10 weeks - 1500 calories - no change :(
Replies
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OK. Final decision. 1850 calories per day. No change to exercise and strength training, just not logging the calories.
And completely brutal with weighing food! I'm even going to start weighing coconut oil instead of using a spoon. And my bunch of grapes. (can I take them off the stalks for weighing?
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I'm not sure how you're going to accurately weigh oils, but I'd suggest using an accurate set of measuring spoons instead of normal silverware.
I have had very good luck eating back most or all of my cardio calories, but either ignoring the weightlifting, or just giving myself 200 calories per hour, which is completely offset by the 150 calorie protein shake that I down after lifting for 45 minutes.
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With a scale set to grams, I presume. It's how I do it. And yes, OP, take the grapes off of the stems before weighing
The rest of this post I agree with, though.2 -
Agreed with synacious - weigh everything even pre-packaged meats. Most days I cook a pre-packaged chicken breast for lunch. It's labeled as 4oz, which is around 113 g. But through my experience weighing these chicken breasts, I know they are typically closer to 170g, and sometimes even over 200g. Sometimes I cook a whole batch of them on the grill, and then I don't know what each one weighed raw, so I overestimate and call it 200g. I'd much rather overestimate than underestimate.
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Well. Making dinner and I weighed the coconut oil instead of measuring half a tbsp. Logging it under its brand and it made a 50 calorie difference!
Weighing grapes for tomorrow's snack has reduced the amount a wee bit. So looks like weighing everything is the way forward!13 -
A few things stand out...
1. If you're following TDEE method, you do not eat back your exercise calories. They are already included in the count.
2. Heart rate monitors are only good for steady state cardio, so you're likely getting an inaccurate reading for your lifting.
3. How are you measuring your calorie intake (food scale, measuring cups, eyeballing portions)?Asher_Ethan wrote: »Are you weighing everything?
Your hrm isn't accurate for calories burned from weight lifting.
WHAT!?? I never knew this! thanks for sharing. Will the HRM under or over estimate the calories while lifting?2 -
bmayes2014 wrote: »A few things stand out...
1. If you're following TDEE method, you do not eat back your exercise calories. They are already included in the count.
2. Heart rate monitors are only good for steady state cardio, so you're likely getting an inaccurate reading for your lifting.
3. How are you measuring your calorie intake (food scale, measuring cups, eyeballing portions)?Asher_Ethan wrote: »Are you weighing everything?
Your hrm isn't accurate for calories burned from weight lifting.
WHAT!?? I never knew this! thanks for sharing. Will the HRM under or over estimate the calories while lifting?
It will over-estimate.3 -
janejellyroll wrote: »bmayes2014 wrote: »A few things stand out...
1. If you're following TDEE method, you do not eat back your exercise calories. They are already included in the count.
2. Heart rate monitors are only good for steady state cardio, so you're likely getting an inaccurate reading for your lifting.
3. How are you measuring your calorie intake (food scale, measuring cups, eyeballing portions)?Asher_Ethan wrote: »Are you weighing everything?
Your hrm isn't accurate for calories burned from weight lifting.
WHAT!?? I never knew this! thanks for sharing. Will the HRM under or over estimate the calories while lifting?
It will over-estimate.
So how do you count calories burned while lifting? or dont you? I don't mean to hijack this post. I appreciate the help0 -
If you are doing the TDEE method, the exercise calories are already included. MFP uses TEF which is BMR plus daily activity without exercise, so it is designed to add exercise. If you absolutely must add exercise just to log it, just add 1 to the calorie burn field.I'm a pretty greedy person with no food "off" switch so really don't trust my hunger - still learning to separate neck down and neck up hunger!!!
I've looked at a few TDEE calculations and they vary from 1750 to 2000 calories per day, so will go with 1850, stop logging the exercise calories and see what happens over the next couple of weeks.If you are relatively new to strength training, it may be possible that you are experiencing a weight gain which is comprised of both increased muscle mass AND the muscles you train exhibiting water retention due to training. These two things can offset your fat loss, but as you continue and your muscles adapt to training, the gains will start to diminish, which is when you start seeing the scale move downward.
If she is relatively new, there's no way she'd be gaining muscle mass..... it takes a long *kitten* time to add muscle mass. It most likely is the water retention, for sure. Al this does is mask fat loss.0 -
bmayes2014 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »bmayes2014 wrote: »A few things stand out...
