plateau or not enough calories

Hi. It sounds to me like maybe you aren't eating enough. I'm 5'4 188 and on the days I don't exercise I'm eating at 1440.

Everyone is going to tell you to open your diary up so they can evaluate it. Then, they are going to ask you if you are weighing and measuring everything. All valid questions.

Then some one who likes to be divisive will flat out tell you that you are eating more than you think.

You will also be told that 2 months isn't really that long a time for a plateau.

I agree with some of these statements, just thought I would prepare you for the answers.

*edited because I apparently missed the whole xenadrine thing and I found a typo.

Eating 1250-1300 per day is not enough if you are exercising, but I think your logging has some issues as you would be losing. Unless a combo of to low of calories combined with Xenadrine (i'm not sure how long you have been on this) has slowed your metabolism way down (in general you would still be losing but I don't know what effects this drug could have on your system). You ARE NOT gaining muscle, you can't at a calorie deficit. When you first start strength training you may get a slight gain, but not enough to stall movement of the scale.

So my advice STOP THE XENADRINE.
Take a serious look at what your calorie goal should be
Make sure you eat back 50-75% of your exercise calories (that is how this works)
MEASURE all of your solid foods with a scale, and liquids with measuring cups and log every single thing that you eat or drink

deez4444 wrote: »

Hello everyone, looking for some advice. I've been using MFP for around a year now. Started off great list 60 pds so far. But now I'm staying steady at around 200 for about two months. I'm pretty good at logging and weighing food prob have a bad day around two or three times a month. Other wise pretty diligent. Losing some inches but no weight. Here's my specs. 5'6, woman 200 pnds. Working out 3-4 times a week doing 30 -40 min cardio and strength training. Eating 1250 to 1300 a day.Do not log the calories burned during cardio but do eat a little more on gym days. Also have a retail job that keeps me on my feet all day estimated additional 300 calories burned on top of that. So my question is, if any suggestions can be giving. Am I not eating enough calories or is the muscle I'm accumulating the reason why the scale is not moving. Just really not sure which way to go. More cardio, less or more calories, not alot of weight training? Also been taking xenadrine. Doesn't seem to matter. Thank you all for any help or suggestions. Sorry for the lengthy post

Are you counting that 300 for retail work as extra calories and eating those back? I ask because retail work is included in your activity setting and are not to be included as separate exercise?

If you are not losing weight on what you eat now, you won't lose weight on more. You are most likely underestimating your calories.

Do you weigh your food and log everything you eat, all the while ensuring you are choosing correct calorie counts? The MFP database has many inaccurate entries. Never believe Salmon has 20 calories an ounce, because it really has over 50 per once.

Not all bananas are 110 calories, and there is no such thing as a medium apple or a tablespoon of peanut butter, because the database will always render a lower calorie count for generic measurements as opposed to the true weight (grams if you can) of the food. This can mess up one's calorie deficit pretty quickly.

Open your diary, too, so that we may give you concrete advice.

Oh, if that medication you're talking about is a diet pill, please chuck it. It won't work unless you eat at a calorie deficit.

segacs wrote: »

Xenadrine? You know that stuff's been linked to all sorts of health problems including heart problems, psychosis, and up to and including death, right?

Not to scare you... but yeah, to scare you. Knock that *kitten* off.

I went and looked it up cause I was curious. How in the hell has this stuff not been banned, and why in the hell would anyone take this knowing the side effects?

MKEgal wrote: »

deez4444 wrote:

I've been using MFP for around a year now. Started off great list 60 pds so far. But now I'm staying steady at around 200 for about two months.

Congrat's on your loss so far!
Have you been dropping your calories as you lose weight, resetting your calorie goal lower?
Your current level seems to be reasonable.

Losing some inches but no weight.

Then you're seeing progress! That's good.

Am I not eating enough calories or is the muscle I'm accumulating the reason why the scale is not moving.

If you weren't eating enough, you'd be losing weight. So no, you don't need to eat more.
Apparently you've found your maintenance calories for the weight you're at. In 2 months there should have been some change.
So you could cut 50 calories, increase your exercise (intensity &/or duration), or both.
If you've only been doing 30 min of cardio 3x a week, aim for at least 5 days. Increase to at least 45 minutes; 60 would be better. Instead of walking on a flat treadmill, add some incline or use the hill program. Move to the elliptical (much harder). Increase your speed - try intervals of jogging.
For weightlifting, add a second set, go up to 12 reps, or increase the weight 5 lb & go back to 8 reps.

You won't be 'accumulating muscle' because you're supposedly in a caloric deficit, building muscle needs a caloric surplus

According to this calculator, I've gained several pounds of lean body mass while losing 81 lb of fat.
Could be measurement error, and I've only maintained, but that's a victory.

But yes, it's doubtful that she's actually gaining significant muscle.

