Why can't I lose?

_HeartsOnFire_ · March 2014

BMR = 1454 (this is the amount you need just for your body to function if you did nothing)
TDEE = 1972 (this is the amount where you would not gain or lose any weight, i.e. "maintenance")
20% cut = 1577

This is based on "lightly active, exercise 1-3 hours per week" setting.

To get calories up, eat peanut butter, add olive oil to salads or when you cook, add seeds/nuts to salads, use full fat dairy, etc.

When you don't eat enough, your body produces excess cortisol which prevents weight loss. Other stresses, lack of sleep, hormonal imbalances, also effect cortisol, and those are harder to control, but you can control your calorie intake.

This! You may be 'starving'

Nobody has ever failed to lose weight by eating too little.

I have. When I was working out a lot and only eating 1200 a day...I wasn't eating enough. I kept doing that for 4-6 weeks and didn't lose anything until I started eating more and fueling my body properly.

Aaron_K123 · March 2014

I'll admit I have my doubts about this whole cortisol thing people are claiming here. Your body can make a lot of wonderful adjustments and tweaks to its biochemistry but its not getting out of the laws of thermodynamics. The amount of calories just required to maintain your body temperature as well as heart and brain function make up like 90% of your BMR and that isn't changing just because of a hormonal change. Could hormonal change alter your BMR by a little bit, sure...but not by that much.

Your body is basically water. 1 Calorie is what is required to increase 1kg of water by 1 degree Celsius. Given that your body is about 14 degrees Celsius above room temp it takes a ton of calories just to maintain your body temperature. That isn't going to change based on your hormone levels. Same goes for basic neural activity and heartbeat. Might change a little but not a lot. I think people think their BMR changes as they lose weight because they have more muscle and that is more active and burns more calories but really I think you are just carrying around more mass that you have to maintain at temperature and that is what requires that extra energy. You lose fat you lose mass you lose the amount you have to maintain at temperature your BMR goes down.

The idea that you could somehow not lose weight by eating less than you should I don't think is true. You can harm yourself for sure, but not in that way. I agree that 1200 sounds too low based on your size and activity.

Ready2Rock206 · March 2014

I usually have even less than the 1200 calories and I don't eat more when it says I have earned more with exercise.

Have you considered following the MFP program the way it is designed to be used? You really might see better results. Eat all your 1200 calories and at least some of those exercise calories too. Can't complain something isn't working when you're not using it correctly.

Aaron_K123 · March 2014

If you undereat you tend to retain more water in response especially to elevated ions such as sodium that is part of your intake. If you found that when you underrate you had a lot of issues with weight it very well may have been water retention.

If you have unexpected weight gain or can't seem to lose weight might look at your sodium intake as well, might just be water.

UmmSqueaky · March 2014

If it's only been a week, don't worry about it! Weight loss is not a steady downward march - it wibbles and wobbles and flatlines, all hopefully with a gradual downward trend. Some weeks I gain a few ounces, other weeks I lose a few pounds.

jmv7117 · March 2014

Does anyone have any answers for me? I stick to a strict 1200 calorie a day diet - making sure it's well rounded with plenty of protein. I walk an hour at least 4 times a week (more often 5-6 times a week). I can't lose anymore weight. Lost 12 lbs in 8 weeks, now nothing. So frustrating!

Your walking might not be burning as many calories as you think. Roughly a 150lb person will burn 100 calories per mile walked. It is not just how long you walk it is the distance and speed of that walk that determines how many calories you burn. The larger that you are the more calories that you will burn during that hours walk. From you ticker (with only a total of about 25lbs to lose) I would assume that you are not in the obese range.

That and MFP values for calories burned walking are inflated using time walked rather than distance.. I use a HRM/pedometer and currently average 265 calories for 3.79 mi according to my pedometer. MFP will give a value over 800 some days based on the time it took to reach that 3.79 rather than the actual calories I burned. If I used MFP values, I would be greatly over estimating calories burned which if eating back those calories would be creating a surplus rather than a deficit.

tycho_mx · March 2014

[/quote]
Who wants to lose lean muscle mass?
[/quote]

Me. When I was trying to be a competitive cyclist as a former volleyball/fencing/lifter.

Compared to other cyclists, my legs are normal or even underdeveloped. My arms and chest are much larger than normal. I got used to the idea that it would take a lot to atrophy and lose those "extra" muscles in my upper body. When I became a dad they came in handy to lug the kids around.

deksgrl · March 2014

Does anyone have any answers for me? I stick to a strict 1200 calorie a day diet - making sure it's well rounded with plenty of protein. I walk an hour at least 4 times a week (more often 5-6 times a week). I can't lose anymore weight. Lost 12 lbs in 8 weeks, now nothing. So frustrating!

Your walking might not be burning as many calories as you think. Roughly a 150lb person will burn 100 calories per mile walked. It is not just how long you walk it is the distance and speed of that walk that determines how many calories you burn. The larger that you are the more calories that you will burn during that hours walk. From you ticker (with only a total of about 25lbs to lose) I would assume that you are not in the obese range.

That and MFP values for calories burned walking are inflated using time walked rather than distance.. I use a HRM/pedometer and currently average 265 calories for 3.79 mi according to my pedometer. MFP will give a value over 800 some days based on the time it took to reach that 3.79 rather than the actual calories I burned. If I used MFP values, I would be greatly over estimating calories burned which if eating back those calories would be creating a surplus rather than a deficit.

She wasn't eating more for exercise.

supermodelchic · March 2014

Hormones can be a key factor as you are 58, slower metabolism can be a factor too, you have to move more and eat less, as you noted you have health reasons that keep you from kick *kitten* cardio, I would find an anti-aging doctor , get you hormones checked out , menopause can reek havoc with your body's ability to lose weight.

SuziQGettinFit · March 2014

Thanks again for meaning so well and trying to help a total stranger!

SuziQGettinFit · March 2014

You people are truly awesome and I thank you so much. I am going to take all your suggestions into consideration. I will definitely try to eat the 1200 plus exercise additions by adding in some of the suggestions you have made. It has only been a couple of weeks since the weight seemed to stop coming off. Maybe I jumped the gun and assumed I wasn't losing - maybe the scale just isn't showing it. I wish I could exercise more strenuously - I used to walk/run wayyyy faster than I can now, but have to accept my limitations. I feel that as long as I am getting myself on that treadmill and staying on for an hour, even if it's a slow pace, I have to be doing something good. The only days that I don't walk are the ones that I work. I am a substitute secretary for a school division (my retirement job) and when I'm working I do move around alot - big schools! But when I'm home, other than the hour on the treadmill, I am fairly sedentary.
Thanks again for meaning so well and trying to help a total stranger!

Why can't I lose?

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