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It's not as simple as just being under your calorie count for the day??
ebrucef
Posts: 4 Member
Daily I keep track of my calories and have been under what MFP suggest. I complete my food diary daily it tells me what my weight will be if I keep doing what I am doing, it's been 4 weeks out of 5 and no weight lost. I only weigh in the morning after I have a "number 2" so I am consistent. I track with a Fitbit one and it add my tracked calories back into my total for the day. I stared at 300 lb and my weight fluctuates about 5 lbs. After completing my daily diary I get the message that if I keep doing the same I will be at 186 lb in 5 weeks. HELP
" a 200 lb man trapped in a 300 lb body.
" a 200 lb man trapped in a 300 lb body.
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Replies
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It's possible that MFP/Fitbit has been overestimating your exercise burns. Try eating back 50 to 75% of those calories. Also, measuring cups aren't necessarily accurate for dry ingredients. Weighing them on a scale is better.8
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It really is that simple.
Which is good news as the answer is normally something simple.
Are you saying you've lost 5lbs in 5 weeks?6 -
I think you have a typo in there. I can't see how you would lose over 100lbs in 5 weeks.
Other than that detail, I would suggest starting with reviewing your logging. Are you tracking everything accurately? There are some very common errors in logging: 1) not tracking everything, 2) tracking by volume, package, or eyeballing, 3) using the incorrect database entry. All three of these possibilities can throw off your results.
Are you eating all those calories that your tracker is adjusting? Some of the trackers can be significantly off.6 -
So wait, you're 300lb and MFP tells you you'll be 186 in 5 weeks? Something very wrong with your figures.6
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Something is wrong with the math and it's likely in actually calorie count in and out. How accurate are you on actual intake? Fitbit has a tendency to over estimate calorie burn, so maybe try a different calculator.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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nutmegoreo wrote: »I think you have a typo in there. I can't see how you would lose over 100lbs in 5 weeks.
Other than that detail, I would suggest starting with reviewing your logging. Are you tracking everything accurately? There are some very common errors in logging: 1) not tracking everything, 2) tracking by volume, package, or eyeballing, 3) using the incorrect database entry. All three of these possibilities can throw off your results.
Are you eating all those calories that your tracker is adjusting? Some of the trackers can be significantly off.
There was a time over a period of several months when I combined these two errors to underestimate my intake by around 700 calories most days. Because I did a lot of exercise I was losing anyway, until I stalled out for 3 weeks at one point. That finally made me take a good hard look at what I was doing, and I was totally kittened off when I realized what I'd been doing. Once you get used to logging a certain food a certain way, you tend to keep on without thinking much about it, so it's easy for an early error, as mine was, to perpetuate itself a long time.6 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »I think you have a typo in there. I can't see how you would lose over 100lbs in 5 weeks.
Other than that detail, I would suggest starting with reviewing your logging. Are you tracking everything accurately? There are some very common errors in logging: 1) not tracking everything, 2) tracking by volume, package, or eyeballing, 3) using the incorrect database entry. All three of these possibilities can throw off your results.
Are you eating all those calories that your tracker is adjusting? Some of the trackers can be significantly off.
There was a time over a period of several months when I combined these two errors to underestimate my intake by around 700 calories most days. Because I was did a lot of exercise I was losing anyway, until I stalled out for 3 weeks at one point. That finally made me take a good hard look at what I was doing, and I was totally kittened off when I realized what I'd been doing. Once you get used to logging a certain food a certain way, you tend to keep on without thinking much about it, so it's easy for an early error, as mine was, to perpetuate itself a long time.
