Calorie Defecit and Plateu?
LizzieGirl2015
Posts: 12 Member
Hello, everyone, I hope you're all having a wonderful day! I want to start by apologizing for probably asking questions that have bee asked 100x before but I had trouble finding one that asked it in just the way I need it asked to understand, so forgive me. I had a SW of 230, with a GW of 130, my CW is 180 (130 feels so close I can taste it! Lol) I'm 25 and 5'6". When I first started this journey on Halloween, I was "lightly active" due to my job keeping me on my feet all the time (I'm a veterinary technician) and my calorie goal was 1,450. I immediately started working out an hour a day (on a stationary bike or walking 4 miles) and quickly saw results. However, I eventually read that an hour of exercise on top of my job put me in the "active" category which bumped my calories up to 1,550. Because of the weight lost I was also burning less calories than I was before with my hour workout. I have been circling 180 since March now and am rather frustrated.. I upped my exercise to 2 hours a day and usually have a calorie defecit of close to if not over 1,000 calories a day. I have seen mixed reviews about the defecit... Some say eat back what you lose, others don't... is my BMR already calculated into MFP and if not does that mean I'm burning close to 3,000 a day?? Is this why I'm plateaued? I find the weeks that I have more days closer to 1,550 I even gain an ounce or two? Any advice on how to get past this plateu would be greatly appreciated... I had hoped to be down to 170 by July 7th when I go to see some family members who have never had a problem reminding me I'm fat... and now I fear I don't have enough time left to accomplish this...
Thank you in advance and sorry for the stupid, redundant question!
Thank you in advance and sorry for the stupid, redundant question!
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Replies
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Your BMR, plus your daily activity, are calculated into your MFP goal.
I can't see your journal, but if you had a deficit of 1,000 a day you would be losing weight. That you aren't losing weight means that you're either accidentally eating more than you think you are or your aren't burning as much as you think you are.
How are you measuring your food? Are you going over your goal on any days? Is there anything you aren't logging? Are you choosing generic/homemade entries from the database?
If you open your dairy, you may get some more specific advice.2 -
Your deficit is built into your MFP calorie goal. You would only log exercise (and get more calories on top of the 1550) if that exercise time was NOT already figured into your activity setting. So if you included your exercise time in your activity setting PLUS logging it too, you are double dipping.
If you are eating 1550 cals, you should be losing. Double check the entries you are using in the database - many of them are user-entered and wrong or incomplete. Are you using a food scale? If not, you are most likely underestimating the size of your servings (using cups or eyeballing causes many if not most people to think they're eating less than they are). Are you logging everything everyday (including beverages, condiments, cheat days, etc)?
As @janejellyroll said, if you are willing to open your diary, you might get some fresh eyes spotting where you re going wrong, though I know not everyone is comfortable with that!2 -
LizzieGirl2015 wrote: »Hello, everyone, I hope you're all having a wonderful day! I want to start by apologizing for probably asking questions that have bee asked 100x before but I had trouble finding one that asked it in just the way I need it asked to understand, so forgive me. I had a SW of 230, with a GW of 130, my CW is 180 (130 feels so close I can taste it! Lol) I'm 25 and 5'6". When I first started this journey on Halloween, I was "lightly active" due to my job keeping me on my feet all the time (I'm a veterinary technician) and my calorie goal was 1,450. I immediately started working out an hour a day (on a stationary bike or walking 4 miles) and quickly saw results. However, I eventually read that an hour of exercise on top of my job put me in the "active" category which bumped my calories up to 1,550. Because of the weight lost I was also burning less calories than I was before with my hour workout. I have been circling 180 since March now and am rather frustrated.. I upped my exercise to 2 hours a day and usually have a calorie defecit of close to if not over 1,000 calories a day. I have seen mixed reviews about the defecit... Some say eat back what you lose, others don't... is my BMR already calculated into MFP and if not does that mean I'm burning close to 3,000 a day?? Is this why I'm plateaued? I find the weeks that I have more days closer to 1,550 I even gain an ounce or two? Any advice on how to get past this plateu would be greatly appreciated... I had hoped to be down to 170 by July 7th when I go to see some family members who have never had a problem reminding me I'm fat... and now I fear I don't have enough time left to accomplish this...
