Frustrated doesn't even begin to cover it

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  • luvmypuggle
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    Finally, someone who understands me and where I am coming from! I am def going to add you as a friend. We can keep each other motivated as we are in the same boat it seems. It is frustrating that everyone keeps telling me what I am not doing when I know I am doing it. That is very FRUSTRATING! I do need to measure inches because I can tell a little that my legs and arms are toning up. My belly...that is a whole other issue! I am doing progress pics as well to try and stay motivated and encouraged.I fully intend to keep on keeping on as well. Exercise can't hurt me and I have races to train for. I am going to go by the calories the calculator someone posted for me and see how that works out. Do better at logging the foods and not quick adding. If nothing else...I can't be getting less healthy, right?!
  • Eleonora91
    Eleonora91 Posts: 688 Member
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    I don't think your problem is about eating too much. If you're still counting your calories, even if you're not logging them separately, and if you're also counting them with a reasonable accuracy, this shouldn't be a problem. You would need to exceed your daily goal of a substantial amount to actually mantain your weight instead of losing it. So, unless you've been underestimating your calories of at least 100-200 kcals every single day, I wouldn't worry about it.
    Since you're still on a plateau try to be as accurate with calories as you can.
    Also, if you can afford it I'd tell you to buy a HRM to accurately track your burned calories. You can find a big difference in this. You might be burning less than expected, I don't honestly know, but it might be a cause.
    I hit a plateau myself after 3-4 months of dieting, it eventually went away when I changed my routine and I was back to my everyday life at the university. You might need more time to see some results.
  • luvmypuggle
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    I was going to purchase a Fitbit, but I read reviews about how inaccurate it was. Do y'all like yours?
  • luvmypuggle
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    Do you use a HRM? If so, what kind?
  • youngdreamer
    youngdreamer Posts: 65 Member
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    Do you have a food scale? If not, you need to get yourself one & start measuring everything. It sounds to me like you're eating more calories than you think you're actually consuming.
  • 1Cor1510
    1Cor1510 Posts: 413 Member
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    ...I am 62 days in. ...8 lbs down the first 30 days and now as of this am I'm up 3 of those 8. .... It's telling me my daily average burn over the last 30 days has been 2367 and intake has been 1581. That is a deficit of 786 per day for 30 days,

    Math...
    62 days x 786 = 48,732
    Projected loss = 13.9 lbs
    Actual loss = 5 lbs
    Error rate = +/-282 per day

    Hmmm. If this trend continues for another 30 days, I personally would go into my FitBit settings and change my stride length. By tweaking my settings, I've been able to get my error rate to +/- 70 over the long term.

    Never even occured to me. THANK YOU!
  • luvmypuggle
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    I don't, that is on my list to get.
  • Eleonora91
    Eleonora91 Posts: 688 Member
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    Do you use a HRM? If so, what kind?

    I own a Polar, but I think any HRM will be more accurate than any amount of calories displayed by a machine at the gym anyway :)
  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
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    The "quick add cals" is a dead giveaway that you aren't logging accurately, hence your problem.

    This, how do you know you are eating 1500?

    Because food has caloric content that can be measured whether or not you log the exact thing you ate on MFP. People have been counting calories and losing weight way before this website existed.

    Honestly, if I make something at home from scratch I calculate the amount of calories/fat/carbs/protein for the whole thing and divide by the total number of servings. Then I find something on MFP with a similar description and manipulate that serving to match mine (Like say my serving is 1/6 of a pot of soup and the one on MFP is 8 oz, it doesn't matter what I put as long as it is the calories I actually ate) and add that. This is faster than adding each individual item. You just have to be sure that you are eating the calories you think.

    I agree that I assume that quick added calories are people guessing what they ate, but it doesn't have to be the case.
  • yopie1965
    yopie1965 Posts: 25 Member
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    I've got a food scale I use religiously and also the fitbit flex.........love both and how the flex works with mfp as well.
    I think you are on the right track.......get rid of the negative nellie's here and focus on eating good food, weigh/measure your food and enjoy your workouts!
    That way it becomes a way of life, not a chore
  • TheBunnyStrange
    TheBunnyStrange Posts: 20 Member
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    you say that you only cheat once a week but when i looked back only a week in your food diary, every day it looks like you eat nothing but fast food or unhealthy food choices (or quick add calories which could be anything)

    honestly, your going to get out of your body exactly what you put into it.

    even eating under your calories and exercising wont work if you dont give your body the good feul it needs to produce results.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
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    MFP is simply a tool and like any tool you'll only get out of it what you put into it. If you don't log consistently on the weekend, take cheat days, frequently use quick add calories, don't own a food scale, etc., you shouldn't expect very accurate results and this is a game of accuracy. A food log that shows a caloric deficit doesn't do you a lot of good if the food log is inaccurate and incomplete from day to day. If you want to get the most results out of this site, take people's advice and buy a food scale, stop cheating with "quick add" calories, stop having incomplete days/weekends, and again I would cut out cheat meals at least until you actually see some results. If you want MFP to be useful, you need to have as close to a 100% accurate food log as you possibly can get - and you aren't there yet.

