Haven't lost any weight - what am I doing wrong?
tashOV
Posts: 5 Member
Hi there,
I am male, 175cm and 89kg. My goal weight is 70kg. Based on trying to lose 0.5kg a week MFP has given me a calorie intake of 2040 calories.
I work in a brewery on my feet, often cycle 80min round trip to work, walk the dog most days, do yoga twice a week and sometimes work out or do other forms of sport. I have marked myself as lightly active, and I log exercise but only ever eat back half of exercise calories.
I've been under my calorie intake almost every day for three weeks, eating loads of vegetables and whole foods, and staying very active. I have been pretty hungry, but have been managing it with carrots and apples etc.
My weight has fluctuated but overall has not dropped at all. Am I doing something wrong? I know the obvious answer is to drop my calories but I'm already pretty hungry day to day and with my job being so active I need to keep my energy levels up. I am vegetarian - do I need to be taking protein powder to keep me full?
TIA!
I am male, 175cm and 89kg. My goal weight is 70kg. Based on trying to lose 0.5kg a week MFP has given me a calorie intake of 2040 calories.
I work in a brewery on my feet, often cycle 80min round trip to work, walk the dog most days, do yoga twice a week and sometimes work out or do other forms of sport. I have marked myself as lightly active, and I log exercise but only ever eat back half of exercise calories.
I've been under my calorie intake almost every day for three weeks, eating loads of vegetables and whole foods, and staying very active. I have been pretty hungry, but have been managing it with carrots and apples etc.
My weight has fluctuated but overall has not dropped at all. Am I doing something wrong? I know the obvious answer is to drop my calories but I'm already pretty hungry day to day and with my job being so active I need to keep my energy levels up. I am vegetarian - do I need to be taking protein powder to keep me full?
TIA!
1
Replies
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Could you open your diary up? Might be that your logging is a little off (easily done) and you're eating more than you think, particularly if you're not using a food scale.
Satiety is an individual thing, could be more protein would fill you, but it could also be more fat or carbs.2 -
I have tried to figure out how to do that, but can't work out how. I have been using a food scale, scanning bar codes where possible, and as I have been doing most of the cooking I think everything is pretty accurate. Where I'm unsure I always overstate because I know how easy it is to underestimate. I would also have thought that if I were eating more than I should I wouldn't be hungry?0
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It's still possible to be hungry (or think you're hungry) when you eat at maintenance or overeat. On an active day I can eat over 3000 calories and still be ravenous.
It could also just be you need to work on your patience, the scale doesn't always reflect what's going on with fat loss. Is your weight no lower at all?
For diary settings - in the app it's Settings>Diary Settings>Diary Sharing> Public3 -
I have tried to figure out how to do that, but can't work out how. I have been using a food scale, scanning bar codes where possible, and as I have been doing most of the cooking I think everything is pretty accurate. Where I'm unsure I always overstate because I know how easy it is to underestimate. I would also have thought that if I were eating more than I should I wouldn't be hungry?
Scanning bar codes is exactly the same as typing the name in and doing a search. It's no guarantee of accuracy.5 -
Have you tried a weight trend app (or website), or simply draw your weight in values on an Excel spreadsheet?4
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@tinkerbellang83 I may have lost a kilo, but also that could easily just be within the 1-3kg that my weight fluctuates within a day! I suppose I'll just have to wait it out and be more patient. It's possible I've gained muscle mass I suppose? It just feels mad because before I was logging, I was probably eating (and drinking - I work in a brewery!) easily 1500-2000 more calories a day without even thinking about it, so I would have thought that I would see some results now I'm being so diligent. Thanks for your help.
@ceiswyn I guess I meant I've been pulling up the specific nutritional information for the brand/variety I'm cooking with, rather than just picking a generic entry for "tofu" or "apple" but I guess you're right, there are limits to the accuracy of that information.2 -
@tinkerbellang83 I may have lost a kilo, but also that could easily just be within the 1-3kg that my weight fluctuates within a day! I suppose I'll just have to wait it out and be more patient. It's possible I've gained muscle mass I suppose? It just feels mad because before I was logging, I was probably eating (and drinking - I work in a brewery!) easily 1500-2000 more calories a day without even thinking about it, so I would have thought that I would see some results now I'm being so diligent. Thanks for your help.
