No weight loss.....pls help!

rumpel38
rumpel38 Posts: 9 Member
edited December 23 in Getting Started
Hi everyone,

Kindly advice on my situation. I am 97 kg female, 168cm with approx 45% body fat percentage. I am also PCOD and insulin resistant.

I am tracking my calories on MFP and below is my 5 week summary:

Average Calories Carb Fat Protein
Week 1 1,564 232 57 51
Week 2 1,407 110 70 68
Week 3 1,547 84 92 100
Week 4 1,651 119 86 95
Week 5 1,639 100 91 99

I lift weights 4 days/week but otherwise not much physical activity except for my routine work as a teacher.

What am I doing wrong? Do I need to eat fewer calories?

Replies

  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,460 Member
    What is your goal? Are you trying to lose weight? Or gain? How much? Are you losing now? How much?
  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 1,071 Member
    edited September 2019
    do you weigh all your food and measure all your drinks, make sure you're using accurate food listings (hint - most here are wrong), then log everything?
  • rumpel38
    rumpel38 Posts: 9 Member
    edited September 2019
    What is your goal? Are you trying to lose weight? Or gain? How much? Are you losing now? How much?

    I am trying to lose weight. Long term goal is to lose 35 kgs.

    I have not lost any weight in the last 5 weeks, no changes in my measurement as well.
    Thanks.

  • rumpel38
    rumpel38 Posts: 9 Member
    edited September 2019
    do you weigh all your food and measure all your drinks, make sure you're using accurate food listings (hint - most here are wrong), then log everything?

    Yes, I do weigh my food and measure everything accurately before I log. I have created a summary of my intake that I log in MFP.

  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,934 Member
    Maybe try adding in 5-10 minutes of cardio first thing in the morning to get your metabolism going. Youtube has lots of single song workouts, maybe try 1 or 2 songs for a week and see if it makes a difference?
  • rumpel38
    rumpel38 Posts: 9 Member
    Danp wrote: »
    Maybe try adding in 5-10 minutes of cardio first thing in the morning to get your metabolism going. Youtube has lots of single song workouts, maybe try 1 or 2 songs for a week and see if it makes a difference?

    There's no need to 'get your metabolism going' in the morning. It's been going all night and is going just fine when you wake up. I mean 5-10 mins cardio in the morning isn't going to do any harm but it's almost certainly not going to have some dramatic effect beyond adding a few dozen calories to the CO column and maybe help shake off the sleep cobwebs.

    OP, if you're comfortable it's often a good idea to make your diary public, at least temporarily. Many is the time that the experienced and knowledgeable MFP users have been able to trouble shoot diary entries and pinpoint where things might be going askew.

    Thanks, I have made my diary public. It can be viewed at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/rumpel38
    I hope someone can point out my mistake or any changes that I need to do.
  • rumpel38
    rumpel38 Posts: 9 Member
    I’ve had a quick look at your diary and there are definitely some things you could tighten up on. I’ll give you the examples that jump out at me so you can get an idea of what I mean.
    Looking at today’s diary:

    You’ve logged a ‘banana -(small), 3-6.9 inches’ which comes in at 45 calories. You would be much better peeling and weighing the banana as they’re one of the most calorie dense fruits and you’ll probably find you’re consuming at least double that 45 cals. You need to look for a banana entry that has a gram option as a serving size rather than the generic ‘small, medium, large’.

    Again, the same goes for your carrots and peas (and maybe your potato 50g is a very small potato and a very precise weight - did you weigh it or did you just take a guess?)

    Looking back over a few days in your diary I can see a lot of generic entries like this and I think that your diary isn’t always a complete record of what you’ve eaten - there’s a dinner entry that suggests all you ate was 4.75g of butter, for instance.

    Avocado - 1 medium. Whilst good for you, avocados are really calorie dense! You absolutely need to be weighing the exact amount you used...or that alone could go a long way to cancel out your perceived deficit!

    ‘Homemade bread - 1 serving’ is that your recipe that you’ve used the recipe builder to create or is it a generic entry from the database?

    I’d also note that you’re over your calorie goal more than you’re managing to stay within it, and quite often over by 500+. Those days over goal added to a fair amount of inaccurate logging could well be enough to prevent you losing as you planned.

    Please don’t feel as if I’m picking on you, just trying to help you see where you might be able to tighten up your logging and get going in the direction you want!

    Thank you for taking the time to go through my diary to find out possible errors.

    I agree that some days I do not complete my diary. Potato, peas and carrots and the likes I measure by cup or on weighing scale. And yes, you are right the potato 50 gm is really small. I just weighed and ate the piece and used the rest of the potato for my family's cooking.
    Homemade bread was my own recipe that I created by putting all the ingredients that I used.

    I always set my calories target less than what my BMR but try to eat around 1500 cals . My BMR calculation is 1648 as calculated on
    https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html?ctype=metric&cage=41&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=10&cpound=160&cheightmeter=167&ckg=97&cmop=0&coutunit=c&cformula=m&cfatpct=20&x=47&y=27

    My average weekly intake is coming out to be around 1600 which is just around my BMR. My thinking was that eating around this should be fine as BMR calculators are not precise.

