cant lose weight no matter what

tlpower
tlpower Posts: 8
in Introduce Yourself
I have been doing my fitness pal for 5 weeks and am told to have 1200 calories, the first 3 weeks I stuck to this 100 percent, lost nothing, the last 2 weeks I have gone down to 1000 a day, again lost nothing, one week I did some exercise and according to my fitness pal burned 2087 calories during the 7 days, gained 4 pounds!!!! I suffer from endometriosis and had surgery 9 weeks ago, they also decided to fit a coil to see if it helped with pain,
it has stopped the pain but I am wondering if this may be why I am not losing weight? thinking maybe this is increasing my weight and the dieting is keeping it at bay? please help as I am losing the will to carry on, I have tried sticking to correct calories, I have tried eating exercise calories and now I am eating too little in a desperate bid to lose something!!!!! i have tried WW and stuck to that religiously but no weight loss:( i really don't know what to do, i am 5ft 4in 10stone 10lbs i am happy and comfortable at around 9st 12lb so don't even have a great deal to lose. the frustrating thing is that if i eat 2000 calories a day i maintain my weight so eating less should surely be shifting something
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Replies

  • xinit0
    xinit0 Posts: 310 Member
    I have been doing my fitness pal for 5 weeks and am told to have 1200 calories, the first 3 weeks I stuck to this 100 percent, lost nothing, the last 2 weeks I have gone down to 1000 a day, again lost nothing

    You may need to eat more. Have you calculated your BMR and TDEE?

    I just put your numbers in at http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ and it really seems that you're eating way too little food.

    Current BMR is 1430 calories - this is the amount you'd need to eat just to keep your organs functioning if you didn't move a muscle all day. It's important that you don't eat fewer than this number of calories on an average day.

    Your TDEE is, effectively, the "maintenance" number - like you suspected with the 2000 calories above, you wouldn't lose anything if you walked regularly and ate around 1800 calories.

    TDEE calories at Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1834

    Try moving to 1600 calories for 4-6 weeks, more if you bump up the activity level You may gain a bit, but it'll start to work. It's math and physics...
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    You definitely should be eating more. I'm 5'4" also, and 130 pounds and I net 1450 calories a day to lose weight. I calculated your BMR for you, it's around 1430 which means you should be eating AT LEAST that much every day. Also, if you don't have much to lose you shouldn't be trying to lose more than .5 to 1 pound a week.

    If you're sedentary (meaning no exercise, spend most of the day sitting at a desk job or something similar), your body burns around 1720 calories a day. That means you could eat 1420 calories a day and still lose over a half pound a week. If you exercise or have a busy job, that number should increase even more.

    Try eating more calories for a few weeks, see if that makes a difference. Also try to make sure you're eating mostly healthy, whole foods. I haven't looked at your diary but that coud be a small part of the problem.
  • logicman69
    logicman69 Posts: 1,034 Member
    I would consult a doctor for your weight loss, especially since there is a medical condition involved in the factors. There might be some things that we the general public cannot take into account that is hampering your loss. I will agree that you need to eat more though. Your net should not go below 1200 on a continuous basis. So that means eating back any exercise calories. It might sound counter productive, but it does work.
  • paintlisapurple
    paintlisapurple Posts: 982 Member
    I agree. You may not be taking in enough calories. Here is the site some other mfp'ers had suggested to me...I'll pass it along to you... http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
    It will calculate your tdee minus the 20% which seems to be an ideal way of losing weight for many people here.
    Good luck!
    :flowerforyou:
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
    besides the fact that your all going to tell the op that they need to eat more, the fact is, that if the op is honestly and accurately eating 1200 cals and even less, in the first 5 weeks, weight should have been lost. that is not even near the amount of time that would have an effect on their metabolic rate. that being said, i believe calories consumed may be inaccurately being logged, or portions are not accurate. even after a long period of time on a vlc diet, the typical metabolic drop is only about 10%, that still wouldnt account for no weight loss on 1000 cals-1200 cals a day. before telling the op to eat more, you may want to make sure that other factors such as portion control and accurate logging are being addressed. sure, 1000 cals a day is too low and not healthy, but atleast a pound would have been lost by now, if anything... water weight atleast. something doesnt add up.
  • marathonmom72
    marathonmom72 Posts: 191 Member
    You definitely should be eating more. I'm 5'4" also, and 130 pounds and I net 1450 calories a day to lose weight. I calculated your BMR for you, it's around 1430 which means you should be eating AT LEAST that much every day. Also, if you don't have much to lose you shouldn't be trying to lose more than .5 to 1 pound a week.