@ceiswyn I guess I meant I've been pulling up the specific nutritional information for the brand/variety I'm cooking with, rather than just picking a generic entry for "tofu" or "apple" but I guess you're right, there are limits to the accuracy of that information.
Unless you're actively strength training and watching your protein intake, it's unlikely you've gained muscle whilst eating in a deficit.
Are you using a trendweight app to log your weight? It can help a lot with seeing past the fluctuations. Libra for Android, Happyscale for iOS and Weightgrapher for PC.
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Looking at your diary, there are one or two things that could be affecting accuracy:
Olive Oil measure in spoons - it's very easy to underestimate oil and it's very high calorie.
Vegetable Soup and some other entries for meals - are these your own recipe or just one you've found in the database?
Some items not weighed in recent days in cups/teaspoons/item quantity.
Last weekend - no logging Sunday and limited logging Saturday.
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@tinkerbellang83 I may have lost a kilo, but also that could easily just be within the 1-3kg that my weight fluctuates within a day! I suppose I'll just have to wait it out and be more patient. It's possible I've gained muscle mass I suppose? It just feels mad because before I was logging, I was probably eating (and drinking - I work in a brewery!) easily 1500-2000 more calories a day without even thinking about it, so I would have thought that I would see some results now I'm being so diligent. Thanks for your help.
@ceiswyn I guess I meant I've been pulling up the specific nutritional information for the brand/variety I'm cooking with, rather than just picking a generic entry for "tofu" or "apple" but I guess you're right, there are limits to the accuracy of that information.
What would you be building that muscle mass out of? If you're not losing weight, it's not because muscle mass is appearing on your body out of thin air. Nice as that would be.
I'm also slightly suspicious of your logging
On the one hand, '1 cup' (a very inexact measurement) of rice, but on the other hand, exactly 66.67 grams of yoghurt? Does that actually mean you're spooning out, say, a third of a pot that says it's 200g?
I do that myself sometimes, but I'm aware that I'm approximating and guessing, and if my weight goes up (I'm in maintenance) that's one of the first things I'll tighten up on.2 -
You might want to experiment with adding more protein to your day. It might help with the hunger.
I notice you did not log on Sunday. Was that a "cheat" day for you?
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@tinkerbellang83 I have been measuring oil with my tablespoon measure, definitely shocked me at first how much i had been using before measuring! Most recipes are ones I have added myself ingredient by ingredient. I batch cook so I add a recipe and then log it for the next couple of days. Yeah last weekend was a crapshoot - Saturday I wasn't very well so barely ate, and I was at a friend's house Sunday and so eating their food, I think I made healthy choices but I really had no way of knowing what I was eating so while I think I was under my calories I have no way of knowing. So yes, a cheat day!
@ceiswyn the rice I couldn't figure out how to log in the grams I weighed (150) so I googled the conversion and logged in cups - I'm still figuring out the app I guess. With yoghurt a similar thing, I used 65g, which was roughly 2/3 of the 100g serving the app suggested. I'm getting better at logging more accurately but I do lots of measuring, weighing, ratios, and recipe design etc at work so I like to think I'm pretty good at it!
@NovusDies I've ordered some protein powder so will play around with that and see if it helps. Yeah Sunday was a cheat day - see above my reply to Tinkerbell1 -
@tinkerbellang83 I have been measuring oil with my tablespoon measure, definitely shocked me at first how much i had been using before measuring! Most recipes are ones I have added myself ingredient by ingredient. I batch cook so I add a recipe and then log it for the next couple of days. Yeah last weekend was a crapshoot - Saturday I wasn't very well so barely ate, and I was at a friend's house Sunday and so eating their food, I think I made healthy choices but I really had no way of knowing what I was eating so while I think I was under my calories I have no way of knowing. So yes, a cheat day!
@ceiswyn the rice I couldn't figure out how to log in the grams I weighed (150) so I googled the conversion and logged in cups - I'm still figuring out the app I guess. With yoghurt a similar thing, I used 65g, which was roughly 2/3 of the 100g serving the app suggested. I'm getting better at logging more accurately but I do lots of measuring, weighing, ratios, and recipe design etc at work so I like to think I'm pretty good at it!
