"Eating clean" and Exercising...not losing weight
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MalkinMagic71 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »MalkinMagic71 wrote: »roamingtiger wrote: »You shouldn't eat less than your BMR because then your body thinks it's starving which means it'll store your fat to use for later. The MFP activity calories is way off. It says I burn about 300 more than I actually do, so I go by my HR monitor.
Starvation mode doesn't exist. You shouldn't eat below your BMR that much is true.. but the whole starvation mode and storing it as fat.. is not true at all.
Well, sometimes we shorter folks do end up eating below our BMR because that's just how the math works. It's not a big deal.
When I first started losing weight at 210 pounds and was eating 1200 calories, I was eating below my BMR. And yet, that wasn't an aggressive rate of loss for me. It was only a pound a week deficit.
Obviously they are exceptions, but for most people it's not the best way to go about things. I started similar when I was at my heaviest(390ish).. eating very low calorie just to get the weight off quick, but was under doctors supervision at this time.
Anyway you do it, you have to make sure it is something sustainable for the long haul.
I completely agree, and don't advocate cutting calories drastically unless you're in special circumstances like you were.
Most people who'd put themselves eating under their BMR would probably be doing a drastic calorie cut, so I get the point of giving out the advice not to do that. I just wanted to point out that there are outliers.
I'm in my second year of this game, down to 117.6 now, so I think I have everything pretty much dialed in at this point.1 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »MalkinMagic71 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »MalkinMagic71 wrote: »roamingtiger wrote: »You shouldn't eat less than your BMR because then your body thinks it's starving which means it'll store your fat to use for later. The MFP activity calories is way off. It says I burn about 300 more than I actually do, so I go by my HR monitor.
Starvation mode doesn't exist. You shouldn't eat below your BMR that much is true.. but the whole starvation mode and storing it as fat.. is not true at all.
Well, sometimes we shorter folks do end up eating below our BMR because that's just how the math works. It's not a big deal.
When I first started losing weight at 210 pounds and was eating 1200 calories, I was eating below my BMR. And yet, that wasn't an aggressive rate of loss for me. It was only a pound a week deficit.
Obviously they are exceptions, but for most people it's not the best way to go about things. I started similar when I was at my heaviest(390ish).. eating very low calorie just to get the weight off quick, but was under doctors supervision at this time.
Anyway you do it, you have to make sure it is something sustainable for the long haul.
I completely agree, and don't advocate cutting calories drastically unless you're in special circumstances like you were.
Most people who'd put themselves eating under their BMR would probably be doing a drastic calorie cut, so I get the point of giving out the advice not to do that. I just wanted to point out that there are outliers.
I'm in my second year of this game, down to 117.6 now, so I think I have everything pretty much dialed in at this point.
Congrats on all the weight lost and keeping it off. I'm just coming up on the year point now and am down 190ish lbs. I started at almost 400 though. Things have slowed down now, but I've found my happy medium at this point I think.5 -
BarbaraJatmfp wrote: »Be sure you eat three vegetables and two fruits each day. There is something about the nutrients in those foods that help digest the other foods you eat. I don't lose weight if I skimp on the veggies, but I do lose weight if I eat them.
No, this is not accurate. There is no magic in three veggies an two fruit each day. You can eat whatever you want and you will lose weight, as long as you stay in a calorie deficit.
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Its too soon to say you're not losing. Its only been 9 days since you started. Keep going and the weight will come off.0
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92_sweetheart wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »92_sweetheart wrote: »I set it at 1lb per week and still getting 1200 Calorie daily goal.
You can likely EAT more than 1200 calories. Unlike everyone else here, I'm not one who's totally convinced you're fully netting exactly what MFP says.
Tell us exactly how long your exercise sessions are and how you get the calorie burns for them... do you enter them into MFP?
I actually probably actually eat 1050-1200 a day. I was going by MFP telling me 1000-1200 is okay. I LITERALLY log everything and weigh everything and pre-plan my meals days in advance. The only thing I log that could or possibly inaccurate is the calories for fruits and veggies. I exercise 20 minutes a day and with the exercise I do I burn around 230 Calories occurring to MFP (circuit training). I plan on getting a heart rate and calorie tracker to be sure I actually am burning that. Maybe I'm not burning what I it is saying.
Bingo! There is no way you burn 230 calories for 20 minutes of circuit training. MFP is notorious for overstimating calorie burns. In fact, that would be included in your activity level.
