It’s all about calorie deficit, got it! But....

I’m sure you’ve all seen countless threads like this before but, please, hear me out.

I’ve been religiously logging for 6 weeks now and haven’t seen a (lasting) change on the scale. Side note: the majority of my weight loss indicated in my profile was from years ago (I’ve been stuck at this weight for some time now, which is why I decided to really commit to logging, measuring food, exercising, etc, now).

I have about 15 pounds to lose until I’m finally in the “healthy” weight range. I was eating 1200-1300 calories a day (logging everything, promise!), exercising moderately 4-5 times a week but not eating calories back, and I can not have a lasting weight loss. What I mean by that is if I saw a 1.5 pound weight loss one week, I’d gain by 2 pounds the next week. Etc. Also had my basic blood work checked (unrelated to weight loss) and all came back within normal range.

Thoughts? I have a feeling I’ll get a lot of “give it more time” posts but after 6 consistent weeks I would hope to see at least *some* results.
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Replies

  • ellie7187
    ellie7187 Posts: 83 Member
    I currently use a scale and I measure out all liquids as well, for meals that I plan. I use a meal service (they send you the recipe and all ingredients pre-portioned to prep and you cook the meal) and I’ve wondered if maybe their calorie labels for the meals are wayyyyy off.

    At the gym I do group exercise classes - 3 times a week the weight training class, 2 times a week cardio, and occasionally a yoga class as well if I have time. I log these calories (via MFP pre-set logging) but I know it’s inaccurate so I don’t eat them back on the majority of days.

    I do go off the rails by a couple hundred calories here and there, but I always make sure to log it. And then I’m still under my weekly calorie goal.

    I think what I’m mostly (prematurely) worried about is when I do finally hit my goal weight...will I have to eat as if I’m trying to lose weight just to maintain given that I’m at a significant deficit now and basically maintaining.
  • ellie7187
    ellie7187 Posts: 83 Member
    edited May 2018
    If you put your numbers into a weight trending app, is the trend up, down or maintaining?

    I use “happy scale” for almost daily weight tracking (I was curious about seeing trends) and it shows right now a trend of “0.18 pounds per week weight loss”. So I guess I’m losing...but my CICO indicates it should be at a much greater rate.

    ETA: I just noticed it also shows a trend of “0.4 gain over last 7 days”.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    ellie7187 wrote: »
    If you put your numbers into a weight trending app, is the trend up, down or maintaining?

    I use “happy scale” for almost daily weight tracking (I was curious about seeing trends) and it shows right now a trend of “0.18 pounds per week weight loss”. So I guess I’m losing...but my CICO indicates it should be at a much greater rate.

    Then something is potentially off. Have you only been dieting for the last 6 weeks?
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    ellie7187 wrote: »
    I’m going to try logging the meal service meals individually next week because it’s the only things I currently do not measure out before logging (I measure out the oil, etc, that it tells me to add but I also wonder if their calorie calculations takes those “small things” into account). In my mind it HAS TO be this because, as everyone has said, from a CICO standpoint nothing else makes sense. Hence my frustrations lately.

    I’ll also keep going with it because 6 weeks isn’t that long of a sample period. Logically, to me at least, I should see some weight loss (that actually stays off) given how meticulous I’ve been these past 6 weeks.

    I was “trying to lose weight” previously by just eyeballing and “making better food choices” but I’ve only been truly logging properly for 6 weeks. So I only count it as 6 weeks of dieting.

    This makes me wonder if maybe their calorie counts don't include the items you need to add to complete the recipe and things like oil are very calorie dense so if you do multiple meals a week this way you could be missing out on a significant amount of calories.

    Could you call the service and ask them if their calorie counts include those things? And I'd ask to speak to someone higher up in the company and not necessarily take the word of the person who answers the phone who likely doesn't really know.

  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
    I also use meal kits, and I also find that the nutritional info on the card differs - sometimes wildly - from what I get based on the individual ingredients used.
  • kq1981
    kq1981 Posts: 1,098 Member
    I’ve started to measure myself as well as weigh (I use happy scales too) because my cloths fit differently but the scales are not moving very much at all. I can’t say any more than everyone else about weighing foods because they are all the things that I also did when my weight loss stalled and it made a HUGE difference. Ive also chosen a less aggressive weight loss per week for a while to see if it helps. Good luck! :)
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,222 Member
    ellie7187 wrote: »
    I think what I’m mostly (prematurely) worried about is when I do finally hit my goal weight...will I have to eat as if I’m trying to lose weight just to maintain given that I’m at a significant deficit now and basically maintaining.
    You have gotten great advice for what you were asking, so I just want to comment on this: Yes, you will have to eat as if losing weight, if you want to keep the weight off. It's good to think about this before you reach goal weight. You're at your final lap now, so when you reach goal weight, the ideal transition is seamless, you'll want to lose weight the same way you want to maintain weight. What you don't have to, however, and possibly should try not to, is worry. Pieces will fall into place over time, you will figure things out for yourself as you run into and discover and solve your own personal challenges.

    I would consider a slight clarification because so many of us attempt to "diet" by making choices we don't intend to continue making when we maintain.

    You SHOULD want to "eat as if losing weight" because you SHOULD be losing weight at this stage the same way that you are planning to maintain.

    As to the rest of it... well, first of all your weight is not going up. So that's a bonus!!! If you're not losing weight (yet) and you have a larger "paper" deficit and you've been using a kitchen scale and verified entries... just continue doing the same thing and be patient.

    If you haven't been using a kitchen scale... well there you go.
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    I would say tweak your logging, and weigh everything. I see in your diary you log as cups, or 1 portion and your donuts you just log as 1 donut rather than weighing it.
  • Hungry_Shopgirl
    Hungry_Shopgirl Posts: 329 Member
    Lots of great advice on here already. Just another thing to add: Are you tracking your body circumference measurements as well as your scale weight? Over time you might see some changes on there even if your actual weight stays the same.