@NovusDies I've ordered some protein powder so will play around with that and see if it helps. Yeah Sunday was a cheat day - see above my reply to Tinkerbell
In which case I think the best thing you can do it start logging your weight to find the trend and focus on trying to be accurate with your logging, everything else will fall in to place. Play around with your macros for satiety.
On the oil front, I have found the 1cal sprays helpful (presume you're UK based from your diary entries) - several supermarkets have their own brand or there is Frylight. I use these for frying and roasting and limit my use of oil in recipes where possible. It can easily make a couple of hundred calories different per day.1 -
@tinkerbellang83 I have been measuring oil with my tablespoon measure, definitely shocked me at first how much i had been using before measuring! Most recipes are ones I have added myself ingredient by ingredient. I batch cook so I add a recipe and then log it for the next couple of days. Yeah last weekend was a crapshoot - Saturday I wasn't very well so barely ate, and I was at a friend's house Sunday and so eating their food, I think I made healthy choices but I really had no way of knowing what I was eating so while I think I was under my calories I have no way of knowing. So yes, a cheat day!
@ceiswyn the rice I couldn't figure out how to log in the grams I weighed (150) so I googled the conversion and logged in cups - I'm still figuring out the app I guess. With yoghurt a similar thing, I used 65g, which was roughly 2/3 of the 100g serving the app suggested. I'm getting better at logging more accurately but I do lots of measuring, weighing, ratios, and recipe design etc at work so I like to think I'm pretty good at it!
@NovusDies I've ordered some protein powder so will play around with that and see if it helps. Yeah Sunday was a cheat day - see above my reply to Tinkerbell
There's no reasonable way to convert from a weight measurement to a cup measurement, unless what you're converting is water. There are plenty of rice entries in the database that use grams, including multiple ones for Morrison's brown rice - both cooked and uncooked.
You logged 248 calories for that 150g of brown rice. But if it was 150g cooked rice it was actually only 165 calories; and if it was 150g of uncooked rice it was actually closer to 500 calories.4 -
[/quote]There's no reasonable way to convert from a weight measurement to a cup measurement, unless what you're converting is water. There are plenty of rice entries in the database that use grams, including multiple ones for Morrison's brown rice - both cooked and uncooked.
You logged 248 calories for that 150g of brown rice. But if it was 150g cooked rice it was actually only 165 calories; and if it was 150g of uncooked rice it was actually closer to 500 calories.[/quote]
That's super helpful! It was cooked rice, so at least I overestimated!
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Just a pic that shows how deadly "cheat" days can be:
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It may take more the three weeks to get things going. I think the body adapts and tries to stay the same. Also, I don't think you mention your age but at 40 it got tougher and 50 even tougher yet! Hold the course you seem to be doing the right things. I think at 8 weeks you'll see good progress start to kick in.0
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Your protein is really low (50-80g/day). If your activity level is high, you probably need to double that which should help with muscle retention and possibly satiety.2
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It may take more the three weeks to get things going. I think the body adapts and tries to stay the same. Also, I don't think you mention your age but at 40 it got tougher and 50 even tougher yet! Hold the course you seem to be doing the right things. I think at 8 weeks you'll see good progress start to kick in.
You lose weight by being in a calorie deficit at any age. The body cannot adapt in a way that would prevent losses from happening. If you are in an energy deficit your body will use stored energy to fill the requirement. This stored energy is hopefully mostly fat. It is happening daily it just doesn't show up on the scale that way. Fat weight loss happens in very small increments and it can be easily masked by other body weight fluctuations.5 -
5 -
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Hi there,
I am male, 175cm and 89kg. My goal weight is 70kg. Based on trying to lose 0.5kg a week MFP has given me a calorie intake of 2040 calories.
I work in a brewery on my feet, often cycle 80min round trip to work, walk the dog most days, do yoga twice a week and sometimes work out or do other forms of sport. I have marked myself as lightly active, and I log exercise but only ever eat back half of exercise calories.
I've been under my calorie intake almost every day for three weeks, eating loads of vegetables and whole foods, and staying very active. I have been pretty hungry, but have been managing it with carrots and apples etc.
