Not losing...don't understand why

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  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSToTLZnUybRCA7xI3mVU3NE6Lb8IpwxMB1EAQj4bCUZB9J8QN4

    Mwah ha ha, i love him!!!

    Me too!!! Grumpy and Maru are 2 of the most awesome cats ever...
    maru-slide-o.gif

    Sorry OP not trying to derail your thread with cat gifs...
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,583 Member
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    Should've taken your calories down not up a don't know why you thought more would help.

    Drop cals down and then go over them occasionally, not bump them up full time.

    Probably though more would help because all people scream on here is "eat more eat more eat more." It's the default advice. Oh yeah, and lift heavy.

    It isn't just "eat more!" in general. Typically, when the advice is given, it's paired with plenty of other information in relation to the advice.

    Oh, and it's advice that's given because it works.

    Not in my experience... advice is rarely given with any context or supporting information.

    When I, and most other folks that I see, give the advice, typically we at LEAST link out to IIFYM groups/scoobys calculator/IPOARM/Eat Train Progress groups. Otherwise, what's the point? There are some folks that throw that out and have no idea why... but I've not come across any folks that just drop into a thread... cry out "EAT MORE!".. drop the mic and then leave the thread completely.

    ETA: And more often than not, I see the advice given to folks that show up.. eating 900 calories and wondering why nothing is working. Or folks that are eating 1500 calories, but doing 4 hours of cardio per day... so on, so forth. Creating too large of a deficit.
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    Your body has adapted very well! :)

    The closer you are to goal (10 pounds or less) the closer to maintenance you have to eat. Try upping your calories by 50-100 per day each week until your eating at your TDEE -10% (TDEE is 2900-3000 cals according to your fitbit, so you want to work up to 2600-2700 per day). You want to be close to maintenance when you reach your goal anyway, to avoid the big rebound, right? (In a deficit you deplete your glycogen stores constantly, and when you start eating regularly again, you gain 3-5 pounds - that's the normal level of glycogen and the water it gets stored in.) It will take a little longer but it will break your plateau and then come off steadily. (And remember that you MAY gain a few pounds of glycogen and water at first - it will go away!) And you'll want to go maybe three to five pounds lighter than your goal, but then you won't have the frustrating yo-yo thing happen when your levels stabalize.

    Best of luck!

    Look...another vote for eating more.
  • husseycd
    husseycd Posts: 814 Member
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    Should've taken your calories down not up a don't know why you thought more would help.

    Drop cals down and then go over them occasionally, not bump them up full time.

    Probably though more would help because all people scream on here is "eat more eat more eat more." It's the default advice. Oh yeah, and lift heavy.

    Probably because it works.

    Assuming certain criteria are met: accurately counting calories and not overestimating burns. When a person is a healthy weight and just wants to lose a few vanity pounds, a huge deficit isn't the way to go.
  • SkinnyFatAlbert
    SkinnyFatAlbert Posts: 482 Member
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    Should've taken your calories down not up a don't know why you thought more would help.

    Drop cals down and then go over them occasionally, not bump them up full time.

    Probably though more would help because all people scream on here is "eat more eat more eat more." It's the default advice. Oh yeah, and lift heavy.

    No again...People say eat more when you work out more because your body needs fuel. It's not hard, it's not rocket science. It's simple math.

    No, if it were simple there'd be a meter on us that told us exactly how many calories we needed. That would then make the math simple. But that's not there. It's all just a guesstimate based off some calculator isn't it? One tells you to eat this, another that. Just look at the exercise levels on them. 1-3 hours, 3-5 hours. Some list in days rather than hours. The literal descriptions are my favorite. Sedentary is pretty easy to narrow down but how do I know if I cross over from moderate to heavy exercise? Or is my moderate someone elses light? So it's basically trial and error over a period of weeks, maybe months, depending on where you're at.
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    Should've taken your calories down not up a don't know why you thought more would help.

    Drop cals down and then go over them occasionally, not bump them up full time.

    Probably though more would help because all people scream on here is "eat more eat more eat more." It's the default advice. Oh yeah, and lift heavy.

    No again...People say eat more when you work out more because your body needs fuel. It's not hard, it's not rocket science. It's simple math.

    No, if it were simple there'd be a meter on us that told us exactly how many calories we needed. That would then make the math simple. But that's not there. It's all just a guesstimate based off some calculator isn't it? One tells you to eat this, another that. Just look at the exercise levels on them. 1-3 hours, 3-5 hours. Some list in days rather than hours. The literal descriptions are my favorite. Sedentary is pretty easy to narrow down but how do I know if I cross over from moderate to heavy exercise? Or is my moderate someone elses light? So it's basically trial and error over a period of weeks, maybe months, depending on where you're at.

