Not another "I'm not losing" thread :P

tenilleless · October 2013

Hi guys, sorry, I know you must be getting sick of these.

But I'm kinda wondering about my lack of weight loss and if I'm fudging something up.

I'm 22 year old, female, 5'10, 275-ish lbs, unknown bodyfat (maybe around 40-45? I carry it all in my legs so its hard for me to estimate.) I did Nutrisystem (please don't judge me) January-mid April and had lost 35 lbs before gaining almost all of it back over the summer, and this time I'm trying to lose the weight for good and in a sustainable way. I had lost a lot of weight in high school and was 175 for my grad which was very good for my frame (I've got a wide, short lower body and a long slimmer upper body so I was a small/medium in shirts and a 12/13 jeans. Now I'm an xl shirt and a 22 jean)

I am doing turbo jam videos right now for exercise for a total of 3 hours and 20 minutes a week. 1 hr and 20 minutes of that is strength (bodyweight and 5 lb dumbbell exercises in a sculpting video), the rest is cardio ("kickboxing"). I don't have a heart rate monitor, but I'm saving up for one. I'm a student and I work online so at least 80% of my day is spent in a chair. In the last few days my stress levels skyrocketed due to tests, a new screaming toddler as a neighbor, and projects but before then I was doing alright, not great but alright.

I did switch to the TDEE-20% method and am eating close to 2300 calories a day, which I changed around the same time I "plateaued". My macros at set at 40 carbs, 30 fat/protein but I rarely get it right. My "net calories" according to MFP's exercise calculator are still less then 1650, which is what MFP had been giving me to begin with. I have a food scale and use it for everything (I know I suck at eyeballing portions). I also log everything except for 1-4 pieces of excel gum a day, 2-3 packets of splenda, a cup black or chai tea (I log the milk), and at most 2 werther's candies a day (I bought a small bag back in August and I still have a handfull left). My diary is open to the public and I swear I'm not eating anything that's not on my diary, not even nibbles.

My scales haven't been moving in close to 2 weeks. I've been recording my record lows on here, not my daily weight, but right now I'm still closer to 276 then 273 (I just don't have the heart to log that I gained)) Its been above 275/276 almost every day except the two drops that I logged and never saw again. My measurements are about the same, and my hips have actually gone back up a little. I'm still in the same jeans I wore at 292. I know weightloss is a marathon, not a sprint, but with 100+ lbs to lose, I don't want it to stay at a rate of less then a lb every two weeks, especially since the weight is causing issues with some of my other health conditions (none of which have anything to do with weight gain/loss and I haven't changed my meds)

Does anyone have any tips on if I should adjust my calories down or change up my macros/exercise a little? I don't have any time to up my exercise right now and I'm too poor to be able to get a gym membership, but I'm up for anything else. I know that I'm not a special snowflake and that if I've got a calorie deficit, I will lose, but I'm somehow screwing it up. I'm hoping that part of it could be stress, but I don't wanna have a real plateau or let things slide.

socioseguro · October 2013

Hi

Congratulations on your progress.

I know you wrote you do not want to lose less than 1 lb every two weeks.

My suggestion is to be patient and continue eating at a deficit.

I lost 20 lbs with MFP tool but it took me 15 months. There was a period of 3 months when the scale did not move at all.

You have to change your expectations. You did not acquire all the extra body weight in one month. You will not lose it quickly, if you wish to sustain the weight loss for the future. As you have already discovered, fast body weight lost is not sustainable.

You can do this. Do not give up.

Good luck in your journey

Mokey41 · October 2013

Try eating less. That sounds like a large food budget and you may be over estimating your exercise burn. A lot of calculators really don't work well when you're on the very high or very low end of the scale. With your estimate of your BF% it will throw the numbers off because you want to feed your lean body mass not your fat.

3foldchord · October 2013

Congrats on your commitment and new healthy life!
Your calories and macros look good.
My only advice is BE PATIENT and maybe double check your exercise calorie burn, MFP gives super high amounts sometimes.

_HeartsOnFire_ · October 2013

Congrats on your commitment and new lifestyle...

Unfortunately it takes time, sometimes 4-6 weeks. Be patient.

