5 week eight loss predictions rubbish!

nickchristian3910
nickchristian3910 Posts: 34 Member
in Getting Started
Started with my fitness at the beginning of November. 60 year old guy. Initially set my self a 1500 calorie level and 15 mind daily exercise. My 5 week weight loss prediction average was 10-12 lbs.

Zoom forward three months when for the past six weeks I have been on 1450 calories and 30-40 minutes daily exercise and my weight drop in three months has only been around 2lbs per 5 week period since I started.

I am using the recommended settings. What am I doing wrong or is it always so inaccurate?

Replies

  • silenceinspace
    silenceinspace Posts: 142 Member
    Started with my fitness at the beginning of November. 60 year old guy. Initially set my self a 1500 calorie level and 15 mind daily exercise. My 5 week weight loss prediction average was 10-12 lbs.

    Zoom forward three months when for the past six weeks I have been on 1450 calories and 30-40 minutes daily exercise and my weight drop in three months has only been around 2lbs per 5 week period since I started.

    I am using the recommended settings. What am I doing wrong or is it always so inaccurate?

    It's a simple calculation that can't take other factors into account.

    You could also be eating more calories than you think, or less than you need.
  • Torgrills
    Torgrills Posts: 103 Member
    Unless you're a pretty small 60 year old male, I'd have to agree with the above post: you're either eating more than you think and aren't tracking portion sizes correctly, or you're eating far too little for your frame and your TDEE. Have you done the calculations on In Place of a Road Map to find a more accurate target range? The recommended setting for MFP are far too generalized. I'm a 36 year old female and was seeing a 1-2 pound loss per week at my target of 1700 calories a day before I got pregnant, and now that I'm losing again I'm seeing similar results at 1750 a day. I'm thinking you aren't eating enough.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8017-in-place-of-a-road-map
  • jackielou867
    jackielou867 Posts: 422 Member
    If you are new to this you need to have a long hard look at what and how you are logging. My mistake in the beginning was to seriously underestimate portion sizes. Buying a set of digital scales was the best thing I ever did. What I thought was a portion of cereal was actually four portions! I thought a twin mars bar was one serve, not two. I read the calories for serve on a tin of soup, I didn't read the bit that said there were 2 serves in a tin.
    It is an absolute faff to start with but you must log everything, even if you only have a bite, or a teaspoon, a sliver or a slather, everything counts and must be counted.
    Had you lost weight prior to starting here. Sometimes when people diet hard they reach a plateau. I did. I found a couple of weeks on maintenance helped kick start me again.
    Why not add a few friends. It is good to have a support network, and if you share a little more information people will be able to help you out a little more. You could add me if you like. I am no expert, and there is a lot of conflicting information out there, but I have really learnt a lot this last year, and have put an end to 20 years of serial yo yo dieting :-)
  • nickchristian3910
    nickchristian3910 Posts: 34 Member
    Have some digital scales and weigh everything. Yup was initially caught out with food labelling - per half can per 2 slices, etc. Soon caught on. Will double check everything from now on. I am 5'8 inches 18 stone. Just redone my TDEE and it now recommends 1300 calories per day, 30 mins walking for my retired sedentary life style.
  • amflautist
    amflautist Posts: 939 Member
    You aren't doing anything wrong. Prediction is for average. Lots of us are above average. As in Lake Wobegon.

    I notice that most responders assume the OP is doing something wrong. Nonsense. The calculations of calories required for our bodies to function are way off for older folks. For me, mfp is always telling me I will lose 15 pounds in the next 5 weeks. That's pure rubbish. I lose at 1/2 pound per week. I'm 72.
  • jackielou867
    jackielou867 Posts: 422 Member
    Ok. A couple of things I picked up from fellow MFPers. Do not stay very low cal for too long. Body goes into starve mode and will try to retain and store fat. Some people dispute this and I am no expert, but when I had a break for 2 weeks, I started to lose again.

    Do not get into a routine, they say that the body learns to adapt and cope. Again, much disputed, but, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try this, intermittent fasting, 2 days a week I was supposed to eat just 500 calories, I managed about 700. BUT only 2 days a week, never 2 days in a row, and always had a little bit over a couple of days too, so my WEEKLY goal was reached. I have to say I didn't do it for long, because I am not good at low calorie days :-)

    Some people swear by eating for only a few hours in the day, a different type of fasting. So they set a window of 8 or 10 hours a day, then the rest of the day, most of which they are asleep, they are effectively fasting. I am trying this at the moment, mainly because I nibble too much in the evening, so nothing after 8pm for me.

    Also I mixed up the exercise a bit, a lot of people think that if you do say a 30 min walk every morning, day in day out, you will get decreasing benefit as your body adapts to the routine I went on the internet and found a few easy routines that I could do at home. A simple resistance band has endless possibilities. Try walking a couple of minutes slowly and a couple of minutes a bit faster.
    At the gym they told me to do fasted cardio, in other words do my walk before I eat, so my body needs energy and has no readily available food so burns fat, wait an hour then a good breakfast.

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