In 5 weeks you'll lose 10lbs... why is it not working?

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Replies

  • AdaVanderlyle
    AdaVanderlyle Posts: 113 Member
    Thanks so much for this !! :flowerforyou:
  • Daishadj
    Daishadj Posts: 2 Member
    WOW great post and I am definitely going back and doing some adjustments myself! Thank you for taking the time to post this!
  • Adaniel65
    Adaniel65 Posts: 105 Member
    bump
  • mary659497
    mary659497 Posts: 483 Member
    Love the post.
  • loriemn
    loriemn Posts: 292 Member
    bump
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
    Re-posting and fixing broken img link!
    MireyGal76 wrote: »
    taken from my blog (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MireyGal76/view/in-5-weeks-you-ll-lose-10lbs-why-s-it-not-working-668182) - reposting in the threads (based on feedback received :smile:)

    ********************

    When someone signs up for MFP, they are gung ho about losing weight, and want to shed those pounds FAST!

    They look at the calculator, enter their stats and are asked...

    What is your lifestyle like... Sedentary? Lightly active?
    This is such a subjective question!

    Some people are fooling themselves... and think they're very active, when in reality, they work at a desk job, and go home and watch tv for most of the night. But... Sedentary seems bad... And they're not that bad... So they set themselves as very active - fooling themselves into thinking they're able to consume more calories.

    Some other people are underestimating themselves, and think they're sedentary, when in reality, they walk to/from work, at lunch, around the office, then get home and chase kids and pets, not sitting down until they fall into bed at the end of the night exhausted. They're burning way more calories than they realize, but they hate themselves, so they pick sedentary. Determined to punish themselves into fitness.

    The daily calories expended by the first and the second are dramatically different! And what they pick, can cause pretty significant results....


    And then you have...
    How many pounds do you want to lose per week?
    How many pounds do I want to lose?
    I WANNA LOSE EM ALL!!!
    How many pounds CAN I LOSE? I can lose up to 2 pounds per week?
    signmeup_norm.png

    This is where the inevitable road to dissatisfaction and potential rage quit begins.

    Stick with me...

    According to a random website* (hehe) the average height and weight of a woman in america is 5'4" and 168 pounds. (I KNOW - GENERALIZE MUCH?)

    According to another random website** (hehe), if they're sedentary, their daily calorie expenditure is 1838.

    If that woman joined MFP and decided to lose 2lb a week... She'd be told to eat 1200 cals a day. If she religiously followed that plan, she wouldn't lose 2lb a week. If she's lucky, she'd barely scratch 1 pound a week.

    Why?
    1838_zpsg4oka5te.jpg

    Minimum calorie expenditure is 1200 cals a day. It's not safe for your to go below this value.

    If your goal causes you to dip below that daily rate, then MFP lets you set it, but will reset your min calories to 1200.

    There is no way that the average woman can lose at that rate, given the above calculations.

    In fact... in order to possibly lose 2lb per week, you'd need to be burning (at maintenance) 2200 cals per day.
    2200CPD_zps775eb892.jpg


    My settings currently have me at 2000 cals per day. I am 6'1" and 168 pounds.
    I have many tiny friends who won't reach that calorie burn in a day.

    Unless you are quite overweight...
    TO EXPECT YOURSELF TO BE ABLE TO BURN 2 LBS A WEEK IS CRAZY
    It is frustrating.

    It is unsustainable.

    And it is damaging to your goals.

    stop-it-sign.gif


    Calorie counting is a simple concept, but it's fraught with variables...
    - are you properly estimating your activity levels?
    - are you properly estimating your exercise burns?
    - are you correctly weighing, measuring, and logging your food?

    If you find that you aren't making progress... start to look at those variables...
    If you over estimate your activity levels, overestimate your burns, and under estimate your food... you won't succeed in your goals. All you will do is succeed at frustrating yourself.

