Weight Loss Frustration
oitsjulie
Posts: 21 Member
Hi Everyone! I've been trying to lose weight for about 6 months now, with no success. Any suggestions are welcomed...
Here's some background info:
I'm 5'7 and weight about 175. I've tried different methods since I've started. About 2 years ago I lost 50lbs doing low carb so I started out with that. I tracked my carbs to stay under 25-50 carbs/day. I did that for about 3 months and lost 5 pounds.
After it seemed like I hit a plateau with that I started doing some research and saw that most recommend a low calorie/calorie deficit approach. I bought a kitchen sale and lowered my calories to be between 1200-1300 cals/day and tracked everything. I also started going to the gym at least 3 times/week doing cardio and weight lifting. About a month and a half in I still hadn't seen any results so I hired a nutritionist/fitness coach to help out. She said that I wasn't consuming enough calories and needed to eat more. She made up a meal plan that I've been on for about a month and a half. I also increased my gym days to 5x/week when I started the meal plan. Since then I've gained weight back.
You can check out my diary, it should be set to public. I don't log every day since I'm on the meal plan - I eat very similar things everyday. On days I go to the gym I eat a higher carb diet, about 1800-1900cals before exercise. On the two days I don't go to the gym it's lower carb, about 1500cal - I've been carb cycling.
Am I eating too much now? Should I go back to lower calories? Could someone let me know what they think a good calorie deficit for me would be? I use calculators and they always seem to give different answers. Using https://www.fitwatch.com/calculator/calorie-deficit it says I should consume 1700cal for aggressive weight loss but http://ratfactor.com/fat-loss-calculator says 1400cal.
Thanks in advance!
Here's some background info:
I'm 5'7 and weight about 175. I've tried different methods since I've started. About 2 years ago I lost 50lbs doing low carb so I started out with that. I tracked my carbs to stay under 25-50 carbs/day. I did that for about 3 months and lost 5 pounds.
After it seemed like I hit a plateau with that I started doing some research and saw that most recommend a low calorie/calorie deficit approach. I bought a kitchen sale and lowered my calories to be between 1200-1300 cals/day and tracked everything. I also started going to the gym at least 3 times/week doing cardio and weight lifting. About a month and a half in I still hadn't seen any results so I hired a nutritionist/fitness coach to help out. She said that I wasn't consuming enough calories and needed to eat more. She made up a meal plan that I've been on for about a month and a half. I also increased my gym days to 5x/week when I started the meal plan. Since then I've gained weight back.
You can check out my diary, it should be set to public. I don't log every day since I'm on the meal plan - I eat very similar things everyday. On days I go to the gym I eat a higher carb diet, about 1800-1900cals before exercise. On the two days I don't go to the gym it's lower carb, about 1500cal - I've been carb cycling.
Am I eating too much now? Should I go back to lower calories? Could someone let me know what they think a good calorie deficit for me would be? I use calculators and they always seem to give different answers. Using https://www.fitwatch.com/calculator/calorie-deficit it says I should consume 1700cal for aggressive weight loss but http://ratfactor.com/fat-loss-calculator says 1400cal.
Thanks in advance!
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Replies
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Good on you for having your diary open. Are you using a digital scale to weigh each item you consume? It truly is essential. Are you doing any exercise? The first impression I got from looking at your 'today' is that you went over your calorie budget on breakfast and lunch. If you are going to have a dinner or some snacks, you're going to be eliminating most or all of your calorie deficit for today. From that, I suggest that you reduce the calories consumed in breakfast and lunch to something closer to 33% of your budget. My work situation uniquely allows me to have 2 big meals for breakfast and dinner and a tiny meal for lunch, which is where my calorie deficit is created each day.2
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I have done similar things, by raising my cal levels because I need "energy" for the gym, my weight went up again. So I went back to a low-carb, 1200cal diet and kept the exercise the same. Drank plenty of water, made little changes too like taking the stairs, walking instead of taking the car, etc. I also only worked out every other day (muscles need time to repair) and yup, I've lost just over 3st (42lbs) this year so far
I seldom use this site, but I'm getting into it again (btw). Good luck!2 -
I do use a digital scale and weigh out my portions. I exercise 5 days/week at the gym doing a combo of cardio + weight lifting. The calorie goal I have it set to on MFP isn't really accurate since I'm following the nutritionist's meal plan, I just use it as a guide. I have a feeling I'm consuming too many calories, although before I was eating a lot less calories without results then either. I figured if anyone could help me it would be a nutritionist...
