Help please. What can I do to make this better?
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TDEE is Total Daily Energy Expenditure & includes exercise calories. NEAT is non-exercise activity thermogenesis & does not include exercise calories. MyFitnessPal uses NEAT & expects individuals will log exercise & eat back some/all exercise calories earned.
There are some great posts that detail the difference. I'll try to find some links or hope that someone else beats me to it.
Yeah I think you all have pinpointed one VERY big problem I had here, I was conflating TDEE and NEAT ....
Now I just want to pull the covers over my head and go cry. I have to figure this all out again don't I?
Not at all - you can use the values MFP gives you & just make sure you log your exercise & eat back a portion of your exercise calories you earned.4 -
So if trying to stick to 1200 is not working out (and it doesn't sound like it is), why not go for the 1480 plus some of your exercise calories back, try it for a month and see how you feel? With the increased calories, you may find you work out better.2
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I don't know if this helps at all, but I'm 5'6", 51, and very sedentary. I do almost no deliberate exercise and get less than 3,000 steps most days. For the past couple of months I've been able to maintain a weight of 151-153lbs on 1600-1700 calories per day. My goal to lose around 0.5lbs/week is about 1400 or so. I tried going down to a little more than 1200 and I just couldn't stick with it - eating more made me feel way better, and more likely to go for a walk or do an exercise video for a bit more activity.
I wish you all the best with figuring it out - I understand your reluctance to risk gaining a little, but please also understand that our weight fluctuates on a daily basis anyway (for some women especially, as much as 5lbs or more in a day). Please consider reducing your protein % and increasing your calories a little, and see how things go.1 -
Not at all - you can use the values MFP gives you & just make sure you log your exercise & eat back a portion of your exercise calories you earned.
I think it is unlikely to be that easy. Everything I've experienced thus far tells me that MFP estimates are way too high for me to actually lose weight. If The estimate of 1 pound a week at 1230 calories held true then I would have lost closer to twice the amount I have. Therefore I am reluctant to trust MFP maintenance estimate – I think I would just gain lots of weight.
At this point I'm just trying to get to a good place, fix some of what has gone wrong and NOT make anything worse (i.e. gain weight)0 -
I don't know if this helps at all, but I'm 5'6", 51, and very sedentary. I do almost no deliberate exercise and get less than 3,000 steps most days. For the past couple of months I've been able to maintain a weight of 151-153lbs on 1600-1700 calories per day. My goal to lose around 0.5lbs/week is about 1400 or so. I tried going down to a little more than 1200 and I just couldn't stick with it - eating more made me feel way better, and more likely to go for a walk or do an exercise video for a bit more activity.
I wish you all the best with figuring it out - I understand your reluctance to risk gaining a little, but please also understand that our weight fluctuates on a daily basis anyway (for some women especially, as much as 5lbs or more in a day). Please consider reducing your protein % and increasing your calories a little, and see how things go.
Thank you- it seems clear I'm going to have to lower that protein. And at this point I'm so confused and frustrated I think that just making a mental shift to anticipating a maintenance month at 1450 calories and try to figure what to do about exercise calories after I try to hit 1400 to 1500 a day for a the next week. I should know in a month if that helps my other problems, and that should not be enough not to gain much weight, if any.
CiCo is ostensibly easy, but in practice, since it's pretty much impossible to know the exact CO portion of that equation, it is anything but easy.
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Not at all - you can use the values MFP gives you & just make sure you log your exercise & eat back a portion of your exercise calories you earned.
I think it is unlikely to be that easy. Everything I've experienced thus far tells me that MFP estimates are way too high for me to actually lose weight. If The estimate of 1 pound a week at 1230 calories held true then I would have lost closer to twice the amount I have. Therefore I am reluctant to trust MFP maintenance estimate – I think I would just gain lots of weight.
At this point I'm just trying to get to a good place, fix some of what has gone wrong and NOT make anything worse (i.e. gain weight)
Maybe I misread your original post, but you've lost 20 lbs since April correct? Depending on when in April you started that should be about a pound a week.1 -
Maybe I misread your original post, but you've lost 20 lbs since April correct? Depending on when in April you started that should be about a pound a week.
