Don`t know what to do...

MortenJrgensen
MortenJrgensen Posts: 16
edited November 16 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I have been working out pretty hard since february. And lost 23,5kg since last summer (had a stop 3 months where i could not loose any weight becouse of medication) But the last two weeks has been the hardest, started up with strenght training in the gym, 4 times a week. Walked an avarage of 27 000 steps this week in mod/fast pace (and in very rough terrain, lot of hills here) With yesterday beating all my previous records with 41 000 steps and 34km.

And feeling in the best shape of my life! Sometimes I just start running up the hill, and I feel like I can run forever (but I can`t becouse of back problems, so have to be carefull)

I started using MyFitnessPal only 3 days ago, so I don`t have any data before that. But the last 2 days my food consumption was 1,700 calories and 1,400. MyFitnessPal tells me I am eating way to low. But I have all the energy I need for my exercise, I am not hungry and feeling just fine. It don`t feel right to be eating more.

But on the scale I had gained weight, not much! But not happy with that! Also messurments stays the same :neutral: What should I do???

Replies

  • amandastock
    amandastock Posts: 53 Member
    Wait at least a week or two before you know if you've lost weight. Also how tall are you and what do you weigh? My husband was eating 1500 calories and lost a lot of weight in two weeks but then stopped losing until he upped his calories to at least 1900/day. Now he is losing again. Too few calories will mess you up as well.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,615 Member
    edited April 2015
    First ... you're only 3 days in. Don't worry about it yet. Start to worry ... and then make adjustments after you've been here 2 weeks.

    It took me 10 days of following the recommended calories but staying exactly the same weight before I finally started losing something.
  • bethanie0825
    bethanie0825 Posts: 1,495 Member
    Personally, I only weigh myself once a week. I don't want that to be my only focus. Just give yourself a week or 2 at least. Good luck!
  • MortenJrgensen
    MortenJrgensen Posts: 16
    I am 186cm (6.1feet) and weigh 105kg 231 lbs. Had a stady weight loss of 1 kg (2.2 lbs) a week until now.

    Yes that is what makes me confused. When I burn more calories with exercise, maybe 1500 calories is to low.. And the other side again, I`m not feeling tired and have all the energy I need to do the exercise :smile:
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Are you weighing all your food? If not, you could be eating much more than you think you are.
  • MortenJrgensen
    MortenJrgensen Posts: 16
    No I don`t have a scale for that.. But I have been lucky these two days and all my food had been registered in myfitnesspal. Hope it`s correct
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    MortenJrgensen wrote: »
    No I don`t have a scale for that.. But I have been lucky these two days and all my food had been registered in myfitnesspal. Hope it`s correct

    You are likely eating much more than you think you are. Buy a food scale, weigh all solids. Table spoons and measuring cups can be very inaccurate.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,253 Member
    MortenJrgensen wrote: »
    I am 186cm (6.1feet) and weigh 105kg 231 lbs. Had a stady weight loss of 1 kg (2.2 lbs) a week until now. Yes that is what makes me confused. When I burn more calories with exercise, maybe 1500 calories is to low.. And the other side again, I`m not feeling tired and have all the energy I need to do the exercise :smile:

    Holly crap man! If you go through the links in my most recent blog post you will be able to figure out why I am suggesting what I suggest below: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/PAV8888/view/interesting-links-updates-randomly-741046

    Based on your walking alone you ought to be configured as VERY ACTIVE in MFP. At 40K steps you are even above that.

    2.2lbs per week is a fairly (in my opinion too) fast a rate for you to be losing at given your stats. A more appropriate deficit would be in the 750 range which would have you eating over 3,000 calories a day AND STILL LOSING 1.5lbs a week.

    Even at a deficit of 1000 calories you would be losing 2lbs a week and eating more than 2750 calories.

    The saving grace is that you are probably underestimating what you're eating through a combination of not using a scale for your solids and semi-solids and measuring cups for your liquids and carefully choosing cross-checked or un-starred database entries.

    Having said that, there is very little doubt that you are losing at a rate that will NOT allow you to keep the maximum amount of muscle.

    Are you in some sort of race to the bottom? You know: how little can I eat to lose super fast?
  • MortenJrgensen
    MortenJrgensen Posts: 16
    Thanks for the reply! :smile: No I am not in a race really, in fact I have not payed any attention to food until this week. Have been eating healthy though.. But focused much more on exercise! But have enjoyed and allowed my self really what ever I wanted. Since I live 10km from the store and gym, and don`t have a car, my daily routine alone give me 12-17 000 steps. And then later 2-4 more hours walking my dog.

