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How did your nutritionist/RD come up with 1500 calories for you?
It was a long time ago; I can't remember (it did involve my weight, height and I believe my level of activity [desk job] if I am not mistaken). But it was a lot of math! She briefly showed it to me. And she did explain it, I just can't remember because it was complicated. But that is what my program started with and she gave me menu plans, etc. that followed that calorie count (and were in line with the macros we set as well).0 -
Virtually every time I see clients stall after getting the "yes, you have to log your calories" thing out of the way, it has to do with a lack of water intake. You said you were logging your fluid intake, but is that enough? Sufficient water intake is essential to losing weight.
Honestly, without more info I'm just guessing based on my experience. I wish you luck, though.
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Virtually every time I see clients stall after getting the "yes, you have to log your calories" thing out of the way, it has to do with a lack of water intake. You said you were logging your fluid intake, but is that enough? Sufficient water intake is essential to losing weight.
Honestly, without more info I'm just guessing based on my experience. I wish you luck, though.
Thanks! I drink a lot of water but I could stand to drink even more. I'll work on that. 0 -
carnivalnights wrote: »LaceyBirds wrote: »In case you missed my question:LaceyBirds wrote: »OP, how tall are you and what is your current weight? I'm asking because the calories given by MFP to lose weight are based on height and current weight. Your 1500 calories may be too much depending on your height.
Had to leave the forums yesterday for a period; was not ignoring you, sorry. Not comfortable posting my weight here. The calorie intake numbers were derived from a registered dietician based on her calculations. I've stated elsewhere in this thread, when using a regular weight loss calculator, the calories for my height and weight say to eat something obscene like 2000-3000 calories, which I am obviously not going to be doing for weight loss. So I have never been able to go by the average any sites calculate for me, including MFP. I saw a nutritionist fairly soon after I started using MFP and we changed the calories and macros after my first session because she said they were off. That's how I arrived at 1500, not from a calculator or MFP.
However, after everything in this thread, despite having negative results lowering my calories before, I am going to try that again and see what happens. The timing of this plateau is when I lowered my calories before, shortly after - that's when my weight loss got to a standstill. So I am hesitant but at this point it doesn't matter because the weight loss isn't happening now either!
How tall are you though? It matters.
I'll just say that whatever your nutritionist is telling you is obviously not working at all. So, in my opinion, you should throw out what she told you and start anew here. I cannot believe that MFP would give you anything like 2 to 3 thousand calories to eat. Plug your numbers in here, and go with what MFP tells you. Do what everybody suggested, weigh, not measure, all your foods, all of them. Log every single bite and sip every single day. No cheat days - plan for and incorporate a treat into your daily calorie goal. By now, you should have a pretty good handle on what you can eat at that restaurant you go to weekly - pick the one that appears to be the lowest calorie choice, pre-log it and adjust your calories that day to accommodate it. This has worked for me, and it's worked for many, many others - it should work for you. Best of luck.
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The most important "trick," once you have the CICO math right, is to stay the course. Just because you didn't lose weight today, or this week, doesn't mean you have to change something that you're doing. Just keep following the plan that has worked to date and the losses will come. This is a "trick" because so many people don't follow this one simple thing.
That's why I am back at the calories I am currently intaking. It was what I originally started at and what I was consuming while I lost most of the 70lbs. But now, going back to the same "plan," I am not losing anything. But that is also what my nutritionist said - if it ain't broke don't fix it - but unfortunately it just didn't work in my case. I do need to change something. What to change is another question.0 -
I'm sorry you are going through this. It sounds very frustrating. I kind of get your situation but to a lesser extent. I am on medication for post partum anxiety that has really messed with my weight (I.e. 30 lbs weight gain in a couple of months without changing my eating habits). I have been trying hard to lose the weight I gained from both the medication and being pregnant and have recently come to a bit of a stall 5 weeks ago. I spoke to my doctor about it and after him asking endless questions about my diet and exercise (and blood tests) he determined that I was doing the right things and that the medication was probably the issue. However, he also said that at this point the benefit of the medication far outweighs the frustration of difficult weight loss.
I also asked on a different forum for advice and got much of the same answers as you have received here and while I agree they all have shared great advice, if you truly are doing all you say you are doing, it really sucks if your maintenance calories are as low as it seems. For me, I simply am not willing to go down to 1200 calories or less a day in order to lose weight. I have kids to take care of and fitness goals that I simply would not be able to accomplish on so little food. In addition, that would effect my mental health too much to do so.
I don't want to give you too much advice because you have gotten a lot already but I will tell you what I am currently doing. Instead of focusing on the weight and the stress of not being able to lose, I have decided to focus on other things that are within my control. For instance, I am focusing more of my attention on how I am getting fitter and stronger. I am setting fitness goals for myself and putting plans In place so I will be able to achieve them. One day the scale will hopefully start moving again but in the meantime I know I am being the healthiest I can be. Also, I try to remember that being on a weightloss plateau is better than gaining weight.
Sorry your struggling. I hope you see some scale movement soon.
It's truly the worst when medication is the issue because you can't stop it! I'm sorry for your struggles as well and I hope you keep doing what you're doing. You have a very healthy way of thinking. I'm glad you are also thinking about your mental health, which is easy to forget when we are so focused on diet/fitness which seem very physical (but aren't always!).