I've been reading some great articles on here about calculating TDEE and setting the right calorie deficits but a lot of it seems confusing and, frankly, a little overwhelming!0 -
I do use a digital scale and weigh out my portions. I exercise 5 days/week at the gym doing a combo of cardio + weight lifting. The calorie goal I have it set to on MFP isn't really accurate since I'm following the nutritionist's meal plan, I just use it as a guide. I have a feeling I'm consuming too many calories, although before I was eating a lot less calories without results then either. I figured if anyone could help me it would be a nutritionist...
I've been reading some great articles on here about calculating TDEE and setting the right calorie deficits but a lot of it seems confusing and, frankly, a little overwhelming!
When you have things listed in cups/tablespoons, does that mean you weighed it out and then chose the cup/tablespoon measurement from the database?3 -
In the past week, you haven't logged 5 days. You didn't log the weekend before that. You are going over your calorie allotment when you do log.
You are eating too many calories. Start logging everything. Weigh everything on a digital food scale, and enter it all into your food diary. You need to get serious about logging your food for this to work.
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I'd drop the calories a bit and see if that works. I don't think I'd lose on 1800-1900, im 5'4", 145, so you can probably eat more than me, but I would lower just a bit, not all the way to 1200, and diligently log everything for 3-4 weeks and see if that makes a difference.0
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janejellyroll wrote: »When you have things listed in cups/tablespoons, does that mean you weighed it out and then chose the cup/tablespoon measurement from the database?
Yes, or sometimes I google the conversion. For example, if I only see how to log it in oz. but I measured it with a cup
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janejellyroll wrote: »When you have things listed in cups/tablespoons, does that mean you weighed it out and then chose the cup/tablespoon measurement from the database?
Yes, or sometimes I google the conversion. For example, if I only see how to log it in oz. but I measured it with a cup
Don't use measuring cups or spoons for anything except liquids. Use grams for everything else, even condiments, peanut butter, olive oil, all that. It's very easy to have small underestimation a that quickly add up to negating any deficit you're trying to create. And definitely weigh and log every time you eat something even if you eat if frequently.
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quiksylver296 wrote: »In the past week, you haven't logged 5 days. You didn't log the weekend before that. You are going over your calorie allotment when you do log.
You are eating too many calories. Start logging everything. Weigh everything on a digital food scale, and enter it all into your food diary. You need to get serious about logging your food for this to work.
I agree with you! Like I said before, I currently don't have a calorie intake goal -- I'm going by what my nutritionist has planned out for me. I have one meal plan for gym days and one meal plan for non gym days. I meal prep so I eat the same things every day. I haven't really had a reason to log everything since I'm following what someone has recommended and I don't deviate.
I'm a little confused on how to set good calorie/macro goals for myself. I feel like I've tried the calorie deficit thing in the past but maybe wasn't calculating things correctly... Anyone up for giving me suggestions with that?0 -
DaniCanadian wrote: »Don't use measuring cups or spoons for anything except liquids. Use grams for everything else, even condiments, peanut butter, olive oil, all that. It's very easy to have small underestimation a that quickly add up to negating any deficit you're trying to create. And definitely weigh and log every time you eat something even if you eat if frequently.
How should I be measuring those things?0 -
DaniCanadian wrote: »Don't use measuring cups or spoons for anything except liquids. Use grams for everything else, even condiments, peanut butter, olive oil, all that. It's very easy to have small underestimation a that quickly add up to negating any deficit you're trying to create. And definitely weigh and log every time you eat something even if you eat if frequently.
How should I be measuring those things?
With grams on your scale
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DaniCanadian wrote: »Don't use measuring cups or spoons for anything except liquids. Use grams for everything else, even condiments, peanut butter, olive oil, all that. It's very easy to have small underestimation a that quickly add up to negating any deficit you're trying to create. And definitely weigh and log every time you eat something even if you eat if frequently.
How should I be measuring those things?
Put the cups or your plate on the digital scale, zero it out then pour or put whatever food item it is on there and weigh each thing seperate.
Ex: I put my plate on my digital scale and zero it. Then I put on the toast and get its weight in grams, then zero again. Then I put the peanut butter on and get that weight.
Before I got my scale I was logging 1 tbsp of peanut butter every morning for breakfast. When I started using my scale to weigh it, it was actually 3 and a half tbsp. That's a 225 cal difference just in that one food item alone. I wasn't losing cause I wasn't eating the deficit I thought I was. Once I started using my scale consistently, I dropped the weight and kept it off.
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janejellyroll wrote: »When you have things listed in cups/tablespoons, does that mean you weighed it out and then chose the cup/tablespoon measurement from the database?