That made me sad... apparently I'm 60% body fat.

ogmomma2012 wrote: »

MKEgal wrote: »

deez4444 wrote:

I've been using MFP for around a year now. Started off great list 60 pds so far. But now I'm staying steady at around 200 for about two months.

Congrat's on your loss so far!
Have you been dropping your calories as you lose weight, resetting your calorie goal lower?
Your current level seems to be reasonable.

Losing some inches but no weight.

Then you're seeing progress! That's good.

Am I not eating enough calories or is the muscle I'm accumulating the reason why the scale is not moving.

If you weren't eating enough, you'd be losing weight. So no, you don't need to eat more.
Apparently you've found your maintenance calories for the weight you're at. In 2 months there should have been some change.
So you could cut 50 calories, increase your exercise (intensity &/or duration), or both.
If you've only been doing 30 min of cardio 3x a week, aim for at least 5 days. Increase to at least 45 minutes; 60 would be better. Instead of walking on a flat treadmill, add some incline or use the hill program. Move to the elliptical (much harder). Increase your speed - try intervals of jogging.
For weightlifting, add a second set, go up to 12 reps, or increase the weight 5 lb & go back to 8 reps.

You won't be 'accumulating muscle' because you're supposedly in a caloric deficit, building muscle needs a caloric surplus

According to this calculator, I've gained several pounds of lean body mass while losing 81 lb of fat.
Could be measurement error, and I've only maintained, but that's a victory.

But yes, it's doubtful that she's actually gaining significant muscle.

That made me sad... apparently I'm 60% body fat.

Don't feel to bad it gave me 48% (which compared to doing my body fat via calipers, and one of those body fat testers (which I know aren't totally accurate) is significantly higher that the actual in person methods). It's a guess at best based off three measurements.

MrM27 wrote: »

Increasing calories isn't going to make you lose weight when you aren't losing weight with the amount you are eating now. If you weren't eating enough, you would lose weight. It's physics.

This. It's likely that you can lose on a higher calorie GOAL...assuming you're sticking with the goal. Considering you aren't losing weight now, eating more will make you gain weight. I'd strongly suggest tightening up your logging, especially since you've changed your goal to 1560. Make sure you're actually eating close to that number.

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The conflicting advice thing is common on these boards, and that's because some things are a matter of scientific fact but others are more a matter of opinion, or of "your mileage may vary".

The facts are:
1. You lose weight faster by eating less. You lose weight slower (or plateau, or gain) by eating more. Increasing your calories won't help you lose weight faster.
2. "Starvation mode" the way you describe it is mostly a myth. That doesn't mean it's a good idea to eat very low calories -- it's bad for your health, your sanity and your hunger pangs -- but it's not going to send you into starvation mode.
3. Xenadrine is dangerous for your health.

The things that are a matter of opinion are:
1. You should reset your expectations around the speed of your weight loss. You lost 60 pounds in 10 months, which is about 1.5lbs/week and quite fast. You got used to losing weight quickly. Now that you're smaller, your rate of loss is going to slow down. That's normal, healthy and good.
2. Some weeks you might see a slight gain, or the scale won't appear to move, because fluctuations can be as much as 5lbs which can make it seem like you're not losing weight when you are. Chart the trends. Trust the trends.
3. Judging by everything in this thread so far, you're probably eating more than you think. 1560 or thereabouts might well be a healthy calorie goal for you, but only if it's a *real* 1560. If right now you're eating 1700 but you are logging it as 1300 (not on purpose, but most of us can only be so accurate), then you might actually need to eat less than you're eating now, but if you log it accurately it will appear in your diary to be more.

Does that make sense?

deez4444 wrote: »

Should I bother with doing so much weight training to or spend majority focus on cardio?

A mix of both is good. Cardio is good for your heart and your overall health, and gives you more burn for the buck, so more exercise calories that you get to eat back. More food is a good thing, right? Weight training doesn't burn that many calories, but it helps you hang onto your lean muscle mass while you're losing fat, and helps you achieve that toned body that most of us covet. Do some of each and mix it up a bit, find a form of exercise you enjoy, have fun with it.

deez4444 wrote: »

One other question I did have also was aside from using the scale is there a better place other than the database to get the nutritional value of meats? Alot of stuff I see on there is homemade which I heard to stay clear from but when I'm making meals it's hard to tell what calories equal to oz. My scale is just for weight

The best way is to use the entries without stars, those are the USDA ones or the ones entered by MyFitnessPal and are most likely to be accurate. The starred entries are entered by other users, and they vary from okay-ish to wildly inaccurate. If using a starred entry, look for one with a lot of confirmations. For meats, look for the raw USDA values with no stars. Avoid the ones that other people submitted as "homemade" and if you cook something yourself, use the recipe builder and enter the ingredients you actually use in the quantities you use, and save the recipe that way.