Eating at MFP's recommendation and not losing....

nicola8989
nicola8989 Posts: 381 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Should I go lower?

MFP recommend I eat 2000 a day before exercise, which always seemed kind of high. I eat between 1500 and 2000 a day with a bit extra at weekends.

I weight lift 3-4x a week, go to 2 gym classes a week and go cycling and walking at the weekend. I'm going to start C25K in 2 weeks when I get back from my holiday. I don't eat back any of my exercise calories.

Should I be aiming for lower, e.g. 1500? I'm going to scale back what I eat at the weekend too.

Replies

  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
    Do you weigh your food on a digital food scale?
  • NewMeowLean
    NewMeowLean Posts: 58
    I don't know (depends on your stats). Did you try to compare MFP with a TDEE calculator?

    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    How long have you been eating at this level and how long has it been since you last saw a drop on the scale? If it's only been a couple of weeks it could be a normal stall.

    You're logging as accurately as you can? Not using generic entries or other people's recipes that might not match your own?

    Are you eyeballing any of your portions? Eating anywhere that you don't have control of the ingredients (restaurants, family/friends' houses, etc)? You may be eating more calories than you realize. Using a food scale for a couple of weeks to be sure of your intake might be a good idea.

    You say "a bit extra at the weekends." Are you tracking on weekends? Is there any chance that you're wiping out your deficit with any sort of cheat days, etc?

    Would you be comfortable opening your diary for us to help?
  • SusKatCas
    SusKatCas Posts: 5 Member
    There is no substitute for weighing your food on a good scale. Really need to watch the liquid calories too.
  • WifedUpMartin
    WifedUpMartin Posts: 166 Member
    Have you tried doing measurements? If you're lifting 3-4 times a week you could be dropping inches rather than pounds. I did the 30 Day Shred and only dropped .5 pounds but lost 7 inches (overall) in the first 2 weeks. Granted I have a lot of weight to lose so it comes off of me quicker than your average person.
  • katiedougherty64
    katiedougherty64 Posts: 4 Member
    Tom Venuto's book Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle taught me about setting Macros, the proper % of Carbs, Fat and Protein that I should be eating. I have been working with a trainer and he follows the same principles. Google "macronutrients and weight loss" and you'll see there are many other sources to explain this method. Good Luck!
  • eplerd
    eplerd Posts: 91 Member
    Gotta weigh out portions - every time I quit doing that my weight loss stalls.
    Going on a 5-day cruise didn't help any either LOL
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    What is your average weekly intake? 1500-2000 is a huge range during the week, and if you're going over on the weekends, you could easily be wiping out your weekly deficit (especially if your logging isn't on point).
  • nicola8989
    nicola8989 Posts: 381 Member
    I do track at the weekends and I'm normally 500 calories over. My weekly average works out at about 2000 a day.

    I do weigh most things or get things out of packs of 2 so I just log half the pack if that makes sense. I could weigh everything. I have that book but haven't read it yet Katie!
  • nicola8989
    nicola8989 Posts: 381 Member
    And I do measurements but not much difference there either. People say they can see a difference and I can feel a difference in my clothes.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    ilibc wrote: »
    I don't know (depends on your stats). Did you try to compare MFP with a TDEE calculator?

    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    This. What loss goal are you aiming for and what are your inputs? Sometimes it takes some experimentation, although sometimes logging can be off too.

    Since I just linked it elsewhere, here's a good thread on logging:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide#latest
  • nicola8989
    nicola8989 Posts: 381 Member
    thank you - I'm going to try cutting my calories a little and being more diligent with weighing my food and see what happens x
  • caracrawford1
    caracrawford1 Posts: 657 Member
    nicola8989 wrote: »
    Should I go lower?

    MFP recommend I eat 2000 a day before exercise, which always seemed kind of high. I eat between 1500 and 2000 a day with a bit extra at weekends.

    I weight lift 3-4x a week, go to 2 gym classes a week and go cycling and walking at the weekend. I'm going to start C25K in 2 weeks when I get back from my holiday. I don't eat back any of my exercise calories.

    Should I be aiming for lower, e.g. 1500? I'm going to scale back what I eat at the weekend too.

    What do you mean by a "bit extra" on the weekends? This could be erasing your deficit.

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