    What I recommend?
    Unless you are obese (and have the help of a doctor), I strongly recommend focusing on the following:
    - 0.5 lb to 1lb a week MAXIMUM loss.
    - learn to weigh and measure your food. EVERYTHING.
    (I suffer slow calorie drain by snacking. I KILL MY CALORIES BY SNACKS... 100 cals here, 200 cals there.. until I have nothing left for supper and then give up and go over )
    - If you don't know how active you are... then go sedentary and log all exercise. LOG IT ALL. (But be honest with yourself in terms of burns... sitting on the couch folding laundry - not the same kind of housework as scrubbing floors)


    And be patient with yourself. Give it time and adjust. Adjust.
    A D J U S T.

    You didn't gain the weight in a week, you won't lose it in as much.

    Take your time.

    You can do this!

    **********************
    By all means, I welcome correction by those who know more than me...

    * http://www.livestrong.com/article/357769-weight-height-for-the-average-american-woman/
    ** http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/daily-caloric-expenditure-calculator.aspx
  • JoelleAnn78
    JoelleAnn78 Posts: 1,492 Member
    Thanks for bringing new life to this thread. It's such great information!
  • ChristieisReady
    ChristieisReady Posts: 708 Member
    MireyGal76 wrote: »
    I have further geeked out and created the following table/chart

    Each bar represents targeted weight loss per week (1/2 pound through to 2 pounds)

    CPDChart_zpsf7cfad36.jpg

    I love you. And your chart. I heart your chart.
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
    I love you. And your chart. I heart your chart.

    Thanks Christie! I find that the visual helps say what words struggle with!
  • goodgirl29730
    goodgirl29730 Posts: 1 Member
    Thank you
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
    Hey I just noticed this got stickied! YAY! :smiley:
  • TitaniaEcks
    TitaniaEcks Posts: 351 Member
    OP: I don't buy your premise. I started off as not even technically clinically overweight (10 lbs under the cutoff), and after the first week of massive water weight loss, I was able to safely lose 3 lbs per week. The reason? I cut my carbs down to under 20 a day (ketosis level) and simultaneously restricted calories. Now I've been at maintenance for many months. "Crazy"? "Unsustainable"? Horsecrap.

    Some people do better on a slow-and-steady weight loss regimen, but some of us want all of it gone *yesterday*. When you recommend to people that they lose half a pound a week, you're telling them to be happy with losing 26 lbs in an entire year. I'm sorry, but that is unacceptable to most people. I can lose that in two months. What happens to people who have ~100 lbs to lose, which is *very* common? Are they supposed to wait 4 years to fit into their college jeans? Screw that.

    It may not be your intention, but your post just encourages people to settle for less than they're capable of.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,257 Member
    Begin slow clap...
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
    OP: I don't buy your premise. I started off as not even technically clinically overweight (10 lbs under the cutoff), and after the first week of massive water weight loss, I was able to safely lose 3 lbs per week. The reason? I cut my carbs down to under 20 a day (ketosis level) and simultaneously restricted calories. Now I've been at maintenance for many months. "Crazy"? "Unsustainable"? Horsecrap.

    Some people do better on a slow-and-steady weight loss regimen, but some of us want all of it gone *yesterday*. When you recommend to people that they lose half a pound a week, you're telling them to be happy with losing 26 lbs in an entire year. I'm sorry, but that is unacceptable to most people. I can lose that in two months. What happens to people who have ~100 lbs to lose, which is *very* common? Are they supposed to wait 4 years to fit into their college jeans? Screw that.

    It may not be your intention, but your post just encourages people to settle for less than they're capable of.

    How many pounds did you have to lose?
    What are your stats?

    Did you see the part where I said "Unless you are obese (and have the help of a doctor)"?

    For the average person with 30 pounds to lose... teaching them to do whatever is necessary (or whatever they are capable of) often results in them rebounding and doing what they are capable of to regain that weight.

    The purpose of my post was to get people to understand
    a) why they may be eating at 1200 and not losing weight (because they're not actually getting the deficit they think they need due to the number of calories they'd normally burn)
    b) it is not a race to perfect figure by summer, or in time for that wedding.

    There are also mental ramifications to doing what "they're capable of" and shedding weight fast. Many times, a person needs that time to mentally adjust to the changes in their body.

