Why doesn't this work anymore?

Ylhyrica
Ylhyrica Posts: 7 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all

I've been using MFP for about a year and a half now. Back last year I was following it religiously and I lost around 30 lbs in a few months. However I had a bit of a setback with my health later in the year and put the dieting to the side. I still tried to maintain my weight, and barring a few lbs fluctuating up and down, it stayed relatively consistent. I've tried to pick it up again though, and I'm finding that it just doesn't work, at all.

I've updated my body info and I eat usually within my goal to lose 2lb per week. Sometimes I go over my calorie limit, but the app still always, always, ALWAYS tells me that "if every day were like today you would weigh *insert weight that's lower than my current weight here*". Yet every time I weigh myself I'm either the exact same weight (best case scenario) or have put weight on.

I've tried everything. Being hard and restricting calories to 1,500 per day (which apparently enables me to lose 2lb a week) just doesn't cut it for me, as I end up feeling tired, anxious, low energy and generally ill. I suffer with anxiety disorder as it is so I could do without my diet giving me panic attacks.

I have tried eating a little bit more and offsetting that with exercise, but again that doesn't help. I can't even put it down to muscle mass increasing and causing me to weigh more because my waistline is expanding and my clothes aren't fitting again. I'm logging everything I eat and I try hard not to cheat with it, but it's just insanely demoralising. I just weighed myself and found that I've put on 6lb since I last weighed myself, and about 10lb since I was at my lightest. It's depressing, making me wonder what the point is, and I'm seriously considering just walking to the bakery and getting something filled with fat and calories to cheer me up because eating all this lettuce isn't doing anything!!

Am I doing something wrong? Please advise...

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,889 Member
    1500 is the bare minimum for a male and if MFP gave you that, and you lose more slowly than predicted, it may be that you just don't have the fat stores available anymore to sustain a loss of 2 pounds per week. What's your height and weight?
  • Ylhyrica
    Ylhyrica Posts: 7 Member
    edited September 2016
    I have waaaay more than enough fat stores to lose weight haha.

    I'm 25, my height is 5'8" (173cm) and my weight as of this morning is 13st 6lbs (188 lbs, 86kg).

    It's interesting you say 1,500 is the minimum for a male though, MFP just gave me a goal of 1,210 after updating my stats. :/
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 26,182 Member
    Ylhyrica wrote: »
    but the app still always, always, ALWAYS tells me that "if every day were like today you would weigh *insert weight that's lower than my current weight here*".

    Means nothing. Ignore it. It's a very general statement not necessarily based on reality.

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 26,182 Member
    Are you male or female?
    What have you set your activity level at?
  • Ylhyrica
    Ylhyrica Posts: 7 Member
    I'm a male, my activity level is set at sedentary as I have an office based job and spend most of my spare time at the computer. I was doing the exact same level of activity last year when I lost all the weight I did. I have just got a gym membership, but due to the calorie deficit making me feel so rough I'm often too tired/feel too unwell generally to want to go. :/
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,889 Member
    edited September 2016
    Ylhyrica wrote: »
    I have waaaay more than enough fat stores to lose weight haha.
    But not that fast. You can expect to lose up to 1% of your body weight per week. That's 860 grams. Your TDEE is around 2666. One kilo of fatty tissue equals around 7000 calories. Your optimal daily calorie intake should therefore be around 1806 at this point; it will go down to around 1700 as you enter "normal" BMI - never go below 1650. Anything under that will eat off your muscles, and you will feel generelly bad.
    I'm 25, my height is 5'8" (173cm) and my weight as of this morning is 13st 6lbs (188 lbs, 86kg).
    Don't undereat. It will make you frustrated, and miserable, and you will cave.
    It's interesting you say 1,500 is the minimum for a male though, MFP just gave me a goal of 1,210 after updating my stats. :/
    That has to be a bug. It's not supposed to go under 1500 unless you told MFP you are a woman.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,889 Member
    Ylhyrica wrote: »
    I'm a male, my activity level is set at sedentary as I have an office based job and spend most of my spare time at the computer. I was doing the exact same level of activity last year when I lost all the weight I did. I have just got a gym membership, but due to the calorie deficit making me feel so rough I'm often too tired/feel too unwell generally to want to go. :/

    Exactly. Your estimated TDEE is 2666, but if you are tired and not able to keep up normal activity because you are undereating, this number will drop, so your optimal deficit will be smaller and less optimal, and because you can't lose more than 1% of your body weight per week no matter how little you eat, you are setting yourself up for great failure.

    Eat.
  • Ylhyrica
    Ylhyrica Posts: 7 Member
    But if I eat then I go over my goal which just makes me gain weight. :/
    Regarding the calorie total, it was at 1,200 last year which I stuck to and successfully lost 2lb each and every week. Then one week while updating my stats it told me that my new goal was suddenly 1,500, after which point it all went downhill.

    What is TDEE by the way?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,889 Member
    edited September 2016
    Ylhyrica wrote: »
    But if I eat then I go over my goal which just makes me gain weight. :/
    You gain weight when you go over your TDEE. If you think you gain weight eating 1800 calories, you are wrong. But it's also easy to underestimate intake. Weigh and log everything, and check each database entry for errors.

    Regarding the calorie total, it was at 1,200 last year which I stuck to and successfully lost 2lb each and every week. Then one week while updating my stats it told me that my new goal was suddenly 1,500, after which point it all went downhill.
    It started going downhill when you started undereating. We can do a lot of unpleasant things for a while, as long as we get results. You would have lost at the same rate eating more. You can't lose at the same rate anymore, and you should eat more.

    What is TDEE by the way?
    You should be able to google it, but it stands for "Total Daily Energy Expenditure", a measure of how many calories you burn per day.
  • dancing_daisy
    dancing_daisy Posts: 162 Member
    Ylhyrica wrote: »
    I have just got a gym membership, but due to the calorie deficit making me feel so rough I'm often too tired/feel too unwell generally to want to go. :/

    This isn't answering your question but your calorie deficit shouldn't be making you too tired or rough to exercise. If it were it would mean it was too great a deficit but the debate here is talking about whether or not it is enough as you're not losing.

    I hope you get to the bottom of your current question but when you do I'd recommend you review the nutrition levels of what you're eating. You may hitting your calorie target but you may not be getting enough nutrition from what you're eating. After all, you're losing money on this gym and you're missing out.

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