Yes, or sometimes I google the conversion. For example, if I only see how to log it in oz. but I measured it with a cup
If you're measuring it with a cup, you can't be sure that you are logging the correct number of ounces. The two aren't interchangable. I would begin logging every day, making sure you hit your calorie goal, and stop using cups/tablespoons.0 -
Okay... so I'm still using the cup/spoon to put the food in but using the scale to get the exact weight?2
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Okay... so I'm still using the cup/spoon to put the food in but using the scale to get the exact weight?
You could, but that would give you unnecessary dishes! Just use the serving plate that you plan to eat off of. Put your item on the scale and log that amount here. No tablespoons, cups, etc necessary at all. If you have another item to add, press the tare button (it brings it back to zero with your plate still on it) and add the next item. Log that here in grams. Make sense?2 -
No, you don't need to use the cup/spoon at all except for liquids that don't have grams listed in the nutritional information.Okay... so I'm still using the cup/spoon to put the food in but using the scale to get the exact weight?
As stated above, you can put your plate on the scale, tare (zero) it out, put the first food for your meal on the plate to get the weight for that food, tare it out again, and repeat until you've weighed all of the food in your meal on the plate.
For peanut butter and olive oil and things like that, I put the jar on the scale, tare it out, remove the amount that I want, then put the jar back on the scale. You'll get a negative number showing how many grams you've removed from the jar.1 -
Oh! Yes! Never thought about it that way. Thank you!!1
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Also, when I cook a dish, I usually put my pot on the scale just to weigh the oil/butter, then I use one bowl to weigh each ingredient to add to the pot.1
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How do you guys log meals you don't cook yourself? Like, if I were to go to a Chinese or Indian restaurant0
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When following a recipe you will need to measure with cups and spoons then weigh or it's likely your recipe will not turn out correctly. Weight and volume are different and most recipes are based on volume measurement.
I go online before going to a restaurant and look up the nutrition, helps me make an informed food choice. Water anyone?0 -
you say you dont have a calorie intake goal but you could easily input the nutritionist daily menu into mfp and see what it gives you as she will be working a a calorie goal also .
then log all your stats and see what the difference is .
I input all my recipes into MFP before using them any thing in cups i search for the same in grams , it then does all the conversions per serve for me . also anything that you find with just cups or tblespoon measurements will have it in grams if you keep looking or find it in calorie king or some where else then add it to mfp . Once youve done the majority of your foods it's easy and fast to log each and every meal .
also most on here advice to eat only half your exercise calories back ,
and have you taken your measurements and had a fat test done if your working out that much you may be converting into muscle which your measurements will show but not the scale the fat test will also show what difference there is .
good luck there are lots of really heplfull people on here with great ideas try a few and let us know how your doing
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Also start logging your exercise and your water are you drinking enough water ? log every single thing even just for a couple of weeks i'm sure you'll see a difference0
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Thanks everyone, I got some great tips and advice here
When I went home last night and did my meal prep for today I weighed everything like you guys said and I definitely noticed a difference.. I was underestimating measuring with cups and spoons! I set a calorie goal for 1550cal for gym days, probably 1300cal for non gym days.
Other than protein powder, what are good low cal options to get all your protein? Eating 1800cal, getting 175g of protein was pretty easy.2 -
You don't need anywhere near that amount of protein. 1 gram per pound of lean body mass - not total body weight is more like it. Since we don't know your BF%, let's go with 0.6-0.8 g per lb total body weight. That gives you 105-140 grams of protein. About 120 is probably fine for you.0
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You don't need anywhere near that amount of protein. 1 gram per pound of lean body mass - not total body weight is more like it. Since we don't know your BF%, let's go with 0.6-0.8 g per lb total body weight. That gives you 105-140 grams of protein. About 120 is probably fine for you.
Good to know! That makes sense. I'll adjust my macro settings1 -
Thanks everyone, I got some great tips and advice here When I went home last night and did my meal prep for today I weighed everything like you guys said and I definitely noticed a difference.. I was underestimating measuring with cups and spoons! I set a calorie goal for 1550cal for gym days, probably 1300cal for non gym days.
Other than protein powder, what are good low cal options to get all your protein? Eating 1800cal, getting 175g of protein was pretty easy.
I'm 5'7" 142 lbs and my maintenance is about 1900 cal per day (setting MFP to "lightly active"). Being the same height and 175 lb you only have about 20 lbs to lose until you are in the "normal" bmi category, so 1550 seems a tad low to me. Try entering your stats into MFP with a goal of losing no more than 1 lb per week and see what calorie limit it gives you, then log exercise and eat maybe 50-75% of that back (MFP tends to overestimate burns). You may find you are able to eat more calories (now that you are weighing things properly!) than 1300-1500. Two lbs per week is simply too aggressive for someone with so little weight to lose (you may run into hunger, performance, and adherence issues if you eat too little).