    But if she's working out as much as she says she is, and only eating 1700-1800. only has 7 lbs left to lose...which are the hardest, and she's having huge deficits and hasn't lost any weight in months, then I'd say the OP should try something different, like fueling their body for the workouts they are doing.

    It really is a pretty simple math equation to lose weight and the closer you get to goal, the closer you should be eating to maintenance. I'm not saying weight loss is easy, it has it's moments. But not giving your body what it needs and working out harder isn't really going to get many anywhere, especially if they are close to their goal. It'll work if you have a lot to lose, but the closer to goal, the lower the deficit.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,303 Member
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    mmm just an observation... seems from reading on the forums people who workout like crazy don't lose. Alsmost like their bodies are getting fit and can't drop weight at the same time. I vote you back off the intensity of the exercise and make sure you're only eating at 500 calorie deficit. I bet you start losing again.

    Whatever you choose to do... check back in and let us know what worked to get the scale moving.. I'd be interested.


    Good luck.. I hope things turn for you.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,583 Member
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    Should've taken your calories down not up a don't know why you thought more would help.

    Drop cals down and then go over them occasionally, not bump them up full time.

    Probably though more would help because all people scream on here is "eat more eat more eat more." It's the default advice. Oh yeah, and lift heavy.

    No again...People say eat more when you work out more because your body needs fuel. It's not hard, it's not rocket science. It's simple math.

    No, if it were simple there'd be a meter on us that told us exactly how many calories we needed. That would then make the math simple. But that's not there. It's all just a guesstimate based off some calculator isn't it? One tells you to eat this, another that. Just look at the exercise levels on them. 1-3 hours, 3-5 hours. Some list in days rather than hours. The literal descriptions are my favorite. Sedentary is pretty easy to narrow down but how do I know if I cross over from moderate to heavy exercise? Or is my moderate someone elses light? So it's basically trial and error over a period of weeks, maybe months, depending on where you're at.

    it is estimates and we ARE just using calculators. The problem is that the calculator that MFP uses is flawed by design... as how it integrates into the program SIMPLY because it allows people to put in goals that are overly aggressive.

    This is AGAIN just an estimate, but you get BETTER estimates using better tools.

    Hacksaw VS Scalpel.
  • mdoyle28
    mdoyle28 Posts: 62 Member
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    Thanks to everyone for posting.....a couple answers to some things asked.....

    1. I got the fitbit to track burn more accurately cuz at that time I had pretty much quit losing as well so thought it would help for accuracy.

    2. I only drink water and coffee..2-3 cups of coffee and a lot of water..with every meal, snack and after exercise as well as a large glass when I wake up.

    3. Increasing my calories so drastically seems crazy to me....but maybe doing 50-100 a day would help cuz it is slowly adding although I tried to do this but stopped at 2200 daily cuz it is just a lot of food basically.

    4. I was doing more weight stuff prior but added in more cardio in hopes to loss some of the remaining weight to hit goal....didn't help.
  • SkinnyFatAlbert
    SkinnyFatAlbert Posts: 482 Member
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    Should've taken your calories down not up a don't know why you thought more would help.

    Drop cals down and then go over them occasionally, not bump them up full time.

    Probably though more would help because all people scream on here is "eat more eat more eat more." It's the default advice. Oh yeah, and lift heavy.

    No again...People say eat more when you work out more because your body needs fuel. It's not hard, it's not rocket science. It's simple math.

    No, if it were simple there'd be a meter on us that told us exactly how many calories we needed. That would then make the math simple. But that's not there. It's all just a guesstimate based off some calculator isn't it? One tells you to eat this, another that. Just look at the exercise levels on them. 1-3 hours, 3-5 hours. Some list in days rather than hours. The literal descriptions are my favorite. Sedentary is pretty easy to narrow down but how do I know if I cross over from moderate to heavy exercise? Or is my moderate someone elses light? So it's basically trial and error over a period of weeks, maybe months, depending on where you're at.

    it is estimates and we ARE just using calculators. The problem is that the calculator that MFP uses is flawed by design... as how it integrates into the program SIMPLY because it allows people to put in goals that are overly aggressive.

    This is AGAIN just an estimate, but you get BETTER estimates using better tools.

    Hacksaw VS Scalpel.

