Advice needed...I've hit the weight loss wall way too early
shellody
Posts: 6
I adopted a healthy lifestyle just before the new year (I know, how cliche), and it started off REALLY well. I lost 20 pounds fairly quickly, and what I consider fairly easily over the first 6 weeks or so. Then I hit the proverbial wall. I've only lost another 5 pounds over the next 6 weeks.
I have a lot of weight to lose. Around 100 pounds as a matter of fact. I am 37, a female, and 5'7". Originally, I was sticking to the MFP calorie suggestion, which was 1600. I have stuck with that, but haven't lost any real measurable weight in the past several weeks. I have two thoughts:
1) I am way underestimating my caloric intake, and eating far more calories than I think. I would have to be WAY underestimating them, and it's odd that I'm doing the same thing I was doing at the beginning of this journey. I have read other topics suggesting I input my own recipes, which I do occasionally, but it's certainly the exception, and not the rule. I have made my food diary public, so any insight anyone has is appreciated.
2) Is it possible there's any truth at all to the TDEE/BMR stuff? I want to buy into that so badly, but it seems too good to be true. Could I REALLY need to increase my calories by close to 25% (1600 to 2000) to LOSE weight? It just doesn't seem possible. Are there any real life people out there who have faced similar issues?
I truly appreciate any advice or personal stories anyone can share. Oh, and I know this will fall on deaf ears, but please, keep your negativity to yourself. I won't comment or respond to it, life's too short!
I have a lot of weight to lose. Around 100 pounds as a matter of fact. I am 37, a female, and 5'7". Originally, I was sticking to the MFP calorie suggestion, which was 1600. I have stuck with that, but haven't lost any real measurable weight in the past several weeks. I have two thoughts:
1) I am way underestimating my caloric intake, and eating far more calories than I think. I would have to be WAY underestimating them, and it's odd that I'm doing the same thing I was doing at the beginning of this journey. I have read other topics suggesting I input my own recipes, which I do occasionally, but it's certainly the exception, and not the rule. I have made my food diary public, so any insight anyone has is appreciated.
2) Is it possible there's any truth at all to the TDEE/BMR stuff? I want to buy into that so badly, but it seems too good to be true. Could I REALLY need to increase my calories by close to 25% (1600 to 2000) to LOSE weight? It just doesn't seem possible. Are there any real life people out there who have faced similar issues?
I truly appreciate any advice or personal stories anyone can share. Oh, and I know this will fall on deaf ears, but please, keep your negativity to yourself. I won't comment or respond to it, life's too short!
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Replies
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Sounds like you need to keep doing what you're doing but, for some helpful reading, try these links:
1. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
2. If you aren't already using one, get and use a food scale. Weigh all solids. Measuring cups/spoons are not accurate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
3. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
4. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
5. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think0 -
im far from a professional... at this at least. it seems crazy. its a fun game now to try and figure out. losing weight and i stalled at 216 for 3 weeks. then 213 for 2-3 weeks then 211 for 3 weeks. i am working out at the gym for at least an hour 6 times a day and was keeping to my calories of 1320 and eating half if not more of my exercise calories. on march 12th i decided im just going to raise up to 1800 and eat that whether or not i exercised or not, anyways i started losing again. Ive been at this now for 8 months, at first it seemed simple, follow the MFP recommendations but then you just gotta switch things up and see what works. im down to 207.0
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Part of the huge weightloss in the beginning would come from water weight. In my first week I lost 8 lbs, most of which I assume was water. Now your body has been depleted of this the weight will come off slower.
Also you havent hit a wall. 5lbs in 6 weeks isnt bad. 1lb a week is a good loss and you are nearly at that.
If you are not already doing it try weighing your food on a scale. This way you will KNOW that you are not under/overestimating your calorie intake.
I dont know what you currenty weigh but I am 5'3 and weigh 225lbs and eat 2000 calories a day and im losing weight. The goal (at least for me) is to consume as many calories as possible while still being able to lose a decent amount of weight. I figure there is no point feeling like I am hungry/restricted if I dont have to. I dont want to feel like I am on a diet.0 -
Thank you all...I am going to increase my calories a bit, and start weighing my food. It seems so unrealistic, but you gotta do what you gotta do!
To answer the question, I weigh 299, when I started I was 323. (Gosh, that's hard to type/admit.)
I guess my struggle is "mathematically" if my TDEE is 2500ish, and I'm eating 1600ish, I should lose 2ish # a week! 1# seems like such a miniscule amount...
