Not losing weight after over 3 months, yada yada (please help though)

maverickmagali
maverickmagali Posts: 12 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
After glancing over the stickies for most helpful posts in this category, I get the sense that a lot of people have this issue. Naturally, the first the out of everyone's mouth (probably rightly so in 90% of cases) is that the person must be fudging what they log, or being inconsistent.

My diary is locked and needs a password, which is boopchute. Though I know that even being as careful as possible I could still be underestimating calories, I try and eat things with barcodes that are preferably single serve or can be measured to make my counts as accurate as possible. When I don't know what I ate, I err on the side of overestimating calories. I also don't lie to myself or my diary about what I eat. After all, you'll see that today I ate a lot of chocolate ("Belated National Chocolate Day" at work), and that I'm also taking some Miralax (under the advice of my doctor) for a brief bout of constipation. Whenever I make homemade food, I either add the ingredients one by one, or make a recipe if it's something I'll have leftovers of. You'll also see that I haven't skipped a day. Anywhere that it looks like I've skipped a meal just means that I ate a really large breakfast or lunch and never had much else; I almost always put something in each field, though.

I know I'm not perfect, and I knew this when I started counting. If I go over 1200 or whatever my daily goal is based on exercise (which I always underestimate), I don't beat myself up over it and just go to bed knowing that tomorrow is a fresh slate. Very rarely have I ever gone over what my maintenance calories would be (about 1850 according to most sites).

My exercise estimates are coming from Google Fit; a lot of my exercise comes from walking to and from work each day. I can assure you that it is definitely a "brisk pace" because I am almost always late either way, haha. Plus Google Fit also estimates calories expended through activity, and the "brisk pace" expenditures for the amount of walking is usually on point.

I started in mid-to-late March knowing that I weighed around 184, and as of a doctor's appointment today, I weigh about 181. To be fair, I have noticed some subtle positive body changes, but I'm not sure at this point whether I can attribute them to actual change or simply like a confidence placebo effect.

Basically, does it seem like I'm overestimating? Is there something that I'm missing? Haaaaalp.
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Replies

  • myheartsabattleground
    myheartsabattleground Posts: 2,040 Member
    Are you weighing everything ?
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,596 Member
    Two questions:

    -- do you weigh your food?

    -- what are you doing for exercise?
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,237 Member
    Google Fit severely UNDER estimates my walking burn.

    If you walk a lot and use your phone as an all day pedometer try Pacer Pedometer. It works as a TDEE adjustment.

    If you mostly do "exercise walks" you can use Strava (free version).

    Both can be connected to MFP.

    It sounds like you don't actually weigh your food. People will point out that this could be a problem.

    You HAVE lost weight so you are not in a plateau..

    You did not weigh yourself under the same conditions at the same spot at the same time.

    How much do you walk (steps and active time from google fit), what are your stats (height, weight, age)

    Cheers
  • maverickmagali
    maverickmagali Posts: 12 Member
    No, I do not weigh my food since I can't afford a food scale (law student on loans) and most of my food is pre-portioned. But as I said, I do measure anything that can be measured (i.e. is not pre-portioned) out with cups, tablespoons, etc.

    My exercise is almost entirely brisk pace walking. When I do other stuff, it's often not serious enough for me to log. I figure that if I'm expending calories and not accounting for them, it might make up for any incidental calorie underestimation.
  • maverickmagali
    maverickmagali Posts: 12 Member
    PAV8888, I walk on average 3,317 steps and a little over half an hour each day, according to Google Fit. I am a woman, 23, 5'4", and 181 lbs as of this afternoon.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,237 Member
    edited July 2015
    OK. Sedentary setting in mfp with no exercise eat back at all till you are over 5000 steps. First 3500 steps/ 35 min are already encompassed in the sedentary setting caloric allowance.
  • kk_inprogress
    kk_inprogress Posts: 3,077 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    OK. Sedentary setting in mfp with no exercise eat back at all till you are over 5000 steps

    My thoughts exactly.
  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
    Food scales cost less then $20.
  • maverickmagali
    maverickmagali Posts: 12 Member
    edited July 2015
    PAV8888, I am currently on the sedentary setting (1200 calorie/day goal) and I add in the exercise (always underestimating slightly) to MFP manually as cardio. But I will try and reach 5,000 steps, thanks!