Thank you so much for your advice. Perhaps not even stepping on the scale is a good way to go. Focusing on my strength/fitness, as you said. You're so right about a plateau being better than gaining - I should obviously be grateful. It's a real accomplishment for me given my recent stress and anxiety issues, which could have easily caused gains.
This may not have been technical advice but it was very helpful. Sometimes mindset is everything! Thank you again. 0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »OP this is all i can come up with for you.
- Exercise more, go for an hour, or longer power walk every day.
- Use only USDA entries in your diary. Double check here http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search
- Weigh all meat, rice, pasta etc etc raw, and use raw weight entries
- Do not trust the weight/serving size on packaged items, weigh those too, and if using the scanner make sure it matches up to the label.
- Do NOT eat or drink anything that isn't accurately logged in your diary
- Drink plenty of water, this will help with water retention
- Set up a weight tracking app like Trendweight, Libra or happy scale. Weigh yourself first thing every morning and log your weight.
If you do all of these things to the letter and still don't lose any weight, then i got nothing.
I will be taking/continuing to take all of this advice - thank you. 0 -
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Reading this whole thread was like watching a train wreck, didn't want to keep looking but couldn't stop. It's a who's on first scenario.
@carnivalnights
Here's the thing. You won't let anyone see your diary, or know your height and weight. You are making it difficult for anyone to give you serious help. I would think that here, in the forums, where you are basically truly anonymous other than a screen name, would be the safest place to do these things. This requires a little self confidence and letting go of the fear of being judged. And even if you are, who cares? You don't know any of these people. Why do you care what they think of you?
That said, I would reevaluate your diet and exercise. Take a break and eat at maintenance, which although you are not losing, you are not eating at maintenance at 1500 calories with 100 pounds still to lose. There is no way 1500 calories is a true maintenance level for you. Your body probably needs a small break from a large deficit. especially since you were not eating any exercise calories back and not eating what MFP recommended for you to lose because you thought it was too much. Your metabolism, although it won't go into starvation mode, it can adapt to what you're doing. Up your calories 100/day, a week at a time, until your weight is holding steady. Do that for a month or so and then get back into the weight loss phase without going too extreme too fast. Your body is smarter than some people want to give it credit for.
Also, I would definitely do cardio and weights, maybe get into a gym and get a program going. It will help you tremendously in the long run. It will help you keep your lean mass and eventually, hopefully, help you have a better metabolism when all is said and done.
Weigh All foods uncooked, meats, grains, etc. even if you are using the cooked entry, you don't know how much cooking changed that particular item. Different cooking methods will change it by different amounts. Just try it, it can't hurt.
Measure yourself and keep track of inches lost every month. The scale does not always reflect what's going on.
Everyone is basically telling you the same things in different ways, what you do with it is up to you. In the end, you are responsible for yourself.
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carnivalnights wrote: »What RunRutheeRun said.
If you haven't lost any weight in months, nor gained it, then you are eating at maintenance. The calories you take in through food are the same as the calories you are expending through being alive, daily activity and exercising.
Now it may be that this seems unfair, that you feel you are not eating enough for it to be maintenance - but this does seem to be the case from what you are saying. And it may be that there is a medical reason for it or that you are one of the few who does have a slow metabolism, or another condition that means you have a very efficient body that does not need much food.
But even if that is so (and it may be), how would that impact you? Are you willing to increase your deficit more to lose more weight?
I agree. That's certainly what it seems like. I just don't know why or what to adjust to fix it given that I've already made so many adjustments. The reason I went through a nutritionist is because when I use weight loss calculators, the calories it tells me I need to be eating is obscene - anywhere from 2,000-3,000/day depending on what I enter as my goal weight. If I ate 3,000 calories a day, I'm pretty sure I'd blow up like a balloon, especially considering I am eating less than half that right now and not losing anything at all. How do I make good calls to these changes without using a weight loss calculator? Any tips?
It's just a matter of decreasing even more than advised. I'm of course willing to increase my deficit if that is what it takes.
To make a good call on changes for weightloss, use your own experience and stop using online calculators to determine your weightloss goals. Your experience is more accurate for you.
I would go back over the last 6 weeks and calculate your daily average calorie intake. Everything you have eaten and drunk, add it up then divide by the number of days. Now you know your daily maintenance calories.
Reduce it by 250 to lose half a pound a week.
Reduce it by 500 to lose a pound a week.
Be aware of the usual guidelines of not going below 1200 cals, as otherwise you won't be getting sufficient nutrition.
Good luck.
As I stated, I don't WANT to use calculators. They're inaccurate. I know I should not be eating the calories they recommend. It's obscene. Other people had suggested using one and each time I have told them the same thing, that they're inaccurate (for me).
Thanks for your advice on the calculation. I will give it a try.0 -
eveandqsmom wrote: »I don't know. The op was successful for quite a significant period of time...I find it difficult to believe that all of a sudden she wasn't and didn't notice what changed. I do suspect portion creep because as they say 'when you hear hooves, think horses, not zebras' but...the idea that she can't pinpoint it does make me question, could it be medication, hormones, anything that leads to water retention?
That's why I thought a good walk every day. Get your blood pumping, up your deficit without lowering your intake, feel better in general. Assuming everything said here is correct and not wishful thinking, a doctor's appointment is definitely in order (sorry I'd you already mentioned it this thread is a little long now).
