I don't even know where I'm going wrong - please help : (
Replies
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I would eat less calories a day. A woman needs about 2000 calories a day.
I prefer to get around 1200 every day, but it depends every day. 1200 to 1700.
also, in your food diary i saw Sanittarium - Up & Go Energize, 250 ml , i don't know what that is but, please don't drink your calories. Water is best for you! lots of it
Statements like these are very damaging. My BMR is 2000 calories, my TDEE at completely sedentary level is 2500 and if I exercise 3x a week my TDEE goes up to 3000 calories. 2000 is the average of all women combined, but depending on activity level, height and weight it can go from 1500 to 3000 with ease. So please be careful with making such factual-sounding claims. Not all women are the same, consider their circumstances and physique before you make such a suggestion. If you'd have advised me I would be in serious trouble with those numbers.0 -
OK the consensus seems to be that 2100 (with negative adjustments when necessary) is too high so I'll lower it.
That kinds scares me because other calcs give me in the high 2000s and then you have the "undereating" issue.
Well I have the MFP calc set to lightly active so I'll put it down to sedentary and see how it goes, even though I really, really don't think I'm sedentary.
OH, someone asked what i do/carry
They're large bales of fabric and boxes of things, anywhere from 15-30kg each (the smallest bales we get are about 13.5kg but most are bigger) Then I'm cutting that out for people, walking up and down a big run of it and folding it, unrolling it, heaving it back to unroll more... packing the cut stuff up in boxes and so on. Lots of upper body and steps a couple at a time that the fitbit doesn't pick up and seems to think I'm just sitting (I compared the fitbit to a pedometer on my phone one day and the difference was over double BUT the phone app drains my battery too much so I've stuck with the fitbit knowing its limitations) Does that make sense?0 -
Why do you struggle so much to consistently log food?
I get up for work at 4 and by the time I get home, it's dinner shower clean and bed before doing it all over again on 6 hours sleep.
Sometimes I'll have had the same as the day before to eat, so it has seemed unnecessary at the time, when I know what I've had.0 -
I know this might sound bad but how do you expect to lose weight when you eat: McDonalds, Chocolate (quite often), 4 slices of bread in a day, Fried Noodles. Have you ever heard the saying 'you can't out exercise a bad diet'.
You need to be eating more vegetables, fruits, meat and whole grains. I think your diet, the non consistent logging and the too high calorie diet might be the problem. I eat 1500 calories a day and i think the most a women should eat is 1700. To me anything above that seems too much.0 -
If you're consistently gaining weight on what you're eating now, then you don't have a deficit. It doesn't matter what all the TDEE estimators and gadgets in the world say, your body has the final word and it's clearly telling you that you're eating too much for your current level of activity. It sucks not to have your body align perfectly with the computer estimates, sure. But since you're gaining you'll have to create a deficit by lowering your caloric intake or raising your calorie expenditure.
Which brings me back to logging. You can't lower your calories if you don't have starting point to lower them from. That's where logging comes in. If your estimated 2100 calories a day is making you gain, then first make sure you're really eating that amount and then lower it by 20 percent. I'd hate for you to lower your calories to 1680 if you're really eating 2500 and only need to drop it down to 2000. Make sense?
It is so very confusing!
I've had lower goals in the past and still gained on them. I stuck to 1600 a year or two back and after losing 2 kg in the first month gained 8 over the next 4. I weighed and logged everything. OK it was plus exercise but even the overestimation of exercise that MFP is known for wouldn't have amounted to an extra 1000 calories a day to go from a lb loss to a lb gain, right?! Then I gave up for a while because I had turned into a total control freak over it, and a typical day would have been close to 3000 calories and I maintained it, then I tried to lose it again, gained more.
I wish I'd just stayed at 72kg way back then and never started some days!0 -
I know this might sound bad but how do you expect to lose weight when you eat: McDonalds, Chocolate (quite often), 4 slices of bread in a day, Fried Noodles. Have you ever heard the saying 'you can't out exercise a bad diet'.