    If you're sedentary (meaning no exercise, spend most of the day sitting at a desk job or something similar), your body burns around 1720 calories a day. That means you could eat 1420 calories a day and still lose over a half pound a week. If you exercise or have a busy job, that number should increase even more.

    Try eating more calories for a few weeks, see if that makes a difference. Also try to make sure you're eating mostly healthy, whole foods. I haven't looked at your diary but that coud be a small part of the problem.
    QFT
  • xinit0
    xinit0 Posts: 310 Member
    Also: log everything you eat, and be honest with yourself about it. Get a kitchen scale, and use measuring cups and spoons. Learn what 100g of chicken really looks like, etc.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    besides the fact that your all going to tell the op that they need to eat more, the fact is, that if the op is honestly and accurately eating 1200 cals and even less, in the first 5 weeks, weight should have been lost. that is not even near the amount of time that would have an effect on their metabolic rate. that being said, i believe calories consumed may be inaccurately being logged, or portions are not accurate. even after a long period of time on a vlc diet, the typical metabolic drop is only about 10%, that still wouldnt account for no weight loss on 1000 cals-1200 cals a day. before telling the op to eat more, you may want to make sure that other factors are being logged accurately. sure, 1000 cals a day is too low and not healthy, but atleast a pound would have been lost by now, if anything... water weight atleast. something doesnt add up.

    No, I completely agree. I did tell OP to eat more but it also doesn't make sense that she hasn't lost something. OP, I would definitely check with a doctor to make sure you don't have any conditions that may prevent you from losing. In the long run, though, I think eating more would definitely benefit you.

    Also, forgot to link this thread earlier and it's pretty much the most helpful thing in helping you figure out what to eat: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • cebiginalaska
    cebiginalaska Posts: 280 Member
    :noway: Another MFP design fail. They need to integrate a form of TDEE into their registration process instead of giving every woman 1200 net calories when they sign up who knows how many of them don't eat their calories back when they start to try lose weight :frown:

    updated version of IPOARM http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
    :noway: Another MFP design fail. They need to integrate a form of TDEE into their registration process instead of giving every woman 1200 net calories when they sign up who knows how many of them don't eat their calories back when they start to try lose weight :frown:

    updated version of IPOARM http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13

    mfp didnt give me 1200, it gave me closer to 1470 ish... i put myself on 1200, since that is the lowest reccomended cal intake for women. im losing great and continuously on 1200, which i was having zero weight loss on 1470 ish.
  • MyOwnSunshine
    MyOwnSunshine Posts: 1,312 Member
    besides the fact that your all going to tell the op that they need to eat more, the fact is, that if the op is honestly and accurately eating 1200 cals and even less, in the first 5 weeks, weight should have been lost. that is not even near the amount of time that would have an effect on their metabolic rate. that being said, i believe calories consumed may be inaccurately being logged, or portions are not accurate. even after a long period of time on a vlc diet, the typical metabolic drop is only about 10%, that still wouldnt account for no weight loss on 1000 cals-1200 cals a day. before telling the op to eat more, you may want to make sure that other factors such as portion control and accurate logging are being addressed. sure, 1000 cals a day is too low and not healthy, but atleast a pound would have been lost by now, if anything... water weight atleast. something doesnt add up.

    Agreed. This is why people who have WLS can lose so quickly on VLCD for 6 months to a year. Your metabolism doesn't react immediately.