Also take your measurements if you haven't already. Sometimes the scale won't move, but inches will...

toridehaven · October 2013

Could it be that you are actually gaining muscle and that's why the scale isn't moving as much? Either way I think you are being too hard on yourself. It sounds like you have a lot going on in your life so probably the best thing you can do is exercise when you feel stressed. Even if it means jogging in place at your desk or walking a set of stairs when the toddler neighbor is driving you nuts. I am no expert and I have about 100 pounds to lose myself but I do recognize that when I put too much pressure on myself rather than recognizing the real success and accomplishments, this usually leads to internal criticism and binging. Perhaps it could be the types of food you are eating...maybe add more fresh ingredients within the limitations of your budget. Just don't give up! One minor tweak could get you back on the right track.

DKrisAn · October 2013

I would recommend decreasing the calories somewhat. I usually eat somewhere between 1400-1700 calories per dat. You can try a consuming less calories for a couple of weeks and see if it that helps.

As far as exercising on a budget you can go to youtube and search workouts for beginners.

astronomicals · October 2013

Every time I read these I assume the person is picking the lowest option for foods in the MFP database.. There are so many incorrect entries its not even funny.

Im sure thats not always the case, but, you're probably messing something up and I'm not about to blindly guess (like I just did).

GingerLolita · October 2013

Because your weight loss stalled right after increasing your calorie intake, you should go back to what you were doing before your weight loss stalled and see if you will lose more weight.

_HeartsOnFire_ · October 2013

Because your weight loss stalled right after increasing your calorie intake, you should go back to what you were doing before your weight loss stalled and see if you will lose more weight.

I disagree. With the TDEE-20% method it can take a little longer than just 2 weeks to start seeing a change.

Be patient.

maybeazure · October 2013

I disagree with another poster that your expectations are unreasonable. If you weighed 130 and wanted to get to 120, then less than a pound a week would be understandable. However, at 275, even as tall as you are, you should be able to drop it a little faster.

I would simply lower the number of calories that you are eating. TDEE and all that are only averages, and from what I've seen those averages vary a lot. Start by lowering them by 200 maybe or even 300 and see if your weight loss picks up. If it doesn't after a week or two, lower it some more. If you get hungry on those calories focus on lean proteins and fruits and vegetables. They fill you up better than carbs.

I know MFP focuses on "net calories" and it makes sense if you are sure that the number of calories you are burning is for real, but those are all estimates too. I just think it is trial and error to find the right number of calories so that you lose fast enough, but not too fast.

_HeartsOnFire_ · October 2013

Oh...walking/running is free. Try a C25k program. Might be useful. I know you said time is limited...but you are worth it right? Any way to wake up 30 minutes earlier or go to bed 30 minutes later? Maybe sleep in clothes you would be ready to walk in?

I also agree with maybeazure. Maybe try lowering the number just a little...but you still have to give it time to see it work.

ksy1969 · October 2013

Could it be that you are actually gaining muscle and that's why the scale isn't moving as much? Either way I think you are being too hard on yourself. It sounds like you have a lot going on in your life so probably the best thing you can do is exercise when you feel stressed. Even if it means jogging in place at your desk or walking a set of stairs when the toddler neighbor is driving you nuts. I am no expert and I have about 100 pounds to lose myself but I do recognize that when I put too much pressure on myself rather than recognizing the real success and accomplishments, this usually leads to internal criticism and binging. Perhaps it could be the types of food you are eating...maybe add more fresh ingredients within the limitations of your budget. Just don't give up! One minor tweak could get you back on the right track.

See bolded, that statement is Impossible. You cannot gain muscle while eating at a deficit and besides, you cant build muscle that fast. It takes a long time to build a pound of muscle.

OP, give it time. You jumped your calories to quick. TDEE calculators are generic. There are factors that they cannot take into account so they are just an estimate. So most of the experienced people recommend that you increase by 100 each week and then if you are still losing after 2 weeks increase by another 100. Once you hit a plateau for a couple of weeks chances are you have hit your TDEE. At that point you drop your calories by 15 to 20% and you will be off to the races.

qtgonewild · October 2013

i started @ 278. 94 days later Im at 237. Im eating 1400 calories a day. Id say 2300 may be too much.

silken555 · October 2013

The TDEE-20% I got was 2284 so you should be set up for 2200cals seeing as you round down not up.

