"If every day were like today, you'd weigh..."

Tyggress73
Tyggress73 Posts: 104 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Question about this little statement on food diary.

Every single day, after I log my food, MFP tells me that I should weigh XX weight in 5 weeks. Every single day, that number is usually 5 - 7 pounds less than what I currently weigh. I work out 5 -6 days a week on top of logging my food. I am trying to use the TDEE-20% plan, so I don't log my exercise any more..

However, my weight has not changed substantially in months. It has taken me 6 months to lose 12+ pounds (and the first 7or 8 pounds was gone in the first 4 months...I've only lost 5 pounds since joining MFP in January).

So...what gives? Any thoughts on why I am NOT losing the amount of weight MFP seems to think I should based on my food log? I feel like I'm in a never-ending plateau. I recently UPPED my calories to roughly 1,600 - 1,700 thinking perhaps I wasn't eating enough. That hasn't helped.

I find it interesting that everyone's thought process is calories in vs. calories out. I know I'm not "special", but I'd like someone to explain to me how that equation is not working for me....it just makes no sense. :(

On a good note, I have lost 11.5" overall in the past 6 months. So I am getting smaller. But at some point, the weight has got to follow...I mean, have you ever seen a 180# girl in size 7 jeans? I think not.
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Replies

  • MyProgressISYour1Proof
    MyProgressISYour1Proof Posts: 376 Member
    Well, how tall are you and you may have dropped fat/water and gained muscle. I used to doubt the scale and still do because I was 160 and a size 8. Now I'm 147 and a size 6. I know people a lot smaller than me weight wise and in the same pant size. It is stressful but just know your hard work is paying off because of all those lost inches. The scale isn't you. You are you.
  • hiyomi
    hiyomi Posts: 906 Member
    Ya...not accurate, mine says I would weigh 249/248 in 5 weeks...I weigh 259 right now. And it has been saying that for quite some time now lol Since January
  • newcs
    newcs Posts: 717 Member
    MFP is an estimate so it's not really reliable. For me, I actually have to eat more than MFP recommends in order to avoid being cranky and I've still lost the weight I intended to and hover a few pounds over/under maintenance at any given point in time. MFP tells me every night that if I continue to eat the same way, I will gain weight but hasn't happened.
  • AddyMaeMomma
    AddyMaeMomma Posts: 84 Member
    I don't really pay that number too much attention. It's some generated number based on, it appears, just that particular day. I wouldn't put too much stock in what it's telling you. It sounds like you're doing great, though!
  • djc315
    djc315 Posts: 585 Member
    It's a guideline, it isn't exact. Everyone is different, they are basing those predictions off the average of what is expected. Doesn't mean you will be exactly on their line.

    Just keep doing what you are doing. Eating right, moving more...and that will make you healthier.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    How long have you been eating at the higher calorie level?
  • AuntieMC
    AuntieMC Posts: 346 Member
    Congratulations on the amazing loss in inches! I do not know anything about how MFP computes those weight projections, but I never pay any attention to them. I have lost a total of 181 pounds since August of 2011. (Yes, you read that right -- I have lost one hundred and eighty one pounds,so far!). There have been weeks when I lost nothing at all, and even a few weeks when I gained a few pounds. It is the TREND that matters. Sounds like you are doing a great job! But I am sure that someone who knows something about TDEE and losing weight when you are close to your goal will post some suggestions for you soon!
  • timpleberry
    timpleberry Posts: 11 Member
    just a thought, have you had your thyroid function checked recently? If it is a bit sluggish, this may be impeding your weight loss. :bigsmile:
  • DaughterOfTheMostHighKing
    DaughterOfTheMostHighKing Posts: 1,436 Member
    I don't go by what the site says... I know that I didn't get to where I am over night and the site is a computer that is programmed while our bodies are not and our bodies don't always stay with the program! lol! You've done well! celebrate what you have accomplished with a healthy meal and enjoy your rewards of being healthy and losing weight/fat!

    I used to get sooooo upset at myself and the scale cause I knew my body was changing but the scale wasn't budging! if you are working out and dieting, you may be losing fat and gaining muscle. hence the scale may not reflect what you want to see. use your clothes or a measure tape to track your progress too.

    you want to do this slowly and consistently like the tortoise in the story? if you lose it too fast, it may come back even faster. eat healthy and exercise on a regular basis. :) it'll happen!!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!
  • kellijauch
    kellijauch Posts: 379 Member
    I don't pay attention to that thing. There's no way it can judge that. everyone's metabolism is different. You are eating plenty of calories. They recommend 1200 minimum, so as long as you're above that, you're fine. I find that if you eat back the calories you burn, you won't lose much, you just kinda maintain. So if you are looking to lose weight, don't eat back the calories from working out.

