Eating under my budget and still not losing weight

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  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    Sigh. You are eating too little.

    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. With this method you do not eat back your exercise calories, as they are already figured into your daily goal.
  • emjohnston2014
    emjohnston2014 Posts: 38
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    Thank you so much!! I think im probably a)way to picky b) eating way under what i should be for my activity level
  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
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    Thank you so much!! I think im probably a)way to picky b) eating way under what i should be for my activity level

    If you aren't losing weight, you aren't at a deficit. You are probably eating a lot more calories than you think.

    People don't stall out from eating too little. Get a food scale.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Hey everyone, so last week (my first week on myfitnesspal) I had a calorie deficit of 6,968 ( I eat the recommended 1100-1200 calories but live an extremely active lifestyle) and yet the scale hasnt moved. I was always told that you needed to be at a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 pound...and ive almost doubled that..

    HELP!
    Where does the recommended "1100-1200" calories come from? Certainly not MFP, because 1200 is their default calorie allowance, and that is usually way too low for anyone.

    When you say you had a calorie deficit of 6,968, do you mean that is how much your calorie count at the week was under what MFP has allowed you to lose 2 pounds a week, or that you figured out you deficit once MFP set you up to be the 6978? I'm not clear on this.

    That said, it's only been a week and you really need to give it awhile to see how it works.

    Also, in your profile picture you look very slender, and you're trying to lose 22 pounds. Hopefully this will not put you into the underweight category. I would suggest these things:

    1. Adjust your MFP settings to lose .5 pounds a week because 2 pounds a week is too aggressive. This will not be sustainable in the long run.

    2. Weigh all your solid food and measure all your liquids. Make sure you log every single thing that goes into your mouth. Ensure that you are choosing correct entries from the database. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

    3. Record your exercise calories too. If you rely on gym machines, MFP, or other internet or Iphone apps, for your calorie estimations, eat only about half of those calories back. This only works for cardio and not weight lifting sessions, because those are not steady state cardio.

    4. Patience, patience, patience, and shall I say it again?

    You must be patient and not expect quick results.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Thank you so much!! I think im probably a)way to picky b) eating way under what i should be for my activity level
    No, you are underestimating calories in and/or overestimating calories out, unless you have some medical reason that is stalling your weight loss.. You are simply not eating at a deficit.
  • summer92008
    summer92008 Posts: 202
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    You're either eating too little for your weight and size, hit a plateau, or both. Don't get frustrated when you don't lose anything in a week. If it's a couple weeks, maybe be more concerned. It's harder to lose those last pounds, so I've heard, so it takes longer. Good luck.
  • emjohnston2014
    emjohnston2014 Posts: 38
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    I got the deficit number from adding up the calories i had 'remaining' everyday for 7 days on my fitness pal. Its a guess. Like i am eating and weighing everything. For example : A typical lunch for me : 1 1/2 cups raw veggies, 2 Iogo lactose free yogurts, 2 slices fat free turkey breast and usually some sort of fruit.
  • emjohnston2014
    emjohnston2014 Posts: 38
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    My Bmi at 6'0 and 166 pounds is 22 at 144 (my goal weight) my BMI would be somewhere between 18-19
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Are you building muscle? did you have "weight to lose?" If you're replacing fat with muscle, you won't see a nudge in the scale, a more accurate reading would be to take a seamstress tape measure and measure the diameter of your chest, shoulder, neck, waist, hips, thighs, calves, biceps and forearms. When I started my journey, I lost 14 lbs quick, then didn't move an inch on the scale for almost a month, but my body was changing shape as I was losing fat and gaining muscle.

    QCNerd.
    No, you don't replace fat with muscle, and except for newbie gains, you don't build muscle at that kind of a deficit. You need to eat at maintenance or more to build some muscle.
  • emjohnston2014
    emjohnston2014 Posts: 38
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    For starters, im not 'stalling out' ive managed to lose close to 50 pounds in less than a year. Id call that significant progress. It hasnt been until very RECENTLY that ive had a harder time losing weight. Second of all i weigh and measure EVERYTHING
  • emjohnston2014
    emjohnston2014 Posts: 38
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    You're either eating too little for your weight and size, hit a plateau, or both. Don't get frustrated when you don't lose anything in a week. If it's a couple weeks, maybe be more concerned. It's harder to lose those last pounds, so I've heard, so it takes longer. Good luck.

    Im pretty sure my problem is a plateau...because up until recently ive been losing weight on a steady basis ( from 170-166 in 2 weeks)
  • emjohnston2014
    emjohnston2014 Posts: 38
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    Thank you so much!! I think im probably a)way to picky b) eating way under what i should be for my activity level
    No, you are underestimating calories in and/or overestimating calories out, unless you have some medical reason that is stalling your weight loss.. You are simply not eating at a deficit.

