yet another plateau post

Options
24

Replies

  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,339 Member
    Options
    aft85 wrote: »
    People seem to always jump to the food scale as a problem. I know how to count. I know how to measure. I don't think it's stalled because this or that might have been 5 grams more than what I counted. I'm trying to lose weight, not develop an eating disorder. And if something tells you it's x for the whole packet, then you would just cut that in half.

    Or do you think I'm a fool because I don't measure out the exact half of a pie that I'm splitting with someone?

    I'm determining the calorie intake as accurately as a person can, without knowing the exact science for working out calorie contentI can only use the info provided on the packaging, or this site.

    Good luck to you. I've lost 80 lbs weighing and logging...it was amazing how easily the pounds started coming off once I had accurate numbers to help me achieve the deficit needed to lose weight. Noone think's you're a fool, because we've all been there. I do think if you're not successful, we have a pretty good reason why, though. Again, good luck to you; we each have to do this thing our own way. xo
  • aft85
    aft85 Posts: 54 Member
    Options
    MissusMoon wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    You know, the 5 grams you mention... 5 grams of cooking oil extra is 45 calories. If you have 10 items of food on a day and they all were off by just 5 grams then that's 200-450 calories you didn't account for.

    This. So much this.

    When you're close to goal as a woman you have very little margin of error in order to lose. Using my food scale has saved me over 150 calories per day on packaged foods alone. I would NEVER guess on meat or cheese again after seeing the difference. Hundreds of calories per day there as well.

    If you call not stalling because I am accurately counting my calories an eating disorder, I can live that.

    I pretty much gave up on cheese right at the start because it's 100 calories a bite essentially. Even though cheese is like the only thing I ever want to eat. sigh. and not much of what i eat uses cooking oil.
  • aft85
    aft85 Posts: 54 Member
    Options
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

    9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.

    I think I will look at that trendweight thing.

    How can you work out an accurate exercise figure though if the calculators are wrong?

  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
    Options
    aft85 wrote: »
    Maybe I should have started by saying 'thoughts other than the food scale'. I don't think i'm a special snowflake, but people always just say 'it's the food scale' 'it's your measurements' 'you're logging wrong.' I've already ruled that out. I wouldn't have asked if I thought it was that.

    Have you? How have you done that?
    I had therapy for years over an eating disorder, I know how to log food, I know how to measure food, I had a doctor berate me constantly over my inaccuracies. I know how incredibly disappointing it is when it turns out that 80grams of something is actually just nothing on a plate but there isn't room for anything more.

    No one here is "berating" you, and chances are, your doctor wasn't "berating" you either. You just happen to be taking constructive criticism way too personally. People jump to inaccurate logging because that is probably the most common reason for a stall in weight loss. It's just the way it is.
    I worry that this is all just heading to piling weight back on. Every day is just another dead stop of a day, with a goal nowhere nearer, and just a heavy ugly body that looks disgusting. It's just disappointment at thinking I can never just eat something anymore, it's all got negative consequences.

    I understand your frustration - believe me. But most of the time "plateaus" are caused by the same thing. If it hasn't been but a couple of weeks, then it isn't a plateau. Patience is what you need in that case.

    Also, as mentioned above - have you recalculated your calorie goals based on your new weight? You should recalculate about every 10 lbs or so. Our TDEE drops as we lose weight.
    I don't understand what this message board is for to be honest if everyone posts the same advice with the same graph and then gets annoyed if you say that you've already heard that advice. It's depressing to get criticism over not being more 'yes thank you that's amazing advice i've never seen that graph before' when you already feel like you do everything wrong.

    You have been given excellent advice in this thread. I'm sorry if it isn't what you wanted to hear.

    Everyone loses weight because of a calorie deficit. If you stay the same weight for an extended period of time, then you're eating at maintenance. If you are steadily gaining over an extended period of time, you're in a surplus. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about that.

    Inaccurate logging is a very common problem. It doesn't mean that you're dumb, or "a fool," or that you don't know what you're doing. It's very easy to overestimate when using measuring cups and spoons, or by eyeballing.


