Confused... Need Advice

krwallis
krwallis Posts: 21 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started a very specific meal plan back in September. I weigh and measure all of my portions, eat every 3 hours and am pretty regular about staying at or under my calorie goal (always at least 1000 calories though) and this with sometimes eating back my exercise calories, but not always. I also drink 5 24oz bottles of water on average a day. Some coffee in the mornings and nothing else.

I dropped pretty regularly the first 3 months, from 202.6 to 178.2 around Christmas. I haven't changed anything except being more active (playing Just Dance Wii, taking power walks, doing crunches, etc.) but here it is February 24 and I have only lost 2 more pounds so I'm not sitting at 176.2.

My diary is open and viewable to the public and I do understand this is a "marathon" and not a "sprint" but what would cause everything to come to a screeching halt? I've attached a screen shot of all 3 of my calorie reports from MFP so you can see I'm within my limits and was prior to Christmas as well as after. Anyone have any insight or info they can help me with??

*please note that I have been on a 1200 calorie daily average and I just lowered it to 1100 so that is why the red line on the reports look lower. Also the last one, Net Calories, is what I have been going off of since its the combination of the intake calories and the burned calories.

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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Some of your measurements are in cups, some are in weights. Are you weighing all your solid food or just some of it?
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
    Without knowing your stats, I can't comment on your calorie goal, though my initial response is that it's too low and that you're eating more than you think you are. You may also not be burning as many calories as MFP says you are. Are you using MFP to calculate, or are you using some kind of heart rate monitor?
  • krwallis
    krwallis Posts: 21 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Some of your measurements are in cups, some are in weights. Are you weighing all your solid food or just some of it?

    I am weighing only the protein. I eat 4oz of protein 3 times a day. I use cups to measure my oatmeal, broccoli, egg whites, etc.
  • krwallis
    krwallis Posts: 21 Member
    dubird wrote: »
    Without knowing your stats, I can't comment on your calorie goal, though my initial response is that it's too low and that you're eating more than you think you are. You may also not be burning as many calories as MFP says you are. Are you using MFP to calculate, or are you using some kind of heart rate monitor?

    I wear a misfit on my wrist and it is synced to My Fitness Pal so the numbers it comes up with are between the two of them. The Misfit is similar to the Fitbit in that, I wear it at all times and it tracks my activity and my steps. It will give me points based on certain activity levels. It tracks walking, running, swimming, cycling etc. I don't track my strength training much at all.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    krwallis wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Some of your measurements are in cups, some are in weights. Are you weighing all your solid food or just some of it?

    I am weighing only the protein. I eat 4oz of protein 3 times a day. I use cups to measure my oatmeal, broccoli, egg whites, etc.

    Measuring cups are for liquids. Use the scale for all solids.
  • morgandeluce
    morgandeluce Posts: 4 Member
    Amazing that you've been tracking so consistently! And congrats on your progress so far-- even if it's slower than you want it to be! One thing that I've found to been crucial to my own progress is not eating back "exercise" calories. It's important that what you're eating remains as consistent as possible, with a "refeed" or a "cheat" MEAL (not day!) if you're feeling really low on energy every couple of weeks.

    If you continue not to lose, even if you're consistently eating the exact same amount each day, then you know you will have to rethink your diet and perhaps visit a dietician or doctor to figure things out. My guess is that your metabolism has slowed to maintain body weight on the current calories, which are quite low for the average woman your age and weight, even for someone looking to lose weight.

