what am I doing wrong :(

mollyz36
mollyz36 Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there!! I am 5'8, 182 and a 20 year old female. I have been using MFP for 3 months now.. and I have made little progress. I am beginning to feel extremely discouraged. I work out 5-6 days a week --- 45 minutes of cardio, and some strength training. I will talk about my diet in just a second, but I want to point out that i am EXTREMELY confused about how much I am supposed to be eating.. for the longest time, I had not been eating back my exercise calories, netting around 900. then I realized that it is important to eat them back, so i started to.. but i just feel like I am eating way too much. I have my settings as sedentary -- I am a college student -- I walk to my classes, go to the gym, then sit in a desk at my class, then usually go home and relax for the evening. Therefore MFP has me eating 1200 calories based on my goal of losing 2 pounds a week. I am just really upset because I have been working so hard for so long not to weigh over 180... just TWO DAYS ago i was 179.... now 182.... I do not understand!!!

A typical day for me is:
Breakfast -- Light english muffin with peanut butter, a cup of almond milk, light yogurt, and an apple.
Lunch -- turkey sandiwch (no condiments) on whole wheat, 2 1/2 cups of red/yellow peppers, and organic chunky tomato bisque (light in sodium).
for an afternoon snack -- I will usually have 24 almonds (160 cal) and/or light yogurt
Dinner -- varies between salmon or grilled/baked chicken, a sweet potato/brown rice. and lots of veggies (broccoli/cauliflower)

then i will have light mini bag popcorn (100 cal) for a snack.

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY I HAVE NOT LOST ANY WEIGHT... am I eating enough?? or eating too little?! I do not get what I am doing wrong. and I really need help :(

according to MPF by the way, 35 minutes of elliptical is around 433 calories burned (which is what I do), then 15 minutes of 14-16 mph bicyling is 208 calories..

I am just so confused. how much should i be eating?!

Thanks for your help!! Please let me know.. I am tired of feeling this way

Replies

  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    How are you measuring foods like peanut butter, rice, and sweet potatoes? Those are the most likely culprits to be contributing more calories than accounted for.

    PS: Ignore the advice on here that you are eating too little. If you aren't losing weight, you are likely taking in more than you think you are or more than your body needs, with the exception of things like medical conditions.
  • mollyz36
    mollyz36 Posts: 7
    Thanks for responding!

    I usually have one tablespoon of peanut butter on my english muffin -- I may need to cut down on the amount of sweet potato I have. I am just frustrated -- especially that I weighed myself saturday and it was 179 and today (monday) is 182...
  • greypilgrimess
    greypilgrimess Posts: 353 Member
    I don't want to say much about the diet but the calories burned for the elliptical and bike seem pretty high. MFP often seriously overestimates the calories burned, you could try getting a hrm to see what you're more likely burning.

    It might also be worth setting your loss to 1 or 1.5lbs a week rather than 2. Sometimes slower is better.
  • greypilgrimess
    greypilgrimess Posts: 353 Member
    Thanks for responding!

    I usually have one tablespoon of peanut butter on my english muffin -- I may need to cut down on the amount of sweet potato I have. I am just frustrated -- especially that I weighed myself saturday and it was 179 and today (monday) is 182...

