Not losing, please advise

I can only conclude that Cerad is being intentionally obtuse for only the sake of being difficult.

Bottom line: if you're not losing weight there's a reason. Weighing your food and calculating your calories is a good way to see if you're in a deficit or not.

The original post:

I started tracking 56 days ago and probably lost 2-3 real lbs. My tracker says 6, but considering the time of day I weighed the first day and now, etc, I don't think it's more than 3lbs. I would be very happy with 1lb every 10 days, but that's not really the pattern and I seem to be losing and gaining the same 1-2lbs.

It feels like I am in maintenance mode, but I don't feel like I am eating that much. I started out at 1400 calories and recently (last 4-5 days) switched to about 1200 calories. No difference. I started out at 199lbs and today I am at 194.

cerad2 wrote: »

SLLRunner wrote: »

Because the point is if a person is maintaining weight they are not eating at a calorie deficit, they just think they are.

In this case she was losing weight over the course of 56 days.

...
Well, while you're in skepticism mode, do some research and see how accurate weighing food is. Start taking guesses at the calorie content of food and then put it on the scale. I guarantee most of the time you will see the difference.

Could you point me to some that applies to this scenario? Cases where calculated deficits based on weighing food are more accurate then deficits based on the person's body weight.

What? The only way to lose weight is to eat less calories than you burn. In this case, it's the deficit that counts.

Sure. And the only real way to know if you have a deficit is to track your body weight.

She said she feels like she's gaining/losing the same few pounds. In 56 days, that could be natural weight fluctuation, so it's difficult to tell whether she's actually been losing or she is eating at maintenance.

Sure, she could just cut back a little bit more and see what happens. If the scale goes down then she's obviously in a deficit.

However, in order to create an accurate deficit it's a good idea to know how much you are eating. Weighing and logging food teaches us what portions really look like and takes the guesswork of trying to figure out if you are eating less calories than you are burning.

Do you know of anyone you can borrow a food scale from? Take that apple that you see as a medium one, grab the calories from the MFP database or any other database that gives calories for a medium apple, look up the calorie count or gram at the USDA website, weigh, and compare.

The reason people don't lose weight is because they are not aware of how many calories they are taking in. Most of us think we eat less calories than we do.

There is no right or wrong way of figuring out if you're in a deficit, but remember weight loss is not linear. I'd rather not have to guess about it a few weeks down the road when I see the scale drop a pound, and then get discouraged a week later if my weight is a pound higher. I'd rather know on a daily basis if I am staying in my calorie goals, or if I'm eating over or under.

999tigger wrote: »

agree with emdeesea and rabbit.

OP in one sense cerad is correct and the others wouldnt dispute that you have been at a deficit over time because you have lost 3-5lb. However weighing and logging your food will tell you if the weight loss you are aiming for turns out to be the weight loss you experience in practice. The #1 reason for people complaining that they arent losing weight is that it becomes apparent they are eating more than they think. Your post indicates frustration you havent lost more. Whether thats a reasonable expectation would need further investigation and an understanding of how much of a deficit you were running for the relevant period.

You can either carry on the way you are, without understanding your true deficit.
Have a guess at cutting calories, but your logging ismt great, never mind weighing.
Try weighing and see if the deficit you think you are estimating is the same one the scales tell you.

Losing and regaining the same 1-2lb for an extended period and im talking 3+ weeks is an indication you are at maintenance as your body will naturally fluctuate by 1-4lb a day.

3lbs a month should be pretty straightforward if you do the maths and control your deficit correctly. You dont have to use a scale, but where its not working as planned, then it comes in highly useful.

Is there a reason why you dont do any exercise or its not an option?

Good luck anyway.

This make sense.

allunits wrote: »

I want to update on this in case it's helpful to others. Since I posted here, I got a new scale that's easier for me to use (it's bigger and has a big bowl) and started writing down EVERYTHING I eat, no matter how tiny. I realized that my 1 cup was 1.3 cups and that I didn't always count greens and vegetable. I was underestimating by about 300 calories a day, which still made for a small deficit, but made my loss slow and a little demotivating (3-4lbs in 55 days). Since I wrote the initial post, I have lost 3-6lbs in one week eating about 1,400cals a day. Thanks for the advice, everyone!

Food scales are eye opening, huh

I'm going to get a scale....

allunits wrote: »

I want to update on this in case it's helpful to others. Since I posted here, I got a new scale that's easier for me to use (it's bigger and has a big bowl) and started writing down EVERYTHING I eat, no matter how tiny. I realized that my 1 cup was 1.3 cups and that I didn't always count greens and vegetable. I was underestimating by about 300 calories a day, which still made for a small deficit, but made my loss slow and a little demotivating (3-4lbs in 55 days). Since I wrote the initial post, I have lost 3-6lbs in one week eating about 1,400cals a day. Thanks for the advice, everyone!

Its rare that people actually follow up but this is fantastic news. Congrats on making progress.

allunits wrote: »

I want to update on this in case it's helpful to others. Since I posted here, I got a new scale that's easier for me to use (it's bigger and has a big bowl) and started writing down EVERYTHING I eat, no matter how tiny. I realized that my 1 cup was 1.3 cups and that I didn't always count greens and vegetable. I was underestimating by about 300 calories a day, which still made for a small deficit, but made my loss slow and a little demotivating (3-4lbs in 55 days). Since I wrote the initial post, I have lost 3-6lbs in one week eating about 1,400cals a day. Thanks for the advice, everyone!

Its nice to see someone came back and post this.
Lot of times people overestimate and not weigh their food.

People here advice them but you hear never back of them. While we all know what is wrong with the daily intake.

You will get there Keep weighing and some will power does the job.
Add some exercise and you get fitter too

Good luck!