I mentioned it but it's fine. This thread is huge. To reiterate: I'm not on any medication and I've had blood work/hormones checked (I went because of this problem to make sure everything was okay and it was, everything came back fine).
I never changed a thing in terms of even -what- I am eating either. Introducing new foods, etc. I've been eating the same things and types of meals for the two years I've been at this. That includes portion sizes.
A walk is still good advice, regardless of what the issue actually is. Any further exercise is good.0 -
The most important "trick," once you have the CICO math right, is to stay the course. Just because you didn't lose weight today, or this week, doesn't mean you have to change something that you're doing. Just keep following the plan that has worked to date and the losses will come. This is a "trick" because so many people don't follow this one simple thing.
For most people, it's a simple formula of burning more calories than you eat. For others, it's more complicated. Whether it's hormonal, prescription pills related or something else, no matter how hard they try, they run into a wall. The thing is to rule out any health issues, and finding what works for them. For some people coming on here seeking advice, all I hear is "are you weighing your food?", and "are you logging correctly?", People should try to be a bit more understanding and realize that there are others who may not lose weight as easily as them.
Agree very much with this! (I don't think I will be coming back here for any plateau advice, to be honest!)0 -
carnivalnights wrote: »On the days I eat out, I plan for them. I eat less during the day so that I don't go over my calories. I eat at the same few places all the time (boring, I know) and use their nutritional data on their website. When I say not too extreme, I mean I am eating something around 600-700 calories as opposed to 300-400. Frankly, I usually get salads even when I eat out (which can be high depending on where you go but not usually the restaurants I frequent). But this all matters very little because I am still within my calories because I plan ahead and I track those meals out. I'm not cheating myself out of weight loss by not being honest with myself, believe me. No point after coming this far.
Restaurant website nutritional info can be off, especially as no two chefs will make a meal the exact same way. But their info can just be off anyway. I had breakfast at Ricky's on Sunday and looked it up on their site - they claimed something like 700 calories for a "Two by Five", which was two each of pancakes, bacon strips, breakfast sausages, eggs and toast. There is no way that lot was only 700 cals, and adding up the individual items (as sides) on their list came to more than that. (And apparently their pancakes are completely calorie-free...) It really is hard to log restaurant meals accurately!
You mentioned up-thread that you often go to Swiss Chalet. I haven't looked at their nutritional info, but I'd guess their food is pretty high in calories. They cook the chicken in its skin for a start, and who knows what else they add to their meals and sides. It's delicious, but it could also be a fair bit higher in calories than you think.
(I do realise you're trying your best to be honest and accurate in your logging, so I'm not trying to put you down... just pointing out that those meals might well be affecting your intake.)
I only eat white meat/chicken breast and I do not eat chicken skin. I usually get their chicken salads (skinless breast). It's nothing alarming. Anything I get out at a restaurant is nothing I'd be concerned about calorie-wise, especially considering I eat lighter during the day. I never should have mentioned it obviously. Lol. It's funny how some people here said I should not eat out at all (not you - other people in this thread), meanwhile I am quite sure they also go to restaurants. I'm not going to "diet" unrealistically, like those people on Biggest Loser who lose weight in unrealistic ways they cannot maintain and then gain it all back when they start eating "normally." I know people who eat out every day, forget just once a week like me. I also don't snack and eat virtually no sweets or desserts. I'd say I'm doing pretty well.
Restaurant sites can be inaccurate, I agree, but I am recording as best I can and with what information I am given. That's all anyone can do. But as I said, I am not concerned about one take-out causing any issues, especially since I still eat fairly healthy when I am out. I know what you're saying though, and I agree. Still doing the best I can. 0 -
carnivalnights wrote: »The most important "trick," once you have the CICO math right, is to stay the course. Just because you didn't lose weight today, or this week, doesn't mean you have to change something that you're doing. Just keep following the plan that has worked to date and the losses will come. This is a "trick" because so many people don't follow this one simple thing.
For most people, it's a simple formula of burning more calories than you eat. For others, it's more complicated. Whether it's hormonal, prescription pills related or something else, no matter how hard they try, they run into a wall. The thing is to rule out any health issues, and finding what works for them. For some people coming on here seeking advice, all I hear is "are you weighing your food?", and "are you logging correctly?", People should try to be a bit more understanding and realize that there are others who may not lose weight as easily as them.
Agree very much with this! (I don't think I will be coming back here for any plateau advice, to be honest!)
I'm sorry if anyone, including myself, came off rude in this thread but I want you to try to understand our perspective a bit here.
Say you're a chef and someone comes into your restaurant and says to you "I want you to cook me a meal that's not on your menu because I'm a picky eater." You're like "Okay, I'm up to the challenge. What would you like?" and they respond with "Food". So then you say "Okay, well what kind of food do you want?" and they respond "Something with chicken". You think to yourself, okay that's a bit more to work with, so then you ask them "What kind of flavors are you looking for? What kind of side dish? How would you like the chicken cooked?" and they say "I'm not telling you any of that. I just want you to make me a dish with chicken and I'll decide if I like it or not". Do you see how exhausting that can get? That's kind of what posting here has been like for many of us.