1. If you're following TDEE method, you do not eat back your exercise calories. They are already included in the count.
2. Heart rate monitors are only good for steady state cardio, so you're likely getting an inaccurate reading for your lifting.
3. How are you measuring your calorie intake (food scale, measuring cups, eyeballing portions)?Asher_Ethan wrote: »Are you weighing everything?
Your hrm isn't accurate for calories burned from weight lifting.
WHAT!?? I never knew this! thanks for sharing. Will the HRM under or over estimate the calories while lifting?
It will over-estimate.
So how do you count calories burned while lifting? or dont you? I don't mean to hijack this post. I appreciate the help
I personally don't count the calories burned during lifting. This works for me because I'm not a serious lifter (probably 1.5-2 hours a week at most). If I found myself losing weight (I'm maintaining right now), I would begin eating some of them back, but this currently works for me.1 -
Right or wrong, I've decided to not log them. I think you could get a bunch of arguments for either option though.
I'm not losing weight (or rather, I'm not dropping dress sizes) by logging them so I'll stop and see what happens.
I think a pp said they log 100cal for an hour lifting but I reckon everyone does it differently so difficult to know what to do!0 -
I'd use weight lifting burned calories as a buffer and not log them, this will help account for inaccurate logging or overestimated cardio calorie burns.1
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Asher_Ethan wrote: »Are you weighing everything?
Your hrm isn't accurate for calories burned from weight lifting.
truth...HRM aren't really accurate unless it has a chest strap and you are doing steady state cardio.0 -
If you are relatively new to strength training, it may be possible that you are experiencing a weight gain which is comprised of both increased muscle mass AND the muscles you train exhibiting water retention due to training. These two things can offset your fat loss, but as you continue and your muscles adapt to training, the gains will start to diminish, which is when you start seeing the scale move downward.
its most likely water retention. its not going to me muscle mass,I mean you can get newbie gains but that would have happened in the beginning and slacked off by now and it wouldnt be that much to create a "stall" or no loss. this far in.women also gain muscle slower and on 1500 calories any newbie gains would be really small. could be that she isnt weighing everything so she is eating more than she thinks.
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I only use the package to figure out the calories per gram math.
I had one stall that really sealed the deal for weighing packaged foods. I was eating these protein bars my husband bought. 290 cal/30 protein, great for breakfast when I'm busy. I was tracking everything but wasn't losing. It was the newest thing in my diet so I started weighing them out. Every damn one was over, so I cut the extra off and saved it. After a week I had saved up the weight of another full 72g bar! And that's just one food item that was a source of "hidden" calories. A few other things I eat were heavier than listed as well.6 -
Drop to 1350 for 2 weeks and see what happens.0
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And completely brutal with weighing food! I'm even going to start weighing coconut oil instead of using a spoon. And my bunch of grapes. (can I take them off the stalks for weighing?)
I was really surprised at how many calories are in grapes, so yes - definitely weigh them! I prefer berries anyway, fewer calories and IMO tastier too. 0 -
StacyLynnBennett wrote: »I was thinking as active as you are you may need to increase your calorie intake.
No--that's never the answer for a stall in weight loss.
Never say never. It was for me. I was "eating" 1800 calories and wasn't losing weight. I started eating back my exercise calories in addition to what I already ate and the weight started moving downward again. Theoretically I shouldn't have lost weight eating 200 more calories but I did. I find that if my deficit is too big, it puts stress in my body and I won't lose weight. By reading threads on here, there are others that have experienced this also. I'm not saying it's always the answer, especially with those that aren't weighing their food or logging accurately. I knew that wasn't the case with me since I'm really OCD about my food scale and logging. My net calories were too low for how active I am and my weight.
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I'm also on around 1,500 calories these days. But ive been seeing significant change in my weight.0
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I calculate my base metabolic rate online, as I think most do, and initially had been using that as my guideline for how many calories I needed to cut from my day to lose weight. And I barely lost any weight. Actually, at first... I lost nothing. For a whole month I lost nothing. Granted, I wasn't exercising... but I WAS eating 500 calories less every day. So regardless of exercise, I still should have been losing SOMETHING. Especially at my weight where the first 30 or so pounds should fall right off.
