Week 5 and not 1lb has budged!

Options
2

Replies

  • smnasypany
    smnasypany Posts: 13 Member
    Options
    Are you weighing your foods? If you open your diary, people can give more specific advice.

    I'm weighing everything with a digital scale and measuring everything else to the point of being obsessive about it.
  • smnasypany
    smnasypany Posts: 13 Member
    Options
    n1cholee93 wrote: »
    How are you measuring out food? Lots recommend you use a food scale. It's actually not uncommon that when we use measuring cups we have more than we actually think. There is a great video people post, i don't have it, so i hope someone posts it. But you could actually be consuming more than you think...

    What types of food are you eating? Have you measured yourself? Losing inches? I personally went a month without the scale budging but i was losing inches. I just now got the scale to go down..

    It's a high protein diet so chicken breasts, hard boiled eggs, quinoa, edamme, chickpeas, and almonds all make up a lot of my meals and snacks.
  • smnasypany
    smnasypany Posts: 13 Member
    Options
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    Try eating at least 1500 calories a day, at how little your eating your body is probably thinking its starving itself and therefore will hold onto the fat to protect your body. I weigh 140 and am aiming to lose a pound a week and I eat 1480 calories a day (thats my goal) and I exercise (weights and cardio) 5 days a week so your body probably needs more calories. That being said, If you are exercising as long as the number on the scale isn't increasing, it could be muscle gain. And try taking measurements instead if weighing yourself. I know personally my weight is staying the same but I'm losing inches off my waist. But only take measurements about once every month or you'll get discouraged easily.

    The answer to not losing weight is never to eat more calories. Your body doesn't 'hold onto the fat' if you aren't eating enough. It's just not possible.

    More likely is the scenario in which the OP needs to tighten up her logging.

    I've been extremely diligent and obsessive about logging since this is so incredibly important to me. I will not eat or drink anything that I cannot log. I am going to meet with a nutritionist to see what I can find out from their perspective. I should probably be measuring myself but I haven't done that yet.
  • LLT38
    LLT38 Posts: 172 Member
    Options
    I'm about the same weight as you, 5'3 and 38 years old. I have a 10 month old which I am still nursing. My only exercise is walking. I have been losing consistently for the past 3 months eating around 2000 calories/day. Either you have an undiagnosed metabolic disorder or you are eating much more than you think you are. You said you are logging diligently - are you putting in the nutritional entries yourself from the food packaging or trusting the MFP entries. Some of the entries in the MFP database are way off - the ones with a green check mark are verified by other users and they are good to use.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Options
    Some of your diary entries are questionable... for example 2 medium grapefruit, 3 large eggs. You need to weigh those. Even your banana is in oz, it needs to be in grams. Your baked chicken entry too is questionable. Did you bake it with anything? Ideally your meat should be entered in raw weights.
  • 3bambi3
    3bambi3 Posts: 1,650 Member
    Options
    smnasypany wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    Try eating at least 1500 calories a day, at how little your eating your body is probably thinking its starving itself and therefore will hold onto the fat to protect your body. I weigh 140 and am aiming to lose a pound a week and I eat 1480 calories a day (thats my goal) and I exercise (weights and cardio) 5 days a week so your body probably needs more calories. That being said, If you are exercising as long as the number on the scale isn't increasing, it could be muscle gain. And try taking measurements instead if weighing yourself. I know personally my weight is staying the same but I'm losing inches off my waist. But only take measurements about once every month or you'll get discouraged easily.

    The answer to not losing weight is never to eat more calories. Your body doesn't 'hold onto the fat' if you aren't eating enough. It's just not possible.

    More likely is the scenario in which the OP needs to tighten up her logging.

    I've been extremely diligent and obsessive about logging since this is so incredibly important to me. I will not eat or drink anything that I cannot log. I am going to meet with a nutritionist to see what I can find out from their perspective. I should probably be measuring myself but I haven't done that yet.

    I looked at your diary. Since March 7, you have been over your calorie goal 11 times, with some of those days being 1,000+ calories over goal. Days like those can completely negate whatever deficit you have built during other days. Also, it looks like you eat your exercise calories back. I would suggest only eating 50% of them, as MFP tends to overestimate calories burned.
  • smnasypany
    smnasypany Posts: 13 Member
    Options
    DanaDark wrote: »
    Really gotta see that diary to give any reasonable feedback. And needs to be filled out for a few weeks and accurately.

