I feel I should have hit my goal weight by now

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amellidon
amellidon Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey so I was at 1500 cals for 2 pounds a week weight loss but I have barely lost any weight. Do I have to go lower than 1500? I know I have a couple of high calorie days but my average each week has been pretty much on target. Attached is the breakout of my last 90 days.

http://imgur.com/3i4zXu4
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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    If you are close to your goal weight, 2 pounds a week may be too aggressive of a goal.

    When you say "barely any weight," what do you mean? How much have you lost?
  • amellidon
    amellidon Posts: 5 Member
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    I lost 8 pounds over 3 months-ish but if I was doing 2 pounds a week, I should have lost a lot more. I do a lot of cardio and I weightlift for at least 5 hours a week. I don't even count the weightlifting calories I burn in this.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    amellidon wrote: »
    I lost 8 pounds over 3 months-ish but if I was doing 2 pounds a week, I should have lost a lot more. I do a lot of cardio and I weightlift for at least 5 hours a week. I don't even count the weightlifting calories I burn in this.

    Often when people aren't losing at the weight they expect it is because there is an issue with their logging. Your diary is closed -- if you open it, you may get some helpful advice.

    But 8 pounds over 3 months is pretty good.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    What is your current weight, height and age?
    I already can see that your a guy and I know that MFP's minimum for guys is 1500 calories. I am inclined to believe that you are too close to your goal weight to have a 1000 calorie deficit every day. It's similar to how if I try to set my goal to 2 lbs per week, at my current weight and activity level, I will get 1200 calories (minimum for women) and my deficit will actually only be 610 calories (which is roughly 1.2 lbs per week).

    Once your close to a healthy weight or in the healthy weight range for your height, it becomes really hard to achieve a high enough deficit to lose 2 lbs per week without doing something unhealthy.
  • GsKiki
    GsKiki Posts: 392 Member
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    Some people simply lose weight on a slower rate. Your current lost is pretty good, and if I were you I wouldn't worry about it, and just continued with your plan!
  • phill_143
    phill_143 Posts: 64 Member
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    shadow2soul wrote: »
    What is your current weight, height and age?
    I already can see that your a guy and I know that MFP's minimum for guys is 1500 calories. I am inclined to believe that you are too close to your goal weight to have a 1000 calorie deficit every day. It's similar to how if I try to set my goal to 2 lbs per week, at my current weight and activity level, I will get 1200 calories (minimum for women) and my deficit will actually only be 610 calories (which is roughly 1.2 lbs per week).

    Once your close to a healthy weight or in the healthy weight range for your height, it becomes really hard to achieve a high enough deficit to lose 2 lbs per week without doing something unhealthy.

    This is a really good point - I'd found the same as well.

    It's worth checking out what your maintainance calories would be - so you can see if this is actually a 1,000 calories a day deficit - or if the full deficit has not been applied (because it'd take you below a safe minimum level of calorie consumption).
  • mommazach
    mommazach Posts: 384 Member
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    Drown the calories. Make sure you are getting enough water!
  • Meganthedogmom
    Meganthedogmom Posts: 1,639 Member
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    I should have met my goal by now too, but I haven't because I haven't stuck to my calorie goal every single day. No big deal, just keep going and it will come off. It's okay to lose slowly, just don't give up.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    amellidon wrote: »
    I lost 8 pounds over 3 months-ish but if I was doing 2 pounds a week, I should have lost a lot more. I do a lot of cardio and I weightlift for at least 5 hours a week. I don't even count the weightlifting calories I burn in this.

    Often when people aren't losing at the weight they expect it is because there is an issue with their logging. Your diary is closed -- if you open it, you may get some helpful advice.

    But 8 pounds over 3 months is pretty good.

    Yep...this.

