HELP!

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naqtnnvd525
naqtnnvd525 Posts: 3 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hey everyone! I'm 27 (about to be 28) and I've been using myfitnesspal for 24 days now. I've watched my calorie intake like a hawk, do lots of cardio everyday (except the weekends) and do some strength training and I'm staying at the same weight. I need to lose 10-15 lbs (I know that's not very much) but for my age and height, I'm overweight. Can anyone lead me in a positive direction that could help me get some change? Thanks everyone for your time!

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  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    Do you have a food scale? Are you weighing everything before you eat it? Most problems arise from inaccuracy in logging. People estimate how much they're eating without weighing or measuring and their logged calorie intake and true calorie intake can be off by as much as 1000 calories or more.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so since you last saw a drop on the scale, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

    2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

    3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

    4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

    5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

    6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

    7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

    8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

    9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.
  • naqtnnvd525
    naqtnnvd525 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thank you both for your informational responses! I will definitely consider a food scale and I am very careful about logging everything. Even the medications I take, vitamins, etc. I use FitBit for my cardio counts and add on the strength exercises as I complete them. I've never had any luck with dieting so I'm pretty much speechless right now. I'm uncomfortable in all my clothes and just don't feel well being at the weight I am right now. Do you think doing cardio everyday (like taking walks at breaks and lunch) then going home and doing some jogging/running (when I don't get bad pains in my sides) is causing my body to get used to the certain exercises?? Thanks for your time!!
  • GsKiki
    GsKiki Posts: 392 Member
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    I would agree with all of the advices above, but would just like to add that since you don't have a lot of weight to lose it might be a little bit harder. Try aiming to reduce your overall fat percentage, because BMI is sometimes not the best measurement. It's a bit harder to give you a precise advice because you haven't posted your stats, but I hope this will help. Feel free to add me, or message me if you need any help!
  • allenalrayes21
    allenalrayes21 Posts: 11 Member
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    I definitely recommend a food scale as the above post said, but most importantly do you know what your caloric deficit should be in accordance to how much you workout, age, height, weight and all that. When i picked up a food scale and got my caloric deficit from an IIFYM calculator i was able to eat almost anything i pleased as long as it fit my numbers and was able to lose about 13-15 pounds in my first month with a decrease of close to 6% body fat. I never tracked my cardio or calorie loss, just my calorie intake and worked out exactly how i said i do in the calculator.
  • naqtnnvd525
    naqtnnvd525 Posts: 3 Member
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    Allenalra
    allenalrayes21 wrote: »
    I definitely recommend a food scale as the above post said, but most importantly do you know what your caloric deficit should be in accordance to how much you workout, age, height, weight and all that. When i picked up a food scale and got my caloric deficit from an IIFYM calculator i was able to eat almost anything i pleased as long as it fit my numbers and was able to lose about 13-15 pounds in my first month with a decrease of close to 6% body fat. I never tracked my cardio or calorie loss, just my calorie intake and worked out exactly how i said i do in the calculator.

    I'm sorry I probably sound really clueless when I ask these questions but I've had no exposure to situations such as this and I'm trying to learn. Where can I find an IIFYM calculator that I don't have to pay for? I found one but it wanted me to pay for the program. Also, I use my FitBit charge to add on the steps automatically to MFP. Do you suggest I take that off there so I don't feel like I can eat more as I exercise more? Sorry again I'm very clueless about all this in general.

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