    The best I can offer right now is that it is likely you are not in a caloric deficit. There are many things that can be the cause: Underestimating calories in, overestimating calories out, hormones lowering overall BMR, and more.

    You should not judge based solely on the scale either. Go by how your clothes fit and measurements as well.

    I just opened my diary. The clothes aren't fitting any better but I'm going to take measurements tonight and just go from there. I am going to meet with a nutritionist and see if they can shed some light on it, especially since I have an exact record of calories consumed and exercises. I know the first week I thought that I was supposed to eat whatever calories I burned since it was adding them to my daily calorie allowance in my tracker. After researching I discovered that isn't the way to do it and I think I'm expecting more then myfitnesspal is able to give for being a free tracker.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Options
    smnasypany wrote: »
    DanaDark wrote: »
    Really gotta see that diary to give any reasonable feedback. And needs to be filled out for a few weeks and accurately.

    The best I can offer right now is that it is likely you are not in a caloric deficit. There are many things that can be the cause: Underestimating calories in, overestimating calories out, hormones lowering overall BMR, and more.

    You should not judge based solely on the scale either. Go by how your clothes fit and measurements as well.

    I just opened my diary. The clothes aren't fitting any better but I'm going to take measurements tonight and just go from there. I am going to meet with a nutritionist and see if they can shed some light on it, especially since I have an exact record of calories consumed and exercises. I know the first week I thought that I was supposed to eat whatever calories I burned since it was adding them to my daily calorie allowance in my tracker. After researching I discovered that isn't the way to do it and I think I'm expecting more then myfitnesspal is able to give for being a free tracker.

    If your calorie goal comes from MFP, it is designed for you to eat your exercise calories back. But you have to be careful to ensure you have an accurate understanding of how much you're actually burning because it's easy to over-estimate how many calories you are truly burning through exercise.

    Lots of people have successfully lost weight with this free tracker -- it just requires some consistency and attention to detail. If you regularly have days where you go way over your calorie goal or if you are making logging errors, you can't blame that on MFP being free.
  • smnasypany
    smnasypany Posts: 13 Member
    Options
    Ninkyou wrote: »
    Some of your diary entries are questionable... for example 2 medium grapefruit, 3 large eggs. You need to weigh those. Even your banana is in oz, it needs to be in grams. Your baked chicken entry too is questionable. Did you bake it with anything? Ideally your meat should be entered in raw weights.

    I usually just use dried seasonings to flavor the chicken with. I will start weighing the other items, I was just scanning the barcode of the packaging and trusting those measurements but I guess it would be best to weigh everything.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Options
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    smnasypany wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    Try eating at least 1500 calories a day, at how little your eating your body is probably thinking its starving itself and therefore will hold onto the fat to protect your body. I weigh 140 and am aiming to lose a pound a week and I eat 1480 calories a day (thats my goal) and I exercise (weights and cardio) 5 days a week so your body probably needs more calories. That being said, If you are exercising as long as the number on the scale isn't increasing, it could be muscle gain. And try taking measurements instead if weighing yourself. I know personally my weight is staying the same but I'm losing inches off my waist. But only take measurements about once every month or you'll get discouraged easily.

    The answer to not losing weight is never to eat more calories. Your body doesn't 'hold onto the fat' if you aren't eating enough. It's just not possible.

    More likely is the scenario in which the OP needs to tighten up her logging.

    I've been extremely diligent and obsessive about logging since this is so incredibly important to me. I will not eat or drink anything that I cannot log. I am going to meet with a nutritionist to see what I can find out from their perspective. I should probably be measuring myself but I haven't done that yet.

    I looked at your diary. Since March 7, you have been over your calorie goal 11 times, with some of those days being 1,000+ calories over goal. Days like those can completely negate whatever deficit you have built during other days. Also, it looks like you eat your exercise calories back. I would suggest only eating 50% of them, as MFP tends to overestimate calories burned.

    I counted 14 and added them all up. It comes out to 5,378 calories over. Granted some days are only a handful of calories over, but there are several that are over by several hundred.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Options
    smnasypany wrote: »
    Ninkyou wrote: »
    Some of your diary entries are questionable... for example 2 medium grapefruit, 3 large eggs. You need to weigh those. Even your banana is in oz, it needs to be in grams. Your baked chicken entry too is questionable. Did you bake it with anything? Ideally your meat should be entered in raw weights.