    My advice to the OP would be to make sure you are accurately recording everything you are eating and drinking. Invest in a food scale and multiple sets of measuring cups so you can weigh and measure everything. If you are estimating your serving sizes, your calorie totals could be way off.

    If you are 100% sure that you are accurately recording everything, then you should take several weeks worth of your diary to your doctor and go over it with him to get a medical opinion.

    As others have said, different things work for different people and finding what works for you calorie and macro-wise is trial and error.
  • brekadsouza
    brekadsouza Posts: 1
    I started at 1480 calories and now I'm at 1420. I'm losing weight slowy which is fine with me. I'm not too hung up on the numbers as I've noticed with exercising I'm leaning out and I've gone from a size 16 to a 14. Don't get discouraged and don't starve yourself either. I'm in the early stages of pre-menopause and trust me it's not easy losing weight, but take it slow and exercise and you will see a difference. MFP definitely works you just need to be patient.
  • megginanderson
    megginanderson Posts: 276 Member
    Def eat more!
    Im 5'5 at 140 and Im at 1900 calories.
  • tlpower
    tlpower Posts: 8
    hi guys thanks so much for replies. I am 100% anal about tracking what i have eaten, i weigh & measure everything and am so strict on myself. i have never not lost weight like this before. i forgot to mention when i had my operation i was 10 stone, i put on 10lbs in 4 weeks due to being housebound and giving up smoking which made me eat everything in site. i am very active i am a chef (and no before you ask i don't pick, i keep sugar free gum in my mouth all day so i don't) but i do stand up 8 hours a day for work. i havent weighed in this week but if i don't lose weight on weigh in day as this week i did the 5:2 diet i think i may go and see the doctor.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    To the OP I've been on MFP for 4.5 months and didn't have any weight loss eating more. I've figured out that my maintenance calories are 1600-1700 so lower than yours so I do need to eat less to lose weight but 1000 is very low and I wouldn't go that far having been there before. After being told by many on here to eat more and having tried and tested that method (including TDEE etc.) I have now lowered my calories to average 1350 per day and that's including exercise calories which I don't eat back.

    I'm confident that I'm going to lose slowly now which is better than before and if I need to I'll lower a little more - but to no less than 1200. If you know you can maintain on 2000 then why not try 1500 as that way you will be creating enough of a deficit to be able to lose 1lb per week and then if that doesn't work then lower calories a little more ie. by around 50 calories per week until you start losing.

    I'm 5 foot 4 aswell and my starting weight was 10 stone 7 and I'm now 10 stone 5 (after 4.5 months!). It's only been in the last couple of weeks that I've lowered calories to a lot less than recommended by people on MFP so I don't expect to start seeing a big loss immediately but hopefully now it will be slowly but surely. I should also say that when I first joined MFP for the first 2-3 weeks I ate 1000-1200 and exercised less and lost 4lbs so lower calories do work. I am aiming for 8 stone 4 as my goal weight as I'm a small build and I'm carrying a lot of body fat (31%) but if I can get the body fat down to around 23% and I'm heavier I'll be happy with that.

    I have seen some inch loss during the time I've been on here which I put down to my workouts which started off as mainly cardio plus HIIT and some resistence training but I've now switched to lifting heavy weights 3 times a week as well as a little cardio on the other days. I've just reduced sodium to eliminate the possibility of water retention and have lowered my carbs4-5 days a week to under 70g so I'm hoping that will help too.

    To Mcgrawhaha. From your photo you look great and if 1200 is working for you then stick with it. I hoped that eating more would work for me but wasted nearly 4 months finding out that it didn't so lower calories are the way to go for some of us unfortunately.
  • acidosaur
    acidosaur Posts: 295 Member
    besides the fact that your all going to tell the op that they need to eat more, the fact is, that if the op is honestly and accurately eating 1200 cals and even less, in the first 5 weeks, weight should have been lost. that is not even near the amount of time that would have an effect on their metabolic rate. that being said, i believe calories consumed may be inaccurately being logged, or portions are not accurate. even after a long period of time on a vlc diet, the typical metabolic drop is only about 10%, that still wouldnt account for no weight loss on 1000 cals-1200 cals a day. before telling the op to eat more, you may want to make sure that other factors such as portion control and accurate logging are being addressed. sure, 1000 cals a day is too low and not healthy, but atleast a pound would have been lost by now, if anything... water weight atleast. something doesnt add up.

