Slow lose despite sticking to daily calories

Im 5 weeks in and only lost 5.5lbs. Sticking to 1200cal per day. Exercising 3 times a week. How do ppl stay on plan. I expecting 2lb per week but this is so slow. Any tips or comments welcome. Ashley

Replies

  • ashley5080
    ashley5080 Posts: 12 Member
    Hiya im 40yr starting weight 10 11, now im 10 4.5. Id like to b 9 7 is a realistic weight for me to maintain any lower i struggle. Im 5ft 3 ish lol. Im still focused just feelin id wud hav had 10lbs off in 5 weeks. Tx
  • ashley5080
    ashley5080 Posts: 12 Member
    bpotts44 wrote: »
    Over 1 lb per week is still success. Most likely you are eating more than you think and burning less than you think.

    Focus on your success. Keep on going. This takes patience. Your goals might be farther off than you want, but that is okay.


    Mindful advice thanku. Staying focused my goal might just take longer but i will get there ehh 🤞💪
  • ashley5080
    ashley5080 Posts: 12 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    ashley5080 wrote: »
    Im 5 weeks in and only lost 5.5lbs. Sticking to 1200cal per day. Exercising 3 times a week. How do ppl stay on plan. I expecting 2lb per week but this is so slow. Any tips or comments welcome. Ashley

    What you’re expecting and what your body can reasonably support may not be aligned. From your stats below you are looking to lose less than 20 lbs total? In fact the 1 lb/week may be too aggressive. For less than 20 lbs to lose it’s usually recommended to aim for 0.5 lb/week to preserve lean body mass.

    Very true good to hear ur thoughts. Im lost 5 inches round my waist from new exercise hitt workout at home. So i sud b supa pleased and focus on 0.5lb off per week as u said. Tx 👏🤩
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Are you eating back exercise caloriesOP? You should be. What about a food scale for logging?
  • Millicent3015
    Millicent3015 Posts: 374 Member
    ashley5080 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    ashley5080 wrote: »
    Im 5 weeks in and only lost 5.5lbs. Sticking to 1200cal per day. Exercising 3 times a week. How do ppl stay on plan. I expecting 2lb per week but this is so slow. Any tips or comments welcome. Ashley

    What you’re expecting and what your body can reasonably support may not be aligned. From your stats below you are looking to lose less than 20 lbs total? In fact the 1 lb/week may be too aggressive. For less than 20 lbs to lose it’s usually recommended to aim for 0.5 lb/week to preserve lean body mass.

    Very true good to hear ur thoughts. Im lost 5 inches round my waist from new exercise hitt workout at home. So i sud b supa pleased and focus on 0.5lb off per week as u said. Tx 👏🤩

    5.5lbs in five weeks and a 5 inch loss is a great achievement. Count every ounce and centimetre lost as a success. It can take time to get into that "slow and steady" mindset because we're constantly bombarded with 'Lose 5lbs in five days! If you don't lose a stone in a week you're doing it wrong!' messages that just aren't realistic. You're doing really well, so give yourself a well deserved pat on the back.
  • ashley5080
    ashley5080 Posts: 12 Member
    ashley5080 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    ashley5080 wrote: »
    Im 5 weeks in and only lost 5.5lbs. Sticking to 1200cal per day. Exercising 3 times a week. How do ppl stay on plan. I expecting 2lb per week but this is so slow. Any tips or comments welcome. Ashley

    What you’re expecting and what your body can reasonably support may not be aligned. From your stats below you are looking to lose less than 20 lbs total? In fact the 1 lb/week may be too aggressive. For less than 20 lbs to lose it’s usually recommended to aim for 0.5 lb/week to preserve lean body mass.

    Very true good to hear ur thoughts. Im lost 5 inches round my waist from new exercise hitt workout at home. So i sud b supa pleased and focus on 0.5lb off per week as u said. Tx 👏🤩

    5.5lbs in five weeks and a 5 inch loss is a great achievement. Count every ounce and centimetre lost as a success. It can take time to get into that "slow and steady" mindset because we're constantly bombarded with 'Lose 5lbs in five days! If you don't lose a stone in a week you're doing it wrong!' messages that just aren't realistic. You're doing really well, so give yourself a well deserved pat on the back.

    Im listening, smilin and will pat myself on the back 4 sure. Thanku for messagin. Tx
  • ashley5080
    ashley5080 Posts: 12 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Are you eating back exercise caloriesOP? You should be. What about a food scale for logging?

    Im not eating my exercise as its only 200 cals. Low impact hitt at home. Counting my cals through scannin the packet as its more accurate. I think may im wrong. Wot next please. Tx
  • WinoGelato wrote: »
    Are you eating back exercise caloriesOP? You should be. What about a food scale for logging?