Honestly, the healthy lifestyle is my main goal, and I try to look at the weight loss as a side-effect of good choices. Unfortunately, weight loss is the only tangible way to judge your progress. Maybe I should get some blood work drawn or something
Thanks again!0 -
what do you mean, is there possibly any truth to that stuff? that stuff is the truth. there is literally NO scientific doubt as to the fact that THAT IS TRUE. calorie deficits are true. that's just the way it is. tdee/bmr aren't made up numbers or a fad diet, they are the only way weight loss ever happens. it's just making sure the numbers are accurate so you know you're eating to a deficit
also, you've not hit a wall at all, you've just got impatient because all the glycogen coming off was getting you jazzed. you lose a ton of water first because of that, and then good, sustainable weight loss happens at any rate between 0.5 and 2lbs a week. 5lbs in 6 weeks is a perfectly normal.
just carry on and all that jazz, weight loss doesn't happen over night. as long as you're making a deficit, you WILL lose0 -
what do you mean, is there possibly any truth to that stuff? that stuff is the truth. there is literally NO scientific doubt as to the fact that THAT IS TRUE. calorie deficits are true. that's just the way it is. tdee/bmr aren't made up numbers or a fad diet, they are the only way weight loss ever happens. it's just making sure the numbers are accurate so you know you're eating to a deficit
also, you've not hit a wall at all, you've just got impatient because all the glycogen coming off was getting you jazzed. you lose a ton of water first because of that, and then good, sustainable weight loss happens at any rate between 0.5 and 2lbs a week. 5lbs in 6 weeks is a perfectly normal.
just carry on and all that jazz, weight loss doesn't happen over night. as long as you're making a deficit, you WILL lose
This.
Trust science.0 -
Sounds like you need to keep doing what you're doing but, for some helpful reading, try these links:
1. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
2. If you aren't already using one, get and use a food scale. Weigh all solids. Measuring cups/spoons are not accurate:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
3. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
4. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
5. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
This...so much all of this.0 -
If you're not weighing everything you eat, you're likely eating way more than 1600 calories, hence your slower weight loss despite having a TDEE of 2500 calories.
For example, I saw 100 g of spaghetti and 1 breadstick as your dinner last week, and nothing else. No sauce? No oil? No parm cheese? Plus 100g is a tiiiiny portion and calorie content can depend on the brand. Little things add up over time.
I'd keep 1600 calories for now as your goal, and try to hit it while weighing ALL your food (even vegetables!) and being as accurate as possible in your diary and see what happens on the scale.0 -
Unfortunately, weight loss is the only tangible way to judge your progress. Maybe I should get some blood work drawn or something
Tape measure. Measure as many spots as you feel like keeping up with. I measure calf, thigh, hips (widest and smallest spots), lower belly, natural waist, upper belly, chest, bust, neck and arm. Watching the inches drop is just as satisfying as seeing the scale change and sometimes even more so. When I lost 7 inches in my lower belly, I was amazed. A lot of that was bloat/water weight but IDGIF what it was.. I was carrying it around and then I wasn't!
Also, I agree on the blood work. I keep meaning to go do that but I haven't been able to get to the clinic on a day they'll draw. I went on a Sat only to be told they only draw during the week and I can't make it then.
Keep on keeping on and you'll lose it 0 -
What I mean is, I've never seen any medical text recommend finding a TDEE and going from that. Any medical text I've read just says 'burn more than you eat', and most don't even get that specific. Typically, they give you a universal caloric amount (1800 is pretty popular), and go with that. I don't deny that BMR/TDEE exist, or that they can be calculated, but I'm just unconvinced about their relationship to your suggested caloric intake when trying to lose weight...
Do you have a link to a medical or scientific website to support TDEE/BMR? So far, I've been unable to find anything, but would love to see it! A lot goes on in this crazy head...
Yes, you are absolutely right...I guess any loss is better than none or a gain. Thanks for the reminder.0 -
If you're not weighing everything you eat, you're likely eating way more than 1600 calories, hence your slower weight loss despite having a TDEE of 2500 calories.
For example, I saw 100 g of spaghetti and 1 breadstick as your dinner last week, and nothing else. No sauce? No oil? No parm cheese? Plus 100g is a tiiiiny portion and calorie content can depend on the brand. Little things add up over time.
I'd keep 1600 calories for now as your goal, and try to hit it while weighing ALL your food (even vegetables!) and being as accurate as possible in your diary and see what happens on the scale.
Also this!0 -
The best advice I could give is this:
Anything, apart from air, that you put in your mouth gets weighed before hand and logged. WEIGH EVERYTHING.
/LOG EVERYTHING/0 -
Thank you all...I am going to increase my calories a bit, and start weighing my food. It seems so unrealistic, but you gotta do what you gotta do!
My suggestion is to get a food scale to weigh out your food. You'd be surprised at how much you're actually eating.0 -
Thank you all...I am going to increase my calories a bit, and start weighing my food. It seems so unrealistic, but you gotta do what you gotta do!
