Need advice on setting calorie goal

I just want to make sure I understand this post before I issue any advice.

• You haven't lost weight since January. Did you stop trying between January and March when you started working out or have you been actively trying since January but not losing weight?
• If the answer to the prior question is that you've been trying since January, have you been eating 1500 calories the whole time?
• If the answer to the first question is that you actually restarted in March, have you noticed any change in weight since then?
• If the answer to the prior question is no, have you been eating your exercise calories back and, if so, how are you calculating them?

1500 is probably that 1000 cal deficit on days with NO exercise - but you do 3-5 days worth.

On days you do more, should really aim to keep that 1000 cal deficit - by eating more when you do more.

Make a body stressed about undereating too much while it's trying to recover, and it'll elevate cortisol and retain water - probably masking your weight loss.

First big loss was water weight. Some increases to water weight probably happened from exercise, especially if cardio only.

Might log your workouts and eat back your calories if not - and cause less stress to your body.
Likely to get the whoosh effect and drop some stress related water that way - giving better indication where you are really at.

You could gain upwards of 20 lbs from retained water from cortisol - would that be stressful for however many weeks that slowly happened hiding fat loss?

You measuring too. Scale may be the same, but inches going down - indicating the above is indeed happening. Except tummy may go up where water is held.

Okay, thank you for clearing that up.

The next thing is if you'd be willing to temporarily make your diary public. This would help immensely in trying to figure out the issue. I'd normally ask if you weigh your food, but you already specified that you currently weigh all of your food. The open diary would help in locating possible inaccurate database entries that you may be unintentionally using. When it comes down to the actual calorie allowance, you absolutely should be losing weight at 1500 calories and should not be at a stall. This is why my feeling is that the issue will make itself present through your food/exercise diary.

If you have been within the same 3 to 4 pound range for months, then you are eating at maintence. You say that you weigh all solids and are accurate, have you double checked the entries you are using? Sometimes they can be off hundreds of calories. Could be that the days you are going over are wiping out your deficit. The only advice is to make sure you are using accurate entries, and you do not overestimate exorcise burns. Try to go 4 weeks without any over days. if you know there a special event coming, look at your calorie goal for the week not just the days and try to bank some extra to cover the event. But for those 4 weeks try not to eat anything you didn't make, so you know exactly what is in it. If after four weeks of super strict loging you are still in the same place, might be time to talk to doc and have tests done.

baciodolce18 wrote: »

Still though would like advice on what to set calorie goal at. MFP says I can eat 1900 cals (under lightly active) and lose a pound a week. I'd be thrilled to be able to eat 1900 cals and still lose a pound a week.

How are you measuring that you are lightly active? Are you including your exorcise into that? Or do you have a more active job ?

Fitness pall will calculate calorie needs but I've found 10 times weight wanted works. Want to weigh 150 = 1500 calories. Most people, including myself, don't always track honestly by weighing and measuring food. Exercise is also usually over valued as far as calories. Age or less activity ... multiply by less ... 8 xs =.

You said you need to "reevaluate your calorie goal to make sure you are in a deficit." An excellent plan if you aren't losing as you expect and you actually know how many calories you have been consuming. But you don't, for several reasons:

You have log days that are blank.
You have a lot of food that was prepared by a factory (did you know that they can legally be up to 20% heavier but not lower than the advertised weight?). If you are really trying to get your logging tight and accurate, you're going to have to weigh this stuff too.
You have a lot of restaurant food that you can't be sure of the calories. Even if Dunkin Donuts tells you that a muffin has 240 calories (for example, not saying you ate a muffin from DD), did YOUR muffin have that many, or was it bigger or smaller than the "average"? The same for a flavored coffee or a restaurant burger or anything made on site. You can't know, so the more of this kind of food that is consumed, the less accurate you can be.
Calorie burns from exercise equipment are not reliable, which is why so many people advocate eating only a percentage of their exercise calories back.

Not knowing what your actual calorie consumption has been makes it impossible for someone on the internet to suggest what number will work for you.

The best advice I have for you is to try to eat food that you have control over; things you can buy at the grocery store, weigh at home, and log. Then weigh and log EVERYTHING. If you do that, you'll know how many calories you are eating and will see if that number is working for your goals and can adjust up or down from there. If you can't do that, this is going to continue to be frustrating for you because you are going to be making decisions without facts.

