Maybe I'm crazy but....

reddz12
reddz12 Posts: 350 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'd really like some help here...
I've been stuck bouncing around 50 pounds for about a month and a half and I just can't seem to get over it.. I've tried different exercises, increasing my protein, trying to eat a few more calories and yet, nothing.
So i've been doing some reading and I see that moving over to TDEE - 20% had worked for some of you guys in the past.... So i went to calculate mine and it came out to 3052 if I take 20% from that it gives me 2442, doesn't that seem a little high? Any help you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated. I've already come so far and would like to continue!
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Replies

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Its high if you're 5'1" and 115 pounds and sedentary. But we don't know your stats, or your activity or workout levels.

    But for the stall: are you weighing on a digital food scale everything you eat? Logging every food, beverage, condiment, cooking oils, etc.? Have you reassessed your calorie goals since losing the 49-50 pounds?
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    It does, but we don't know your stats.


    Eating more calories will not make you lose weight. If you aren't losing, you need to eat less calories.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Your diary shows some days with incomplete logging. Missing meals and such. That could be the issue.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    If you were being honest with your activity levels (which is why I like exrx.net and health-calc.com, because they allow you to enter in time spent doing activity of different intensities), and if you're quite heavy (not meaning to be rude, of course, but I'm assuming this is the case as your goal is to lose almost 200lbs) then this is likely an accurate starting point.

    I'm 5'7, 175lbs, workout ~5 hours a week, and my estimated TDEE is as high as 2600 cals (which is what I'm using as my maintenance/TDEE, as when I was eating at deficits based on lower TDEEs for the same activity level, I was showing some symptoms of undereating - nothing serious but just a bit of crabbiness and moodiness). 2100 works just fine for me to lose weight.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    It does, but we don't know your stats.


    Eating more calories will not make you lose weight. If you aren't losing, you need to eat less calories.

    Unless her deficit has been far too low, thus impacting her metabolism. Further decreasing her already too-low consumption could help with weight loss, or could just further eff with her metabolism, making maintenance a lot harder as she'd not be able to eat all that many calories (e.g. if her goal is 150lbs then maintenance should be closer to 2000 if she's moderately active, but if she'sundereating to lose weight then she might find her maintenance is closer to 1400 at the same weight and activity levels)

    If her diary is accurate, and she's actually been eating the amount of food seen in her diary, then she is definitely undereating.
  • reddz12
    reddz12 Posts: 350 Member
    Well I'm 5'5 and currently weigh 261 (sorry for being an airhead and not thinking about that before!!)
    I go to the gym 5-6 times a week and do a mix of cardio and weights.

    I do have a food scale and use it religiously

    the days that I've missed most recently have been due to frustration but I can promise I havent gone and binged like crazy.. I've just eaten normal like i do every other day.

    Thanks everyone!
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Eating more calories makes you gain more, not lose more. Eat more, gain more. Eat less, lose more.

    I don't understand TDEEs. If those are calories, Yeah, they seem high to me, but I don't know how much you work out, et cetera, and, again, don't know TDEEs from LHJKs. :)
  • reddz12
    reddz12 Posts: 350 Member
    The next disheartening piece is I've just been going by the range that mfp has given me, i feel like i'm eating and snacking almost all day... and I'm never hungry. but as Ana stated i'm clearly under eating.... so, how do i eat more without gaining back?
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member


    Unless her deficit has been far too low, thus impacting her metabolism. Further decreasing her already too-low consumption could help with weight loss, or could just further eff with her metabolism, making maintenance a lot harder as she'd not be able to eat all that many calories (e.g. if her goal is 150lbs then maintenance should be closer to 2000 if she's moderately active, but if she'sundereating to lose weight then she might find her maintenance is closer to 1400 at the same weight and activity levels)

    If her diary is accurate, and she's actually been eating the amount of food seen in her diary, then she is definitely undereating.