    I would also encourage you to try new exercises! Particularly strength building work outs (aka lifting heavy!). Building muscle will increase your metabolism so you burn more and thus lose more weight. Muscle burns a significant amount of calories (particularly compared to fat cells), so the more you have, the more weight you lose.
  • kirstenb13
    kirstenb13 Posts: 181 Member
    edited February 2016
    I think you have just reached a point where you don't have a calorie deficit anymore. Up to now you could get away with imprecise measuring but now you need to step it up a little and weigh every single thing you eat. A lot of your entries seem really low just from glancing at it, I eat a lot of grapefruit and I never see one that's only 60 calories, and your 101 calories of potatoes also seem like a very tiny amount if that's true. I would always check with a scale, same for the oatmeal, half a cup is likely way heavier than what you are logging.
  • krwallis
    krwallis Posts: 21 Member
    kirstenb13 wrote: »
    I think you have just reached a point where you don't have a calorie deficit anymore. Up to now you could get away with imprecise measuring but now you need to step it up a little and weigh every single thing you eat. A lot of your entries seem really low just from glancing at it, I eat a lot of grapefruit and I never see one that's only 60 calories, and your 101 calories of potatoes also seem like a very tiny amount if that's true. I would always check with a scale, same for the oatmeal, half a cup is likely way heavier than what you are logging.

    Thank you everyone! I have just lowered by daily calorie goal to 1100 to see if I can get anything different to happen.

    s2l87vh19wdi.jpg
    I do measure and weigh everything but the diet I'm on called for specific measurements, which I do. For example my potato's are red only and I'm allowed 4 ounces but my brown rice is half a cup. Also, my green vegetables, primarily broccoli because its my favorite, called for 1 cup and no weight limit. There was also no weight limit on the oatmeal, just 1/2 cup.

    I did some research on the grapefruit, which I just added to my diet since lowering my daily caloric intake, and the best I could find was 52 calories for 1/2 of one. The 60 that is logged in MFP is one of the only available options from the MFP database and has the green shield with the check mark to show its verification. I didn't have reason to believe it untrue. Since I found 52 for 1/2 online I'm going to start registering the grapefruit at 104 calories just to err on the side of caution.

    I attached a copy of the template that we are using at home. In order to stay within my calories I dropped the protein to 4 oz and have replaced the 9am meal with the grapefruit and replaced the 3pm with a cup of Dannon Light and Fit Yogurt. We'll see what happens...
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    Just to point out, there are a fair number of days with very few calories compared to your statement that you always hit at least 1000 calories. Are you logging consistently every day, all food that you eat? There are several days that look to be about 200 calories consumed for the day.
  • krwallis
    krwallis Posts: 21 Member
    auddii wrote: »
    Just to point out, there are a fair number of days with very few calories compared to your statement that you always hit at least 1000 calories. Are you logging consistently every day, all food that you eat? There are several days that look to be about 200 calories consumed for the day.

    I think a few of those days were when we were out of town and my husband drug me somewhere that I had a hard time finding the correct calories for what I ate BUT I always try to still make lighter choices wherever we go and never just throw my hands up and say, "What the heck!" ;-) I am extremely cautious and try to monitor every little thing I eat... its like the saying, "If you bite it, you write it!"

    Those may also be days I meant to go back and fill in a meal and just forgot to put it in...

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    krwallis wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Some of your measurements are in cups, some are in weights. Are you weighing all your solid food or just some of it?

    I am weighing only the protein. I eat 4oz of protein 3 times a day. I use cups to measure my oatmeal, broccoli, egg whites, etc.

    I would start weighing all solid food so you can know how much you're really eating. If you're using measuring cups for grains, vegetables, fruits, etc then you can't be sure.
  • faidwen
    faidwen Posts: 131 Member
    Okay, so I tried to match your daily menu plan. And here is what I came up with based on MFP and the logging of the items :

    10 Ingredients Edit Recipe

    4 large, Eggs - White only, raw
    0.75 cup, Cereals, oats, regular and quick, unenriched, cooked with water (includes boiling and microwaving), without salt
    0.50 cup(s), Blueberries - Raw
    1 cup, chopped, Broccoli, raw
    7 spears (1/2" base), Asparagus - Cooked, boiled, drained
    1 medium (2-3/4" dia) (approx 3 per lb), Apples, raw, without skin
    1 cup, Beans, snap, green, raw
    1.50 cup(s), Rice - Brown, long-grain, cooked
    21 ounce, Grilled Chicken Breast, Cubed
    1 level scoop (29g), Whey Protein Supplement