    Weight can fluctuate several lbs over the course of a day, usually because of water weight. It doesn't mean you put on 3lbs of fat (and it's very unlikely to did in 2 days). Try weighing yourself once a week, always at the same time of day (first thing in the morning is a good time)
  • wickedpursuit
    wickedpursuit Posts: 47 Member
    If you've been netting 1200 calories or less for three months - which includes totally faithful logging of quantities/weights of food, snacks, liquid calories, etc. - you may want to dial your calories up for a while. The weight gain you experienced was probably water, so you may also want to check your sodium and your water intake. Your body might have found an equilibrium with the amount you're eating (goodness knows it happened to me; same food for several months, no deviation, and my body ceased to release the fat after a while), so you may want to shake it up for a few weeks. Try eating at your BMR (there are calculators out there that are super-handy!) for two or three weeks, then drop it down again.
  • ukaryote
    ukaryote Posts: 874 Member
    Almost an hour of cardio AND strength training, perhaps you are putting on muscle mass. Your age is a good time to do it. What do you guess is your percentage of body fat? Do you feel it has changed in the past few months?
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    Have you tried eating no more than 50% of your exercise calories back? Everything online is just an estimate but won't necessarily be right for you. It can be a frustrating process, but you will get there. A little trial and error will help you know just what your body needs.
  • KLaJ3030
    KLaJ3030 Posts: 1
    I will preface this by saying I am not a professional in any way shape or form. Just another person also working at getting healthy, so my advice is personal advice only. I have been working with professionals (registered dietitian and certified personal trainer) on my own health and weight loss journey. My suggestion would be to increase your protein intake -especially in the morning - eggs are a better option than all the carbs (english muffin, apple, etc.). Also make sure you are eating healthy fats (things like avocados, nuts, etc.) If you switch your yogurt to something that is full fat (it contains less sugar) that may help too. I would start strength training for at least 25 minutes before your cardio - your cardio will be more effective because your heart rate will already be up instead of spending the first 15 to 20 minutes getting it up to an effective zone. Plus, my understanding is that muscle burns more calories at a resting rate, which increases the number of calories you burn when you are not working out. Maybe vary your cardio so your body doesn't get used to always doing the same exercise. Do the same with strength training. I personally have been looking into Paleo eating as well. Cutting out processed foods has made a huge difference for me in my energy level and it forces you to make healthier food choices (lots of green veggies (spinach, asparagus, broccoli) and protein - meat, nuts, etc.) Hope you figure out what works for you!
  • ottermotorcycle
    ottermotorcycle Posts: 654 Member
    Let's start from scratch.

    You are 20 years old, 5'8" and 182 pounds. You have a Basal Metabolic Rate of 1672. If you were in a coma, your body would be burning 1672 calories every day. You say you are sedentary, but you are 20 years old and you go to the gym every - day? Every weekday?

    Assuming you go to the gym 3 times a week, you're not sedentary - that makes you lightly active. We can say your gym days are "lightly active days" and your non-gym days are "sedentary days." On your sedentary days, your body burns 1672 x 1.2 = 2006 calories. Let's use 1.4 as your multiplier for your lightly active days. 1672 x 1.4 = 2340 calories. Those are your maintenance numbers.

    Forget adding in your exercise calories. MFP and gym equipment have one major thing in common: they are terrible at estimating exercise calorie burns. Using this method, you know what you burn when you go and when you don't, and all you have to do is subtract 20% to lose weight. On your sedentary days, this gives you a goal of 1604 and on lightly active days you have a goal of 1872. Though these deficits add up to less than one pound of weight loss per week, it is a sustainable way to lose weight. You are welcome to try a slightly more aggressive deficit, but I wouldn't go below 1600 calories a day, so perhaps it's just up to you whether you eat more on days when you exercise. If you need the fuel for your workouts, eat more.

    That being said, if you have been eating at 1200 calories a day and NOT losing weight, then eating more probably won't help you. It's unlikely that eating too little would stall weight loss. Logging inaccuracy is the #1 most common reason for this, and it's not your fault. Volumetric measurements can be wrong, and nutrition facts can be rounded down. First of all, measure everything. If you can buy yourself a digital food scale, do so because it is worth it. If using cup and spoon measures, always measure slightly below the rim. Never take a bite of anything and "forget" to log it. Make sure you are logging condiments, spices, low-cal drinks, etc. because they often have some calories in them. It's a big pain in the butt, but accuracy makes all the difference.
  • mzkolor
    mzkolor Posts: 4
    Hi Molly! About how much you are eating... looks like alot of carbs and sugars. I started using a program called the 21 day fix which has taken the guess work out of exactly how much to eat. It comes with portion control containers, dvds, meal plan and shakeology. Awesome results in 21 days!
  • lucan07
    lucan07 Posts: 509
    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
  • November_Fire
    November_Fire Posts: 165 Member
    Hi there!! I am 5'8, 182 and a 20 year old female. I have been using MFP for 3 months now.. and I have made little progress. I am beginning to feel extremely discouraged. I work out 5-6 days a week --- 45 minutes of cardio, and some strength training. I have my settings as sedentary -- I am a college student -- I walk to my classes, go to the gym, then sit in a desk at my class, then usually go home and relax for the evening.

    You work out. You are NOT sedentary. Sedentary is a person who does nothing.