    I don't think the OP would have any metabolic damage after a month and a half of restricting calories. And regardless, she'd be losing weight if she were eating the amount in her diary. Something is off.

    OP how do you determine your calorie burns from exercise?
  • reddz12
    reddz12 Posts: 350 Member
    I haven't yet had the money to get a heart rate monitor so I just enter what MFP has already in their database... (which i understand is a huge overestimate from what I burn in reality) And to be honest i rarely eat anything burned back as I'm not that hungry in the evening after dinner.
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
    Hitting a fat lose plateau is a common occurrence , here are the 11 most common reasons for it.

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Well I'm 5'5 and currently weigh 261 (sorry for being an airhead and not thinking about that before!!)
    I go to the gym 5-6 times a week and do a mix of cardio and weights.

    I do have a food scale and use it religiously

    the days that I've missed most recently have been due to frustration but I can promise I havent gone and binged like crazy.. I've just eaten normal like i do every other day.

    Thanks everyone!

    I just calculated yours using scooby's calculator (a quick one that many people agree to be fairly accurate for most people) and depending on how many hours you spend working out in a week (an hour each day? less? longer?) the numbers you got and posted at the beginning are close to what I got for you. How many calories are you usually eating right now on average? Like in a week, if you look at your consumption, average it out for a week where you know you were being consistent with logging. You might want to try adding 100 calories a week (or every few days if you're up to it) until you reach ~2400 calories. Although I'd definitely recommend that you give the exrx.net calculator a shot, just to see how it lines up wtih whichever calculator you did use. But once you reach your estimated TDEE-20% mark, eat that amount for a month and monitor. If you've gained weight, drop the calories by 100 and monitor again for a few weeks, keep lowering until you see losses.

    Since you are heavy, your body does need quite a few calories. If you're eating on average 1400 calories a week, that's a good ~50% or more deficit from your estimated needs. Which is obviously far too much. All of these calculators (including the numbers MFP gives to you, although MFP is even worse because it just subtracts 500 calories for every lb you want to lose instead of calculating it by percentages) are estimates, so you need to start with one that is reasonable for your weight and activity levels, and test it out for a while.
  • reddz12
    reddz12 Posts: 350 Member
    Hitting a fat lose plateau is a common occurrence , here are the 11 most common reasons for it.

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

    Thanks for making light of the situation.... as a 261 pound woman i doubt going over 1400 calories a day is over eating. ;-) I'm here for honest help and I'm open to trying anything....


    Thank you everyone else.. .Ana, I'll definitely try that! As you can tell even with 50 ish off I'm still very new to this and absolutely appreciate all of your help!
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    The next disheartening piece is I've just been going by the range that mfp has given me, i feel like i'm eating and snacking almost all day... and I'm never hungry. but as Ana stated i'm clearly under eating.... so, how do i eat more without gaining back?

    Already mentioned above, but a good way to do this would be to add 100 calories every week. But if you want to be really cautious about it, add 100 and monitor for a few weeks until you feel confident that you haven't gained any weight back, then add another 100, monitor.. keep doing that until you reach a point where you are still losing ~1lb a week (if it's a bit more, that's fine, but 2lbs a week is really not sustainable for most people after they've lost much initial water weight).

    Ideally, you want to be losing weight on as much food as possible to cause as little metabolic and general damage as possible. And also to minimize gaining the weight back, since you'll find that your maintenance needs are far more acceptable.

    ETA we may have similar activity levels (yours might even be higher!) but I'm eating more food than you are to lose weight, and I weigh less than you. Definitely says something about the fact that you don't need to eat very little to lose weight! And since you use a food scale, if you're weighing your food and using correct nutritional info (raw for things weighed raw, cooked for things weighed cooked) then your logging should be fairly accurate for your consumption.