    Im not sure but its increasingly frustrating. I was very steady in my weighloss up until this point.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    I got the deficit number from adding up the calories i had 'remaining' everyday for 7 days on my fitness pal. Its a guess. Like i am eating and weighing everything. For example : A typical lunch for me : 1 1/2 cups raw veggies, 2 Iogo lactose free yogurts, 2 slices fat free turkey breast and usually some sort of fruit.

    The goal that MFP gives you already has a deficit built in for weight loss, unless you've set your diary to maintain your current weight. To get your actual deficit, you'd want to calculate an estimate of your TDEE and subtract the number of calories you're eating from that.

    A handy TDEE calculator: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
  • CindyB97
    CindyB97 Posts: 146 Member
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    You will get several pieces of conflicting advice here (eat more vs. eat less, etc.). The last bit of weight is the hardest to lose, or so I'm told. Everyone's body works a little bit differently when it comes to weight loss, so try something a bit new for a week or two and see what happens. For me, it was to raise my calories (I changed the MFP settings from 1 pound a week to 1/2 pound a week) and that immediately got the scale moving again. If that doesn't work for you, then try something different with your exercise. Or lower your calories.

    Honestly, the only thing people here can give you is advice based on their own experiences. Pick something and try it to find what works for you. Good luck, and congrats on your awesome progress so far!!!
  • emjohnston2014
    emjohnston2014 Posts: 38
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    My problem further becomes that (and if you look at my diary on any usual day) that i only eat between 200-400 calories a meal. Thus telling me to eat even less seems like an even bigger thing to do!
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    My problem further becomes that (and if you look at my diary on any usual day) that i only eat between 200-400 calories a meal. Thus telling me to eat even less seems like an even bigger thing to do!

    Your diary is locked to us, so we can't actually see how much you're eating. That's why so many have been trying to figure out what you mean by your deficit, etc.
  • dtban
    dtban Posts: 111 Member
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    You may not be losing pounds, but are you losing inches? Are you taking measurements? You cant always follow the scale, especially if you work out alot you lose fat and gain muscle so the scale doesn't always reflect that, but a measuring tape will.

    if you want to try something new, here's my story...Yesterday I was 169 Lbs, I started taking plexus slim yesterday for the first time, I went over my calories last night and was disappointed in myself. But this morning I weighed myself and I am 168.25 Lbs, I lost almost 1 pound in 1 day! Obviously plexus slim works great if I got these results this fast even without watching my calorie intake! :) it may be something that would work for you too
  • emjohnston2014
    emjohnston2014 Posts: 38
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    You may not be losing pounds, but are you losing inches? Are you taking measurements? You cant always follow the scale, especially if you work out alot you lose fat and gain muscle so the scale doesn't always reflect that, but a measuring tape will.

    if you want to try something new, here's my story...Yesterday I was 169 Lbs, I started taking plexus slim yesterday for the first time, I went over my calories last night and was disappointed in myself. But this morning I weighed myself and I am 168.25 Lbs, I lost almost 1 pound in 1 day! Obviously plexus slim works great if I got these results this fast even without watching my calorie intake! :) it may be something that would work for you too

    Thats wicked!! where can i get it?! and ive gone from a size 14 to a size 10 but i dont regularly take mesurements
  • BombshellPhoenix
    BombshellPhoenix Posts: 1,693 Member
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    You may not be losing pounds, but are you losing inches? Are you taking measurements? You cant always follow the scale, especially if you work out alot you lose fat and gain muscle so the scale doesn't always reflect that, but a measuring tape will.

    if you want to try something new, here's my story...Yesterday I was 169 Lbs, I started taking plexus slim yesterday for the first time, I went over my calories last night and was disappointed in myself. But this morning I weighed myself and I am 168.25 Lbs, I lost almost 1 pound in 1 day! Obviously plexus slim works great if I got these results this fast even without watching my calorie intake! :) it may be something that would work for you too

    Thats wicked!! where can i get it?! and ive gone from a size 14 to a size 10 but i dont regularly take mesurements

    Lmao. OP don't listen to this. I can lose 3 lbs if I retained water the day before. Without the use of snake oil supplements.
    One day is NOT a good gauge on progress. But it did make me laugh

    And I'm still laughing at the suggestion of muscle building.
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
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    14 to a 10 is amazing! Yes you should try taking measurements regularly. Go to this website, u can get all the info on how and when to properly measure. You can order the products directly through the website by clicking order now or if you sign up as an ambassador you pay $35 a year and then get your product for a wholesale price to save money and u can sell it to make money if u want. I ordered the plexus slim and acellorater plus.

    *snipped website*

    OP:
    Ignore this.

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