    Your current height and weight would also be helpful information to have to advise further.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    edited February 2016
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    igkixealb5ab.jpeg
    Credits to: lemonlionheart
  • amellidon
    amellidon Posts: 5 Member
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    hey thanks for the replies. I believe I made my log open to the public now and as for my height, I am 5 7 and 170 and 21% bf. I think what is really demoralizing me the most is that I used to lose weight much easier than this with even more calories and less time at the gym. Im wondering if its my macros. I used to do low carb with high protein and fat but since getting my gallbladder removed I am unable to eat any fats.
  • chrisssiex23x
    chrisssiex23x Posts: 431 Member
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    Could you been gaining muscle aswell.. with all the excerise your doing. Weightlighting?? Lol
  • amellidon
    amellidon Posts: 5 Member
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    I was under the impression I was gaining muscle until I saw that im 21% bf which I was at 8 months ago
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    chrisssiex23x wrote: »
    Could you been gaining muscle aswell.. with all the excerise your doing. Weightlighting?? Lol
    amellidon wrote: »
    I was under the impression I was gaining muscle until I saw that im 21% bf which I was at 8 months ago

    Doubtful if you're only eating 1500 calories. Muscle (or really any bodily mass) takes building block to create it - in the form of caloric energy. It can't be created from nothing.

    I still can't see your diary FWIW
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    It looks like you're using quick add to just enter a number of calories each day. How are you determining how many calories you are actually eating?
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    It looks like you're using quick add to just enter a number of calories each day. How are you determining how many calories you are actually eating?

    Yeah...that's not really the point of logging.

    I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're probably underestimating your caloric intake by hundreds of calories each day.
  • amellidon
    amellidon Posts: 5 Member
    edited February 2016
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    I just do it because I get annoyed logging in every single thing but I know the exact calories to everything I eat. Its mostly grilled chicken, slices of wheat bread, white rice, boiled eggs. I don't eat out at places unless I can look up their calorie content. I do feel the calories burned might be overstated but that's based on what they have in the system. I let it slide because I feel any overestimation would be negated by the additional weightlifting I do that I do not enter.

    edit: I should also add that I weigh everything I eat as well to get the exact calories.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    amellidon wrote: »
    I just do it because I get annoyed logging in every single thing but I know the exact calories to everything I eat. Its mostly grilled chicken, slices of wheat bread, white rice, boiled eggs. I don't eat out at places unless I can look up their calorie content. I do feel the calories burned might be overstated but that's based on what they have in the system. I let it slide because I feel any overestimation would be negated by the additional weightlifting I do that I do not enter.

    Unfortunately, it will be impossible for us to tell if you have any logging issues (which can be really common, many of us have made them) without seeing how you're logging. If you're eating back exercise calories, then the over-estimation in the database could certainly be an issue for you -- the calories burned during weightlifting may not be enough to compensate.

    My guess: there may be an issue with your logging and you are eating more than you think you are (or burning less than you think you are) and that is what is causing the discrepancy between what you expect to lose and what you're losing.
  • ridge4mfp
    ridge4mfp Posts: 301 Member
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    Get past the annoyance of logging everything individually. By your own statement, you only eat a relatively small list of foods. Once you have been logging correctly for a bit, it will get easier because the app will keep a list of your recent and frequent foods. Then it's only a couple of clicks and you're done. It will give you a much clearer picture.
  • ammo7
    ammo7 Posts: 188 Member
    edited February 2016
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    amellidon wrote: »
    Hey so I was at 1500 cals for 2 pounds a week weight loss but I have barely lost any weight. Do I have to go lower than 1500? I know I have a couple of high calorie days but my average each week has been pretty much on target. Attached is the breakout of my last 90 days.

    http://imgur.com/3i4zXu4

    Your graph explains a lot.

    If your -2lb per week goal gives you a calorie intake of 1500 per day, then that means that each time you eat over 2500 calories in a day, all of those extra calories will begin to undo the deficit that you've worked on.

    So it's great that you've lost some weight over this time, but not really surprising that you haven't been reaching your -2lb per week goal if you haven't been logging accurately.

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