Cant lose weight

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starangel031785
starangel031785 Posts: 9 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
How common is it to underestimate what you eat and not be able to lose weight even with myfitnesspal....while being 40lbs overweight.

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  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    How are you measuring your food intake? A scale is the most accurate way. Measuring cups and spoons are less accurate for solids, but still better than eyeballing.
  • starangel031785
    starangel031785 Posts: 9 Member
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    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    How are you measuring your food intake? A scale is the most accurate way. Measuring cups and spoons are less accurate for solids, but still better than eyeballing.

    Measuring cups and scale. I haven't been obsessive with measuring by scale.
  • rosiorama
    rosiorama Posts: 300 Member
    edited March 2019
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    I think underestimating is pretty common. If you’re having trouble losing, I suggest getting obsessive about weighing everything and see if it makes a difference. I know it can be a pain - but it will likely be an eyeopener for you.

    You can either look at it as obsessive or empowering. And being obsessive takes the guesswork out of it.
  • sarabushby
    sarabushby Posts: 784 Member
    edited March 2019
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    I’m sure a program on TV the other day said that when self-reporting people underestimated their own calorie intake by as much as 45%! That’s a huge amount.
    Food scales, pre-logging and being selective when choosing diary entries are helpful for estimating your intake as accurately as possible.
  • tibby1971
    tibby1971 Posts: 25 Member
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    Are you “eating back” your exercise calories? I find MFP tends to over estimate calories burned. Today I did a Zumba class and it said 600 calories burned. Since I spent half the class tripping over my feet, I seriously doubt I burned that many.

    Personally I don’t eat my exercise calories back.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    MFP is designed for you to eat them back. If you don't think you're burning what it says you are, try eating back a portion. But if you don't eat any, then you're choosing the one total you KNOW is wrong.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,429 Member
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    starangel031785 wrote: »
    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    How are you measuring your food intake? A scale is the most accurate way. Measuring cups and spoons are less accurate for solids, but still better than eyeballing.

    Measuring cups and scale. I haven't been obsessive with measuring by scale.

    Here's the thing: Scale is not only more accurate than cups (let alone eyeballing), but it's also quicker and easier, once you know how to use it.

    This thread (despite the title ;) ) has the details:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10498882/weighing-food-takes-too-long-and-is-obsessive

    Another problem that's common is overestimating exercise calories. You're supposed to eat back exercise calories . . . when they're estimated reasonably. (Zero is not a reasonable estimate for any reasonable exercise, BTW, though being wrong on that side is less likely to hinder weight loss . . . though it can, through fatigue and lowered daily-life activity. ;) ).
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    rebelsue2 wrote: »
    Look at intermittent fasting for an easier solution - try googling gin stephens and start there

    What does IF have to do with underestimating intake?
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,107 Member
    edited April 2019
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    rebelsue2 wrote: »
    Look at intermittent fasting for an easier solution - try googling gin stephens and start there

    If you're underestimating your food intake, you're still going to be doing that even if you're eating within a fixed period of time?

    Meal frequency/timing is a personal preference, IF just helps some people stick to a calorie deficit, it's not magic.

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