As for proetein - 175g per day seems super high to me. I eat around 80-90 g per day. Why are you trying for such a high protein goal? At any rate - things like egg whites, chicken breast, low fat Greek yogurt, and canned tuna are good low fat sources of protein. I eat LCHF so I don't worry about the low cal aspect, but incorporating the foods I mentioned will add protein without a whole lot of extra calories.
Also double check entires in MFP; opt for the USDA entry whenever possible or at least double check with packages and whatnot. There are a lot of entries in the database that are wildly inaccurate or that leave off macros altogether. You may be getting more protein than you think.
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tlflag1620 wrote: »I'm 5'7" 142 lbs and my maintenance is about 1900 cal per day (setting MFP to "lightly active"). Being the same height and 175 lb you only have about 20 lbs to lose until you are in the "normal" bmi category, so 1550 seems a tad low to me. Try entering your stats into MFP with a goal of losing no more than 1 lb per week and see what calorie limit it gives you, then log exercise and eat maybe 50-75% of that back (MFP tends to overestimate burns). You may find you are able to eat more calories (now that you are weighing things properly!) than 1300-1500. Two lbs per week is simply too aggressive for someone with so little weight to lose (you may run into hunger, performance, and adherence issues if you eat too little).
As for protein - 175g per day seems super high to me. I eat around 80-90 g per day. Why are you trying for such a high protein goal? At any rate - things like egg whites, chicken breast, low fat Greek yogurt, and canned tuna are good low fat sources of protein. I eat LCHF so I don't worry about the low cal aspect, but incorporating the foods I mentioned will add protein without a whole lot of extra calories.
Also double check entires in MFP; opt for the USDA entry whenever possible or at least double check with packages and whatnot. There are a lot of entries in the database that are wildly inaccurate or that leave off macros altogether. You may be getting more protein than you think.
That was really helpful info. I'd like to be aggressive as possible about losing weight, while still being healthy. If I put in lose 1.5lbs/week it gives me 1440cal, is that too low?0 -
tlflag1620 wrote: »I'm 5'7" 142 lbs and my maintenance is about 1900 cal per day (setting MFP to "lightly active"). Being the same height and 175 lb you only have about 20 lbs to lose until you are in the "normal" bmi category, so 1550 seems a tad low to me. Try entering your stats into MFP with a goal of losing no more than 1 lb per week and see what calorie limit it gives you, then log exercise and eat maybe 50-75% of that back (MFP tends to overestimate burns). You may find you are able to eat more calories (now that you are weighing things properly!) than 1300-1500. Two lbs per week is simply too aggressive for someone with so little weight to lose (you may run into hunger, performance, and adherence issues if you eat too little).
As for protein - 175g per day seems super high to me. I eat around 80-90 g per day. Why are you trying for such a high protein goal? At any rate - things like egg whites, chicken breast, low fat Greek yogurt, and canned tuna are good low fat sources of protein. I eat LCHF so I don't worry about the low cal aspect, but incorporating the foods I mentioned will add protein without a whole lot of extra calories.
Also double check entires in MFP; opt for the USDA entry whenever possible or at least double check with packages and whatnot. There are a lot of entries in the database that are wildly inaccurate or that leave off macros altogether. You may be getting more protein than you think.
That was really helpful info. I'd like to be aggressive as possible about losing weight, while still being healthy. If I put in lose 1.5lbs/week it gives me 1440cal, is that too low?
Whether it's "too low" or not is pretty subjective. Personally I felt best (hunger- and performance-wise) averaging 1600 - 1800 per day when I was losing (I started at 185lbs, so only a bit heavier than you are now), but my goal was 1 lb per week (the 1800 days were days when I ate back some of my exercise calories, or just had a "hungry" day). I think 1400-1500, assuming you eat a bit more on training days, and focus on nutrient dense foods will be okay. Just bear in mind that if you find yourself struggling at that intake, you can always change your goal to 1 lb (or even 0.5 lb) per week loss and get results (even if it is a tad slower). At 1 lb per week you'd lose 20 lbs in about 5 months. At 1.5 lbs per week you'd lose 20 lbs in more like 3.5 months. Only you can decide if taking a few weeks less time to reach your goal is worth any potential added hunger. Also know that as you get closer to goal the weight loss will slow down, even if you keep your calories the same (your BMR drops as you get smaller). You can always do 1.5 lb per week loss for the first 10-15 lbs, and then reassess.
Edited for clarity
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