Any advice, at a loss.

Sammorz
Sammorz Posts: 1 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all! So I've had some trouble the past 6 or more months. My body composition has changed but I've not lost any weight. 5'10" 221lbs last weigh in. I've started weighing my food and yes I may have a slip up from time to time but I've done my best to log those. I cut my calories to 1500 a day and I started feeling dizzy and tired all of the time so I moved the calories back up. Seems like a lot of food. I calculated my BMR and it says 1800. I've been focusing on the quality of food I eat, such as more veggies, more fruit, less processed food. I just can't help to feel at a loss because 221lbs is quite a lot. I go to the gym 3-4 times a week and walk my dogs if it's nice out. Any advice would be highly appreciated!

Replies

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    You are stronger and have a more pleasing shape. I’d say you have lost some fat. Try reducing your intake by 100 calories a day. See how you feel.
  • ccsernica
    ccsernica Posts: 1,040 Member
    Your BMR is the calories you'd burn if you were lying around in a coma all day. It's the calories you burn doing nothing but living, and will decrease as you lose weight. (It takes more energy to maintain a higher body mass.) If you were only eating 1500 calories, no wonder you feel dizzy from time to time. The number you should be thinking about is your TDEE -- Total Daily Energy Expenditure -- and be eating about 500 calories less than that to lose about 1 lb/week on average. It's going to be significantly higher than your BMR. If you're using MFP's tools, and you have the kind of job where you're on your feet all day, you should set your activity level to at least Lightly Active.

    MFP uses NEAT -- Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis -- to try and estimate your actual calorie burn based on your normal activity level without deliberate exercise. Any deliberate exercise should be logged. Some folks make it a rule to eat back only about half of exercise calories, to make up for possible overestimates.

    Having said that, there are some red flags in your diary, most notably that you're measuring foods in volumes when that makes absolutely no sense. It's possible you're looking at badly written database entries -- it's user-contributed, after all. Leafy greens like spinach are notoriously poor with volume measurements. All solid foods should be measured in weight, and in grams since that will be more precise. A "serving" of food doesn't really mean anything. It's better to find an entry close to what you need that gives measures in weight than to rely on something so vague. For example: When it comes to things like "Cajun Seasoned Chicken", the spices aren't going to add a lot of calories anyway. Find an entry for chicken matching the parts you're eating and the cooking method, and which gives nutrient information by weight.

    It's best not to guess about weight unless you have no choice, and the "standard" weight of a serving size you find in some entries isn't a very useful guide. You need to actually weigh the food.

    One last thing to bear in mind that, as precise as all these numbers and calculations might look, in the end they're still just estimates. If you find something's not working for you, adjustment up or down is perfectly fine.
  • Hannah5147
    Hannah5147 Posts: 49 Member
    Hi,

    If you are feeling dizzy and tired it's definitely worth looking at the quality of food you are eating. Plenty of fruit and veg and home cooked meals. Also plenty of water. Lots of protein too. Make sure you are filling your calorie allowance with things that will keep you full and release energy slowly.

    Sorry not a huge amount of help. Hope things improve soon.
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