Everyone here wants to help you. Some are more blunt and straightforward than others, yes, but in the end everyone wants to help. Nobody gets their rocks off by seeing you struggle; we all have our own journeys to deal with. Nobody wants to judge you for your weight, either. The majority of people asked about your logging first because, statistically, that is what is normally off. I cannot tell you how many times someone has posted about a plateau and has sworn up and down that they weigh everything, yet their diary shows that they weigh nothing or don't even log. That's when the excuses roll in "Well, I wasn't losing so I stopped logging. Well, I only weigh some stuff but not fruits, meat, packaged items, etc. Well, I log everything but my cheat day once per week". The basics have to be addressed first. After that, people will ask the person's calorie allotment, height, weight, age, etc. to get a bigger picture of things. All of this is information that you refuse to provide which is well within your right to do, but you can't expect tailored advice when we have no information to go by. It's a bit awkward to deal with the secrecy and hard to navigate around it. It seems like you may be searching for a certain response or answer that people haven't landed upon and it would be improbable to do so by shooting in the dark.
That's what I meant when I said earlier that it seemed like you shot down everything. "Do you weigh your food?" Yes. "All of it?" Yes. "Do you weigh meat raw?" I'll work on that and later it was a no but that you know it's accurate. It's really hard to try to help you solve this when you say you know all of these things are accurate but there really is no way for you to know that. The only thing you apparently know is that you have 100+ pounds to lose and cannot lose weight on your reported 1500 calories. The only thing we know is the science of weight loss and that you would literally be a statistical anomaly if you could not lose on that amount with 100+ pounds to lose, especially given no health issues which you specifically said off the bat you did not have. Given the information you have provided, you should be in the hospital right now and they should be running various tests on you because you are a statistical outlier. I'm not even being facetious or trying to make a joke at your expense, either.
@melissa6771 gave you great advice that pretty much compiles what everyone here has been saying; you need a hard reset on MFP because something clearly is not adding up. I truly do wish you the best of luck and success with this. I hope you eventually find a solution to your issue.10 -
melissa6771 wrote: »Reading this whole thread was like watching a train wreck, didn't want to keep looking but couldn't stop. It's a who's on first scenario.
@carnivalnights
Here's the thing. You won't let anyone see your diary, or know your height and weight. You are making it difficult for anyone to give you serious help. I would think that here, in the forums, where you are basically truly anonymous other than a screen name, would be the safest place to do these things. This requires a little self confidence and letting go of the fear of being judged. And even if you are, who cares? You don't know any of these people. Why do you care what they think of you?
That said, I would reevaluate your diet and exercise. Take a break and eat at maintenance, which although you are not losing, you are not eating at maintenance at 1500 calories with 100 pounds still to lose. There is no way 1500 calories is a true maintenance level for you. Your body probably needs a small break from a large deficit. especially since you were not eating any exercise calories back and not eating what MFP recommended for you to lose because you thought it was too much. Your metabolism, although it won't go into starvation mode, it can adapt to what you're doing. Up your calories 100/day, a week at a time, until your weight is holding steady. Do that for a month or so and then get back into the weight loss phase without going too extreme too fast. Your body is smarter than some people want to give it credit for.
Also, I would definitely do cardio and weights, maybe get into a gym and get a program going. It will help you tremendously in the long run. It will help you keep your lean mass and eventually, hopefully, help you have a better metabolism when all is said and done.
Weigh All foods uncooked, meats, grains, etc. even if you are using the cooked entry, you don't know how much cooking changed that particular item. Different cooking methods will change it by different amounts. Just try it, it can't hurt.
Measure yourself and keep track of inches lost every month. The scale does not always reflect what's going on.
Everyone is basically telling you the same things in different ways, what you do with it is up to you. In the end, you are responsible for yourself.
Regardless of what information I did or did not give aside, the fact that this turned into a "trainwreck" is sad and does not speak very highly of these forums or the people in them. I should have been able to ask a question without being disrespected and without people getting short with me. (Clearly other people agreed because they were sticking up for me.) You're right - I don't know these people. But when people speak to me disrespectfully, especially when I came here with a real struggle that is causing me stress, that's going to give me even less reason to want to open up to them if I already had reservations. And the reason I had these reservations is because of how I have previously been treated here. I guess I should learn my lesson and stop asking for help here. My concern is not even about people judging me when it comes to the diary. I just have personal notes in there and have not had it open since day one. End of story. I am allowed to have it closed. There is an option for that. I should not be ridiculed or commanded to open it. Other people here have their diaries closed as well. It's like these people telling me not to eat at a restaurant once a week who probably eat out every day. Senseless and hypocritical. (And also bad advice. Don't tell me to start an unrealistic diet because then when I go back to eating normally I'm just going to gain.)
That being said, there have been quite a few nice and helpful comments. So I am thankful for that. It made me care less about all the rude ones.
When you were saying I was not eating at maintenance, did you mean my calories for maintenance should be more? I'm assuming so since you are talking about increasing by 100/day each week. Thanks for the advice on that. It is something I can try. 100/week doesn't seem as scary as what some were suggesting. :P I currently do cardio and weights at home and will continue to do that (I don't have a gym membership). I lost all my current weight at home so I'm sure that will continue to work for me, at some point.
