Struggling with my sloooow metabolism

Sotelo72
Sotelo72 Posts: 5
in Motivation and Support
Feeling myself get discouraged....again, and thought I'd see if anyone had any advice to offer. I'm 41, soon to be 42 and feel that my metabolism has slowed down a great deal. I got back to tracking on MFP about 2 weeks ago and decided to try to lose just .5 lb / week since the 1lb / wk just wasn't working for me.
I don't do a lot of exercise but all last week I came in under my calories, except 1 day (I was 22 calories over) I've bee doing 7-10 minutes on the elliptical most mornings just to wake my body up and tennis 2x's a week and not only did I not lose .5 a lb., I'm UP almost .5 lb. I don't want to give up yet again, so I decided to not track my morning elliptical, thinking maybe MFP is giving me more calories for it than I'm actually burning and I just ordered a scale so I can make sure that my portions are correct. I'm even considering a FitBit, but I'm just not sure what else to do.

I am not expecting a fast weight loss, just some weight loss. Anyone else here having a hard time losing weight or can anyone offer some advice?

Replies

  • DYELB
    DYELB Posts: 7,407 Member
    Check the accuracy of your calorie intake and expenditure estimations.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Can you open your diary please?
  • dont_tap_my_aces
    dont_tap_my_aces Posts: 125 Member
    You have either set your TDEE way too high and therefore youre basing your deficit on incorrect data, or you aren't correctly tracking your intake.

    how is your macro break down? are you monitoring carb intake? it's also possible that if you previously were lower carb, but now have switched to eating a lot more of your daily calories in carbs that you've retained extra water weight which is messing with the scale numbers.
  • flowrgal23
    flowrgal23 Posts: 33 Member
    Have you had your thyroid checked? Hypothyroidism makes weight loss very difficult. I have a FitBit and though at first I thought it might be a waste of money, I'm glad I bought one. It truly is an eye opener to see how much I move during the day and a challenge to do more. I have been eating back most of my exercise calories and have had better luck losing weight now than ever before. :-)
  • AdrianBry
    AdrianBry Posts: 138 Member
    Depends on how much you weigh (how overweight you are) as to how fast you will lose weight. So if you don't mind sharing then tell use your weight and height (along with BF% if possible) plus of course how much/how less you eat along with the internsity and duration of workouts determine how fast you will lose
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    Don't give up yet. MFP burn tracking and overall calorie guides is only a guesstimate at best and we are all not cookie cutter people. You may have to bite the bullet and buy a heart rate monitor, closely track your food and experiment to figure out where your levels of weight loss/maintenance/weight gain are for you personally. MFP past just caloric recording of foods is a guessing game.
  • Sotelo72
    Sotelo72 Posts: 5
    Thank you all for your responses, they've given me much to think about. In reviewing my food intake, it does seem that a significant portion of my intake has been carbs. I'm going to change that up this week and see if I get different results. I'm also going to get a fitbit or something similar to see actual calories burned. Thank you again!
  • Sotelo72
    Sotelo72 Posts: 5
    Thank you all for your responses, they've given me much to think about. In reviewing my food intake, it does seem that a significant portion of my intake has been carbs. I'm going to change that up this week and see if I get different results. I'm also going to get a fitbit or something similar to see actual calories burned. Thank you again!
  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
    While exercising is great, realize the bigger part of the equation is what you're eating. All the exercise and burning calories isn't worth anything if you aren't on track with what you're eating. I couldn't see your diary, but just take a realistic view of what you're eating to see if there's anything that can be improved upon (getting in more fiber, more water, less carbs/fats).

    Get an activity monitor to make sure you're accurately assessing the amount of calories you're burning. I've recently heard that the Fitbit One is one of the more accurate physical activity monitors available. Bonus is that it syncs with MFP and you can look at the monthly chart to see if you're burning more than you're eating. If you are, then you're going to lose weight.

    For what it's worth....
  • scubakat67
    scubakat67 Posts: 485 Member
    Don't give up! I fought the same 2-3 pounds for a very long time - and lost the battle a little each month. Add those months together (along with too many margaritas) and those pounds pile on before you realize it. Your metabolism definitely takes a dive in your 40s. I've recently gotten back "in the zone," as I call it, by making small accomplishments and building upon them.

    If you're looking over your diary and finding that you're eating more carbs than expected, try something small like cutting out your carbs at dinner. Tweak other meals to see what works for you. I find that eating smaller meals with snacks works better for me - if I get too hungry, I'm more likely to make bad food choices. I love carbs (especially bread and pasta), and simply cannot cut them out completely, but instead work hard to limit them.

    I also wear a heart rate monitor every time I exercise. Whenever I work out with my trainer, we target to burn at least 300 calories. I started running (more like a fast walking and slow jogging) which has really helped. If you're on the elliptical each morning, make sure you're reaching your target heart rate - shoot for 15 minutes, even if you only add one minute at a time. Once you can do 15 minutes, build on it and go for 20. Small accomplishments will add up. And if you can only do 10 minutes, that's fine, maybe try for another 10 later in the day.

    Small changes will make a difference. Stick with it, make your adjustments, and you will see results. And take your measurements - you may not lose weight, but you may lose size.
  • Sotelo72
    Sotelo72 Posts: 5
    Thank you again, everyone who posted advice and encouragement. I am now convinced that a good portion of my problem has been with the food I'm taking in. Foolishly, I was under the impression that as long at I was coming in within my calories it didn't matter much what those calories were comprised of. I'm making some changes this week, starting today, and going to be more mindful of my carb intake. Most of all, I'm going to stick with it and not give up. Thank you!
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    1. make sure you are tracking your intake accurately (this means weighing all solids and measuring liquids)
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
    2. Be patient, if your calorie goal is appropriate you have to have faith you will get there. You said its only been 2 weeks, so with a 0.5 lb/week deficit you have lost 1 lb so far. That is easily masked on the scale by water retention for any number of reasons (TOM, increased carbs or sodium one day, exercise). Track for a while and watch the weight trend over time, you will see ups and downs but as long as the general trend is down you are on the right track.

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