TDEE - 20% help please :)

AndrewXB9
AndrewXB9 Posts: 114
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all :)

Okay I will try to keep this as short as I can. I have been a member of MFP since June 2011 (I had another account before this one). I have tried lots of things to shift this weight, first was just eating less calories then came eating less calories and exercising, i've tried eating back exercise calories, I stopped exercising because after 5 months of exercising 1 hour per day at 4-5 days per week I lost 0 weight and 0 inches..anywhere. Since about... Maybe July/August of 2012 i've not lost weight *apart* from when i done 1 week of juicing and i lost 10 lbs. I've not done this since but I have kept the weight off.

Right now I am trying TDEE - 20% after reading a lot of posts here on the MFP forums. I was terrified of gaining weight by increasing my calories by a fair amount compared to what I was eating. I've been at this and stuck to it now for over 2 weeks. I'm having the same results. I am just hovering at the same weight I have been since Christmas.

I'm a bit frustrated but i am also curious and it's why I have come here for advice. I love learning new things about health and the body. Basically - Can anyone tell me how long i should try eating like this for? I know everyone is different but roughly how long did it start to take you to lose weight (if you are doing roughly the same thing)?

As you can see, Summer 2011 I started and in nearly 2 years I have lost about 47 lbs. Rather frustrating. Anyway i hover around 179.8 - 184lbs. I am 5'8.

Thank you to anyone who reads this and/or replies :)

Replies

  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
    Every time I see TDEE posts there are many replies that you have to give it a minimum of 4-6 weeks before you judge whether it's working or not. For me, I started to see results before that, but everyone is different and it may well take that long for your body to kick into action. I'd keep at it for at least (at LEAST) another 2 weeks before deciding if you're going to chuck it or keep at it. HTH :)
  • jaycee76
    jaycee76 Posts: 325 Member
    Every time I see TDEE posts there are many replies that you have to give it a minimum of 4-6 weeks before you judge whether it's working or not. For me, I started to see results before that, but everyone is different and it may well take that long for your body to kick into action. I'd keep at it for at least (at LEAST) another 2 weeks before deciding if you're going to chuck it or keep at it. HTH :)

    This ^^^^
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
    You are frustrated? But you have lost 47 lbs. That is huge! You should be proud of what you have lost so far.

    Anyway, being 5'8" and 179-184ish isn't a bad weight. I would maybe turn your focus away from losing weight and more towards maintaining weight but strength training, it might be what you are looking for. So heavy lifting or crossfit routines might be a better fit.
  • Kate_UK
    Kate_UK Posts: 1,299 Member
    I've also read that you need to give it 4-6 weeks to see benefits.
    I've just weighed after my first TDEE week and I've lost 2.6lbs! Ok I've not been counting calories or even watching what I've been eating for a long time, so its most probably water weight. But I am heartened to see any loss, I was concerned when I worked out that I should eat 1755 calories - it sounded like a lot. But so far so good.
    Good luck.
  • AndrewXB9
    AndrewXB9 Posts: 114
    You are frustrated? But you have lost 47 lbs. That is huge! You should be proud of what you have lost so far.

    Anyway, being 5'8" and 179-184ish isn't a bad weight. I would maybe turn your focus away from losing weight and more towards maintaining weight but strength training, it might be what you are looking for. So heavy lifting or crossfit routines might be a better fit.

    I am proud at the fact I have lost 47lbs. Extremely. Happy to see my clothes size is completely different than 2 years ago.

    However, 47 lbs in 2 years?
  • hhayes06
    hhayes06 Posts: 189 Member
    I only looked at the last week of your diary but if that is a good representation of how you have been eating for the last 2 years then I would say you aren't eating enough. You need to give any lifestyle change some time to really see if it works so as PP's have said, give this another month or so before giving up on it. Do you exercise? If yes, is that calculated into your TDEE-20% goal? If no, then you need to be logging your exercise and try eating at least 1/2 of those cals back. Do some more research on TDEE and go from there.

    47 pounds down and kept off is definitely something to be proud of. You can lose the weight, you have proven that, so just keep going and you will reach your goal.
  • FluffyMcNutter
    FluffyMcNutter Posts: 68
    Phrick is right. It can take some time to see results. We don't know the calories you were eating or the calories you are eating now. We don't know what your TDEE is or if you are eating at -20, 15, or 10%. All of those things make a difference. Have you changed anything about your exercise? There are a lot of factors involved here.

