Nothing works!

what does MFP set your calorie goal to be? Mine was around 1770 when I started but i changed it to like 1500 on my own because i would lose faster. WRONG!!! i decided to let it set my goals and go with it. the goal will slowly come down as you lose weight. i am eating more than before and it is working for me. so what does your goal say?

Make sure you are drinking your water and getting your protein in....that does make a difference.

@neelixo2: Don't give up. It might take a while for things to get working. I was stalled for 3 weeks and the numbers are finally going down again. Maybe give it another week or two? Meticulously record calories in via food, out via exercise and times and anything else you can think to track? Just for a short while to see what works for you.

Also, people who weigh daily tend to lose more weight. Helps you keep track of how your body responds to various stimuli.

All my best! You WILL get this figured out.

pft..workout more..dont up your calories.

What you're doing is NOT wrong. Ignore him/her! :grumble:

i am currently 190 lbs and 5 ft 3. Dr has tested for thyroids-metabolism. calculates 1200 cals a day.
i sit at a desk for work so put sedentary as activity. Walk half hour each way to work and have been doing, core,circuits,lbt,abs and aerobics and spinning. I have asked for a gym workout which will cost me £20 for designed programme but right now feels bit pointless paying it!!!!!!!!!

Is the problem the calories????????
god i've even given up my glass of wine on a saturday!

Have you been tested for PCOS? I don't have it, but some women do and I know it really messes up their weight! Chin up - I'm 5'4, and I started this journey at 193lbs, and got down to 144lbs. Currently I'm 153, but working on dropping that 10lbs again. Take the personal trainer session, it's REALLY worth it if you get a good one! My sessions have completely changed my outlook on fitness!

Ah, you're not sedentary if you're walking to work and exercising every day. Might want to switch settings to moderate or active and see what MFP thinks.

Omg, ppl keep giving u wrong advice leftand right!

Do not change this! Keep it at sedentary! Just be sure to enter ur calories u burn...so everyday ud enter in all ur excercises...

If u hange it to active and then enter ur excercise, ull eat too much!! Don't do it! I'm sedentary, I enter n everytime I workout.

I have removed some posts from this thread which violate forum rules.

"Do not attack/slam/insult other users. The forums are here so that members can help support one another. Attacks or insults against each other takes away from the supportive atmosphere and will not be tolerated. You can discuss the message or topic, but not the messenger - NO EXCEPTIONS. If you are attacked by another user, and you reciprocate, YOU will also be subject to the same consequences. Defending yourself, defending a friend, etc. are NOT excuses. Violations of this rule are taken very seriously and may result in being banned without warning! If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

Please remember we are all here to support eachother. You may disagree with the advice, but you may not insult the person giving it. Thank you!

Upping my calories has helped me lose weight, esp as I got very close to my goal. And once I included breakfast (I never used to have that meal) and had snacks every 3-4 hours - I got back on track!

^ Your activity level is determined by how ACTIVE you are, she is not sedentary by having a desk job if she is at spinning class every day.. It's about your metabolism and how much muscle you have.

No. I'm sorry, but I know for a fact that is false. This activity level u speak of... there's the lowest setting of sedentary for ppl who have desk jobs, and lightly active is for people who stand all day at work. She sits all day at work. YES she is active by walking, and doing spinning or excercising what so ever, but excercising goes in ur excercise diary.

If she were to change her activity level, and then enter anything n her excercise diary, it would be wrong. What mfp tells u to eat is the number of calories u burn, just by doing ur occupation and breathing. if u do anything else, such as walking, u enter it in ur diary, and then it calculates how many extra calories u burnt by excercising...ur double counting ur excercise if u change ur activity level, and if u do change it, don't use ur excercise diary..

She is having trouble losing weight probably cuz her bodies n starvation mode and I looked back 5days total and she hasn't met ur calorie goal a single time..2 out of the 5 days she had under 500cal..idk what her diary looked like b4 the 5days, but that kind of eating while excercising, could be deadly.

(In response to post two above)

^^ Activity level is how MFP takes your body fat percentage into consideration. MFP assumes you do not already have an exercise regimen. If you DO follow a strict exercise regimen, your metabolism is higher, and so you need more calories.

Yes, even more than your exercise calories, because you have muscles to feed that you don't want to lose.

Put it this way. Imagine I am an overweight body builder and I burn 3300 calories a day. I tell MFP my stats, that I am 5'5", female, 200 lbs, and that I work a desk job and want to lose 2 pounds per week. MFP will tell me to eat 1600 calories, my BMR, if I tell it I am sedentary.

To maintain my muscle mass, I need to be eating more than that, PLUS my exercise calories, to maintain a healthy weight loss and not lose any muscle.

Essentially, my BMR is higher than 1600 because I have muscles.

Remember muscle weighs more than fat. You may be losing fat but gaining muscle and toning up. Take all your measurments - waist, arms legs, bum, chest, belly and then work hard and see what they are like in 3 weeks... much more acurrate. When I was at the gym a lot last year I lost very little weight, but 9 inches around my waist. It was so nice as if I had only been going on weight I would have been very upset... but I had a new set of jeans and felt great

To back up what I said with science, MFP uses the Harris-Benedict equation:

http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html

"
Activity Multiplier
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extra Active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)
"

Thing is - when you exercise you burn off EXACTLY those calories. If you want your net calories to be a specific number, and you have a lot of muscle, you are going to be below your net calories if you set to sedentary - even if you eat back your exercise calories that day.

Say two people do a 1000 calorie workout and both work desk jobs. They have the same weight/height/sex/age.
Person 1 is very active and exercises 7x a week for three months.
Person 2 has never exercised and has poor body fat percentage.

Should they both eat the same number of calories that day?

No, because person 1 will end up with a higher deficit than is healthy. They might lose muscle mass this way or even eat below their BMR, even if they eat the same number of calories as person 2.