Two + Months in, not a pound gone

What about food allergies or intolerances? I would suggest trying an elimination diet, I am trying one myself. I am Having issues with weight loss, lethargy and joint pain. Only been on it 3weeks but I feel great and have actually lost 4lbs. This may not be your solution but it is worth discussing with your nutritionist. Good luck!

Are you weighing your food with a food scale?

What about food allergies or intolerances? I would suggest trying an elimination diet, I am trying one myself. I am Having issues with weight loss, lethargy and joint pain. Only been on it 3weeks but I feel great and have actually lost 4lbs. This may not be your solution but it is worth discussing with your nutritionist. Good luck!

This would not stop her from losing if a deficit was still in place. Allergies and intolerances can make you feel bad, and even retain water due to inflammation, but not enough to override her deficit. Again, if she burns 3000 and eats 2500 the body must use something for fuel whether an allergy is present or not.

Oh yeah, I should also mention that the first thing my trainer thought was that I might be gaining muscle and losing fat. She said we could tell if that was happening because my measurements would be changing (I carry a lot of weight around the middle), but they have not changed a cm.

Also, if this is what your trainer "thinks" and they're a masters student, I would hire a new trainer.

Here's the thing - even people who are morbidly obese have muscle, they have to have muscle to be able to carry around the extra weight. Your muscles will burn away your fat and the more muscle you have the more you will burn at rest. I have dropped about 20% BF since I started weight training (and I do little cardio) and my BMR is only 2,080. For you, someone who is presumably not weight training in the same capacity, a RMR of 2345 is really really high.

Also, 850 calories/day worth of exercise is a lot! I do spin (when I have cardio days) and an hour of intense spin and I am only just hitting the 700 calorie mark. That's an hour of intense intense work. Doing that much exercise/day is a lot. I recognize that as being big, your body needs more calories to survive and the extent of exercising you feel you can do may be limited but eating 3200 calories on an "exercise" day is really too much, in my experience and opinion

She isn't doing 850 worth of "exercise" Total burn is not just RMR + purposeful exercise. As I stated in my other post, total burn is BMR + exercise + thermic effect of food + NEAT (which is all the calories burned from doing things that aren't exercise like walking around your house, brushing your teeth, cooking, cleaning, etc). Many people burn more calories from NEAT then purposeful exercise. Especially if they are the kind of people that are up and about most of the time.

Read it - check!

And yes, I get that now - thanks for the post. However, I still don't get how she can be burning 3,000 - 3,200 calories most days? That's a lot.

Oh yeah, I should also mention that the first thing my trainer thought was that I might be gaining muscle and losing fat. She said we could tell if that was happening because my measurements would be changing (I carry a lot of weight around the middle), but they have not changed a cm.

Also, if this is what your trainer "thinks" and they're a masters student, I would hire a new trainer.

Here's the thing - even people who are morbidly obese have muscle, they have to have muscle to be able to carry around the extra weight. Your muscles will burn away your fat and the more muscle you have the more you will burn at rest. I have dropped about 20% BF since I started weight training (and I do little cardio) and my BMR is only 2,080. For you, someone who is presumably not weight training in the same capacity, a RMR of 2345 is really really high.

Also, 850 calories/day worth of exercise is a lot! I do spin (when I have cardio days) and an hour of intense spin and I am only just hitting the 700 calorie mark. That's an hour of intense intense work. Doing that much exercise/day is a lot. I recognize that as being big, your body needs more calories to survive and the extent of exercising you feel you can do may be limited but eating 3200 calories on an "exercise" day is really too much, in my experience and opinion

She isn't doing 850 worth of "exercise" Total burn is not just RMR + purposeful exercise. As I stated in my other post, total burn is BMR + exercise + thermic effect of food + NEAT (which is all the calories burned from doing things that aren't exercise like walking around your house, brushing your teeth, cooking, cleaning, etc). Many people burn more calories from NEAT then purposeful exercise. Especially if they are the kind of people that are up and about most of the time.

Read it - check!

And yes, I get that now - thanks for the post. However, I still don't get how she can be burning 3,000 - 3,200 calories most days? That's a lot.

That's her TDEE as measured by her Body Media Fit. According to her profile she wants to lose 186 lbs.

Ok - it just seems like a lot. But if she has 186 lbs to lose then currently she may burn that.

If caloric deficit = weight loss for everyone, always, forever, then I don't understand why I haven't gained since almost doubling my intake. I am exactly the same weight and measurements as I was two months ago (and for the last seven years).

When you upped your calorie goal, did you also change the way you were logging? If you went from eyeballing portions, etc to measuring with cups, you might have been at the SAME caloric intake as before. In my honest opinion, whenever someone plateaus, the first step in figuring out the problem is to map out the intake as accurate and precise as possible. That means not ONLY weighing all solids on a food scale AND measuring all liquids in a measuring cup, but ALSO recording the correct entries in your diary.

