Am I doing something wrong or just being a crazy person?
hmontigney
Posts: 56 Member
So, I really didn't want to post this topic in the first place only because I should KNOW what I'm doing wrong but sadly, I don't. I come here to hopefully see if anyone can give me some advice. So here goes...
I'm 23, height is 5'3" and I currently weigh 152.6 lbs. I started back on MFP 32 days ago. On June 28th, I started doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and I was absolutely consistent. I do it every day (although I missed 1 day due to a power outage and I missed 4 days due to a vacation but I've made that time up since). I'm currently on Level 3, Day 3 so I'm very close to completing it. But here's the kicker... After I started the Shred, in just the first week, I lose 6.2 lbs (I'm guessing mostly water weight) and I went down from 159.2 to 153. Then I lost a little more from 153 to 152.2 but now I'm going up and I'm 152.6. I've been at 152 for a few weeks now and the scale is just NOT budging. My GW is 130 and I know it'll take time for me to get there but I'm supposed to be losing 1lb per week according to MFP. I've opened my diary publicly just so you guys can take a peek to see if I'm doing something wrong.
I recently raised my calories from 1,260 to 1,480. I felt like I wasn't eating enough. I had originally selected a Sedentary activity level but changed it to lightly active. I do work a desk job from 9-5 Mon-Fri but I walk on both of my 15 minute breaks and I also walk on my 30 minute lunch. After I get home, I do my workout, cook dinner, eat and then do the rest of my chores (clean up, give my daughter a bath, etc.). In no way do I think I'm sedentary but I'm thinking maybe 1,480 calories may be too much? Or maybe I'm overreacting and thinking entirely too much about what the scale reads. Any insight or advice would be welcomed. Thanks in advance!
I'm 23, height is 5'3" and I currently weigh 152.6 lbs. I started back on MFP 32 days ago. On June 28th, I started doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and I was absolutely consistent. I do it every day (although I missed 1 day due to a power outage and I missed 4 days due to a vacation but I've made that time up since). I'm currently on Level 3, Day 3 so I'm very close to completing it. But here's the kicker... After I started the Shred, in just the first week, I lose 6.2 lbs (I'm guessing mostly water weight) and I went down from 159.2 to 153. Then I lost a little more from 153 to 152.2 but now I'm going up and I'm 152.6. I've been at 152 for a few weeks now and the scale is just NOT budging. My GW is 130 and I know it'll take time for me to get there but I'm supposed to be losing 1lb per week according to MFP. I've opened my diary publicly just so you guys can take a peek to see if I'm doing something wrong.
I recently raised my calories from 1,260 to 1,480. I felt like I wasn't eating enough. I had originally selected a Sedentary activity level but changed it to lightly active. I do work a desk job from 9-5 Mon-Fri but I walk on both of my 15 minute breaks and I also walk on my 30 minute lunch. After I get home, I do my workout, cook dinner, eat and then do the rest of my chores (clean up, give my daughter a bath, etc.). In no way do I think I'm sedentary but I'm thinking maybe 1,480 calories may be too much? Or maybe I'm overreacting and thinking entirely too much about what the scale reads. Any insight or advice would be welcomed. Thanks in advance!
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Replies
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Just so we have a clearer picture. Do you...
(1) weigh all of your food on a food scale
(2) track everything you eat
(3) eat back your exercise calories0 -
You lose weight by eating fewer calories than you burn. To lose 23 lbs., set your goal to .5 lb. per week and log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Get a digital food scale, and weigh everything you eat—even packaged food. That "1 T" of peanut butter you ate today was way more than 90 calories.
Read the Sexypants post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants0 -
Just so we have a clearer picture. Do you...
(1) weigh all of your food on a food scale
(2) track everything you eat
(3) eat back your exercise calories
1. Yes, I weigh ALL of my food. Religiously. I have a digital scale plus measuring cups so everything I eat gets weighed or measured. If I put down I'm eating 5 oz. of chicken breast, that's exactly what I make sure my scale reads.
2. Yes again. Aside from this past weekend when I was on vacation, I have tracked everything that goes into my mouth. I usually pre-log for the following day so I know exactly what I'm going to eat and how much of it. I try and adjust everything according to my calories/macros. If I see my carbs are going over, I'll usually toss out that banana for something a little less carby. Even on my bad days, I still log everything.