    As you suggested, now I will start weighing banana and avocado without skin to get the precise measurement.

    My question is should I now reduce my cal intake? If yes, then is it okay to be eating lower than the BMR?
    I will really appreciate your further assistance.

    Thanks heaps in advance.
  • Hollis100
    Hollis100 Posts: 1,408 Member

    Hello, I also looked back over your diary. I saw missing entries for whole meals and days when you went over your calories by several hundred. Better logging is your answer, plus sticking to your calorie limit.

    The basics:

    Put your stats into MFP -- your weight, age, activity level, etc.

    MFP will give you a daily calorie goal.

    Stick to that goal. Repeat, stick to that goal. Forget other math and don't make it complicated. Stick to the calorie limit MFP gives you.

    Log EVERYTHING you eat. Every meal, every snack, every nibble, every cracker, grape, even a stick of sugarless gum (5 calories!). The MFP program works by calories, so you have to log ALL OF THEM.

    Weigh your food on a scale whenever possible. Sometimes the scale isn't possible -- for restaurant food, for social events, for a grocery store salad bar, etc. --but use it as much as you can.

    You should lose weight if you stick to the calorie goal MFP gives you and log everything so you know the real picture.

    Exercise: you can eat back your exercise calories, but know many of the exercise calories on MFP and other sources are inflated. I don't eat all mine back, maybe half, and only if I'm hungry.

  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,941 Member
    edited September 2019
    Hollis100 wrote: »
    Hello, I also looked back over your diary. I saw missing entries for whole meals and days when you went over your calories by several hundred. Better logging is your answer, plus sticking to your calorie limit.

    The basics:

    Put your stats into MFP -- your weight, age, activity level, etc.

    MFP will give you a daily calorie goal.

    Stick to that goal. Repeat, stick to that goal. Forget other math and don't make it complicated. Stick to the calorie limit MFP gives you.

    Log EVERYTHING you eat. Every meal, every snack, every nibble, every cracker, grape, even a stick of sugarless gum (5 calories!). The MFP program works by calories, so you have to log ALL OF THEM.

    Weigh your food on a scale whenever possible. Sometimes the scale isn't possible -- for restaurant food, for social events, for a grocery store salad bar, etc. --but use it as much as you can.

    You should lose weight if you stick to the calorie goal MFP gives you and log everything so you know the real picture.

    Exercise: you can eat back your exercise calories, but know many of the exercise calories on MFP and other sources are inflated. I don't eat all mine back, maybe half, and only if I'm hungry.

    Just wanted to comment on the line I’ve bolded from your response. Simply seeing a lack of entries for a meal does not, in itself, suggest inaccurate logging. If anyone looked at my diary they’d think I wasn’t logging at all well.

    Sometimes I have breakfast, sometimes I have lunch but almost never do I have both. Sometimes I don’t even eat dinner, if I’m just busy/not hungry/not in the mood to cook again after cooking and cleaning up after cooking the family meal.

    None of these events are indicative of inaccurate logging though.
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    I stick to the MFP calculations, chose the macros which fit my life style, CICO and looooots of time! Voila!
  • csacani99
    csacani99 Posts: 14 Member
    The same was happening to me. So I was advised by this community, to get a food scale and I become much better with my entries. As everyone has said, everything you put in your mouth apart from water is calorie and it needs to be counted, even a tsp of oil or milk, I thought it didn't matter but it did. Be more active! I started to add a 4-mile brisk walk to my daily routine. Sometimes 2 miles in the morning and 2 miles in the evening. I also recommend that you change your dinner to lighter options, even if you are eating vegetables. Some of your choices are very dense in calories. For example, I avoid eating starchy vegetables for dinner. I have also learned a lot about my macros, and that makes a difference when you are counting calories. All these adjustments made a difference for me, and only now, I have started to see the results. Good luck, don't despair, the more you learn, the better you become. There is a lot of support here. My experience in this community has been a very positive one.
  • Hollis100
    Hollis100 Posts: 1,408 Member
    Hollis100 wrote: »
    Hello, I also looked back over your diary. I saw missing entries for whole meals and days when you went over your calories by several hundred. Better logging is your answer, plus sticking to your calorie limit.

    The basics:

    Put your stats into MFP -- your weight, age, activity level, etc.

    MFP will give you a daily calorie goal.

    Stick to that goal. Repeat, stick to that goal. Forget other math and don't make it complicated. Stick to the calorie limit MFP gives you.

    Log EVERYTHING you eat. Every meal, every snack, every nibble, every cracker, grape, even a stick of sugarless gum (5 calories!). The MFP program works by calories, so you have to log ALL OF THEM.

    Weigh your food on a scale whenever possible. Sometimes the scale isn't possible -- for restaurant food, for social events, for a grocery store salad bar, etc. --but use it as much as you can.

    You should lose weight if you stick to the calorie goal MFP gives you and log everything so you know the real picture.

    Exercise: you can eat back your exercise calories, but know many of the exercise calories on MFP and other sources are inflated. I don't eat all mine back, maybe half, and only if I'm hungry.