    Nutrition Facts
    Servings 1.0
    Amount Per Serving
    calories 1800
    % Daily Value *
    Total Fat 28 g 43 %
    Saturated Fat 6 g 28 %
    Monounsaturated Fat 2 g
    Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g
    Trans Fat 0 g
    Cholesterol 506 mg 169 %
    Sodium 834 mg 35 %
    Potassium 1520 mg 43 %
    Total Carbohydrate 136 g 45 %
    Dietary Fiber 19 g 76 %
    Sugars 30 g
    Protein 242 g 484 %
    Vitamin A 53 %
    Vitamin C 187 %
    Calcium 36 %
    Iron 67 %
    * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.
  • krwallis
    krwallis Posts: 21 Member
    faidwen wrote: »
    Okay, so I tried to match your daily menu plan. And here is what I came up with based on MFP and the logging of the items :

    10 Ingredients Edit Recipe

    4 large, Eggs - White only, raw
    0.75 cup, Cereals, oats, regular and quick, unenriched, cooked with water (includes boiling and microwaving), without salt
    0.50 cup(s), Blueberries - Raw
    1 cup, chopped, Broccoli, raw
    7 spears (1/2" base), Asparagus - Cooked, boiled, drained
    1 medium (2-3/4" dia) (approx 3 per lb), Apples, raw, without skin
    1 cup, Beans, snap, green, raw
    1.50 cup(s), Rice - Brown, long-grain, cooked
    21 ounce, Grilled Chicken Breast, Cubed
    1 level scoop (29g), Whey Protein Supplement


    Nutrition Facts
    Servings 1.0
    Amount Per Serving
    calories 1800
    % Daily Value *
    Total Fat 28 g 43 %
    Saturated Fat 6 g 28 %
    Monounsaturated Fat 2 g
    Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g
    Trans Fat 0 g
    Cholesterol 506 mg 169 %
    Sodium 834 mg 35 %
    Potassium 1520 mg 43 %
    Total Carbohydrate 136 g 45 %
    Dietary Fiber 19 g 76 %
    Sugars 30 g
    Protein 242 g 484 %
    Vitamin A 53 %
    Vitamin C 187 %
    Calcium 36 %
    Iron 67 %
    * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

    I believe you measured on the "His Diet" side which is correct for my husband. My oatmeal is 1/2 cup, the greens are only one or the other, not both, I do 12 ounces of protein a day (4oz x 3) and only 1/2 cup brown rice OR 4oz red potato twice a day (I swapped my 9am meal for snack of grapefruit instead to help with lowering my caloric intake). We also don't do the whey protein since we do the eggs.

    I will really have to watch mine closer and make sure I'm not getting more calories than I thought even though I'm tracking them.
  • krwallis
    krwallis Posts: 21 Member
    UPDATE: I started measuring better instead of eyeballing, dropped my calories 100 a day, quit eating back too many exercise points and finally lost a pound. Thanks for your help and insights and for the reality check. We can see better once the pride glasses are removed from our eyes.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    krwallis wrote: »
    UPDATE: I started measuring better instead of eyeballing, dropped my calories 100 a day, quit eating back too many exercise points and finally lost a pound. Thanks for your help and insights and for the reality check. We can see better once the pride glasses are removed from our eyes.

    What an awesome update! Way to go!
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
    Wait...so you lowered your calories from 1100 to 1000?
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    I lost 3 lbs in January and 9 in February. This is not a linear thing.

    I'm really glad for your update. It sounds like the advice here was just what you needed. Congratulations!
  • krwallis
    krwallis Posts: 21 Member
    booksandchocolate12 wrote: »
    Wait...so you lowered your calories from 1100 to 1000?

    No, I lowered from 1200 to 1100.

  • krwallis
    krwallis Posts: 21 Member
    Lost another 1.6 pounds! Thanks for the suggestions everyone but especially kirstenb13
    kirstenb13 wrote: »
    I think you have just reached a point where you don't have a calorie deficit anymore.
    I really had to think about this one but when I made the choice to adjust the calorie intake that ended up being exactly what it was. I assumed that anyone taking in around 1200 to 1500 would naturally continually lose weight since that is lower than the daily recommended calorie intake for maintenance but clearly I was wrong in that thinking! LOL!

    Again, thank you every one for your help and comments!

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