Not losing weight...

Jerziiiii · March 2019

I don’t seem to be losing any weight even though I am sticking to the calorie recommendation by my fitness pal.

janejellyroll · March 2019

How long have you been at it?

diannethegeek · March 2019

Hi there! You haven't given us a lot of details and you've chosen to keep your diary closed, so the best I can offer are some generic tips.

1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

2. 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.

3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one and use it for everything. Everything. For a couple of weeks to see what kind of discrepancies you're running into. 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.

4. 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. Don't trust the barcode scanner or restaurant entries 100%.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

quiksylver296 · March 2019

diana4260 · March 2019

Me neither. I weigh,count and measure everything I eat and drink but not getting anywhere with my weight loss. I have upped my exercise and my water intake too. Everyday when I submit my diary it tells me how much I will lose if I continue like this for 5 weeks. Not sure how that works as the weight is just simply staying where it is.

snickerscharlie · March 2019

Jerziiiii wrote: »

I don’t seem to be losing any weight even though I am sticking to the calorie recommendation by my fitness pal.

Without any furthur details being given, the only thing I can say is that your answer is most likely in this chart somewhere:

Jerziiiii · March 2019

Thanks all. I changed settings and made my food diary public. My weight fluctuates, I’m up a pound one day and down a pound the next. I have been using the app diary consistently and accurately for over 3 weeks. I am not currently exercising. Thanks again!

quiksylver296 · March 2019

Get a food scale. Weigh everything.

Check out this thread.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

PAV8888 · March 2019

Also start using a weight trend application and consider your weight trend number to be your actual weight. With hormonal water weight retention having to be taken into account, you may need to collect four to six week of data before you can determine your underlying weight level.

rsj7799 · March 2019

I looked at your diary and I think you need to get a digital food scale, and try and find more accurate entries for your food items. Look for ones in grams. You can google the item and add "calories" to the search to get an idea if you see widely different entries.
"Eyeballing" servings of peanut butter can only lead to sorrow.
Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. El cheapo digital food scale will make your life so much easier. Well worth the 10 to 20 dollar investment.

emilysusana · March 2019

rsj7799 wrote: »

I looked at your diary and I think you need to get a digital food scale, and try and find more accurate entries for your food items. Look for ones in grams. You can google the item and add "calories" to the search to get an idea if you see widely different entries.
"Eyeballing" servings of peanut butter can only lead to sorrow.
Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. El cheapo digital food scale will make your life so much easier. Well worth the 10 to 20 dollar investment.

Definitely this. I was on and off here (or Calorie Count) for a couple of years before started reading community posts about this and thought maybe that was my issue. Turns out it was! I was eating more than I thought.

Jerziiiii · March 2019

Thank you for the replies. I try to use the UPC code on prepackaged food or look up the food by Brand name if possible. The food scale is a great idea and something I never considered. Thanks again!

COGypsy · March 2019

Keep in mind that the UPC code is just a quick search tool. Those entries are user-entered like all the rest. Be sure and double check the entry against the actual product info. Food manufacturers can also legally have a weight variance of up to 20% on packaged food, so it can be well worth weighing even prepackaged items.

Not losing weight...

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