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92_sweetheart wrote: »MalkinMagic71 wrote: »Highly unlikely you are burning 230 calories in 20 minutes of exercise. You might be burning half of that to be honest. MFP way over estimates calorie burns in my experience.
I figured that it is was off but I'm looking to getting a heart rate monitor soon.
A heart rate monitor estimates for steady state cardio only.1 -
92_sweetheart wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »92_sweetheart wrote: »I set it at 1lb per week and still getting 1200 Calorie daily goal.
You can likely EAT more than 1200 calories. Unlike everyone else here, I'm not one who's totally convinced you're fully netting exactly what MFP says.
Tell us exactly how long your exercise sessions are and how you get the calorie burns for them... do you enter them into MFP?
I actually probably actually eat 1050-1200 a day. I was going by MFP telling me 1000-1200 is okay. I LITERALLY log everything and weigh everything and pre-plan my meals days in advance. The only thing I log that could or possibly inaccurate is the calories for fruits and veggies. I exercise 20 minutes a day and with the exercise I do I burn around 230 Calories occurring to MFP (circuit training). I plan on getting a heart rate and calorie tracker to be sure I actually am burning that. Maybe I'm not burning what I it is saying.
Bingo! There is no way you burn 230 calories for 20 minutes of circuit training. MFP is notorious for overstimating calorie burns. In fact, that would be included in your activity level.
I'll try to do 40 minutes the next few days and see what happens. I'm probably not even burning half of what they are estimating.0 -
OP, can you open your diary, please? You may be weighing everything (does that include pre-packaged items, butters/oils, eggs, salad dressing, deli meats, bread slices, prepackaged protein bars, bread rolls, 'set weight' meats, dairy). There are a bunch of inaccurate food database entries out there, and even if you do weigh all your food, choosing an entry that is slightly off can add up over the week.
Also, it has only been 9 days. Relax. It can take up to 3 weeks for a loss to show for me.BarbaraJatmfp wrote: »Be sure you eat three vegetables and two fruits each day. There is something about the nutrients in those foods that help digest the other foods you eat. I don't lose weight if I skimp on the veggies, but I do lose weight if I eat them.
This is not how digestion works, at all.
Agreed on the starvation mode. The body does not store fat in a deficit, ever. Eating below BMR for those who are shorter and/or sedentary is a way of creating a deficit and is okay.MalkinMagic71 wrote: »roamingtiger wrote: »You shouldn't eat less than your BMR because then your body thinks it's starving which means it'll store your fat to use for later. The MFP activity calories is way off. It says I burn about 300 more than I actually do, so I go by my HR monitor.
Starvation mode doesn't exist. You shouldn't eat below your BMR that much is true.. but the whole starvation mode and storing it as fat.. is not true at all.
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roamingtiger wrote: »You shouldn't eat less than your BMR because then your body thinks it's starving which means it'll store your fat to use for later. The MFP activity calories is way off. It says I burn about 300 more than I actually do, so I go by my HR monitor.
Can you please provide some peer reviewed studies showing starvation mode exists. I've always heard it's a myth.3 -
OP, you do not need to increase your exercise to burn more calories since you're not eating back your exercise calories.
You're fine. You're just not giving things enough time. Eat 1200 calories every day and give all this time.1 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »OP, you do not need to increase your exercise to burn more calories since you're not eating back your exercise calories.
You're fine. You're just not giving things enough time. Eat 1200 calories every day and give all this time.
Thank you. I probably just being inpatient. It's just that I guess when I was in the 200's I had quicker results so I thought perhaps I thought I was doing something wrong or something of that nature this time around especially that I'm like being way more consistent and even eating MUCH healthier. I will give it a few more weeks and then adjust if need be. Oh any other suggestions or advice for weight loss for a person with hypothyroidism? Like with foods and such. Tough dealing with a slow metoblism (TSH isn't still where it is supposed to be).0 -
92_sweetheart wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »OP, you do not need to increase your exercise to burn more calories since you're not eating back your exercise calories.
You're fine. You're just not giving things enough time. Eat 1200 calories every day and give all this time.
Thank you. I probably just being inpatient. It's just that I guess when I was in the 200's I had quicker results so I thought perhaps I thought I was doing something wrong or something of that nature this time around especially that I'm like being way more consistent and even eating MUCH healthier. I will give it a few more weeks and then adjust if need be. Oh any other suggestions or advice for weight loss for a person with hypothyroidism? Like with foods and such. Tough dealing with a slow metoblism (TSH isn't still where it is supposed to be).
