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Doing everything 'right', not losing weight?! Help!,

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Replies

  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
    Try to stick to more of a consistent calorie level and count exercise as bonus. Don't exercise and then eat more food. It is hard to tell what your recommended calorie level is. Did you have fitnesspal figure your calorie level, or did you enter it manually? How many pounds are you trying to lose per week. I can only see your diary.

    I had it set to 2lbs a week at first and I had 1400 cals. Did that for 2 weeks and lost 10lbs! ????

    Then I adjusted it to 1.5lbs a week and it was 1540. I have not lost anything since doing this though, it's been 4 weeks. I've just changed it to 2lbs a week and it's at 1200 a day. Don't know if this is too low for me though, think I'd be hungry!

    Unless you have a lot of weight to lose, 2 pounds/week (even 1.5 pounds/week) is too much for many people. Also, 1200 calories might actually be higher than you'd need to lose 2 pounds a week - it's just the minimum amount of calories that MFP will give you (if I wanted to lose 2 pounds/week at this point, I'd need to net about 500 calories/day...).

    You made a comment about the weight that you *want* to be at - I'm saying this without knowing how much you do weigh, but just maybe, that's not where your body wants to be. Does that make sense?

    Another suggestion - last summer I was having trouble losing the last 10 pounds to get down to a "healthy" BMI. I actually sought the help of a holistic nutritionist. She was very much against counting calories. Although I continued to count while following her advice, I paid more attention to how I was feeling based on what I ate. The biggest change I made was making sure that at least half of my plate at lunch and dinner was veggies. Following her advice (rather than purely counting calories) helped SO MUCH. I still continue this way of eating even now since I feel better with it. Weight loss has been a bonus, although I still do count calories just to make sure I am not going over. But I am less focused on weight loss and more focused on feeling well and full of energy. Of course, the weight loss is because I am eating at a calorie deficit, but not focusing on just that just relieved a lot of the stress I was feeling about counting calories and lessened the frustration when I wouldn't see the scale move for a couple of weeks.

    If you are indeed eating healthy, working out, and weighing/measuring everything properly AND you still have weight to lose, then I'd pay a visit to your doctor. There could be a medical issue that is making it difficult for you to lose weight. But maybe try paying attention to how you feel rather than what the scale says. I know, that's easier said than done and it's so frustrating, but the scale will catch up if you're doing everything else right.
  • kaykay0902
    kaykay0902 Posts: 10
    On a couple of occasions I've gone 3 weeks without losing anything then on the 4th week without changing anything dropped 2 or 3 pounds. Water retention, hormone levels etc can make weight fluctuate but it will even out eventually. If you're weighing everything and only eating back a portion of calories burned I would say stick with it for another couple of weeks. Make sure you drink enough water in case retention is the problem.

    I do have a tendency to be impatient! Have weighed myself every week for 4 weeks with no change. Think I know what I need to do now. Thanks :)
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,654 Member
    Compare your average total cals from the first month with the last couple of weeks. looks like you have increased them overall, and perhaps now are eating closer to maintenance.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    I'm not POSITIVE, but I think you're confusing your body. One day you're like, "Hey self, I'm going to feed you a bit over 1,200 calories", the next day "I'm feeding you 1,700", the next day, 1,400, etc. There's some pretty big fluctuations here. If I were your body I may be kind of shocked and "wtf" because it's high, then low, then high, then low. It's probably trying to adjust. Also eat more than 900 calories today. :P

    Our bodies spent tens of thousands of years never knowing how much, if at all, food it was going to get in a given day. Our bodies evolved to deal with fluctuating caloric intake as the norm. The past 100 years of better food availability haven't changed 40,000 years of evolution. You're not "confusing" your body one bit. It knows what to do in that situation--store calories when there's a surplus, burn those calories when there's a deficit.
  • kaykay0902
    kaykay0902 Posts: 10
    Try to stick to more of a consistent calorie level and count exercise as bonus. Don't exercise and then eat more food. It is hard to tell what your recommended calorie level is. Did you have fitnesspal figure your calorie level, or did you enter it manually? How many pounds are you trying to lose per week. I can only see your diary.

