What am I doing wrong? Please help. 1400 max, no loss.

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smashtastic27
smashtastic27 Posts: 15 Member
edited July 2018 in Getting Started
Hi there, I am a 27 yr old female, I’m 5’6 and weigh 170 pounds. I run on the treadmill every day between 30 to 70 minuets depending on how I feel. And I am eating between 1200and 1400 calories depending on my workouts. And I haven’t lost ONE SINGLE POUND. What am I doing wrong??? I have only gone above my calories badly 3 times, and I weigh my food on a scale.
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Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    How long have you been doing this, and how do you know how many calories you're taking in?
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    edited July 2018
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    how long has it been? since you started measuring and weighing everything and logging?

    are you eating back all your excercise calories?
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
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    How long have you been tracking and how long has it been since the scale hasn't moved?
  • smashtastic27
    smashtastic27 Posts: 15 Member
    edited July 2018
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    kommodevaran wrote: »
    How long have you been doing this, and how do you know how many calories you're taking in

    I am using my fitness pal to scan bar codes on pre package foods and counting servings and on meals I cook I use a scale to weigh all the ingredients
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,110 Member
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    If you open your Food diary, we may spot where you're having trouble.

    FOOD > Settings, scroll down, choose "Public."
  • smashtastic27
    smashtastic27 Posts: 15 Member
    edited July 2018
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    Panini911 wrote: »
    how long has it been? since you started measuring and weighing everything and logging?

    are you eating back all your excercise calories?


    It’s been a Like 5 weeks, and I don’t think so. I don’t eat more than 1400 calories even if I workout for an hour and when I don’t work out I eat around 1200-1300 I have had a few bad days, like 3 or so where I went way over. But it’s not all the time
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    edited July 2018
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    scanned entries can be incorrect so you need to reference it back to the package as for counting servings, are you counting or weighing the servings in grams on a food scale? 17 pieces of someting say chips can be more than a serving, you should weigh all prepackage foods, as they can be off by up to 20% per serving. its really easy to eat more than you think, trust me on that one.

    Im about a half inch taller than you but Im almost 17 years older and eat more than that and lose. so Im thinking you are definitely eating more than you think and fron the entries it doesnt look like you are weighing most things. even if a package says something is say 45g it could be more or less.
    its best to weigh everything even if the 2 things(say an apple) are of the same size. same with the yogurt. one container can be more or less than the other and could be more than the package states. . weigh all solids and semi solids on a scale in grams and liquids in cups and spoons
  • smashtastic27
    smashtastic27 Posts: 15 Member
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    If you open your Food diary, we may spot where you're having trouble.

    FOOD > Settings, scroll down, choose "Public."

    I changed it, I only got my Fitbit recently so my exercise is always accounted for
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    edited July 2018
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    smashtastic27 wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    If you open your Food diary, we may spot where you're having trouble.

    FOOD > Settings, scroll down, choose "Public."

    I changed it, I only got my Fitbit recently so my exercise is always accounted for

    fitbits can take about 2 -3 weeks to get used to the data its getting from you, so dont rely on it for a little while,but mfp is set up to where your deficit is counted without exercise. fitbit aside. if you havent lost anything say in a month or more then you are eating more than you think due to not weighing everything. so your fitbit will add your exercise but for some its not accurate but for others it is. so I would eat back about half of exercise calories for a short time until you see what direction your weight loss(or lack of) goes.

    losing weight means you have to be in a deficit. so start weighing everything, cross reference all scanned items with the package to make sure its correct(still weigh these),and give it a few weeks to a month and see what happens. if by then you arent losing weight(which you should be if you were truly eating 1200-1400 calories) then see a dr to rule anything out. for sh&ts and giggles take what you weight in cups(solids) and weigh it on the scale and see what the difference is to get an idea. you will probably be shocked at the difference there is between the 2. But know that going over a few times here and there can wipe out your weeky deficit depending on how far over you do go.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    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.

    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.
  • Lizakabibbis
    Lizakabibbis Posts: 370 Member
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    I'd definitely consider weighing EVERYTHING you eat. It's not accurate if you aren't weighing it. I got really lax about weighing my food. I started weighing again last week and I'm already down 4lbs. It's very easy to overestimate.
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
    edited July 2018
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    Looks like there have been days missed and incomplete entries besides the days you went over. Tighten up your logging. I wouldn't go any lower with your current deficit.
  • smashtastic27
    smashtastic27 Posts: 15 Member
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    Should I not trust the calories on protein bars, yogurts and oatmeal packs?

    Some super good advice, ty everyone. I think I’ll try being stricter on weighing things. I have just been trusting that prepackaged foods have the calories they say they do on the packs also I use soy sauce and nutritional yeast on foods and often don’t count them.
    I didn’t realize that such small miss counts would matter so much. I will definitely work on tightening up my calorie tracking.

  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    smashtastic27 wrote: »
    Should I not trust the calories on protein bars, yogurts and oatmeal packs?

    Some super good advice, ty everyone. I think I’ll try being stricter on weighing things. I have just been trusting that prepackaged foods have the calories they say they do on the packs also I use soy sauce and nutritional yeast on foods and often don’t count them.
    I didn’t realize that such small miss counts would matter so much. I will definitely work on tightening up my calorie tracking.

    oh yeah every little calorie adds up. the calories are only right if the product weighs what it says. otherwise ther more it weighs the more calories it will have. my protein bars say 60g and 200 calories. the other day it was 68g when I weighed it. yesterday I had one and it was only 56g. so yeah they can be off by a little or a lot. yogurt cups can be off too. I weigh it first without the lid, write it down then eat the yogurt and then weigh the empty cup. so far my yogurt weighs 158g,the container says 150g. so I weighed the container and it empty is 10g so thats 148g so its under by 2 grams. which isnt much but thats not always the case. oatmeal is notorious for often being more than stated.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,020 Member
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    You say you've gone over your calories "badly" three times in five weeks. How many calories did you go over by? Did you track (weigh, log) calories on the days you went over?
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
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    smashtastic27 wrote: »
    Should I not trust the calories on protein bars, yogurts and oatmeal packs?

    Some super good advice, ty everyone. I think I’ll try being stricter on weighing things. I have just been trusting that prepackaged foods have the calories they say they do on the packs also I use soy sauce and nutritional yeast on foods and often don’t count them.
    I didn’t realize that such small miss counts would matter so much. I will definitely work on tightening up my calorie tracking.

    Nutrition labels can be off as much as 20% which is allowed by the FDA. This doesn't include if the item consumed weighs more/less than what is on the package. Also the MFP barcode scanner is not always correct. Start fresh today and if you maintain your deficit and 4-6 weeks from now there is no change then time to consider other factors.

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