My best advice for dealing with hypothroidim? Two things. Increase your NEAT. That's Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. Become less efficient in your daily living. Park your car far away from stores. Make what used to take two trips from the car with groceries take four. Pace while you're talking on the phone. Set a timer and give yourself reminders to get up and either pace for five minutes every hour or do some body weight squats, push-ups, or lunges.
Also? If you are still experiencing symptoms of hypothyroidism and are dealing with a doctor who is treating you by lab numbers and not by your symptoms? Get a new doctor. My first doctor told me that I'd need to be proactive as a thyroid sufferer because a lot of GP's in this country are not well-versed in how to treat thyroid disease. There's a range of acceptable levels for TSH, but having an acceptable level doesn't mean that you're being treated optimally. You need to be your own advocate so that you're being dosed to the point that your symptoms are gone and then have your blood work done and get to know what that TSH level is. That's your optimal level to be corrected to. From that point on, insist that you're corrected to that point.
I have found, in the over 30 years I've been dealing with this, that food doesn't really affect things much. Sorry I can't offer you any advice in that regard!
Some people swear by some things like giving up gluten and some such, but I don't put much stock in it. Then again, I don't eat gluten because I have celiac disease too!3 -
92_sweetheart wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »OP, you do not need to increase your exercise to burn more calories since you're not eating back your exercise calories.
You're fine. You're just not giving things enough time. Eat 1200 calories every day and give all this time.
Thank you. I probably just being inpatient. It's just that I guess when I was in the 200's I had quicker results so I thought perhaps I thought I was doing something wrong or something of that nature this time around especially that I'm like being way more consistent and even eating MUCH healthier. I will give it a few more weeks and then adjust if need be. Oh any other suggestions or advice for weight loss for a person with hypothyroidism? Like with foods and such. Tough dealing with a slow metoblism (TSH isn't still where it is supposed to be).
Why hasn't your doctor adjusted your meds if you aren't balanced yet? I'm also hypo, but controlled with meds and I lose at almost exactly the expected rate. I will say however, that I tracked and logged food religiously for a very long time so I know exactly how much I need to eat because I did the work.
There are no special-magical-powers foods. It just takes time.0 -
cmriverside wrote: »92_sweetheart wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »OP, you do not need to increase your exercise to burn more calories since you're not eating back your exercise calories.
You're fine. You're just not giving things enough time. Eat 1200 calories every day and give all this time.
Thank you. I probably just being inpatient. It's just that I guess when I was in the 200's I had quicker results so I thought perhaps I thought I was doing something wrong or something of that nature this time around especially that I'm like being way more consistent and even eating MUCH healthier. I will give it a few more weeks and then adjust if need be. Oh any other suggestions or advice for weight loss for a person with hypothyroidism? Like with foods and such. Tough dealing with a slow metoblism (TSH isn't still where it is supposed to be).
Why hasn't your doctor adjusted your meds if you aren't balanced yet? I'm also hypo, but controlled with meds and I lose at almost exactly the expected rate. I will say however, that I tracked and logged food religiously for a very long time so I know exactly how much I need to eat because I did the work.
There are no special-magical-powers foods. It just takes time.
If she has Hashi's she might be going through a spell like I did a couple of years ago. My stupid thyroid just would not cooperate for nine months or so. It wasn't for lack of trying or adjusting the medication over and over again either. My dose shot up precipitously in that time.1 -
Thanks, but I didn't see Hashi's mentioned.
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cmriverside wrote: »Thanks, but I didn't see Hashi's mentioned.
I'm just guessing and saying maybe. The majority of hypo sufferers have Hashi's after all.1 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »Thanks, but I didn't see Hashi's mentioned.
I'm just guessing and saying maybe. The majority of hypo sufferers have Hashi's after all.
What? I've never heard this, and I've been on levo for thirty years, too. Hashi's is a pretty extreme jump to make here.0 -
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But the OP never mentioned Hashi's. She did mention impatience. I don't think we need to jump on that train just yet.
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cmriverside wrote: »But the OP never mentioned Hashi's. She did mention impatience. I don't think we need to jump on that train just yet.
I'm really not sure what you're taking me to say. I was offering a scenario explaining how it's possible for someone's thyroid to be unstable for a length of time. Nothing else.