    So maybe I should just go back to that, becouse it worked. As I said I just started going to the gym aswell, so in my mind I felt I needed to get more serious with my diet. And was planing a diet in the range 1800-2000 calories a day. But did not work this week, but one week is not enough time to tell if it works or not. The thing that`s confusing me, is I don`t feel any more hunger and do have the energy to even break my record, in steps and distance walking during one day.

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,253 Member
    Not sure what's happening in your body :smile: Obviously things are different for each person.

    I referred you to the links because often people go around thinking that "walking" is not exercise when in actual fact walking 4 hours a day puts you above the very active setting in MFP.

    As an example, today, Fitbit credited me with 39 calories more than MFP's very active setting on the strength of just 16,355 steps and about 540 feet of elevation. I only walked around for just over 2 hours (fast walking)

    In any case, there is very little reason to suspect you are not "very active".

    Honestly, why don't you set yourself as very active and to lose a lb a week (that's a deficit of 500).

    Then continue doing what you're doing and see how things develop once you start logging your food consumption accurately.

    The problem here is that we have no clue whether what you think is 1800 calories really IS that, or if is much more or less than that. Pretty sure that at 40K steps you should be coming in at close to 5K calories spent.

    Run your stats through the calculators. See for yourself that you should be eating 3K calories or more.

    Reasons you may gain water weight: high amount of salt makes your body retain water; high carb meal replenishes depleted glycogen and returns water weight you originally lost back into your muscles; you start a new exercise routine and muscles are trying to repair themselves.

    Reasons you may gain fat: you are at a caloric surplus.

    Recommendation: keep your weight loss to under 1% of body weight per week. Consume 0.8g of protein per lb of body weight.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,253 Member
    OK: I see entries for 1g of cream cheese?

    Are you using a scale? I realize that money may be tight but you really will NOT know how much you're eating till you stick your food on a scale!

    I sincerely hope you are eating much more than you think you are : - )

    Your protein seems low for a person your size; but that could be caused by inaccurate logging too!
  • MortenJrgensen
    MortenJrgensen Posts: 16
    Yes, i will try to get my self a scale next week.. Right now money is a bit tight :smile: I also think I get to little protein so I bought some protein shakes to supply some more during the day.

    It may not be 100% accurate but I have been eating less than usual. But it tells me more than not paying any attention. So I also think after this week I need to eat some more. Get a scale and get it right :smile: and the cream cheese is a very light cheese 1/4 of the calories you would find in butter.. Thank you for reply :smile:
  • bunnywestley81
    bunnywestley81 Posts: 178 Member
    Scales are awesome! Mine only cost me £10!

    It is surprising when you first start weighing how much things weigh! A large carrot can be 140g, I'd have guessed half that! (mind you, its a carrot, probably not going to break the diet!)

    I found the barcode scanner on the app to be totally helpful as well. Saves time. Although I check against packaging to make sure I got the correct info.

    I can go a few days, almost a week with minimal eating and still have energy for workouts and not feel hungry...eventually it'll catch up with me though and I may find myself eating a pizza the size of a dustbin lid!
    (I will note that I don't do it on purpose...illness, bad organisation, being too busy to even pee at work, too tired to cook proper meals etc contribute...and it doesn't happen that often!)
  • MortenJrgensen
    MortenJrgensen Posts: 16
    Yes I been looking at some scales now :smile: Yes I think it`s clear what I need to do, eat some more and get a scale and do it proper.. Thanks for all your help :smile:
  • kikichewie
    kikichewie Posts: 276 Member
    OP I think you missed the point about your cream cheese entry. Someone said you listed one gram.... That is 1/30 of a serving of cream cheese (2 tablespoons). Did you really eat a pea-sized amount of cream cheese? If you ate anywhere near a regular serving, then you could be off by almost 50 calories right there. The point is that you aren't estimating accurately yet. It takes practice with weighing and measuring your food intake (and finding correct entries in the database) before you can have any reasonable expectation of decent estimates...
  • scraver2003
    scraver2003 Posts: 526 Member
    If you are energetic and have no problems completing your workouts, then there is no need to up your calories. But like others have suggested - get a scale. I found out the mayo I add to my egg salad sammiches adds 200 calories to my sammich. 200. That is a lot of calories to try to wing it. I did find, though, that I was overestimating for butter on my popcorn (yay! I can have more butter!)
  • MortenJrgensen
    MortenJrgensen Posts: 16
    Kikichewie: Yes pretty much, just a very small amount, maybe the size of a peanut.. I get most of the taste and moisture from jalapenos. But I do get the point, I don`t know exactly how much with out a scale. But it is my third day, and I started just to get some idea of how much it all adds up. But I will get a scale and do it proper as I said :smile:
  • MortenJrgensen
    MortenJrgensen Posts: 16
    I appreciate all the help :smile: but my diary or the scale was not the point. It was not ment to be 100% correct, just an indication. The point was is 1800-2000 calories to low when I am as active everyday as I am. Until this week I have been working out less and eating more.. If I wanted a ice cream I got myself an ice cream, if I wanted beer I got some beer, and still I was loosing 2.2 lbs (1kg) And this week I been working out more and eating less and gained weight, not much but about 300 gram and no change on the measurements.

