At a loss

alicemnelson87 · March 2018

Hi community -
So I am at a loss - I’ve been at this for three months, tracking calories and working out 2-4 times a week - but I’ve only lost 1.3 lbs. I’m a bit disheartened, and was wondering if anyone can offer advice to jump start my weight loss again?
Thanks in advance

Sheluvsbread2much · March 2018

First, don't give up. I've been stuck for months and it is very disheartening but you have to keep going. Second, I'd say have an honest look at your tracking. Are you truly getting the portions correct? Are you eyeballing your portions? if so, maybe you should start weighing/measuring for a week to make sure you've got it right. Same for workouts? Be honest. Are you pushing yourself? Try some variety in your workouts, that might shake things up. Good luck. There's nothing to do but to do it.

malibu927 · March 2018

Tighten up your logging. This may include any or all of the following: making sure everything that passes your lips gets logged, weighing all solids on a food scale and using measuring cups/spoons for all liquids, double-checking the accuracy of the items you log against either the USDA database or nutrition label, utilizing the recipe builder over "homemade" or "generic" entries, and being mindful of exercise calories burned/eaten back.

seska422 · March 2018

A good place to start investigating is your food tracking. Do you use a food scale for all solids and measuring cups/spoons for liquids that don't have weight listed in the nutrition facts? Can you open your diary so that we can make suggestions?

diannethegeek · March 2018

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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. You might also be sure your scale is working and doesn't need new batteries or anything.

8. 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.

Lesscookies12 · March 2018

You're eating more calories than you think thus not creating much of a deficit. Do you use a food scale to track your food intake?

alicemnelson87 · March 2018

Wow! What a wonderful response! Lots of comments about the scale - I’ll have to check out amazon for that! Thanks again for the tips! I’ll check in in 4-6 weeks with *hopefully positive* updates

At a loss

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