    Also - alot of people "plateau". You lose some weight and then get to a point where you can't really seem to lose anymore. When that you happens you need to change up your exercise regimine. You need to increase the amount or the intensity of your workout, and even try different exercises as well.
  • DoingitWell
    DoingitWell Posts: 560 Member
    Well, how tall are you and you may have dropped fat/water and gained muscle. I used to doubt the scale and still do because I was 160 and a size 8. Now I'm 147 and a size 6. I know people a lot smaller than me weight wise and in the same pant size. It is stressful but just know your hard work is paying off because of all those lost inches. The scale isn't you. You are you.

    True because when I was 160 I was still a 10/12. I would love to be a 10/12 again...LOL
  • Tyggress73
    Tyggress73 Posts: 104 Member
    Well, how tall are you and you may have dropped fat/water and gained muscle. I used to doubt the scale and still do because I was 160 and a size 8. Now I'm 147 and a size 6. I know people a lot smaller than me weight wise and in the same pant size. It is stressful but just know your hard work is paying off because of all those lost inches. The scale isn't you. You are you.

    I am 5'4-1/2".

    My ultimate goal is not really a scale number, but a size. i would love to be a size 7 again. Currently I am 181 and a size 12. I just don't see how I'm going to get there without some of the weight coming off. I figure size 7 on me is going to be somewhere in the 150 - 160# range.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    But at some point, the weight has got to follow...I mean, have you ever seen a 180# girl in size 7 jeans? I think not.

    Yes but they didn't zip and the muffintop was epic. Plus it took me forever to get back out of them.

    Anyway, could be lots of reasons. Although from personal experience I can tell you to take that MFP feature with a grain of salt.

    Even so, you could be slowing your weight loss down by overestimating your calorie burn. Get a good HRM and maybe even then maybe don't eat them all back unless you feel you need to for energy.

    And/or you could be underestimating your food portions. A good food scale will work with this. And then record every bite that goes in your mouth on MFP and if something here sounds too good to be true double check to make sure whoever entered it got it right by using the USDA website or something.

    Other than that there is always getting your metabolism checked.
  • ThatCatholicGirl
    ThatCatholicGirl Posts: 209 Member
    I hate it, it drives me nuts. I don't pay any attention to it.
  • Tyggress73
    Tyggress73 Posts: 104 Member
    How long have you been eating at the higher calorie level?

    3 weeks.
  • sperocras
    sperocras Posts: 60 Member
    I just perused your diary a bit. Are you logging all your water, because if not, I would suggest drinking more of that. Also, my unprofessional and unqualified opinion is that you could try reducing the carbs you eat and increasing protein. The biggest thing is not to give up. Keep at it and the results will come...eventually!
  • kellijauch
    kellijauch Posts: 379 Member
    And btw - my sister weighs 176 pounds and wears a size 9. It's all muscle. Muscle is heavy. She's totally skinny. Don't pay attention to the number, pay attention to how you look and feel.
  • Tyggress73
    Tyggress73 Posts: 104 Member
    just a thought, have you had your thyroid function checked recently? If it is a bit sluggish, this may be impeding your weight loss. :bigsmile:

    Not since early 2012...but that's recent enough, I guess. I've never had thyroid issues.
  • kristy6ward
    kristy6ward Posts: 332 Member
    That statement does not apply to you, as you do not have your calories set up to follow MFP guidelines.

    As to why you aren't losing weight, are you weighing your food and does your activity still closely match how you calculated it for your TDEE?
  • sunnyhlw77
    sunnyhlw77 Posts: 204 Member
    It's not accurate for me either, heck, I would weigh 20 lbs lighter in 5 weeks if it were (I wish!). I agree with the other posts. I think its an estimate of what a person would weigh if all the conditions were "perfect" which I think in most cases isn't the case. Medications, health issues etc. all factor against the conditions being "perfect".
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
    Take stock in it if you want, but I don't find it all that reliable...

    5wks_zps5b8b115a.jpg
  • albertabeefy
    albertabeefy Posts: 1,169 Member
    I just perused your diary a bit. Are you logging all your water, because if not, I would suggest drinking more of that. Also, my unprofessional and unqualified opinion is that you could try reducing the carbs you eat and increasing protein. The biggest thing is not to give up. Keep at it and the results will come...eventually!
    Her protein isn't bad ... It's already over 1g per pound of lean mass.

    For many people it's reducing CHO (carbohydrate) intake while simultaneously upping healthy fats that gets their weight-loss started. Especially anyone with metabolic syndrome.

