Open diary- Need help with calories in cal out

kindel2
kindel2 Posts: 67 Member
in Getting Started
I am doing something wrong...quick note (I ask that you be nice with your comments, I have seen more than one simple question get rude answers. I no genetic are a huge influence on weight. I also know that with effort It can be managed. I am of the mind that if you don't have anything nice to say as far as helping then don't say anything.)

Other than the fact that I am not always eating clean I don't know what else I am doing wrong.I for the most part stay close to my goal (not including last week). I started 40+ days ago at 215, 5'6, female. I had my setting set to slightly active. I was allotted 1700 calories. Last year when I tried losing weight It was set to 1700 as well and I started dropping weight. However I did not last more than two weeks. Now it's not working at all! As for my body I usually stay at 212 I have been this weight since 2008 and I was eating CRAP all day every day and multiple times a day. I am not bragging but my weight would not budge up or down. I mention this because I can stay at a steady weight for years without much fluctuations and I wonder if this could be affecting me negatively haha is my body stuck here? . Now I am counting, going to the gym and or walking and it still refuses to budge one way or the other. I tested setting MFA to sedentary and losing one pound a week which brought me to 1900 cals. Nothing so I went back to lightly active and 1.5 pounds a week=1700.

I started looking to see if body types have anything to do with it (apple, pear, hour glass, triangle), endomorph, mesomorph, or maybe it has something to do with Visceral fat or subcutaneous fat, I even calculated how high my heart rate has to be to in order to be in the "cardio fat burning zone" the machine also said my heart rate was to high by the way. I am super frustrated I am now going to try to do a low carb thing. I have never really fad diets but some of the body type things were saying I might be sensitive to carbs. I had already switched to brown rice etc but now I will try to only eat what is absolutely necessary since the body does need some carbs. Any advice would be great, as for the body type info I will add it for ish and giggles- I latter read on here that it's all crap but I already looked it so eah. Endomorph and Mesomorph mix with visceral fat, hourglass (yes I did the measurements), 140bpm is my ideal heart rate 190 is my high heart rate while on the elliptical trainer.

Replies

  • countscalories
    countscalories Posts: 418 Member
    Hi! Just wanted to wish you good luck, and to say that you look beautiful in your MFP photo!
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    right off the bat i don't see butter calories for the eggs and i think weighing the amount of avocado would be more accurate, since different people would have different ideas of small, but a weight of 4 ounces is 4 ounces no matter what. is friday's diary entries accurate and do you miss inputting any food, condiment, etc?

    your body could have less muscle than last time, which would mean you burn less calories resting.

    the bottom line is unless you have a medical condition, if you burn more than you eat, you lose weight. it doesn't matter what body type you have or anything else - if you eat more than you burn, your body will store it as fat. perhaps you could try setting yourself to sedentary and aiming to lose 1 pound per week - that's what i did, and while it isn't as fast as i'd like, it is working.
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    You might want to change your status from lightly active to sedentary to give you a new lower calorie goal. So many people tend to push that button, when really the only ones that are truly active are people who do physical labor day in--day out.

    Myself I work out 3 to 4 times a week, and really don't consider myself as being active. Most of the time I am sitting at a desk looking at a computer. Sometimes I can surprise myself with the calories I can burn either through my Jazzercise class or hiking but I really don't count them.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
    You're doing one of two things wrong (or a combination of both):

    OVERestimating your calories burned during exercise

    UNDERestimating calories in your food.

    Solutions are: Weigh and measure your food, including all oils marinades and dressings. Only eat back 50% of your exercise calories to account for any overestimation. Hope this helps, good luck!
  • kimberlyblindsey
    kimberlyblindsey Posts: 266 Member
    I know a deficit is a deficit is a deficit, but maybe switching it up at the gym and begin doing some HIIT or maybe even incorporate some weights. You can lose regardless albeit at a slower pace, IMHO, but changing your WO routine might help to kick start the weight loss.
    Everyone has different opinions about carbs, but I do know they spike insulin, causing a craving for more so I keep mine below 100 grams and try not to eat any refined carbs or processed foods whenever possible and replacing those with some more protein. Just my .02 cents for whatever it's worth.
  • countscalories
    countscalories Posts: 418 Member
    Excellent point, "itsbasschick"! (sorry, but I'm still having trouble doing the "post quote" thing)