You need to be eating more vegetables, fruits, meat and whole grains. I think your diet, the non consistent logging and the too high calorie diet might be the problem. I eat 1500 calories a day and i think the most a women should eat is 1700. To me anything above that seems too much.
I eat fast food and ice cream almost every day.0 -
2100 seems awfully high!0
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Good information is here and has been posted ad nauseum, and yet it's still a game of "hey guize pick my TDEE out of a hat" and "it's so hard."0
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Even if you lose weight while doing that i still don't think it's good for you to be eating that stuff. You might lose weight but your probably doing damage to your body in the long term.0
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Even if you lose weight while doing that i still don't think it's good for you to be eating that stuff. You might lose weight but your probably doing damage to your body in the long term.
You're wrong. Let's not turn this into a clean vs dirty food thread.0 -
it sounds like bloating from refined carbs. Cut simple carbs and eat more veggies in its place. Log your food and never get to hungry. An apple has saved me many a day0
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Good information is here and has been posted ad nauseum, and yet it's still a game of "hey guize pick my TDEE out of a hat" and "it's so hard."
Hey, I'm just trying to answer everyone's questions!
People get pissy when I don't respond to them and go off in a huff even though I've asked them to clarify something, yet others are coming in and getting pissy that I'm saying the same thing over and over.
Well, people are asking me the same thing over and over!
I'm going to take on board what you and others have said and come back with it in a few weeks, as I've said, but I can't magic up a months worth of logging now.0 -
It is so very confusing!
I've had lower goals in the past and still gained on them. I stuck to 1600 a year or two back and after losing 2 kg in the first month gained 8 over the next 4. I weighed and logged everything. OK it was plus exercise but even the overestimation of exercise that MFP is known for wouldn't have amounted to an extra 1000 calories a day to go from a lb loss to a lb gain, right?!
I'm sure it was the "plus exercise" that caused you fail. It only takes an extra 500 calories a day to gain a lb a week. It's very easy to let those 500 slip by you - a treat at Starbucks with your coffee, someone brings doughnuts to work, you grab a bag of trail mix when you stop for gas, an extra helping of something tasty...I know, I did it for years and would have sworn on a stack of bibles that I wasn't eating a bite over 1800 calories a day TOPS, but when I started counting it was more like 2500.0 -
It is so very confusing!
I've had lower goals in the past and still gained on them. I stuck to 1600 a year or two back and after losing 2 kg in the first month gained 8 over the next 4. I weighed and logged everything. OK it was plus exercise but even the overestimation of exercise that MFP is known for wouldn't have amounted to an extra 1000 calories a day to go from a lb loss to a lb gain, right?!
I'm sure it was the "plus exercise" that caused you fail. It only takes an extra 500 calories a day to gain a lb a week. It's very easy to let those 500 slip by you - a treat at Starbucks with your coffee, someone brings doughnuts to work, you grab a bag of trail mix when you stop for gas, an extra helping of something tasty...I know, I did it for years and would have sworn on a stack of bibles that I wasn't eating a bite over 1800 calories a day TOPS, but when I started counting it was more like 2500.
I don't do that, what I meant was more just to confirm that I ate my "exercise calories".0 -
It is so very confusing!
I've had lower goals in the past and still gained on them. I stuck to 1600 a year or two back and after losing 2 kg in the first month gained 8 over the next 4. I weighed and logged everything. OK it was plus exercise but even the overestimation of exercise that MFP is known for wouldn't have amounted to an extra 1000 calories a day to go from a lb loss to a lb gain, right?!
I'm sure it was the "plus exercise" that caused you fail. It only takes an extra 500 calories a day to gain a lb a week. It's very easy to let those 500 slip by you - a treat at Starbucks with your coffee, someone brings doughnuts to work, you grab a bag of trail mix when you stop for gas, an extra helping of something tasty...I know, I did it for years and would have sworn on a stack of bibles that I wasn't eating a bite over 1800 calories a day TOPS, but when I started counting it was more like 2500.