    MFP uses net calories, so its' your calories without exercise. If you'd like, you could even just try eating back 50% of your exercise calories every time you exercise, even fi you don't want to (you could throw in some PB or a few pieces of chocolate!), and see how that affects your weight over the next few weeks :)
  • AmyG1982
    AmyG1982 Posts: 1,040 Member
    It looks to me like you're not eating enough... you say you're doing what MFP suggests but the last few days I looked at you had 600-900 calories left to consume. Try eating back half of your exercise calories and see if that does anything.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    At your size, you could handle TDEE-30% even. Eat you calories, stick with you exercise plan if you have accounted for it in your TDEE, and make sure you are logging accurately. Unintentional overeating is one of the most common reasons for why people aren't losing weight. They are using inaccurate entries in the database, not measuring liquids or using a scale for solid foods, not logging the one or two bites of something, or forgetting to log consistently.

    Here's a good link about logging accurately: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
  • squirrelzzrule22
    squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
    While the TDEE-20% concept is well-meaning, its typically meant to apply to people who don't have very much to lose and want to do so slowly, usually while weight training. As you've mentioned you still have quite a bit to lose, so I don't think switching to this method will give you the results you are hoping for.

    It may be worthwhile to talk about hormones with an OBGYN. There are many hormone imbalances that can make weight loss difficult. I'm not suggesting there's anything horribly wrong with you, its just a possibility to consider because these types of problems may be more likely due to your starting weight.

    Do you drink alcohol? For me, a night out causes me to gain a couple even when I've fit it into calories....I can't seem to lose weight and drink like my college self :)

    I'd keep up with a calorie amount that leaves you comfortable and energetic and consider talking to your doctor and increasing the intensity of your exercise. Do you lift weights now? Maybe try getting into that if not? But ultimately, this type of stall isn't that shocking, and your body may kick back into gear very soon. Your body may be changing while the scale isn't and you could be retaining water and a few pounds for all sorts of random and totally healthy reasons.

    Congrats on the AMAZING weight loss so far, you can totally do this just stick with it and be patient and diligent!!!
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    Hey, I just wanted to mention the possibility - maybe you're double counting exercise calories?

    If you're entering in that you're sedentary (no exercise in a week), then you can enter in your exercises manually and eat back the calories (I suggest entering it in with the calories MFP gives you cut in half).

    If you've set your TDEE calculation to anything higher than sedentary (So I think for you it would be active? I'm not sure, some sites actually define what those mean - like if you do 3 exercises a week, you'd be lightly active), then you wouldn't enter in even one exercise calorie. They've already been included in your daily goal.
  • jojomoe523
    jojomoe523 Posts: 57 Member
    I'm sorry, but what is tdee?
  • A_Dabauer
    A_Dabauer Posts: 212 Member
    It may be worthwhile to talk about hormones with an OBGYN. There are many hormone imbalances that can make weight loss difficult. I'm not suggesting there's anything horribly wrong with you, its just a possibility to consider because these types of problems may be more likely due to your starting weight.

    I agree with this ^^^
    Print out your food journals, take them with you PM me if you want more information on what kind of things you should be discussing with your Doctor (or health care professional.)

    As an aside, nothing burns my biscuits more than being called a liar when people see how little I eat and gain weight on that amount.

    Don't give up there is help out there for people like us who have more involved than calories in vs calories out.
  • melduf
    melduf Posts: 468 Member
    Hitting a fat lose plateau is a common occurrence , here are the 11 most common reasons for it.

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

    I don't really agree with that article... I wasn't loosing until I changed my macros. The MFP default settings were 50% carbs, 30% fat, 20% protein. I switched to 50% protein, 30% carbs and 20% fat. I haven't managed those numbers, but trying to get close, I reduced my carbs to 40% and upped my protein and suddenly, I was loosing 5 lbs the first week!! (which got me a litlle worried). So calories are not always at fault, sometimes it the ratio between your macros.

    Here a helpfull article : http://teamdetermination.com/nutrition-101/

    Good luck
  • bfergusonii
    bfergusonii Posts: 208 Member
    Hitting a fat lose plateau is a common occurrence , here are the 11 most common reasons for it.

