Weight loss math doesn't work, so confused!
odonrom1946
Posts: 21 Member
Can somebody with some experience please explain weight loss math to me. My BMI is 1560, I'm eating just under 1200 calories a day, I walk 15000 steps. My total calorie burn is approximately 2400 to 2700, my goal is to lose 2 pounds per week, but I just seem to stick at one number and not move. I eat clean, no processed food, drink plenty of water and get eight hours every night. I feel like I'm checking all the boxes . I do feel great, and I feel like I look better but I can't get past numbers.can someone please explain what I need to do to make the pounds go.
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Replies
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-get a food scale and weigh everything
-plug your stats into MFP and eat to the number it gives you (depending on how much you have to lose, 2lbs may not be an appropriate loss rate for you)
-stop under eating, you should be getting 1200 MINIMUM, MFP will probably give you a number higher than that depending on your stats.16 -
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Be patient and trust the process. If your calorie counting is on point and your ticking all the boxes you will lose weight. These things take time. You may be holding onto some water weight which will drop and when it does your weight will drop also. If you have just started your diet and are doing all the right things just know that the weight will come off. No prizes for losing weight the fastest.3
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Your calorie burn is 2400 to 2700 but you're eating 1200? How are you still standing?38
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I believe that includes just basic living lol! I have lost, 9lb in 1 month which I'm happy with but it's the same 9, lb I've been losing for 2 years then it stops. I do weigh my food and monitor portion sizes and trust me I'm not skimping...I find when you eat clean food (farm to table... Not too fancy as I'm not the greatest chef) even 1100 calories is a lot of food and hard to get in...i Can only eat so much chicken/fish/veg. I did have PCOS but I'm 49 now so I thought those days we behind me (menopause is nowhere on the horizon either dammit)
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odonrom1946 wrote: »Can somebody with some experience please explain weight loss math to me. My BMI is 1560, I'm eating just under 1200 calories a day, I walk 15000 steps. My total calorie burn is approximately 2400 to 2700, my goal is to lose 2 pounds per week, but I just seem to stick at one number and not move. I eat clean, no processed food, drink plenty of water and get eight hours every night. I feel like I'm checking all the boxes . I do feel great, and I feel like I look better but I can't get past numbers.can someone please explain what I need to do to make the pounds go.odonrom1946 wrote: »I believe that includes just basic living lol! I have lost, 9lb in 1 month which I'm happy with but it's the same 9, lb I've been losing for 2 years then it stops. I do weigh my food and monitor portion sizes and trust me I'm not skimping...I find when you eat clean food (farm to table... Not too fancy as I'm not the greatest chef) even 1100 calories is a lot of food and hard to get in...i Can only eat so much chicken/fish/veg. I did have PCOS but I'm 49 now so I thought those days we behind me (menopause is nowhere on the horizon either dammit)
Your problem is either in your interpretation of the facts or in exaggerated expectations. Losing 9 lbs in a month is not sticking to one number. It is, in fact, reasonably close to the results one would expect if one's TDEE were 2400 to 2700 and one were taking in close to 1200 calories a day.14 -
Perhaps I was hoping for a more linear decline in my weight. It's been stuck for 1.5 weeks and not moved regardless of my diet and exercise5
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Are you due for, or do you have, your period?2
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Just finished. I thought I would see a drop but no such luck. I know I'm being impatient but I just thought this happened at the end of your weight loss goal not the beginning LOL3
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odonrom1946 wrote: »Perhaps I was hoping for a more linear decline in my weight. It's been stuck for 1.5 weeks and not moved regardless of my diet and exercise
1.5 weeks is just a blip when it comes to weight loss. It's your body going through it's normal fluctuations due to water, waste, hormones, salt, etc. It's what is supposed to happen. It's why there are several stickies and guide posts about this.
My weight loss once stalled out for 8 weeks. If you know you're doing what you need to be doing for weight loss then all you can do is wait it out.12 -
It's only been a week and a half and you are freaking out? You need to be patient. You aren't going to lose 2 lbs a week every week. Some weeks you won't lose anything. Just how it goes.10
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odonrom1946 wrote: »Just finished. I thought I would see a drop but no such luck. I know I'm being impatient but I just thought this happened at the end of your weight loss goal not the beginning LOL
You may see a drop shortly, many women retain water before and during.0 -
Weight loss isn't linear. Look at what your weight does over the long term. Don't compare day-to-day or even week-to-week. Have patience and concentrate on sticking to the process.
Here's a 3 month time frame where I was at or below my calorie goal every day. My weight and trend both went up and down but my overall trend was downward.
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http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634529/why-did-the-number-on-the-scale-go-up-this-week-heres-why/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10359984/women-menstrual-cycle-weight-and-fitness-matters/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10196160/scale-stress-syndrome/p15 -
musicfan68 wrote: »It's only been a week and a half and you are freaking out? You need to be patient. You aren't going to lose 2 lbs a week every week. Some weeks you won't lose anything. Just how it goes.
Some weeks, you could very well gain (water weight).
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If you weren't trying to create 50%+ sized deficits.... your weight loss MIGHT be *slightly* more consistent.
You are being over aggressive in both your deficits and your expectations.
Relax, reduce the difficulty level, and keep at it. Look at your trend over 4 to 6 weeks... and you will be fine!14 -
If your BMR is 1560, why are you eating under 1200 calories? You're starving your body's vital functions. If your TDEE is 2400-2700, you shouldn't cut more than 1000 calories from that a day for a weightloss of 2 lbs/week (so 1400-1700 calories a day, but you should really be eating at least your BMR, plus exercise calories. BMR is what your body burns just to stay alive).
