Far below TDEE .. Not losing weight
Replies
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Well, there is a bit of miscommunication here.cmriverside wrote: »Please consider this post:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10569458/why-eating-too-little-calories-is-a-bad-idea/p1
A week of no weight loss is normal. While a larger person can support a rate of loss of more than 2 lbs a week, you are severely, and unnecessarily, undereating. Please reconsider.
I disagree with "severely, and unnecessarily, undereating." He is over 400 pounds. That is life threatening. The thread about "eating too little calories" - that doesn't really apply to someone who is this much over-weight.
Context.
Yes, his weight is life threatening. But he would still be losing at a hefty rate eating 2000 calories, and wouldn't be creating additional stress for himself in what is already a difficult process. Averaging 1355 *is* unnecessary and below the minimum level recommended for men. Unless he is being medically supervised, it's not wise.
My very first post in this thread said,cmriverside wrote: »How long is "since"?
There are many times in weight loss when there will be no losses for a while. It's totally normal. Get your calories back up to 1500-1600. Try to eat mostly lean protein, vegetables, oils/fats and whole grains. Keep doing the next right thing and it will work.
Patience, grasshopper.
1335, yes. Too low. 2000 calories would work, too.
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Really wish the body was more of a machine.
Predictable weight loss.
If you focus on individual weeks it won't be totally predictable, but I found it was most wonky at the very beginning (I was around 220 but only 5'3) and then near goal. After the first few weeks it got reasonably consistent.
You know what you are doing will lead to weight loss, so I'd say focus on the things you can control like hitting calories (the 1560 or higher is probably much better than cutting so low), moving, making sure you are putting together a sustainable diet, and not the scale fluctuations, although I know it's hard.0 -
I can easily go 3 weeks in massive calorie deficit and not lose weight. You have to accept that sometimes this is normal. I used to panic and get extremely frustrated but have realised through time and patience that this is OK, after a few weeks boom the weight loss shows again.1
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Sometimes I'll see very similar weight for a couple days then BAM big drop. Prob just the fluctuations. Keep it up bro. You are going to have another big drop in the next few days. Believe1
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The process works. The scale is NOT a good indicator of progress in the short term. My motto for the day in several post responses has been: trust what you know works, not how you feel about a number. It is physics, but it's also thermodynamics and chemistry, and processes that work at varying speeds in a non-steady state system....on a system that is changing day by day (so you can't make it steady state or linear even if you wanted to).
If your sedentary TDEE is around 4000, which is what it looks like it should be based on the calcs I've run and several online calculators, you'll lose 2 pounds a week or more eating at least 2500-3000 calories a day....at least at the beginning and for a good while.
Don't do this in a hurry. You'll see better, more healthy results if you take the steady road. Accelerating the process with a bigger deficit doesn't make you lose fat much faster, it manifests itself by your body losing losing muscle and can give you other bigger problems.
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This is a typical day.
Thoughts on my daily food?
Suggestions?0 -
And here is a day where I went a little nuts (high in calories).0 -
Notice your sodium on the "high in calories" day (which really isn't high for your size)...4500mg sodium will cause you to retain water and the scale will read higher (sometimes for several days).
Relax. Keep doing what you're doing. The scale will eventually catch up. It's just slow and sometimes stupid.
Patience.3 -
theledger5 wrote: »I can easily go 3 weeks in massive calorie deficit and not lose weight. You have to accept that sometimes this is normal. I used to panic and get extremely frustrated but have realised through time and patience that this is OK, after a few weeks boom the weight loss shows again.
The weight loss will show all at once for you?0 -
This is a typical day.
Thoughts on my daily food?
Suggestions?
How are you determining things like 1.33 "pieces" of chicken? Generic entries can be really misleading too (how I make my chicken salad may be very different than how you make it, resulting in a big calorie difference). This may not make a difference now, when your deficit is high. However, as you lose weight and your margins are tighter, accurate logging can make a bigger difference.
Days that are higher in sodium (like your "nuts" day, which isn't all that nuts for calories) can lead to you retaining water weight temporarily. This can make it harder to notice actual fat loss.5 -
janejellyroll wrote: »
How are you determining things like 1.33 "pieces" of chicken? Generic entries can be really misleading too (how I make my chicken salad may be very different than how you make it, resulting in a big calorie difference). This may not make a difference now, when your deficit is high. However, as you lose weight and your margins are tighter, accurate logging can make a bigger difference.