My weight has fluctuated but overall has not dropped at all. Am I doing something wrong? I know the obvious answer is to drop my calories but I'm already pretty hungry day to day and with my job being so active I need to keep my energy levels up. I am vegetarian - do I need to be taking protein powder to keep me full?
TIA!
are you weighing yourself in the morning and consistently same time before eating0 -
@tinkerbellang83 I have been measuring oil with my tablespoon measure, definitely shocked me at first how much i had been using before measuring! Most recipes are ones I have added myself ingredient by ingredient. I batch cook so I add a recipe and then log it for the next couple of days. Yeah last weekend was a crapshoot - Saturday I wasn't very well so barely ate, and I was at a friend's house Sunday and so eating their food, I think I made healthy choices but I really had no way of knowing what I was eating so while I think I was under my calories I have no way of knowing. So yes, a cheat day!
@ceiswyn the rice I couldn't figure out how to log in the grams I weighed (150) so I googled the conversion and logged in cups - I'm still figuring out the app I guess. With yoghurt a similar thing, I used 65g, which was roughly 2/3 of the 100g serving the app suggested. I'm getting better at logging more accurately but I do lots of measuring, weighing, ratios, and recipe design etc at work so I like to think I'm pretty good at it!
@NovusDies I've ordered some protein powder so will play around with that and see if it helps. Yeah Sunday was a cheat day - see above my reply to Tinkerbell
Math for the win, on the bolded one: If you weighed 65g of yogurt, that is exactly 65/100 of the 100 grams listed in the app, so you would enter 0.65 servings. (Not that 2/3 is far off, but you're making the estimation harder than it needs to be).2 -
You sound as if you're doing good at working through the issues
Weight trend app and morning weight in conditions.
You're active or very active not sedentary. You're expected to eat back exercise calories to lose at the pretty good rate of about a lb a week that you selected. Longer term this may affect your energy levels. Back of the napkin says that even 2500 real calories of intake should be a deficit for you.
There is no real indication you aren't succeeding. Just like your current weight may be obscured by fluctuations so could your original starting point.
As to the sizeable contrast in terms of what you used to consume, did you move to a deficit from a position of increasing weight, or were you maintaining when you started?
You will figure out the logging as time goes on.
0/1 Cal sprays still dispense about 9 Cal of oil per gram of weight the can dispenses. In the up to 10g sprays I tried using my own kitchen equipment it was 10g down for the can and 10g up for the frying pan... the law says that the label can claim 0 Cal for the PORTION listed as long as it comes in under 5 Cal. 0.25 of a second of spray!
1 -
You sound as if you're doing good at working through the issues
Weight trend app and morning weight in conditions.
You're active or very active not sedentary. You're expected to eat back exercise calories to lose at the pretty good rate of about a lb a week that you selected. Longer term this may affect your energy levels. Back of the napkin says that even 2500 real calories of intake should be a deficit for you.
There is no real indication you aren't succeeding. Just like your current weight may be obscured by fluctuations so could your original starting point.
As to the sizeable contrast in terms of what you used to consume, did you move to a deficit from a position of increasing weight, or were you maintaining when you started?
You will figure out the logging as time goes on.
0/1 Cal sprays still dispense about 9 Cal of oil per gram of weight the can dispenses. In the up to 10g sprays I tried using my own kitchen equipment it was 10g down for the can and 10g up for the frying pan... the law says that the label can claim 0 Cal for the PORTION listed as long as it comes in under 5 Cal. 0.25 of a second of spray!
Isn't that the US aerosol type though? The UK ones aren't aerosol. We also have different rules/requirements around nutritional information than the US. From OP's diary they appear to be UK based as the diary entries are from UK supermarkets.
This is a quote from Frylight - one of the most popular brands in the UK:
"Frylight contains at least 30% fewer calories and 30% less fat than regular oils and dispenses 1kcal/0.1g fat per spray. 5 sprays of Frylight (0.5g fat/5kcal) can replace 1 tablespoon of normal oil (15g fat/120kcal) in shallow frying."
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I have friends who introduced me to a paleo diet. The focus is on good foods but avoiding the sauces, condiments, and the like that we might add to the great food. It is not the total answer but helps me stay focused on preparing healthy foods and meals and being aware of the additional calories, fats, etc. associated with many convenience foods.0
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