    I usually just use dried seasonings to flavor the chicken with. I will start weighing the other items, I was just scanning the barcode of the packaging and trusting those measurements but I guess it would be best to weigh everything.

    Yes, absolutely everything should be weighed. Fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs, etc. Don't use cup measurements for anything other than liquid.
  • smnasypany
    smnasypany Posts: 13 Member
    Options
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    smnasypany wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    Try eating at least 1500 calories a day, at how little your eating your body is probably thinking its starving itself and therefore will hold onto the fat to protect your body. I weigh 140 and am aiming to lose a pound a week and I eat 1480 calories a day (thats my goal) and I exercise (weights and cardio) 5 days a week so your body probably needs more calories. That being said, If you are exercising as long as the number on the scale isn't increasing, it could be muscle gain. And try taking measurements instead if weighing yourself. I know personally my weight is staying the same but I'm losing inches off my waist. But only take measurements about once every month or you'll get discouraged easily.

    The answer to not losing weight is never to eat more calories. Your body doesn't 'hold onto the fat' if you aren't eating enough. It's just not possible.

    More likely is the scenario in which the OP needs to tighten up her logging.

    I've been extremely diligent and obsessive about logging since this is so incredibly important to me. I will not eat or drink anything that I cannot log. I am going to meet with a nutritionist to see what I can find out from their perspective. I should probably be measuring myself but I haven't done that yet.

    I looked at your diary. Since March 7, you have been over your calorie goal 11 times, with some of those days being 1,000+ calories over goal. Days like those can completely negate whatever deficit you have built during other days. Also, it looks like you eat your exercise calories back. I would suggest only eating 50% of them, as MFP tends to overestimate calories burned.

    There have been a few cheat days over the month that were the 1000+ days. I use a heart rate monitor and log my calories based on what that tells me I've burned. I started out eating all the calories that I burned since mfp included it as if I was supposed to eat it. After researching it I decided against eating those calories.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Options
    smnasypany wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    smnasypany wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    Try eating at least 1500 calories a day, at how little your eating your body is probably thinking its starving itself and therefore will hold onto the fat to protect your body. I weigh 140 and am aiming to lose a pound a week and I eat 1480 calories a day (thats my goal) and I exercise (weights and cardio) 5 days a week so your body probably needs more calories. That being said, If you are exercising as long as the number on the scale isn't increasing, it could be muscle gain. And try taking measurements instead if weighing yourself. I know personally my weight is staying the same but I'm losing inches off my waist. But only take measurements about once every month or you'll get discouraged easily.

    The answer to not losing weight is never to eat more calories. Your body doesn't 'hold onto the fat' if you aren't eating enough. It's just not possible.

    More likely is the scenario in which the OP needs to tighten up her logging.

    I've been extremely diligent and obsessive about logging since this is so incredibly important to me. I will not eat or drink anything that I cannot log. I am going to meet with a nutritionist to see what I can find out from their perspective. I should probably be measuring myself but I haven't done that yet.

    I looked at your diary. Since March 7, you have been over your calorie goal 11 times, with some of those days being 1,000+ calories over goal. Days like those can completely negate whatever deficit you have built during other days. Also, it looks like you eat your exercise calories back. I would suggest only eating 50% of them, as MFP tends to overestimate calories burned.

    There have been a few cheat days over the month that were the 1000+ days. I use a heart rate monitor and log my calories based on what that tells me I've burned. I started out eating all the calories that I burned since mfp included it as if I was supposed to eat it. After researching it I decided against eating those calories.

    Regular "cheat days" can keep you from being able to meet your goals.
  • 3bambi3
    3bambi3 Posts: 1,650 Member
    Options
    smnasypany wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    smnasypany wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    Try eating at least 1500 calories a day, at how little your eating your body is probably thinking its starving itself and therefore will hold onto the fat to protect your body. I weigh 140 and am aiming to lose a pound a week and I eat 1480 calories a day (thats my goal) and I exercise (weights and cardio) 5 days a week so your body probably needs more calories. That being said, If you are exercising as long as the number on the scale isn't increasing, it could be muscle gain. And try taking measurements instead if weighing yourself. I know personally my weight is staying the same but I'm losing inches off my waist. But only take measurements about once every month or you'll get discouraged easily.