I don't remember the exact amount because it was pre MFP for a couple of weeks, but my first week I lost between 7 and 9 pounds. That was changing what I ate (eliminated sugar and most processed wheat) and upped veggie intake significantly and started modest portions. Much if not all that had to be water. Started on MFP shortly thereafter so since I've been watching calories and logging I'm down about 2 to 3 pounds a month.0 -
I'll just share my experience, I'm similar to you, 5'4", started at 198 in July, 2016, took me till May 2017 to lose 40lbs, then I changed my rate of loss to 1/2 lb/wk because I wasn't willing to eat small amt of calories. I started HIIT classes at the gym on June 12, I go 2-3 times/week & have lost 3more lbs since. I was loosing steadily till I hit 40 lbs, then it's been slow but it's coming off. I think mfp gave me close to 1500/cal/day in the begining. For exercise, I have mine set at lightly active. I take my dogs out for 1 hour + every morning, I volunteer at our animal rescue, those are part of my activity so don't log it, only the gym classes. before HIIT class, I was in a water aerobics class 2 days/wk & went on treadmill for 20min a few days a week so I was a lot less active than you. I don't pay attention much to macros(only sodium) but notice I do eat more protein than anything else. Right now for 1/2 lb/wk loss mfp give me 1480 cal/day, I usually go over a little & eat most of my exercise calories back & am still loosing but slowly. Over the time I learned to eat things that fill me but are lower calorie like lots of veggies or a huge salad with some kind of meat, usually chicken or ground turkey, I love ground turkey, I get the 93% lean & make 4.5oz patties & put them in fridge(hubby likes them too) I bought powered peanut butter which is 50cal per 2 Tbl, If I eat bread it's the cheap kind for 55cal & I only eat 1 slice for sandwiches. I love the non fat plain greek yogurt from constco & the Kirkland unsweetened almond milk, which I use for smoothies with frozen tropical fruit. I eat rice cakes with P butter or sub for bread sometimes, I eat non fat half & half with cereal, egg beaters, I use cool whip to mix with the yogurt for dessert etc. I eat the most calories in the evening , that's when I'm most hungry, all this to say, don't give up but experiment what makes you full , there's a volume eaters group on here to get ideas, oh my trainer lost 70 lbs & said to eat something every 2.5-3 hrs, even a few bites so been doing that too.Drink lots of water, I put some ice tea (no sugar added) to mix with my water which helps0
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OP, I second the idea of a thyroid panel and I add iron/ferritin and vitamins B12 and D.
I'd also look at red meat again, since you enjoy it. I make a nice London broil on sundays and eat 3-4 ounces a day. Does wonder for my iron that supplements didn't.
I think you need to bring back some carbs, but also some joy into what you're doing. You used "miserable" and "despise." Maybe a licensed therapist can help you get mentally back on track. Then this whole thing won't seem so taxing. How you approach weight-loss, mentally and emotionally, has a lot to do with adding to your success.
And you've had 20 pounds of loss success! Nothing to sneeze at! But you blew right by it like it was nothing.
Hang in there!1 -
OP, I second the idea of a thyroid panel and I add iron/ferritin and vitamins B12 and D.
I'd also look at red meat again, since you enjoy it. I make a nice London broil on sundays and eat 3-4 ounces a day. Does wonder for my iron that supplements didn't.
I think you need to bring back some carbs, but also some joy into what you're doing. You used "miserable" and "despise." Maybe a licensed therapist can help you get mentally back on track. Then this whole thing won't seem so taxing. How you approach weight-loss, mentally and emotionally, has a lot to do with adding to your success.
And you've had 20 pounds of loss success! Nothing to sneeze at! But you blew right by it like it was nothing.
Hang in there!
Thanks for the advice. I'll probably see the Dr. in the new year ( insurance isn't going to cover another non specific visit this year) and know some specifics now to ask for.
I do despise strength training tho. Nothing I like about it. I understand it is necessary so I'm committed- but therapy won't help that! As for the overall miserable, I'll give it some time eating at the maintenance level. If things don't improve it is certainly something I should consider.1 -
I know you said the first 7 or 8 came off quickly, probably water weight. That maybe true, but some of water comes back, dome of the initial water loss is temporary. So the fact you didn't gain weight back, plus lost more, means you are losing real weight. Keep it up! But like everyone is saying, find a way to do it that doesn't make you miserable.3
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Maybe I misread your original post, but you've lost 20 lbs since April correct? Depending on when in April you started that should be about a pound a week.
I don't remember the exact amount because it was pre MFP for a couple of weeks, but my first week I lost between 7 and 9 pounds. That was changing what I ate (eliminated sugar and most processed wheat) and upped veggie intake significantly and started modest portions. Much if not all that had to be water. Started on MFP shortly thereafter so since I've been watching calories and logging I'm down about 2 to 3 pounds a month.
You didn't lose 9 lbs of fat the first week, you lost mostly water. Then some of it came back, and in the meantime you lost fat. So you have been losing more than 2 lbs a month.
