Help please

bmbilvr
bmbilvr Posts: 20 Member
edited November 25 in Health and Weight Loss
I have logged into mfp for 195+ days and although most of that time I was just making sure I was logging in and not paying close attention to what I was consuming nor was I doing much exercise. the past 4 weeks I have ( according to my vivo fit ) burned an average of around 1200 calories after spending 2 1/2-3 hours at the gym doing cardio and weight lifting( some free weights and some machines), also doing squats with kettle bells and planks as I have a weak back and my physical therapist has me doing lots of planks to try to fix that problem.

with all this exercise and also the past month being extremely aware of what I was eating I haven't lost any weight at all.... I am so frustrated....( my daily calorie goal is 1500)

does anyone have any advice for me? I am now off to the gym again... I try for 5 days a week and sometimes make 6 days but always take one day off for rest... I refuse to give up yet but again I am not understanding why I am stuck at the same weight. I do feel better and have more energy, but .......please help

TIA.....

Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Would you mind opening your diary? The problem is not with your exercise, it is most likely with your intake and logging.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    There is likely some water retention from all that exercise.

    How are determining that you're eating 1500 a day?
  • bmbilvr
    bmbilvr Posts: 20 Member
    I weigh and measure everything I am eating... I also take a water pill daily for high blood pressure ( hereditary ) and have done that since I was 26 years old.. I am now 44... I wonder am I not eating enough or too much... with the exercise I am doing.. My weight lifting is around 45 minutes of my 2 1/2-3 hours spent at the gym.
  • bmbilvr
    bmbilvr Posts: 20 Member
    how do I open my diary?
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    edited October 2015
    If you aren't losing, it's not because you aren't eating enough.

    If you're absolutely, positively convinced that your logging of 1500 is accurate, I'd give it a few more weeks. If you still haven't lost, 1500 is your maintenance level. Which, given 2.5-3 hours of exercise a day, seems pretty unlikely.

    Weight lifting burns relatively few calories and a lot less than people typically think it does.
  • bmbilvr
    bmbilvr Posts: 20 Member
    I figured out how to open the diary... please feel free to look and tell me what I am doing wrong.. thanks..
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    First, I'm seeing a high calorie burn. You are most liking not burring 1300 calories at the gym.
    Some more things that can be weighed: butter, dinner rolls,
    I see some generic entries, not sure if you cooked them yourself or if you were out and guessing (that happens).

    Generally I'm seeing many days over 1500 calories.
  • choppie70
    choppie70 Posts: 544 Member
    Even if you are on a diuretic, you can still retain water. Especially if your exercise routine is fairly new. Your muscles will hold onto water to help repair themselves.

    I do notice in your diary that you go over on sodium a lot. I am on a diuretic for high blood pressure and when I go over on my sodium I definitely retain water the next day. There are some entries that are not weighed and some that are generic like "1 serving". I suggest making sure you weigh EVERYTHING.

    I would also take measurements. The scale may not be moving but your body may be changing.

    I also think your calorie burn is really high. Even when I was at 227 my calorie burns were never over 600 at the gym.
  • bmbilvr
    bmbilvr Posts: 20 Member
    wow ok I have a heart monitor that I use and it is based on my weight and age. So what you all are saying is that the heart monitors are incorrect? I do eat smoked fish a lot, I make my own, brine and smoke it at home, I also bake all my own breads, pasta's, food ect... we rarely go out to eat...I do love beer but I have limited myself to only one day on the weekends I guess I will have to be super strict on eating just the 1500 calories allotted to me and keep exercising but ignore the exercising calories....

    yes I should take measurements.. I haven't taken them at all.... my clothes feel fine putting them on... but they are not looser, which at this point I hoped they would be... my weight is 215 and I am 5'3" and I am 44 years old... so I believe I should be eating about 1500 calories per day.. or am I wrong with that assumption too??

    thanks for the input it is much appreciated.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    You have a lot of generic and homemade entries, these are inaccurate. You have Beef Chuck Pot Roast, 4 oz 195. Did you actually weigh this? It's unusual to get 4 oz. dead on. You have whole New Potatoes, 1.5 medium potatoes (158g 53 calories, when 158 grams is actually 141 calories.
    Use a food scale.
    Additionally, if you are using an activity tracker, you should enable negative calorie adjustments, set your activity level to sedentary and let the tracker do the rest.
  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
    Your calories seem low to me. I'm 52, 5'6" and I started at 200, now 189. I eat between 1600-2200 a day and I only walk & do simple body weight exercises. I only macro out the protein at 100 grams a day to maintain my lean body mass (yes the rest is fat! Yikes!) I'm pretty much carb & fat agnostic: they seesaw naturally via calorie restriction. Higher carb days are naturally lower in fat; higher fat days are naturally lower in carbs. I do eat 'clean' eg pastured meat & eggs, organic produce, very little white grains, very little added sugar. I drink a beer or have a glass of wine a few nights a week if calorie deficit allows. And the fats I use are traditional, like olive oil or butter or coconut oil. But during the past 8 weeks I have also made some in&out, Taco Bell & pizza runs... Not proud, but realistic. I diligently log the crap. One day I ate 1000 extra calories at a family party. And I thought I was being sparing! Ha! I do weigh EVERYTHING at home. Everything!!! Let me put that another way: Every. Last. Stinking. Thing. And I enter my recipes so I'm sure of those calories per serving. I drink plenty of water. I've lost 11 lbs in about 8 weeks. I think if you can get in a modest 300-500 calorie deficit that you are sure is accurate you will see some movement slowly over time.
  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
    Also, sorry to pry but if you are in active menopause your hormones may fight you! Another reason to gaslight your body with slower, sneakier deficits. Tortoise not hare. I'm all done with that & my body feels so much more responsive again. Better sleep. No cravings. No bloat or crying jags or hot flashes!
  • bmbilvr
    bmbilvr Posts: 20 Member
    yikes!!! I hope not yet!!! I enabled the negative calorie adjustment and will be super diligent on my food intake measuring and weighing everything....

    I am truly grateful for the input... every little bit helps!!
  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
    edited October 2015
    You'll do fine! Keeping an open mind, evaluating fresh input, and thinking on your feet to implement little tweaks will pay off in the end. See what works! I had to up my step count once I saw that I was already accustomed to 10k steps a day. And I drove myself batty fretting about carbs/fats until I realized protein was the keystone of that puzzle for me.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    Eat the 1500.
  • choppie70
    choppie70 Posts: 544 Member
    bmbilvr wrote: »
    my weight is 215 and I am 5'3" and I am 44 years old... so I believe I should be eating about 1500 calories per day.. or am I wrong with that assumption too??

    thanks for the input it is much appreciated.

    I started out at 227 and am 5' 2 1/2". I am also 44 (well 45 later this month!). I put a goal to lose 2 lbs a week which put me at 1200 calories. I eat back about 1/2 of my calories from exercise, which puts me at about 1500 - 1600 a day. I have steadily lost about 1 1/2 half - 2 lbs a week since late June.

  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
    Is a really helpful post for logging accurately.
  • bmbilvr
    bmbilvr Posts: 20 Member
    Thank you all for the advice it is very much appreciated and I'll take it to heart!! And additional help will be great
This discussion has been closed.

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