    The answer to not losing weight is never to eat more calories. Your body doesn't 'hold onto the fat' if you aren't eating enough. It's just not possible.

    More likely is the scenario in which the OP needs to tighten up her logging.

    I've been extremely diligent and obsessive about logging since this is so incredibly important to me. I will not eat or drink anything that I cannot log. I am going to meet with a nutritionist to see what I can find out from their perspective. I should probably be measuring myself but I haven't done that yet.

    I looked at your diary. Since March 7, you have been over your calorie goal 11 times, with some of those days being 1,000+ calories over goal. Days like those can completely negate whatever deficit you have built during other days. Also, it looks like you eat your exercise calories back. I would suggest only eating 50% of them, as MFP tends to overestimate calories burned.

    There have been a few cheat days over the month that were the 1000+ days. I use a heart rate monitor and log my calories based on what that tells me I've burned. I started out eating all the calories that I burned since mfp included it as if I was supposed to eat it. After researching it I decided against eating those calories.

    Regular "cheat days" can keep you from being able to meet your goals.

    This. Before spending money on a nutritionist--although you should really see a registered dietician--why not just stick to your goal for a month and see how it goes?
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Options
    smnasypany wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    smnasypany wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    Try eating at least 1500 calories a day, at how little your eating your body is probably thinking its starving itself and therefore will hold onto the fat to protect your body. I weigh 140 and am aiming to lose a pound a week and I eat 1480 calories a day (thats my goal) and I exercise (weights and cardio) 5 days a week so your body probably needs more calories. That being said, If you are exercising as long as the number on the scale isn't increasing, it could be muscle gain. And try taking measurements instead if weighing yourself. I know personally my weight is staying the same but I'm losing inches off my waist. But only take measurements about once every month or you'll get discouraged easily.

    The answer to not losing weight is never to eat more calories. Your body doesn't 'hold onto the fat' if you aren't eating enough. It's just not possible.

    More likely is the scenario in which the OP needs to tighten up her logging.

    I've been extremely diligent and obsessive about logging since this is so incredibly important to me. I will not eat or drink anything that I cannot log. I am going to meet with a nutritionist to see what I can find out from their perspective. I should probably be measuring myself but I haven't done that yet.

    I looked at your diary. Since March 7, you have been over your calorie goal 11 times, with some of those days being 1,000+ calories over goal. Days like those can completely negate whatever deficit you have built during other days. Also, it looks like you eat your exercise calories back. I would suggest only eating 50% of them, as MFP tends to overestimate calories burned.

    There have been a few cheat days over the month that were the 1000+ days. I use a heart rate monitor and log my calories based on what that tells me I've burned. I started out eating all the calories that I burned since mfp included it as if I was supposed to eat it. After researching it I decided against eating those calories.

    Regular "cheat days" can keep you from being able to meet your goals.

    Especially when all of those "over" days come out to 5300 calories. You're effectively cancelling out the rest of the week(s). You've only been logging since March 7th, so just a little under a month, but out of that month you're over nearly half of it.

    You should be eating some exercise calories back, but try to keep it around half of whatever it says you burned for now and get rid of the cheat days. Having an over day here and there is fine, but if you know they're going to happen, plan ahead or work it into your calorie goal as much as possible.
  • tiffanylacourse
    tiffanylacourse Posts: 2,985 Member
    Options
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    I looked at your diary. Since March 7, you have been over your calorie goal 11 times, with some of those days being 1,000+ calories over goal. Days like those can completely negate whatever deficit you have built during other days. Also, it looks like you eat your exercise calories back. I would suggest only eating 50% of them, as MFP tends to overestimate calories burned.

    This exactly. Friend request sent, OP. :flowerforyou:
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    Options
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    smnasypany wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    smnasypany wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    Try eating at least 1500 calories a day, at how little your eating your body is probably thinking its starving itself and therefore will hold onto the fat to protect your body. I weigh 140 and am aiming to lose a pound a week and I eat 1480 calories a day (thats my goal) and I exercise (weights and cardio) 5 days a week so your body probably needs more calories. That being said, If you are exercising as long as the number on the scale isn't increasing, it could be muscle gain. And try taking measurements instead if weighing yourself. I know personally my weight is staying the same but I'm losing inches off my waist. But only take measurements about once every month or you'll get discouraged easily.