There's no such thing as starvation mode, but there is such a thing as compensatory behavior. There was a study which found that a subset of people lose no weight or even gain weight when their exercise is increased - closer examination revealed they were dropping their non exercise activity in response to exercising - everything from housework to fidgeting. Humans are very good at not losing weight! I really do suspect you will lose more weight when you eat more - not because CICO is broken, but because your CO will increase as you feel healthier.
In any case, the situation now is unworkable. You can't keep making yourself miserable!4 -
OP, I think you need to go back to basics and pick a few simple things to focus on.
First, there is no reason for you to go that high on protein. And it seems like you are making losing weight harder trying to reach this extreme protein goal. The advice I usually see is .6-.8g per lb of body weight. So drop your protein to more like 100g and don't sweat it if you don't always make it. You are wasting a lot of your calories on bars and shakes to hit your protein goal, but bars and shakes aren't filling. So dump all but one serving of protein supplement per day. Try to work in reasonable portions of chicken, pork, canned tuna, Greek yogurt, lentils, shrimp.
Set your goal on MFP to 1 lb per week, plus log your exercise and eat back at least half of those calories.
Whenever you are home, put every single thing on the food scale. Don't round up, don't go by the package or the scan. Once you are eating more actual food and less shakes, it will be easier to make smart choices and eat reasonable portions when you aren't home. Also double check the entries you are using. Always search whole foods that don't have a brand name with "USDA" in the search field. There are lots of incorrect user-entered entries that are wrong.
Finally, give yourself a dang break. You have already lost 20 lbs that lots of other people haven't bothered to lose. I'd bet you are the only one who thinks you look fat & sloppy. Play around with different macros and types of foods to find a way you can eat that is enjoyable, healthy, and realistic at the right amount of calories. It might slow your progress down a little, but you will profit from that process for the rest of your life. Hang in there :flowerforyou:8 -
Or rather than cry you could simply use the number MFP gives you to lose 1# a week and eat back at least a portion of exercise. Get some rest, it sounds like you could use it. I've lost 9# so far this year -- so by my standard, you're doing great. I'm 52 and have two inches on you, but I lose steadily at 1800 and maintain at about 2200.4
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I would be miserable too if a third of my calorie allowance was coming from protein shakes.
Drinking my calories does absolutely nothing for me in terms of hunger or energy levels.
I would try stopping the protein shakes and getting your protein from food and see how you feel then. I also don't think you need so much protein, imo.
Yep ... I refuse to drink my calories because that does absolutely nothing for me. Drinking my calories just leaves me hungry and grouchy.0 -
Dont mean to be nosey but are you on the menopause?? Taking HRT gives you more energy and definitely helped me. Good luck
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I wanted to say this too, but it slipped: Weight loss is a mathematical product of calories in - calories out. You burn a certain number (TDEE), and as 1 pound of body fat equals 3500 calories, taking in that amount less (the deficit), means that your body is eating the same amount from your fat stores. This is pretty straightforward and predictable, but you need time (months) and many reliable data points (weigh-ins) to see what's really happening, because of normal day-to-day "water weight" fluctuations. Your TDEE will decrease as you lose weight, moving from (in the neighborhood of) 2100 to 1900 calories. In 132 days, you have lost 20 pounds, or 68 grams per day, or 477 grams per week. This equals a daily average deficit of 477 calories. (It's all ballpark numbers, but close enough for this purpose, which is troubleshooting.) This means that you've been eating TDEE-477 = 1423 to 1623 calories on the average.
This is a good, steady loss, and the calories eaten+the fat stores you burn, should be enough to provide you with the nutrition you need to feel energetic and happy. But you have to eat properly. I can see two problems - sloppy logging and too heavy realiance on protein shakes. You are spending calories on not very nutritious things, some of them protein shakes, some of them on god knows what. At any rate, it's not the overall best food. More accurate logging will enable you to pick the right amounts of the right foods, so that you can feel good while at the same time lose weight healthily, which is as fast as your body allows.
I really recommend (not just suggest) that you use the food scale whenever you can. Cook from scratch as often as you can, using the recipe builder, always make sure you are logging the food you are eating in the exact amount you are eating. Eating out has to be limited to maybe once per week at this point (but this should make it a treat instead of mundane so no loss of quality of life). I would guess that you already know what balanced meals look like, but if you are totally at a loss, use this: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-eating-plate/4 -
You can do it! I was maintaing at around 1800kcal per day plus exercise calories for a long time at 43 years, 5'6.5'', 128lbs. Then I got into a depression, but that's a different story. Just want to say that you can do it! I eat about 60% carbs because they work best for me, and I never feel hungry. Every person is different. Maybe protein shakes, or anything fluid is just not for you.0
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