Trying to lose 150lbs and not seeing results

kerensky18
kerensky18 Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello,

I started my weight loss goals at 435lbs and now I'm down to 350lbs however I have had no success going forward. I'm now using FitBit and MFP to try to see where I can improve and how. I've also started doing P90X. According to my research on this site it seems I'm eating too few calories (approximately 1700 per day) to be able to lose weight yet if I eat my exercise calories it came in around 4,226 for MFP and 4208 calories for FitBit. I'm at a loss of what I need to do to lose weight. Please let me know what you guys recommend.

Replies

  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    Hello,

    I started my weight loss goals at 435lbs and now I'm down to 350lbs however I have had no success going forward. I'm now using FitBit and MFP to try to see where I can improve and how. I've also started doing P90X. According to my research on this site it seems I'm eating too few calories (approximately 1700 per day) to be able to lose weight yet if I eat my exercise calories it came in around 4,226 for MFP and 4208 calories for FitBit. I'm at a loss of what I need to do to lose weight. Please let me know what you guys recommend.

    Are you saying that your exercise calories equal 2526 calories every day?
  • Showcase_Brodown
    Showcase_Brodown Posts: 919 Member
    Did I misunderstand, or are you eating 4200+ calories?
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Exercise calorie calcs can get pretty crazy at high weights. Just going for a sustainable flat count (e.g. 2500) might be easier and more effective.
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,323 Member
    i just ran your numbers gusseing on some info.

    male, 350#, 6 feet tall, age 40, with moderate exercise (3-5 days a week) gives a TDEE of 4476 calories.

    is that the number youre working with?

    to echo what adini said....that means youre burning roughly 2700 cals a day?

    ETA: sorry, i see that youre 30yo. that changes the TDEE to 4582...not much different.
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    yeah i think the "eat back your exercise calories" takes on a different meaning when you have a lot to lose. you can afford a much higher deficit than someone who doesn't need to lose as much weight. I would certainly not be eating back all my exercise cals if I were in your position. (also be careful if you use MFPs numbers for exercise, they are notoriously high by as much as double.)
  • rupunzel12
    rupunzel12 Posts: 3
    Try to aim just below your average calorie intake and do execise like walking a dog if you have one or just walk and go out as a family
  • Showcase_Brodown
    Showcase_Brodown Posts: 919 Member
    I'm curious. If you fill in your info on MFP and change your activity level to sedentary, not factoring in exercise, how many calories does it say?

    I am thinking that somehow the exercise/activity estimates added on for your TDEE might be high.
  • kellykw
    kellykw Posts: 184 Member
    I think he's saying that he eats approximately 1700 per day now. Yes? If that's the case I can see why you would be very frustrated. You should be losing at 1700 calories without any exercise at all. Are you sure that you are tracking all of your calories? Are you weighing your food? Do you have any known metabolic disorders? Overestimating calories burned and eating them all back?

    Whatever you do, don't give up! You will figure this out if you just keep trying.
  • kerensky18
    kerensky18 Posts: 8 Member
    Hello,

    I'm a male at 6'3 at 350lbs age 30. Currently I eat ~1700 calories per day with some spikes. But now that I've started to do P90X and a lot of walking I'm burning a lot of calories per day.
  • kerensky18
    kerensky18 Posts: 8 Member
    Hello,

    To clarify my base calories calculated by MFP and FitBit is ~2300 calories. I used this calculator http://p90xcalories.com/ to determine my calories on P90X and it came out to 1300 burned.
  • seif0068
    seif0068 Posts: 193 Member
    You are eating too little, in my opinion. I would try having a NET calorie total of around 2,200 to 2,400 per day, meaning that's your total after subtracting exercise calories. But don't increase to that amount right away or you will gain while you adjust. Eat 1,850/day this week, then 2,000/day for a week, then 2,150/day for a week, til you get to that amount. And then give it TIME.