You are basically starting over, because you don't know how much you've been eating over the course of a week, so you don't know if you are at a deficit or not. If you need a number suggestion, then pick any number you want between the 1500 you've been sort-of trying and the 1900 that MFP suggests, and then really, really strictly count, weigh, and log every single thing that goes into your mouth. Once you know what number works for you and you are losing at a rate acceptable to you, you can choose to reintroduce food that you aren't quite as sure of the calorie counts if you want to. But having a diet filled with uncertainty isn't a solid place to start.

If you're eating 1300-1500 with exercise and haven't seen any results since January, you might speak with your doctor and explain this. Other things could be going on. Personally, I believe you about weighing and measuring and being accurate with your log.

baciodolce18, Hi, Thank you for replying to my question. I get to full if I eat more than 1350 and I saw on MFP FB that if your weight wasn't moving down maybe it might be not eating enough of your exercise calorie intake. I haven't moved(exercised) for 2 months. I started going to the gym last month and that could be it also. 2 1/2 weeks been in a rut, so today is a new day, a new month and a new time to get back on track.

baciodolce18 wrote: »

Still though would like advice on what to set calorie goal at. MFP says I can eat 1900 cals (under lightly active) and lose a pound a week. I'd be thrilled to be able to eat 1900 cals and still lose a pound a week.

Perhaps you like the idea of a daily eating goal that doesn't change, as long as you keep up the average weekly workout routine. That avoids the whole need to log exercise and figure out how much to eat back - because it's already included in the average weekly daily burn (TDEE).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G7FgNzPq3v5WMjDtH0n93LXSMRY_hjmzNTMJb3aZSxM/edit?usp=sharing

You didn't mention how long the workouts were of cardio, assuming 1 hr for those 4 days (3-5 avg). If circuit training is in there, same level, not weight lifting yet.

You mentioned lightly active activity level outside of gym, so kept that.

Doing a 20% deficit - or 1.1 lb weekly - 2800 TDEE.
Eating goal - 2238 (as accurate as can be anyway)

If my assumptions were wrong, you can make a copy of spreadsheet and correct them.

benevempress wrote: »

You said you need to "reevaluate your calorie goal to make sure you are in a deficit." An excellent plan if you aren't losing as you expect and you actually know how many calories you have been consuming. But you don't, for several reasons:

You have log days that are blank.
You have a lot of food that was prepared by a factory (did you know that they can legally be up to 20% heavier but not lower than the advertised weight?). If you are really trying to get your logging tight and accurate, you're going to have to weigh this stuff too.
You have a lot of restaurant food that you can't be sure of the calories. Even if Dunkin Donuts tells you that a muffin has 240 calories (for example, not saying you ate a muffin from DD), did YOUR muffin have that many, or was it bigger or smaller than the "average"? The same for a flavored coffee or a restaurant burger or anything made on site. You can't know, so the more of this kind of food that is consumed, the less accurate you can be.
Calorie burns from exercise equipment are not reliable, which is why so many people advocate eating only a percentage of their exercise calories back.

Not knowing what your actual calorie consumption has been makes it impossible for someone on the internet to suggest what number will work for you.

The best advice I have for you is to try to eat food that you have control over; things you can buy at the grocery store, weigh at home, and log. Then weigh and log EVERYTHING. If you do that, you'll know how many calories you are eating and will see if that number is working for your goals and can adjust up or down from there. If you can't do that, this is going to continue to be frustrating for you because you are going to be making decisions without facts.

You are basically starting over, because you don't know how much you've been eating over the course of a week, so you don't know if you are at a deficit or not. If you need a number suggestion, then pick any number you want between the 1500 you've been sort-of trying and the 1900 that MFP suggests, and then really, really strictly count, weigh, and log every single thing that goes into your mouth. Once you know what number works for you and you are losing at a rate acceptable to you, you can choose to reintroduce food that you aren't quite as sure of the calorie counts if you want to. But having a diet filled with uncertainty isn't a solid place to start.

*I will preface this by saying I did not look at your diary and I only skimmed most of the responses here.*

This is excellent advice, especially considering you have been "gaining and losing the same 3-4 pounds." That indicates a lack of consistency. I know that when I eat out I am more likely to show a gain that week, usually followed by a big loss the next week when I don't eat out. You don't have to avoid that stuff forever, but it might be a good idea to stay away for a week or two and then keep it limited, going forward.