Eating at BMR and not losing

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fausonk
fausonk Posts: 41
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been at this for four weeks, and I've only lost 2 pounds. I'm basically staying near my BMR for eating (1500) - some days I go over, some days I'm under. I exercise at least 4 times a week (walking, weights, personal training, a mix of things). I figured eating around BMR and exercising would mean I'd lose weight, but 2 pounds? In a month? And I'm very overweight (by like 60 lbs on a short female frame), so I should be able to lose a lot more than that. Even if I were off by 50% (overestimating exercise and underestimating calories), I should still be at like a pound a week. Any advice?
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  • WickedPineapple
    WickedPineapple Posts: 698 Member
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    Do you weigh your food?
  • fausonk
    fausonk Posts: 41
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    Yes, I weigh my food. Maybe not everything, but most things. And, like I said, even if I'm off by some factor, I'm not off by 1000 calories in a day (which is about what I'd need to be off by to explain this non-weight loss).
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
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    Most likely, you are overestimating how many calories you're burning when you workout (i.e. MFP's default numbers are roughly twice what's realistic for all but the most obese) and underestimating how many calories you're eating (not logging everything, mis-estimating portions). What are your methods for calorie calculation both in and out?
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    If the exercise level is new you could be retaining water which is hiding your fat loss.

    And of course you could be underestimating your intake and/or overestimating your burn, like others have mentioned.

    In any case, the solution is be patient or eat less and move more. It's hard. Good luck!
  • fausonk
    fausonk Posts: 41
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    I use a Fitbit Charge HR. But I really don't pay much attention to my "calories out" numbers. I figure I should be losing if I'm even somewhat close to eating at my BMR. My BMR is 1500. My TDEE (counting exercise 3x per week) is just over 2000.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Hard to say - it looks like your exercise cals are only your Fitbit cal adjustments? Also curious why you're sticking with BMR calories - for me, that's my absolute LOWEST intake, and generally only on a low or no-exercise day, or if I'm not feeling well. Even with 60 lbs to lose I feel like you should be eating more.

    How about water intake? I didn't see any water tracked in your diary - are you hydrating well?

    Four weeks may seem like a long time, but if your way of eating and the exercise are new things and you're only a month in, it really can take the body a bit of time to adjust to all the new things and really start showing progress.

    How about measurements? Clothes fitting any differently? If you're not taking measurements, start. Often you will see progress there while the scale is busy bouncing around, showing every little fluctuation.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    How did you come to the conclusion that your BMR is 1500? If you used one of the online calculators, remember those are just estimates based on population averages. Your actual BMR could be quite a bit more or less than that if that's the case.

    Also - you've lost 2 lbs in 4 weeks. 1/2 lb a week is a perfectly healthy, normal rate of weight loss, even if it's somewhat less than you'd expect or like.

    I would tighten up your intake logging (weigh everything possible, etc) and just keep at it.
  • ewhip17
    ewhip17 Posts: 515 Member
    edited February 2015
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    Setting aside logging issues for a minute (quick add entries and "some days I'm over, some days I'm under"), you may want to take a look at your sodium intake. Personally, if mine were that high the scale would never move. Now to be clear, I'm not suggesting that it is necessarily bad for you (lots of debate about that), or that you aren't in fact losing fat, but when my sodium intake gets high it consistently masks actual weight loss on the scale. Just a suggestion...
  • marcolbmp
    marcolbmp Posts: 92 Member
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    maybe get yourself a handheld body fat monitor, Omron makes a nice one for around $30.

    This will give you a baseline number, check it weekly and see if your body fat is declining. It may be that you're developing muscle and increasing lean body weight while the fat is still dropping much more than reflected in scale numbers.


  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    First, if you were doing a 500 calorie/day deficit you would only expect to lose 1 pound a week - 4 pounds in a month.

    Second, most people's weight goes up and down +- 2-5 pounds a day. So if my true weight were 150, depending on what I ate, drank, peed, and pooped that day my weight might go from 145-155. (Your weight may be more or less variable - I'm pretty stable in maintenance, so I fluctuate within a 3 pound range.)

    But anyway, you are certainly going to move around so your true weight loss might be 4 pounds or more, but you just happen to be weighing on a heavy day, so some of that isn't showing up on the scale today.

    Third, you may not be logging accurately. To really got your logging accurate you need to weigh or measure and you have to log every stupid thing you put in your mouth. For me, that's a slice of butter on my sandwich, a dab of mayo the restaurant slips on my burger, and that fingerful of onion dip I snitched and two french fries from my son's plate. All of that for me, typically adds 300+ calories to my day.

    All else aside, most people don't lose as much as they think they 'should' because they aren't logging as accurately as they think they are. When you can't use a scale or measuring cups at home, look up serving size estimates on line for good visuals to help you out. It's something you get better at with time.