    yep, agreed with this
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    Just seen your last post. I've also been doing the 5:2 diet for around 7 weeks and what I noticed is weight loss of 2lbs which I'd gained back by eating more (having initially lost 4lb as explained before) and then I seemed to lose and gain the same 2lbs every week as I lowered calories on fast days and increased them on feed days. It means that I end up the same each week but since lowering carbs and calories a little the scale seems to be moving more.
  • xinit0
    xinit0 Posts: 310 Member
    After being told by many on here to eat more and having tried and tested that method (including TDEE etc.) I have now lowered my calories to average 1350 per day and that's including exercise calories which I don't eat back.

    It sounds to me like you're combining two different approaches in your post (or I'm not reading it clearly); the MFP/NEAT way and the TDEE-X% way. Just wanted to highlight that they're very different. To the OP - read the In place of a roadmap link above for more...

    MFP gives you a number, then credits you for exercise. The credited calories are intended to be eaten back, and if you're eating 1350, and doing a half hour of running without recouping those calories, you're crossing into possibly dangerous territory under your BMR.

    The TDEE method takes a bit more work and setup, but you already know how much you should be exercising, and that's included in your daily number. Do your normal amount of weekly exercise, and eat to this number. No messing around.
  • bsmithmia
    bsmithmia Posts: 41 Member
    1. You aren't consistently logging you food. There are days a time where you haven't logged and some of the entries don't appear correct (beef dinner that has no sodium? and you drink vodka straight?)
    2. Do you measure/weigh your food? From your portions in your diary I would assume no.
    3. Do you drink water? You aren't logging it. It can help curb snacking cravings and your body needs it.
    4. Why don't you start off with walking for exercise at a minimum? Diet alone is ok but combining it with exercise is the best approach.

    Based off this IMO your current efforts are going to be inconclusive because there has been no consistency. Obviously medical issues aside. What you are saying doesn't add up to what you have logged but you can always recommit. There are plenty of people here to support.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    1. You aren't consistently logging you food. There are days a time where you haven't logged and some of the entries don't appear correct (beef dinner that has no sodium? and you drink vodka straight?)
    2. Do you measure/weigh your food? From your portions in your diary I would assume no.
    3. Do you drink water? You aren't logging it. It can help curb snacking cravings and your body needs it.
    4. Why don't you start off with walking for exercise at a minimum? Diet alone is ok but combining it with exercise is the best approach.

    Based off this IMO your current efforts are going to be inconclusive because there has been no consistency. Obviously medical issues aside. What you are saying doesn't add up to what you have logged but you can always recommit. There are plenty of people here to support.

