Trouble losing weight

joycandelaria
joycandelaria Posts: 25
in Health and Weight Loss
Could someone look at my Food Diary and tell me why I am not losing weight. Or at least give me a suggestion. thanks

Replies

  • bajoyba
    bajoyba Posts: 1,153 Member
    It's hard to say exactly what's going wrong without knowing your height, current weight, weight loss goals, and exercise plan. But by just looking at your diary, I notice right off the bat that you're consistently netting under (sometimes WAY under) your calorie goal for the day. If you're using MFP's method, you should be eating to meet that goal every day.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Well I just looked at Wednesday & Tuesday ..... both days you were way under your calorie goal.

    Not losing, could be not eating enough ...... your body will be "stingy" and hang onto every calorie for dear life. MFP expects you to eat exercise calories back (to reduce muscle loss) .... I eat my calories back because I'm over 50 and can't afford muscle loss.

    OR eating too much ..... do you measure your food or just eyeball it? Again, MFP expects you to eat exercise calories back ... this can lead to over eating IF you use an exaggerated calorie burn (MFP & most machines are just "guesstimates") use a heart rate monitor to help calorie burns be more accurate.

    I typically eat around 1450 calories per day and exercise for 250 calories (heart rate monitor) .... this leaves me with NET daily calories of 1200. This number is really small for most people. I have a small frame & am close to goal.... so it works for me. Figure out you BMR basal metabolic rate (calories you would need if your were in a coma) .... make sure you are not NETTING below that number.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Eat too little for too long and you're giving your body a reason to store fat rather than burn it. Food is fuel, and goal means GOAL! Eat those cals!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    You don't eat enough....
  • watfordjc
    watfordjc Posts: 304 Member
    From the look of it, it could be (a) not eating back your exercise calories, or (b) your daily non-exercise calorie expenditure being wrong based on the assumption that older people (sorry if that term offends) have a higher body fat percentage and slower metabolism. I'm assuming you are accurately logging food and drinks.

    If it is (a) and you're not using the TDEE-X% method, try eating back your exercise calories for a month. If it is (b), and if available and affordable in your area, I'd suggest a Bod Pod or other body fat analysis that takes visceral fat into account and then using that to get an estimate of BMR and TDEE.

    The math (to calculate your daily calorie expenditure and exercise calories) may be wrong if you have more/less fat and/or more/less muscle and/or more/less bone density and/or a faster/slower metabolism than the calculations are geared towards for people your height, age and sex. Depending on if you've been eating low calories for an extended period and/or have been yo-yo-dieting for many years, a "metabolism reset" may work. Also, changes in diet and exercise may have an effect on water and/or lean weight, so it might just be a case of more time being needed before the scales start showing the results.
  • nczuczu
    nczuczu Posts: 611 Member
    I agree with the other posters. You are not eating enough. You should NEVER go under 1200 calories in a day. And if you are exercising, you should be eating back those calories.

    Read this forum: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

    Might help you understand better.
  • joycandelaria
    joycandelaria Posts: 25
    I am 65 years old weight right now is 170 and would like to be 140. I am 5"3
  • earvizu92
    earvizu92 Posts: 320 Member
    Skip the fast food and drink more water, lots of it! . :flowerforyou:
  • BobsLittleBird
    BobsLittleBird Posts: 28 Member
    Have you had your thyroid tested? Hypothyroidism can make it impossible to loss weight even with eating very few calories.

    Also are you actually measuring your food (using a food scale and measuring cups and measuring spoons) ?
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
    Be careful about believing things that don't have anything but anecdotes behind them. Go searching for the science behind the "starvation mode" and you will find out there are no studies that find that people lose weight faster eating more calories. It is absolutely true that when the calorie deficit is really high your body will react by slowing metabolism. But it is gradual and there is no point at which eating fewer calories will cause you to have a lower deficit. There may be a point at which eating 100 less calories per day only increases your deficit by 50, but eating less calories per day always increases the calorie deficit. ALWAYS.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I am 65 years old weight right now is 170 and would like to be 140. I am 5"3

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    Your "sedentary" BMR is 1379. This means your lowest net should be 1379 calories.

    IE: Eat 1800 calories .... Exercise is 421* calories .... NET = 1379

    *Exercise calories can be exaggerated ..... use a HRM or at least a couple sources & use the lowest of the 2
  • joycandelaria
    joycandelaria Posts: 25
    Thank you so much for that article it makes sense. I well try to meet the calorie intake. I am just afraid that I well go over on Carbs. Protein ,Fat , Sodium Etc.

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