    The way I got this number was to calculate your TDEE as about 3,150 if you were sedentary which and then a 25% deficit (because you have a lot to lose, you can have a slightly larger deficit). By using a sedentary TDEE and then logging/eating back exercise calories, I find it is easier to track - unless you exercise SO consistently that you burn almost the same amount every day.

    1,700 is definitely not enough to fuel a man over 300 lbs and over 6 feet tall. Best of luck to you!

    ETA: I am not sure if you are logging your food elsewhere but I just looked at your diary. Step #1 should be to try to consistently hit your calorie goals. It won't be perfect, but it looks like you are rarely even remotely close to hitting your calorie goal (most days you are under by as much as 800 calories)! You can't really say you aren't seeing results if you are not eating at the recommended calorie level with consistency over an extended period of time.
  • MarieAnneN
    MarieAnneN Posts: 205
    How about consulting a nutritionist?
    Everybody has the best intents and will only think they are telling you the best advice but seriously, at your weight, it might be advisory to consult a professional as you might endanger your health...

    my 2 sens.
  • nilbogger
    nilbogger Posts: 870 Member
    How long have you been stalling and when did you start P90X?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Diet is a stress.
    Frequent intense exercise is a stress.
    Lack of sleep, lack of recovery from exercise, poor diet choices your body doesn't like can be stressful.
    You got other stresses in life.

    Stress will mess with your hormones and fight weight and fat loss.

    Need to unstress something.

    You just increased deficit and stress by increasing the exercise level - if you are eating exactly the same amount daily, you just hit what many hit.

    More exercise and less eating are counter-productive to weight and fat loss. Though some sadly still lose weight, but lost muscle mass is a big bummer later on. Or immediately for some.
  • kerensky18
    kerensky18 Posts: 8 Member
    Thanks for the advice everyone. There is so much conflicting information out there. seif0068 I do exercise consistently now I'm following the P90X dvds and doing what I can and then each weekend is a minimum 5 mile walk that I track with both FitBit and Endomondo.

    Kelly on average I eat about 1700-2100 calories per day. I measure everything and use a scale in my kitchen. I sometimes have to guess like today I ate a chicken sandwich from Whole Foods and they do not provide calorie information. For tracking exercise I use FitBit and Endomondo and then use calculators when that doesn't work.
  • TwelveSticks
    TwelveSticks Posts: 288 Member
    It sounds like you need to eat back some exercise calories, but not all of them.

    Speaking from my own personal experience (I used to be 301lb and am around 6 foot, so not massively different), 1700 a day worked fine until I started doing more exercise, then I found that my weight loss slowed significantly.

    The formula I settled on, which is working very well for me, was:

    1. Eat what MFP suggests if you tell it you are completely sedentary,
    2. Eat back only a proportion of your exercise calories, to allow for over-estimates. I chose 2/3rds,
    3. Cap your daily intake at something around your TDEE, even if you've done loads of exercise. I cap mine at 2000 cals.

    So, MFP tells me to eat 1550 per day (sedentary), and I average about 600 cals a day of exercise. So I take 2/3rds of that and eat them back, giving me 1550 + 400 = 1950 cals. However, if I do more, like last weekend when I did over 1,100 cals of exercise, the most I eat is that capped, 2000 cals.

    (I allow myself to go over the 2000 by a few hundred once in a while, if I've done loads of exercise and it's a special occasion).
  • kerensky18
    kerensky18 Posts: 8 Member
    nilbogger- I've been stalled for about 7 months and have started P90X this week (I'm not expecting results yet) I'm trying to figure out the different calorie totals.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Thanks for the advice everyone. There is so much conflicting information out there. seif0068 I do exercise consistently now I'm following the P90X dvds and doing what I can and then each weekend is a minimum 5 mile walk that I track with both FitBit and Endomondo.