    OP may want to look into LCHF diets - they work well for many overweight people and are quite healthy IF done properly.
  • Tyggress73
    Tyggress73 Posts: 104 Member
    But at some point, the weight has got to follow...I mean, have you ever seen a 180# girl in size 7 jeans? I think not.

    Yes but they didn't zip and the muffintop was epic. Plus it took me forever to get back out of them.

    LMAO...this made me smile~! :laugh:
  • bellyboosmom
    bellyboosmom Posts: 55 Member
    It is just an educated guess at best. It is saying if every day were like today, that is what you would weigh. Now, you aren't going to eat exactly the same foods, drink exactly the same amount of fluids, excercise exactly the same way to get exactly the same heart rate and calories burned. No one can or will do that. Just do your best every day, and try something new if what you are doing isn't working. I know it's frustrating, but a pound at a time is still better than nothing. Btw...I was 185 lbs and wore a size 8. I am only 5'4.
  • Tyggress73
    Tyggress73 Posts: 104 Member
    Thank you everyone for the replies and the encouragement. This is a tough journey, and it's taking a long time. Sometimes I just need to remember how far I have come, I guess. Hopefully I'll get in those size 7 jeans someday!
  • Rhonnie
    Rhonnie Posts: 506 Member
    Ignore that number completely - it is meant as 'motivation' but is useless.

    Everyones body is different and will react short term in varying degrees when you change your diet and exercise. You have been at a plateau for a while so you are right in that it might be time to 'tweak' some things, but it sounds like you did that recently by upping your calories so be sure to be patient to see if that is working.

    Have you taken pictures and/or measurements? The number on the scale is nothing more than a measure of the gravitational pull the earth is putting on your body. It is a horrible indicator, especially 'day to day' of how our body is doing.

    Another thing is to make sure you are being really accurate on your logging. It's real easy to mis judge a couple hundred calories and not be at the deficiet you thought you were. Same goes for execise, MFP tends to be a little high on how much credit it gives you for calories burned. If you are using the system where you eat your calories back, you might want to only eat about 75% of them. You could see how easy it would be to be misjudging how many calories you eat by 200 a day and then thinking you are burning 400 calories and eating them back when actually you are only burning 300 - all of a sudden you are eating 300 more calories a day then you think and aren't at the deficiet needed to lose a pound a week.

    If you aren't exercising, it may be time to start. If you are, it may be time to change things up. Our body gets efficient at doing any exercise we repeat over and over and we don't burn as many calories doing it. If you walk or run or do an elliptical etc, try interval training (where you 'sprint' for a few seconds every few minutes) - it increases your heart rate and ups the intensity of the workout without the workout really feeling that much 'harder'.

    And even if you haven't seen a big difference in pictures/measurements - you are improving your health so don't be discouraged. There is so much more to a healthy life then our weight. You've done great so far, even if it is slower then you hoped. Keep it up, make little tweaks to see what works for you, and be proud of this new healthy you!
  • minizebu
    minizebu Posts: 2,716 Member
    Usually, the answer to this question is that you are underestimating the calories that you ingest and overestimating the energy that you expend.

    The reason that increasing one's intake seems to help people break through plateaus is that it is easier to adhere to a less calorically restrictive diet, and people tend to be more accurate about logging the food that they eat. There was a study that showed that even registered dietitians inaccurately logged their intake to the tune of several hundred calories when on a hypocaloric diet.

    Also, as we lose weight, not only does our BMR drop, because we now weigh less, but also we spontaneously and unconsciously reduce our NEAT (non-exercise thermogenesis activity, that is all the moving around that we do that is not formal exercise).

    That being said, if you are really concerned, then you can go have your metabolic rate tested or your thyroid checked.
  • jharb2
    jharb2 Posts: 208 Member
    I have found that statement to be a load of crap - marketing by MFP. Everyone is an individual with their weight loss. I don't lose according to MFP - I lose according to my body and how it functions and what I do. Its a guideline, not the bible
  • JewelSmith
    JewelSmith Posts: 155 Member
    That thing is a joke, I look at it purely for entertainment purposes..LOL
  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
    I just checked my diary for 5 weeks ago and it said "If every day were like today, you'd weigh 197.3 lbs in 5 weeks" - which would be a 14 lb loss in 5 weeks. Well, THAT didn't happen and I don't expect it to (I'm actually 6 lbs down from 5 weeks ago). I usually ignore that number. It's just a meaningless calculator that subtracts that day's caloric deficit based on your estimated TDEE, and divides it by 3500 calories. Weight loss just isn't that linear and predictable.

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