Projected Calories and not losing weight

Options
Bridget7575
Bridget7575 Posts: 12 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started my weight loss journey on 1/2/17. The fist week I actually gained one pound and since then I've only lost 3.5lbs. I am exercising 4-5 times a week, drinking plenty of water, and I have my daily calories goal set to loose 2lbs per week and I can't even loose 2 lbs in a month. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here. Feeling discouraged.
«1

Replies

  • qpmomma1
    qpmomma1 Posts: 220 Member
    Options
    How are you measuring your portions? Do you use a food scale?
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Options
    What are your:
    - height
    - weight
    - activity level outside of exercise
    - number of times you exercise each week and duration of workout
    - type of exercise performed
    - age
    - daily calorie goal before exercise
    - average daily calories eaten each week since starting

    Are you:
    - weighing solid foods
    - measuring liquids
    - logging every bit of your food using verifiable nutrition info such as that on food labels or that which matches the USDA Nutrient Database
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Options
    Bridget7575 wrote: »
    I started my weight loss journey on 1/2/17. The fist week I actually gained one pound and since then I've only lost 3.5lbs. I am exercising 4-5 times a week, drinking plenty of water, and I have my daily calories goal set to loose 2lbs per week and I can't even loose 2 lbs in a month. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here. Feeling discouraged.

    You've lost an average of 3.5 lbs since January? That comes out to about a half pound a week and is great!

    What are your stats?

    The smaller and closer to a normal weight you are, the slower your weight loss and the smaller your deficit should be set to. In other words if you are 145 lbs wanting to lose ten, a half pound is appropriate.

    If you have quite a bit of weight to lose (75 or more), then 2 pounds a week is appropriate.
  • Bridget7575
    Bridget7575 Posts: 12 Member
    Options
    I'm 41 Height 5ft 7.5in and weigh 187lbs. Goal weight 170. I was hoping for at least 1lb a week. I do measure my foods and have tried increasing protein. My husband is also dieting and dropping on average 4lbs a week.
  • Bridget7575
    Bridget7575 Posts: 12 Member
    Options
    I started out at 190.6. I figured I would be losing more than this and I am eating around 1200 calories a day
  • Bridget7575
    Bridget7575 Posts: 12 Member
    Options
    _Majestic_AF_ wrote: »
    What do you do for work? Move around a lot or no? Do you have your account set to match that??

    I do and I'm a stay at home mom.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    Options
    Measure or weigh? A food scale is much more accurate than measuring cups. And while men tend to lose faster than women, 4 pounds a week is way too fast. .5-1 pound a week is a good range for you.
  • Bridget7575
    Bridget7575 Posts: 12 Member
    Options
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    Bridget7575 wrote: »
    I started my weight loss journey on 1/2/17. The fist week I actually gained one pound and since then I've only lost 3.5lbs. I am exercising 4-5 times a week, drinking plenty of water, and I have my daily calories goal set to loose 2lbs per week and I can't even loose 2 lbs in a month. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here. Feeling discouraged.

    You've lost an average of 3.5 lbs since January? That comes out to about a half pound a week and is great!

    What are your stats?

    The smaller and closer to a normal weight you are, the slower your weight loss and the smaller your deficit should be set to. In other words if you are 145 lbs wanting to lose ten, a half pound is appropriate.

    If you have quite a bit of weight to lose (75 or more), then 2 pounds a week is appropriate.

    I'm 41 Height 5ft 7.5in and weigh 187lbs. Goal weight 170. I was hoping for at least 1lb a week. I do measure my foods and have tried increasing protein. My husband is also dieting and dropping on average 4lbs a week.
  • Bridget7575
    Bridget7575 Posts: 12 Member
    Options
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    Bridget7575 wrote: »
    I started my weight loss journey on 1/2/17. The fist week I actually gained one pound and since then I've only lost 3.5lbs. I am exercising 4-5 times a week, drinking plenty of water, and I have my daily calories goal set to loose 2lbs per week and I can't even loose 2 lbs in a month. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here. Feeling discouraged.

