Doing it right but not getting results

RicSur
RicSur Posts: 44 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
When I started this I was getting results but now even though I run, do yoga and pilates, core and leg workouts. I eat right, very rarely having chocolate or crisps now, however when I weighed myself yesterday my weights gone back up from 14 St 7 to 15 St 6 and I perplexed as to why. My average calorie intake is around 2000 even though my allowance and activity allows almost 3000.
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Replies

  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    If your weight has up by 13lb then you are over eating.
  • sheermomentum
    sheermomentum Posts: 827 Member
    ^^ This. If you are gaining weight, then you are taking in more calories than you are burning. which is perfectly possible no matter how "right" you eat, or how much you work out. The best thing to do is figure out why and how that is happening, so you can fix it. The best way to do that is to be religious in your weighing and logging of everything you eat.
  • RicSur
    RicSur Posts: 44 Member
    That's what I don't understand though, the app says I can have 2480 before I run or walk the dog, or do my daily workout giving me a net calorie value of around 3000. So what would you suggest I do
  • RicSur
    RicSur Posts: 44 Member
    I write down everything I do, on here at least.
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 661 Member
    That 2480 sounds like what you should eat to maintain your weight. I'm not sure how tall you are, but usually MFP sets it a lot lower if you put that you want to lose weight.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    If you open your diary we can help you more.

    What is your height, weight and activity level?
  • RicSur
    RicSur Posts: 44 Member
    I'm 6ft tall
  • RicSur
    RicSur Posts: 44 Member
    I run twice a week, and do yoga, pilates, Core, pylometrics, and a range of other workouts
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    RicSur wrote: »
    I run twice a week, and do yoga, pilates, Core, pylometrics, and a range of other workouts

    By activity level I mean how active are you in your day to day life? Without including exercise. Do you have a desk job or manual job?
  • RicSur
    RicSur Posts: 44 Member
    I'm a driver, but I'm running around the yard, cleanjng vans, and when I'm delivering I also do a lot of running around and lifting. I walk the dog twice a day, three at the weekend.
  • lemonychild
    lemonychild Posts: 654 Member
    open your diary
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    edited November 2015
    RicSur wrote: »
    I'm a driver, but I'm running around the yard, cleanjng vans, and when I'm delivering I also do a lot of running around and lifting. I walk the dog twice a day, three at the weekend.

    Then I'd go with around 1950 calories a day and only eat back 25%-50% of your calorie burns as 1000 calories is probably massively over inflated.
    I'll find you the link on how to log your calories right so that you can read it to help tighten up your logging. That will get you losing again.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
  • RicSur
    RicSur Posts: 44 Member
    lemonychild wrote: »
    open your diary
    What do you mean? So that you can see it?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited November 2015
    No... If you're not getting results and your goals are realistic, you're not doing it right. Do you weigh all your food?
  • RicSur
    RicSur Posts: 44 Member
    As best I can I measure, or I'm guided by the weight on packets.
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
    Another vote for eating too much. Besides, yoga and pilates do not burn many calories at all so your burns are possibly over-inflated.
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
    RicSur wrote: »
    As best I can I measure, or I'm guided by the weight on packets.

    There's your answer right there. Unfortunately, the serving size on packages is just an estimate and isn't 100% accurate.

    Get a food scale. It'll be an eye opener.
  • RicSur
    RicSur Posts: 44 Member
    I'm guided by this and other apps, SWORKIT S health and Runtastic the main three
  • Lucille4444
    Lucille4444 Posts: 284 Member
    Many people go wrong when it comes to measuring. Salad dressing, oil for frying, everything has to be measured and counted. It is very easy to eat more calories than you think you are eating unless you are meticulous about measuring.
    Also there are temporary fluctuations caused by water weight gained and lost. Have you been weighing weekly, and how has your weight trend looked?
  • RicSur
    RicSur Posts: 44 Member
    According to this app 15 minutes pilates 143 calories. Maybe I'm not as thorough as I thought. So are you suggesting I limit myself to 2000 plus a quarter of what I burn. The app suggests 50 per cent cars 30 protein 20 fats
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
    RicSur wrote: »
    According to this app 15 minutes pilates 143 calories. Maybe I'm not as thorough as I thought. So are you suggesting I limit myself to 2000 plus a quarter of what I burn. The app suggests 50 per cent cars 30 protein 20 fats