This was back in November. By December I think I had lost a sad 4-5 pounds in two months (I had about 230 pounds to lose, so this was dismal for the first two months of a more restricted diet at my weight). I fell off the wagon a bit in December and started up again in April. In 6 weeks I lost about 20 pounds. The difference? My FitBit. After putting my FitBit back on and syncing it to MFP, I realized that while I did put in "sedentary" as my level of activity... I was BEYOND sedentary. I was still running at about 300 calories less a day than I had thought. So I wasn't exercising and ultimately only cutting back 200 calories a day. Which, on some days, I may have accidentally been eating those anyway when I forgot to log small things like sugar free creamer or two pieces of hard candy or just inputting wrong data.
You are exercising, sure... but that base metabolic rate my be screwing you up. Those hours at the office where you sit all day long may actually be burning even fewer calories than what the average sedentary job would.
For all I know you're already using a FitBit (or something like it) and syncing it up and making sure your calories are adjusted based on what the device says... so this might have all been pointless lol... but if you're NOT using one, I highly recommend it. It's not a totally accurate device, but it's made a world of difference for me when I'm able to see just how few calories sitting on my fat butt burns!
Hope it helps, but if not then remember (and sorry in advance for the cliche) Einstein said that the "definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If all else fails, change up the menu... find some more fat burning foods... do a new exercise routine. If you normally use a treadmill, jump on the bike instead. Your body may just be accustomed to all you're doing and it might need a bit of a kick with a new routine. Make sure you're getting all of your vitamins and antioxidants... try more protein, less carbs... less fruit, more veggies... protein in the morning instead of a smoothie or energy bar (idk what you have for breakfast, just an example), try MCT oil or another supplement. Think outside the box I guess. I haven't hit a plateau yet because I have so much weight to lose still, but I've been preparing for it myself so I'm ready when it hits! These are just some ideas I've seen.
I hope you're able to figure it out and see some more progress soon! Good luck!2 -
Leoness726 wrote: »I calculate my base metabolic rate online, as I think most do, and initially had been using that as my guideline for how many calories I needed to cut from my day to lose weight. And I barely lost any weight. Actually, at first... I lost nothing. For a whole month I lost nothing. Granted, I wasn't exercising... but I WAS eating 500 calories less every day. So regardless of exercise, I still should have been losing SOMETHING. Especially at my weight where the first 30 or so pounds should fall right off.
This was back in November. By December I think I had lost a sad 4-5 pounds in two months (I had about 230 pounds to lose, so this was dismal for the first two months of a more restricted diet at my weight). I fell off the wagon a bit in December and started up again in April. In 6 weeks I lost about 20 pounds. The difference? My FitBit. After putting my FitBit back on and syncing it to MFP, I realized that while I did put in "sedentary" as my level of activity... I was BEYOND sedentary. I was still running at about 300 calories less a day than I had thought. So I wasn't exercising and ultimately only cutting back 200 calories a day. Which, on some days, I may have accidentally been eating those anyway when I forgot to log small things like sugar free creamer or two pieces of hard candy or just inputting wrong data.
You are exercising, sure... but that base metabolic rate my be screwing you up. Those hours at the office where you sit all day long may actually be burning even fewer calories than what the average sedentary job would.
For all I know you're already using a FitBit (or something like it) and syncing it up and making sure your calories are adjusted based on what the device says... so this might have all been pointless lol... but if you're NOT using one, I highly recommend it. It's not a totally accurate device, but it's made a world of difference for me when I'm able to see just how few calories sitting on my fat butt burns!
Hope it helps, but if not then remember (and sorry in advance for the cliche) Einstein said that the "definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If all else fails, change up the menu... find some more fat burning foods... do a new exercise routine. If you normally use a treadmill, jump on the bike instead. Your body may just be accustomed to all you're doing and it might need a bit of a kick with a new routine. Make sure you're getting all of your vitamins and antioxidants... try more protein, less carbs... less fruit, more veggies... protein in the morning instead of a smoothie or energy bar (idk what you have for breakfast, just an example), try MCT oil or another supplement. Think outside the box I guess. I haven't hit a plateau yet because I have so much weight to lose still, but I've been preparing for it myself so I'm ready when it hits! These are just some ideas I've seen.
