So confused!

Trytrytry2020
Trytrytry2020 Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am 62 years old and weigh 165 pounds. I have recorded every morsel of food I have put in my body for 180 days. I walk and or do strength training almost everyday. My Apple Watch says I burn over 250 calories with each workout. At the end of the day my Apple Watch reads between 750-900 calories burned including those activity calories. I cannot lose weight. I try to eat well balanced meals each time. My fitness diary shows I eat between 1400-1700 calories per day. What am I doing incorrectly? How many calories should I be consuming? Should I ignore that daily total of calories burned entirely? How do they fit in the picture. Beyond discouraged and embarrassed that I can’t figure this out.

Replies

  • Go_Deskercise
    Go_Deskercise Posts: 1,630 Member
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  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 989 Member
    How long do you walk for and at what speed? I weigh less than you and am also a little younger, but I'd have to do 90 minutes at 3mph to get 250 calories. Strength training helps with muscle toning and definition, but gives very few calories to eat back.

    If you go to the Exercise tab on MFP and enter your exercise manually, how does MFP's calculation compare to what your Apple Watch gives? Certainly my experience is that MFP has been accurate for calculation of exercise calories for walking, if I'm accurate about my speed. It's very possible that your Apple Watch is overestimating your calories burned and you're therefore eating at maintenance rather than a deficit.

    Have you gone through the set-up in MFP? Assuming so, you'll know the number of calories to eat to lose weight at your selected rate, without exercise. I suggest you then log your exercise manually in MFP and eat the number of calories that it gives. See how you're doing in 6 weeks time.

    Also, what rate loss have you selected? You don't say how much you are trying to lose. And have you really not lost anything? Or have you just not lost as much as you think you should have?

    I'd also echo cmriverside's point about checking the accuracy of the database entries that you're using. Many are woefully incorrect.
  • Trytrytry2020
    Trytrytry2020 Posts: 6 Member
    I have gained and lost the same 3 pounds the entire time. I need to lose at least 20-25 pounds. I walk everyday for over an hour at a moderate pace. I may skip a walk day one to three times per month. I am 5’4 1/2 inches tall. I do my strength training three times per week without skipping. My Apple Watch gives me a total at the end of the day within my move goal. I have it set for 660 and I exceed that every day by 200-300.
    Thank you for your insight and suggestions. I guess I am just not that computer savvy to understand all of this. I thought I could look at my diary and it would tell me how many calories to eat once I have worked out in the morning. I rarely go over those amounts. I truly want to understand. My weight watcher coach told me I was an enigma. I had my thyroid tested. Nothing wrong there. My husband and closest friends tell me I eat way less than they do and yet I gain. Stumped.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,930 Member
    Ok, a few things come to mind

    * walking can show up as a massive calorie burn on a fitness tracker/watch in some people while our bodies are perfectly adapted to walking and as such we don't burn that much energy. I'm one of those people. My watch might easily give me 1600 calories for a 15km walk. For a three mile walk I would give myself about 130 calories. Note: this is based on my weight and might be different for you.
    * also strength training unfortunately doesn't burn a lot of calories. But it's really a great type of exercise for general health
    * You've not mentioned whether you use a food scale or not.
    * You might also be using incorrect database entries accidentally. As most entries are added by users there's a large number of wrong entries in there. If you want to you could open up your diary and we'll have a look
    * I honestly don't understand your move goal. Is that minutes, calories or something else?
  • Trytrytry2020
    Trytrytry2020 Posts: 6 Member
    Not sure about the move goal. It’s a feature on my Apple Watch. I use the bar codes whenever possible while tracking what I put in my mouth. . I do have a food scale and use it often. If I am unsure about a food item I typically record a similar item with the most calories. My strength training is thru Les Mills Body Pump. I can see physically some changes but not enough after doing these classes for over a year.
  • mmebouchon
    mmebouchon Posts: 855 Member
    Trytrytry2020 wrote: »
    I have gained and lost the same 3 pounds the entire time. I need to lose at least 20-25 pounds. I walk everyday for over an hour at a moderate pace. I may skip a walk day one to three times per month. I am 5’4 1/2 inches tall. I do my strength training three times per week without skipping. My Apple Watch gives me a total at the end of the day within my move goal. I have it set for 660 and I exceed that every day by 200-300.
    Thank you for your insight and suggestions. I guess I am just not that computer savvy to understand all of this. I thought I could look at my diary and it would tell me how many calories to eat once I have worked out in the morning. I rarely go over those amounts. I truly want to understand. My weight watcher coach told me I was an enigma. I had my thyroid tested. Nothing wrong there. My husband and closest friends tell me I eat way less than they do and yet I gain. Stumped.

    If you are not loosing any weight you could try reducing the calories consumed

    I wasn’t loosing at first either so I reset my goals in MFP I changed my activity level to sedentary or inactive. My weight loss to 1/2 pound a week. I walk every day too and give myself 100 to 200 exercise calories depending on how far I walk. 3 to 7 km.
    Usually about 2/3 of what MFP gives me. This is working for me. If I do some strength training yoga or a dance workout I log MFP calories for minutes I worked out according to MFP and eat back 1/2 to 2/3 of the calories it gives me.

    You are in control and can go into the goals setting an make adjustments as you need to in the MFP aap.
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 989 Member
    Ok, so the 250 exercise calories is probably about right.

    Go back to the set up page on MFP (My Home - Goals - View Guided set up) and check /update the data. Ensure your current weight is logged and set your goal to lose 1lb a week (although be aware that it's generally recommended that you reduce this to 0.5lb a week once you have less than 20lbs to lose). I'd also suggest that your activity level should be Sedentary or whatever the lowest level is called now.

    When you Save it, MFP will give you your calories, per day, to lose at a rate of 1lb a week.

    Manually enter your exercise walks on the days you walk. Select the appropriate walking speed and just enter the number of minutes you walked for. Do the same for strength training (you just enter actual minutes) but you need to select Strength Training as an option under Cardiovascular. MFP will then update the number of calories you have available for that day.

    See how you're doing in 6 weeks. But, as you log everything you eat / drink each day, check that the entry you're selecting actually matches the info on the packet (if you use something out of a packet) or is realistic if it's a generic item. Give it 6 weeks to get a true picture of whether you're actually losing anything.



  • Trytrytry2020
    Trytrytry2020 Posts: 6 Member
    Thank you very much. I will do all of that!
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    oh, and to figure out your walking speed:

    miles walked / (hours + (minutes/60))

    My walking speed is usually around 3.3 mph, so I'll figure out the calories for 3 mph and 3.5 mph, subtract the difference, divide by 5 then multiply by 3 to get to 0.3 part.

    I routinely walk about 1 1/2 a day, minimum 4.5 to 5.5 miles, and I'm 5'8", 242 lbs, 40 years old and using the MFP manual entry and 75% of my walking time, I easily get back close to 400 calories each walk or a little more. I have my diary set to sedentary as most of my steps come from purposeful exercise, but I get plenty of extra calories due to the exercise to keep me satisfied and losing at my expected rate. (I'm just saying this as an example of how wide the difference in calories burned can be depending on your age, height, and current weight).
  • Trytrytry2020
    Trytrytry2020 Posts: 6 Member
    Thank you.

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