TL; DR You're not eating enough, your body is trying to save you from yourself.26 -
MHarper522 wrote: »
TL; DR You're not eating enough, your body is trying to save you from yourself.
Nope, doesn't work that way. Odds are better that there's a logging error, or a numbers error. If you're referring to 'starvation mode', that's not a thing.
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odonrom1946 wrote: »I believe that includes just basic living lol! I have lost, 9lb in 1 month which I'm happy with but it's the same 9, lb I've been losing for 2 years then it stops. I do weigh my food and monitor portion sizes and trust me I'm not skimping...I find when you eat clean food (farm to table... Not too fancy as I'm not the greatest chef) even 1100 calories is a lot of food and hard to get in...i Can only eat so much chicken/fish/veg. I did have PCOS but I'm 49 now so I thought those days we behind me (menopause is nowhere on the horizon either dammit)
you seem very focused on eating "clean," yet that has nothing to do with weight loss. you say you are "weighing food and monitoring portion sizes" - but are you truly weighing everything you eat? your reliance on "clean eating" suggests maybe not.12 -
just looked at your food diary - it is full of stuff like cups/tablespoons/"1 serving"/10 biscuits/etc. - none of those are weight measurements - you need to weigh all your food to be accurate.11
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Thanks for the insights.0
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How many lbs. Do you want to lose? If your Tdee is 2400 the minimum you should be eating is 1400, which is still very aggressive. That is 1000 lb. Deficit. Something is not right if 1100 is a LOT of food. It's not for an adult and is less than your BMR.6
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I've dieted, it seems by entire adult life. The weight loss was always primary but now for me, its not. I moved to a plant based diet, no diary, no meat, but still fish. I did it to just feel better. I stand on my scale everyday just for the trend line data. I started in August 2017 and have lost 24lbs. I don't care if my ave loss is 0.2lbs in a week, as long as I can still see that downward trend line. My joints feel amazing and I"ve seen huge changes in my resting heart rate! One word about fitness trackers, as I've had several. I"m a fitbit believer now. I use it for about everything but still log my food on MFP and link that to my fitbit account. Others are right that they probably aren't exactly accurate in calorie burn, or HR, etc... However its a number that's relative to me. I have a 2500 cal daily goal that MFP set and I maybe intake 2300.. On weekends it could be 2800 but over 6 months since I started, 24lbs is just under a pound a week over 26 weeks. To some degree, weight loss is a calories in calories out game. But I will never again change my eating habits for the sole purpose to lose weight. Eat differently, and all I really do for exercise is walk and the weight will trend downward. I also used to thing vegetarians and vegans were nuts!! Not so much anymore..15
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Agree with others that your expectations may not be realistic. How much weight are you trying to lose? If less than 50 lbs, then a goal of 2 lbs/week is too aggressive.1
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MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »MHarper522 wrote: »
TL; DR You're not eating enough, your body is trying to save you from yourself.
Nope, doesn't work that way. Odds are better that there's a logging error, or a numbers error. If you're referring to 'starvation mode', that's not a thing.
Weird how science says that it is actually a "thing" and can persist fro a considerable period of time https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27136388
I'm sure you don't "believe" that, but you know facts are not dependent on belief.35 -
The human body contains all sorts of complex processes and the mechanistic approach of "calories burned = weight loss" is only true over time. The key here is to focus on your process, your daily/weekly consumption, the quality of those calories and on your daily activity. That's what you can control, not the number on the floor, stick with it, look at total progress and if necessary drop to a weekly weigh in if you're getting obsessed.2
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BitofaState wrote: »MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »MHarper522 wrote: »
TL; DR You're not eating enough, your body is trying to save you from yourself.
Nope, doesn't work that way. Odds are better that there's a logging error, or a numbers error. If you're referring to 'starvation mode', that's not a thing.
Weird how science says that it is actually a "thing" and can persist fro a considerable period of time https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27136388
I'm sure you don't "believe" that, but you know facts are not dependent on belief.
Metabolic adaptation is not the same as the "Starvation Mode" that is touted regularly on the boards as the reason someone is not losing weight from eating low calorie for less than 2 weeks. It also only slows rate of loss, doesn't stop you losing weight or cause weight gain.20 -
BitofaState wrote: »MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »MHarper522 wrote: »
TL; DR You're not eating enough, your body is trying to save you from yourself.
Nope, doesn't work that way. Odds are better that there's a logging error, or a numbers error. If you're referring to 'starvation mode', that's not a thing.
Weird how science says that it is actually a "thing" and can persist fro a considerable period of time https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27136388
I'm sure you don't "believe" that, but you know facts are not dependent on belief.
What most people think starvation mode is: I've only been eating 1000 calories for 3 weeks and I haven't lost anything, my body must be holding onto my 100+ extra fat stores.
What science says it really is: It involves the body responding to reduced calorie intake by reducing calorie expenditure in an attempt to maintain energy balance and prevent starvation.
If a deficit is present your body will lose weight, it cannot and will not hold onto excess fat stores when it needs them to keep you alive. If the reverse were true people would never starve to death.21 -
My weight loss is nearly linear except for during periods. But for most people weight loss is not linear so look at 2 then 3 weeks for a change. If not then check ur calories again.2
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