Why aren't I losing any weight?
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ChrisM8971 wrote: »abijones75 wrote: »Hmm pretty sure the fact that my one use of butter per day may be out by 1 tsp is not going to completely ruin all of my efforts...it's only going to equate to an excess of about 34 calories! As I said before, everything else is measured using the barcode scanner, I'm not guessing quantities of anything else whatsoever.
Quick question for you, do you check the information that the barcode scanner picks up as being accurate? Most of the time I use that thing it picks up some random user entry that bears no resemblance to whats actually on the packet. Believe me the entry and the actual nutritional information can vary by a huge amount.
Getting the best out of this site does take a lot of work sometimes but once you accept that you have to check and double check everything then it does work well
This, and I often find discrepancies between what the packages says for weight and the actual weight. Usually when I weigh the prepackaged item it's heavier than the package says, which means the number of calories I am eating is sometimes much higher.
OP, a few of these items add up quickly and can be enough to slow or halt your progres. So yes, you need to weigh packaged items as well. That being said there are many reasons your scale may not change. Sodium causes water retention. As already mentioned, increased exercise can cause water retention. And TOM can cause water retention.
I suggest taking measurements and before/progress pictures to have additional metrics other than just the scale weight.0 -
I had a few friends asking the same question recently. Looking at your diary, you seem to be having the same issues they were.
You probably need to calculate your net calorie deficit (not what MFP calls net calories on your home page, but actual net calories), and adjust your diet and exercise accordingly. I wrote this short blog post for them to use as a reference: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ArwenP/view/getting-no-results-while-eating-low-cal-and-exercising-helpful-info-788267
I could quote you a dozen medical sources that say the same thing, but they tend to be too clinical; the blog post is more user friendly. It's a pretty easy calculation to do and my post explains it simply. This should help you adjust what you're doing for better results. My friends, who have used this calculation since I posted it, are finding it very helpful.
Best of luck!0 -
I had a few friends asking the same question recently. Looking at your diary, you seem to be having the same issues they were.
You probably need to calculate your net calorie deficit (not what MFP calls net calories on your home page, but actual net calories), and adjust your diet and exercise accordingly. I wrote this short blog post for them to use as a reference: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ArwenP/view/getting-no-results-while-eating-low-cal-and-exercising-helpful-info-788267
I could quote you a dozen medical sources that say the same thing, but they tend to be too clinical; the blog post is more user friendly. It's a pretty easy calculation to do and my post explains it simply. This should help you adjust what you're doing for better results. My friends, who have used this calculation since I posted it, are finding it very helpful.
Best of luck!
Please can you link some of those medical sources because I found the post a little confusing, first RMR is what you burn laying in bed and then you say about the activity burnt as part of your RMR. Sounds like you are confusing BMR and NEAT there.
I can't see how that method of calculating RMR is more accurate than the system MFP uses for calculating NEAT and it assumes it is the same for everyone no matter what their body composition is.
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I had a few friends asking the same question recently. Looking at your diary, you seem to be having the same issues they were.
You probably need to calculate your net calorie deficit (not what MFP calls net calories on your home page, but actual net calories), and adjust your diet and exercise accordingly. I wrote this short blog post for them to use as a reference: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ArwenP/view/getting-no-results-while-eating-low-cal-and-exercising-helpful-info-788267
I could quote you a dozen medical sources that say the same thing, but they tend to be too clinical; the blog post is more user friendly. It's a pretty easy calculation to do and my post explains it simply. This should help you adjust what you're doing for better results. My friends, who have used this calculation since I posted it, are finding it very helpful.
Best of luck!
Oh my gosh why would you think this is necessary ? I don't understand your advice nor your blog post to be honest. Really can't follow those numbers
You say a 200lbs woman has an RMR of 2000.. that's like 400 calories higher than mine would have been at 200lbs
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Definitely weigh absolutely all solids that you eat as well as scanning/logging, especially things like butter, oils and peanut butter. They're very calorie dense, so 'just a tiny bit more' can equate to 50 extra calories.abijones75 wrote: »The butter is whatever it takes to spread a slice of toast, so I did guess 2 tsps. I measure my milk for cereal, for everything else I've used the barcode scanner. I'm eating so little compared to what I was though, and not drinking any alcohol which I was drinking loads of over Xmas, so I had expected to see a bigger change more quickly. What you said about the exercise makes sense though, I've been sore so that could be it.