I will also try switching to weighing everything uncooked. I started taking measurements a while ago and will keep that up.0 -
Maxematics wrote: »carnivalnights wrote: »The most important "trick," once you have the CICO math right, is to stay the course. Just because you didn't lose weight today, or this week, doesn't mean you have to change something that you're doing. Just keep following the plan that has worked to date and the losses will come. This is a "trick" because so many people don't follow this one simple thing.
For most people, it's a simple formula of burning more calories than you eat. For others, it's more complicated. Whether it's hormonal, prescription pills related or something else, no matter how hard they try, they run into a wall. The thing is to rule out any health issues, and finding what works for them. For some people coming on here seeking advice, all I hear is "are you weighing your food?", and "are you logging correctly?", People should try to be a bit more understanding and realize that there are others who may not lose weight as easily as them.
Agree very much with this! (I don't think I will be coming back here for any plateau advice, to be honest!)
I'm sorry if anyone, including myself, came off rude in this thread but I want you to try to understand our perspective a bit here.
Say you're a chef and someone comes into your restaurant and says to you "I want you to cook me a meal that's not on your menu because I'm a picky eater." You're like "Okay, I'm up to the challenge. What would you like?" and they respond with "Food". So then you say "Okay, well what kind of food do you want?" and they respond "Something with chicken". You think to yourself, okay that's a bit more to work with, so then you ask them "What kind of flavors are you looking for? What kind of side dish? How would you like the chicken cooked?" and they say "I'm not telling you any of that. I just want you to make me a dish with chicken and I'll decide if I like it or not". Do you see how exhausting that can get? That's kind of what posting here has been like for many of us.
Everyone here wants to help you. Some are more blunt and straightforward than others, yes, but in the end everyone wants to help. Nobody gets their rocks off by seeing you struggle; we all have our own journeys to deal with. Nobody wants to judge you for your weight, either. The majority of people asked about your logging first because, statistically, that is what is normally off. I cannot tell you how many times someone has posted about a plateau and has sworn up and down that they weigh everything, yet their diary shows that they weigh nothing or don't even log. That's when the excuses roll in "Well, I wasn't losing so I stopped logging. Well, I only weigh some stuff but not fruits, meat, packaged items, etc. Well, I log everything but my cheat day once per week". The basics have to be addressed first. After that, people will ask the person's calorie allotment, height, weight, age, etc. to get a bigger picture of things. All of this is information that you refuse to provide which is well within your right to do, but you can't expect tailored advice when we have no information to go by. It's a bit awkward to deal with the secrecy and hard to navigate around it. It seems like you may be searching for a certain response or answer that people haven't landed upon and it would be improbable to do so by shooting in the dark.
That's what I meant when I said earlier that it seemed like you shot down everything. "Do you weigh your food?" Yes. "All of it?" Yes. "Do you weigh meat raw?" I'll work on that and later it was a no but that you know it's accurate. It's really hard to try to help you solve this when you say you know all of these things are accurate but there really is no way for you to know that. The only thing you apparently know is that you have 100+ pounds to lose and cannot lose weight on your reported 1500 calories. The only thing we know is the science of weight loss and that you would literally be a statistical anomaly if you could not lose on that amount with 100+ pounds to lose, especially given no health issues which you specifically said off the bat you did not have. Given the information you have provided, you should be in the hospital right now and they should be running various tests on you because you are a statistical outlier. I'm not even being facetious or trying to make a joke at your expense, either.
@melissa6771 gave you great advice that pretty much compiles what everyone here has been saying; you need a hard reset on MFP because something clearly is not adding up. I truly do wish you the best of luck and success with this. I hope you eventually find a solution to your issue.
"All of this information you refuse to provide..." Oy. ALL of this information? One thing?
When I said I was not willing to open my diary, anyone who thought they needed it to offer me any advice should have moved on instead of ridiculing me. That's really the bottom line. Go help someone else who has opened their diary then. No worries. Move on. I didn't withhold any other information and I'm sorry that so many people decided the diary was the be all, end all to advice-giving. Others found a way to give me advice without it, so those people could have too. Or, if not, as I said, they should have closed this window and stopped hounding me. The way I was treated here with that particular issue is unacceptable. Other people have their diaries closed too. I have personal notes in mine and it has never been open since the beginning. It's fine that people think that is the end of the world and nothing can be done to help me unless I am willing to do so. We can agree to disagree. But don't make me feel bad or hound me about it saying I cannot be helped unless I do A, B and C. It's unnecessary.
I weigh everything and I do log. Every single day for 671 days. And I have lost 70lbs, which is a lot. So maybe people should take a look at the other facts before assuming I'm lying about anything or hiding something just because I have not opened my diary. I clearly do know what I am doing, otherwise I wouldn't have lost any weight at all and certainly not so much. Just because what I said about the weighing raw/cooked was confusing does not mean I don't know anything or don't know what I'm talking about. What I said was that I use a cooked entry to weigh cooked meat. That is not complicated. And at no time did I go back and say actually no, I don't weigh all my food. I do. What I said was that SOME non-meat entries do not say raw or cooked and that I will pay more attention to that in the future. The majority of food I am having cooked is meat anyway.
