Where am I going wrong?

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madasanatter
madasanatter Posts: 39 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Joined myfitnesspal a while back and did the introductory mistake of 1200 calories to lose weight and was reasonably successful. After reading lots of info decided that was the wrong way to do things and wanted to go for TDEE - 25% ish. To get an accurate measure of my TDEE I bought myself a body media armband. My bodymedia armband says that on average I use 2674 calories a day so I set a target of 2000 calories of food on here. My calorie consumption is normally between 1600-1800 a day on average but I am not losing weight.

So my question to you all - Where am I going wrong?
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Replies

  • MrsH2132012
    MrsH2132012 Posts: 67 Member
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    your diary is private...what are your Macros?
  • madasanatter
    madasanatter Posts: 39 Member
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    I've made it public now - sorry for that
  • happysherri
    happysherri Posts: 1,360 Member
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    Do you workout? What type of exercise do you do, and how hard do you push? What type of foods do you eat?

    I have my daily calories set about 1600 and workout 6 days a week and eat back atleast half of the calories. I'm losing at a steady pace right now.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Cursory glance I'd have to say you're not eating enough. You're averaging around 1400, less on some days. And burning 2600. Try eating (REALLY EATING) more.

    If it were me I'd also say don't do TDEE - 25%, but rather TDEE -15% or at most 20%.

    I'd also say try eating foods that fuel your workouts (especially your breakfasts).

    Best of luck!! You'll find your sweet spot.
  • madasanatter
    madasanatter Posts: 39 Member
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    I'm a secondary school PE teacher so constantly on my feet. I was doing the 30 day shred but have problems with my left knee so have had to stop that for a while. Only exercise at present is walking/slow jog.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    It looks like you just increased your calorie goals about two weeks ago. Is that accurate?

    If so, I'd wager that you're seeing some water retention as your body adjusts to the new routine. Give it a couple more weeks and the scale should start to move in the right direction.

    Also, this might be a beneficial read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/993576-why-you-gain-weight-if-you-eat-more-than-your-cut
  • knt674
    knt674 Posts: 2
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    How long have you been using this method? Give your body a month or so to adjust.
  • MrsH2132012
    MrsH2132012 Posts: 67 Member
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    This is my opinion so take it with a grain of salt

    At a glance your eating higher carbs (which isn't a bad thing for everyone! Do you lift?) but the majority look simple not complex
    your protein is low, I'd switch those 2 :) and give it 3-4 weeks
  • madasanatter
    madasanatter Posts: 39 Member
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    No I've been doing the TDEE - 25% for a while now but managed to reset everything hence it looking like it was only about 2 weeks ago that I changed it.

    I know some days my intake is a little low - mad busy with school inspection has really knocked my appetite.
  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,926 Member
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    So, ok. On a normal day, you workout, you log the calories and MFP gives you a new calorie goal to meet (not go under, meet).

    I just looked at your last 7 days of logging and not once did you get within 50-100 calories of that goal. It's a goal for a reason. Under-eating is just as detrimental to this as over-eating.

    Second. Are you weighing your food? You may also be generalizing portions and amounts and you are actually eating MORE than you think.

    Third, the more water you drink the better you will be.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    So my question to you all - Where am I going wrong?

    Assuming your food logging is accurate, you are overestimating your TDEE.
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
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    I never did the TDEE method or had a body media or anything like that. I would set MFP at 1lb loss per week, sedentary (since I have a desk job, I imagine you would use lightly active or active), and log all of my workouts according to my HRM. I ate back all of my exercise calories unless I really wasn't hungry at all (but would make up for it some other time during the same week). I kept a good eye on my weekly averages, not necessarily daily. It helped me feel like I could be more flexible and not so strict. I lost an average of 3.5lbs per month over 10 months and have maintained my goal weight for 7 months now. It takes a while, but slow and steady really is the way to go since you have time to break old habits and create new ones without shocking your system.

    So my advice to you is to 1. give it more time 2. experiment with different methods, such as using MFP's calorie calc for you instead of TDEE via body media 3. fitnessblender.com has a great new low impact workout program that shouldn't bother your knee 4. always (ALWAYS!!) use a food scale. It was the #1 best investment I made in my weight loss. My heart rate monitor is a close second.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    25% cut is too aggressive for the amount of weight you need to lose. Set it to 20%. As you get closer to goal, bump it down to 15%.
  • madasanatter
    madasanatter Posts: 39 Member
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    So my question to you all - Where am I going wrong?

    Assuming your food logging is accurate, you are overestimating your TDEE.

    But I'm getting my TDEE from my body media armband and that pretty much matches with online calculators.
  • SteveHunt113
    SteveHunt113 Posts: 648 Member
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    My first thought is miscalculating serving size and over estimating TDEE. I don't like the TDEE method as that would assume exercise has already been included. I'd rather go with an estimated BMR, and add in exercise. Or, if you are active at work, use BMR and set your activity level to active. If you are not seeing results after 4-6 weeks, try lowering your daily caloric intake in your goals.