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No I haven't Chris but I will try to today. dianne and rabbit, you scan the foods barcode and it says ' 1 slice' or 'one burger' etc...why do i need to then measure out the serving or adjust the grams??0
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abijones75 wrote: »No I haven't Chris but I will try to today. dianne and rabbit, you scan the foods barcode and it says ' 1 slice' or 'one burger' etc...why do i need to then measure out the serving or adjust the grams??
For a slice or a prepared burger, and for your case as described in the thread, you don't need to.
But for some people, when all else fails and they don't see that using teaspoons to measure peanut butter or are loose with other measurements then it is very important to have tight measurements. If you are still seeing a lot of variance, uncomfortable with it, then weighing out food more is one method of improving quality of counting.0 -
abijones75 wrote: »No I haven't Chris but I will try to today. dianne and rabbit, you scan the foods barcode and it says ' 1 slice' or 'one burger' etc...why do i need to then measure out the serving or adjust the grams??
My dinner yesterday was a home made chicken stir fry for two people. This is the packet weights vs the true weights.
Chicken breast diced pkt 400g/weighed 372g (Robbed me of protein!)
Beansprouts pkt 200g/weighed 220g
Button mushrooms pkt 250g/weighed 260g
Morrisons sweet chilli egg noodles pkt 250g/weighed 272g
That is just a couple of items and they were all way off. Typically food labels are wrong by up to 20%. The only way to be accurate is to way them out. The worst I ever had was a slice of prepacked cheese cake from Marks and Spencer. Meant to weigh 97g and it weighed 129g. That is a lot of calories difference.0 -
abijones75 wrote: »No I haven't Chris but I will try to today. dianne and rabbit, you scan the foods barcode and it says ' 1 slice' or 'one burger' etc...why do i need to then measure out the serving or adjust the grams??
I explained the reason for weighing prepackaged portions above.0 -
abijones75 wrote: »No I haven't Chris but I will try to today. dianne and rabbit, you scan the foods barcode and it says ' 1 slice' or 'one burger' etc...why do i need to then measure out the serving or adjust the grams??
Because you have no way of knowing -- without weighing -- whether the amount you are calling "1 slice" or "1 burger" matches what the person who created the entry is calling "1 slice" or "1 burger." If you aren't weighing, you could be eating more than you think.0 -
There are several of you in here who just seem to pick apart everything that I have to say and Just MABYE you are right, Maybe you are all experts of some sort and I just wasn't aware. I am not an expert, on anything really, I have no formal training, I am just muddling through and picking up the best info that I can. If any of you have a broader knowledge base than I do, then that is GREAT. But as of now, I do trust what a Doctor whom I have come to trust over many years tells me over and above what I read on the internet.
So when you start telling me that an MD has no idea about nutrition and dieting, without knowing anything about that particular physician or his credentials I have to ask the question.
Are any of you registered dietitians? Nutritionists? or even Personal trainers? (I do not ask this with sarcasm, as it may seem,) I truly want to know your credentials. You may very well have a degree or training in this field which really DOES make you an expert.
If you are, then I will give you your well deserved credit and acknowledge your experience in the field. But even in doing THAT I will tell you that from my own personal experiences with no "scientific jargon" to back it up, what the Dr said has seemed to ring true for me personally. I have lost inches without losing lbs. I have "tricked" my metabolism into higher gear by changing up calorie and exercise patterns.
