Fed up and disheartened

Not sure how you can do all that exercise on so little food but whatever...

Diary not open so hard to comment on what you are eating...

As for the 3lbs water weight probably....or you are eating more then you thought.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

You are definitely not eating enough. You only consumed just under 900 cals on Saturday yet you did over 1600 cals worth of exercise. From what I have heard before I assume you will be burning muscle mass rather than fat and by eating so little your body will hold on to all it can just to survive. When doing that amount of exercise you really need to fuel your body properly. This is not sustainable long term.

You certainly arent eating enough hun. 1200 is a minimum but then if you are exercising you are burning calories so even more food is needed.

As for your exercise, as someone else said are you using a HR monitor?



As an example my daily intake is 1680, today I burnt 1195 horseriding so I have only 485 net . If I only eat the 1200 calories then im giving myself 5 calories to survive on for today, its not enough.

Either eat back exercise cals as long as their accurate which ATM they aren't or make sure your husband doesn't add more than you think in oil or other high cal stuff and make sure you're not underestimating food intake.
Did you really only have pineapple on the 21st?
Also don't use quick added calories too often, try amd log your food

I am going by the logging exercise on here. I get my heart rate between 111-129

I think your calories burned for swimming is off. They calculate 60 minutes of swimming non-stop at the same pace. Now maybe you are swimming at the same pace for a full hour, I don't know cause i'm not there, but if you take breaks and stuff you might want to only calculate 3/4 of an hour. You also should be eating more, esp. if you're doing lots of exercise. And you should be eating a bigger breakfast, it gets your metabolism started for the day. Don't get fed up, it takes time to get everything on track but once you do it's worth it.

I am going by the logging exercise on here. I get my heart rate between 111-129

The exercise burn numbers on here are extremely inaccurate for us older and heavier ladies. Trust me, after I started using a HRM, I found out I was burning less than half the amount MFP gave me. Now, I never count more than 400 cals an hour, and that is with my HR in the 130-150 range. I rarely, if ever, eat back any of my calories, as it just doesn't make a difference for me. But seeing the high numbers in the beginning and not seeing the same results on the scale, was extremely frustrating. So cut the numbers at least in half. You can do that manually when you enter the exercise.

As for the reason you aren't losing--

Weight fluctuates quite a bit for us ladies, due to hormones, salt and carb intake, etc. Don't get too excited over the daily number, but look at a couple of weeks at a time.
Watch your sodium.
Watch your sugar and carb levels. For ladies our age, sugar and carbs can make us retain water sometimes.

How long did it take you to lose the weight you already have lost? If you lost a lot in a short period of time, your weight may just be adjusting right now to the big drop. So again, be patient and look at longer term. At this point, an average 2 pounds a week would be good for you.

With as much extra weight as you are carrying, you do not have to worry about 'starvation mode' due to too low of calories. So don't increase your calories overall. If you are eating at a deficit, you WILL lose weight over time.

That said, don't eat so low that you end up starving and binging. You will only negate the deficit that you created.

Most likely, you are underestimating the calories you are actually eating. If your hubby does all the cooking, is he weighing and measuring everything that goes into the meals? Or are you just finding entries that look close and going with those numbers?

Using scales and measuring accurately is crucial for us at this stage in life. We simply cannot just 'eat better and move more' and expect the weight to fall off like it did in our 20s and 30s.

I would suggest adding in some healthy fats like nuts and avocados, (35-45 g p/day) making sure you get at least 70g of protein a day, and lowering your carbs a bit. Choose higher fiber carbs, and less sugary carbs. Juices are the worst.

For most people, it is simply calories in-calories out, but for us women in our late 40s and older, who have a higher BF%, the sugar/carbs really make a difference. Have you been checked for Diabetes or Insulin resistance? If you haven't, please do that. If you do have higher glucose levels, even if they are technically in range, then you may be insulin resistant and will need to follow a Diabetic diet.

Hang in there. Patience and consistency are the keys!

You need to eat more calories (my dietitian friend says never less than 1500), and swimming is good for fitness, but not for weight loss--you aren't burning as many calories as you think there.

You are not eating enough, your body is storing fat because you are starving it. Also, don't skip breakfast, that is your energy for the day.

Eat some smaller snacks through out the day and look for a change.
Don't be disheartened, it's all about trial and error. You will see a change!

No. Your body is not storing fat because you are starving it.

ETA. That would only happen if you were closer to your goal weight, and did not have the fat stores to use for energy.

This. OP, I recommend that you read through: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

And start again using the above principles.

Most of all, it will take you longer than a week to see any change. Keep eating at a deficit for at least a month, then weigh yourself again. It took me six weeks before the pounds started to drop.

Seems your logs are incomplete. Don't use quick add calories, cos that doesn't log your fat and sodium. Also, you should use a scale for your food. Seems you needs protien at breakfast to get energy for all the workouts. I say the same, you may be retaining water since you're not sure how much sodium you have. Try logging exact for two weeks and see if it makes a difference.

I am going by the logging exercise on here. I get my heart rate between 111-129

Please don't go with the mfp calorie estimates. For many people, they are very inaccurate. How many calories you burn depends on your heart rate, weight, age, fitness level, etc. Think about it: how could one calorie estimate be accurate for a wide range of people working at different intensities?

A heart rate monitor (or fitbit/ body bug, etc) is an excellent tool if you want to be accurate. A heart rate monitor is to exercise what measuring cups are to cooking.

1. You are not eating enough. Calculate your TDEE and eat 20% less than that number.

2. You are not burning as many calories as you think you are, I can almost guarantee that.

That's disheartening, I feel for you.
I've had weeks like that. Keep eating your bmr, keep exercising and the loss always happens just a little later than you expect it.

I hope you meant to say OVER BMR, because nobody should be eating AT or under it, especially given the amount of exercise OP's doing. That's just insane. OP, please do NOT do this.

All figures are accurate according to myfitnesspal. I do swim 60 minutes without stopping and fitness pal gave me the calorie loss. Bike exercise is pedling very fast to get my heart rate up which has been worked out by my personal trainer.

Hubby does all the cooking and he weights everything and we don't use any cooking oils at all. He reads all packet details and is very accurate. The first week of diet I was on fluids only for a week then introduced one meal a day then back to normal. I think I will have to eat more and see how I get on. Thanks for all advice.

I think you need to invest in a heart rate monitor so you can see that MFP can grossly overestimate calorie burns... I use a Polar FT60 hear rate monitor and I weigh 250 lbs. and swim 2 miles in the pool at the YMCA a few times a week... It takes me around 90 minutes and my calorie burn is just over 1000 calories for that workout.. but regardless to the calorie burns, you just are not eating nearly enough food even if you wasn't exercising.... I personally think you need to recalculate your caloric intake.... 1200 calories (which you aren't hitting most days) is low.... Best of Luck...