Two weeks in and have not lost weight

SierraFatToSkinny wrote: »

I'm 5'8" and 28 years old.
I sold my business 4 months back and have baked minimally since.
Maybe my scale is broken? I'll put a new battery in it. It's been fluctuating my weight by several pounds anyways.
The successful people are those who started out ahead of me. Most of the people I follow are around my weight.
Thanks everyone for the help.

With your specs, I've rerun your numbers for a sedentary person:
- 2460 cals to maintain
- 1970 cals to lose ~1 lb per week
- 1700 cals to lose ~1.75 lbs per week

Going below 1700 is looking ill-advised. Opening up your diary, and making sure you're not missing anything in your logs, will let those 'successful people' give more focused advice.

ETA: I see from another set of posts that you've already found the Scooby caluculator (which is what I used) and you also ran the calculation under the assumption of having a desk job, i.e., low baseline activity level. It also looks like you're making some pretty high assumptions for your calories burned. Unless you open your diary for further inspection, I think the rest of us are just taking shots in the dark.

Could I ask you what exercise you're doing? Your burns are very high--800,700,1,600...... That might be where your problem lies.

SierraFatToSkinny wrote: »

I'm measuring success by them losing weight. I think that is appropriate.

Alright, I've opened it up for you. Don't judge me on the repeat meals.

Don't measure success compared to other people. You are you. You have a different body and a different life.

You can support them and they can support you but weight loss isn't a team sport.

As for repeat meals, many people on MFP have success with eating basically the same thing every day. Some like consistency and some like variety.

SierraFatToSkinny wrote: »

snowflake954 wrote: »

Could I ask you what exercise you're doing? Your burns are very high--800,700,1,600...... That might be where your problem lies.

I didn't include my workouts in the average.

But I've been hiking a lot. I was told on another thread to not trust the expenditure numbers, so I've been reducing them.

Today I'm going to hike for about 3 or 4 hours. (I haven't gone, I'll adjust when I get back.) I plugged in 200 mins and was given the caloric burn of... I think 2076... I then knocked it down to 1600. I figured that was close enough.

Ah, I thought your story sounded familiar. I've seen you asking about hiking calories before.
As far as those 200 mins of hiking goes, unless you are stomping away that whole time, I'd say your burn numbers are too high. That said, I've looked back a few days into your diary, and you don't seem to be eating much into your burn calories ... only 300-400, with your total intake being around 2000 +/- a bit.

A few things struck me as odd, such as 1 oz portions of ground beef, 2 oz portion of chicken, etc. Are you actually weighing/measuring those quantities, or estimating them?

ETA: Next time you go on a hike, can you run the app "MapMyWalk" or "MapMyHike", making sure you either link the app to MFP, or keeping them separate and inputting your stats (weight, etc), and then having the app track your walk and calculate your calories, and report back? Note that if you are hiking for 3+ hours, you might drain your phone battery if running the app that long, so I suggest you bring a portable battery charger, and use that along the way as well.

Is it possible you are losing inches but not lbs? 5 lbs up or down can be water weight. I would check that I'm getting enough protein and reduce sodium intake, along with drinking enough water.

SierraFatToSkinny wrote: »

I knocked off 25% of what MFP said I should be burning. What percentage should I take off?

Most recommend eating back 50-70% of your exercise calories, particularly if you're letting MFP calculate your calories burned. MFP's exercise numbers tend to be pretty inflated.

SierraFatToSkinny wrote: »

I knocked off 25% of what MFP said I should be burning. What percentage should I take off?

How did you calculate your calorie goal- with the myfitnesspal settings or a TDEE calculator?

SierraFatToSkinny wrote: »

I knocked off 25% of what MFP said I should be burning. What percentage should I take off?

I plugged in 200 min of walking in MFP exercise diary and it gave me 856 calories. If you walk fast, or up hill, it will be more, but I doubt it's double. I'd halve your calorie burns.

SierraFatToSkinny wrote: »

It's just disheartening.

I was thinking I might drop my calories. I'll wait another week and see.

I started at 300lbs and gained to 306.8 to start. I JUST started seeing results 2 weeks later. It could be your salt intake (I never thought to measure mine until friends here pointed it out) and though I'm still over most days, it's not like it was.

Also, it can take 2-6 weeks to see results. You are tearing your muscles which causes inflammation and water to flood them trying to repair the damage. Once your body gets accustomed to the new demands on it, the weight will start to come off.

