HELP! IF & CALORIE DEFICIT?????????????

BeyandBeautiful · January 2018

Hey everyone I need some help, I am IF, I love it and I'm sticking to it. The schedule the lifestyle all of it works for me however! I AM NOT LOOSING WEIGHT after the 1st few days. I lost almost 11lbs then put two back on and have not been able to loose them! I TRACK EVERYTHING/ I MEASURE EVERYTHING. 1 serving is 1 serving. If I eat one piece of something I track it because I know it's important to be accountable for myself. SO....My begging question to the community is does anybody have a true formula/ suggestion for the correct # of Calorie Deficit to do with IF? I am currently 217, 5'3 (Female) and lost........ When I pull up some calculators they say I should be eating 2100-2600. I've been eating 1200, no more than 1300 if I accidentally go over, PLEASE PLEASE HELP! TY!

quiksylver296 · January 2018

Using a food scale?

malibu927 · January 2018

How long has it been since you lost?

cmriverside · January 2018

If you were actually eating 1300, you would be losing.

You're not logging accurately. That's all. It has nothing to do with fasting or when you eat or what you eat. You're just eating more than you think you are.

You joined this site on 1/16/18.

Use accurate food entries, and log for a couple months, you'll lose.

Read this:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10621050/how-to-use-the-usda-food-database-mfp-food-database-for-accurate-logging/p1

fitoverfortymom · January 2018

Has it really only been a matter of days? Our weights naturally fluctuate day to day.

diannethegeek · January 2018

Plateaus can be super frustrating. Your diary is closed and we don't have many details to work with, but let's take a breath and see if we can work through what might be going on. These are pretty general, but maybe something here will help:

1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.

megs_1985 · January 2018

A few days won’t count for much. I’ve gone 2 weeks without seeing a drop then lost 3lbs. IF isn’t a magic pill it’s just a strategy so if it works for you to limit your calories that’s great. I do a loose version of 14 hour one. Just be patient.

Beautywalk · January 2018

Remember that weight can fluctuate because of things like water retention, lack of sleep, medications, and stress. Also, I don't know if others have noticed this, but I often experience a several day lag in weight loss. It's like: lose a half lb, gain 2, then lose 1, then all of a sudden, I've lost 3. Give yourself time and listen to your body.

gamerbabe14 · January 2018

You need patience and a bit of a change in expectations.

dragon_girl26 · February 2018

The main issue here at the moment is unreasonable expectations. If it's really only been a few days, you need to give it more time. Patience will be your best friend during this process. You didn't gain it all.in a few days, and you won't lose it in a few days either.
Patience, grasshopper.

jjpptt2 · February 2018

gamerbabe14 wrote: »

You need patience and a bit of a change in expectations.

Winner winner chicken dinner!!

BeyandBeautiful · February 2018

First I want to say TY & I appreciate the responses.........I do have a food scale, when I cook I weigh EVERY SINGLE THING and if I get anything from the cafe at work; it is also weighed ( .42 cent an ounce it better be lol) and as I divide those into prepared ready-to-go meals, I also weigh them before they make it into a container. Anything that goes into my mouth that is chewed or drank( other than water) is indeed tracked. I am tracking accurately; that i'm certain of, when I am dedicated to something I am dedicated. I've been on MFP for years, but decided to change email accounts which I have been posting in this profile since 01/09/2018. I will figure out how to make my diary public so those of you who are willing to help me see the future can see what I am using. I'm focusing today on some change in thought/ motivation processes so i'm not so hung up on routine; but I really need to know is am I eating enough.... is 1200 calories for a 8 hr window enough; should it be 1500 ( made an adjustment to goal) should it be 1800; what range is a good focus. I do not rely on calories burned (tracked) during a workout. All my exercises are either at work ( walking 2-2.5 miles/ running stairs (396 stairs) or HIIT/ cardio etc) 3x a week at this time. Between my work schedule and toddler, I can't make it to the gym. I workout at about 630 am in my fasted state or throughout the work day in my fasted state ( and I will push actually eating back 2 hours if I workout on my lunch @1pm so I wont eat til 3:30 pm). I am in bed by 10:30 pm ; asleep no later than 11 and on the days I don't workout I sleep til 7/7:30.
Thanks everyone.

