Not seeing weight loss
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diannethegeek wrote: »diannethegeek wrote: »
It shows some sort of image, I really can't make out what it is. Where can I find it?
I hate that the app/mobile site won't let you zoom. It's a flowchart created by one of the members here. Linking you to the original would only cause the same problem since it only exists here on the forums. Most of the advice has been covered already by other posters. But here's most of the same advice from the flowchart in list form:
1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, 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.
WOW, thank you for all that information. I don't mean to sound stupid here, but could you explain #6 a little bit to me? I don't quite get it. I'm thinking I have to cut back on calories? But I thought I was suppose to be taking in 1200? Do I always have to take in 1200? Thanks for your response!
#6 means you are supposed to eat your 1200 calories PLUS any exercise calories burned. Let's say, for example, that your 45 minutes on the elliptical burned 300 calories (just making up numbers here). You would then eat a total of 1500 calories for that day.
However, when people rely on the calorie number the elliptical gives them, it is often very, very overestimated. For example, 800 calories for 45 minutes (again, just making up numbers). If you ate back all of those 800 calories, you would be eating too many calories for the day and would gain weight over time.
Therefore, to be cautious, most people eat back 50-75% of the calories they got working out.0 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »diannethegeek wrote: »diannethegeek wrote: »
It shows some sort of image, I really can't make out what it is. Where can I find it?
I hate that the app/mobile site won't let you zoom. It's a flowchart created by one of the members here. Linking you to the original would only cause the same problem since it only exists here on the forums. Most of the advice has been covered already by other posters. But here's most of the same advice from the flowchart in list form:
1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, 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.
WOW, thank you for all that information. I don't mean to sound stupid here, but could you explain #6 a little bit to me? I don't quite get it. I'm thinking I have to cut back on calories? But I thought I was suppose to be taking in 1200? Do I always have to take in 1200? Thanks for your response!
#6 means you are supposed to eat your 1200 calories PLUS any exercise calories burned. Let's say, for example, that your 45 minutes on the elliptical burned 300 calories (just making up numbers here). You would then eat a total of 1500 calories for that day.
However, when people rely on the calorie number the elliptical gives them, it is often very, very overestimated. For example, 800 calories for 45 minutes (again, just making up numbers). If you ate back all of those 800 calories, you would be eating too many calories for the day and would gain weight over time.
Therefore, to be cautious, most people eat back 50-75% of the calories they got working out.
THANK YOU, now I understand. And actually it's pretty funny, you hit it very close to home. When I'm on the elliptical for 30 minutes, it usually says I burn between 300-312 calories. I wonder if that's pretty accurate.0
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