Losing Weight?

wrisun
wrisun Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I'm sure there are a million topics like this on this site - but I felt like it'd be helpful for me to post my own topic, and hopefully get some advice on the matter :-)

I started MFP 11 days ago, when I finally decided to start exercising a bit and eating less calories.
My "goal" calorie intake is set to 1200, and I burn 600+ calories a day through mixed walking and jogging for one hour.
I know results don't happen quickly, but I so far haven't lost any weight - at all. I'll dip down 1lb and think "great!", and the next day I'm up 1lb and think "lol what".
So I am sure this is common, but I'm more curious as to if I am perhaps doing something wrong? Or, if this is all fine, how long does it normally take to start seeing results? :-) I'm in no rush, but I want to start this weight loss going down the right track.

More specifically about me:
My job has me on my feet all day, serving customers. Most of my shifts are around 8 hours, and I work 5 shifts a week. Apart from that, I go for an "uphill" walk on my treadmill every day for 45-70minutes, sometimes jogging for a part of that.
While my goal calorie intake is 1200, it is generally around 1800-2000 after work + workout. I usually eat around 1400-1600 calories. In regards to nutrition, 50% of the time I go over my daily goal intake of sugar and/or carbs. Aside from that, I'm doing pretty well.
My breakfasts are typically high in fibre, iron, vitamin c, and calcium. I am taking raspberry ketone and green coffee bean extract supplements with every breakfast, and sometimes lunch.

Based on this information, is there possibly anything I am doing that will hinder my weight loss?
I feel like I'm eating too many calories after my work out, because I generally only eat around 1400 calories a day. When it says I still have "500 calories remaining" or something of the sort, I feel exhausted. However, I also hear people saying that not eating enough will make your body maintain or gain weight.

Replies

  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Usually if I compare my weight to one month prior, I notice a drop. I would give it a similar time frame or maybe even up to six weeks to see results

    That said, here's a few comments:

    600 cals seems a bit high for walk/jogging one hour since you're so little. A rule of thumb equation I've seen for NET calories burned jogging at 5+ mph is:

    .63 X body weight (lbs) X number of miles

    The numbers I've seen from apps like MapMyRun etc seem close enough to what these equations might be so you could give that a try. Or just do like many on this site and only plan to eat back 50-75% of your exercise calories

    If you do not have and use a food scale , you should. Also make sure you're using the right entries in the database. The point to the calories burned and to the food scale, correct entries and such is to make sure you're not over estimating your exercise calories and under estimating your food. These are possible reasons why people don't see their efforts reflected on the scale. Read these:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1296011-calorie-counting-101

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

    You mentioned being exhausted when you have been told you should eat more by MFP. More calories doesn't have to mean piling your plate high. Read the fourth post here:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1331494-1200-calories-per-day
  • deatharrow
    deatharrow Posts: 10
    Idk how many calories you're eating because first you said 1200, then 1400. Then 1800. So anyway, 1200 calories is way too Low. If you don't eat enough, your body Will use a mix of muscle and fat for energy so you end up losing weight but not the right kind and then you still look scrappy even though you've lost like 20 lbs. So you need to calculate the amount of calories needed to maintain your weight at your current activity level. The best deficit to maximize FAT loss and minimize MUSCLE loss is a 20% deficit of that number.

    Don't count or worry about calories expended during exercise. Create the 20% deficit and eat at that limit, and your body will lose weight, and then you can exercise if you want obviously which should be taken into account when calculAting your maintenance calories. (If you don't have enough energy from food to do the exercises, the exercises become detrimental as your body turns to catabolic measures, using your muscle for energy). Catabolism is very hard to avoid when your body is in deficit Which is why you need to make sure you have an adequate amount of protein.

    Secondly, your body's weight will fluctuate, such as you may be retaining water, constipated, just ate, etc. So I wouldn't worry about your weight fluctuations. The best Idea to me is to weigh yourself daily and take a weekly average and compare those averages. If you aren't dropping at least 1lb A week then you should increase your deficit by another 150 calories or so and keep doing that till you find a good number.
  • joepage612
    joepage612 Posts: 179 Member
    Follow MFP exactly. if you have sushi for dinner, record the soy sauce, wasabi, pickled ginger. EVERYTHING. I got a scale to weight food and discovered 1-tablespoon is not the size I think it is. Eyeballing volume and portions dosnt work for me. use a scale.
    for activity level it sounds like your active or very active. make sure your MFP settings are right.
    For working out, its my opinion MFP is too generous for how many calories are burned from cardio. Google your exercises to get a greater idea of how many calories your activity is burning. If MFP says you burned 600 calories, see how other sources compare to that number.
    I started walking everywhere and MFP was giving me huge calorie credit for the walks and so now I enter my own number based on what I think it is (always less).
    I only had 20 pounds to lose but its coming off exactly at the rate MFP promised me. I think it will work for you too if you tweek the numbers until they are really accurate. might take a bit of experimenting.
  • wrisun
    wrisun Posts: 3
    Thank you for all of the replies!

    Sorry for the confusion about my calorie intake.
    What I meant was the app tells me my daily calorie intake should be 1200. After exercise, 1800. However, I typically eat 1400-1600.
    I did google how many calories I should be burning during my workouts, and it seems that it is closer to 370! Yikes. I was going based off of what my treadmill told me, and assumed it was accurate.
    Regardless, that feels like a good amount of calories to be burning each day. I'll also buy a scale soon, and make sure to measure my food more accurately :-) rather than just eyeballing everything.

    Again, thank you all! The advice is greatly appreciated.

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