    EDIT: Ohh, okay, I didn't know some exercise is included. I'll only add in the difference of what's over 35 now. Although I didn't get Google Fit until about a month and a half ago, and wasn't adding in much exercise then either. But that is helpful to know for sure!
  • kk_inprogress
    kk_inprogress Posts: 3,077 Member
    maverickmagali wrote: »
    PAV8888, I am currently on the sedentary setting (1200 calorie/day goal) and I add in the exercise (always underestimating slightly) to MFP manually as cardio. But I will try and reach 5,000 steps, thanks!

    You can also set the negative calorie adjustment in your diary so you will know when you've reached your goal for the day.
  • maverickmagali
    maverickmagali Posts: 12 Member
    lemonsnowdrop wrote: »
    Food scales cost less then $20.

    I'm aware, but when you can barely pay your car insurance or your rent, $20 is a lot.

  • kk_inprogress
    kk_inprogress Posts: 3,077 Member
    maverickmagali wrote: »
    lemonsnowdrop wrote: »
    Food scales cost less then $20.

    I'm aware, but when you can barely pay your car insurance or your rent, $20 is a lot.

    Makes graduation and your first paycheck SO sweet. I don't miss those days! Best of luck!
  • maverickmagali
    maverickmagali Posts: 12 Member
    You can also set the negative calorie adjustment in your diary so you will know when you've reached your goal for the day.

    How do I do that? Like, where do I go if I'm in desktop mode?
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,237 Member
    edited July 2015
    See my post edit above for more info.

    Scale is a $20 Amazon item. Eta: i hear you that this is currently an issue. Items such as peanut butter would create a huge difference.

    My daily walk average in January 2014 was no different than yours. While time constraints may be substantial, try to throw in an extra half hour walk before or after class. Will make you feel better.


    With slow weigh loss water weight gains can easily mask weight changes. Use a site such as weightgrapher.com to see your weight trend as opposed to reacting to single weigh ins. Assumes you use you own bathroom scale as opposed to only using the DR's.

    R u on campus? Lots of campuses would have intramurals or gym or pool possibly for free. Some might be a good opportunity to network with future colleagues.
  • kk_inprogress
    kk_inprogress Posts: 3,077 Member
    Exercise-->Settings-->Enable negative calorie adjustment

    I only figured this out last week and it sure got my butt in gear to meet steps on my rest days - nobody takes my calories away ;)
  • maverickmagali
    maverickmagali Posts: 12 Member
    When you say items such as peanut butter would create a huge difference, what do you mean? Should I be eating more or less peanut butter, or are you talking in terms of weighing things?

    I am unfortunately not on campus, nor do I have access to our main campus as a grad student. We do have some pools in my city though, so I might try and see if one is conducive to swimming laps because I love that stuff.
  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
    Someone should find the video about two meals looking similar but having way higher counts, or about weighing vs measuring. I would, but I'm on my phone. :(
  • kk_inprogress
    kk_inprogress Posts: 3,077 Member
    maverickmagali wrote: »
    When you say items such as peanut butter would create a huge difference, what do you mean? Should I be eating more or less peanut butter, or are you talking in terms of weighing things?

    I am unfortunately not on campus, nor do I have access to our main campus as a grad student. We do have some pools in my city though, so I might try and see if one is conducive to swimming laps because I love that stuff.

    Things like PB are notoriously difficult to accurately measure without weighing. I used to spoon out and eyeball about a teaspoon of Nutella and I was logging it as HALF the calories I was actually eating once I weighed it out in grams.

    With that said, I play devils advocate when it comes to weighing. I recommend it highly because it's SO accurate. I only actually weigh 50% of what I eat though, and have lost and maintained consistently. It's definitely helpful, but it CAN be done without a scale, too. Just be aware of foods (like PB) that are dense calorically and be safe.
  • greaseswabber
    greaseswabber Posts: 238 Member
    The difference that a food scale makes can't be overstated. If you can find a way to put aside $5 per week for a month, you won't be disappointed.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited July 2015
    maverickmagali wrote: »
    Basically, does it seem like I'm overestimating? Is there something that I'm missing? Haaaaalp.

    I got one day in and found 0.25 servings of fudge and "bbq chicken" with no details on what is in the sauce (the caloric variation between low-cal and high-cal saucing is *massive*) and 0.38 cups of beans.

    Really? 0.38 cups? How does one even measure beans, in a measuring cup, to two decimal places?

    If you want an accurate log, you're going to have to get a scale and weigh things.

    Good luck!