You are putting words in my mouth.
There are two possible explanations for her thyroid to be undercorrected. I addressed one in my post to her, if you read it. The one is that she's seeing a GP who treats lab numbers, not symptoms. The other is that she has Hashi's and is in an unstable spell.
For some reason you're making more of this than I ever meant it to be.1 -
I had Grave's Disease (autoimmune hyperthyroidism). Basically the opposite of Hashimoto's diease. I had a radioactive iodine treatment in Nov 2015 to destroy my thyroid gland. I didn't want surgery. It took about 5 months to take effect. I went to hypothyroid in March 2016. I basically don't produce any of the hormones on my own as it is like I don't have a thyroid. I'm on medicine to regulate but it takes a while to see what dosage works best especially when your body is going to the changes. I get labs every 2-4 months & have been for the past 3 years. My next labs are sometime this month because I got a new dosage like 3-4 weeks ago and my TSH was still rather high but lower than what it was. I was able to lose 20lbs on the medicine that I had gained because of the hypothyroid. I think the new dosage is working but I won't know until the new labs.0
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I haven't really experienced symptoms recently. At first I did, if you look at the list of symptoms of hypothyroidism it's probably safe to say I had nearly all of them with weight gain and no energy being the main. I do go to a endocrinologist. I have been seeing the same one for 3 years but now having after becoming hypothyroid I see her about every 4 months which I told was going to happen. I guess it is seen as the lesser of the two when it comes to hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. I stay up-to-date on all my TSH levels. But yeah my dosage and the way I am treated is definitely based on my labs.0
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92_sweetheart wrote: »I haven't really experienced symptoms recently. At first I did, if you look at the list of symptoms of hypothyroidism it's probably safe to say I had nearly all of them with weight gain and no energy being the main. I do go to a endocrinologist. I have been seeing the same one for 3 years but now having after becoming hypothyroid I see her about every 4 months which I told was going to happen. I guess it is seen as the lesser of the two when it comes to hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. I stay up-to-date on all my TSH levels. But yeah my dosage and the way I am treated is definitely based on my labs.
The weight gain attributable to hypo itself isn't much more than 10-15 pounds. I usually can tell with my energy levels and the other symptoms.
Saying that, I'm glad you're seeing an endo and not a GP. Labs are a consideration, but they're not the whole picture.
Four months is the schedule I was on when I was unstable too because the meds need time to kick in.
Even with inadequate adjustment, you can still lose weight doing what you're doing. Follow the tips I gave you for increasing NEAT. That will help.1 -
@MalkinMagic71
I am 5'1, very petite and in my late 40's. When I was younger I would just skip bread to lose weight but that doesn't work any longer
I have slowly lost 22 pounds over the last 6 mos. As I learned to read and understand my own body the weight is coming off easier. Here is what I learned:
- Find a way of eating that is sustainable. Temporary diets will not work.
- Don't sacrifice nutrition for weight loss. We need to fuel our bodies with real food. Who wants to be skinny and sick?
- Drink more water!
- Increasing my activity level made a HUGE difference. I now walk 50-80 minutes 6 days a week.
- Be accountable. I use MFP, StepBet and Dietbet for this reason.
- Listen to your body - love your body - it is working hard for you every day.
I hope that helps.1 -
OP, if you adjusted to a 1 pound per week loss and still have a 1200 calorie allotment, it's because MFP won't give you and allowance below 1200. Plug in a half-pound and see what it gives you. Not saying you have to eat that just see what it says.
The other thing is your activity setting. Are you set at sedentary?
I'm 5'3 and hypo also. I was at about 1350 to lose (slowly) and am at 1440 for maintenance. I am set at sedentary. I get a good deal of exercise and import from my fitness tracker or the yoga burn I got from sparkpeople.
The burn and what you eat back, takes a little trial and error to figure out.
As for hypo ... does your endo talk about your Free T 3 and free t4? Our bodies convert T4 to T3. But with no thyroid, you may not be doing that enough. The studies show T3 supplementation having a negligible effect on TSH, but patients reported an abatement of symptoms and better quality of life. It helped me (and my cousin, who told me about it). Worth inquiring about.
I cannot recommend consistently eating below your bmr. Adding exercise burn on top of that and you are not giving your body enough calories and nutrients to function. Everyone has days where they're just not hungry. Your bmr is the minimum your body needs to maintain vital organ function without any activity at all. Eating below that consistently, over time can hurt your physical health. At the end of the day, you should strive to net your bmr. Your bmr should not be the gross number of calories you consume.