There's nothing wrong with my health despite the weight I have to lose. There are other reasons this could be happening, not just some underlying health issue.0 -
carnivalnights wrote: »Maxematics wrote: »carnivalnights wrote: »The most important "trick," once you have the CICO math right, is to stay the course. Just because you didn't lose weight today, or this week, doesn't mean you have to change something that you're doing. Just keep following the plan that has worked to date and the losses will come. This is a "trick" because so many people don't follow this one simple thing.
For most people, it's a simple formula of burning more calories than you eat. For others, it's more complicated. Whether it's hormonal, prescription pills related or something else, no matter how hard they try, they run into a wall. The thing is to rule out any health issues, and finding what works for them. For some people coming on here seeking advice, all I hear is "are you weighing your food?", and "are you logging correctly?", People should try to be a bit more understanding and realize that there are others who may not lose weight as easily as them.
Agree very much with this! (I don't think I will be coming back here for any plateau advice, to be honest!)
I'm sorry if anyone, including myself, came off rude in this thread but I want you to try to understand our perspective a bit here.
Say you're a chef and someone comes into your restaurant and says to you "I want you to cook me a meal that's not on your menu because I'm a picky eater." You're like "Okay, I'm up to the challenge. What would you like?" and they respond with "Food". So then you say "Okay, well what kind of food do you want?" and they respond "Something with chicken". You think to yourself, okay that's a bit more to work with, so then you ask them "What kind of flavors are you looking for? What kind of side dish? How would you like the chicken cooked?" and they say "I'm not telling you any of that. I just want you to make me a dish with chicken and I'll decide if I like it or not". Do you see how exhausting that can get? That's kind of what posting here has been like for many of us.
Everyone here wants to help you. Some are more blunt and straightforward than others, yes, but in the end everyone wants to help. Nobody gets their rocks off by seeing you struggle; we all have our own journeys to deal with. Nobody wants to judge you for your weight, either. The majority of people asked about your logging first because, statistically, that is what is normally off. I cannot tell you how many times someone has posted about a plateau and has sworn up and down that they weigh everything, yet their diary shows that they weigh nothing or don't even log. That's when the excuses roll in "Well, I wasn't losing so I stopped logging. Well, I only weigh some stuff but not fruits, meat, packaged items, etc. Well, I log everything but my cheat day once per week". The basics have to be addressed first. After that, people will ask the person's calorie allotment, height, weight, age, etc. to get a bigger picture of things. All of this is information that you refuse to provide which is well within your right to do, but you can't expect tailored advice when we have no information to go by. It's a bit awkward to deal with the secrecy and hard to navigate around it. It seems like you may be searching for a certain response or answer that people haven't landed upon and it would be improbable to do so by shooting in the dark.
That's what I meant when I said earlier that it seemed like you shot down everything. "Do you weigh your food?" Yes. "All of it?" Yes. "Do you weigh meat raw?" I'll work on that and later it was a no but that you know it's accurate. It's really hard to try to help you solve this when you say you know all of these things are accurate but there really is no way for you to know that. The only thing you apparently know is that you have 100+ pounds to lose and cannot lose weight on your reported 1500 calories. The only thing we know is the science of weight loss and that you would literally be a statistical anomaly if you could not lose on that amount with 100+ pounds to lose, especially given no health issues which you specifically said off the bat you did not have. Given the information you have provided, you should be in the hospital right now and they should be running various tests on you because you are a statistical outlier. I'm not even being facetious or trying to make a joke at your expense, either.
@melissa6771 gave you great advice that pretty much compiles what everyone here has been saying; you need a hard reset on MFP because something clearly is not adding up. I truly do wish you the best of luck and success with this. I hope you eventually find a solution to your issue.
"All of this information you refuse to provide..." Oy. ALL of this information? One thing?
When I said I was not willing to open my diary, anyone who thought they needed it to offer me any advice should have moved on instead of ridiculing me. That's really the bottom line. Go help someone else who has opened their diary then. No worries. Move on. I didn't withhold any other information and I'm sorry that so many people decided the diary was the be all, end all to advice-giving. Others found a way to give me advice without it, so those people could have too. Or, if not, as I said, they should have closed this window and stopped hounding me. The way I was treated here with that particular issue is unacceptable. Other people have their diaries closed too. I have personal notes in mine and it has never been open since the beginning. It's fine that people think that is the end of the world and nothing can be done to help me unless I am willing to do so. We can agree to disagree. But don't make me feel bad or hound me about it saying I cannot be helped unless I do A, B and C. It's unnecessary.
I weigh everything and I do log. Every single day for 671 days. And I have lost 70lbs, which is a lot. So maybe people should take a look at the other facts before assuming I'm lying about anything or hiding something just because I have not opened my diary. I clearly do know what I am doing, otherwise I wouldn't have lost any weight at all and certainly not so much. Just because what I said about the weighing raw/cooked was confusing does not mean I don't know anything or don't know what I'm talking about. What I said was that I use a cooked entry to weigh cooked meat. That is not complicated. And at no time did I go back and say actually no, I don't weigh all my food. I do. What I said was that SOME non-meat entries do not say raw or cooked and that I will pay more attention to that in the future. The majority of food I am having cooked is meat anyway.
There's nothing wrong with my health despite the weight I have to lose. There are other reasons this could be happening, not just some underlying health issue.
