learn from reading posts from other members. Nonetheless, when I started I enter all my info. as accurate as I could, then it gave me the amount of calories that I should be taking in. I also started running a lot more, some days I would eat less than my calorie intake, but its not because I want to cut more calories is just because I wasn't hungry. Every once in a while I would have a "cheat" day, but without going overboard. Most important of all, eat protein, it keeps you fuller and helps with building muscle. Another big change I made was to drink a lot of water, and for dinner because I usually arrive around 9pm everyday I just have a fruit salad, sometimes I mix it up with a homemade soup. I usually have breakfast around 9am, lunch at 12:30pm, a snack at 3:30pm, another snack at 6pm and a fruit salad at around 9pm (I'm a tennis and soccer coach, so those are the times I can have my snacks). Hope it helps, if you want to ask something just let me know 0
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Remember these facts..
1 Pound of Fat = 3000 Calories
1 Pound of Muscle = 2500 Calories
To lose weight.. you have to remove 3000 calories per week from your bodies natural calorie requirements... So
Example:
Your body needs 1800 per day to function, well
- You can't eat 2000 calories because you'll have
> (7 Days)(200 Extra Cal) = 1400 extra Calories
If you eat 1800 , BUT workout and remove 400 from your needed 1800, well
> (7 Days)(-400 burned Cal) = -2800 Calories
Which is nearly 1 Pound of fat! So diet and exercise is a the combo you'll need!
Also, watch your carb intake... NO BREADS or Sugar!
If you want to weigh 120 pounds.. eat 120 Grams of protein per day...
I definitely need to work on the breads and sugars..... thanks for your explanation and help!0 -
Whoa hon, you are WAY over thinking this!!
Not sure how you came up with 1200something for BMR. I'm an inch shorter than you, a few pounds heaver than you and my BMR is 1500. Just plugged your infor into here:
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
And came up with a BMR of 1537. If you want to go with the TDEE-15% that brings you to 1796 for lightly active. TDEE-20% is 1690
At the very least, make sure you're not eating any less than your BMR.
And you don't HAVE to cut out sugars.0 -
I have been tracking my calories on and off now for about a month. I am NOT losing weight after calorie counting (albeit I am staying SOMEWHERE around what my intake is supposed to be)....
This struck me right off the bat. You have to log consistently and accurately and stay within a calorie deficit. You can't just log your food off and on for a month expect changes. Weight loss happens over time. Consistency is the key. :flowerforyou:0 -
Our stats are fairly close--I'm 5'7" and was at 170 when I started in mid-January with a goal to lose 15 pounds. I set MFP to half a pound a week, and have been losing steadily at a net of 1600-1800 per day (I actually upped my calories a little a few weeks ago because I was losing quicker than I wanted to). Total calories after eating back my exercise burn is usually around 2000-2400.
In less than two months, I've lost 8 pounds--almost halfway to my goal.
So, for me it works: set a small deficit when you don't have much to lose, be active, eat back your exercise calories. That gives me enough daily calories to work in treats so I don't feel deprived, making it easy to stick to a deficit.
Best of luck!
LOVE that you had to add calories because you were losing too quickly! I think I am going to go reset my weight goal speed. Thanks so much and great job!!!0 -
Not necessary. At all. Eat in the way you intend to eat for the rest of your life, only a bit less to lose weight. Plenty of us here have lost weight while continuing to enjoy carbs--including sugar.Also, watch your carb intake... NO BREADS or Sugar!
I do want to lose in a way that I can live with the rest of my life. So I am in agreement that I will not cut all out, but I know that I can improve in my amount I eat--as I have a serious love for bread and sugars...0 -
Well this one is easy, just use MFP's suggestion and try your best to hit your goal. Don't eat less than 1200 calories a day.
Also, make sure you are logging EVERYTHING you consume. If you leave out a soda or candy or that last minute meal you ate before bed because you were hungry, you're literally just cheating yourself and you're going to stay confused.
If it's embarassing, then just keep your Food Diary private so noone can see that you went over. Zero judgement here, just use it as a tool and keep working at it regardless of wether or not you meet your daily goals. You'll get there.
Thanks for the encouragement 0 -
Not necessary. At all. Eat in the way you intend to eat for the rest of your life, only a bit less to lose weight. Plenty of us here have lost weight while continuing to enjoy carbs--including sugar.Also, watch your carb intake... NO BREADS or Sugar!
Cheers to a bit of sugar in your diet! :drinker:0 -
Do not get overwhelemed with numbers, and what the Internet says. It will just keep your head spinning.
Use common sense, and utilize MFP as a loose guideline for what YOU want to do. trust YOUR instincts, and do what YOU feel is right. Tweak what isnt working, and leave what is working alone.
As others have said, make sure you log EVERYTHING. Even a little 5 calorie Crystal Light packet. These things all add up, and you can start to see trends as to why you may not be getting scale victories. It is very telling.
Bottom line is, trust yourself, and do not get bogged down with too much research in front of a computer. Instead, spend that time on a treadmill WORKING on YOUR goal, rather than just researching it...
Yes, it is very overwhelming at times! Thanks for your encouragement!0 -
The different calorie amounts suggested, I assume, are depending on exercise. I went with mfp's suggestions and lost 27-28 lbs over six months. For me, it was really slow at first. It is really key to measure and weigh your food while trying to diet. That, and accurately enter in your exercise. I hope this helps. Hang in there!
Yes, I will do better at really tracking food. Congrats on the weight loss! How is maintenance for you!0
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