I hope you're able to figure it out and see some more progress soon! Good luck!
there are no fat burning foods and oils and supplements wont work to lose weight. a calorie deficit is whats needed.doesnt matter how or what you eat,you have to be in a deficit. there are no magic foods that help with weight loss.a new routine can help to keep from getting bored.yes your body gets used to doing things and you will start burning less calories because it becomes easier,so changing it to something that makes you burn more calories will help for awhile but eventually your body will get used to that exercise too. more of one macro and less of another will help IF it keeps you in a deficit,otherwise if you eat more of one macro and less of another and it puts you into your maintenance calories or a surplus then no weight loss will happen.7 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
there are no fat burning foods and oils and supplements wont work to lose weight. a calorie deficit is whats needed.doesnt matter how or what you eat,you have to be in a deficit. there are no magic foods that help with weight loss.a new routine can help to keep from getting bored.yes your body gets used to doing things and you will start burning less calories because it becomes easier,so changing it to something that makes you burn more calories will help for awhile but eventually your body will get used to that exercise too. more of one macro and less of another will help IF it keeps you in a deficit,otherwise if you eat more of one macro and less of another and it puts you into your maintenance calories or a surplus then no weight loss will happen.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I never said there was such a thing as "magic" anything. Not even remotely close to that.
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lauraesh0384 wrote: »StacyLynnBennett wrote: »I was thinking as active as you are you may need to increase your calorie intake.
No--that's never the answer for a stall in weight loss.
Never say never. It was for me. I was "eating" 1800 calories and wasn't losing weight. I started eating back my exercise calories in addition to what I already ate and the weight started moving downward again. Theoretically I shouldn't have lost weight eating 200 more calories but I did. I find that if my deficit is too big, it puts stress in my body and I won't lose weight. By reading threads on here, there are others that have experienced this also. I'm not saying it's always the answer, especially with those that aren't weighing their food or logging accurately. I knew that wasn't the case with me since I'm really OCD about my food scale and logging. My net calories were too low for how active I am and my weight.
This!
I started out eating 1600 cals a day when I first started out. I would lose but not consistently. I now eat 2800 a day and lose on a regular basis. So yes for some people, it is better to eat more to lose.
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Unless you are accurately weighing as much as you can, it is too easy to go over. I used to think grabbing a handful of cereal as a snack was no big deal, but I finally took one of my handfuls and measured. It was a whole cup, which was one serving and over 150 extra calories that I was swearing was nothing until I measured. Same with "just a little" more butter on toast ended up being another 50 to 100 calories, or measuring my veggies. I mean, veggies don't have THAT many calories, until you measure and realize just how much you are taking in. I was thinking peas and Brussels spouts were about the same, but peas are about 150 calories per cup were Brussels sprouts are only around 40. BIG difference.
And don't forget to include liquids too, like orange juice (small 6 ounce glass is like 70 calories), beer (like 150 - 250 per 12 ounces, and who drinks ONE beer), or the like.
All the best.6 -
I am new to this site and I find most of these posts incredulous. I lost my needed weight and never counted a single calorie.
I recently took my daughter, who needs to lose about 25 lbs., to a nutritionist. The nutritionist is strongly opposed to calorie counting because for two reasons - 1) Most people will fail at it because who really wants to weigh and measure food every time you eat or drink something?; 2) All calories are not the same. Our bodies are not bunsen burners.
Somehow, she manages to have a very successful practice.
I realize nobody here is suggesting that you should eat 1,500 calories of donuts everyday. But everyone here is emphatically stating that if you took a couple of hundred people and fed them 1,500 calories of donuts for three months, and you took a couple of hundred people and fed them a healthy 1,500-calorie diet that minimized refined sugar and minimized junk carbohydrates for three months, the weight results for all the people would be EXACLTY THE SAME.
You don't need a degree in nutrition or biochemistry or be a registered dietician to know that the healthy diet people would lose more weight. It's common sense.
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As a follow-up, yes, you can lose your needed weight by counting calories. But the vast majority of people who lose their needed weight never count calories. They are likely to read labels and become calorie aware (and sugar aware and junk carbohydrate aware). But they are not counting.0
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gonetothedogs19 wrote: »I am new to this site and I find most of these posts incredulous. I lost my needed weight and never counted a single calorie.