Thank you in advance and sorry for the stupid, redundant question!
You only eat back exercise calories if they aren't factored into your activity level...ie unaccounted for activity. If you're including exercise in your activity level and then logging and eating back those calories then you are double dipping and accounting for that activity twice.1 -
I use a food scale (I think?) to measure out most meals. I don't have cheat days too often, the closest I get I having coffee and a sandwich at the local cafe once or twice a week but I still stay within the 1,550. I'd be happy to open my log up for opinions. It's been private because I'm embarrassed of the days when I really screw up and go far too over (I'm the only one dieting in my family so I sometimes give into the pressure of "Oh my god just have a burger it won't kill you") I do use some of the homemade recipes on here when adding things because I don't always know how else to make sure it's entered. I do enter everything though, I even entered cough drops when I was sick because they're 10 calories a piece. Lol0
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I use MFP workout tracker and it automatically puts in the workout when I'm done, so I thought it only counted my BMR
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Oh also I just reread one of the comments. I eat 1,550 on a bad day, on a good strict day I try not to go over 1,2000
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Thank you for all the information! I will try this coming week to not add my exercise into my daily log and see what happens. I do know that on certain days when I go over I workout and am back in the green, but I suppose if my physical activity is already factored in then I'm still going over (whoops!) Thank you!0
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If you've stayed about the same weight for 3 months, then there must be errors in your logging.
More about the food scale...
*Do you weigh all solid food? That is, fruits/vegetables/meats/breads? Or do you log things by eyeballing the portion? Such as 1 medium banana, or logging 2 slices of bread or 1 chicken breast without weighing them?
*If you are weighing e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g then you are you weighing raw/choosing a raw entry for meats OR weighing cooked/choosing a cooked entry for meats? I only ask because the weight changes as moisture cooks out.
*Do you account for calories in cooking oils, beverages, condiments?
The problem with using other people's homemade entries is you do not know how they compare to your own dishes. I might have a small serving/lower cal ingredients in my recipe for Whatnot, while you may have a larger portion/higher cal ingredients for your recipe for Whatnot. MFP has a recipe builder, where you can enter your ingredients and it will calculate the total. Personally, I weigh the total of the finished dish and get the weight in grams. Lets say its 1200. I then make my recipe equal to 1200 servings. So that when I take my portion of Whatnot and it weighs 185 grams, I log 185 servings.2 -
PS-I eat burgers, hotdogs, etc. on occasion as well I just make sure it fits my calories. Sometimes its a matter of making choices. Like I will often eat hot sausages or burgers with no bun, and I buy a lean beef hotdog that is 60 cals each.1
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LizzieGirl2015 wrote: »I use MFP workout tracker and it automatically puts in the workout when I'm done, so I thought it only counted my BMR
Nope, it's an estimate for your total non-exercise activity. If you're counting your exercise when choosing your activity level *and* logging your workouts, then you're double-dipping into your calories (assuming you are eating exercise calories back, it's unclear if you are).
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I weigh most things but I do eyeball some things as well. I suppose I should be using the recipe making thing more but it can be time consuming so when I'm running behind on my logging I'll add premade stuff (only if it has a green check mark though)
I do have one more (stupid, I'm sure) question... It seems counterproductive to add your activity level from the get go... I say this because what if you decide to have a day of just sitting around being a couch potato? Or you have a day that you're out running errands too long and just never get to the gym? MFP isn't going to take that into account at the end of the day?? That seems strange to me... I'm sorry, I feel really confused. 0 -
Looking at your food log, I picked a random day and I'm on June 3. If you logged everything you consumed, your 1268 cals in included 460 cals worth of lemonade/coffee drinks. Did you not eat much solid food (personally I'd be starving which is why I'm asking) or did you not log breakfast and the rest of your dinner?
I actually see that many days, you have calories you're drinking and not much in solid food.
Scanning thru the provolone & turkey for lunch repeats. Is this something that you're fairly confident regarding the calories? If you have common foods, make an effort to make sure those are accurate. Eating XyZ food one time and being off in the calorie count is less harmful than assuming your sandwich is 483 when it might be much higher, and its something you eat often. The meatloaf 2 slices for 450 calories also is a regular. These regulars, if they are undervalued, could easily be the source of your error.