I was frustrated as heck wondering if any of this was true cause the majority of the responses here are "you MUST be eating more calories than you think.. you are just wrong in your measurements!" Well, even if I am..or you are.. I bet it's still less than you have eaten before as we weren't counting and fretting until recently so their arguments are ignorant.

Those telling you to give it more time are probably those like us who saw weight gain or no results too start then after several weeks to a month the weight began to melt off. I'm 302 now.. still not starting weight but it's finally heading in the right direction. I refuse to let this beat me. I HAVE noticed more energy .. I like having energy.

Hope this helps.

SierraFatToSkinny wrote: »

Why in the world would MFP (and other sites, I've cross referenced some) be off by 60-40%?

I ended up hiking a little more than 5 miles in a couple hours. (I didn't take the dog and I got spooked.)

Right now MFP says I burn about 1200+ for 120. One of my first threads was a question asking about this. A few people said I would burn that much, then a few others said I wouldn't.

In another thread it was brought up again and I decided to deduct 25%.

Now I need to deduct 60-40%?

This is a really *kitten* screwed up system.

Yeah that's why I use the TDEE method and just eat the same amount each day and don't bother with trying to figure out how many calories I burned or should eat back every freaking time I exercise.

Use this TDEE calculator, and then manually set your calorie goal in myfitnesspal to whatever your TDEE is minus a deficit- I do 300 calories less than TDEE which gives me a 0.6 pounds per week loss rate. A deficit of 250 will give you 1/2 pound a week loss, 500 will give you 1 pound per week loss. Personally I wouldn't do a deficit higher than 500 but if you do make sure your calorie goal doesn't end up less than your BMR (the calculator will give you that number too). Remember, no entering exercise or eating back calories with this method, because your exercise calories are included. You do have to be pretty consistent though- don't set it for like 6 hours of exercise per week and then suddenly cut your routine down to 2 hours per week- if you do you'll want to recalculate. Also remember to recalculate every so often as you lose weight- like maybe every 5 pounds lost. Since your TDEE will be lower due to your body becoming smaller.

http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

If I might offer a few bits of humble advice here. (And I'll apologize if someone has said the same thing as I do here... I skimmed the thread but may have missed some things.)

1 - Switch to a mechanical scale. It's much easier to see when they are out of whack and to adjust accordingly. You can't really adjust most digital body weight scales if something's off. You may also want to consider doing something like getting a simple, cheap 5lb or 10lb dumbbell. Verify its weight on a couple of friend's scales if you can... and then keep it on hand in the closet or something so that you can occasionally test the accuracy of your scale. (Zero the scale, set the weight on it, and if it's off by a pound or more then you know it's not measuring properly.) And do not weigh yourself every day. Once a week, under the same conditions each time. (I.e., if you weigh yourself every Sunday morning just in your pajamas and barefoot, don't weigh yourself one week fully dressed with stuff in your pockets and expect an accurate result.)

2 - Your body needs a certain number of calories to to its basic functions. This is not "maintenance intake". It is "necessary function". Discuss specific function targets with your doctor... but your BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) which is needed for that base function is determined as follows (at least, according to one source I've found):
Age Use This Equation to Calculate Your BMR
* Men
18 to 30 [15.3 x weight (in kilograms)] + 679
30 to 60 [11.6 x weight (in kilograms)] + 879
Older than 60 [13.5 x weight (in kilograms)] + 487
* Women
18 to 30 [14.7 x weight (in kilograms)] + 496
30 to 60 [8.7 x weight (in kilograms)] + 829
Older than 60 [10.5 x weight (in kilograms)] + 596

So if we plug in your basic numbers, 28 years old, 280lbs... convert lbs to kg (divide by 2.2) we get...
[14.7x127.27]+496 = 2367 (rounded to nearest calorie)

Then we factor in your activity level and calculate accordingly. From what I've read it seems safe to calculate you at a light activity level (multiply by 0.3) rather than moderate activity level (multiply by 0.4)
2367 x 0.3 = 710 calories

That means that at a light activity level, that 810 calories par day becomes your starvation threshold. At a moderate activity level, that number would change to 947 calories minimum.

