any ideas to speed up weight loss?

velvetik
velvetik Posts: 3 Member
edited March 2018 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi,

I’m 5’7, ca. 185 lbs, late twenties. I have very high energy levels (i don’t tire up easily no matter the activity), athletic built (but with huge hips, 45 inches, and thick thighs — my measures are 40-30-45). I’ve been swimming regularly for the last 2 years (2-5 times a week, 60+ min) and changing my eating habits (no sugar, majority of plant-based diet, very little bread or other high carb meals), and I did not only lose weight, but gained (from 170 to 190).

Since late 2017 I have committed to tracking my eating and exercising with myfitnesspal (i had used it before, but not everyday), and with a calorie goal of 1400 (its gets higher when i log in exercising) i manage to still get a calory deficit of around 100-300 calories every day (that is, 1100-1300 calories ingested). As i said, i swim for 50-60 min for 3-4-5 times a week, and I go on longer walks (60`+min) a couple of times a week. Every time i log in my food and exercise in my fitness pal and i complete diary, it estimates that i’ll lose a lot of weight within 5 weeks. Well, 12 weeks have passed now, and I only managed to go from 190 to 185 in this period. According to the estimate in my fitness pal, in january they told me i should be weighing 175 pounds by now.

My goal is 160 lbs. I’d like to be slimmer, but I am realistic, and I prefer to be able to mantain that weight long term. I once managed to go down to 140 pounds, but it quickly escalated to 160, which is the weight i have been able to maintain for longer periods (both before and after my massive diet plan that had me briefly in 140).

What can I do? Any ideas of what is going wrong?

Replies

  • ronocnikral
    ronocnikral Posts: 176 Member
    eat less food. I like to eat small amounts, and when I start to get a little hungry, I eat something - banana, apple, almonds, smoothie etc. But the trick is to be hungry before you eat again. I also like to just be starting to turn hungry before bed and then skip the pantry and hit the hay. My guess is, weighing food and eating a deficit makes you hungry between meals and right before bed. Just different strategies. Mine saves me from asking my wife everything that went into a meal (which annoys her, understandably). I'll also often eat 2 dinners, a smaller portion and if I am hungry 60-90 minutes later, I can sort of gauge how much of a second helping I can have....
  • JMcGee2018
    JMcGee2018 Posts: 275 Member
    A calorie deficit of only 100-300 calories is very easy to miscalculate, ESPECIALLY if you are eating back exercise calories, which might over-estimate your burn. I can easily be off by 100 calories if I eyeball anything, especially oils or nut butters, or if I trust the packaging on any pre-packaged goods instead of weighing myself.

    Weight is lost through diet, not exercise, so you really need to be on point with that to lose weight reliably. As it is, with an average deficit of 100 calories/day, you are going to have a deficit of only 700 calories/week, which would mean a loss of .2 pounds a week, or less than a pound a month.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    edited March 2018
    sorry deleted my post.
  • MelodiousMermaid
    MelodiousMermaid Posts: 380 Member
    Here's a link to a thread I stumbled across. It's filled with great information (if you're on a time crunch, look for the OP's response posts and skip the others). It's pretty solid.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1276219/i-went-from-morbidly-obese-to-6-pack-abs-ask-me-anything/p39
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    edited March 2018
    You've lost 15 lbs in 12 weeks, is that correct? You are losing at an ideal rate. To pursue a higher deficit at this point would cost you valuable lean muscle mass.

    As to why the discrepancy, as others have mentioned, it's likely a logging issue. But the 5 week prediction MFP gives you is useless. It's saying if every day were *exactly* like the one in question, the calorie deficit would put you at that weight, but it doesn't take into account logging error or that your burn estimates are likely off as well.

    Speaking of burn estimates, you sound like a very active person. Do you eat back any exercise calories? If not, that pretty much guarantees your logging must be off, because if you are swimming an hour 4 times a week, walk regularly, and are only eating 1100 calories, the weight would be falling off (which, as I already mentioned, wouldn't be a desirable thing).
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    JMcGee2018 wrote: »
    A calorie deficit of only 100-300 calories is very easy to miscalculate, ESPECIALLY if you are eating back exercise calories, which might over-estimate your burn.

    It's my understanding the deficit she's referring to is from the calorie goal given to her by MFP (1400), not her total deficit.

  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    try2again wrote: »
    You've lost 15 lbs in 12 weeks, is that correct? You are losing at an ideal rate. To pursue a higher deficit at this point would cost you valuable lean muscle mass.

    ^^This.

    Reset your expectations and understand that you are losing at a good, healthy rate as it is.
  • velvetik
    velvetik Posts: 3 Member
    Hi,

    Yes, as try2again says, i referred to the extra deficit after accounting for the 500 calories deficit that my fitness pal recommends me to lose weight (accounting from the fact that my basal metabolism would be 1900). I manage to end every day with minimum extra 150 calories, sometimes as much to 500 calories (when I do a lot of exercise), which means 650-1000 calories deficit per day. Maybe once a week or every two weeks I eat some cheat meal, and that day I don’t have deficit, but that still entails eating less than the 2000 basal metabolism.
    I am not weighing food and trust the calorie calculation given my my fitness pal (I compare it with the actual product if I have the information), so it is possible that i am miscalculating something.
    I am not eating snacks, nor sugary drinks. I dont have a sweet tooth and I never indulged in soda drinking.
    I think it may be related to my high stress levels right now, or maybe some lack of hormonal balance, I don’t know.
  • velvetik
    velvetik Posts: 3 Member
    I have only lost around 6 pounds, btw. from 190 to 184.
  • Meelisv
    Meelisv Posts: 235 Member
    velvetik wrote: »
    Hi,

    I am not weighing food and trust the calorie calculation given my my fitness pal (I compare it with the actual product if I have the information), so it is possible that i am miscalculating something.

    While I don't really understand what you mean by that, since to get proper calorie calculation in MFP that assumes that you both log accurately and that entries you choose are correct, weighing everything you eat is essential. Something like "One medium apple" in the database can well be 100 calories off, foods higher in fat, even more so.
    People who estimate or "eyeball their food based on packaging can eat very easy up to 1000 calories per day more than they think.
    So first thing - get a food scale and log everything precisely. It works like a miracle.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    velvetik wrote: »
    I have only lost around 6 pounds, btw. from 190 to 184.

    Ah... I misread. Apologies.

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