I don't do that, what I meant was more just to confirm that I ate my "exercise calories".
If you are doing the TDEE method, you don't need to eat back exercise calories because they are already accounted for. If you do it the MFP way (like I do) you DO eat back your exercise calories. Anyway, I think the key here is that you THINK you know what you're eating, but guesstimating your portions is a FAIL method. You must weigh and measure to be accurate. You can't be doing it right AND be gaining weight. Something is amiss...0 -
I don't do that, what I meant was more just to confirm that I ate my "exercise calories".
You really are argumentative. :laugh:
Here's what you sound like: "Help! I'm gaining weight but I know I'm not eating too much! What else could it be?"
What else do YOU think it could be? Because "You're eating too much" is obviously not what you were hoping to hear.0 -
Do you have a smartphone/mobile? If you do maybe that would help you to log, i know it helps my boyfriend. Or it may possibly be a thyroid problem? I have that, it is very hard to lose weight, but it can be done. But why try getting your blood work done, I had a similar situation. I kept gaining and gaining even though I was exercising and eating well, than by the time i found out I had an under functioning thyroid i gone from a svelte 150lbs to a not so svelte 215lbs.0
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I agree about logging diligently. I am sporadic sometimes and I can see the difference from when I am daily logging. I lost 5 pounds in 2 days (this won't be a typical 2 days for me. but it felt great) just by Really Watching what I put in my mouth. I think to myself before I eat, "Is this empty calories? Then don't eati it!!" If you eat nutritious foods, your body won't betray you. So yes, Log Every Bite! Even coffee creamer -- powder is 30 calories and liquid is 35!!! i was shocked. So when you keep track diligently you will be able to see a change.0
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I have a fitbit and just have a couple of comments:
1) To the person who said 1000 steps is not sedentary -- really? I get more steps than that when I'm home with the flu. It's almost impossible to only get 1000 steps a day.
2) On my planned rest days I get 7000-8000 steps, so 5000 does seem sedentary to me. I understand that the OP is standing, etc., but like another person posted that's not active exercise where you're getting your heart rate up. I think you need to consider yourself sedentary for purposes of the calculator.
Good luck!0 -
Try buying a cheap pedometer to compare with fitbit.
I own a pedometer that tracks every step and the total is normally pretty close to fitbit. I think more likely the phone app ran up an inflated total.
As everyone in the thread has said so far: weigh, measure and log! Once you have a solid measurement of your in and out goings you'll have the information to make the best possible choices.
Best of luck on your journey. 0 -
:happy: I find that planning your meals is a must. When I don't plan and get out the door without a healthy lunch in my bag, then I go to the stupid vending machine! Healthy choices are a joke in there!
Fruit is portable, carry extra. I grab a couple each day (when planning :laugh: )0 -
It's better than bad, it's good!
:laugh:0 -
I don't do that, what I meant was more just to confirm that I ate my "exercise calories".
You really are argumentative. :laugh:
Here's what you sound like: "Help! I'm gaining weight but I know I'm not eating too much! What else could it be?"
What else do YOU think it could be? Because "You're eating too much" is obviously not what you were hoping to hear.
Sorry, I was just clarifying that I was eating them back in that scenario because I know it gets asked. I don't see how that is argumentative
I've already said I'll drop it back and log better0 -
It only takes a matter of minutes to log. Try logging the night before for the following day - then print it and follow it for the day. It wouldn't take up more than 20 minutes of your evening.
I have no sympathy with 'I don't have time' - make time if you are serious, we all have busy lives yet we manage.0 -
2100 cals a "DAY?" WOW, I have 1200 a day and rarely if EVER even go near that. You need to go thru your meal plans and see where you are making your mistakes. And you must with an absolute MUST faithfully log your foods correctly to SEE what you are doing wrong. You will get it--I did and it is almost second nature to me now.0
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OP - If I were you, I would eat 1500-1600 calories a day for 4 weeks. Weigh and LOG everything in that 4 weeks. If I had a big eating day on the weekend say at 2000, then I would cut back to 1400 the next day. Make sure I averaged out the week at 1600.