    I don't use MFP's figures, they can be quite harsh and confusing and very random estimates. You need to work out your average burn - use a TDEE calculator, and set it to 'I work out 5 days a week' - and it'll give you a number. Let's say it's 2000. Now fiddle with MFP a bit - take out the exercise bits, and custom set the goals to 1500 cals. Basically set it to 400-500 less than that burn. Now don't worry about eating exercise cals back - you already factored in exercise - and don't log it either. You just have one nice easy number to aim for each day.

    Or read ottersandseals post again, it's good :)
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY I HAVE NOT LOST ANY WEIGHT

    For the same reason as everybody else. You are not eating at a calorie deficit.

    'Trying' does not count. Wholewheat bread is not good for weight loss. Neither is yoghurt, particularly.
  • gr13ver
    gr13ver Posts: 1
    do not trust excercise equipment readouts on how many calories you're burning. If anything, HALF IT. don't eat things that aren't necesarry or worth it. Just because something is 'good' for you, doesn't mean it won't make you fat if you eat too much. Peanut butter, bread in general, MAMMOTH CALORIES. Just avoid them if you can.

    quite simply, you just NEED to log your food more accurately, accounting for EVERYTHING. Oil had calories, sauces have calories, EVERYTHING. some attributes of food may AFFECT how your body is metabolizing, so look out for sodium, etc. and I'll say again- halve what the machines say you are burning.

    the science of losing weight is very well understood, and so long as your macronutrients etc arent extremely out of wack, it's as simple as calories in calories out. hope you have a better time losing now

    I've lost almost 60lbs since only September by tracking very accurately and being modest when logging everything, along with intensive excercise routines of course. If I can do it, you can too!!

    54175188.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Nutrition Facts For Foods
  • RobinLynx
    RobinLynx Posts: 60
    Just a couple of thoughts to add. Are you drinking enough water? According to a doctor I used to go to, it takes 22 ounces of water to process (burn off) 1 lb of fat. (i drink 3 liters/day of filtered water --keeping it cold in glass bottles, & sometimes adding liquid stevia). Also, really breathe when you work out, that was another tweak he gave.

    Yogurt can be a help, try Fage 0% plain greek yoghurt with a healthy sweetener (my fav is liquid cherry stevia) with 1/2 cup of fresh berries (raspberries are my fav)--it REALLY helped me. Lately I switched to 1/2 cup steel cut (aka Irish) oatmeal, & mix in 1/2 cup each Fage 0% plain greek yogurt & 1/2 cup fresh raspberries, liquid stevia to taste. Wow!! :smooched: mmmmm (my son said, "Oh, you made parfait!") Some awesome member posted a recipe for making easy steel cut oatmeal: bring 4 cups water to a boil, add 1 cup oatmeal & bring that to a boil (stirring a little to keep it from rising up the pan too much & spilling); take it off the heat, cover, & let it sit overnight. In the morning just heat it to warm it up (in the microwave or on the stove) & add whatever you like. I make it every couple of days while cooking supper. It keeps in the fridge for 5 days I hear, but it doesn't last that long here, gets eaten up too fast.

    It tastes a lot better than the flavored yogurt & is healthier. Regular flavored yogurts piss me off-- I'm hungrier after eating them than before, & that means the food is a deadbeat & not doing its job! Waste of calories. :grumble:

    The good stuff makes me feel happy, pampered & full.

    Once you get the calorie amount right, there's a surprising amount of room to play if you choose your food carefully. The recipe section here is great, too.

    I still have a lot to learn about counting exercise calories, so for now I don't worry about them, just go ahead & exercise until I get a chance. I do make sure not to go over the calorie amount my current doc gave me but will have to tweak it a bit because I'm concentrating on working out now, & still went down a little past goal weight.
  • DrJenO
    DrJenO Posts: 404 Member
    I wouldn't try to lose 2 lbs/week. I guarantee you 1200 calories is not enough for a 20 year old whose BMI is 27.6. You will be at a normal BMI if you lose just 20 pounds. People who have that little weight to lose generally can't lose that quickly, and instead should aim for 0.5-1lb/week.

    That being said, you are likely NOT eating only 1200 calories per day. I would imagine you are slipping here and there and not logging it, resulting in a much smaller calorie deficit. I can't say for sure b/c your diary isn't open.