    Finally, you should be eating a lot more than your basal metabolism. You should be eating your calorie needs plus exercise, minus a deficit. Long term, it will work better and you'll lose more fat and less muscle.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
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    fausonk wrote: »
    Yes, I weigh my food. Maybe not everything, but most things. And, like I said, even if I'm off by some factor, I'm not off by 1000 calories in a day (which is about what I'd need to be off by to explain this non-weight loss).

    You need to weigh everything.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
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    ceoverturf wrote: »
    How did you come to the conclusion that your BMR is 1500? If you used one of the online calculators, remember those are just estimates based on population averages. Your actual BMR could be quite a bit more or less than that if that's the case.

    Also - you've lost 2 lbs in 4 weeks. 1/2 lb a week is a perfectly healthy, normal rate of weight loss, even if it's somewhat less than you'd expect or like.

    I would tighten up your intake logging (weigh everything possible, etc) and just keep at it.

    And this.

    Online calculators are not very accurate.

    The only way to know what your BMR/RMR is is by having it tested in a lab via oxygen consumption.
  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
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    +1 on the sodium issue. I can gain 5 lbs of water on 1 bad day of sodium (like one extra bite of soft pretzel with salt on it) and it takes a good 3-4 days to slowly lose it back while drinking lots of extra water.

    Have you also started a new workout routine? This will also make you hold on to some extra water.

    Two lbs. in 4 weeks is an average of 0.5lb/week. This could be that the days you are going "a little over", you're doing so by an extra 1700 calories for the week which could average out to 200-300 (overestimating here) per day "over". If you're using measuring cups for things that are calorie dense (nuts and peanut butter, etc.), you can easily do this. Bottom line is to watch your sodium intake and tighten up the weighing of food.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    marcolbmp wrote: »
    maybe get yourself a handheld body fat monitor, Omron makes a nice one for around $30.

    This will give you a baseline number, check it weekly and see if your body fat is declining. It may be that you're developing muscle and increasing lean body weight while the fat is still dropping much more than reflected in scale numbers.


    Those things are wildly inaccurate and she is not building appreciable muscle mass if in a deficit.
  • bodyMs
    bodyMs Posts: 1
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    I wouldn't trust the scales, I review my weight loss with measurements (hip, waist etc). It is easy to be fooled by the scale, I actually don't use it anymore, I just measure myself every Friday (when I have been 'nice' for the week, before indulging in the weekend). Hope it helps:)
  • fausonk
    fausonk Posts: 41
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    ok, thanks everyone. I'm not feeling like there's any one answer, but just to keep plugging along. I do drink water (probably not enough, but I'm working on it), I just can't bear to log it. Logging food is bad enough. And the "I weigh most things" is true, but how do you weigh that finger-full of dip or those 2 french fries from your son's plate? Those are the things where I just have to guess, but I do log them. Sodium I think really only gets up there when I eat something processed or a meal out. But that's life, and you just drink your water and roll with it.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Online calculators aren't as accurate as the lab tests, but they sure are a lot easier and pretty much free. :smile: And there's no reason why you can't dial in the number with a little patience and careful calculating over time.

    I have used online calculators, a HRM, and a Fitbit to track my numbers over the years, and based on my successful progress and all my numbers agreeing with each other within a 100 cals or so, I think I've dialed it in pretty well.

    All calculations from HRMs, an all day tracker, or an online calculator are going to be estimates, but give it 4-6 weeks at a certain number, paired with logging food as accurately as possible, and you can make adjustments up or down as needed and stay on target.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Losing 2 pounds in 4 weeks is not the same thing as "not losing". In fact, it's pretty much the opposite. You're losing weight at an average pace of 0.5lbs/week.

    Maybe you'd prefer to lose weight faster than that. But remember that the scale has a range of 4-5 pounds just with normal hormonal, water weight and daily fluctuations.

    Stick with it. Track the trend, not the individual points.

    BMR is basically an irrelevant number. If yours happens to be ~500 under your TDEE, then you might well be eating that many calories to target 1lb/week loss, but that's just a coincidence.
  • emdeesea
    emdeesea Posts: 1,823 Member
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    fausonk wrote: »
    ...but how do you weigh that finger-full of dip or those 2 french fries from your son's plate? Those are the things where I just have to guess, but I do log them.

    Those "only 2 fries" or finger full of dip all add up. That's a habit you should try to stop all together.

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    2 pounds in 4 weeks = .5 pounds a week or about 250 daily deficit. Its not hard to be off by 250-500 per day if you're estimating portions, not logging all condiments/oils/drinks/etc. Depends on the types of foods you estimate. Estimating on peanut butter can be a big range, while estimating on lettuce is negligible. Just an example.

    How active are you in your lifestyle, how much do you exercise?

    The good news: you ARE losing. And its only 4 weeks in. You can improve your results by being more accurate on your intake log.
    fausonk wrote: »
    Yes, I weigh my food. Maybe not everything, but most things. And, like I said, even if I'm off by some factor, I'm not off by 1000 calories in a day (which is about what I'd need to be off by to explain this non-weight loss).

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