    You're SUPPOSED to eat back exercise calories? I stopped doing that because I thought it might help me lose faster.

    Then again myself and this poster are very different. I'm 5 8" and started at 226 lbs and have lost 9.3 lbs in 43 days. I'm opting for 1 pound a week but have my calories set at 1400 rather than the suggested 1830 to make it happen faster. I'm pretty sedentary with work so I have to make sure not to overeat. Should I be eating the calories I lose exercising ?

  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    edited September 2018
    ashley5080 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Are you eating back exercise caloriesOP? You should be. What about a food scale for logging?

    Im not eating my exercise as its only 200 cals. Low impact hitt at home. Counting my cals through scannin the packet as its more accurate. I think may im wrong. Wot next please. Tx

    Sometimes the container will have more or less weight wise then on the package so there can be variation. Personally i haven't found the variation there to be significant enough to hamper weight loss so I haven't bothered. But I am overall careful about logging and have some slack with exercise calories.

    HOWEVER, are you ONLY eating stuff prepackaged? no fruit or veggy? or meat? those need to be weighed and logged (unless it's X gram of chicken you buy and you input that weight raw and split between servings you will be eating I guess then no read need to re-weight)
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    countcurt wrote: »
    Never, ever, ever, use the word 'only' in a sentence that starts with 'I' and is followed by 'lost'.


    ^^ agreed


    OP you're losing just fine, adjust your expectations as you don't have much to lose 0.5-1lb per week loss is ideal.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Are you eating back exercise caloriesOP? You should be. What about a food scale for logging?

    You're SUPPOSED to eat back exercise calories? I stopped doing that because I thought it might help me lose faster.

    Then again myself and this poster are very different. I'm 5 8" and started at 226 lbs and have lost 9.3 lbs in 43 days. I'm opting for 1 pound a week but have my calories set at 1400 rather than the suggested 1830 to make it happen faster. I'm pretty sedentary with work so I have to make sure not to overeat. Should I be eating the calories I lose exercising ?

    If you are using MFP to calculate your calorie goal, then that is a NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) goal and therefore excludes exercise. MFP is set up such that even if you do no exercise at all, you would lose at the rate you chose during set up. If you do exercise, you are supposed to eat those calories back, to avoid having too large of a deficit. That said - some people find that the calorie burn estimates are inflated so they focus on only eating back a portion of the calories until they establish how accurate those calorie burn projections are for them..

    You've lost ~ 9 lbs in 6 weeks so you are losing slightly faster than the projected 1 lb/week you desire, but you went with a lower calorie goal (1400) than the recommended from MFP, even still it's not the exact rate that the numbers would suggest. Are you using a food scale for logging accuracy? That's the best way to ensure that you can have confidence that you are eating to the right calorie goal for your desired rate of loss.

  • ashley5080
    ashley5080 Posts: 12 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Are you eating back exercise caloriesOP? You should be. What about a food scale for logging?

    You're SUPPOSED to eat back exercise calories? I stopped doing that because I thought it might help me lose faster.

    Then again myself and this poster are very different. I'm 5 8" and started at 226 lbs and have lost 9.3 lbs in 43 days. I'm opting for 1 pound a week but have my calories set at 1400 rather than the suggested 1830 to make it happen faster. I'm pretty sedentary with work so I have to make sure not to overeat. Should I be eating the calories I lose exercising ?

    Thanku for ur reply and personal information. Id say we r supposed to b eating the extra calories. Mayb im not eating enuf tbh. Im counting religiously most days slighly under by 50 or so. But wot the slowish lose id better not eat more. I walk a bit in work but not enuf to count as extra. Thanks again. Good 2 kn ppl r reading. Tx
  • ashley5080
    ashley5080 Posts: 12 Member
    Panini911 wrote: »
    ashley5080 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Are you eating back exercise caloriesOP? You should be. What about a food scale for logging?

    Im not eating my exercise as its only 200 cals. Low impact hitt at home. Counting my cals through scannin the packet as its more accurate. I think may im wrong. Wot next please. Tx

    Sometimes the container will have more or less weight wise then on the package so there can be variation. Personally i haven't found the variation there to be significant enough to hamper weight loss so I haven't bothered. But I am overall careful about logging and have some slack with exercise calories.

    HOWEVER, are you ONLY eating stuff prepackaged? no fruit or veggy? or meat? those need to be weighed and logged (unless it's X gram of chicken you buy and you input that weight raw and split between servings you will be eating I guess then no read need to re-weight)

    I know wot ur sayin...much fresh stuff salad and veg dinners even thats difficult to count at times. Like wot is a med apple or orangle. Iv at least i meal of veg and 3 pieces or fruit a day. Most days r well balanced i hope 🤞
  • ashley5080
    ashley5080 Posts: 12 Member
    countcurt wrote: »
    Never, ever, ever, use the word 'only' in a sentence that starts with 'I' and is followed by 'lost'.