    So I will get the scale, and do as PAV8888 recommended and try aiming for about 3000 calories and see how that works :smile:
  • kikichewie
    kikichewie Posts: 276 Member
    So back to your point if you are feeling good, keep doing what you're doing to lose up to two pounds a week. If you start losing weight faster, feel lethargic, start getting sick or injured, then increase your calories.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
    I am curious how you burnt 14,000 kcal in one day!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,253 Member
    edited April 2015
    MortenJrgensen wrote: »
    and the cream cheese is a very light cheese 1/4 of the calories you would find in butter
    Hey Morten:

    I, for sure, think you probably need to eat a little bit more, and in particular items with more protein if your kidneys can accommodate the extra work.

    But, I also, believe that you are significantly under-estimating what you are currently eating.

    So, if you are feeling OK and not losing much more than 1% of your body weight per week, just track for a week with a scale, maybe even some measuring cups for liquids too, while at the same time introducing one or two higher protein lean food items (chicken breasts, fish, lean pork loin, high protein 0% yogurt, etc).

    Don't immediately go hog wild into increasing your calories, especially before you get a 1 gram accurate digital scale with "tare" function (which allows you to zero the weight of containers you place on it), and with the ability to see the readings if you have a plate on top of the scale!

    I don't have cream cheese here; but I just weighed an absolutely leveled (I passed a straight razor over it) teaspoon of margarine. It was between 4g and 5g (the scale flicked between the two), which means I would normally log it as 4.5g)

    So, I cross-referenced : - )

    By volume my teaspoon is 5ml. Online calculators for culinary schools say that 5ml of margarine has a 0.92g per ml conversion factor. This means 4.6g

    So my 4.5g estimated weight was pretty close; though knowing the 4.6g figure I would probably use it.

    You cannot spread 1g of cream cheese!

    Now, if you really ARE only eating 1g of cream cheese, you may have to do some research into metabolic adaptation.

    It is possible that because of your previous ups and downs your body has adapted. This could also be caused by a current medical condition or medication.

    If adaptation has taken place, it is possibly that your body has learned to function at a lower caloric level than what other people of a similar age, body built, and activity level would need to consume in order to function.

    This would allow you to save money on food since you would have to eat much less than most calculators assume in order to lose weight!

    On the negative side, it would also make it easier to gain weight and you may have to look into reverse dieting in order to reverse the adaptation.

    But until you're confident you're tracking correctly we remain in an information vacuum!

    Action plan!
    (read the stickies about how to weight your food and log accurately); Get a scale, measuring spoons/cups, Log as accurately as you can, eat some more protein, keep on walking! :smile:
  • MortenJrgensen
    MortenJrgensen Posts: 16
    beemerphile1: I have no idea how they count calories, I just registered what I walked in the pace i walked it and the time spent on walking.. I think it sounds waay to high myself.. And tried to spread the minutes the way I actually walked them. Like when I walk back from the gym and store in my daily routine, I walk in a fast pace in a 3k uphill road. I use brisk pace becouse it is right, I do use about 45 minutes home which is 4-5 kilometers from the city.

    And when I get home I do a another climb up another hill, with my dog who needs his exercise. We walk about 2-4 hours a day..

    I don`t got a job, I don`t got a car and I live far away from the store and walking and running is the only thing keeping me sane at the moment. And I do love it.. But you have to ask someone else how they got to the numbers they got :smile:
  • MortenJrgensen
    MortenJrgensen Posts: 16
    Screenshots from my pacer app

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    hnvwctjeth67.jpg


  • MortenJrgensen
    MortenJrgensen Posts: 16
    beemerphile1: Don`t know if that helps.. It`s the only data I got, but how they got the to the numbers I really don`t know
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,253 Member
    I don't know if I want you in my Pacer Group!
    You are more than double anyone else.
    By the way I am setup as Very Active in MFP.
    My last 7 days are 112000
  • MortenJrgensen
    MortenJrgensen Posts: 16
    Yes I would like that! :smile: I live alone and everything I do I do alone.. I got my dog and my self and it can be a bit boring
  • MortenJrgensen
    MortenJrgensen Posts: 16
    oh sorry miss read :smile: it`s 7am over here..
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,253 Member
    edited April 2015
    You're in the group now! Great chance to make us all cry when we wake up.
This discussion has been closed.

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