AS for a general critique, I'm not seeing much in the way of veggies. THey are a good way to add bulk without adding much calorie count to your meals.0 -
LizzieGirl2015 wrote: »I weigh most things but I do eyeball some things as well. I suppose I should be using the recipe making thing more but it can be time consuming so when I'm running behind on my logging I'll add premade stuff (only if it has a green check mark though)
I do have one more (stupid, I'm sure) question... It seems counterproductive to add your activity level from the get go... I say this because what if you decide to have a day of just sitting around being a couch potato? Or you have a day that you're out running errands too long and just never get to the gym? MFP isn't going to take that into account at the end of the day?? That seems strange to me... I'm sorry, I feel really confused.
If you're in a plateau, it may be worth taking a period where you tighten up your accuracy -- not eyeballing, making your own recipes, etc. The checkmark just means that other users have indicated an entry is accurate -- I have found many that aren't accurate over the years.
Yes, your activity level generates an estimate of what MFP thinks you will burn for the day. It's totally possible that you could burn a lot less for a given day (or a lot more, if you have an unusually active day). One day isn't really going to be a problem, but if you have a lot of days where you are moving less than your activity level would estimate, then it isn't the right activity level for you. This is one reason why the MFP activity level is only for daily activity -- it's not designed to include any exercise or activities at the gym. You log those and get a calorie burn for them that way. That helps account for days when you might miss the gym or whatever.
Many people, including myself, have had success with syncing a fitness tracker (like a Fitbit) to their MFP account. That automatically creates an activity adjustment based on my activity so I don't have to worry about the activity level at all. If I move a lot less, it reduces my calories. If I move more, it gives me more.2 -
About the existing food items with the green checkmark, its only accurate if you're eating what it describes. Such as if the entry is for Brand X for 100grams, and you are eating 100 grams of Brand X you should be accurate. BUt if you're eating Brand Y or your own recipe, and/or the amount is different: the green check does not apply to what is on your plate.
A tip I have for making logging easier: I have a dry erase board attached to the side of my fridge w/ magnets. I make notes on it as I'm making things. Then I can go back and edit in MFP later. Also it can be good to jot down the weights of your pots/pans. Then when you weigh the final dish, you will know how much to subtract for the pot/pan.
AS to your activity level question, it is intended to refer to your normal daily life/hobbies/job/routines. Not including exercise. And as you've figured out, some people have routines that vary greatly from day to day. If that is you, you're probably best off starting with sedentary, and then if you have a very busy day: allow yourself a little extra in terms of calories in. MFP always assumes that you will log exercise as that is not part of 'activity level'.0 -
The provolone and turkey hasn't been weighed out, I'm afraid as it's my "cheat day" treat from a local cafe... I suppose I could dissect it when I get home and weigh out every item in it.... . A normal day for me is 130 cal for oatmeal 4 days a week. But on my days off of work, I do skip meals. Not intentionally, I'm just never awake in time for breakfast. It's 1 pm and I'm just now getting hungry. Lol Then lunch is usually a homemade turkey sandwich on a mini bagel (that all gets weighed out) and then dinner is usually my largest meal and tends to be whatever my mom is cooking or I find the energy to make (not to use it as a crutch but some days my health issues are bad enough I'd rather just fill up on water, tea, and lemonade than have to use the energy to cook)0
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LizzieGirl2015 wrote: »I weigh most things but I do eyeball some things as well. I suppose I should be using the recipe making thing more but it can be time consuming so when I'm running behind on my logging I'll add premade stuff (only if it has a green check mark though)
I do have one more (stupid, I'm sure) question... It seems counterproductive to add your activity level from the get go... I say this because what if you decide to have a day of just sitting around being a couch potato? Or you have a day that you're out running errands too long and just never get to the gym? MFP isn't going to take that into account at the end of the day?? That seems strange to me... I'm sorry, I feel really confused.
It can be a bit confusing, and there are alternatives for how to go about setting your goals. I looked through your diary (more of a quick glance, rather than a full review). I see that many times, you aren't eating the extra calories you are being given for exercise anyways. I did notice many inaccuracies in your logging. Lots of cups, spoons, and 1 servings are listed. These will be inaccurate enough that it could change your rate of loss. Additionally, if you are using a packaged item and just assuming that the weight on the package is what is in the package, it's also often off. The food scale can be really eye opening, particularly for foods that are calorie dense such as peanut butter (I don't recall seeing peanut butter in your diary, but it's an example).