    You've lost an average of 3.5 lbs since January? That comes out to about a half pound a week and is great!

    What are your stats?

    The smaller and closer to a normal weight you are, the slower your weight loss and the smaller your deficit should be set to. In other words if you are 145 lbs wanting to lose ten, a half pound is appropriate.

    If you have quite a bit of weight to lose (75 or more), then 2 pounds a week is appropriate.

    Thanks! I'm 41 Height 5ft 7.5in and weigh 187lbs. Goal weight 170. I was hoping for at least 1lb a week. I do measure my foods and have tried increasing protein and decreasing carbs.
  • Skyblueyellow
    Skyblueyellow Posts: 225 Member
    Options
    Because you aren't that far away from your goal weight losing .5 lb each week is a great pace. I understand that you are feeling frustrated BUT the scale is going in the right direction!
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
    Options
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Measure or weigh? A food scale is much more accurate than measuring cups. And while men tend to lose faster than women, 4 pounds a week is way too fast. .5-1 pound a week is a good range for you.

    Here's a video that explains what @malibu927 is saying...

    https://youtu.be/XpHykP6e_Uk
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
    Options
    Here's an awesome chart that helps you diagnose where you can improve.

    2iuy56t9v5oa.jpg
  • Bridget7575
    Bridget7575 Posts: 12 Member
    Options
    Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »
    what is your stats OP?
    Age, weight, height? How many calories per day are you eating and how are you logging those calories? bar codes? measuring cups? food scale?
    What kind of excersize are you doing?

    1200 Calories a day. Yes, scanning and weighing/measuring all foods. For exercise I am power walking/jogging. I try to do 30 minutes a day 4-5 days a week.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Options
    You will not see a 1 lb per week loss when you have 17 lbs to go. 1/2 lb is about it, so it sounds like you are doing fine.

    How much has your husband go to lose? 4 lbs is a lot, but when I was 330 I lost close to that for the first bit (15 lb per month for ~ 3 months). You can't compare yourself to him.
  • Skyblueyellow
    Skyblueyellow Posts: 225 Member
    Options
    I have the same scale in that video. If you are looking for a food scale the one pictured is pretty inexpensive and I've found it to do a pretty nice job. I've been using it daily since August and only changed the battery once.
  • Bridget7575
    Bridget7575 Posts: 12 Member
    Options
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Measure or weigh? A food scale is much more accurate than measuring cups. And while men tend to lose faster than women, 4 pounds a week is way too fast. .5-1 pound a week is a good range for you.

    Here's a video that explains what @malibu927 is saying...

    https://youtu.be/XpHykP6e_Uk

    Thanks. I measure more than weigh
  • Bridget7575
    Bridget7575 Posts: 12 Member
    Options
    Skyblueyellow wrote: »
    Because you aren't that far away from your goal weight losing .5 lb each week is a great pace. I understand that you are feeling frustrated BUT the scale is going in the right direction!

    Thanks. I guess I need to look at it that way!
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Options
    I'm just going to say that I've found the barcode scanner next to useless unless you're doing very specific packaged foods.
    There are also a lot of really inaccurate entries in the database. Basically, if they seem to good to be true, they probably are.
    Are you tracking all beverages and condiments? Creamer in coffee, sugar in tea, and butter on sandwiches?
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Options
    Sounds like you have unrealistic expectations, not that the process isn't working.

    With less than 20 lbs to lose, 2lbs/week is not realistic, or healthy for that matter.

    You said you are measuring more than weighing, if so, it's possible (likely) that you are consuming more calories than you think. If you start weighing, you will likely realize that you are eating more than 1200 cals currently.

    That said, you probably shouldn't have a goal of 1200 calories if you are as close to goal weight as you are. 0.5 lb/week is an appropriate rate to aim for, and if you change that in your MFP profile, you'll likely get a higher calorie target to shoot for. Tighten up the logging, aim for the higher calorie amount - lose the weight in a safe, sustainable way.

    Good luck.

Categories