  • DeficitDuchess
    DeficitDuchess Posts: 3,099 Member
    edited September 2016
    Options
    I am sorry to confirm that until I bought a food scale, I was overeating by hundreds of calories; which wiped away my deficit. How about this, buy a food scale & try it, even for a day; with plans to return it the next day? You'll be shocked to see that some items're nearly 50% more grams, than what's on the package & thus potentially hundreds of calories, above what's stated.
  • Dano74
    Dano74 Posts: 503 Member
    Options
    Everyone is different and I'm certainly not you but... anecdotal story: I plateaud as well: Was +1 or -1 off the same weight for months. Keep in mind, weight isn't my goal so I wasn't too concerned... but I began adding calories back in to get to maintenance and began dropping significant weight. Even adding a couple hundred calories to a deficit will still keep you at a deficit. Worth playing around with as you can always drop calories again in the coming weeks.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
    Options
    aft85 wrote: »
    Maybe I should have started by saying 'thoughts other than the food scale'. I don't think i'm a special snowflake, but people always just say 'it's the food scale' 'it's your measurements' 'you're logging wrong.' I've already ruled that out. I wouldn't have asked if I thought it was that. I had therapy for years over an eating disorder, I know how to log food, I know how to measure food, I had a doctor berate me constantly over my inaccuracies. I know how incredibly disappointing it is when it turns out that 80grams of something is actually just nothing on a plate but there isn't room for anything more.

    I worry that this is all just heading to piling weight back on. Every day is just another dead stop of a day, with a goal nowhere nearer, and just a heavy ugly body that looks disgusting. It's just disappointment at thinking I can never just eat something anymore, it's all got negative consequences.

    I don't understand what this message board is for to be honest if everyone posts the same advice with the same graph and then gets annoyed if you say that you've already heard that advice. It's depressing to get criticism over not being more 'yes thank you that's amazing advice i've never seen that graph before' when you already feel like you do everything wrong.

    I am still at a loss here.

    You are speaking to the forum from complete emotion.. and you are reading all things in all our posts from complete emotion. You spoke to the community through your words as being negative and a bit snarky and very unreceptive to advice, tips and tricks.

    If you can step back, take a breath and get down to the facts of your situation, you might be able to find out just what is going on with your weight loss from any or all us seasoned members here in MFP.

    I am in complete 100% agreement with what @diannethegeek said..all the way down to the last sentence.. Your choice.
  • cavia
    cavia Posts: 457 Member
    Options
    Can you open your food diary?
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    Options
    aft85 wrote: »
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

    9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.

    I think I will look at that trendweight thing.

    How can you work out an accurate exercise figure though if the calculators are wrong?

    Honestly, the only way to figure out if the calculators are wrong is to see if you don't lose weight at the rate you're expecting.

    Doing a little math can help here.

    Go back and look through your diary and see what your total weekly calories were for the week for several weeks during your loss. Then look at total calories expended. Expended - consumed will give you your deficit. Take that number and divide by 3500 (the approximate # of calories needed to lose a pound).

    Then compare your expected (calculated weight loss) and compare to your actual rate of loss. It helps to look at least 6-8 weeks worth of data because weight loss isn't constant. If you're losing at the rate you expect, the calculators probably are pretty accurate for you. If you're losing weight slower than you expect, the calculators are overestimating your burn. If you're losing faster than expected, the calculators may be underestimating your burn.
  • aft85
    aft85 Posts: 54 Member
    Options
    [/quote]

    Honestly, the only way to figure out if the calculators are wrong is to see if you don't lose weight at the rate you're expecting.

    Doing a little math can help here.

    Go back and look through your diary and see what your total weekly calories were for the week for several weeks during your loss. Then look at total calories expended. Expended - consumed will give you your deficit. Take that number and divide by 3500 (the approximate # of calories needed to lose a pound).

    Then compare your expected (calculated weight loss) and compare to your actual rate of loss. It helps to look at least 6-8 weeks worth of data because weight loss isn't constant. If you're losing at the rate you expect, the calculators probably are pretty accurate for you. If you're losing weight slower than you expect, the calculators are overestimating your burn. If you're losing faster than expected, the calculators may be underestimating your burn.[/quote]

    not sure i understand the formula here.
  • moham_kas90
    moham_kas90 Posts: 8 Member
    Options
    Im currently at a plateu. The 4th plateu this year.

