Can't seem to lose the weight

AnnWilliamsPike
AnnWilliamsPike Posts: 2
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, my name is Ann. I have been on a 1200 to 1500 calorie diet for 1 month and I have only lost 2.5 lbs. I am brisk walking on my treadmill 30 min. 5 days a week. I began at 178 and now I am at 175.5. My app is saying I am burning 2000 calories per day. Anyone have any suggestions?

Replies

  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    What do you mean? You've lost 2.5 lbs in a month. Congrats. That's a perfectly healthy and reasonable amount of weight to lose in a month. Keep up the good work.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    You are doing ok actually, I know you'd like to have lost a bit more but slow and steady does in fact win the race :) Are you tracking your calories accurately? ie measuring,weighing foods? its amazing how we can eat much more than we think down to inaccurate logging.

    You're losing around 1/2lb a week so that means your deficit is around 250 cals. The calorie burns for exercise on mfp are overestimated so only count 50% of them to keep you right. So its likely your TDEE (total energy energy expenditure) perhaps isn't as high as 2000. You can calculate your TDEE with an online calculator ie scooby workshop and that will give you a good idea of what yours is.

  • GothyFaery
    GothyFaery Posts: 762 Member
    edited February 2015
    2.5 pounds in a month is not bad progress but it most likely should be more with how little you're eating. I would guess you are either eating more than you think or burning less than you think or a combo of the two.

    Do you weigh your solids with a food scale and measure all your liquids? Are you eating back calories burned? Where are you getting your burn calories from? You will also get better responses if you open your diary so we can see if there are any logging errors.

    ETA
    How tall are you?
  • markiend
    markiend Posts: 461 Member
    If I go by just the maths , a 500 calorie deficit per day for a week would be a 1lb and for a month 4lb. You have lost 2.5lb so my guess is that you aren't burning as many as you think or are eating slightly more.

    as the above poster says... 2.5lb per month sounds good for a start.

    Either up the exercise, eat less or both at the same time, but I wouldn't worry too much. Keep on keeping on. (30lb for a year .. 2.5lb a month is more than half a sack of potatoes.. )
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    2.5lbs would disappoint me too. I always lose the most when I first start, so I'd be thinking the same thing as you. I see that your profile says you had a thyroid issue. I'm not a doctor, but I'm thinking this could have an impact of weight loss.
  • muse09
    muse09 Posts: 15 Member
    First of all, congrats on your progress!

    If you feel like you're not losing as much as you should, however, it's time to examine how much you're really eating. Are you measuring your food intake precisely (i.e. using a food scale), and logging all sauces, oils etc. used for cooking? Also, it's worth noting that calories burned through exercise tends to be overestimated. These two factors combined means that your caloric deficit is probably not as large as you think.

    Weight loss is a daily grind. It's not healthy or sustainable to lose more than 2lb/week. Don't be discouraged, make the necessary adjustments, and keep it up! :smile:
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
    How many calories do you log for the treadmill workouts? I'm not much lighter than you, and I would log at most 120 calories for that.

    2.5 isn't bad progress but if you feel it should be more, I'd say the likely culprit is overestimating the calories burned.
  • crispywalker
    crispywalker Posts: 18 Member
    I also struggle as the MFP app seems to keep telling me that if I ate like today I would be XXX lbs by XX time and this is consistent each time I login. I have had to focus on the % percentages % a little more to see weight loss. I have upped my protein to 35-40% if my daily intake and made sure to have fresh veggies for lots of natural fiber. That seems to help me. Good luck!!
  • Roxiefoxie188
    Roxiefoxie188 Posts: 1
    Hi Ann, I agree with Coverturth. You are seeing progress, at a healthy 63% loss per week over 4 weeks, assuming you want to loose the moderate 1lb a week. Being a woman and not over exerting yourself, 1 lb a week is not an easy task as it would be for a man. A person's age also has an effect on your metabolism, as we age our metabolism drops significantly every year. Keep up what you're doing, it's working.

    If you want to amp it up, try replacing some meals that involves bread/grains/carbs with more vegetables (e.g., spaghetti squash or spiralized zucchini instead of pastas; portobello mushroom or collard instead of bread on a sandwich). Also make sure you are not over consuming protein.

    Another option is to aim to complete 250-300 minute of cardio a week. Also try mixing up your workouts, add some total body HIIT workout videos (I really enjoyed the Turbo Fire videos). Your body gets used to working the same muscles groups and becomes more efficient as your progress, changing your workouts and adding more intensity or duration will help you not plateau.
  • AnnWilliamsPike
    AnnWilliamsPike Posts: 2
    Thanks everybody. I am using Argus app to track my walking and calories burned. I will try to open up my diary. I am eat low carb. But I am going to keep on keeping on.
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