I recently took my daughter, who needs to lose about 25 lbs., to a nutritionist. The nutritionist is strongly opposed to calorie counting because for two reasons - 1) Most people will fail at it because who really wants to weigh and measure food every time you eat or drink something?; 2) All calories are not the same. Our bodies are not bunsen burners.
Somehow, she manages to have a very successful practice.
I realize nobody here is suggesting that you should eat 1,500 calories of donuts everyday. But everyone here is emphatically stating that if you took a couple of hundred people and fed them 1,500 calories of donuts for three months, and you took a couple of hundred people and fed them a healthy 1,500-calorie diet that minimized refined sugar and minimized junk carbohydrates for three months, the weight results for all the people would be EXACLTY THE SAME.
You don't need a degree in nutrition or biochemistry or be a registered dietician to know that the healthy diet people would lose more weight.
So to the OP - what do you eat everyday?
Actually, if one person ate 1500 calories in donuts and one ate 1500 calories in nutritious foods, and they were in the same deficit, they would lose the same amount of weight. A calorie is a calorie. Now, likely, the one not eating donuts would lose more fat, as they would be getting the protein needed to retain muscle mass that the one eating 1500 calories in donuts would not.
Nobody on MFP ever suggests to only eat donuts, cake, soda, pizza, whatever. Occasionally is fine as long as you ensure you're meeting your macros and micros.
You lost your weight by creating a calorie deficit, whether you counted calories or not.5 -
gonetothedogs19 wrote: »I am new to this site and I find most of these posts incredulous. I lost my needed weight and never counted a single calorie.
I recently took my daughter, who needs to lose about 25 lbs., to a nutritionist. The nutritionist is strongly opposed to calorie counting because for two reasons - 1) Most people will fail at it because who really wants to weigh and measure food every time you eat or drink something?; 2) All calories are not the same. Our bodies are not bunsen burners.
Somehow, she manages to have a very successful practice.
I realize nobody here is suggesting that you should eat 1,500 calories of donuts everyday. But everyone here is emphatically stating that if you took a couple of hundred people and fed them 1,500 calories of donuts for three months, and you took a couple of hundred people and fed them a healthy 1,500-calorie diet that minimized refined sugar and minimized junk carbohydrates for three months, the weight results for all the people would be EXACLTY THE SAME.
You don't need a degree in nutrition or biochemistry or be a registered dietician to know that the healthy diet people would lose more weight. It's common sense.
FYI- You are on a calorie counting site.3 -
Never said anyone suggested a donut diet. I said that just about everyone is saying that a hypothetical donut diet, in terms of weight loss, is the same a healthy balanced diet. And according to my daughter's nutritionist, and a myriad number of physicians, nutritionists and dieticians, nothing is further from the truth.
And even if you don't believe that, there are high calorie junk foods and drinks that provide zero satiety. You can start with a 12-ounce Coke. Who in their right mind would say it's OK to have a 12-ounce Coke, as long as you remain in a calorie deficit? So you are eating 1,500 calories/per day, and you are going to give up 140 calories to a can of soda?
So here is my advise to everyone trying to lose weight - don't drink Coke (or Gatorade, or Vitamin Water, or orange juice, or sweetened ice tea, or lots of other sugary drinks that provide no satiety). Just don't do it.0 -
gonetothedogs19 wrote: »Never said anyone suggested a donut diet. I said that just about everyone is saying that a hypothetical donut diet, in terms of weight loss, is the same a healthy balanced diet. And according to my daughter's nutritionist, and a myriad number of physicians, nutritionists and dieticians, nothing is further from the truth.
And even if you don't believe that, there are high calorie junk foods and drinks that provide zero satiety. You can start with a 12-ounce Coke. Who in their right mind would say it's OK to have a 12-ounce Coke, as long as you remain in a calorie deficit? So you are eating 1,500 calories/per day, and you are going to give up 140 calories to a can of soda?
So here is my advise to everyone trying to lose weight - don't drink Coke (or Gatorade, or Vitamin Water, or orange juice, or sweetened ice tea, or lots of other sugary drinks that provide no satiety). Just don't do it.
Please don't derail the thread. This isn't about consumption of cola.5 -
I am not trying to derail the thread. I was using Coke as an example. Another example is yes, a donut. 300 to 400 calories and you are are done in four bites, with zero satiety. Trying to lose weight? Don't eat donuts.0
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