    :drinker:
  • maverickmagali
    maverickmagali Posts: 12 Member
    kkenseth wrote: »
    Exercise-->Settings-->Enable negative calorie adjustment

    I only figured this out last week and it sure got my butt in gear to meet steps on my rest days - nobody takes my calories away ;)

    Wait, is this a premium setting? When I go to Exercise --> Settings, it just bounces me to the general food and exercise setting page, which only gives me four options (change nutrient settings, change the names of meals, etc.).
  • kk_inprogress
    kk_inprogress Posts: 3,077 Member
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    maverickmagali wrote: »
    Basically, does it seem like I'm overestimating? Is there something that I'm missing? Haaaaalp.

    I got one day in and found 0.25 servings of fudge and 0.38 cups of beans.

    Really? 0.38? How does one even measure cups to two decimal places?

    If you want an accurate log, you're going to have to get a scale and weigh things.

    Good luck!

    :drinker:

    Don't want to hijack this thread, but how do people view the OPs diary? Do you have to be friends? When I get to OPs profile that's the only option I get.
  • maverickmagali
    maverickmagali Posts: 12 Member
    Since I can't afford a scale right now, are there any foods (aside from PB and nutella-like foods) that I might be underestimating severely? Is it typically condiments?
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,596 Member
    maverickmagali wrote: »
    No, I do not weigh my food since I can't afford a food scale (law student on loans) and most of my food is pre-portioned. But as I said, I do measure anything that can be measured (i.e. is not pre-portioned) out with cups, tablespoons, etc.

    My exercise is almost entirely brisk pace walking. When I do other stuff, it's often not serious enough for me to log. I figure that if I'm expending calories and not accounting for them, it might make up for any incidental calorie underestimation.

    A food scale might run you anywhere from about $10-20. They aren't expensive.

    And as for brisk pace walking ... that's about 100 cal for 30 min. But maybe that's what you're already calculating?

  • kk_inprogress
    kk_inprogress Posts: 3,077 Member
    maverickmagali wrote: »
    kkenseth wrote: »
    Exercise-->Settings-->Enable negative calorie adjustment

    I only figured this out last week and it sure got my butt in gear to meet steps on my rest days - nobody takes my calories away ;)

    Wait, is this a premium setting? When I go to Exercise --> Settings, it just bounces me to the general food and exercise setting page, which only gives me four options (change nutrient settings, change the names of meals, etc.).

    Haha no, I'd never pay for premium. Right under the change the meal names section, there is one called "Calorie Adjustments" and there is a small checkbox on the left. It's really small.
  • maverickmagali
    maverickmagali Posts: 12 Member
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    I got one day in and found 0.25 servings of fudge and "bbq chicken" with no details on what is in the sauce (the caloric variation between low-cal and high-cal saucing is *massive*) and 0.38 cups of beans.

    So the quarter piece of fudge was last night, and I actually cut that into even quarters. I'm confident about that one too, since I made that fudge myself for the "chocolate day" at work today. As for the .38 cups of beans, that was supposed to be .33. It was 1/3 cup, which I did measure out.

    Unfortunately with the BBQ chicken, that was at a cookout. I didn't really get a chance to ask the host exactly what kind of sauce he was using, but I will say it was a thin, barely noticeable sauce.
  • SimoneBee12
    SimoneBee12 Posts: 268 Member
    kkenseth wrote: »
    maverickmagali wrote: »
    kkenseth wrote: »
    Exercise-->Settings-->Enable negative calorie adjustment

    I only figured this out last week and it sure got my butt in gear to meet steps on my rest days - nobody takes my calories away ;)

    Wait, is this a premium setting? When I go to Exercise --> Settings, it just bounces me to the general food and exercise setting page, which only gives me four options (change nutrient settings, change the names of meals, etc.).

    Haha no, I'd never pay for premium. Right under the change the meal names section, there is one called "Calorie Adjustments" and there is a small checkbox on the left. It's really small.


    This setting only shows up sometimes, it never use to be there for me, then one day it suddenly was, so if you can't find it, your steps might not be syncing properly.

    Also, OP, you could be overestimating almost everything. Measuring cups are unreliable. I'm a grad student too, so I get where you're coming from, maybe collect all your small change together, or eat a less expensive snack for a few weeks to supplement the money?
  • kk_inprogress
    kk_inprogress Posts: 3,077 Member
    maverickmagali wrote: »
    Since I can't afford a scale right now, are there any foods (aside from PB and nutella-like foods) that I might be underestimating severely? Is it typically condiments?

    My biggest culprits are nuts, seeds, nut butters, oils, dried fruits, cheese and red meat. Not an inclusive list, but definitely the things I have had the most trouble logging correctly without weighing.
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
    My food scale was $10 at Walmart. Totally worth it and I think you'd have more success with it.

    I'd also try more veggies and less processed foods since they're high in sodium (and other things).

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