    You don't gain 100 pounds overnight. You shouldn't expect to lose it that fast either.
  • karrie830
    karrie830 Posts: 8 Member
    My problem is I see the calorie deficit as an excuse to treat myself then and end up eating the calories that I just burned. I have became a pro at maintaining my current weight. The problem is I need to lose 20-30 pounds to get to my idle weight.
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
    karrie830 wrote: »
    My problem is I see the calorie deficit as an excuse to treat myself then and end up eating the calories that I just burned. I have became a pro at maintaining my current weight. The problem is I need to lose 20-30 pounds to get to my idle weight.

    But, if you have set mfp to lose weight, then the deficit is already built in to the calorie goal. It's ok to eat back some of your calories. You may not want to eat all of them depending on how accurate you are logging, but it is safe to meet your calorie goal.
  • leal536
    leal536 Posts: 4 Member
    I just started MFP along with FitBit and another app that records my walk via GPS. In the first week I lost 5 pounds and am just about to finish my 2nd week. It has been hard to NOT step on the scales each morning as I know weight can fluctuate from day to day. I have been on just about every other weight loss program and know how important it is to 1) be honest with oneself and 2) to log every bite. I find that if I am not able to measure/weigh my food, I over estimate the calories a bit. For example, if I am at the Farmer's Market, I might have a taste of a fruit or veggie. It gets logged but I don't always know what the caloric value is on, say 1 cherry! Well, my real point here is that I have learned from failure in the past that every bite needs to be logged.

    Thank you for this very informative post. Great information.
  • rightoncommander
    rightoncommander Posts: 114 Member
    OP: I don't buy your premise. I started off as not even technically clinically overweight (10 lbs under the cutoff), and after the first week of massive water weight loss, I was able to safely lose 3 lbs per week. The reason? I cut my carbs down to under 20 a day (ketosis level) and simultaneously restricted calories. Now I've been at maintenance for many months. "Crazy"? "Unsustainable"? Horsecrap.

    Some people do better on a slow-and-steady weight loss regimen, but some of us want all of it gone *yesterday*. When you recommend to people that they lose half a pound a week, you're telling them to be happy with losing 26 lbs in an entire year. I'm sorry, but that is unacceptable to most people. I can lose that in two months. What happens to people who have ~100 lbs to lose, which is *very* common? Are they supposed to wait 4 years to fit into their college jeans? Screw that.

    It may not be your intention, but your post just encourages people to settle for less than they're capable of.

    26lbs is a LOT of weight to lose in a year. How many people do you know personally who have achieved it? It's impressive whether you have 26lbs to lose or 126lbs.

    You've described a diet that you stuck to for three weeks as "sustainable". How would you know? Three weeks isn't long enough for a sensible conclusion! In fact, quite apart from its unpleasant side-effects, ketosis is by definition unsustainable, because eventually your body would run out of fat. You needed 2 diets, one to lose weight, then another to keep it off (because the first diet would eventually kill you). Why not skip step 1? Sure you'd have been a little heavier for 4 months, but you wouldn't have risked gaining back your losses in the transition. Most people, and by most people I mean almost all people, fail at that transition and gain all their weight loss back in a matter of months. I am very impressed that you have succeeded where the overwhelming majority fail.
  • MarshaGividen
    MarshaGividen Posts: 6 Member
    MireyGal76 wrote: »
    I have further geeked out and created the following table/chart

    Maintenance Cals is what your calorie intake would be if you were to neither gain or lose weight
    Each bar represents targeted weight loss per week (1/2 pound through to 2 pounds)

    You will see that if your Maintenance cals are at 1450 or lower....you will struggle to lose 0.5 pounds a week without dipping below 1200 calories.

    If you are in this position, then your solution to the problem is to increase your activity levels.
    Don't further restrict food, but rather increase activity. More exercise, take the stairs, walk more, play more. Sit less, move more!

    This is also why you eat back your exercise calories if you use the MFP formula. You don't want to have too great a deficit - it can be unhealthy for you - both in terms of the habits you form around eating, and the relationship you have with your food.

    Remember this, above all.. LIFE IS MEANT TO BE ENJOYED! Don't let this consume your life and destroy the quality of life you have. Your family and friends will remember the person you were... I'd rather have fun with 10 pounds to lose, than be miserable and at goal weight.

  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,671 Member
    First time I've ever been glad to see a zombie thread!