However, if you have no special training or education above the rest of us then there is no more validity to your claims than there are to anyone else's. So BACK OFF
By the way, All of you seem to be completely ignoring one point, the most important one.. (probably because you cannot argue with it)
If you FEEL BETTER, If your clothing is Fitting Looser, If your Measurements are Decreasing, then there is SOMETHING GOOD going on in your body. and the SCALES ALONE DO NOT TELL THE ENTIRE STORY.0 -
lynnstrick01 wrote: »There are several of you in here who just seem to pick apart everything that I have to say and Just MABYE you are right, Maybe you are all experts of some sort and I just wasn't aware. I am not an expert, on anything really, I have no formal training, I am just muddling through and picking up the best info that I can. If any of you have a broader knowledge base than I do, then that is GREAT. But as of now, I do trust what a Doctor whom I have come to trust over many years tells me over and above what I read on the internet.
So when you start telling me that an MD has no idea about nutrition and dieting, without knowing anything about that particular physician or his credentials I have to ask the question.
Are any of you registered dietitians? Nutritionists? or even Personal trainers? (I do not ask this with sarcasm, as it may seem,) I truly want to know your credentials. You may very well have a degree or training in this field which really DOES make you an expert.
If you are, then I will give you your well deserved credit and acknowledge your experience in the field. But even in doing THAT I will tell you that from my own personal experiences with no "scientific jargon" to back it up, what the Dr said has seemed to ring true for me personally. I have lost inches without losing lbs. I have "tricked" my metabolism into higher gear by changing up calorie and exercise patterns.
However, if you have no special training or education above the rest of us then there is no more validity to your claims than there are to anyone else's. So BACK OFF
By the way, All of you seem to be completely ignoring one point, the most important one.. (probably because you cannot argue with it)
If you FEEL BETTER, If your clothing is Fitting Looser, If your Measurements are Decreasing, then there is SOMETHING GOOD going on in your body. and the SCALES ALONE DO NOT TELL THE ENTIRE STORY.
You are right that the info that your doctor, as it pertains to you or your mother, shouldn't be critiqued without further input. But that isn't the case here - this is an open discussion on the OP and you are bringing your understanding of what your doctor said to her case.
Context matters.
And yes, some people did question your doctor - take that with a grain of salt - his advice doesn't pertain to what is going on with the OP. At least not yet and not in a relevant way. It doesn't discredit your MD.
As to my own credentials, aside from years of self-study in this area, I trained as a healthcare professional (specialisation in biomedical engineering and biomaterials, biology) in some pretty good schools. But my credential or your doctors don't matter as much as learning personally how weightloss, nutrition and physiology function. Even someone here without any formal degrees can be a vast fountain of knowledge - don't let the degrees fool you.
I don't think anyone ignores that scales don't tell the entire story. You're right to point that out - but it wasn't the OP's question.
I hope you didn't feel that my post upstream was an attack on your doctor. It was, and remains, focused on the information posted here.
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nutmegoreo wrote: »abijones75 wrote: »No I haven't Chris but I will try to today. dianne and rabbit, you scan the foods barcode and it says ' 1 slice' or 'one burger' etc...why do i need to then measure out the serving or adjust the grams??
I explained the reason for weighing prepackaged portions above.
Sorry, I should explain further to extrapolate from prepackaged to '1 slice' as a serving size. Let's use my flatwraps as an example. The package says that 1 wrap is 59 g and contains 170 calories. When I weighed it this morning, the one I am having for lunch weighs 63 g. Although it may not seem like much, (it's only 16 calories more), those types of inaccuracies can make a significant different because they will add up through the day. If you continue to be stalled on weight loss, it may be worth taking this into consideration.
I still think that you need to give it more time, it's been a short amount of time since you started, and there are many other factors in play (such as the water weight fluctuations I mentioned earlier). Some time and patience does wonders for this process. I know how frustrating the lack of scale movement can be though.0 -
abijones75 wrote: »No I haven't Chris but I will try to today. dianne and rabbit, you scan the foods barcode and it says ' 1 slice' or 'one burger' etc...why do i need to then measure out the serving or adjust the grams??
Over the holidays I fell in love with these delicious prepackaged brioche buns for my burgers. After a full day at the climbing wall, I would treat myself to 3 of these burgers for dinner (climbing is hard work and hanger set in). Having grown lazy in my logging over Christmas, I'd scan the barcode and choose "1 bun" x 3, as you're doing, and weigh out my other ingredients as normal.