    I bet if you aim for the 1600-1800 cal per day range (maybe a bit more on the days you really hit the gym), making sure to get enough protein so that you will feel full and maintain your muscle mass, you will feel much better and will STICK to your intake goals better.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    Thanks for responding!

    I usually have one tablespoon of peanut butter on my english muffin -- I may need to cut down on the amount of sweet potato I have. I am just frustrated -- especially that I weighed myself saturday and it was 179 and today (monday) is 182...

    Set yourself up for success. For you it may work but for many a monday weigh in isnt the greatest because of the weekend of which many people take a few liberties. Weigh in weekly at the very most. In a couple of days, saturday to a monday, that isnt enough time to lose weight and notice something good on the scale so you are setting yourself up from frustration. YOu also probably didnt gain 3 lbs from sat-mondday either.It most likely is just water or still the food you ingested.

    Set yourself up for success and weigh yourself in once a week, the same day, same time of day, and follow a rigid schedule the 12-18 hours before it at the very least. That way you can get a much better, accurate result, each week. Even if there is some water weight affecting you, if you do the rest the right way during the week you can still see good results.

    I usually weigh in saturday morninings. Friday I am very frugal with what I eat, and nothing eat or drink for 12 hours before weigh in.

    It is all about being consistant when you weigh in. The worst thing, mentally, is to do everything right except for the weigh in and derail everything.
    Set yourself up for success
  • klp1017
    klp1017 Posts: 95 Member
    Let's start from scratch.

    You are 20 years old, 5'8" and 182 pounds. You have a Basal Metabolic Rate of 1672. If you were in a coma, your body would be burning 1672 calories every day. You say you are sedentary, but you are 20 years old and you go to the gym every - day? Every weekday?

    Assuming you go to the gym 3 times a week, you're not sedentary - that makes you lightly active. We can say your gym days are "lightly active days" and your non-gym days are "sedentary days." On your sedentary days, your body burns 1672 x 1.2 = 2006 calories. Let's use 1.4 as your multiplier for your lightly active days. 1672 x 1.4 = 2340 calories. Those are your maintenance numbers.

    Forget adding in your exercise calories. MFP and gym equipment have one major thing in common: they are terrible at estimating exercise calorie burns. Using this method, you know what you burn when you go and when you don't, and all you have to do is subtract 20% to lose weight. On your sedentary days, this gives you a goal of 1604 and on lightly active days you have a goal of 1872. Though these deficits add up to less than one pound of weight loss per week, it is a sustainable way to lose weight. You are welcome to try a slightly more aggressive deficit, but I wouldn't go below 1600 calories a day, so perhaps it's just up to you whether you eat more on days when you exercise. If you need the fuel for your workouts, eat more.

    That being said, if you have been eating at 1200 calories a day and NOT losing weight, then eating more probably won't help you. It's unlikely that eating too little would stall weight loss. Logging inaccuracy is the #1 most common reason for this, and it's not your fault. Volumetric measurements can be wrong, and nutrition facts can be rounded down. First of all, measure everything. If you can buy yourself a digital food scale, do so because it is worth it. If using cup and spoon measures, always measure slightly below the rim. Never take a bite of anything and "forget" to log it. Make sure you are logging condiments, spices, low-cal drinks, etc. because they often have some calories in them. It's a big pain in the butt, but accuracy makes all the difference.

    I agree with this.
    I also want to add, how you are measuring your weight loss? If you're only going by a scale, I would really recommend you start taking measurements. Even if you aren't losing weight, you could be losing inches.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    Ok, first thing, if you are walking to class as WELL as hitting the gym several times a week, you are NOT sedentary. Cheating the system MFP has set up will not get you faster results. If anything, it will encourage very very slow weight loss, and even plateauing. Be honest and accurate in your account setup.

    Second thing:

    MFP is quite notorious for setting calorie goals FAR too low, regardless of height and weight. For example, it told me to eat 1200, and my BMR (the bare amount of calories I need to LIVE) is 1280. And I am extremely tiny, only 5 feet. So unless you are smaller than me, or bedridden, it is almost a CERTAINTY that you are eating too little. (This can result in lean muscle loss, chronic fatigue, metabolism damage, and bingeing due to over-restriction.)

    Go to

    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    and enter your height/weight/activity level.