Days that are higher in sodium (like your "nuts" day, which isn't all that nuts for calories) can lead to you retaining water weight temporarily. This can make it harder to notice actual fat loss.
I weigh everything to the closest gram and then divide.
Thus how I get my weird fractions sometimes.
The chicken salad is a pre-packaged Costco mix.
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Notice your sodium on the "high in calories" day (which really isn't high for your size)...4500mg sodium will cause you to retain water and the scale will read higher (sometimes for several days).
Relax. Keep doing what you're doing. The scale will eventually catch up. It's just slow and sometimes stupid.
Patience.
Thanks.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »
How are you determining things like 1.33 "pieces" of chicken? Generic entries can be really misleading too (how I make my chicken salad may be very different than how you make it, resulting in a big calorie difference). This may not make a difference now, when your deficit is high. However, as you lose weight and your margins are tighter, accurate logging can make a bigger difference.
Days that are higher in sodium (like your "nuts" day, which isn't all that nuts for calories) can lead to you retaining water weight temporarily. This can make it harder to notice actual fat loss.
I weigh everything to the closest gram and then divide.
Thus how I get my weird fractions sometimes.
How did you know what the weight of 1.33 pieces of chicken was though? Is this from a package that also listed the weight of a serving in grams?
The generic chicken salad, I get that you weighed the chicken salad, but how do you know the recipe for that generic chicken salad matched the recipe of what you were eating?
This stuff may seem really picky and it probably is at this stage of your weight loss. It's stuff to think about if you plateau in the future though.0 -
That's a ton of sodium retaining weight. Your salad might have been bigger than 3 ounces. That's super small.
Premade soups have crazy sodium amounts. You also eat a ton of cheese products which are super high fat. Try and cut those out.
Good luck to you!3 -
Sample day #2 isn't bad at all, and should really be what you aim for calorie-wise every day. Glad to see that you appear to be eating foods you like. You should give attention to your protein, though, so as to help preserve as much lean muscle mass as you can (more of a concern with the low calories). A few good sources without adding a lot of calories are Greek yogurt (Dannon light & fit Greek has 80 calories for 12 g protein), low-fat cottage cheese, and canned tuna.1
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mangofish44 wrote: »That's a ton of sodium retaining weight. Your salad might have been bigger than 3 ounces. That's super small.
Premade soups have crazy sodium amounts. You also eat a ton of cheese products which are super high fat. Try and cut those out.
Good luck to you!
Assuming the logging is accurate, OP's fat consumption is already on the low side. I don't think there would be a benefit to him going lower.1 -
my starting weight was 196 & it gave me 1490/cal/day. the scale didn't move for almost the first 2 weeks. After that the pattern was no weight loss for 1-2 weeks then it came off all at once it seemed, but the main thing is don't give up. It will come off as long as you're weighing everything you eat & eat at a deficit. Personally it sounds like you need to eat more calories. A friend of mine once told me that time will pass weather you're doing anything or not, so do something good.0
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The body can only convert so many calories from stored body fat to energy per day. Then it moves on to lean tissue. Do yourself a favor and try to meet that your calorie goals. I know it's hard when you're eager. Good work so far. 6
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janejellyroll wrote: »
How did you know what the weight of 1.33 pieces of chicken was though? Is this from a package that also listed the weight of a serving in grams?
The generic chicken salad, I get that you weighed the chicken salad, but how do you know the recipe for that generic chicken salad matched the recipe of what you were eating?
This stuff may seem really picky and it probably is at this stage of your weight loss. It's stuff to think about if you plateau in the future though.
If a package says "1 serving = 300 grams" and I eat 400 grams of it, then I ate 1.33 servings.
I didn't think it was that complicated haha 3 -
janejellyroll wrote: »
How did you know what the weight of 1.33 pieces of chicken was though? Is this from a package that also listed the weight of a serving in grams?
The generic chicken salad, I get that you weighed the chicken salad, but how do you know the recipe for that generic chicken salad matched the recipe of what you were eating?
This stuff may seem really picky and it probably is at this stage of your weight loss. It's stuff to think about if you plateau in the future though.