    If you're actually eating a deficit over a sufficiently long period of time, you will see weight loss. If you aren't seeing weight loss, you're either not eating a deficit (which could be due to inaccurate calories in, inaccurate calories out, or both) or you simply haven't given it enough time. It could be your actual TDEE is lower than a calculator told you or it could be you're eating more than you think you are. But if you're actually at a deficit for a sustained period of time, you will see weight loss.
  • 1Cor1510
    1Cor1510 Posts: 413 Member
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    ...I am 62 days in. ...8 lbs down the first 30 days and now as of this am I'm up 3 of those 8. .... It's telling me my daily average burn over the last 30 days has been 2367 and intake has been 1581. That is a deficit of 786 per day for 30 days,

    Math...
    62 days x 786 = 48,732
    Projected loss = 13.9 lbs
    Actual loss = 5 lbs
    Error rate = +/-282 per day

    Hmmm. If this trend continues for another 30 days, I personally would go into my FitBit settings and change my stride length. By tweaking my settings, I've been able to get my error rate to +/- 70 over the long term.

    Never even occured to me. THANK YOU!

    No SERIOUSLY, this just cleared up a crapload of frustration for me! I went back yesterday to what I was doing when I lost 30lbs 2 years ago (6 lbs a month on average eating crap but under my calories each day) and I was averaging...wait for it, 281 calories less per day then I'm eating now. I was averaging 1300 cals per day.
    Fitbit must be WAY over estimating my average burn...
    THANK YOU AGAIN!
  • Eleonora91
    Eleonora91 Posts: 688 Member
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    The "quick add cals" is a dead giveaway that you aren't logging accurately, hence your problem.

    This, how do you know you are eating 1500?

    Because food has caloric content that can be measured whether or not you log the exact thing you ate on MFP. People have been counting calories and losing weight way before this website existed.

    This ^
    She is counting calories. She isn't using MFP to do that, but she is.
  • mxmkenney
    mxmkenney Posts: 486 Member
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    I am in the same boat as you sister - literally! I have been doing this since the beginning of the year, same height and lost 8 pounds and nothing for the last 4 weeks. I am also at 1500 calorie goal and working out 4-5 days a week. I am so frustrated too! My husband says I need to cut out all processed foods and eat only whole foods (he is a PT and of course he can eat whatever he wants - grrrr!). I am anal about my logging, so I know you feel exactly the way I do. I should be down at least a pound a week with the deficit I have created, but nothing. I wonder if sodium has anything to do with it, or if my husband is right.... (I want to prove him wrong so bad!) Hang in there with me - it's bound to come off eventually!
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    If you want people to tell you how to lose weight, you know what answers to read. If you want people to tell you you are doing things right, that there is some miracle going on, again you can find replies to support this. The question is if you prefer to lose weight or be "right". In the second case, you can use the site just for fun, not as a weight loss tool :)
  • greghei1
    greghei1 Posts: 10 Member
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    Do you use a HRM? If so, what kind?

    I own a Polar, but I think any HRM will be more accurate than any amount of calories displayed by a machine at the gym anyway :)

    This.

    Plus many machines will sync up with a Polar (not necessarily true with the others).

    Greg
  • 4ever420
    4ever420 Posts: 4,088 Member
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    For me, there have been a couple times when I first started exercising and then later when I increased or changed up my workouts that the scale stalled for seriously like a month at a time and then all of a sudden there was a drastic drop in weight. Since I've been on MFP I've learned that when you first challenge your body harder, your muscles will basically hold on to water to help repair themselves. This is temporary but can definitely mask fat loss. I would continue what you're doing and give it a few weeks for your weight to adjust.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    THANK YOU AGAIN!

    You're so very welcome :)

    It's funny to me that when something is "wrong," some people (whether it's weightloss or relationships) instantly point the finger at themselves, the other person, or in other random places, instead of being logical about what the causes might be. I might be wrong, maybe it's your food that's off. Maybe it's both. Doesn't matter. What matters is finding what works FOR YOU.

    Good luck.
  • smelius22
    smelius22 Posts: 334 Member
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    I know how you feel. I've been working out 5x/week and counting cals for 3 months and haven't lost a single friggin pound.. I'm starting to wonder if I should have my thyroid tested.