    Macros aren't really important for weight loss. But, yes, you need to cut your calories and only eat back a percentage of the exercise calories. I have no clue how an app could say 15 minutes of pilates burns 143 calories. That's utterly ridiculous.
  • mk732
    mk732 Posts: 17 Member
    RicSur wrote: »
    According to this app 15 minutes pilates 143 calories. Maybe I'm not as thorough as I thought. So are you suggesting I limit myself to 2000 plus a quarter of what I burn. The app suggests 50 per cent cars 30 protein 20 fats

    The exercise calories that MFP gives are over inflated. 143 calories for just 15 minutes of pilates seems way too high to me. I think you need to keep in mind that all these calculators are just providing you estimates and aren't 100% accurate. So if you're not losing weight on the amount of calories that you've been eating based on what you've been given by the calculators then you need to lower your caloric intake.
  • RicSur
    RicSur Posts: 44 Member
    Then I shall cut down to 2000 plus a quarter of my burn
  • mrsnazario1219
    mrsnazario1219 Posts: 173 Member
    You may very well be eating more than you think. You should really get a food scale.
  • Derf_Smeggle
    Derf_Smeggle Posts: 610 Member
    Three of the things that we always have to remember is that the calculation for our calorie usage is an estimate, we are really good at underestimating our food consumption, and we overestimate the calories burned when exercising.

    I'm going to start with an assumption based on your 2480 to 3000 calorie allowance that you set MFP's activity level in the calculator to "Very Active". You probably need to lower that a tick to "Active".

    In the US, the serving size measurement in cups is often completely unrealistic, and doesn't match the gram weight offered in parenthesis. Plus, multiple studies show we underestimate how much we ate by a median of 30%. Meaning a reported 2480 calories intake typical closer to 3200 calories. Inaccuracy is a huge problem for weight loss, and everyone is prone to it. Weighing your food is most accurate. Using an actually measuring cup set is the next step down. Eyeballing it is the least accurate.

    Finally exercise is awesome for hundreds of physiological aspects of our bodies, but the research is in. We cannot out exercise our eating habits, meaning exercise doesn't burn the calories we think. Eat habits are crucial.

    Reevaluate the methods being using. Make changes because somewhere there are errors.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,756 Member
    Obviously you are eating more than you are logging. It is common. Accurate measurements are important, and our perceived serving sizes are not reality.
    I don't even log exercise calories at all. I just cant trust the readouts.
    Combination of both these factors can be huge.
  • icemaiden37
    icemaiden37 Posts: 238 Member
    Interesting YouTube video about portion sizes:

    http://youtu.be/vjKPIcI51lU
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
    edited November 2015
    Along with making sure that you are weighing your food you have to make sure that you are using the correct food entries. That is why people are asking you to set your diary settings to public. Many of them are user entered and may be incorrect or outdated. Go into the helpful posts thread pinned at the top of the forum and read the one named "Logging Accurately".
  • VisofSer
    VisofSer Posts: 130 Member
    Derf_Smeggle wrote: »
    Finally exercise is awesome for hundreds of physiological aspects of our bodies, but the research is in. We cannot out exercise our eating habits, meaning exercise doesn't burn the calories we think. Eat habits are crucial.

    I agree with this, but for accuracy sake it is possible to out work a poor diet. It is not reasonable however, and generally the people able to do this are athletes who need 4,000+ calories a day simply to maintain weight. It is also the difference between doing 30 to 60 minutes exercise a day for healthy, and doing 3 to 5 hours of it. Extremely difficult and a bad idea as well to even try due to the stress applied going from active to extreme.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited November 2015
    crb426 wrote: »
    That 2480 sounds like what you should eat to maintain your weight. I'm not sure how tall you are, but usually MFP sets it a lot lower if you put that you want to lose weight.

    not for a 6' tall male.

    OP, I would invest in a food scale if you haven't already. also, make sure you're selecting legitimate entries from the database, not generic entries like, "so and so's homemade lasagna" or whatever. also, check the batteries in you scale.

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