    Just wanted to comment on the line I’ve bolded from your response. Simply seeing a lack of entries for a meal does not, in itself, suggest inaccurate logging. If anyone looked at my diary they’d think I wasn’t logging at all well.

    Sometimes I have breakfast, sometimes I have lunch but almost never do I have both. Sometimes I don’t even eat dinner, if I’m just busy/not hungry/not in the mood to cook again after cooking and cleaning up after cooking the family meal.

    None of these events are indicative of inaccurate logging though.

    Hello, didn't mean to sound like I was lecturing you. Just giving you my honest feedback.

    I took the not logging whole meals from your response to another poster above me: I agree that some days I do not complete my diary.

    When you ask for advice, unfortunately all we can do is go on what you post here. I understand that it can be complicated. You're on the right track. Tighten up your logging. Log everything, no matter what. Use a food scale as much as possible. Good luck to you.
  • zippie2223
    zippie2223 Posts: 37 Member
    Over estimate Calories In
    Under estimate Calories Out
  • rumpel38
    rumpel38 Posts: 9 Member
    Thank you everyone for your responses. I will start logging more diligently. I hope results will eventually follow.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,941 Member
    Danp wrote: »
    Hollis100 wrote: »
    Hello, I also looked back over your diary. I saw missing entries for whole meals and days when you went over your calories by several hundred. Better logging is your answer, plus sticking to your calorie limit.

    The basics:

    Put your stats into MFP -- your weight, age, activity level, etc.

    MFP will give you a daily calorie goal.

    Stick to that goal. Repeat, stick to that goal. Forget other math and don't make it complicated. Stick to the calorie limit MFP gives you.

    Log EVERYTHING you eat. Every meal, every snack, every nibble, every cracker, grape, even a stick of sugarless gum (5 calories!). The MFP program works by calories, so you have to log ALL OF THEM.

    Weigh your food on a scale whenever possible. Sometimes the scale isn't possible -- for restaurant food, for social events, for a grocery store salad bar, etc. --but use it as much as you can.

    You should lose weight if you stick to the calorie goal MFP gives you and log everything so you know the real picture.

    Exercise: you can eat back your exercise calories, but know many of the exercise calories on MFP and other sources are inflated. I don't eat all mine back, maybe half, and only if I'm hungry.

    Just wanted to comment on the line I’ve bolded from your response. Simply seeing a lack of entries for a meal does not, in itself, suggest inaccurate logging. If anyone looked at my diary they’d think I wasn’t logging at all well.

    Sometimes I have breakfast, sometimes I have lunch but almost never do I have both. Sometimes I don’t even eat dinner, if I’m just busy/not hungry/not in the mood to cook again after cooking and cleaning up after cooking the family meal.

    None of these events are indicative of inaccurate logging though.

    This is the very reason I created a recipe called 'Skipped Meal' which has 0 calories/nutrients. I did this by making the only ingredient in the recipe 10ml water. Then if I skip lunch, don't eat a snack that day or whatever I'll put a 'Skipped Meal' entry so that there are no blanks or missing entries in my record.

    This way if I go back over my diary and see a meal without anything added I know for certain it's because I didn't log it and not because I didn't eat that meal that day.

    Ahhh, not a bad idea! I might steal that. Thank you!
  • StaciMarie2020
    StaciMarie2020 Posts: 68 Member
    Before you consider changing your calorie goal - first tighten up the logging to get a better idea on how much you're really consuming. The lack of weight loss and the admitted loose logging suggests you've been eating at maintenance, so more than you think. It is easy to do unfortunately.

    Use the food scale for any solid food if possible. Of course this is not always possible when out & about. But for when you do have control over it, make your logging accurate by using the food scale. Measuring cups are not accurate for solid food. How much you put in the cup is not always going to be the same.

    Also use the scale for items that come in packages w/ their weight listed. Slice of bread is supposed to be 45g? Check it - its likely 50-55g. This is true when cooking & using the recipe builder as well. I keep a small dry erase board in the kitchen and when making a meal, I note my items and weights - then put them in the recipe builder. The other night I made a baked pasta and multiple items had more weight in the box than the labels indicated. This was true of the penne pasta, low fat ricotta, part skim mozzarella. The sauce was actually less than the jar indicated - but I did not scrape out every little bit so that is on me lol.
  • cicimicicic
    cicimicicic Posts: 1 Member
    Keep your calories under 1400 and carbs under 100. Track everythink you eat and drink, even a small bites.
    Good luck!
  • rainbowblu
    rainbowblu Posts: 119 Member
    Hi,I had Pcos and Insulin resistance too,What worked for me was either taking the drug Metformin and eating moderate carbs(80 or less), or without any insulin drugs..going low carb(30 or less).. Please speak to an Endocrinologist,to complete a full blood panel,hormone levels,A1c...They will tell you more based on your tests...A person with Insulin resistance and Pcos does not process carbs,the same way as people with normal hormones....Good Luck!
  • rainbowblu
    rainbowblu Posts: 119 Member
    Also,work on strength training..building muscle helps with Insulin resistance...
This discussion has been closed.