Following calories/logging but not losing weight.

robininquiry
robininquiry Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, first off, I don't have much of a challenge here, but I'm trying to lose 10 pounds but nothing's coming off! I weigh 125 and 5'4 and I'm trying to get in the 115-120 range. I've been logging at 1200cals on most days, trying to lose 2 pounds a week. There have been a few days where I've gone a little more such as 1500-1800 but that's about it. That's what I've been told is my maintenance. I've been eating better, drinking more water, and running at least 5 days a week. I'm not seeing the weight drop and I'm beginning to wonder if I could afford to go lower in my intake. I'm just frustrated because I've changed my eating habits(though I never had awful ones to begin with). I want to lean out a bit and then build more muscle.

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    First off, with ten pounds to lose you shouldn't be aiming for more than half a pound a week. Second, how are you measuring your calorie intake?
  • robininquiry
    robininquiry Posts: 2 Member
    I read labels and log those into mfp, I also have a food scale and use that to help log as well. I'm wondering if when running on the treadmill if it's giving me an accurate calorie burn count. It allows you to enter your weight but that's about it.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited July 2016
    can you open your food diary?

    Also, just a heads up here, but losing 2 lbs of fat per week won't happen at our weight. Your body can only burn so much fat per day (like 30 calories per lb body fat) and after that point it starts using your lean body mass (muscle, organs, ect). So 1% of body weight is the absolute max you should be aiming for, but you will likely find it easier to stick to 0.5 lb per week.
  • dlkfox
    dlkfox Posts: 463 Member
    How long have you not seen a change?

    With so little to lose, you are only going to see a small change on the scale (half pound a week), which can be easily masked by water weight fluctuation any given week.

    Make sure you are being really accurate in your logging and be patient. 1200 calories a day is the minimum recommended for women, so don't go any lower.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,242 Member
    1200 is the minimum MFP will set for you even if you aim at 5lbs/week. I mean that in your case to lose 2lbs/week you need to eat much less (which you shouldn't) than 1200. Set a less than 2lbs/week goal and you'll see that the goal of 1200 in MFP will not change (for 1.5lbs/week for example).

    At your stats you should aim for 0.5lbs/week at most. The reason is that 1lbs = 3500 calories. So to make a 2lbs/week loss you need to make a 7000 calories a week deficit. That is eat 1000 calories a day less than your maintenance. Say you maintain at 1700. So you should eat 700 a day, every day. You see, this is quite difficult and not a healthy way to lose weight. (700 a day is quite unhealthy and dangerous in fact)

    That said if you're weighting all your food with a scale and being extra careful with logging, aiming at 1200 you should start losing. Don't expect immediate scale change. To lose 10lbs at 0.5lbs/week takes 5 months so you should prepare for a long run :)
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    are you "eating back" the exercise calories you earn from exercise? You might want to only eat back about 50% of the earned calories, since most machines and calculators grossly overestimate your calorie burns for exercises.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    Do you log EVERYTHING? I'm talking, vegetables, gum, bites of other people's food?
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    hockey3017 wrote: »
    I read labels and log those into mfp, I also have a food scale and use that to help log as well. I'm wondering if when running on the treadmill if it's giving me an accurate calorie burn count. It allows you to enter your weight but that's about it.

    You're logging the calories rendered from your treadmill? If so, that is definitely killing your deficit. Here's an example:

    We have these awesome new treadmills that are killer. I always wear a heart rate monitor, and have fund comparing it to the numbers on the treadmill. My average for a good 40 minute run is around 300 calories, often depending on the intensity. Well, guess what that wonderful new treadmill rendered for that 40 minute run?

    About 600 calories!

    That's a 300 calorie difference!

    That said, how long have you been trying to lose weight? Ten pounds will not come off easy, and you won't lose 2 pounds a week because you're close to normal weight.
  • melki081
    melki081 Posts: 3 Member
    Hi , i am a personL trainer in formation and to. Loss weight is very simple, you have to spent more calories than the calories you intake , if you are consuming between 1200- 1800 you should be burning more than that daily so you can see results , not need cut carbs or fat since they are essential for source of energy i hope is helpfull for you

Categories