    I can agree with that but I resent anyone saying it's easy or simple math. That is misrepresenting the entire process. It's a simple equation with some big variables depending on the individual. Getting those variables right isn't always "easy."
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Have you calculated your BMR and/or TDEE lately? If so, what are those numbers?

    Have you thought about using diet to control your weight, and using exercise for the health benefits, to get faster, stronger, and change how you look? Seems like a lot of people struggle when they try to use exercise to lose weight.
  • LiminalAscendance
    LiminalAscendance Posts: 489 Member
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    Should've taken your calories down not up a don't know why you thought more would help.

    Drop cals down and then go over them occasionally, not bump them up full time.

    I think you forget where you're at.

    If you're not losing weight, you're not eating enough.

    It's all about the "starvation mode" man!
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    Being so close to goal, it is harder and I understand eating more seems like a crazy idea. I agree, upping by 50-100 is a good idea.

    I just had a friend who had been stalled for a little while hit her goal weight because she actually upped her calories. I myself have had to up my calories in the past and just recently to start seeing the scale/inches move again.

    Like another poster said, the closer to goal, the closer to maintenance you should be eating.

    Good luck.
  • askeates
    askeates Posts: 1,490 Member
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    So I'm going to refer you to a couple of people here on MFP that have been tremendously helpful to others out there with a similar situation.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress-

    Go to this group and join. Before posting any questions, read through the topics below.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/861596-please-read

    And most importantly this one

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read

    It takes some time to read through everything, but if you do not find the answers in those posts, ask the question and they will help. They are helping a HUGE number of people so they may not get back to you immediately but they will get back to you. It's a lot of really great information, and it's information that makes you sit back and go "AHA" so that's what I have been missing!

    Best of luck to you, and please keep us posted on what ended up being the successful route!
  • scrapjen
    scrapjen Posts: 387 Member
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    I just did my weekly weigh-in, and it's been about the same for three weeks now (which I know isn't really that long).
    http://jenbsjourney.blogspot.com/2013/09/weigh-in-10.html

    My Fitbit numbers and routine sound very similar to yours ... I'm a little further out than you (I'd still like to lose 25 total, but just 7-10 more would put me in the "normal" not overweight range, which would be great). it is so frustrating wondering what to do for sure. It seems like the big deficit should work, but as so many people have pointed out, sometimes eating more has helped.

    I'll be interested to hear what you try and how it goes for you ... (sending a friend request *Ü*)
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    I can agree with that but I resent anyone saying it's easy or simple math. That is misrepresenting the entire process. It's a simple equation with some big variables depending on the individual. Getting those variables right isn't always "easy."

    I didn't say losing weight was easy and of course everything is variables...everyone is different. But simple math yes. The closer to goal the smaller the equation.

    I resent someone coming into a thread and just saying everyone's default advice is eat more eat more. It's not default advice because each post is different, but typically people aren't eating what they should be because all everyone ever hears is to lose weight is eat less and move more when the reality is the more you move, the more you eat. That isn't true at first and if you have a lot to lose, but the closer to goal the truer it gets.
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
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    Ok, this is purely anecdotal and from personal experience. And no, I'm not saying it will work for everyone.

    I had problems getting the scale to move for about 3 weeks, I'm extremely active anyway but had been even more active (TDEE average between 2800-3000 depending on the calculator) due to some projects I'm working on. So last week I upped my calories from 2000 to 2200 on "normal" days and to 2400 or more on super busy days and this week I've lost almost 4 lbs.

    No, it's not water because I drink 1 gallon of water a day to make sure my muscles are getting enough to recover because my second job is manual labor in addition to strength training, running, and horseback riding.

    It's really easy to add the calories by eating almonds and pistacchios.
  • rejordan
    rejordan Posts: 132 Member
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    check your inches-not your pounds!!!
  • mdoyle28
    mdoyle28 Posts: 62 Member
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    check your inches-not your pounds!!!

    I have and it is in initial post...that hasn't moved either....w 29, hips 36, thighs 23.5...etc and has been the same for a few months.
  • TonyStark30
    TonyStark30 Posts: 497 Member
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    Should've taken your calories down not up a don't know why you thought more would help.

    Drop cals down and then go over them occasionally, not bump them up full time.

    Probably though more would help because all people scream on here is "eat more eat more eat more." It's the default advice. Oh yeah, and lift heavy.

    No again...People say eat more when you work out more because your body needs fuel. It's not hard, it's not rocket science. It's simple math.

    No simple math is if you are eating a certain amount of calories for a long period of time and you are not losing weight, you should eat less!

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