    ^^ agreed


    OP you're losing just fine, adjust your expectations as you don't have much to lose 0.5-1lb per week loss is ideal.

    Much appreciated. Iv bn overthinkin but on up side im 5 weeks in and in a good routine .tx
  • stargazerscribe
    stargazerscribe Posts: 44 Member
    My weight loss is slow too, despite exercise and eating right. But you do have to defecit 3500 calories to equal one pound of fat burned off. If you're burning more than you're eating, that's good, but remember its gonna have to add up to 3500 before you really get a whole pound of fat off. You're doing a healthy, steady pace!
  • ashley5080
    ashley5080 Posts: 12 Member
    Glad to hear like minded ppl on hear. I expected to much and need to appreaciate the lose so far. Easy to give up than keep going. Do u eat all ur daily cals and ur exercise 1s. Tx
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    ashley5080 wrote: »
    Im 5 weeks in and only lost 5.5lbs. Sticking to 1200cal per day. Exercising 3 times a week. How do ppl stay on plan. I expecting 2lb per week but this is so slow. Any tips or comments welcome. Ashley

    5.5 lbs in 5 weeks isn’t really that slow.
    I’ve lost 1 lb in the past 30 days. <- That is slow. :laugh: I’ve been bouncing between maintenance and a deficit though.

    Not everyone can lose 2 lbs per week in a healthy way. Based on the calorie goal you have, I’m going to guess that MFP didn’t calculate your Non-Exercise maintenance to be high enough for a 1000 calorie deficit.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    ashley5080 wrote: »
    Glad to hear like minded ppl on hear. I expected to much and need to appreaciate the lose so far. Easy to give up than keep going. Do u eat all ur daily cals and ur exercise 1s. Tx

    Every single calorie. Sometimes in a deficit and sometimes at maintenance, but I am only looking to lose a bit of fat (vanity) and I struggle with keeping in a calorie deficit these days. I also track measurements and like to focus on fitness more so than the scale. I mean honestly what the scale says doesn’t matter if my fitness is improved and I am losing inches.
  • MyEvolvingJourney
    MyEvolvingJourney Posts: 369 Member
    ashley5080 wrote: »
    Glad to hear like minded ppl on hear. I expected to much and need to appreaciate the lose so far. Easy to give up than keep going. Do u eat all ur daily cals and ur exercise 1s. Tx

    Every single calorie. Sometimes in a deficit and sometimes at maintenance, but I am only looking to lose a bit of fat (vanity) and I struggle with keeping in a calorie deficit these days. I also track measurements and like to focus on fitness more so than the scale. I mean honestly what the scale says doesn’t matter if my fitness is improved and I am losing inches.

    This is one thing I haven't done yet and I think I need to! How do you know where to measure though? So that you're measuring the same spot every time?
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    ashley5080 wrote: »
    Glad to hear like minded ppl on hear. I expected to much and need to appreaciate the lose so far. Easy to give up than keep going. Do u eat all ur daily cals and ur exercise 1s. Tx

    Every single calorie. Sometimes in a deficit and sometimes at maintenance, but I am only looking to lose a bit of fat (vanity) and I struggle with keeping in a calorie deficit these days. I also track measurements and like to focus on fitness more so than the scale. I mean honestly what the scale says doesn’t matter if my fitness is improved and I am losing inches.

    This is one thing I haven't done yet and I think I need to! How do you know where to measure though? So that you're measuring the same spot every time?


    Calf, thigh, hip, forearm, upper arm = measure the largest area

    For my abdomen I do 2 measurements.
    Around my belly button (so line tape up with belly button) and my waist (about 2” higher than belly button and smallest area of my abdomen)
  • ashley5080
    ashley5080 Posts: 12 Member
    Hi every1 i measure breasts really lookin at my back belly button for waist and top of hips. I think it helps wen weight is slower. Defo feel a difference. Just dosent show on scales. I do home work 3 min cardio 3 min strength 3 min abs. Do that 2-3 times
  • mmnv79
    mmnv79 Posts: 538 Member
    ashley5080 wrote: »
    Hi every1 i measure breasts really lookin at my back belly button for waist and top of hips. I think it helps wen weight is slower. Defo feel a difference. Just dosent show on scales. I do home work 3 min cardio 3 min strength 3 min abs. Do that 2-3 times

    You are doing great :) Keep up the good work. x

    I have 12/13 kg to reach my health BMI and currently loosing about a pound per week, but I expect it will slow down. My diary is visible to friends. Feel free to add me here.