3. I try to eat back my exercise calories but don't always manage to do it. I don't have a pedometer so I have no real way of knowing just how many calories I burned through my exercises so I don't want to eat back all of them just in case my exercise cals weren't quite what I thought.0 -
I know for me, I was watching calories, but not sodium at first, not realizing that I was retaining water.0
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You lose weight by eating fewer calories than you burn. To lose 23 lbs., set your goal to .5 lb. per week and log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Get a digital food scale, and weigh everything you eat—even packaged food. That "1 T" of peanut butter you ate today was way more than 90 calories.
Read the Sexypants post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants
Thank you. I've read the Sexy Pants post about a dozen times, lol. As far as the peanut butter, the label says a serving size is 2 TBS at 190 calores. I only ate 1 TBS and yes, I measured it. Wouldn't that be only 90 calories since I ate half of the serving size?0 -
Just so we have a clearer picture. Do you...
(1) weigh all of your food on a food scale
(2) track everything you eat
(3) eat back your exercise calories
1. Yes, I weigh ALL of my food. Religiously. I have a digital scale plus measuring cups so everything I eat gets weighed or measured. If I put down I'm eating 5 oz. of chicken breast, that's exactly what I make sure my scale reads.
2. Yes again. Aside from this past weekend when I was on vacation, I have tracked everything that goes into my mouth. I usually pre-log for the following day so I know exactly what I'm going to eat and how much of it. I try and adjust everything according to my calories/macros. If I see my carbs are going over, I'll usually toss out that banana for something a little less carby. Even on my bad days, I still log everything.
3. I try to eat back my exercise calories but don't always manage to do it. I don't have a pedometer so I have no real way of knowing just how many calories I burned through my exercises so I don't want to eat back all of them just in case my exercise cals weren't quite what I thought.
sometimes exercise calories on here are a bit high...try 75% of them...
As well have you taken measurments...I didn't lose a tonne of weight doing 30DS but I lost a hella lot of inches...9 inches in 30 days is pretty significant....and only 3lbs...and when I did it the 2nd time (using a food scale this time) it was 4.25lbs and 4 inches...
But think about it as well...in 30 days you have lost almost 7lbs...2lbs a week pretty much...that is pretty awesome...
A few weeks is not a big deal really...I've gone 3-4 weeks and not lost anything then bam...4-5lbs over the next couple of weeks...
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/another-look-at-metabolic-damage.html#more-9313
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html
Sometimes there is a "whoosh"...2nd article addresses that...and the first one deals with stress etc and what we woman "can" do to ourselves which makes us nuts...and causes water weight etc...
Per your logging tho...
Try not to weigh in oz...leaves room for error as most entries that are correct here are in grams.
weigh your peanut butter
Log using correct entries...ie 1cup of graps...(151grams) find the usda entry.
weigh prepackaged food...lables can be up to 20% of either way.
weigh cheese and log as such
ETA: I also see you are not logging consistently on the weekends..or partially...0 -
You lose weight by eating fewer calories than you burn. To lose 23 lbs., set your goal to .5 lb. per week and log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Get a digital food scale, and weigh everything you eat—even packaged food. That "1 T" of peanut butter you ate today was way more than 90 calories.
Read the Sexypants post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants
Thank you. I've read the Sexy Pants post about a dozen times, lol. As far as the peanut butter, the label says a serving size is 2 TBS at 190 calores. I only ate 1 TBS and yes, I measured it. Wouldn't that be only 90 calories since I ate half of the serving size?
solids need weighed...you will be surprised at how much 1tbsp of peanut butter weighs...usually it's over the actual gram serving which is what the lable is based on.0 -
I'd say just being crazy, but what do I know! :drinker:0
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A little of both maybe?
You've lost 6 pounds in 32 days, right? That's 1.5ish pounds per week, averaged out over the month. Tighten up your logging and come back in another month if it hasn't budged.0 -
You lose weight by eating fewer calories than you burn. To lose 23 lbs., set your goal to .5 lb. per week and log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Get a digital food scale, and weigh everything you eat—even packaged food. That "1 T" of peanut butter you ate today was way more than 90 calories.