This happens a lot!3 -
Thank you for all your replies. Sorry yes it was a typo. I ment 286 in 5 weeks. My weight can easily fluctuate up or down by 5 pounds in a week.1
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Follow the TDEE method , don't worry about exercise calories and log accurately . Weight will come off3
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TDEE is good IF you had a regular/standard workout plan - but if you are a less frequent exercisers etc, then it may not be the best method for you
also MFP (with its use of NEAT) and TDEE come close if you adjust for activity level - just one makes it so you don't have to eat back workout calories, the other does7 -
Issues here generally revolve around accuracy...logging portions that are eyeballed/estimated...using erroneous entries from the database...quick adding arbitrary calories...overestimating expenditures from exercise, etc.3
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Follow the TDEE method , don't worry about exercise calories and log accurately . Weight will come off
OP has a FitBit that he syncs with MFP. Many people use activity trackers with a lot of success. He's better of looking at his logging & tightening that up if he can. A TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) calculator is just another estimate, I'm not sure that would be more accurate than his FitBit.7 -
I looked at the TDEE calculators and it estimated I should eat 3496 calories/day. MFP set my goal at 2650 calories/day. Before I started this journey I could easily eat 3000 calories in meal3
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I just find most activity trackers over estimates the calories burned and I had better success once I switched . I agree though that tightening up on the logging is key4
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I looked at the TDEE calculators and it estimated I should eat 3496 calories/day. MFP set my goal at 2650 calories/day. Before I started this journey I could easily eat 3000 calories in meal
Those numbers look pretty good for now. (As you lose weight, you'll need to adjust them down.) The MFP number is 2650 plus exercise calories (many people only eat about 50% of their exercise calories, to be cautious).
Use a food scale to weigh all your food, and log everything into your food diary to insure you are actually eating the amount of calories you think you are. Watch this short video, it shows why a food scale is a great tool!
https://youtu.be/XpHykP6e_Uk 7 -
I started at 330 last August. Down to 240.8 this morning. So hopefully I have some insight.
Get a food scale and learn to weigh your food. Yes it's a pain in the butt, but you can't trust eyeballing, fist sized, measuring cups to get your intake on track. Weigh everything and find the best entry in the database for the food.
5 weeks is a long time to not see weight loss, so I'm agreeing with others that your food logging is likely the issue. When I started, the pounds drop madly.
Use the MFP numbers. As said above, TDEE is only good if you have consistent exercise and activity. They don't work as well for occasional exercise. Eat back at least half of any exercise calories.
And you don't want to be "under" your calorie count for the day. You want to hit the number MFP gives you (in this case 2650) and not go over. Think of it as being on The Price Is Right
You want to be sure to feed your body, and you want to avoid losing too fast as you will lose more muscle this way.
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I hadn't looked at your diary last night, but when I looked today, I'm seeing a lot of cups, pieces, bars, and medium for serving sizes. These won't be nearly as accurate as you think and can throw off your tracking by hundreds of calories every day. Plus there are several days where you are consuming close to the amount FitBit gave you for the adjustment. I wouldn't suggest doing that either. Personally, I find my FitBit underestimates a bit, but often people find that it overestimates. For now, just work on eating 50-75% of that adjustment. Particularly because it is giving you an extra 1600 cals per day. I suspect between logging inaccuracies, and eating all those calories back, you are likely wiping out any deficit that would be needed to lose. This may all sound frustrating and overwhelming, but I after two weeks of getting used to it, you will be getting great results.8
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I looked at the TDEE calculators and it estimated I should eat 3496 calories/day. MFP set my goal at 2650 calories/day. Before I started this journey I could easily eat 3000 calories in meal
I don't know your exact stats, I ran some generic numbers. I put you at 30 and 6'2". That gets a TDEE of @ 3200 calories. MFP already has the deficit built in. I am assuming also that you set you activity to "sedentary" in which case you WOULD eat back your exercise calories. What you need to do is make sure your logging is accurate, food scale for solids and cups for liquids. Weigh and measure everything, this will eliminate the CI portion of the CICO equation. From there, adjust the CO logging part until your numbers line up. Make sense?
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Daily I keep track of my calories and have been under what MFP suggest. I complete my food diary daily it tells me what my weight will be if I keep doing what I am doing, it's been 4 weeks out of 5 and no weight lost. I only weigh in the morning after I have a "number 2" so I am consistent. I track with a Fitbit one and it add my tracked calories back into my total for the day. I stared at 300 lb and my weight fluctuates about 5 lbs. After completing my daily diary I get the message that if I keep doing the same I will be at 186 lb in 5 weeks. HELP
" a 200 lb man trapped in a 300 lb body.