Then January came around and I went back to being vigilant in my weighing and package checking. And I discovered the calorie input from the scanned barcode in the MFP database was incorrect, and that each of those brioche buns had wildly different weights. My logging was off by 450 calories.
TL;DR: Weigh your food. Check the package. Don't be lazy.0 -
abijones75 wrote: »No I haven't Chris but I will try to today. dianne and rabbit, you scan the foods barcode and it says ' 1 slice' or 'one burger' etc...why do i need to then measure out the serving or adjust the grams??
Over the holidays I fell in love with these delicious prepackaged brioche buns for my burgers. After a full day at the climbing wall, I would treat myself to 3 of these burgers for dinner (climbing is hard work and hanger set in). Having grown lazy in my logging over Christmas, I'd scan the barcode and choose "1 bun" x 3, as you're doing, and weigh out my other ingredients as normal.
Then January came around and I went back to being vigilant in my weighing and package checking. And I discovered the calorie input from the scanned barcode in the MFP database was incorrect, and that each of those brioche buns had wildly different weights. My logging was off by 450 calories.
TL;DR: Weigh your food. Check the package. Don't be lazy.
That's a better example than mine. I was being too lazy to search for something that demonstrates the point as well :laugh:0 -
Looking at your diary you are eating just under 1200 cals a day but exercising an average 600 cals a day. Perhaps you could try eating some of your exercise calories as you are only on 600 cals a day if you take into account your exercise.0
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joannemgregory wrote: »Looking at your diary you are eating just under 1200 cals a day but exercising an average 600 cals a day. Perhaps you could try eating some of your exercise calories as you are only on 600 cals a day if you take into account your exercise.
While eating back calories burned through exercise is a good idea, if OP isn't losing weight now, adding more calories isn't going to address that. First she should get a handle on what she's actually eating (by accurately logging).0 -
lynnstrick01 wrote: »There are several of you in here who just seem to pick apart everything that I have to say and Just MABYE you are right, Maybe you are all experts of some sort and I just wasn't aware. I am not an expert, on anything really, I have no formal training, I am just muddling through and picking up the best info that I can. If any of you have a broader knowledge base than I do, then that is GREAT. But as of now, I do trust what a Doctor whom I have come to trust over many years tells me over and above what I read on the internet.
So when you start telling me that an MD has no idea about nutrition and dieting, without knowing anything about that particular physician or his credentials I have to ask the question.
Are any of you registered dietitians? Nutritionists? or even Personal trainers? (I do not ask this with sarcasm, as it may seem,) I truly want to know your credentials. You may very well have a degree or training in this field which really DOES make you an expert.
If you are, then I will give you your well deserved credit and acknowledge your experience in the field. But even in doing THAT I will tell you that from my own personal experiences with no "scientific jargon" to back it up, what the Dr said has seemed to ring true for me personally. I have lost inches without losing lbs. I have "tricked" my metabolism into higher gear by changing up calorie and exercise patterns.
However, if you have no special training or education above the rest of us then there is no more validity to your claims than there are to anyone else's. So BACK OFF
By the way, All of you seem to be completely ignoring one point, the most important one.. (probably because you cannot argue with it)
If you FEEL BETTER, If your clothing is Fitting Looser, If your Measurements are Decreasing, then there is SOMETHING GOOD going on in your body. and the SCALES ALONE DO NOT TELL THE ENTIRE STORY.
I have seen you say this repeatedly - about scales not telling the whole story. That's true. I don't think anyone here is ignoring that. If you stick around and pay attention, you'll probably start to see that people around here do agree with that.
However, the OP's post was about not losing, and posters are directly addressing that through the two most glaring things that stick out - time and logging. I think there's at least one post that does point out that OP may want to look at other factors regarding progress. Additionally, a person doesn't need to have formal education to have GOOD knowledge about weight loss and nutrition.
