Not Losing Weight

Runecrow · February 2016

I'm on a 1500 calorie diet, calculated by MyFitnessPal (probably the lowest allowed for a male) and at first I was sticking to those calories and burning 700 calories a day from daily activities (including a 5 mile daily weekday walk in the evening). I've even included walking stairs up three or four floors every hour at work to keep myself from sitting all day.

I initially lost about 10lbs over two weeks (probably mostly water weight), but over the last few weeks I've not lost weight (and even gained 4lbs for the 2nd week before losing it again in the 3rd week). I weighed myself this morning and I'm at the exact weight I was at last week.

I had read I would be doing more harm than good by only netting 800 total calories by sticking to 1500 calories, burning 700, and not at least eating back up to 1200 calories. I'm considering just going back to netting 800-1000 calories per day because I honestly don't know what else to do.

Is it possible that my body will still freak out if I'm at least eating my 1500 a day, even if I exercise my way to 800 total calories per day?

ElizabethOakes2 · February 2016

Plateaus happen.
Double check your logging and make sure that you're only eating those 1500 calories. Good weighing and measuring practices can really help cut out those hidden calories you might be eating without realizing it.
Also, check your measurements. A lot of times when weight plateaus, it's due to redistribution. Measuring in addition to hopping on the scale might show you losses you've made without realizing it.
You're exercising more, your keeping your calorie count low- It will work.

IsaackGMOON · February 2016

Could be a couple of things, would you be able to open your diary so we can see what your logging looks like?

Are you weighing foods accurately? i.e. using grams instead of cups
Are you using a food scale? You need to weigh everything that passes into your mouth.
How are you estimating your calorie burns?

Eating 800-1000 calories per day isn't healthy. I'm not sure whether you're male or female, but 1500 is the minimum for males and 1200 is the minimum for females.

seska422 · February 2016

AmyRhubarb · February 2016

Wow, netting 800 a day?? No bueno! Not doing yourself any favors by eating so low. You're in this for long term right? You want to lose the fat and keep it off?

Ditch the scale - weight loss is not linear, as you have seen, and numbers will go up and down for a variety of reasons. Start tracking your measurements instead - they tell the true tale of progress (or lack of).

Be patient, don't eat the bare minimum hoping to "jump start" losses or see results faster. Slow and steady is so much better, less chance of burning out, binge eating, losing a bunch of muscle along with any fat, etc. etc.

I'm a 47 year old woman, and my daily goal is 2000 cals (I'm on the TDEE method, so exercise is figured in and I don't eat back cals), and I am darn good at hitting that goal, and have been successful at reaching my goals and keeping the weight off for several years. I believe my success has come from setting realistic goals, both for weight loss and for calorie consumption, allowing me to stick with my plan for good. No more starting over, no more crashing and burning because it's just too hard. It's not hard, it just takes time.

speeno · February 2016

@Runecrow you are not eating enough, if your daily allowance is 1500 try and eat 1500, if you exercise and burn 700 cals try and eat at least 500 back, trust MFP it will get you where you want to be if you are honest with it.

Runecrow · February 2016

The majority of the foods I eat are pre-packaged "healthier" options (mostly chicken breast in the evenings after workouts) and if I must eat out, I use the official information provided by the restaurant and keep the portions smaller. Breakfast usually consists on two large eggs wrapped in a low carb tortilla.

For activity tracking, I have a Fitbit and Apple Watch to track my activity (and I use RunKeeper for my runs and walks, but I don't sync RunKeeper with MyFitnessPal) and I use the one that gives the lower amount of activity tracked for tracking burned calories so I don't overestimate the amount burned. I also set all information as "sedentary" even though I do stay somewhat active during the day.

StaciMarie1974 · February 2016

Honestly, give it more time. The human body is not a perfect machine. The work/effort you do today is not going to instantly be visible on the scale in the morning. Weigh as often as you want, but look at trends over time. As in 4, 6, 8 weeks. Only then can you assess if what you're doing is working.

kimny72 · February 2016

OP, a few things:

You are eating more than you think. There is no way you are eating so little and not starving all day. Get a food scale and try weighing out your portions to get an accurate idea of how much you are eating.
Weight loss isn't linear. Even if you are perfect, there are some weeks you simply won't lose. You want to look at long term trends to judge your success.

Be patient, and take care of yourself. Good luck!

Runecrow · February 2016

Just to reiterate that I'm not eating only 800 calories a day. My net calories were about that much after eating the 1500 calorie range and walking/running a total of 5 miles and burning 500-600 calories in addition to the lowest step tracker numbers which usually totals another 100 to 200 calories.

Only recently, when I stopped doing that and started to make sure the net is at around 1500, did this problem start to happen. Even if I'm off by a couple of hundred calories, I should at least be losing half a pound because my sustain calories at sedentary is over 2000 calories and there's no way I'm close to that when my 5 mile walks/runs easily burn 500-600 calories.

I'll tinker with my diet next week and see what happens. Thanks for all the replies.

Not Losing Weight

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