Take good care of yourself now so you can be active and healthy later!
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OP, if you adjusted to a 1 pound per week loss and still have a 1200 calorie allotment, it's because MFP won't give you and allowance below 1200. Plug in a half-pound and see what it gives you. Not saying you have to eat that just see what it says.
The other thing is your activity setting. Are you set at sedentary?
I'm 5'3 and hypo also. I was at about 1350 to lose (slowly) and am at 1440 for maintenance. I am set at sedentary. I get a good deal of exercise and import from my fitness tracker or the yoga burn I got from sparkpeople.
The burn and what you eat back, takes a little trial and error to figure out.
As for hypo ... does your endo talk about your Free T 3 and free t4? Our bodies convert T4 to T3. But with no thyroid, you may not be doing that enough. The studies show T3 supplementation having a negligible effect on TSH, but patients reported an abatement of symptoms and better quality of life. It helped me (and my cousin, who told me about it). Worth inquiring about.
I cannot recommend consistently eating below your bmr. Adding exercise burn on top of that and you are not giving your body enough calories and nutrients to function. Everyone has days where they're just not hungry. Your bmr is the minimum your body needs to maintain vital organ function without any activity at all. Eating below that consistently, over time can hurt your physical health. At the end of the day, you should strive to net your bmr. Your bmr should not be the gross number of calories you consume.
Take good care of yourself now so you can be active and healthy later!
I believe it is set at light activity. I'm a painter could that be why I am still getting 1200? I set it at 1/2lbs and still got 1200.
When I had hyperthyroidism, I got my T3 and T4 tested but now that I hypo she only does labs for my TSH. My current endo. is going to a private practice so I will be seeing a new specialist soon so I'll be sure to speak with him about that and such.
I did a BMR calculator and it said my BMR is about 1600.0 -
If you put your stats in MFP and tell it you want to maintain your weight, what goal does it give you? That's what MFP believes your NEAT level is, that's your BMR and all your daily activity but not including exercise. If you wanted to lose 1 lb/week you would subtract 500 cals/day from that. The caveat is that MFP won't go below 1200 cal target for women, so if your NEAT is 1500 (which that would be very low), the system will try to subtract 500 but will set you at 1200 anyway.1
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WinoGelato wrote: »If you put your stats in MFP and tell it you want to maintain your weight, what goal does it give you? That's what MFP believes your NEAT level is, that's your BMR and all your daily activity but not including exercise. If you wanted to lose 1 lb/week you would subtract 500 cals/day from that. The caveat is that MFP won't go below 1200 cal target for women, so if your NEAT is 1500 (which that would be very low), the system will try to subtract 500 but will set you at 1200 anyway.
Do you mean TDEE?0 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »If you put your stats in MFP and tell it you want to maintain your weight, what goal does it give you? That's what MFP believes your NEAT level is, that's your BMR and all your daily activity but not including exercise. If you wanted to lose 1 lb/week you would subtract 500 cals/day from that. The caveat is that MFP won't go below 1200 cal target for women, so if your NEAT is 1500 (which that would be very low), the system will try to subtract 500 but will set you at 1200 anyway.
Do you mean TDEE?
I was just trying to help her figure out why MFP is giving her 1200 regardless of what goal she puts in. Yes with what I described above she would need to eat back exercise cals as it is the NEAT method. I was just trying to understand what the system thinks her baseline is.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »If you put your stats in MFP and tell it you want to maintain your weight, what goal does it give you? That's what MFP believes your NEAT level is, that's your BMR and all your daily activity but not including exercise. If you wanted to lose 1 lb/week you would subtract 500 cals/day from that. The caveat is that MFP won't go below 1200 cal target for women, so if your NEAT is 1500 (which that would be very low), the system will try to subtract 500 but will set you at 1200 anyway.
Do you mean TDEE?
I was just trying to help her figure out why MFP is giving her 1200 regardless of what goal she puts in. Yes with what I described above she would need to eat back exercise cals as it is the NEAT method. I was just trying to understand what the system thinks her baseline is.
Yeah, something's not right somewhere, because I just ran her stats through Scooby's site and her TDEE to maintain at sedentary should be around 1950.
OP, have you double checked your height and weight inputs on your settings?1
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