OP, I agree with everyone who is saying first and foremost, you need patience, secondly, you could be more accurate in your logging, and lastly, look at other indicators of progress. Everyone's already said it, but I'm just adding my voice to those.0 -
It took me 2 months until I noticed any weight loss.
Weight yourself naked, first thing in the morning sheet you visit the bathroom.
Be patient.0 -
EvgeniZyntx wrote: »lynnstrick01 wrote: »lynnstrick01 wrote: »A couple of things could be happening to you, first and foremost, drastically cutting calories and increasing exercise all at once puts your body into a sort of "shock" it thinks that you are starving.. so it reduces metabolism. and secondly, remember muscle weighs more than fat, If you are feeling a little sore from all this exercise you are likely building muscle, try body measurements, waist, chest, hips, arms and thighs, the scales don't always tell the whole story.
this is not true
what Evgeni said is true, but this post you can ignore because none of it is true
Excuse me,, but this information came directly from an internal medicine Dr. when I visited him with my mother regarding her weight loss for diabetes, please check your facts before you call someone a liar
I'm really sorry - and I know it bites because you've been told it by somebody you should be able to trust
but it truly is incorrect
all of it
Body's do not go into shock by lowering calories, metabolism is affected but not to the point you will go into starvation mode which does exist but is a precursor to death
- please look into adaptive thermogenesis, which is a thing but not to the extent that if calories in are lower than calories out you would stop losing scale weight and Minnesota Starvation Experiment amongst other studies
Muscle does indeed weigh more than fat by volume .. but the pain is DOMS and a result of inflammation and muscle repair .. you are not building muscle in a week .. oh I wish .. a woman doing everything right can possibly build 10 - 15lbs in the first year of following a proper progressive resistance programme with a proper attention to calorie and protein intake. It doesn't just happen cos someone is moving a little more, it takes concerted effort over time .. and adequate building blocks .. even in defecit somebody overweight would not build enough muscle as a noob lifter to counteract the fat loss and so the scale will not be impacted
the issue for OP is length of time allowed
Let's go into detail because I don't want to give the impression that the information the doctor gave you for your mother is incorrect.
So, does metabolism go into a kind of "shock" when there are significant changes in exercise and nutrition? The short answer is - "yes, it does." But does this lead to a sudden drop in metabolism that affects weight loss for a person in a weeks versus other possible factors that affect scale weight? The short answer to that is "Nope."
Details: When we significantly cut calories (lets say you stop eating for a few days) metabolic response actually results in an increase in metabolism at about 24-72hr depending on amount of energy decrease, personal status, etc. (research really varies on this). Afterwards and on a longer scale a metabolic slow down does occur (but really noticeable at very large cuts) but not in a way that affects the smaller cuts we see in dieting in a manner that is significant after a week. Long term starvation responses may reach 15% or higher on base metabolism (I've covered that research in a long thread here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1077746/starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss) but that isn't the OP.
For someone with diabetes, probably sedentary, older and in long term diet needs this is a totally different discussion. The OP is only dieting for a week.
So, what are the details of the factors to look at first. Well, scale variance is generally due to water retention. And water retention has many factors: time of month, change in dietary salt, water absorbed (the less you take, the more you bloat...), carbohydrate to protein diet variance, recovery/healing from tissue damage, inflammation (both normal recovery, infection or dietary response), increase in glycogen sheathing for exercise capacity. And poop. Any of these factors can result in scale variance for a few pounds for a few weeks. It works itself off if you just stay calm and keep at it.
As to muscle building, that metabolic "shock", do you know what it does? It stops muscle building processes in the body COLD. If an individual is entering decreased metabolism due to significant cuts in nutritional energy the body does not build more muscle - it can't. It conserves energy. And in a short period of 1 week, doing more cardio, on a calorie cut - no, our OP is not building a significant amount of muscle that would affect her metabolism. And if she was, her metabolism would go UP.
So, the point is, while your doctor didn't lie to you about the info provided to your mother's long-term management of her disease, it doesn't apply in the way you think to the OP.
If any of the above is unclear or if you want to go into the details of this, post away.
OK so I now kinda have a crush on your mind0
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