    Kelly on average I eat about 1700-2100 calories per day. I measure everything and use a scale in my kitchen. I sometimes have to guess like today I ate a chicken sandwich from Whole Foods and they do not provide calorie information. For tracking exercise I use FitBit and Endomondo and then use calculators when that doesn't work.

    If you want to workout that much and wanting the body to make some improvements, you need to eat more.

    Diet is for weight loss, and if done right just fat loss.

    Exercise is for body improvement and heart health. Done right it supports fat and weight loss, done wrong it'll make the battle harder.

    Where your line is depends on genetics, and current factors in your body and life.

    But start on the low end, and well, you see what you get.

    Start on the high end, and you can always move down safely if room to.
  • seif0068
    seif0068 Posts: 193 Member
    I mentioned this in my edit above, but will say again - whether it's on MFP or elsewhere, you need to consistently log. Every morsel/drop that passes your lips. I just looked at June and there are 6 out of 17 days you didn't log anything; on the remaining days, it says you are under by hundreds or thousands of calories. I didn't see a single day that you were within 100 calories of your goal for the day.

    If this logging is accurate, you are stalled because you have been seriously under-nourishing yourself for quite some time. I just calculated your BMR, which is typically considered the bare minimum you should eat, and it's 3,000 calories/day. I think you could eat less than that while you are still so significantly overweight, but I just want to illustrate that if you are netting 1,700 calories/day, you are literally eating half of what your body needs to keep your heart pumping.

    I would strongly suggest you see a nutritionist/doctor to get a better handle on what is an appropriate amount of calories to be eating for someone your size with the workouts you are doing. Also, making healthier food choices overall will go a long way.

    Good luck!
  • kerensky18
    kerensky18 Posts: 8 Member
    Seif0068- I agree that my log is inconsistent I stopped tracking for a while or would only track some meals. It's been a lot easier now that I actually cook my meals instead of buying prepackaged meals though for lunch today I cheated and bought a sandwich. I may take your advice and see a nutritionist (have to see if my insurance covers it.) I have started being much more accurate in the log with scales and measurements.

    It seems through all the advice below I should at least target around 2300 calories.
  • kerensky18
    kerensky18 Posts: 8 Member
    I would also like to clarify I went from 420-350 by making healthy eating decisions like cutting out all sodas and such and increasing my physical activity by walking everywhere. I've just been stuck at 350.
  • novarugger10
    novarugger10 Posts: 62 Member
    You also want to cut back on sugar intake, as sugar promotes fat storage and weight gain. Even if you think you're eating pretty healthy with yogurts, juices, and smoothies, check the sugar content before hand and think twice about it since weight loss is your goal. Start tracking your sugar intake on your MFP diary and log EVERYTHING.

    check out these articles for some insight on sugar and wright loss

    http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-definitive-guide-to-sugar/#axzz2WbQEzwUU
    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/06/17/everything-you-need-to-know-about-sugar/#more-18138
  • kerensky18
    kerensky18 Posts: 8 Member
    I'll have an expert review on Saturday. I've scheduled an appointment with a Nutritionist and Dietician.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Mifflin BMR (could be better estimate if you had decent estimate of bodyfat %) - 2633
    Activity - 5 x 45 min Insanity = 225 high level cardio, 1 x 90 min walking 3-4 mph medium level cardio
    TDEE - 4056
    Deficit of 35% right now for 150 lbs to go.
    Total Daily eating goal - 2633

    Eat that everyday.

    If you walk more than 1.5 hr on the weekend, log the extra in MFP for whatever speed is correct (and that calorie burn is very accurate then) and eat back those calories.

    If you've really shot your body in the metabolism for these 6 months, you may need to eat between 2700 and 4000 to unstress body.
    Or eat the 2633 and take an exercise break for a week to unstress.

    You can get your metabolism fully going again. But you can't hardly recover lost muscle mass without a lot of special effort with lifting.
  • seif0068
    seif0068 Posts: 193 Member
    Good luck! I hope you are able to get some good advice and a better understanding of what might be going on!

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