1200 calories and not losing

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  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    edited October 2019
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    I'm also 5'3". I started actively losing in May with about a 20 lb loss goal. Here are my losses by month:

    May: -.5 lb
    June: -.5 lb
    July: -4 lbs (began MFP and proper tracking)
    August: -1 lb
    September: -3 lbs
    October: -2 lbs so far

    It's slow and frustrating at times, but the weight is coming off.

    I highly recommend a weight trend app like Happy Scale (Apple?) or Libra. Seeing the downward trend really helps during those weeks when weight just bounces around. I know Libra allows entering previous weights, so you can have your whole history on there.

    I have a .5 lb/ week goal on here and MFP gives me 1210 calories. I actually eat an average of 1300 for the losses mentioned above. Most days (based on the past 3 since I found my old Fitbit and linked it), I get about 10,000 steps. I'm a pretty careful tracker/weigher for food. For example, even if the database entry I selected says ".25 cup" for a solid, I actually weighed the item in grams.

    My diary is open to friends if you want to send me a request.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,217 Member
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    Another vote for meticulous logging. Attempting to lose a relatively small amount of weight (compared to some on the platform) tends to require more diligence as the margin for error shrinks. I know it can take some time but if you work on cultivating weighing and logging as a habit it does become much easier and not too time-consuming. I'm a big proponent of pre-logging as much as possible, especially if you eat much the same things each day. I find this makes things much easier in terms of planning my day, overall adherence, and not having to scramble figuring out what to have for dinner to fit X calories I have left.
  • mburgess458
    mburgess458 Posts: 480 Member
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    van780 wrote: »
    Ok so I think I'm on day 45 straight of logging. I am 5'3 female
    Sw 157
    Cw 153 ish
    Gw 145 (for now)
    At a rate of 1.5 lbs a week, and mfp has suggested 1200 cal ......

    I don't think anyone has specifically said this yet - You shouldn't be expecting 1.5 lbs a week of weight loss. MFP won't recommend anything below 1,200 calories a day for a woman. You could enter wanting to lose 2 lbs a week and it will say 1,200. Try playing around with it by entering maintain (0 lbs a week) and you'll see what MFP thinks your maintenance calories are... then compare your 1,200 to that and you'll see what your theoretical weight loss per week really is. That is more what you should be expecting over the long-term if you are accurately logging. Obviously there will be large variation but right now your expectation of 1.5 lbs a week is higher than what MFP is even trying to give you.
  • StaciMarie2020
    StaciMarie2020 Posts: 68 Member
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    When you're not losing (over the course of 6+ weeks) at the rate you expect, then as others have said: it is time to firm up your logging.

    Food packaging does not have to be accurate. The package says 2 slices of bread is 45 grams? If you weigh them, you'll probably find most are 50-55 grams in weight. If you log a small banana, how can you know how YOUR banana relates, in size, to the example banana in the entry? And when it comes to solid food and 'cups' - you can pour a cup 5 times and it won't be exactly the same amount because each 'cupful' will settle differently.

    For eating prepackaged items, at times when a food scale is not available, I would err on the safe side and log it as 110%. Instead of logging that you had 1, log 1.1. That will help to account for some of the packaging error.

    When TDEE is not very high, the best you can do is aim for a smallish deficit. And if your target deficit is only 300-500 calories then errors in logging will make a big difference.

    The other side of the coin is you can try to fit in more activity. Not so much to have a bigger deficit, but to be able to have more food. If I don't bother, my TDEE is only about 1500-1600 per day. I have found 1300-1500 is my sweet spot. I can't really function under that on a regular basis. So by making an effort to get in a daily walk, I can eat 1300-1500 and have my TDEE around 1750-1850.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    Read this thread, OP.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10697068/how-i-stopped-kidding-myself/p1
  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
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    van780 wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Are you using a food scale for all solids?
    Are you double checking the entries you choose in the database to make sure they show the correct calories?
    Have you logged every single thing that has passed your lips in that 7 weeks?
    Is 153 the lowest you've gotten in that 7 weeks?

    I am not . I've been using cups and spoons. And I have been double checking entries to make sure they are correct. I have been pretty diligent in logging everything that I've even nibbled on. There was only 1 day that I know I over ate . I had one short and sweet peek at 152.8 :) but I've been keeping in 153s . Hoping tomorrow is a 152 day !

    Take time out to read the sticky posts at the top of the forums. There is a ton of useful information that you've missed about how to be sure your logging efforts are done correctly.
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
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    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    Read this thread, OP.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10697068/how-i-stopped-kidding-myself/p1

    That was an excellent read
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    serrano1000 wrote: »
    Here is some "food" for thought on how the body burns calories and the original definiton of a calorie... https://www.1843magazine.com/features/death-of-the-calorie

    Boy, that was a tedious read. :*

    And all it is really saying, in super long hand, is Weight Watchers is best - along with anecdotal (fictional? ) data about a person with PTSD and gems like calories in an apple and a lollipop might be the same but the apple is better for us - really?? You dont say!! - is anyone really unaware than an apple is more nutritious than a lollipop - that is ground breaking news???? :s

    Since everything that needs to be said about how weight loss works has already been said, writers and gurus in the diet industry try to break out of the tired, jaded pack with the format, "You always thought X was true, but X is actually wrong."