It's not even about the diary. It's not just one thing at all. If I recall correctly, you also were not willing to disclose your starting weight, current weight, rate of loss when you were losing, etc. If I am misunderstanding you and any of that was actually provided within the thread, then I apologize.0 -
LaceyBirds wrote: »carnivalnights wrote: »LaceyBirds wrote: »In case you missed my question:LaceyBirds wrote: »OP, how tall are you and what is your current weight? I'm asking because the calories given by MFP to lose weight are based on height and current weight. Your 1500 calories may be too much depending on your height.
Had to leave the forums yesterday for a period; was not ignoring you, sorry. Not comfortable posting my weight here. The calorie intake numbers were derived from a registered dietician based on her calculations. I've stated elsewhere in this thread, when using a regular weight loss calculator, the calories for my height and weight say to eat something obscene like 2000-3000 calories, which I am obviously not going to be doing for weight loss. So I have never been able to go by the average any sites calculate for me, including MFP. I saw a nutritionist fairly soon after I started using MFP and we changed the calories and macros after my first session because she said they were off. That's how I arrived at 1500, not from a calculator or MFP.
However, after everything in this thread, despite having negative results lowering my calories before, I am going to try that again and see what happens. The timing of this plateau is when I lowered my calories before, shortly after - that's when my weight loss got to a standstill. So I am hesitant but at this point it doesn't matter because the weight loss isn't happening now either!
How tall are you though? It matters.
I'll just say that whatever your nutritionist is telling you is obviously not working at all. So, in my opinion, you should throw out what she told you and start anew here. I cannot believe that MFP would give you anything like 2 to 3 thousand calories to eat. Plug your numbers in here, and go with what MFP tells you. Do what everybody suggested, weigh, not measure, all your foods, all of them. Log every single bite and sip every single day. No cheat days - plan for and incorporate a treat into your daily calorie goal. By now, you should have a pretty good handle on what you can eat at that restaurant you go to weekly - pick the one that appears to be the lowest calorie choice, pre-log it and adjust your calories that day to accommodate it. This has worked for me, and it's worked for many, many others - it should work for you. Best of luck.
5'3".
If you don't believe me, test it out. Any weight loss calculator will give you those calories if you put in a higher number. It was one of the first things I asked people when I started my journey. Who on earth can lose weight eating 3000 calories a day? I'm obviously not a bodybuilder and burning that many lifting at a gym either.
I don't agree with the cheat days. As I stated to someone else, telling someone to eat unrealistically will only lead to weight gain. Believe me, I was one of those people. No take-out, no cheat days, nothing. It was a big mistake. I still want to enjoy my life and that includes eating at a restaurant once in a while. Compared to everyone I know, I eat out VERY little. I stated that I do plan ahead for it and I do not go over my calories even on the days I eat out (which isn't hard when you are getting something like a chicken salad anyway) - so it is not even really a cheat day to begin with. That being said, I still disagree with telling people not to have those days (and the people here who said don't eat out). It's unrealistic.
I will keep doing what I am doing with the restaurant meals, planning ahead as you said. It's worked for me too.0 -
Maxematics wrote: »carnivalnights wrote: »Maxematics wrote: »carnivalnights wrote: »The most important "trick," once you have the CICO math right, is to stay the course. Just because you didn't lose weight today, or this week, doesn't mean you have to change something that you're doing. Just keep following the plan that has worked to date and the losses will come. This is a "trick" because so many people don't follow this one simple thing.
For most people, it's a simple formula of burning more calories than you eat. For others, it's more complicated. Whether it's hormonal, prescription pills related or something else, no matter how hard they try, they run into a wall. The thing is to rule out any health issues, and finding what works for them. For some people coming on here seeking advice, all I hear is "are you weighing your food?", and "are you logging correctly?", People should try to be a bit more understanding and realize that there are others who may not lose weight as easily as them.
Agree very much with this! (I don't think I will be coming back here for any plateau advice, to be honest!)
I'm sorry if anyone, including myself, came off rude in this thread but I want you to try to understand our perspective a bit here.
Say you're a chef and someone comes into your restaurant and says to you "I want you to cook me a meal that's not on your menu because I'm a picky eater." You're like "Okay, I'm up to the challenge. What would you like?" and they respond with "Food". So then you say "Okay, well what kind of food do you want?" and they respond "Something with chicken". You think to yourself, okay that's a bit more to work with, so then you ask them "What kind of flavors are you looking for? What kind of side dish? How would you like the chicken cooked?" and they say "I'm not telling you any of that. I just want you to make me a dish with chicken and I'll decide if I like it or not". Do you see how exhausting that can get? That's kind of what posting here has been like for many of us.
Everyone here wants to help you. Some are more blunt and straightforward than others, yes, but in the end everyone wants to help. Nobody gets their rocks off by seeing you struggle; we all have our own journeys to deal with. Nobody wants to judge you for your weight, either. The majority of people asked about your logging first because, statistically, that is what is normally off. I cannot tell you how many times someone has posted about a plateau and has sworn up and down that they weigh everything, yet their diary shows that they weigh nothing or don't even log. That's when the excuses roll in "Well, I wasn't losing so I stopped logging. Well, I only weigh some stuff but not fruits, meat, packaged items, etc. Well, I log everything but my cheat day once per week". The basics have to be addressed first. After that, people will ask the person's calorie allotment, height, weight, age, etc. to get a bigger picture of things. All of this is information that you refuse to provide which is well within your right to do, but you can't expect tailored advice when we have no information to go by. It's a bit awkward to deal with the secrecy and hard to navigate around it. It seems like you may be searching for a certain response or answer that people haven't landed upon and it would be improbable to do so by shooting in the dark.