If you do this, at the end of the 4 weeks, using your results, you will be able to calculate your TDEE based on calorie intake and weight loss. You can then tweak food intake up or down as needed.
It's pretty much a given that if you are eating at a deficit, there will be weight loss. So I think that the logging issue may solve your problem without doing much else.
No excuses, if you want this then you will do it.0 -
2100 cals a "DAY?" WOW, I have 1200 a day and rarely if EVER even go near that. You need to go thru your meal plans and see where you are making your mistakes. And you must with an absolute MUST faithfully log your foods correctly to SEE what you are doing wrong. You will get it--I did and it is almost second nature to me now.
Yes I will log better
I'm sure someone is going to come and tell me I'm argumentative and snarky and whatever else, but I just don't believe in 1200 calories, or less, a day.0 -
My BMR IS 1615.
I had my calorie limit at 1200 based upon losing weight and I burn of 300-600 a day, I always went over on my calories and so I did eat a majority of my exercise calories back. Did this work.......no. Didn't lose, wasn't for me.
So I set my calories to 1615. I have been told to eat 2000 and burn off 500. I eat anywhere between 1100-2000 with a 400-1200 calorie burn a day. I have only eaten under 1200 6 times in the last 30 days and majority was between 1400/1600 with 2 exceptions being 2000. Is this the go?. Is it working? For me yes. I am seeing results, however not the type I was expecting. I have recently begun Insanity. This means I am building muscle, I am holding water weight, I am constantly drinking water therefore I eat less as I have less room in my stomach for food. When I am finished, i will reevaluate my calorie goal based upon my fitness choices.
FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU!
I log daily, i see what I was consuming last year, What I was burning last year and what my weight pattern is and I can see what worked and what didn't. I "prtsc" keyboard button for each table in the reports table and paste them one at a time onto word and compare them side by side. I see the pattern, try it again, see if it works. But you wont see a difference if you don't log.
Make sure you drink your water and log.0 -
You don't have to pick a tdee. Use the MFP cal goal, and you can eat back some of your exercise cals (not work walking etc). I'm a nurse and on my feet all day but never use that as exercise. I eat about 1450 and then maybe some of my running or weight training cals.No thanks. Too many people who actually want help.
there's no need to be cruel.
I do want help.
Hey, maybe I didn't realise that noting every crumb was so integral to the whole thing. Clearly it is, and as I've said, i'll take it on board and try my best and come back.
Sorry to have wasted your time.
Then if you are serious and want help, start logging. You may not have to do it forever, but until you start weighing and logging everything you truly have no idea what you're eating. Everyone here is telling you pretty much the same thing and it's because we've been there. There were periods where I'm pretty sure I was eating 4000 + calories a day, and yet thinking I was getting half that. It's shocking the first few weeks when you realize how small basic servings really are, and it is awfully easy to forget the little "extras" when you don't log them.
Get serious. Do it for you. Pick a TDEE calculator, plug in what you think is right, try a 500 calorie a day deficit, and weigh and log everything. Then after a month or two see where you are. Do you need to adjust it up or down from there? Then ask for help, if you need it, armed with the information necessary for people to be able to intelligently give you advice.
Thanks
And I've said I'll give it a gowith the logging before asking for more.
But we're back at picking a TDEE again and I really don't know where to start.0 -
Try 1400 or 1600. Obviously 2100 is too many.2100 cals a "DAY?" WOW, I have 1200 a day and rarely if EVER even go near that. You need to go thru your meal plans and see where you are making your mistakes. And you must with an absolute MUST faithfully log your foods correctly to SEE what you are doing wrong. You will get it--I did and it is almost second nature to me now.
Yes I will log better
I'm sure someone is going to come and tell me I'm argumentative and snarky and whatever else, but I just don't believe in 1200 calories, or less, a day.0
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