My expectation isnt to loose 3.4.5 etc lbs a day or even a week; but if the average is 1 -2 a week, seeing nothing or .3oz then seeing it go right back up the next day isn't helping to stay motivational. It's been almost 2 weeks with the stall/ plateau. I only weigh in the morning before consuming water and after using the bathroom.
Thanks again

BeyandBeautiful · February 2018

My expectation isnt to loose 3.4.5 etc lbs a day or even a week; but if the average is 1 -2 a week, seeing nothing or .3oz then seeing it go right back up the next day isn't helping to stay motivational. It's been almost 2 weeks with the stall/ plateau
Thanks again

jjpptt2 · February 2018

BeyandBeautiful wrote: »

My expectation isnt to loose 3.4.5 etc lbs a day or even a week; but if the average is 1 -2 a week, seeing nothing or .3oz then seeing it go right back up the next day isn't helping to stay motivational. It's been almost 2 weeks with the stall/ plateau
Thanks again

Consider using a weight trend app (I use Libra on Android). You log your daily weight and it creates a trend line for you, so you can see what's really happening over the long term... this can help take some of the focus/emotion out of short term fluctuations.

3bambi3 · February 2018

BeyandBeautiful wrote: »

My expectation isnt to loose 3.4.5 etc lbs a day or even a week; but if the average is 1 -2 a week, seeing nothing or .3oz then seeing it go right back up the next day isn't helping to stay motivational. It's been almost 2 weeks with the stall/ plateau
Thanks again

Two weeks isn't enough time to say something isn't working. You need to be more patient and trust the process. Also, to open your diary:

My Home --> Settings --> Diary Settings --> Scroll down to Diary Sharing and select Public.

kshama2001 · February 2018

cheryldumais · February 2018

Keep in mind that often people lose a big amount of water at the beginning of a change in diet. In a few days you say you lost 11 lbs. That was not all fat. Once your body realizes this is a new lifestyle some of the water comes back but you continue to lose fat. Sometimes the water gain outweighs the fat. Secondly your bowels can hold alot of weight depending on how much bulk you eat. Believe it or not that can affect your weight considerably. Third if you are still menstruating a water gain is not uncommon just before your period and can easily add 2 or 3 pounds, I'm sure you have experienced that before.

Relax, I understand your shock after such a big loss to see a gain when you are continuing to work at your program. It will go down again but depending on how much you have to lose you may see it slow down considerably.

IF does not make you lose any differently than eating three meals a day as long as the calories are the same. What it seems to do for some people is help them control cravings.

MossiO · February 2018

BeyandBeautiful wrote: »

My expectation isnt to loose 3.4.5 etc lbs a day or even a week; but if the average is 1 -2 a week, seeing nothing or .3oz then seeing it go right back up the next day isn't helping to stay motivational. It's been almost 2 weeks with the stall/ plateau
Thanks again

You've lost 9 pounds since you started. That is already phenomenal. You really are going to have to lower your expectations. 2 pounds a week is what you should be expecting. This isn't a sprint; it's a marathon. Calm down. Your weight WILL go up on some days, but that doesn't mean you should give up. Stick with it, trust the process.

LivingtheLeanDream · February 2018

You have lost 9lbs since you started, that fantastic. Your expectations in regards to weight loss need a different mind set, use a trending weight app, keep doing what you're doing and in a months time see where your loss is then.

dragon_girl26 · February 2018

BeyandBeautiful wrote: »

My expectation isnt to loose 3.4.5 etc lbs a day or even a week; but if the average is 1 -2 a week, seeing nothing or .3oz then seeing it go right back up the next day isn't helping to stay motivational. It's been almost 2 weeks with the stall/ plateau
Thanks again

But two weeks isn't a plateau. A plateau is aboit 4 or more weeks of no loss. It's very common to lose a large amount of weight in the first week or two, then see nothing for a cpuple of weeks.
The thing about weight loss is that it isn't linear. There will be some weeks where you might see weight loss, and some you won't. It's highly unlikely that you will see a drop every week like clockwork. The 1-2 lbs per week is really just, as you said, an average. Weight fluctuations are especially true for women...water retention from salty meals, new exercise routines, time of the month...all of those things can affect the scale and have nothing to do with gaining fat.
The advice to get a trending app is good so that you can see the trends, rather than get caught up in the daily fluctuations.
It also helps to set non scale goals for yourself, so that your entire focus isn't on the scale.

susiehobbs · February 2018

I recommend only weighing yourself once a week. I know that is hard and easier said than done, but it will make you less frustrated as you will not see the daily fluctuations.

HELP! IF & CALORIE DEFICIT?????????????

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