    The article's point seems to be that mid-20th century health professionals, concerned about obesity, targeted the densest source of calories: fat, which led to diets higher in carbs and sugar. Therefore, focusing on calories must be bad because it causes you to eat too much sugar. The sugar epidemic is the fault of calorie counters.

    If only they could figure out how to make pretzels with all the cool knots that come out of trying to deny the obvious. I'd buy one.

  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    serrano1000 wrote: »
    Here is some "food" for thought on how the body burns calories and the original definiton of a calorie... https://www.1843magazine.com/features/death-of-the-calorie

    Like saying no one can gain wealth because the value of currency is in fluctuation.

    Nonsense.
  • yuko0407
    yuko0407 Posts: 67 Member
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    mburgess458 wrote: »
    van780 wrote: »
    Ok so I think I'm on day 45 straight of logging. I am 5'3 female
    Sw 157
    Cw 153 ish
    Gw 145 (for now)
    At a rate of 1.5 lbs a week, and mfp has suggested 1200 cal ......

    I don't think anyone has specifically said this yet - You shouldn't be expecting 1.5 lbs a week of weight loss. MFP won't recommend anything below 1,200 calories a day for a woman. You could enter wanting to lose 2 lbs a week and it will say 1,200. Try playing around with it by entering maintain (0 lbs a week) and you'll see what MFP thinks your maintenance calories are... then compare your 1,200 to that and you'll see what your theoretical weight loss per week really is. That is more what you should be expecting over the long-term if you are accurately logging. Obviously there will be large variation but right now your expectation of 1.5 lbs a week is higher than what MFP is even trying to give you.

    This ^^
    I'm 5'3 also, 52 yo, sedentary. I've lost 10 kg (about 20 lb) eating 1250 cal/day, at a pretty constant pace of 0.3-0.4 kg/week (less than 1lb/week). My (estimated) TDEE is about 1500 cal/day. Losing 1.5 lbs/week would give me a deficit of 750 cal/day (you need a deficit of roughly 250 cal/day to lose 0.5 lb/week), leaving only 1500-750 = 750 cal/day to survive. Of course, this isn't sustainable. For us, short people, the weight loss is really slow... But if we are patient, the weight will drop!
  • denjan333
    denjan333 Posts: 158 Member
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    With only 8 lbs to lose, you will not lose @ 1.5 lbs per week. That is way too aggressive. With less than 10 lbs to lose, you need to set your goals to .5 lbs per week. Lower your expectations on weight loss. If you had a hundred pounds to lose, you can easily lose 2 lbs a week. It is just going to be slower the closer you are to an ideal weight, because you can't cut that many calories and still remain healthy.
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
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    van780 wrote: »
    Thank you for everyone's responses! I really thought I was doing a good job at counting and measuring but I will have to dive deeper into it to make sure that its accurate. I did not expect fast weight loss by any means - especially since I've yo yo ed a lot of my life. I am happy to be going down at all , I'm just getting anxious about gaining because it's so slow to lose I guess. Thank you for the advice and kind words. I'm gonna keep on logging and I will definitely do the weighing now that I know that it can be such a difference .
    I really hate counting and measuring, but nothing else was working for me and this feels less stressful than diets that eliminate certain food groups etc. I wanted to do something that would allow me to live like a normal person and have a treat if I want it :)

    Hey, totally there with you -- it's a pain to do. But it gets easier the more you do it. It makes you more mindful of what you eat. (I can't tell you how many times I passed on snacks because the effort to measure it wasn't worth it in part because I'd have to log it.) And just logging it helps, too.

    Eliminating whole food groups are generally a red flag that a diet isn't healthy--often too restrictive or based on the "nutritional fad of the year". When there's a facebook ad trying to scare you into not eating bananas, that's usually a sign to head the other way. Sure, some people choose to eat vegetarian for health reasons, or go low-carb or whatever, and that's fine. Know the difference!
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,493 Member
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    cheryldumais wrote: »
    Just my two cents worth on weighing vs measuring. I love Boom Chick a pop popcorn so I eat it almost every day for a snack. The bag says 50 grams or 7.5 cups = 250 calories. So I measured it but that actually weighs more like 80 grams. There's a difference right there of 150 calories. Since my deficit is only 250 calories just one serving measured vs weighed can almost wipe out my deficit for the day. Add to that my chewable Calcium and some Evening Primrose supplements and no loss for me. When you are so close to your goal you really have to be meticulous. Hang in there, it's worth the battle.

    Wow, that is actually quite a big difference!
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
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    cheryldumais wrote: »
    Just my two cents worth on weighing vs measuring. I love Boom Chick a pop popcorn so I eat it almost every day for a snack. The bag says 50 grams or 7.5 cups = 250 calories. So I measured it but that actually weighs more like 80 grams. There's a difference right there of 150 calories. Since my deficit is only 250 calories just one serving measured vs weighed can almost wipe out my deficit for the day. Add to that my chewable Calcium and some Evening Primrose supplements and no loss for me. When you are so close to your goal you really have to be meticulous. Hang in there, it's worth the battle.

    I hope you contacted the company. FDA allows a 20% difference, but that would be no more than 60 g. Wasn't there just a class action lawsuit about this same issue with Lenny & Larry? Certainly this company would like to avoid the same thing.

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