Now, the numbers change a bit at age 30... but that's a guideline with a little room for error. So if we calculate it all for you per age 30 we get:
[8.7x127.27]+829 = 1936 calories
1936 x 0.3 = 508
1936 x 0.4 = 774

Going too close to that, or below, for more than a day or two and your body will begin to go into starvation mode and start doing everything it can to conserve calories. Including seriously slowing your metabolism.

My numbers may be off slightly... but I plugged my own data in for when I was much more serious about my workouts (getting back into it after some health issues) and the BMR I calculated came within about 100 points of the 1200BMR calorie intake requirement one of my former trainers calculated. (And she was fully trained with exercise and nutrition as he college major).

3 - While many people disrespect things like natural sugar, brown sugar, and honey... those are fine in moderation. (I put 1 tbsp of brown sugar and nothing else in my coffee in the morning, which only adds 45 calories.) The real problem is if you use a lot of artificial sweeteners. Especially if you drink a lot of diet sodas during the day figuring "Well, they have no calories, so they don't count". Here's why...

When you consume something sweet, your body is programmed by nature to expect caloric intake. Basically, sweet things tell your body "Oh boy!! Energy!!" But the problem with drinking diet sodas all day is you're constantly telling your body to expect that caloric energy. And then it doesn't get it. It's like your body is a little girl and you've been telling her for a month that she's getting a pony for Christmas, and when she unwraps her gift it's just a picture of one.

Then, just like that little girl, your body gets depressed, disappointed, and pissy. It eventually throws a little fit and says "Ok. You didn't give us what you told us we were getting? Screw you. I'm just going to hold onto this, this, and that and you don't get to play with it (burn those calories easily)". Do it often enough and for long enough, and that little girl becomes the female version of Ebeneezer Scrooge... holding onto every penny (calorie) it can.

So, you need to do three things to get that whole "change of heart because it's a Christmas Carol" thing going.

Ghost of Christmas Past = Be willing to eat things will real sugar, but in moderation. (You're giving your inner child/metabolism the sweet goodies they crave.)

Ghost of Christmas Present = Understand that weight loss and fitness are a process. Your attitude and outlook in the here and now shape how that progresses... both in your sense of motivation and even in recognizing gains you may be making that you don't see. The blessings. (As one person said, try going as much by changes in your measurements as you do with weight. If you work on your muscles with any kind of weight training, for example, you may lose 4" off your waist but not lose more than a few pounds as fat gets replaced with muscle.) Stressing out over not improving as fast as others and trying to compete with people who have a different biological makeup as yours stresses out that little metabolic kid and it starts holding onto what keeps it comfortable (like calories).

Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come = Formulate a responsible and balanced game plan and stick with it. Incorporate diet and exercise, but also things like "me time" to just relax. Give yourself one day a week as a "cheat day" break from your diet... but still be sensible. For example, when I might go to a buffet on a "cheat day" I still have rules for myself. (Actually, whether I'm on a diet or not I still do it this way.) I eat a good sized salad first, with only a small amount of dressing and no more than a few croutons... mostly fresh veg. Then I go for at least a plate of veg and proteins without carbs and as little salt as possible. After that, then I can hit the carbs and more comfort food type items because my stomach is already significantly filled with veg and proteins... so I'm not going to eat a lot of anything like mac and cheese. This kind of thing helps teach your metabolism that if it's nice, if it behaves, if it's disciplined but keeps a good nature and becomes benevolent... then it, and you,m will have a better future.

4 - This is the last one for this list here... and I touched on this earlier...

Don't see it as a competition between yourself and others. We all have different bodies. We all have different metabolisms, hormone levels, stress levels, life situations, and more. And if you judge your own progress based on the people you feel are ahead of you, rather than on your progress from the point where you started... you're GOING to keep being discouraged. Because there will ALWAYS be someone ahead of you in that journey.

But that's the thing. That's THEIR journey in their health and exercise. Not yours. Your journey is your own and nobody else's. People who have traveled similar roads can give advice and input, but nobody has traveled the same path you are one. And they never will. Because it's where you place your feet and the angle from which you see things. So you need to look all around you and see that while a lot of people may be having similar journeys... their starting points, destinations, and situations are not the same as yours.

Gauge your own progress only against where you were a week ago. Not against where someone else may be today.

****

Sorry the post is so long... but... yeah. Heh. Being a bit long-winded during those times I actually say anything is something about me that differs from many. (I spend most of my time saying nothing. But when I have something to say... boy do I talk/write at length.)