At the end of each day what is your macro profile looking like?2 -
I looked at the TDEE calculators and it estimated I should eat 3496 calories/day. MFP set my goal at 2650 calories/day. Before I started this journey I could easily eat 3000 calories in meal
Between March 26th and April 25th, your intake averaged 3,398 calories per day.
So either your Fitbit is giving you an inflated activity adjustment (963 calories per day, on average), or there's too much slop in your portion sizes, or both. You can tighten up your logging or just stop eating back the Fitbit calorie adjustment; either of those is likely to result in you eating less and losing more.
You might consider increasing your protein - an average of 124g a day isn't a lot for a man your size. I'm half your weight and average close to that much.4 -
jamesrivas39 wrote: »At the end of each day what is your macro profile looking like?
Since I have it handy, about 50% carb (446g, 196 or 22% of which are sugar), 35% fat (135g), 15% protein (124g), 43g fiber.
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Only a pro athlete can eat 4k calories a day and expect to lose weight.
Get real about how much you are actually exercising.7 -
THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH. So don't eat back all of my exercise calories. Buy a scale, got one today see the picture below, weigh my food instead of measuring it. Make sure to accurately log my entries in MFP. Eat more protein and figure out what my "micro profile" is. That's all doable thanks. If there is anything I missed please let me know.12
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I found when I synced my fitness tracker to MFP that I ended up gaining weight. I would recommend un-syncing your fitbit to MFP and ONLY logging actual exercise and not logging your steps walked according to fitbit. When I fixed this I started losing again. I think the error rate of fitness trackers makes them not a candidate for syncing with sites like MFP in general. And I was careful that I wasn't "double dipping" in terms of synced steps/calories and exercise. Besides tightening up your logging (b/c that's super important!), un-sync your fit bit. If you exercise, then put that into MFP and you can figure out if you can eat back some, none, or all of those exercise calories. But adding back in steps you take in a day, I found is not a good idea.0
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This: https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list is a great site to use to get calories for food. Many MFP database entries are off. Compare them to this before you use.
Also beware of portion sizes. If the snack bar says 210 calories, serving size 30g, weigh that sucker. it may be 32g which would make it 224 calories.
Calorie counting is a great way to keep your basic math skills working.3 -
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Looking at that diary I think you need to reduce that intake quite a bit. I always find MFP calculator way off. There's a ton of carbs there and hardly any protein. 8 cans of ice tea something, 24oz coke? dude cmon you're on a cut, cut that *kitten* out.
The way I eat has carbs lower than protein and about equal with fats, sure its hard to do but it is doable.
make some basic rules and follow them, then when you're comfortable add more rules. Maybe start with:
Replace your drinks with water, no exceptions.
Make protein sources the largest part of the meal.
Reduce or eliminate condiments.
good luck2 -
THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH. So don't eat back all of my exercise calories. Buy a scale, got one today see the picture below, weigh my food instead of measuring it. Make sure to accurately log my entries in MFP. Eat more protein and figure out what my "micro profile" is. That's all doable thanks. If there is anything I missed please let me know.
Slight correction, MACRO, not micro. Even that, just be sure you get adequate protein and fat, let the rest fall where they may.2 -
I agree with @MrStabbems . I never waste my calories on drinks. save them for food. and I don't see alot of drink entries and maybe thats because your drinking water? when you do have a drink its full on mega calories.
drinks can wreck ya.1 -
ronjsteele1 wrote: »I found when I synced my fitness tracker to MFP that I ended up gaining weight. I would recommend un-syncing your fitbit to MFP and ONLY logging actual exercise and not logging your steps walked according to fitbit. When I fixed this I started losing again. I think the error rate of fitness trackers makes them not a candidate for syncing with sites like MFP in general. And I was careful that I wasn't "double dipping" in terms of synced steps/calories and exercise. Besides tightening up your logging (b/c that's super important!), un-sync your fit bit. If you exercise, then put that into MFP and you can figure out if you can eat back some, none, or all of those exercise calories. But adding back in steps you take in a day, I found is not a good idea.
I get what you're saying, but for me, anything over around 2000 steps is intentional exercise. before getting a fitbit my max steps per day if i was busy was around 3,000, barely enough to even register a positive adjustment on mfp.
After fitbit, i aim for a minimum of 15k steps everyday.3
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