    Personally, I was eating 1500 and losing .5 lb/wk. Now, I'm eating ~1700 and losing 1.5 lb/wk. My body clearly wanted more food and I hadn't been eating at 1500 very long, so I saw results quickly by increasing only 200 calories. My body wasn't very confused because it was a small difference and the 1500 calorie thing didn't last very long. If you've been eating at 1200 for a long time and just jumped up, your body is going to be confused. It's going to need 4-6 weeks to figure out that you are going to continuously fuel it and that it's okay to start letting go of some fat. It's ok and it's normal if you've made a big change. Try doing 3-4 days of exercise, if you're eating at a deficit, 5-6 days can be a lot more than the body wants to handle. Do some resistance training. You should see some results soon.

    If, over the course of another 2-4 weeks, you are consistently gaining or maintaining, then it might be that your TDEE was estimated a little high. Do some math and figure out a better estimate for your TDEE and take a deficit from there. Hopefully, it won't come to that and you'll start losing weight in a week or two. Good luck!
  • AndrewXB9
    AndrewXB9 Posts: 114
    Phrick is right. It can take some time to see results. We don't know the calories you were eating or the calories you are eating now. We don't know what your TDEE is or if you are eating at -20, 15, or 10%. All of those things make a difference. Have you changed anything about your exercise? There are a lot of factors involved here.

    Personally, I was eating 1500 and losing .5 lb/wk. Now, I'm eating ~1700 and losing 1.5 lb/wk. My body clearly wanted more food and I hadn't been eating at 1500 very long, so I saw results quickly by increasing only 200 calories. My body wasn't very confused because it was a small difference and the 1500 calorie thing didn't last very long. If you've been eating at 1200 for a long time and just jumped up, your body is going to be confused. It's going to need 4-6 weeks to figure out that you are going to continuously fuel it and that it's okay to start letting go of some fat. It's ok and it's normal if you've made a big change. Try doing 3-4 days of exercise, if you're eating at a deficit, 5-6 days can be a lot more than the body wants to handle. Do some resistance training. You should see some results soon.

    If, over the course of another 2-4 weeks, you are consistently gaining or maintaining, then it might be that your TDEE was estimated a little high. Do some math and figure out a better estimate for your TDEE and take a deficit from there. Hopefully, it won't come to that and you'll start losing weight in a week or two. Good luck!

    I have ate at every increment of 100 calories from say 1,000. I'm now eating 1,600 - 1,800 per day and it's still the same
  • AndrewXB9
    AndrewXB9 Posts: 114
    I only looked at the last week of your diary but if that is a good representation of how you have been eating for the last 2 years then I would say you aren't eating enough. You need to give any lifestyle change some time to really see if it works so as PP's have said, give this another month or so before giving up on it. Do you exercise? If yes, is that calculated into your TDEE-20% goal? If no, then you need to be logging your exercise and try eating at least 1/2 of those cals back. Do some more research on TDEE and go from there.

    47 pounds down and kept off is definitely something to be proud of. You can lose the weight, you have proven that, so just keep going and you will reach your goal.

    The last week? Im usually eating 1,500 - 1,800 calories? I struggle to even eat that much.
  • Rbacchiega
    Rbacchiega Posts: 52 Member
    are you working out at all? if so, how often/long?

    I'm going between 60 and 90 minutes 7 days a week and am at 2000 calories. If you're using the "in place of a road map" thread to do the TDEE-20% you DON'T eat your calories back, as it already factors in your activity level.

    Maybe that could be a reason?
  • amiaow
    amiaow Posts: 35 Member
    I'd take your calories back to TDEE for a couple of weeks for a proper diet break which will enable the upregulation of hormones that drop when dieting (leptin, T3, etc). Then drop back to TDEE - 20% and you should start to lose.

    The other reason people don't lose is because they don't track properly. There are lots of screwy entries here in MFP so double check them all before you use them and also weigh everything that you eat with an electronic scale because serving sizes are often way off.

    Good luck!

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