Constant Weight despite Deficit

plokmijnuby
plokmijnuby Posts: 7
edited February 19 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi Everyone,

So I am attempting to eat a calorie deficit every day aiming for 1250 around about (5'6'' 133lbs) and I try to get down the gym 2 or 3 times a week, doing a mixture of cross trainer cardio and body weight strength training. However I've been doing this for months now and have not seen a change in my weight. On the plus side my weight rarely increases, even after holidays etc, but I would have expected eating at the "1lbs per week" deficit to see some weight loss over the past 6+ months.

Has anyone got any tips on boosting my progress?

I already drink a good amount of water, but it could be improved; eat and record as truthfully as possible, and underestimate my activity levels (being a student I spend around an hour walking a day) - but claim to be sedentary to account for any inaccurate records. Also I have confusion on calories burnt because having changed gym my cross trainer workouts now no longer take into account my age or weight and now claim to be burning far fewer calories than at my old gym (originally 350 per 30 minutes).

Cheers

Replies

  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    Do you weigh your food and measure your liquids?
  • brosis85
    brosis85 Posts: 114 Member
    My suggestion is that you likely need to eat a bit more ... sometimes you need to eat more to lose weight.
    1200 calories is for people who have a substantial amount of weight to lose and from your stats you do not fit that category.

    Go check out this site and figure out your BMR and TDEE
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    My suggestion is that you likely need to eat a bit more ... sometimes you need to eat more to lose weight.
    1200 calories is for people who have a substantial amount of weight to lose and from your stats you do not fit that category.

    Go check out this site and figure out your BMR and TDEE
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
    This, too.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    inaccurate records.

    ^^this is most likely your problem^^

    You're probably wrongly estimating your food or calories burned thru exercise. Being more accurate with your intake is easier for me than being 100% accurate with exercise. So try to be more accurate about your food. Maybe that will help? Most people would recommend using a digital scale to measure your foods in grams.
  • plokmijnuby
    plokmijnuby Posts: 7
    I do measure the majority of my food whenever it is feasible (i.e. I'm not out of the house) and if I'm out then I try to estimate it from the packet. My inaccurate records issue is more around recipes, as I cook a lot from scratch but cannot write a recipe for everything I eat. :(
  • nomad1000
    nomad1000 Posts: 206 Member
    My inaccurate records issue is more around recipes, as I cook a lot from scratch but cannot write a recipe for everything I eat. :(

    Actually you can be accurate and cook from scratch. I know because I cook from scratch several times a week.

    I either log all the ingredients individually for the day (for example for a chicken stir fry dinner I would log 6 oz chicken breast, 3 Misto olive oil sprays, 1 T soy sauce, 1 t corn starch, 100 g red peppers, 100 g carrots, 50 g water chestnuts, 50 g celery, 175 g brown rice) or I use the the recipe builder to input all the ingredients by weight and then set the portion size. Once it is saved, I can reuse it over and over. Takes a bit longer the first time but then it is easy.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    s I cook a lot from scratch but cannot write a recipe for everything I eat. :(
    Why not? you just weigh the food and enter it into recipe builder. Is it more like you cant be bothered? If you want to lose weight you need to know how many calories you are eating. You don't in reality so if you are serious about your goals you need to. It takes a few minutes to enter a recipe.
  • plokmijnuby
    plokmijnuby Posts: 7
    Yes I do log lots of recipes like that, but when I next use the recipe I might adjust it... different ratios, different protein etc - hence it creates inaccuracies or takes ages. Plus I mainly use MFP on my phone. :/
  • plokmijnuby
    plokmijnuby Posts: 7
    I am happy with my weight, but am confused as to why I am not losing despite having a deficit.
    Perhaps I should rephrase and wonder if anyone can give me advice about whether I could up my calorie intake and not put on weight cause currently it seems like around 1250 is my maintaining weight calorie intake...
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    Yes I do log lots of recipes like that, but when I next use the recipe I might adjust it... different ratios, different protein etc - hence it creates inaccuracies or takes ages. Plus I mainly use MFP on my phone. :/
    So edit the recipe and account for the changes. This is easily done on the app or the website. If you're serious about this, you wouldn't make excuses.

    I think you're eating more than you think. If you're not accurately logging meals from scratch, and you're eyeballing portions when outside of the home, both of those things could be throwing off your accuracy. Most people are terrible at eyeballing portions - sometimes off by as much as 1 1/2 to 2x more.

    So I seriously doubt your maintenance calories are 1250. That'd be highly unlikely.
  • plokmijnuby
    plokmijnuby Posts: 7
    Cheers, I'll keep trying my best then and make an extensive online recipe book.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    I am happy with my weight, but am confused as to why I am not losing despite having a deficit.
    Perhaps I should rephrase and wonder if anyone can give me advice about whether I could up my calorie intake and not put on weight cause currently it seems like around 1250 is my maintaining weight calorie intake...
    I really doubt your maintenance calories are that low. Why are you trying to lose if you are happy with your weight?
  • plokmijnuby
    plokmijnuby Posts: 7
    Why are you trying to lose if you are happy with your weight?

    I'm trying to tone up/slim down but dont mind if, in the process of building muscle, my weight remains around its current level. So I thought it best to eat a deficit, do cardio and strength training. But I'm seeing very little difference in my measurements or weight.
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