As for using the recipe builder, what I do (if this would work for you, then great, if not, you can find other ways) is that I will weight out ingredients as I add them, and then while they are cooking, I will add it to the recipe builder. Once it is finished cooking, the weigh out the total and use that as my number of servings. That way, you can take how ever much or little as you want, and when you enter it, your number of servings will be the weight of your portion (I know this was mentioned above, it's fantastic, because if you are sharing recipes with other, they can also take as much or as little as they want without messing up your tracking).
Another thing I do, which also may or may not work for you, is to meal prep. I will take one or two days every month or two and cook about 8-10 recipes of various types, and then freeze them in single serving containers. This gives me easy grab-and-go meals that I know the exact caloric value of them, so I don't end up eating in the cafeteria.
Just some additional thoughts for you.1 -
For the time being, I would say to try to be in control of your food as much as possible. There is nothing wrong with estimating, if you are getting the results you want. But if the scale is not moving and that is a priority for you then being in control of your calories in is the way to change things. For your sandwich out, depending on the size, type: the bread alone is easily 250-350 calories and its probably prepared with butter/oil, and then 50-150 for meat and 100-200 for cheese. Plus any sides that come with it.
I understand about the sleeping in, etc. - skipping breakfast. That makes sense.
One other thought from what you mentioned here, is I am guessing that you have no idea of the calorie count when you eat food your mom cooks. Is she at all receptive to helping you? Would she be willing to try to figure out calorie counts? If not, eat smaller portions when you eat with her.LizzieGirl2015 wrote: »The provolone and turkey hasn't been weighed out, I'm afraid as it's my "cheat day" treat from a local cafe... I suppose I could dissect it when I get home and weigh out every item in it.... . A normal day for me is 130 cal for oatmeal 4 days a week. But on my days off of work, I do skip meals. Not intentionally, I'm just never awake in time for breakfast. It's 1 pm and I'm just now getting hungry. Lol Then lunch is usually a homemade turkey sandwich on a mini bagel (that all gets weighed out) and then dinner is usually my largest meal and tends to be whatever my mom is cooking or I find the energy to make (not to use it as a crutch but some days my health issues are bad enough I'd rather just fill up on water, tea, and lemonade than have to use the energy to cook)
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StaciMarie1974 wrote: »Not including exercise. And as you've figured out, some people have routines that vary greatly from day to day. If that is you, you're probably best off starting with sedentary, and then if you have a very busy day: allow yourself a little extra in terms of calories in. MFP always assumes that you will log exercise as that is not part of 'activity level'.
Oh ok! Maybe I will jus put lightly active (taking into account my physically demanding job) so that when I add the exercise it's not double dipping as so many have put it. I had labeled myself as "lightly active" until about a month ago when I realized I'd hit a plateau and in my attempt to figure out the why, I realized maybe I was no longer burning enough calories and that's when I changed it to "active"
Sorry for all the questions... I tend to overthink and get very overwhelmed and then shut down so I'm trying not to get to that point.
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No need to apologize for asking questions.
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Well I will try then. It was just very disconcerting to be losing 10 lbs a month for 4 months and then suddenly... "Oh look I'm 185!" Next week "Damnit I'm 187!" Next week "Omg I'm 180!" And most recently "Crap I'm 180.4!" (I weigh myself every Sunday)0
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One other thought: think back to Nov-Feb. Were you more active and/or eating differently then?0
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Do you have your level set to "active" and are also logging your exercise calories? If so, you may actually be doubling your calories burnt. Personally I find it more accurate to go with the lower activity level so "lightly active" for you and then manually log my exercise calories burned.
Lots of MFP users recommend only eating back about 50% of exercise calories. The reasoning behind this is that gym machines have a tendency to over estimate how many calories you actually burn. So if you only came for eating back 50%, you won't accidentally go over.
