Plateau? Not eating enough? Help!

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Replies

  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    The only way to gauge the accuracy of any device is to trust it for several weeks, then reevaluate your progress. I eat back 100% of my Fitbit adjustments, lost the weight, and kept it off.

    But you must enable negative calorie adjustments in your diary settings. And, of course, log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly.
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
    shellerbeller1 wrote: »
    So I started consistently logging on MFP at the beginning of July. I started at 268 (height 5'6", female) and I now weigh 254. I have been stuck at 254 since the beginning of August.

    About me: I have my goal set at 1800. MFP recommended 1610 (2lbs/week loss), but I consulted with a health coach and she recommended between 1700-1800 based on my BMR. I stick pretty close to that most of the time. About 80% of what I eat is unprocessed whole foods. I weigh and measure most of my food. I pay attention to my macros (50% carbs, 30% fat, and 20% protein- the defaults on MFP) but I'm certainly not perfect. I drink a ton of water.

    I wear a Misfit Flash and shoot for 10000 steps every day which ususally equals a 2-3 mile AM walk and the rest from regular day-to-day activity. I have started doing 30 Day Shred 3x/week. Before that, I was doing a some other body weight strength exercises (squats, planks, push-ups,etc.) about 20 minutes a day 3x/week. I generally have anywhere from 300-600 extra calories from exercise that I don't usually eat back.

    I do not have any underlying medical conditions that I am aware of.

    What am I doing wrong? I am mentally in a great place about getting to a healthy weight, but seeing no results (on the scale) is so discouraging. I took measurements yesterday, and nothing has changed since the beginning of August. Is this just a plateau? Was I just spoiled by that first month where the weight just seemed to fall off? Any advice?

    So what exactly do you mean by I stick pretty close to that most of the time and I weigh and measure most of my food?

    If you don't have an accurate picture of what you're eating, you could unknowingly be eating waaaaay more than you thought you were.

    Also, it can take time to see a consistent loss. It is also recommended to eat back some of your exercise calories. I'm not saying starvation mode here before anyone thinks so, I'm just pointing out that you could have (without destructing your progress) an extra 150 - 300 calories of food on those days *legit 150-300 calories, you'd definitely want to weigh/measure that out or else it will be counter-productive.
  • shellerbeller1
    shellerbeller1 Posts: 9 Member
    acorsaut89 wrote: »

    So what exactly do you mean by I stick pretty close to that most of the time and I weigh and measure most of my food?

    If you don't have an accurate picture of what you're eating, you could unknowingly be eating waaaaay more than you thought you were.

    Also, it can take time to see a consistent loss. It is also recommended to eat back some of your exercise calories. I'm not saying starvation mode here before anyone thinks so, I'm just pointing out that you could have (without destructing your progress) an extra 150 - 300 calories of food on those days *legit 150-300 calories, you'd definitely want to weigh/measure that out or else it will be counter-productive.

    By I usually stick pretty close to that, I mean I am usually within 50 calories of my 1800 calorie goal. A few days (like 2) I have been as low as 1300, a few days I have been over ( but only once did I end up in the red...by 30 calories). I weigh my food. I cook from scratch, and most of the things that other posters mentioned that I didn't log correctly (rolls, bread, jam) are my own made-from scratch recipes that I have put into the recipe analyzer myself. I know those are accurate. The only things I don't usually weigh right now are whole pieces of fruit and vegetables. I usually use measuring cups for those (cut vegetables, not whole ones). I can change that.

    A few people also said that I am probably eating back too many calories from exercise. I usually don't eat back any.
    If I go by what my dedicated fitness tracker says, I'm at a deficit of at least 1500 calories every day. That seems (is!) too high and not sustainable.

    I guess I am still wondering, assuming that I perfectly log all my food and weigh everything, am I eating the right amount of calories for my current weight and activity level?
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    edited August 2015
    If you are perfectly measuring your food and your weight isn't doing what you want, no, you aren't eating the right amount of calories.

    If you want to lose weight, you'd need to eat less. If you want to gain weight, you'd need to eat more.

    You're not at a 1500 calorie a day deficit or you'd be losing three pounds a week, on average.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    If you are perfectly measuring your food and your weight isn't doing what you want, no, you aren't eating the right amount of calories.

    If you want to lose weight, you'd need to eat less. If you want to gain weight, you'd need to eat more.

    You're not at a 1500 calorie a day deficit or you'd be losing three pounds a week, on average.

    This. I think you're really overestimating the number of calories burned by the 30DS and those body strength exercises.
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
    I actually do two sets of tracking. I use MFP for calories in and add the portion of my activity, that is deliberate aerobic exercise in MFP, which I eat some or all back. I also have a Fitbit, I have not enabled the transfer of data from my device to the MFP application. I track both in a separate spread sheet that I have used before and after MFP and or Fitbit. I have found that when I use the MFP logged as calories in and the Fitbit measurement for calories out the equation CI - CO = weight change has been over 90% accurate over about a two month period. My actual weight loss is higher than the equation by 10%, that error may be because I sometimes forget to put the Fitbit on after my shower. Measure as accurately as possible and trust the equation.
  • shellerbeller1
    shellerbeller1 Posts: 9 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    the right amount of calories.

    This. I think you're really overestimating the number of calories burned by the 30DS and those body strength exercises.

    I'm actually not even adding those into MFP at all. It's just my Misfit that automatically gives me a calorie adjustment. Maybe it is giving me far too many, which I don't doubt.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    shellerbeller1 wrote: »
    About me: I have my goal set at 1800. MFP recommended 1610 (2lbs/week loss), but I consulted with a health coach and she recommended between 1700-1800 based on my BMR. I stick pretty close to that most of the time. A

    Sounds like your health coach probably has your exercise calories factored in to your calorie goal and you indicated that you do sometimes eat them back also when Misfit gives you extra calories (although not all the time). That could account for some of the issues. The rest I'd echo what the others have said - bad logging. Get your logging more accurate and I bet you'll start seeing results in no time.

  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    edited August 2015
    I have a Misfit and a Polar watch

    But for my weight loss i just kept the MFP NEAT method to start with the first half year

    I losed over 106 pounds in 10 months ...just by weighing all my food on a food scale
    No cups no spoons no serving sizes...just weighing EVERYTHING in grams.
    The smaller your deficit the more important accurate weighing is.
    Here a short video about how much difference it can be between weighing a product or using cups and spoons.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

    About the Misfit...it gives you too much. it is too high really
    Start by using the NEAT method from MFP than in some weeks compare all the data

    For exercise eat only a max of 50% back what MFP gives you.
    Works like a charm believe me.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    shellerbeller1 wrote: »
    I have my goal set at 1800. MFP recommended 1610 (2lbs/week loss), but I consulted with a health coach and she recommended between 1700-1800 based on my BMR. I stick pretty close to that most of the time.

    I wear a Misfit Flash. I generally have anywhere from 300-600 extra calories from exercise that I don't usually eat back.

    Connect your accounts at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps/show/282

    Set your goal to .5 lb. for every 25 lbs. you're overweight: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    In the MFP app, go to More > Steps and choose Misfit.

    No need to log any step-based activity—your Misfit is tracking it for you. Log non-step exercise (like swimming or biking) either in Misfit or in MFP—never both. Exercise logged in MFP overwrites your Misfit burn during that time.

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