    Every time I shed a lot of weight and then stall - its a sign for me to change things. And I ignore what the doctors, nutritionist and gurus say online. I find what works for me, and take whatever science based arguments as - advisory.

    I shed the first 59 lbs (or so) without any exercise - all pure diet. Over 9 months, that started with intermittent fasting - eat anything you want but nothing after 2pm. It ruffled a few feathers, but that was my first 9 kgs. I swapped sugary foods for fruits - saw that wasn't working and now I eat salads.

    At this point in the journey, its about whatever lever I can pull to leverage that number to drop. I'll find ways to cut net calories until I'm at my goal. Now its time to start long distance running: I find that some days my legs are sore beyond belief. But I will run my feet into the ground until I'm there - and I'll thank myself for it.



    On a side note, this MFP community is a gift - don't abuse it by being snarky: because their support can be inspiring on the days you can't carry your weight loss ambitions.
  • Rage_Phish
    Rage_Phish Posts: 1,508 Member
    Options
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=AkT4OR3LdTI
  • DeficitDuchess
    DeficitDuchess Posts: 3,099 Member
    Options
    Whenever I plateau, I just consume my maintenance calories; for a couple of weeks. Losing weight is work & sometimes it's just necessary, to relax!
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    Options
    aft85 wrote: »
    People seem to always jump to the food scale as a problem. I know how to count. I know how to measure. I don't think it's stalled because this or that might have been 5 grams more than what I counted. I'm trying to lose weight, not develop an eating disorder. And if something tells you it's x for the whole packet, then you would just cut that in half.

    Or do you think I'm a fool because I don't measure out the exact half of a pie that I'm splitting with someone?

    I'm determining the calorie intake as accurately as a person can, without knowing the exact science for working out calorie contentI can only use the info provided on the packaging, or this site.

    Wait...you measure your food with cups and spoons?
    This is the exact thing that caused me to maintain my weight instead of losing it. I like you didn't think errors here and there were holding me back. Guess what? They were. Once I got a new food scale, I started losing weight again. If I don't weigh my food, I won't lose weight. And yes, I have to weigh peanut butter, oils and butter as those are easy to overdo and easy to rack up an extra 300 calories.
    I only use cups/spoons for actual liquids now.
  • 123user456
    123user456 Posts: 68 Member
    Options
    aft85 wrote: »
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

    9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.

    I think I will look at that trendweight thing.

    How can you work out an accurate exercise figure though if the calculators are wrong?

    Use your actual results to calculate your TDEE. If you are 100% sure that your logging is accurate, then your actual losses compared to your calorie intake (over a sufficient period of time to avoid normal fluctuations) should allow you to calculate your TDEE.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    Options
    aft85 wrote: »

    Honestly, the only way to figure out if the calculators are wrong is to see if you don't lose weight at the rate you're expecting.

    Doing a little math can help here.

    Go back and look through your diary and see what your total weekly calories were for the week for several weeks during your loss. Then look at total calories expended. Expended - consumed will give you your deficit. Take that number and divide by 3500 (the approximate # of calories needed to lose a pound).

    Then compare your expected (calculated weight loss) and compare to your actual rate of loss. It helps to look at least 6-8 weeks worth of data because weight loss isn't constant. If you're losing at the rate you expect, the calculators probably are pretty accurate for you. If you're losing weight slower than you expect, the calculators are overestimating your burn. If you're losing faster than expected, the calculators may be underestimating your burn.

    not sure i understand the formula here.

    Total weekly calories = total calories consumed over the week
    Total deficit = total calories spent - total consumed

    If you don't track total calories spent, look at what MFP tells you your deficit is each day including exercise (so, if you have it set to 1lb per week loss, that's 3500 base calories and then subtract any days you were over or add any calories you were under).

    Say your goal is to lose 1lb per week. And this is your over/under total calorie goal numbers:

    M -235 (under by 235)
    T +115
    W -20
    T +45
    F 0 (at goal)
    S -180
    S +76

    For the week, you burned 199 calories more than your goal, giving you 3699 calories total. In theory, you would lose 1.05lbs that week in a perfect world. Look at 8 weeks of that data. Are you losing consistently? Are you losing half a pound when your math says you should be losing 2lbs? You're eating too much (aka, the calculators are wrong).

Categories