To answer the question, I weigh 299, when I started I was 323. (Gosh, that's hard to type/admit.)
I guess my struggle is "mathematically" if my TDEE is 2500ish, and I'm eating 1600ish, I should lose 2ish # a week! 1# seems like such a miniscule amount...
Honestly, the healthy lifestyle is my main goal, and I try to look at the weight loss as a side-effect of good choices. Unfortunately, weight loss is the only tangible way to judge your progress. Maybe I should get some blood work drawn or something
Thanks again!
I started at 308lbs and started on 2100 calories. The weight came of very fast with that to my surprise
Some weeks I slack off with my exercise and I find I dont lose as much that week. I always eat back my exercise calories though.0 -
I think you need to change your diet. I only went back one week and could not find much that promotes health. I know that to lose weight you only need to eat within a deficit ( but not weighing your food probably means that you eat more than you think, especially since it's mostly processed and therefore empty carbs ), but maybe changing things to eating more complex carbs ( fruit and veggies ) instead of sandwiches, white bread, pasta ( yes, pasta and white bread without anything else is not a good meal , bread sticks with dressing are not either ) , lots of chips, cookies and bars...without any vegetables except a leaf of lettuce. More good protein might also help, because it keeps you from getting hunger pangs and in return keeps you from mindless eating.
I think a variety of more healthy foods ( which does not mean you have to eat clean ) might help you overcome those times when you don't lose. I don't think that eating more of what you eat would promote consistent loss.
It goes without saying that weighing everything you eat and logging it is even more important than what you eat. I am willing to bet that this would bring about weight loss success.
Good Luck !0 -
Your Basal Metabolic Rate is approx. 2000 calories. That is the amount of calories to maintain where you are now if you did nothing at all, just basically breathing. Any exercise on top of that (or even being pretty sedentary) brings that number up. 1600 calories is too low and more than likely too hard to follow and sets you up for bingeing. I would bring your calorie level up to 1800 and be precise with your measurements. You actually will lose weight on 2000 calories. Add exercise and the weight will come off and you won't be so hungry.0
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The best advice I could give is this:
Anything, apart from air, that you put in your mouth gets weighed before hand and logged. WEIGH EVERYTHING.
/LOG EVERYTHING/
This. ^^^0 -
Glad to see you're going to start weighing your food! You may be surprised how much you're already eating once you start weighing things out and being more accurate.
You had some REALLY high sodium days last week. Not sure if this is the norm for you but this could also be part of the problem. High sodium will mask weight loss due to water weight. How's your water intake? Drinking more water will help balance out the retention but do try to limit your intake a bit too.
Good luck!0 -
Patience.
Weigh all solid food and measure all liquids.
Patience.
Log every single thing you put in your mouth, including drinks, sauces, condiments, EVERYTHING.
Patience.
Ensure that your exercise burns are accurate as well. If you use the gym machine numbers or numbers from MFP, internet, or app, do not at them all back. Those numbers are inaccurate. For example, the treadmill had me burning over 800 calories on a 6 mile run and Mr heart rate monitor rendered 550. Had I believed the treadmill, I would've killed .my maintenance allowance by almost 300 calories.
Oh, and did I mention patience? 0 -
Thanks for all your input...
The last couple of weeks were REALLY bad diet days, you all are absolutely right. I would say that is not consistent with my norm, but there's definitely room for improvement. Sodium is not usually an issue (I had one day last week I actually think I had a sodium hangover due to a hell day at work and limited to access to anything outside of a vendo-machine). Life happens...I usually have a lunch bag to counter these times, but sometimes that gets sabotaged as well.
Thank you!0 -
If you are not losing as quickly as you should be, you are NOT in as much of a deficit as you think. Do not increase your calories unless you are already 100% accurate because if you are not you will slow down even more.
Follow the advice given, get a food scale, enter your recipes and stop estimating. With 100+ to lose at 1600 you should be dropping weight like mad for the first couple months with out a problem. By all means if you want to lose more slowly that's fine but when you have a lot to lose there is nothing wrong with having a big deficit for a few months - or as long as you can handle it to give you a boost. I dropped close to 30 lbs my first couple months on 1200 before I went up to 1900 and I had less than 100 to lose.
It's all numbers. If you aren't losing you are eating too much or overestimating activity0 -
Thank you all...I am going to increase my calories a bit, and start weighing my food. It seems so unrealistic, but you gotta do what you gotta do!
To answer the question, I weigh 299, when I started I was 323. (Gosh, that's hard to type/admit.)
I guess my struggle is "mathematically" if my TDEE is 2500ish, and I'm eating 1600ish, I should lose 2ish # a week! 1# seems like such a miniscule amount...
Honestly, the healthy lifestyle is my main goal, and I try to look at the weight loss as a side-effect of good choices. Unfortunately, weight loss is the only tangible way to judge your progress. Maybe I should get some blood work drawn or something
Thanks again!
