Projected Calories and not losing weight
Bridget7575
Posts: 12 Member
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.
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How are you measuring your portions? Do you use a food scale?0
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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 Database3 -
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.2 -
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.0
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I started out at 190.6. I figured I would be losing more than this and I am eating around 1200 calories a day0
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_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.0 -
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.1
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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.0 -
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.0 -
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!3
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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 2 -
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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.0 -
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.2 -
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.0
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quiksylver296 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 weigh0 -
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!0 -
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?0 -
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.1 -
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?Bridget7575 wrote: »quiksylver296 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
if you measure more than weigh then you can be off by a LOT. weigh everything and use measuring cups for liquid only.I learned that the hard way2 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »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?Bridget7575 wrote: »quiksylver296 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
if you measure more than weigh then you can be off by a LOT. weigh everything and use measuring cups for liquid only.I learned that the hard way
I just bought a food scale today so I'm hoping that will help make things even more accurate.1 -
If you're accurately tracking foods and still stuck it might be worth trying 'cycling' your caloric intake and using the zig-zag method. 1200 is pretty low. Zig Zag calorie rotation will help combat your body's natural 'starvation response' and boost your metabolism. Something like 3 days at 1200 and then eating maintenance calories on the 4th day may do the trick.0
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Bridget7575 wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »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?Bridget7575 wrote: »quiksylver296 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
if you measure more than weigh then you can be off by a LOT. weigh everything and use measuring cups for liquid only.I learned that the hard way
I just bought a food scale today so I'm hoping that will help make things even more accurate.
Good to hear. It will help. I still remember weighing my morning cereal and being pissed off.0 -
If you're accurately tracking foods and still stuck it might be worth trying 'cycling' your caloric intake and using the zig-zag method. 1200 is pretty low. Zig Zag calorie rotation will help combat your body's natural 'starvation response' and boost your metabolism. Something like 3 days at 1200 and then eating maintenance calories on the 4th day may do the trick.
Got nothing against the advice if it helps, but ignore the starvation mode and boost your metabolism part.0
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