    I had it set to 2lbs a week at first and I had 1400 cals. Did that for 2 weeks and lost 10lbs! ????

    Then I adjusted it to 1.5lbs a week and it was 1540. I have not lost anything since doing this though, it's been 4 weeks. I've just changed it to 2lbs a week and it's at 1200 a day. Don't know if this is too low for me though, think I'd be hungry!

    Unless you have a lot of weight to lose, 2 pounds/week (even 1.5 pounds/week) is too much for many people. Also, 1200 calories might actually be higher than you'd need to lose 2 pounds a week - it's just the minimum amount of calories that MFP will give you (if I wanted to lose 2 pounds/week at this point, I'd need to net about 500 calories/day...).

    You made a comment about the weight that you *want* to be at - I'm saying this without knowing how much you do weigh, but just maybe, that's not where your body wants to be. Does that make sense?

    Another suggestion - last summer I was having trouble losing the last 10 pounds to get down to a "healthy" BMI. I actually sought the help of a holistic nutritionist. She was very much against counting calories. Although I continued to count while following her advice, I paid more attention to how I was feeling based on what I ate. The biggest change I made was making sure that at least half of my plate at lunch and dinner was veggies. Following her advice (rather than purely counting calories) helped SO MUCH. I still continue this way of eating even now since I feel better with it. Weight loss has been a bonus, although I still do count calories just to make sure I am not going over. But I am less focused on weight loss and more focused on feeling well and full of energy. Of course, the weight loss is because I am eating at a calorie deficit, but not focusing on just that just relieved a lot of the stress I was feeling about counting calories and lessened the frustration when I wouldn't see the scale move for a couple of weeks.

    If you are indeed eating healthy, working out, and weighing/measuring everything properly AND you still have weight to lose, then I'd pay a visit to your doctor. There could be a medical issue that is making it difficult for you to lose weight. But maybe try paying attention to how you feel rather than what the scale says. I know, that's easier said than done and it's so frustrating, but the scale will catch up if you're doing everything else right.

    I do think I still have weight to lose as in the past I maintained for years at the weight I want to be!

    However, I do think that increasing my veggies at every meal will definitely help, I've not been eating enough. I tend to eat more fruit than veg but need to balance it more. Thankyou for your advice.
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
    I went back a few days in your diary. I see a few, I mean very few things you could weigh but it looks good. I would weigh your bananas though. A half a banana can vary a lot.

    What I do see is that you could increase your water to between 10-12 cups a day and that will help with water retention since you are lifting now. Also you could try tweaking your macros to 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat. Fat is not the enemy. And every 10 lbs lost you need to go back and recalculate your BMR and net at least that every day. Another method you can try is following your TDEE - 10, 15, or 20% based on how much you need to lose. Doing this you eat the same amount every day because it already includes exercise. Here is a link to a calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    I would also recommend only aiming for 1lb a week loss. It's easier on your body plus any extra you might lose is a bonus. Make a graph of your weight loss over time, you want to see a downward trend, not a straight line. Mine looks like a saw blade but it goes down. Also consider all the hormonal changes we women go through every month that effect our weight loss or make it look like we are not losing.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    I'm not POSITIVE, but I think you're confusing your body. One day you're like, "Hey self, I'm going to feed you a bit over 1,200 calories", the next day "I'm feeding you 1,700", the next day, 1,400, etc. There's some pretty big fluctuations here. If I were your body I may be kind of shocked and "wtf" because it's high, then low, then high, then low. It's probably trying to adjust. Also eat more than 900 calories today. :P

    Our bodies spent tens of thousands of years never knowing how much, if at all, food it was going to get in a given day. Our bodies evolved to deal with fluctuating caloric intake as the norm. The past 100 years of better food availability haven't changed 40,000 years of evolution. You're not "confusing" your body one bit. It knows what to do in that situation--store calories when there's a surplus, burn those calories when there's a deficit.

