Why am I stuck?

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hjma
hjma Posts: 29 Member
edited August 2018 in Motivation and Support
Hey everyone! I need advice. I’ve been sticking to a 1200/day calorie goal 5 out of 7 days a week for at least 3+ weeks now and have maybe lost a half pound. I’m 5’4 and at 147-148, with a goal of 140 by January.
I’ve also been very constipated. So I took some stuff yesterday, cleared it out, and got on the scale today only to see I was back up to my start weight.
I have not been exercising regularly, but have been hoping the 1200 cals would still help me lose a bit every week. My BMR is 1400 so if I’m eating 1200 and burning throughout the day (I track steps), I should be losing at least a pound.
I’ve lost a bunch of weight successfully 3 different times in my life so this is VERY frustrating for me.
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Replies

  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,480 Member
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    Are you keeping a food diary and using a food scale? What are you eating those other 2 days?

    A friend says- We eventually get the weigh in we deserve, but not necessarily when we expect it.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    Those two days you aren't sticking to 1200 cals, how much are you eating? you could be wiping out the majority of your calorie deficit....

  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
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    are you tracking the other to days to see how far off you are?

    and the questions above: are you weighting and measuring all foods, ensuring to use appropriate entry and logging everything including liquids (other than clear water)?
  • hjma
    hjma Posts: 29 Member
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    I am not keeping close track on those off days, but am tracking closely the calories on the days I stick with it. Should I go down to one “off” day?
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    edited August 2018
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    how accurately are you logging the five on days? weighting foods with a food scale? Even after months of logging I am still finding areas where I am making errors even WITH a food scale.

    the problem is how "off" are you? 1500? 1800? 2500 calories??

    I'd recommend tracking to have an idea of how "off" you are given you are not getting the results you want. it is very possible that on those two days you are eating back all the good work you did the first five days.

    two "off days" every week is a lot. There is a lot of discussion back and forth here on "cheat meals or cheat days" but those should be occasional one off's AND logged. not two full days every week.

    The recommendation for the last 10 or less pounds is for a slow but steady 0.5pds a week (to lose at in the most healthy way)

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    hjma wrote: »
    I am not keeping close track on those off days, but am tracking closely the calories on the days I stick with it. Should I go down to one “off” day?

    You need to track EVERY day, that way you can see how many calories you are consuming over the whole week. As I said before, if you aren't tracking on 1 or 2 days you have no idea how many calories you are eating. Its very very easy to wipe out a whole weeks calorie deficit in 1 days over eating.
  • MagnumOpus1
    MagnumOpus1 Posts: 161 Member
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    hjma wrote: »
    I am not keeping close track on those off days, but am tracking closely the calories on the days I stick with it. Should I go down to one “off” day?

    You need to track those days. You could very well be eating the weeks deficit in those 2 days. May I ask why you're doing this?
  • smolmaus
    smolmaus Posts: 442 Member
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    Track every day? If you're doing what a lot of people do and going out to eat/ having a few drinks on the weekend you can blow through a weeks deficit in no time. You don't even have to change you're eating on your "off days" but if you keep track at least you'll know if that's the problem (it probably is).

    If your daily deficit is 500kcal (1lb/week) so 2500kcal/ 5 days, that's (for me, for example) 3-4 pints on Friday (840), maybe popcorn/ sweets at the cinema (say 350), few glasses of wine with Sunday dinner (350) and there's 60% of your deficit gone for the week without looking at extra food during meals, like a fry up on a Sunday morning or an extra dessert. Not saying you do all these things, this is just what I'm likely to do if I don't watch myself, especially if I go into the weekend having been "good" all week and thinking I deserve some rewards for it!
  • hjma
    hjma Posts: 29 Member
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    Thanks, all! I will perhaps adjust my calories AND track my cheat day (limit to one). I do NEED one day a week for pastas and ice cream :).
  • hjma
    hjma Posts: 29 Member
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    @cmriverside , I believe I’m set up for 1 pound a week and sedentary (I have an office job, so I didn’t want to claim more than I knew I was doing).
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
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    hjma wrote: »
    Thanks, all! I will perhaps adjust my calories AND track my cheat day (limit to one). I do NEED one day a week for pastas and ice cream :).