Read the Sexypants post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants
Thank you. I've read the Sexy Pants post about a dozen times, lol. As far as the peanut butter, the label says a serving size is 2 TBS at 190 calores. I only ate 1 TBS and yes, I measured it. Wouldn't that be only 90 calories since I ate half of the serving size?
solids need weighed...you will be surprised at how much 1tbsp of peanut butter weighs...usually it's over the actual gram serving which is what the lable is based on.
Thank you for both of your posts! I actually did not know that I should WEIGH peanut butter instead of measuring it. I still have a lot to learn but this actually helped me a lot.0 -
anything that is solid should be weighed..that includes mayo, jams and peanut butter...liquids need measured.
AS for logging that can get tricky...this might help
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide?hl=Logging+accurately0 -
Also, you didn't log on vacation. Even if you were making careful choices, you probably ate more than usual, including some treats. Not judging you for it--it's what one does on vacation--but it'll throw things off a bit.0
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Welcome to MFP!I started back on MFP 32 days ago.I've been at 152 for a few weeks now and the scale is just NOT budging.
I.. what? A few weeks now? You've only been at it for ~4 weeks to begin with. When you set it to .5 lbs (which you should) lost per week, it doesn't mean that you will automatically lose exactly .5 lbs per week. Some weeks you will gain .5 lbs. Some weeks you will lose 2-3. It will average out to about .5 lbs lost per week.
With a desk job, you are considered sedentary by MFP standards, even if you take breaks to get some exercise in, the point is that you're sitting for the vast majority of the day.0 -
Are you taking pictures and measurements as well as tracking the scale? Many people have said they don't lose a lot of weight doing 30DS, but they lose inches. My personal experience 200+ days into this is that when I lose inches, I generally don't lose scale weight. I didn't lose much doing the 30DS either, but the pictures don't lie, progress was made.
Also, take the weight you've lost overall, 32 days, down 7 lbs, that's 1.75 lbs per week. THAT is progress. You may be losing a bit fast. I can go for 3-4 weeks without losing a lb, but overall, my results have been 1 lb lost every 10 days, 20 lbs, 200 days.
It takes patience, but it will happen as long as you're consistant. If you're eating at a deficit, you will lose weight.
Good luck!0 -
Welcome to MFP!I started back on MFP 32 days ago.I've been at 152 for a few weeks now and the scale is just NOT budging.
I.. what? A few weeks now? You've only been at it for ~4 weeks to begin with. When you set it to .5 lbs (which you should) lost per week, it doesn't mean that you will automatically lose exactly .5 lbs per week. Some weeks you will gain .5 lbs. Some weeks you will lose 2-3. It will average out to about .5 lbs lost per week.
With a desk job, you are considered sedentary by MFP standards, even if you take breaks to get some exercise in, the point is that you're sitting for the vast majority of the day.
It sounds off, I know. That's because the first week I started 30DS, I lost 6 lbs off the bat. Then the following 3 weeks, nada. Just a little flucuating up and down but no real loss.
Maybe I should change it back to Sedentary. Honestly, the activity level selections frustrate me. One person is like, "No, no. You're not sedentary unless you're a couch potato". And then the next person is like "Oh yeah, you sit for a majority of the day so you're sendentary". Lol. I might just invest in a pedometer to take away the guessing of my activity level. More of this -- >
and less of this ---> :mad: haha. 0 -
anything that is solid should be weighed..that includes mayo, jams and peanut butter...liquids need measured.
AS for logging that can get tricky...this might help
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide?hl=Logging+accurately
This is AWESOME! Thank you!0 -
Not just weighing solids could throw you off, but that 5oz of chicken - was it precooked or postcooked? Did you use the consistent entry? I.e. 5oz postcooked is probably more like 8oz precooked. If you are using the precooked 3oz=100 cal, you will be underestimating by 100-200 cals...
Same goes for spahgetti and noodles - weight is BEFORE cooking, after absorbs a lot of water and all that is not always the same.
Good luck
PS, use sedentary if that is your real description, but eat back about 1/2 exercise cals... or use TDEE and dont eat back exercise cals. Just pick one and be consistent for more than 2-3 weeks!0 -
Welcome to MFP!I started back on MFP 32 days ago.I've been at 152 for a few weeks now and the scale is just NOT budging.
I.. what? A few weeks now? You've only been at it for ~4 weeks to begin with. When you set it to .5 lbs (which you should) lost per week, it doesn't mean that you will automatically lose exactly .5 lbs per week. Some weeks you will gain .5 lbs. Some weeks you will lose 2-3. It will average out to about .5 lbs lost per week.