    For me, I always try to over estimate food I eat, and under estimate calories burned. I weigh all my food, so I know I'm pretty accurate there. But if I eat an apple, I don't always subtract the weight of the core. Same goes for fruits with a seed in the middle.

    I used the Bodie Media Fit for a while and compared it to my current BMR and caloric burn form a HRM and found that the Bodie Media Fit had some variations that it was not accounting for, but was otherwise pretty accurate. But I didn't like the fact that the motion detector may not be accurately reading exercise.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    How long have you not been losing weight? It's normal to stall a little bit if you increase your calories by quite a bit after a while, and stalls are normal throughout weight loss as well anyway. If it's been less than 4-5 weeks, it's totally normal, stick to it and you will lose weight eventually (I stall for 3 weeks at a time every month, personally).

    Also make sure you weigh your food and log properly, it's very easy to underestimate how much you are eating.
  • socajam
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
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    Joined myfitnesspal a while back and did the introductory mistake of 1200 calories to lose weight and was reasonably successful. After reading lots of info decided that was the wrong way to do things and wanted to go for TDEE - 25% ish. To get an accurate measure of my TDEE I bought myself a body media armband. My bodymedia armband says that on average I use 2674 calories a day so I set a target of 2000 calories of food on here. My calorie consumption is normally between 1600-1800 a day on average but I am not losing weight.

    So my question to you all - Where am I going wrong?


    I think your problem is sodium - adding quick calories does not say how much sodium is in the food. Also you had 4 slices of Domino's pizzas showing only 4 mg of sodium, whilst Domino's cookies had in more sodium. One of the reasons I really do quick calories is that it is very misleading and this could be throwing your numbers off.
  • madasanatter
    madasanatter Posts: 39 Member
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    Joined myfitnesspal a while back and did the introductory mistake of 1200 calories to lose weight and was reasonably successful. After reading lots of info decided that was the wrong way to do things and wanted to go for TDEE - 25% ish. To get an accurate measure of my TDEE I bought myself a body media armband. My bodymedia armband says that on average I use 2674 calories a day so I set a target of 2000 calories of food on here. My calorie consumption is normally between 1600-1800 a day on average but I am not losing weight.

    So my question to you all - Where am I going wrong?


    I think your problem is sodium - adding quick calories does not say how much sodium is in the food. Also you had 4 slices of Domino's pizzas showing only 4 mg of sodium, whilst Domino's cookies had in more sodium. One of the reasons I really do quick calories is that it is very misleading and this could be throwing your numbers off.

    The quick add was some boiled sweets today.
    As for the Domino's sodium values that's obviously down to what has been input into the food bank on here. As for whether it's right or wrong I don't know?
  • nataliejulie
    nataliejulie Posts: 35
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    Get your heart rate up!! I'm at 1200 calories a day, but I try to eat as little carbs as possibly can. And NO salt.

    I have arthritis in my right knee from dancing. However, as I slowly turned up the intensity on my treadmill, I noticed my knee didn't hurt as much as it used to. I also do a lot of stretching. The walking and slow jog did pretty much nothing for me, so now I speed walk for 5 minutes, then run for 5 more.. etc, etc. I just try to keep my heart rate up, and then the weight melted right off :)
  • socajam
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
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    Joined myfitnesspal a while back and did the introductory mistake of 1200 calories to lose weight and was reasonably successful. After reading lots of info decided that was the wrong way to do things and wanted to go for TDEE - 25% ish. To get an accurate measure of my TDEE I bought myself a body media armband. My bodymedia armband says that on average I use 2674 calories a day so I set a target of 2000 calories of food on here. My calorie consumption is normally between 1600-1800 a day on average but I am not losing weight.

    So my question to you all - Where am I going wrong?


    I think your problem is sodium - adding quick calories does not say how much sodium is in the food. Also you had 4 slices of Domino's pizzas showing only 4 mg of sodium, whilst Domino's cookies had in more sodium. One of the reasons I really do quick calories is that it is very misleading and this could be throwing your numbers off.

    The quick add was some boiled sweets today.
    As for the Domino's sodium values that's obviously down to what has been input into the food bank on here. As for whether it's right or wrong I don't know?

    Guess what I love Chipotle, but I never take what is ended into the food database as gospel. I go onto their site and found out exactly how many calories were in the food I was interested in buying, the sodium content etc. I was surprised that the sodium content was a lot higher (couple hundreds) than what was entered into the database.

    At the end of the day, the buck stops with you, especially if you are going to eat food that you have not cooked. I always double check food from the database before entering into my diary - maybe I am paranoid - but this is my journey and I have to account for what I put in my mouth.

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