    OP: I peeked at your food diary, and noticed that you don't track sodium. Too much is dangerous, and can really jam you up with excess water. I see that you seem to eat stuff like white bread, which can be really high in the sodium dept. I'm not saying that this is your problem, but it might not be a bad idea to keep an eye on that element. It does sneak into our foods in surprising ways. I avoid processed foods (like frozen dinners, etc.) for that reason, as I have a water-retention issue, and I don't mean a pound or two. You don't have to completely cut out the things you enjoy, just maybe have them less often or in smaller amounts. I don't know. You sort of remind me of myself 6 months and 63 lbs ago. Don't give up, and don't get discouraged. YOU CAN DO THIS!
  • kindel2
    kindel2 Posts: 67 Member
    I don't put butter in my eggs and I usually don't use it for the pan, I use olive oil but I can start adding that small bit. Also I am now starting to eat more eggs with the low carb idea so I wasn't eating them so much in the past. I put a small avocado because they added it to my burrito, It was more like a wooping spoonful but to cover my bum I put small avocado.

    "your body could have less muscle than last time, which would mean you burn less calories resting."
    This could be true however I am of the mind thats about the same. I also do leg presses and can lift 2 sets of 10 at 450lb- I recently moved up to 500lbs because the trainer said I should go up. I think 450 was comfortable though. I can only do 10 at 500lbs. My upper body strength is horrible. I tried setting it to sedentary because I was walking just not every day and nothing moved on the scale.
  • kindel2
    kindel2 Posts: 67 Member
    Aww countscalorie you are sweet!
  • kindel2
    kindel2 Posts: 67 Member
    kimberlyblind- yes I agree with you. Along with the carb thing spiking insulin I have been considering doing some HIIT workouts. I was actually looking some on youtube last night. I have also thought about focusing more or calisthenics instead of straight cardio if your body can get use to a workout then my body may already be use to cardio. I have no problem with walking for hours on in or riding my bike for 1-2 hours (not daily anyways...haven't tried). I think with those three things I might get some results.
    I appreciate your two cents.
  • kindel2
    kindel2 Posts: 67 Member
    6 months and 63 lbs ago! That's amazing. Thanks for responding. I am going to try to stay away from starches. I bought a corn muffin today just to have the satisfaction of buying one and then I gave it away. Weight loss is going to cost me money! :( Also I don't eat microwaveables- however I have been considering going back to the healthy choice meals. I did lose weight once when I ate them for lunch but like you said there is a ton of salt in them. So today I have been looking into meal prepping.
  • msbunnie68
    msbunnie68 Posts: 1,894 Member
    Hiya..when you measure your rice, are you measuring the raw rice or cooked rice?
  • kindel2
    kindel2 Posts: 67 Member
    I tried setting it to sedentary my calories which was moved to 1200 are I didn't lose weight. MFA started yelling at me in bright red wording that I was eating too few calories because I was in reality lightly active with walking and biking. So I bumped it back up (people on MFA were suggesting it to others also). In general I tweaked it so that it did not say "wasn't eating enough" as often. I am reaching my calorie goal more often now. Now I need to clean up my food and eat less carbs. I was trying to see if I should do something different with my workout routines I guess. I think HIIT and strength training world be best but I this I am unsure about.

    Currently- My calories maintenance amount is 2,360 cal it's currently set to lightly active and to lose 1.5 pounds per week.
  • kindel2
    kindel2 Posts: 67 Member
    Cooked rice
  • bethanytapp
    bethanytapp Posts: 79 Member
    Weight loss happens when you burn more than you put in. But, having said that it's also a bit of trial and error to find the number that works best for you.

    My guess is that you should have your settings at sedentary. Wear a pedometer for a normal day and see how many steps you take (without exercise). If it's less than 5000 you're probably more sedentary than you think. Just a guess.

    For me the thing that did that trick was moving more.
  • msbunnie68
    msbunnie68 Posts: 1,894 Member
    you probably need to start weighing it rather than cup measures. Weighing far more accurate.

    As for low carb...well, how about just tweaking some little things first - do you like fresh fruit/vegetables? Could you cut back some of your carbs a little and up the intake of the good stuff? Maybe cut the salt a bit too (salt influences blood pressure etc).

    I wouldn't go too drastic with it all, have you tried measuring yourself rather than weighing to see if there is any difference going on there?
  • spamantha57
    spamantha57 Posts: 674 Member
    For the love of god, don't do low carb. Just look at the kind of carbs if anything. I have an issue not eating ENOUGH carbs sometimes. You can pretty much eat as many freaking vegetables as your heart desires (unless it's like a pound of nuts or avocados or something. Yum.)