    Great answer. I was chuckling over the 'confusing your body' thing.
  • schnarfo
    schnarfo Posts: 764 Member
    I'm not POSITIVE, but I think you're confusing your body. One day you're like, "Hey self, I'm going to feed you a bit over 1,200 calories", the next day "I'm feeding you 1,700", the next day, 1,400, etc. There's some pretty big fluctuations here. If I were your body I may be kind of shocked and "wtf" because it's high, then low, then high, then low. It's probably trying to adjust. Also eat more than 900 calories today. :P

    I often cycle my calories - as long as i am 1500 net over the week i dont think that it matters than some days im under and on others im over. Ive never had a problem losing or maintaining like thi - obviously i adjust the overall calorie net to suit. each to their own though and all that.
  • jmv7117
    jmv7117 Posts: 891 Member
    Hi everyone,

    I have been calorie counting for a couple of months and I exercise most days. At first I lost approximately 10lbs! Thinking, great, it's working. However since then (about a month) I still haven't lost anything further.

    I weigh everything, log everything (I had a cheat day Saturday and couldn't log everything as didn't know amount but I'm not worrying about that). I've recently started trying to up protein and lower my carbs and fat as I probably wasn't eating enough protein. Also, I've started doing weights at the gym but I still do a lot of cardio as I enjoy it.

    I'm just wondering why I'm not losing anymore. I'm working my *kitten* off and getting nowhere really. If anyone could look at my food diary and give me some advice that would amazing as I'm at a bit of a loss now and still have about 15lbs I want to lose.

    Thankyou :)

    You said you are weighing everything but looking at your diary you are using calories for "medium sized" and "half of" for fruits. If you aren't weighing them, you can be consuming more calories than you think because there is a variation in weight within the range of medium. You should also weigh lunch meat and eggs as well as any food you eat with the exception of eating out then go for moderation, eyeballing the amount. All of these little extra calories can add up to not create as big of a calorie deficit as you think you have.

    Some here will tell you to eat back all your exercise calories. I don't eat them all back myself but rather eat when hungry never going below 1,200 calories gross. I'm averaging 1,400 calories gross so my calorie deficit is higher BUT according to many MFP grossly overestimates the calorie burn so leaving a bit of calorie cushion can be a good idea. Another thing to keep in mind is that as you lose weight you burn fewer calories doing the same activity so be sure to take weight loss into account when calculating your calorie burn.

    Cardio is not the best exercise for weight loss so I stay within the healthy recommendation for cardio per week. Too much cardio will cause lean muscle loss when eating at a calorie deficit. Getting your heart rate into the 50% to 60% range is the fat burning zone. A lot of exercises can do this including walking. In my exercise routines I focus on walking, strength training and about a quarter of the time on cardio. My cardio is walking up and down stairs (15 min) and elliptical (10 min sessions). The rest of my routine consists of using my own body weight, dumbbells, resistance band, medicine ball, and stability ball. I have a 10,000 step daily goal that I track with a HRM/pedometer so I know the calories burned doing that and definitely MFP gives a much higher calorie burn for walking than my HRM shows.
  • Flybianca69
    Flybianca69 Posts: 1
    Hey , I am on 1200 calories a day and I am never hungry !! I guess if you eat the right food u will not be hungry ..and your body is getting used to it after a while ...good luck
  • KCNutritionCoach
    KCNutritionCoach Posts: 10 Member
    Being inconsistent with calories is best in the short term when you hit a plateau. And, yes, there is such thing as confusing your body. Our bodies adapt very well and then adjust to a calorie level and become inefficient. That's why when you hit a plateau you need to change things up a bit by exercising differently, varying our calorie level, etc. However, when you are at the beginning stages of lowering your calories to lose weight, you shouldn't vary your calorie level too much as your appetite needs to adjust to a lower calorie level. That is why the first week or two is so hard because we have adjusted our calorie level down to what we are not used to. If you eat 1200 calories one day and 1700 the next, your appetite is not going to adjust to the 1200 calorie level and you will be hungry. Just some thoughts.

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