    You can have them. in moderation. Make them fit or ensure you only go a bit above. depending on portions/sauces if you eat both of those twice a week with no monitoring that would easily wipe out any progress.

    but again it isn't about eliminating food but making them work with your daily and weekly goals.

    Also, it may help if you don't pick to aggressive a calorie count. 1200 is the lowest it MFP will recommend for health reasons. IS that what it gave you? Maybe select 0.5 calories/week for loss so you CAN still enjoy your food.

    Some people will cut a bit every day and then eat those calories on the weekend to allow for a bigger meal. So if you set a more realistic daily goal maybe you can still eat 1200 and roll over the extra 50-100 calories to eat pasta and ice cream at dinner one day on the weekend (still minding portions). And skip snacks on the day of.

    But you do need to be realistic about expectations. Splurges are just that, occasional splurged. The more regularly you do it the more careful you need to be on portions.

    lastly don't forget about exercise, that can buy you more calorie slack.
  • blobby10
    blobby10 Posts: 357 Member
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    My experience was that on my 'off' days, I ate three times the calories that I would have eaten on my tracking days so ended up counteracting all the good I had done on the preceding 5 days and ended up with the scales not moving.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    blobby10 wrote: »
    My experience was that on my 'off' days, I ate three times the calories that I would have eaten on my tracking days so ended up counteracting all the good I had done on the preceding 5 days and ended up with the scales not moving.

    ^ that was my experience too until I found MFP and starting faithfully tracking. For years I was undoing any calorie deficit gained during the week.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,049 Member
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    hjma wrote: »
    @cmriverside , I believe I’m set up for 1 pound a week and sedentary (I have an office job, so I didn’t want to claim more than I knew I was doing).

    If you set your goals realistically (you're NOT sedentary, and with so little to lose, "Lose 1/2 pound per week" is where you should be set) ...if you set it Realistically, you'll have enough calories to have ice cream and pasta.

    Looks like you're married? Do you do any housekeeping when you aren't at work? Laundry, vacuuming, that kind of stuff? You're not sedentary.

    Do you add back your Exercise calories? Like, if you take a walk after work, do you eat more to fuel that?

    Read that link I posted up-thread.

    Under-eating is not the way to lose 10-12 pounds. If you under eat all week, of course you're gonna want to really eat on the weekend. Slow, steady nutrition is the way forward.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    hjma wrote: »
    Thanks, all! I will perhaps adjust my calories AND track my cheat day (limit to one). I do NEED one day a week for pastas and ice cream :).

    AND get a food scale. Check out this thread...

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    hjma wrote: »
    Thanks, all! I will perhaps adjust my calories AND track my cheat day (limit to one). I do NEED one day a week for pastas and ice cream :).

    You can eat pasta and ice cream, just log it accurately. I ate pasta and ice cream (in weighed out portions) several times a week when I was losing weight.

    With less than 10 lbs to lose, you should be expecting to lose 0.5lbs per week. Understand, considering water weight fluctuations, you will probably often go a week or two (or three) without seeing that loss on the scale. It's hiding behind water weight swings. I saw the scale go down and stay down once per month for my last five lbs. And if I hadn't been logging accurately and consistently, it never would have happened - there is so little margin for error! Good luck :smiley:
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
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    No need for a cheat day or days every week. Just work the calories of your favorite treats into your daily calories and log them. You have very little to lose therefore you can't really eat alot over your daily calories without wiping out your deficit. Our bodies are very efficient at counting calories so even if we ignore them the body doesn't, lol. I also agree that you will likely only be able to lose .5 pounds/week in a healthy manner and you will have to be patient. Good luck.
  • hjma
    hjma Posts: 29 Member
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    @pinuplove are you trying to lose now? I always wonder if I’m smaller than I think and really don’t need to lose anything. However, my thighs need a lot of work.

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