With a desk job, you are considered sedentary by MFP standards, even if you take breaks to get some exercise in, the point is that you're sitting for the vast majority of the day.
I have a desk job and without purposeful exercise I get in about 10k steps a day...that does not indicate if you are sedentary or not...if you are a mom with a desk job or own a house it is hard to be sedentary...
I mean getting for work in the morning I get in about 2k steps...and that is me sitting drinking coffee for the first 20mins.0 -
Not just weighing solids could throw you off, but that 5oz of chicken - was it precooked or postcooked? Did you use the consistent entry? I.e. 5oz postcooked is probably more like 8oz precooked. If you are using the precooked 3oz=100 cal, you will be underestimating by 100-200 cals...
Same goes for spahgetti and noodles - weight is BEFORE cooking, after absorbs a lot of water and all that is not always the same.
Good luck
PS, use sedentary if that is your real description, but eat back about 1/2 exercise cals... or use TDEE and dont eat back exercise cals. Just pick one and be consistent for more than 2-3 weeks!
It actually doesn't matter if you log it cooked or uncooked as long as you use the correct entry. I can't log precooked..I cook for more than one so I find the entry from USDA for "cooked" in the manner in which it was cooked...ie chicken breast - roasted/bone in with skin and weigh it log it as such and it's correct.0 -
In addition to all of the advice given, I would also weigh yourself daily and use an app like WeightTracker+ or a spreadsheet to track your 7 day rolling average. Your weight can fluctuate by several pounds through the week and even through the day depending on several factors. You may also retain extra water as your body adjusts to new workouts. I know that when I lift, I will gain a few pounds for several days and then the scale will drop.0
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i'm about your height, and unless a work out vigorously (i'm talking about keeping my heart rate up and working up some sweat), 1480 calories is too many. yesterday after doing 90 minutes of cardio, i ate the most i've eaten since i started here - 1368 calories - and, i lose a pound a week. for the past couple weeks i've been working out like a beast, but i still leave MFP set to sedentary.
that being said, keep in mind that everyone is different. different amounts of lean muscle mass and body fat can mean 2 people of the same height and weight can burn very different amounts of calories. it's also worth mentioning that according to a wide variety of online calculators - TDEE, BMI, BMR - i should be eating more calories, but i'm only losing a pound a week. due to my having higher than average body fat, those numbers (which are averages) have been incorrect for me.0 -
If I remember correctly, level 3 of 30Day Shred is a big step up from lvl 2 ... so there is a good chance that you could be retaining water this last week. That often happens when we increase the intensity of our exercise.
You're up less than a pound from your low weight, right? So it could definitely fall within the normal fluctuations. Don't forget to account for monthly cycles, too ... that can cause a lot of fluctuation that's mostly water.
I agree with those who said buckle down on your logging (weighing), and then keep doing what you're doing. Give it at least another week, maybe two, and any water weight should come off (don't forget to drink enough water, though!) Then try reassessing if things aren't going the right way.0 -
I really appreciate everyone's advice. There's a lot of good input here. My goal now is to log more accurately. Without truly knowing my activity level, I did switch back to sedentary for now which is 1,270 calories and I think I may eat just a portion of them back but definitely not all. The biggest concern for me was that I was constantly hungry with such low calories but we'll see how it goes for now. I'll stick with it this way for a few weeks and check my progress as I go to see if there's any change. Based on internet calculators and my measurements, it estimated my body fat percentage at 42% which seems pretty terrible to me. So hopefully, in a few weeks, I can quit my complaining! Lol. Again, thank you for everyone's input!0
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Someone else mentioned, but if you're pretty consistent in your workouts and you're feeling hungry a lot on the lower calorie goal, you could look at switching to TDEE approach that factors in your exercise calories so you don't eat back exercise calories, but you get more calories on your rest day because you're eating part of your exercise calories from the rest of the week. If you're really hungry all the time on 1270, I would think about increasing, but maybe just an extra 100 calories and see how it goes. I definitely have the fits and spurts thing (scale won't move for 4-6 weeks and then 5 lbs drop overnight and don't come back). Go by long range averages as others have said. Sounds like you've still averaged >1lb/week, even at the higher calorie goal. Good luck!0
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