    You'll go through times where you'll lose weight for a couple weeks, then not, even when you're pretty much doing the same work. Bodies adjust & things like that. For me, a lot of it wasn't so much as what I was eating or not eating (even though I eat very well mostly because being healthy feels AWESOME) and exercise was the trick. I had heart issues so I had to start slowly at first, but the better I got the easier it was to do things & progress. Above all STICK WITH IT - if you have a bad day, there's always the next day. Just don't quit! When you do decide to experiment with different foods or exercises and want to see how they affect you, a few weeks of the same habit is usually a good gauge of things, not a few days.

    Hope that helps! Feel free to add me too, my diary is open to friends. :)
  • georgiagreeneyes
    georgiagreeneyes Posts: 69 Member
    You're doing one of two things wrong (or a combination of both):

    OVERestimating your calories burned during exercise

    UNDERestimating calories in your food.

    Solutions are: Weigh and measure your food, including all oils marinades and dressings. Only eat back 50% of your exercise calories to account for any overestimation. Hope this helps, good luck!

    I was going to suggest something very similar... There are some conditions that stall weight loss such as hypothyroidism and polycystic ovarian syndrome to name a few, but even then weight loss can still be achieved. On your "cheat days" you might be undoing all your hard work from earlier in the week. Try logging your food as accurately as possible, accounting for everything you eat and drink, including any alcohol.

    Most Americans have jobs whereby they sit for extended periods of time. By chance do you have a pedometer so that you can measure the steps you take on an average work day, as well as those taken on a weekend day (not including your workouts)? If your average step count is 5,000 or less you're likely classified as a sedentary lifestyle; if the average is 7,500 or less than that'd be considered lightly active; if you're over 10,000 steps each day of the week then you might be considered as having an active lifestyle (reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14715035).

    The best advice I have is to make small adjustments until you find something that works. Like others suggested consider lowering your activity level to sedentary. If you'd like to obtain a more accurate snapshot of the calories you're burning in a workout, perhaps consider purchasing a heart rate monitor or an activity tracker? Above all try and keep your spirits up--- you will succeed!
  • cliffshaw
    cliffshaw Posts: 14
    Here's my thoughts:

    Too many bad carbs. I don't espouse a low/no carb diet, but I do believe in eating the right carbs. You intake a lot of sugar, and if you are not working it off it is going straight to fat stores. I'm eating about 2700 calories a day and my carbs are about where you are. I get it that we are all different, but I'd restrict your carbs to 25-35% (you'll have to experiment to find the right ratio for you) of your daily intake and then further restrict them to good carbs. By good carbs I mean veggies and fruits that are low on the glycemic index (e.g. go for strawberry's or apples over the bananas).

    Watch your fats and make sure you are getting your fat from healthy sources like almonds or avocados.
    Go for leaner protein sources like fish, a chicken/turkey breasts/burger. I like a good steak just as much as the next guy, but the good tasting cuts are typically loaded with fat.

    Hope this helps.
  • georgiagreeneyes
    georgiagreeneyes Posts: 69 Member
    Also as we're all on here quite late haha I thought this other piece of advice might apply. For those that get 6 hours or less of sleep a night their metabolic rate plummets by 15% the following day.

    Are you a tea drinker by any chance? I've started drinking ice green tea with a splash of sugar free raspberry syrup--- drinking a few cups of green tea a day can raise your metabolic rate up to 10%. Every little bit helps!

    Lastly, you might also want to try taking your measurements to see if those change over time (but your weight doesn't). Some people start exercising routines and put on muscle, which retains more water, but their measurements decrease!
  • estaticaa
    estaticaa Posts: 67 Member
    Measure yourself and keep track. Even if you are not losing weight, you may be losing inches around your belly, which is much more desirable.

    Also, looking at your diary, you seem to consistently eat less protein than all of the other macro nutrients, which could be problematic in the long run. If you work out, you need protein to repair your muscles. And water, drink lots and lots of water!
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
    I went back through your diary a bit and here are some things that stood out to me:

    Generic entries. Be careful with these because the calories are often inaccurate. Make sure search by brand name when you can and double check to make sure that the information in the entry you choose matches the NI on the package. You don't have to do this every time, but it's something that I do whenever I add in a new food.

    Do not use homemade entries unless they are your own. The calories can differ greatly because you don't know how that item was prepared compared to the one you are eating.

    The biggest thing that stands out is how you are measuring your food. It would really be helpful to get a food scale and measure all solids in grams. That includes bread, peanut butter, fruits, and veggies. You will probably find that you have been eating more calories than you have been logging.

    Your exercise calories might be overestimated. Like it's been said try eating back only half of them.

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