    This is all great advice!!! Though personally I DO drink vodka straight... shots are the lowest-calorie and most fun way party :laugh:
  • lizzzylou
    lizzzylou Posts: 325
    oh lordy....grabs popcorn....:drinker:
  • jules77az2004
    jules77az2004 Posts: 24 Member
    OP I agree with everything everyone has mentioned. But one thing to ask yourself what kind of meds your on and what are the side effects of those meds. I have RA and I'm on prednisone which makes you retain water and bloat and all kinds of ugly. Works great for my pain... but not for losing weight. Most people on prednisone gain weight. I have been losing and gaining the same 5lbs for MONTHS!!! So basically everything I'm doing (exercise/food intake) is only working to keep me from gaining weight. So my point is... check into what your meds side effects are. And talk to your Dr because really their help will be key in getting you on the right track. In the mean time... figure out what your calories should be (which lots of posters have been awesome in spelling it out for you:) ), exercise and measure/weigh everything (yes it's a pain, but eyeballing doesn't work) you put into your mouth. Be accountable, find a routine you like and once you talk to your Dr and figure out if your meds are causing you to not lose weight you'll be right on track to start losing. :) Good luck!
  • tlpower
    tlpower Posts: 8
    hi no i don't drink vodka neat i drink it with diet tonic or soda water so i don't put it in as its no calories, i was cycling and walking daily but i had a bad knee dislocation 2 years ago so it flares up and then i have to stop. i wasn't putting in calories regular as i was using a different app but went back to this last wenesday. roast beef dinner was the nearest o could find as on menu it said 850 cals. when i signed up for my fitness pal on my mobile it said i should have 1200 cals a day but most of you are saying that's not enough? i did wonder as i did rosemary conley a few years back and after the fat attack fortnight i had to go up to 1480 so am a bit confused
  • tlpower
    tlpower Posts: 8
    sorry not on any meds anymore but had the merina coil fitted for the first time 9 weeks ago, don't know if this can cause weight gain or not
  • xinit0
    xinit0 Posts: 310 Member
    when i signed up for my fitness pal on my mobile it said i should have 1200 cals a day but most of you are saying that's not enough? i did wonder as i did rosemary conley a few years back and after the fat attack fortnight i had to go up to 1480 so am a bit confused

    It is confusing... At first glance, it would seem like it should be a straight relationship - fewer calories would mean more weight loss. Sounds like common sense, right? Well, common sense is a jerk and a liar :grumble:
  • croooz
    croooz Posts: 48 Member
    i put myself on 1200, since that is the lowest reccomended cal intake for women.

    Who determined this? Are there any journal articles that say this? I've been looking for where this arbitrary number came from and find it no where. I find the number to be passed along as gospel when in my ongoing search it just seems to be some number. Without taking into account the height of the woman or person for that matter there is no way to say that calories can go this low and no further.
  • nic2006
    nic2006 Posts: 9
    Hi. I had the mirena fitted and have put on a stone in 2 yrs. I also have endo and mite a to treat it. Am trying to cut back on binge attacks but they are so hard to resist lol. Here's hoping can stick to this for a while. My BMR is 1222 so am going to stick to 1200 and have Saturdays off for weekend meal and drinks
    Hope you start loosing soon
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    To the poster who said I'm confusing two methods I'm not. I was just saying that I've tried them all! I've spent weeks and weeks experimenting, firstly with MFPs method of eating low calories but I decided not to eat exercise calories back. I lost weight like this but got told off by many people here for eating too little so I then tried eating them back and found I was eating above maintenance for my body despite the fact I shouldn't have been as the website said I wasn't but my body didn't like it.

    Then I tried TDEE -15% which didn't work, TDEE -20% which also didn't work and that's when I started thinking about what my true TDEE really was and how much I need to eat to gain weight and realised that it's 1600-1700 including exercise calories. My TDEE based on several different calculators told me that maintenance was actually 2100-2200 including exercise calories which is just way too high.

    Therefore to lose weight I am now trying to burn more through my workouts (around 3000 per week) and eat 1350 gross across the week as any more than this and I won't see any loss.
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
    i put myself on 1200, since that is the lowest reccomended cal intake for women.

    Who determined this? Are there any journal articles that say this? I've been looking for where this arbitrary number came from and find it no where. I find the number to be passed along as gospel when in my ongoing search it just seems to be some number. Without taking into account the height of the woman or person for that matter there is no way to say that calories can go this low and no further.

    PER MY MD OF OVER 15 YEARS, WHOM I TRUST, as well as The National Institute of Heath.
  • xinit0
    xinit0 Posts: 310 Member
    To the poster who said I'm confusing two methods I'm not. I was just saying that I've tried them all! I've spent weeks and weeks experimenting, firstly with MFPs method of eating low calories...

    Comes down to my reading comprehension then :D

    I thought it sounded like you were confusing the two items, mostly when you mentioned not eating back exercise calories on the MFP plan. (1350*7) - 3000 comes out to a net of 921 per day, which really sounds scary low.

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