Getting frustrated with slow weight loss

mschipper
mschipper Posts: 8
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I've been tracking my calories with MFP for at least the last 2 months and also been going to the gym 4 times a week. I even got a FitBit tracker and have been walking 10000 steps (most days) and eating its recommended calories which is fairly close to the MFP estimate of about 2400cals-2600cals a day with a 1000cal deficit.

I'm classed as "active" and have significantly adjusted my eating habits since using MFP. I do still have a small bowl of ice-cream on Saturday as my cheat meal and am only drinking 1 or 2 glasses of alcohol a week.

The problem i am having is i am not losing fat at the level i expect. Only about 1kg on the scale a month, i thought i would be losing much more than that. I have 19kg still to lose.

Can someone have a look at my diary and tell me where I'm going wrong? (i think its viewable)

My exercise routine is 2x Mauy Thai Boxing and 2x days a week of Olympic weights / circuit training which is very cardio intensive (Crossfit). Also I'm trying to do 10000 steps a day 7 days a week on the fitbit.

I've been aiming to keep my lean mass steady and drop my body fat which seems to be working now. I've been tracking my weight here with my body fat scale: https://trendweight.com/u/44badba3bace4b/

Any suggestions would be great, my weight loss seems to be getting into a stall over the last week or two.

Replies

  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
    Inconsistently eating back exercise calories could be a problem, first thing I noticed

    Second, where's your water? Do you just not track it or do you really not drink much? That could contribute as well

    Third, I notice you don't log weekends, it's very possible that you're accidentally and unintentionally undoing some of your good work through the week on your weekends.

    Just the thoughts that popped to mind when I looked through :)
  • JessicaJoanJarvis
    JessicaJoanJarvis Posts: 80 Member
    how much sleep are you getting?

    how much water are you drinking?

    what are your portion sizes like?
  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
    i would go with what previous poster said, and with your weight loss goals, in the beginning you can cut that back a smidgen more, not a lot, but being under , when you have over 2k calories a day is not a big deal and over 20 kilo to lose
    , i would aim for 2k calories a day , and try not eating back all the exercise for a week , or two , and see if that doesn't kick start you , you might have a slower metabolism than you estimates
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    You are not logging consistently. My first guess is are still eating too much. But that is a guess because your diary is incomplete. I would suggest logging very meticulously for at least a month. Also, you may be over estimating your calorie burn from exercise.
  • mschipper
    mschipper Posts: 8
    Thanks for the replies. :)

    I drink about 8-11 glasses of water a day (have a large jug on my desk at work, which i fill up in the morning, plus my workout water)

    My portion sizes are a bit hit and miss i usually have about 500 cals per meal and a large breakfast of about 800 cals. I could probably spread the meals out a bit more throughout the day.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,966 Member
    You don't log on the weekends?

    Are you sure your logging is accurate? For me it was an eye opener when I got a food scale. I mean a 25 g serving of hard cheese is the size of a matchbox. A second eye opener was when I got an HRM. My typical workout on the elliptical according to the HRM burns 540. The gym machine gives me 780. And MFP gives me 926.
  • Marley2310
    Marley2310 Posts: 304
    2600 to lose 2 pounds a week but u lost 2 pounds in a month mmmm ..

    1 - u are not that active

    2- the calculator over estimated the numbers

    3 - u are eating more than u think .

    i think u should aim for 1800 or 2000 and see how it goes
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Thanks for the replies. :)

    I drink about 8-11 glasses of water a day (have a large jug on my desk at work, which i fill up in the morning, plus my workout water)

    My portion sizes are a bit hit and miss i usually have about 500 cals per meal and a large breakfast of about 800 cals. I could probably spread the meals out a bit more throughout the day.

    Do you use a food scale? Accurately estimating your calories is a must. Also, Meal timing doesn't matter at all. Six small or one large meal, makes no difference. Weight loss is driven by having a calorie deficit. Period.
  • Jamie_Lauren
    Jamie_Lauren Posts: 211 Member
    Do you measure and weigh your food?

    I know it seems arduous and silly but I was amazed when I started doing that at how much I was over on my portion sizes. Measuring and weighing out your portions will make sure that what you're actually eating is as accurate as possible to your diary.
  • stacetherainbow
    stacetherainbow Posts: 131
    Are you using an HRM to track calories burned? You might not be burning as much as you believe, and therefore overeating your back calories
    In any case, you might try making sure you hit your protein goal for the day. It will keep you full longer, help rebuild muscle and your body uses more energy to digest it, so bonus calorie burn!
    Best of luck!
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    2600 to lose 2 pounds a week but u lost 2 pounds in a month mmmm ..

    1 - u are not that active

    2- the calculator over estimated the numbers

    3 - u are eating more than u think .

    i think u should aim for 1800 or 2000 and see how it goes

    yah... 1800 - 2000 sounds better. I think you have fudged the numbers.
  • mschipper
    mschipper Posts: 8
    Usually i use a HRM at the gym. In the boxing classes i get about on average 500cals over 30mins and for my weight workouts its about the same. I try not to eat back my workout calories if i can avoid it.