If a package says "1 serving = 300 grams" and I eat 400 grams of it, then I ate 1.33 servings.
I didn't think it was that complicated haha
Got it, thanks for clarifying.0 -
mangofish44 wrote: »That's a ton of sodium retaining weight. Your salad might have been bigger than 3 ounces. That's super small.
Premade soups have crazy sodium amounts. You also eat a ton of cheese products which are super high fat. Try and cut those out.
Good luck to you!
What's wrong with fat?2 -
A little off-topic, but I love m&ms, and when I first weighed out an actual serving size, I almost cried! I don't believe in completely eliminating foods that I like, but I can't keep them in the house anymore, because it's just too tempting to "grab a few"
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Nothing is wrong with fat.4
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janejellyroll wrote: »
How did you know what the weight of 1.33 pieces of chicken was though? Is this from a package that also listed the weight of a serving in grams?
The generic chicken salad, I get that you weighed the chicken salad, but how do you know the recipe for that generic chicken salad matched the recipe of what you were eating?
This stuff may seem really picky and it probably is at this stage of your weight loss. It's stuff to think about if you plateau in the future though.
If a package says "1 serving = 300 grams" and I eat 400 grams of it, then I ate 1.33 servings.
I didn't think it was that complicated haha
I do that a lot if I can't readily find a database entry listed in grams. Doesn't mean I'm not weighing 3 -
A little off-topic, but I love m&ms, and when I first weighed out an actual serving size, I almost cried! I don't believe in completely eliminating foods that I like, but I can't keep them in the house anymore, because it's just too tempting to "grab a few"
Same here. It was tiny.0 -
A little off-topic, but I love m&ms, and when I first weighed out an actual serving size, I almost cried! I don't believe in completely eliminating foods that I like, but I can't keep them in the house anymore, because it's just too tempting to "grab a few"
I don't know how but there is an opened bag of the Costco size M&Ms... sitting in my cupboard; largely ignored. Sometimes I find if I *can* and it's there; I typically don't. Moderation really does get easier with time lol2 -
I think everyone else has covered the "log accurately" and "weight fluctuations" front... so I will just add a bit more.
You have lost 20lbs in 3 weeks! That's no small accomplishment, so congrats!
I'd recommend checking out "Libra" on Android or "Happy Scale" on IOS. These are apps that you can log your daily/weekly weights and it will generate a trendline for you.
Looking at an overall trendline instead of all the little "ups and downs" each day/week is a great way to stay motivated and look at the big picture. As long as your trendline is pointing downwards after a month or two, you're all good.2 -
Most TDEE calculators I've found have estimated me between 3,500 to 5,000 calculators per day TDEE.
....
Any ideas? Thoughts?
Hell yeah: your TDEE is all wrong. Don't feel bad, *a* *lot* of us former heavy drops have fallen into this same trap, unknowingly.
You're not a 435 pound body - you're a 150 (ish) pound body inside a 285 pound fat suit. Not being mean - have been there ish myself. It's important to realize the difference. When people like you or former-me use TDEE calculators, it is crucial we use the ones that use body fat percentage in the calculation, otherwise we get horrible overestimates.
Here's one that does - hit the "Lean Mass Formula" button. You don't need an exact number for body fat % - you're going to be around 65%, enter that, precision isn't critical here.
http://damnripped.com/tdee-calculator/
Put "sedentary" and "light" -> you're at around 2100 TDEE.
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theledger5 wrote: »I can easily go 3 weeks in massive calorie deficit and not lose weight. You have to accept that sometimes this is normal. I used to panic and get extremely frustrated but have realised through time and patience that this is OK, after a few weeks boom the weight loss shows again.
The weight loss will show all at once for you?
Happens to a lot of people - it even has a name - "The Whoosh".
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Upping your veggie content and reducing prepackaged foods will go a long way. Getting your fats from whole foods sources (such as nuts, seeds and avocado) will get in more nutrients during the day and leave you feeling more satisfied. Also foods high in fiber (legumes and whole grains) will help keep you fuller, longer. You can adjust your macros and also adjust MFP on a losing track so you can attempt to hit your goals instead of leaving large deficits in your cals/carbs/fat/protein. You could manually adjust to 1600 cals 55%carbs/25%fat/20%protein for example and attempt to hit those as goals every day.7
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