CICO works for EVERYONE. If it's not working for you, then one side of that equation is off balance. If you are being 100% truthful in your food diary, weighing everything you can, choosing correct entries, and opting to eat back 50-75% of your 'exercise" calories (from the bodymedia), then something is not be accounted for. Whether its you're not burning what you think you're burning - to adjust for this, eat less. Or your consuming things you're not aware of or haven't accounted for - any chance you're sleep eating?

Conservatively, cutting 100-200 calories off your daily calories goal, will increase the deficit on paper and you should see some weight loss. If your bodymedia says you burn 3000 calories on a lazy day, then change your food goal to only 2000 calories and DON'T eat back exercise calories, or only eat back 50% of exercise you purposefully do (i.e. go for a walk, etc). That should be a 2 lb per week rate of loss (1000 calorie daily deficit).

When you upped your calorie goal, did you also change the way you were logging? If you went from eyeballing portions, etc to measuring with cups, you might have been at the SAME caloric intake as before. In my honest opinion, whenever someone plateaus, the first step in figuring out the problem is to map out the intake as accurate and precise as possible. That means not ONLY weighing all solids on a food scale AND measuring all liquids in a measuring cup, but ALSO recording the correct entries in your diary.

CICO works for EVERYONE. If it's not working for you, then one side of that equation is off balance. If you are being 100% truthful in your food diary, weighing everything you can, choosing correct entries, and opting to eat back 50-75% of your 'exercise" calories (from the bodymedia), then something is not be accounted for. Whether its you're not burning what you think you're burning - to adjust for this, eat less. Or your consuming things you're not aware of or haven't accounted for - any chance you're sleep eating?

Conservatively, cutting 100-200 calories off your daily calories goal, will increase the deficit on paper and you should see some weight loss. If your bodymedia says you burn 3000 calories on a lazy day, then change your food goal to only 2000 calories and DON'T eat back exercise calories, or only eat back 50% of exercise you purposefully do (i.e. go for a walk, etc). That should be a 2 lb per week rate of loss (1000 calorie daily deficit).

When I increased my calorie goal I did not change the way I was logging or measuring in any way. I started at 1300, went to 1700 and then up to 2000. I stayed there for a month, then up to 2300 for two weeks, then up to 2500 last week. All of this was by the recommendation of my nutritionist (she is a weight loss specialist). At every one of these caloric intakes my results was exactly the same: no change. I do not eat back any calories. She gives me a total caloric intake to eat every day and that's what I eat regardless of what I burn.

take that sticker off the scale that they put an arbitrary weight on to make it look like its on without using battery

When you upped your calorie goal, did you also change the way you were logging? If you went from eyeballing portions, etc to measuring with cups, you might have been at the SAME caloric intake as before. In my honest opinion, whenever someone plateaus, the first step in figuring out the problem is to map out the intake as accurate and precise as possible. That means not ONLY weighing all solids on a food scale AND measuring all liquids in a measuring cup, but ALSO recording the correct entries in your diary.

CICO works for EVERYONE. If it's not working for you, then one side of that equation is off balance. If you are being 100% truthful in your food diary, weighing everything you can, choosing correct entries, and opting to eat back 50-75% of your 'exercise" calories (from the bodymedia), then something is not be accounted for. Whether its you're not burning what you think you're burning - to adjust for this, eat less. Or your consuming things you're not aware of or haven't accounted for - any chance you're sleep eating?

Conservatively, cutting 100-200 calories off your daily calories goal, will increase the deficit on paper and you should see some weight loss. If your bodymedia says you burn 3000 calories on a lazy day, then change your food goal to only 2000 calories and DON'T eat back exercise calories, or only eat back 50% of exercise you purposefully do (i.e. go for a walk, etc). That should be a 2 lb per week rate of loss (1000 calorie daily deficit).

When I increased my calorie goal I did not change the way I was logging or measuring in any way. I started at 1300, went to 1700 and then up to 2000. I stayed there for a month, then up to 2300 for two weeks, then up to 2500 last week. All of this was by the recommendation of my nutritionist (she is a weight loss specialist). At every one of these caloric intakes my results was exactly the same: no change. I do not eat back any calories. She gives me a total caloric intake to eat every day and that's what I eat regardless of what I burn.

take that sticker off the scale that they put an arbitrary weight on to make it look like its on without using battery

Hilarious!
You know.... duct tape and a sharpie, we can all weigh whatever we want.

HA HA HA! Thanks, I needed a good laugh!

Laughing will keep you sane, especially when dieting. My young daughter once decided she was going to count calories like mommy does. She used an ink pen to alter calorie numbers on all her favorite snacks and tracked them in a notebook for a couple days. When I got a peek at it, she had herself eating snacks to the tune of 50,000 per day. I think she thought the more the better lol