    I don't weight my meals on a scale, i have been using the package weight and guessing from there. I think i might have to dial that in and also logging on weekends.

    I have been aiming for 1gm of protein per pound of lean body mass which is why I've been having 2 protein shakes a day.
  • JessicaJoanJarvis
    JessicaJoanJarvis Posts: 80 Member
    2600 to lose 2 pounds a week but u lost 2 pounds in a month mmmm ..

    1 - u are not that active

    2- the calculator over estimated the numbers

    3 - u are eating more than u think .

    i think u should aim for 1800 or 2000 and see how it goes

    yah... 1800 - 2000 sounds better. I think you have fudged the numbers.

    I don't think OP has 'fudged' the numbers, think is more a misjudgement due to varying info.

    Only saying this because placing blame onto a person can severly affect them and prove less helpful :)
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    2600 to lose 2 pounds a week but u lost 2 pounds in a month mmmm ..

    1 - u are not that active

    2- the calculator over estimated the numbers

    3 - u are eating more than u think .

    i think u should aim for 1800 or 2000 and see how it goes

    yah... 1800 - 2000 sounds better. I think you have fudged the numbers.

    I don't think OP has 'fudged' the numbers, think is more a misjudgement due to varying info.

    Only saying this because placing blame onto a person can severly affect them and prove less helpful :)


    ok, how about "I think your numbers need going over again" which I just offered to do via email. cause I help people. while everyone tells them its because they dont drink water or don't sleep enough or eat too much carbs, when its just in versus out, which means either portion sizes are wrong, logging is not honest or the calorie deficit is wrong.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    i have been using the package weight and guessing from there.

    this is probably your problem
  • Robincantrell21
    Robincantrell21 Posts: 8 Member
    Hello, I want to lose about 15 pounds in 3-4 weeks. I entered my food diary for today and I consumen 977 calories and and I burned 2,170 calories through exercising. I just want to know if every 4 days out of the week are like today for the next 5 weeks, what would be my weight target? (I current fluctuate between 138-143 lbs.)Thank you.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Hello, I want to lose about 15 pounds in 3-4 weeks. I entered my food diary for today and I consumen 977 calories and and I burned 2,170 calories through exercising. I just want to know if every 4 days out of the week are like today for the next 5 weeks, what would be my weight target? (I current fluctuate between 138-143 lbs.)Thank you.

    You should probably consider starting your own post instead of derailing others'.
  • Weeblessings
    Weeblessings Posts: 38 Member
    A couple of things. I think you could be over eating on the weekends, since you aren't tracking what you are eating/drinking on the weekends. You also may not be getting enough water. You are supposed to be drinking half your body weight of water every day, and if you are very active, you'll probably need to up it...just a bit. Also I don't weigh my meals, but I measure them. I make a casserole for dinner, I type up the recipe, divide it out and I make sure to take my serving....if I have more great, but I measure it....it's amazing how off our serving sizes are when we just eyeball it.
  • mschipper
    mschipper Posts: 8
    I have no idea what happened this week but the day after i posted this topic i started loosing again. Down 2.4kg in 4 days which is the most ive lost since i started logging... The only thing i changed was i doubled my fish oil intake and dropped my calories approximately 200cals (i intended to drop form 2600cals to 2100cals).

    Weird... Hopefully i can keep it up..
  • catfive1
    catfive1 Posts: 529 Member
    I was advised to:

    Eat the majority of my daily carbs before supper.
    Not eat after 6pm.

    Doing this got me over my plateau.
  • AidaLott
    AidaLott Posts: 13 Member
    Most health care experts are a like a broken record with the "calories-in, calories-out" doctrine, so no matter how frustrated I was with my weight loss (or lack thereof), I was told that I wasn't accurately assessing my calories consumed and/or burned. OK, so I admit I found a few weak spots in my diet.

    #1 Having been on the Weight Watchers Points Plus Program where fresh fruit no longer takes any points off one's daily points allowance, I had gotten the impression that the 6 or 7 pieces of fruit adding up to over 500+ calories a day were therefore FREE in my state of delusion.

    #2 I was not counting calories for any of my vegetables except the starchy ones like corn and potatoes. In comes another 200+ calories a day unrecorded.

    # 3. I was taking numerous vitamins and minerals in the chewy gumdrop form and a variety of USELESS supplements and syrups (Yacon syrup, garcinia cambogia, acai berry juice, green coffee bean extract, raspberry ketones, etc. touted by all the popular TV diet gurus and was not counting any of the calories in those, so up comes another 200+ calories ignored.

    #4. I was also not counting the calories in the condiments I was using, the milk I was putting in my coffee all day long, or several pieces of sugarless gum and sugar free candies I was angelically using as my substitute for late night snacking. There goes another 100 calories.

    VOILA!!! The 1000 calorie per day deficit I had worked so hard to create with the expectation of losing 2 pounds per week, was systematically being offset each day by the aforementioned unrecorded calories. Go figure!
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    Exercise does not equal weight loss.

    Calorie deficit = weight loss

Categories