If your not weighing your food now, then you are probably eating more than you realize. For a lot of foods, I have found that a portion size is a lot smaller than I once thought.
Weight loss isn't the only way to judge progress. Get a measuring tape and take body measurements. Even if the scale doesn't move much, if your body measurements are going down than you are making progress. The scale can only tell one part of the story. The number it shows, won't determine how you look or what clothing you will fit into.
I made this little graph last year. I'm 5'4 and I was averaging about 1886 calories a day to lose weight. I wish I had a better graph to show...I could probably go make one, but it would take awhile.
faint purple/blue line - Fitbit Estimated TDEE
solid blue/gray line - total calorie intake
rainbow - my weight
TDEE has everything to do with weight loss. It is how many calories you burn in a day total. Knowing roughly what your burning total in a day makes it so much easier to say that you are eating less than you burn.
BMR takes up a large portion of TDEE for most. These are the calories your body uses to keep your organs functioning. Essentially the calories burned before daily activity and exercise.0 -
5 pounds over 6 weeks is actually a pretty good loss. Yes, at your point it could be bigger. But faster doesn't mean better. 1 pound a week or so means it's more likely you will sustain the lifestyle and the loss.
That said, a couple of comments
I agree, weigh everything. It's very possible to be eating more than you think.
Check out the thinks shared, especially the sexypants link.
If you chose to go with TDEE, realize that it already accounts for exercise calories (based on what level you put in) so you don't eat them back. If you go with MFP's recommendations you are supposed to eat back exercise calories. This generally ends up being very close to the same for most people. (Also don't forget, if your TDEE is ~2500 calories, that's to maintain, you'd need to cut to ~2000 to lose a pound a week, ~1500 to lose 2 pounds a week).
And don't give up. Weight loss isn't linear. There will most likely be weeks you see no loss, and sometimes even a slight gain. Usually it's something like water retention throwing off the scale. Find other methods to gauge progress as well as the scale. Measurements, photos (take before photos now to compare), how clothes fit, etc.0 -
just keep working hard., you didn't hit the wall, you just hit the point where it starts being more difficult.0
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Your diary isn't public.
But if you're not weighing and you're not entering your own recipes, that's where you should start.
Is what you mean by wondering if TDEE/BMR stuff is true just that you're not sure about eating more to lose weight? Here's a link about the BMR stuff. The TDEE stuff is exactly what you said-- figure out how much you burn (that's your TDEE) and eat less than that.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1058378-oh-noes-i-am-eating-below-my-bmr
With 100 lbs to lose you can have a bigger deficit. If you're not losing and you're not eating a stupidly low number of calories, then the most likely culprit is that you're eating more than you think.
Still, if food weighing doesn't help, go see a doctor and get tested for insulin resistance and thyroid issues.0 -
I actually just changed my diary settings back to private, but thank you for checking.
I am insulin resistant, and I take Metformin for that. I should have mentioned that sooner.
I appreciate all the replies, I think I have several ideas on how to refocus.0 -
I actually just changed my diary settings back to private, but thank you for checking.
I am insulin resistant, and I take Metformin for that. I should have mentioned that sooner.
I appreciate all the replies, I think I have several ideas on how to refocus.
In that case you may benefit from lowering carbs. I'd try the other suggestions first. But low carb tends to work well for those with insulin resistance.0 -
I actually just changed my diary settings back to private, but thank you for checking.
I am insulin resistant, and I take Metformin for that. I should have mentioned that sooner.
I appreciate all the replies, I think I have several ideas on how to refocus.
It is too bad that to all the really good advise you got your response is to close down your food diary. Without an open diary it is almost impossible to give any constructive advise. But you of course are 100% in control of what you want to share or not.
I was still one of the people who were able to check your diary and would like to say that especially if you are insulin resistant you cannot keep on the eating the way you do. Insulin resistance and that much processed flour do not go together well.
I am glad to hear that you are going to re-focus, because you and your good health are worth the effort.
Good Luck !0 -
I have a lot of weight to lose. Around 100 pounds as a matter of fact. I am 37, a female, and 5'7". Originally, I was sticking to the MFP calorie suggestion, which was 1600.
That's going to be about 60% body fat, which will put your BMR in the 1300 range. Coupled with even the slightest under-estimate on intake and, yeah, Stall City.
One thing for sure - your problem is not under-eating - that you can take to the bank.0 -
Ang108, I didn't change my diary settings because of the great advice...it was truly great advice and I'm thankful for it. Everyones comments made me realize how inaccurate my diary is.
I often don't log my vegetables, so my diary is very skewed. I do appreciate the feedback, but my diary is not telling the whole story. This is one of the many changes I need to make.0
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