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

    This is great. Thanks.
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
    Hitting a fat lose plateau is a common occurrence , here are the 11 most common reasons for it.

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

    Thanks for making light of the situation.... as a 261 pound woman i doubt going over 1400 calories a day is over eating. ;-) I'm here for honest help and I'm open to trying anything....


    Thank you everyone else.. .Ana, I'll definitely try that! As you can tell even with 50 ish off I'm still very new to this and absolutely appreciate all of your help!

    I was not making light of the situation. I was being very serious. My guess is that you are not accurately accounting for your actual calorie intake . But if you are 100% sure you are then I strongly suggest you go see your doctor ASAP as you likely have a medical condition that needs to be addressed.

    Baring some obscure medical condition you would loose fat if you were at a calorie deficit.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member

    I was not making light of the situation. I was being very serious. My guess is that you are not accurately accounting for your actual calorie intake . But if you are 100% sure you are then I strongly suggest you go see your doctor ASAP as you likely have a medical condition that needs to be addressed.

    Agreed about the doctor. Get your hormones and thyroid checked out. In the meantime, I would also suggest you NOT start eating at a surplus, as others have suggested in this thread. You're maintaining right now, eating more than your maintenance would equal weight gain.
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
    Hitting a fat lose plateau is a common occurrence , here are the 11 most common reasons for it.

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

    I don't really agree with that article... I wasn't loosing until I changed my macros. The MFP default settings were 50% carbs, 30% fat, 20% protein. I switched to 50% protein, 30% carbs and 20% fat. I haven't managed those numbers, but trying to get close, I reduced my carbs to 40% and upped my protein and suddenly, I was loosing 5 lbs the first week!! (which got me a litlle worried). So calories are not always at fault, sometimes it the ratio between your macros.

    Here a helpfull article : http://teamdetermination.com/nutrition-101/

    Good luck

    Your article suggest she eats 1000-1200 calories a day.

    I am not disagreeing with macros being important and people most certainly need to find their ideal ratio but science confirms that calories in vrs calories burnt is the only way to lose fat. If you disagree with that concept your argument isn't with me it is with science.
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
    I'm sorry, but what is tdee?

    TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure.

    You can use a TDEE calculator online to approximate your total daily calorie burn based on your stats.

    Once you have a TDEE ( estimation or real ) you can then calculate how many calories to eat based on how large of a calorie deficit you choose. It puts fat loss in easy mathematical terms.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    [1] The next disheartening piece is I've just been going by the range that mfp has given me, i feel like i'm eating and snacking almost all day... and I'm never hungry. [2] but as Ana stated i'm clearly under eating.... so, how do i eat more without gaining back?

    I added numbers to your quote. In #1, you state that you feel like you're eating all day and are never hungry. So how does #2 follow? Clearly, you are underlogging, but it does not follow that you are undereating.

    When I started out, I thought I was logging very carefully, but I was missing about 200 calories a day, due to underestimating calories consumed and overestimating exercise burn. This post was helpful:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

    One study, linked in that post, found that a group of ordinary people underestimated calories consumed by an average of 429 calories a day, and even trained dietitians underestimated on average by 223 calories a day.

    It's possible for water and waste retention to cause plateaus even when you're losing fat, but six weeks would be highly unusual. If you're positive that you are logging accurately, then you should visit your doctor for a checkup.
  • A_Dabauer
    A_Dabauer Posts: 212 Member
    [1] The next disheartening piece is I've just been going by the range that mfp has given me, i feel like i'm eating and snacking almost all day... and I'm never hungry. [2] but as Ana stated i'm clearly under eating.... so, how do i eat more without gaining back?

    I added numbers to your quote. In #1, you state that you feel like you're eating all day and are never hungry. So how does #2 follow? Clearly, you are underlogging, but it does not follow that you are undereating.