Real strength training is usually heavy lifting. 5lb dumbells aren't going to do much for you.

My suggestion would be to lower your intake by 100cals rvery 3-4 weeks until you start losing again.

PLoveElliott · October 2013

Patience is going to be your friend here. Everyone has a frustrating time period where they stop losing weight even though they feel like they are doing everything right.
Stay the course...continue to workout, continue to measure and log your food, drink the water that you need to drink per day, get sleep, etc. Make sure to take measurements. I started to see a difference in the measurements and not the scale when I started.
Hang in there...this journey can be a frustrating one, but it is one that will pay off.

Sarah_LM · October 2013

I think your exercise calories are way off, for example you put you burned over 1000 in 50 minutes on one day and you put nearly 700 in 40 minutes on another day. I'm not saying its impossible but I think its extremely unlikely.

jwdieter · October 2013

Lots of volume measurements (cup, tbsp, scoop, etc). Might try switching up to food scale to nail down intake, if not doing so.

tenilleless · October 2013

Thanks for the replies everyone. I might bump my calories down by 200 and see if anything happens. I had been eating less then 1600 (not net) for a few weeks before starting TDEE and I was miserable and tired all the time so I know there has to be a happy medium in between. I'm going to be patient, its just hard to be this weight and its even harder when it seems like the weights never going to leave. When midterms/papers/presentations are over again in a few weeks I might try and bump up my exercise a bit more, but at the moment I think I'll stick with the 3h20min a week. As it is, sleeptime is hard for me to get and I don't think I could drag myself out of bed any earlier

Just a few quick replies to the people I can see without going back and forth between windows:

I think your exercise calories are way off, for example you put you burned over 1000 in 50 minutes on one day and you put nearly 700 in 40 minutes on another day. I'm not saying its impossible but I think its extremely unlikely.

I don't use the calories for anything, I think they're off too but I still use the exercise name for my own records. Keep in mind though that I am severely obese and pretty young, so I would burn more doing the exercise then the average woman, but I don't think its by that much

The TDEE-20% I got was 2284 so you should be set up for 2200cals seeing as you round down not up.

Real strength training is usually heavy lifting. 5lb dumbells aren't going to do much for you.

My suggestion would be to lower your intake by 100cals rvery 3-4 weeks until you start losing again.

I'm buying new weights as soon as I can. I didn't have money for more then one pair when I bought them so I chose the heaviest ones I could handle for multiple exercises at the time. I'm very pear shaped and after over a year without a gym or weights my arms we're up for much. I know its pathetic, but I'm trying to improve it. I used to lift heavy and one day I want to do it again, I'm just limited by my budget.

Lots of volume measurements (cup, tbsp, scoop, etc). Might try switching up to food scale to nail down intake, if not doing so.

I am using a scale for everything but liquids. Most of the "cups/tsp" are based off the label's weight (ex: 14 g = 1 tbsp of pb). Thanks for the advice though, I found that when I did switch over I was slightly overestimating.

i started @ 278. 94 days later Im at 237. Im eating 1400 calories a day. Id say 2300 may be too much.

I was eating 1400-ish at first and I found that I didn't have the energy to get through the day and get through my videos. I am going to lower my calories but I don't think I could go that low for any length of time.

Francl27 · October 2013

You're doing everything right. Make sure to use your activity level as 'lightly active' and if you want to kick your weight loss a little bit, you can probably go to TDEE-25% until you're down to 70 lbs to lose or something.

Stalls are totally normal though. After 2 months of weight loss, I started stalling for 2-3 weeks at a time every month. Typically I gain some water weight before my period too, but it goes away after that and I lose weight for 2 weeks. It's not really a plateau until you stall for over a month.

3foldchord · October 2013

Lots of volume measurements (cup, tbsp, scoop, etc). Might try switching up to food scale to nail down intake, if not doing so.

A lot of the foods I log use 'cup, tablespoon, scoop' in the log, but I use my food scale.. Like the cereal box will say '1 cup/57 Oz ', I weigh 57 Oz, but the entry says '1 cup'

Not another "I'm not losing" thread :P

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