    Subtract 10-20% from the number it calculates for you, and that is the number of calories you should be eating a day in order to lose weight.
  • Nice2BFitAgain
    Nice2BFitAgain Posts: 319 Member
    If you are not weighing your food then you are not tracking correctly and are probably eating more than 1200 calories. tea/tablespoons and cups do not accurately measure food.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    If you are not weighing your food then you are not tracking correctly and are probably eating more than 1200 calories. tea/tablespoons and cups do not accurately measure food.
    Agreed.

    Food servings are very tricky. I love me some PB, and until you truly see what a recommended serving of it is then it is quite possible you are eating way more than you thnk!
    I didnt always pay a whole lot of attention to the likes of peanut butter and thinking one spoon full was a serving size.....but in reality it was way more@
  • squirrelzzrule22
    squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
    you say you're a college student. Are you maybe drinking a lot of alcohol on the weekends? Not saying this with judgement, that's what always screws up my diet and I "conveniently" tend to not log those crazy weekends.

    If you're really only eating that much, you WILL lose weight, don't listen to any nonsense about starvation mode. That's not very much food for someone your size.
  • klkateri
    klkateri Posts: 432 Member
    Do you take body measurements?!

    I've only lost 20 pounds in 3 months but on the flip side I've lost 18 inches off my overall body... to me that is more the victory!! Sometimes the scale is more trouble than its worth. I find more comfort in the measurements because i KNOW i'm losing inches and my body is changing.

    I would suggest, maybe for a short while, to just ditch the scale and focus on body measurements.
  • cadaver0usb0nes
    cadaver0usb0nes Posts: 151 Member
    Let's start from scratch.

    You are 20 years old, 5'8" and 182 pounds. You have a Basal Metabolic Rate of 1672. If you were in a coma, your body would be burning 1672 calories every day. You say you are sedentary, but you are 20 years old and you go to the gym every - day? Every weekday?

    Assuming you go to the gym 3 times a week, you're not sedentary - that makes you lightly active. We can say your gym days are "lightly active days" and your non-gym days are "sedentary days." On your sedentary days, your body burns 1672 x 1.2 = 2006 calories. Let's use 1.4 as your multiplier for your lightly active days. 1672 x 1.4 = 2340 calories. Those are your maintenance numbers.

    Forget adding in your exercise calories. MFP and gym equipment have one major thing in common: they are terrible at estimating exercise calorie burns. Using this method, you know what you burn when you go and when you don't, and all you have to do is subtract 20% to lose weight. On your sedentary days, this gives you a goal of 1604 and on lightly active days you have a goal of 1872. Though these deficits add up to less than one pound of weight loss per week, it is a sustainable way to lose weight. You are welcome to try a slightly more aggressive deficit, but I wouldn't go below 1600 calories a day, so perhaps it's just up to you whether you eat more on days when you exercise. If you need the fuel for your workouts, eat more.

    That being said, if you have been eating at 1200 calories a day and NOT losing weight, then eating more probably won't help you. It's unlikely that eating too little would stall weight loss. Logging inaccuracy is the #1 most common reason for this, and it's not your fault. Volumetric measurements can be wrong, and nutrition facts can be rounded down. First of all, measure everything. If you can buy yourself a digital food scale, do so because it is worth it. If using cup and spoon measures, always measure slightly below the rim. Never take a bite of anything and "forget" to log it. Make sure you are logging condiments, spices, low-cal drinks, etc. because they often have some calories in them. It's a big pain in the butt, but accuracy makes all the difference.

    - VERY Good advice!

    also make sure you are getting enough protein/fat and not so many carbs.
  • gotogirl81
    gotogirl81 Posts: 278 Member
    ^^^^ greaaat advice.
    and DO NOT use mfp/gym machines calorie burned guides.
    i got a polar ft4 heart rate monitor.... the machines have been anywhere to 80-150 calories higher than my heart rate monitor.

    invest in one.. amazon.com you can get one reasonable. best decision i made in months regarding my fitness.
  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
    Do you take body measurements?!

    I've only lost 20 pounds in 3 months but on the flip side I've lost 18 inches off my overall body... to me that is more the victory!! Sometimes the scale is more trouble than its worth. I find more comfort in the measurements because i KNOW i'm losing inches and my body is changing.

    I would suggest, maybe for a short while, to just ditch the scale and focus on body measurements.

    Not to take this too far off topic, but "only 20 pounds" in three months is 20 pounds in 12 weeks, which is a good amount.

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