That's what I meant when I said earlier that it seemed like you shot down everything. "Do you weigh your food?" Yes. "All of it?" Yes. "Do you weigh meat raw?" I'll work on that and later it was a no but that you know it's accurate. It's really hard to try to help you solve this when you say you know all of these things are accurate but there really is no way for you to know that. The only thing you apparently know is that you have 100+ pounds to lose and cannot lose weight on your reported 1500 calories. The only thing we know is the science of weight loss and that you would literally be a statistical anomaly if you could not lose on that amount with 100+ pounds to lose, especially given no health issues which you specifically said off the bat you did not have. Given the information you have provided, you should be in the hospital right now and they should be running various tests on you because you are a statistical outlier. I'm not even being facetious or trying to make a joke at your expense, either.
@melissa6771 gave you great advice that pretty much compiles what everyone here has been saying; you need a hard reset on MFP because something clearly is not adding up. I truly do wish you the best of luck and success with this. I hope you eventually find a solution to your issue.
"All of this information you refuse to provide..." Oy. ALL of this information? One thing?
When I said I was not willing to open my diary, anyone who thought they needed it to offer me any advice should have moved on instead of ridiculing me. That's really the bottom line. Go help someone else who has opened their diary then. No worries. Move on. I didn't withhold any other information and I'm sorry that so many people decided the diary was the be all, end all to advice-giving. Others found a way to give me advice without it, so those people could have too. Or, if not, as I said, they should have closed this window and stopped hounding me. The way I was treated here with that particular issue is unacceptable. Other people have their diaries closed too. I have personal notes in mine and it has never been open since the beginning. It's fine that people think that is the end of the world and nothing can be done to help me unless I am willing to do so. We can agree to disagree. But don't make me feel bad or hound me about it saying I cannot be helped unless I do A, B and C. It's unnecessary.
I weigh everything and I do log. Every single day for 671 days. And I have lost 70lbs, which is a lot. So maybe people should take a look at the other facts before assuming I'm lying about anything or hiding something just because I have not opened my diary. I clearly do know what I am doing, otherwise I wouldn't have lost any weight at all and certainly not so much. Just because what I said about the weighing raw/cooked was confusing does not mean I don't know anything or don't know what I'm talking about. What I said was that I use a cooked entry to weigh cooked meat. That is not complicated. And at no time did I go back and say actually no, I don't weigh all my food. I do. What I said was that SOME non-meat entries do not say raw or cooked and that I will pay more attention to that in the future. The majority of food I am having cooked is meat anyway.
There's nothing wrong with my health despite the weight I have to lose. There are other reasons this could be happening, not just some underlying health issue.
It's not even about the diary. It's not just one thing at all. If I recall correctly, you also were not willing to disclose your starting weight, current weight, rate of loss when you were losing, etc. If I am misunderstanding you and any of that was actually provided within the thread, then I apologize.
No one asked my starting weight. And I said I couldn't tell them the rate of loss because MFP would not let me go that far back (at least on my phone). Misinformation.0 -
The most likely answer is that you are eating more than you think you are. Even if you are a "special snowflake" in that your metabolism is lower than average for your weight/height from long term dieting or a medical condition, it is highly highly unlikely that 1500 is your maintenance level calories if you have 100 pounds to lose. That is why most people want you to open your diary, we may see some mistakes that add up to several hundred calories a day. I understand that is private for you because of your notes, but that is the reason people are harping on it. That is the most likely scenario but we can't look behind the curtain and find any mistakes you may be making.
For example, if you were making logging mistakes this whole time and eating 2,000 calories instead of 1,500 calories, you would still have been able to lose 70 lbs because you said an online calculators gave you 2,000 calories as a weight loss range. Now that you have lost 70 lbs, that 2,000 calories you are eating is not working anymore. But you assume that your logging MUST be right at 1,500 calories because you lost 70 lbs.
We also don't know your height or weight. So there is not way for us to help you with an appropriate calorie range. We basically have no information except that you say your logging is 99% perfect, you are eating 1,500 and not losing, and even at 1,200 you barely lost anything. A person with 100 lbs to lose should be losing weight at 1200, period.
Hence, everyone thinks it must be a logging error. But we can't see your diary. So we don't know how to help. I think the idea of a diet break is a good one, as you most likely do have metabolic adaptation from long term dieting. However, your logging must still be on point during a diet break so you don't go way over on calories. AND for a diet break to work and reverse metabolic adaptations, you have to actually be at your maintenance calories or slightly above. We can't tell you what those calories are because we have no information.
ETA: If you do take a diet break, you should be prepared to gain a few pounds. You will always gain some weight when you increase your calories (more water, waste, etc.), even if you are at or below maintenance. So if you increase your calories by 100, 200 etc and see a small jump on the scale, don't automatically assume that means you are eating above maintenance. You will see a jump on the scale each time you increase, but it will level out after several pounds and stay relatively stable if you are at maintenance (within a normal range of daily fluctuations).4
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