    When I started out, I thought I was logging very carefully, but I was missing about 200 calories a day, due to underestimating calories consumed and overestimating exercise burn. This post was helpful:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

    One study, linked in that post, found that a group of ordinary people underestimated calories consumed by an average of 429 calories a day, and even trained dietitians underestimated on average by 223 calories a day.

    It's possible for water and waste retention to cause plateaus even when you're losing fat, but six weeks would be highly unusual. If you're positive that you are logging accurately, then you should visit your doctor for a checkup.

    Pretty sure she meant that she is already eating and snacking all day on what she currently is logging and to add more food would be a challenge.


    And to the people that say she must be under logging...let's do the math....
    At her weight and activity level her TTDE is probably close to 3000 cals, so you are seriously saying she's not loosing because she's underestimating by over half? I don't buy it!

    I agree something else is going on.
  • reddz12
    reddz12 Posts: 350 Member
    [1] The next disheartening piece is I've just been going by the range that mfp has given me, i feel like i'm eating and snacking almost all day... and I'm never hungry. [2] but as Ana stated i'm clearly under eating.... so, how do i eat more without gaining back?

    I added numbers to your quote. In #1, you state that you feel like you're eating all day and are never hungry. So how does #2 follow? Clearly, you are underlogging, but it does not follow that you are undereating.

    When I started out, I thought I was logging very carefully, but I was missing about 200 calories a day, due to underestimating calories consumed and overestimating exercise burn. This post was helpful:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

    One study, linked in that post, found that a group of ordinary people underestimated calories consumed by an average of 429 calories a day, and even trained dietitians underestimated on average by 223 calories a day.

    It's possible for water and waste retention to cause plateaus even when you're losing fat, but six weeks would be highly unusual. If you're positive that you are logging accurately, then you should visit your doctor for a checkup.

    I'm going to try really hard to not be one of these snarky MFP people who just want to say they want help but everything they're doing is right... because i"m a novice... I am ok admitting I know next to nothing but you've lost 9 more pounds than I have.... What was meant is exactly what A_Dabauer said.... I'm snacking and eating and logging... everything.. not just logging, but measuring and weighing. I just can't get past this hurdle. Congrats that you're so close to sixty but I honestly thing that you're comment may have been better suited for someone who is on here whining that they've dieted for three days and haven't lost weight yet. :wink: :laugh:
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    [1] The next disheartening piece is I've just been going by the range that mfp has given me, i feel like i'm eating and snacking almost all day... and I'm never hungry. [2] but as Ana stated i'm clearly under eating.... so, how do i eat more without gaining back?

    I added numbers to your quote. In #1, you state that you feel like you're eating all day and are never hungry. So how does #2 follow? Clearly, you are underlogging, but it does not follow that you are undereating.

    When I started out, I thought I was logging very carefully, but I was missing about 200 calories a day, due to underestimating calories consumed and overestimating exercise burn. This post was helpful:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

    One study, linked in that post, found that a group of ordinary people underestimated calories consumed by an average of 429 calories a day, and even trained dietitians underestimated on average by 223 calories a day.

    It's possible for water and waste retention to cause plateaus even when you're losing fat, but six weeks would be highly unusual. If you're positive that you are logging accurately, then you should visit your doctor for a checkup.

    I'm going to try really hard to not be one of these snarky MFP people who just want to say they want help but everything they're doing is right... because i"m a novice... I am ok admitting I know next to nothing but you've lost 9 more pounds than I have.... What was meant is exactly what A_Dabauer said.... I'm snacking and eating and logging... everything.. not just logging, but measuring and weighing. I just can't get past this hurdle. Congrats that you're so close to sixty but I honestly thing that you're comment may have been better suited for someone who is on here whining that they've dieted for three days and haven't lost weight yet. :wink: :laugh:
    I actually agree with that poster. If you are logging accurately, you would lose weight after 6 weeks. If you are undereating, you could stress your body and increase water weight, but you would lose something in that amount of time.

    So, as the previous poster said, if you are logging accurately, you should see a doctor because it seems something else is going on.

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