Also, I just discovered the app happy scale which smooths out tiny fluctuations in your weight and tracks the trend of it instead.1 -
LizzieGirl2015 wrote: »Thank you for all the information! I will try this coming week to not add my exercise into my daily log and see what happens. I do know that on certain days when I go over I workout and am back in the green, but I suppose if my physical activity is already factored in then I'm still going over (whoops!) Thank you!
Your MFP activity level takes into account your day which focuses on how active you are outside of exercise. Some folks have desk jobs, like me, we're sedentary. Some folks, like a teacher, might be lightly active. A construction worker would probably be highly active. Then you can add in your intentional exercise.
Your settings might be more accurate if it reflects what your day looks like outside of intentional exercise.
You'll get there! Keep going and learning!
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the green check marked entries can be wrong too. I have had so many be off its not even funny so I report that its incorrect
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LizzieGirl2015 wrote: »Well I will try then. It was just very disconcerting to be losing 10 lbs a month for 4 months and then suddenly... "Oh look I'm 185!" Next week "Damnit I'm 187!" Next week "Omg I'm 180!" And most recently "Crap I'm 180.4!" (I weigh myself every Sunday)
Wait, that means you've lost 4.6 pounds in 4 weeks, right? That's not a plateau.2 -
LizzieGirl2015 wrote: »Well I will try then. It was just very disconcerting to be losing 10 lbs a month for 4 months and then suddenly... "Oh look I'm 185!" Next week "Damnit I'm 187!" Next week "Omg I'm 180!" And most recently "Crap I'm 180.4!" (I weigh myself every Sunday)
@LizzieGirl2015. You are 50 lbs down from 230 lbs. Amazing work. This would really show.
Oddly enough, weight fluctuates every day. If you weigh once a week, you can hit high and low points on this fluctuation. (Takes time for fat used replaced by water to release the water and show as true loss. Extra sodium intake or high % carb intake than normal will often change the water/fat/muscle balance in the body).
If you are disciplined enough to only take the number as a "data point" and not a "self worth evaluation exercise", then weighing every morning at the same time will show the fluctuations and you can track a weekly average. Only when the weekly average does not move in the right direction in 3 weeks, then start looking for why. (YES 3 WEEKS).
Body measurement is FAR more reliable indication of what is really happening. Sometimes weight can go up even though measurements go down.
Also don't double dip on exercise calories. The TDEE (BMR) calculation is inclusive of exercise calories you DO NOT track. If you state you are "active" because you do 3 workouts a week, then you cannot count the calories in the workouts as part of your eating budget (as they are already in your calculated TDEE).
Lastly, when losing weight, 1% per week should be the upper limit of the goal (more is possible, but often long term unsustainable). It's MUCH easier to lose 10 lbs in a month from 230 lbs (4.3% - very hard work) than 10 lbs from from 180 lbs in a month (5.5% - borderline self-starvation). The 10 lbs from 180 should take about 6 weeks (if you plan to keep it off).
Your family should see an amazing change in you between Halloween and July. You are already 50 lbs lighter. You may have more to go before you are finished, but heck, YOU ARE 50 lbs LIGHTER. If anyone gives you grief over your size ask them when they last shed 1/5th of their body weight.
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Plateaus happen. I'm not going to read all the posts here so sorry if I'm repeating or coming at this from a completely different angle. When losing for several months and suddenly weight loss stops it is very frustrating. Been there done that too many times. Realize that your body is going through all kinds of changes and the number on the scale is not the only factor to look at. Have you considered cycling calories for a little while? Go to maintenance calories, keep exercising the way you plan to as a lifestyle choice and give your mind & body a weight loss break for 2-4 weeks? Have a planned date to start on weight loss for a set amount of time - say 2-4 weeks again and just cycle back and forth. I tend to believe that our bodies tend to try and take care of us and if it thinks we are starving will hold onto calories for self preservation. Also, our minds our very powerful. If you are stressing because the scale is not moving the way that you think it should there is a chemical reaction in your body to that stress. I'm willing to bet you visually look your goal because of the weight loss and exercise that you have been doing. You are doing this for you and not your family. Don't put their reaction as a goal to meet because what happens if they don't react as anticipated? I'm saying these things as much for myself as for you. We are more than a number on the scale. Enjoy the weight loss you have achieved and protect it so that you don't sabotage yourself.0
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