    The answer to not losing weight is never to eat more calories. Your body doesn't 'hold onto the fat' if you aren't eating enough. It's just not possible.

    More likely is the scenario in which the OP needs to tighten up her logging.

    I've been extremely diligent and obsessive about logging since this is so incredibly important to me. I will not eat or drink anything that I cannot log. I am going to meet with a nutritionist to see what I can find out from their perspective. I should probably be measuring myself but I haven't done that yet.

    I looked at your diary. Since March 7, you have been over your calorie goal 11 times, with some of those days being 1,000+ calories over goal. Days like those can completely negate whatever deficit you have built during other days. Also, it looks like you eat your exercise calories back. I would suggest only eating 50% of them, as MFP tends to overestimate calories burned.

    There have been a few cheat days over the month that were the 1000+ days. I use a heart rate monitor and log my calories based on what that tells me I've burned. I started out eating all the calories that I burned since mfp included it as if I was supposed to eat it. After researching it I decided against eating those calories.

    Regular "cheat days" can keep you from being able to meet your goals.

    This. Before spending money on a nutritionist--although you should really see a registered dietician--why not just stick to your goal for a month and see how it goes?

    I agree with this. A nutritionist will likely just give you a generic list of foods that you should and shouldn't eat. It's a waste of money. Stick to your goal, cut out the cheat meals and only eat back half of your exercise calories.
  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    Options
    Taking a peek at your diary, if you tighten things up and hit your calorie target more consistently, you're going going to start seeing movement on the scale.
  • DeniseB0711
    DeniseB0711 Posts: 294 Member
    Options
    Just an FYI about Nursing and a problem you might have experienced due to weaning. When a woman nurses she burns up 500 calories a day just by nursing. It is a wonderful thing until you wean! Because suddenly your body is no longer burinng those 500ish calories. That said you might be experience a time where your body is adjusting to the new routine of your normal BMR.
    Like many have suggested tighten up your logging, measuring and don't eat back as many calories from working out and you should see a drop of a half pound.

    Denise
  • smnasypany
    smnasypany Posts: 13 Member
    Options
    Ninkyou wrote: »
    smnasypany wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    smnasypany wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    Try eating at least 1500 calories a day, at how little your eating your body is probably thinking its starving itself and therefore will hold onto the fat to protect your body. I weigh 140 and am aiming to lose a pound a week and I eat 1480 calories a day (thats my goal) and I exercise (weights and cardio) 5 days a week so your body probably needs more calories. That being said, If you are exercising as long as the number on the scale isn't increasing, it could be muscle gain. And try taking measurements instead if weighing yourself. I know personally my weight is staying the same but I'm losing inches off my waist. But only take measurements about once every month or you'll get discouraged easily.

    The answer to not losing weight is never to eat more calories. Your body doesn't 'hold onto the fat' if you aren't eating enough. It's just not possible.

    More likely is the scenario in which the OP needs to tighten up her logging.

    I've been extremely diligent and obsessive about logging since this is so incredibly important to me. I will not eat or drink anything that I cannot log. I am going to meet with a nutritionist to see what I can find out from their perspective. I should probably be measuring myself but I haven't done that yet.

    I looked at your diary. Since March 7, you have been over your calorie goal 11 times, with some of those days being 1,000+ calories over goal. Days like those can completely negate whatever deficit you have built during other days. Also, it looks like you eat your exercise calories back. I would suggest only eating 50% of them, as MFP tends to overestimate calories burned.

    There have been a few cheat days over the month that were the 1000+ days. I use a heart rate monitor and log my calories based on what that tells me I've burned. I started out eating all the calories that I burned since mfp included it as if I was supposed to eat it. After researching it I decided against eating those calories.

    Regular "cheat days" can keep you from being able to meet your goals.

    Especially when all of those "over" days come out to 5300 calories. You're effectively cancelling out the rest of the week(s). You've only been logging since March 7th, so just a little under a month, but out of that month you're over nearly half of it.

    You should be eating some exercise calories back, but try to keep it around half of whatever it says you burned for now and get rid of the cheat days. Having an over day here and there is fine, but if you know they're going to happen, plan ahead or work it into your calorie goal as much as possible.

    I just looked through every day and it has been over more often then I thought I was. I guess I just needed to step back and take a good look at it. I had increased to 1600 these past few days thinking that I needed to increase but I should stay where I am and do better at staying at 1200.