Does this feel right to you?
Kodekai1988
Posts: 49 Member
Hello! Longtime lurker but wanted to check in and ask a question...! I feel like I’m doing everything right with my diet but am not seeing the weight loss I’d like to...
Stats: 5’10”, 68kg, 31, female. My weight has been bumping along at this level for a while. 1kg up, 1kg down, and so on. No real movement. MFP says I can eat 1560 which seems right to me, and then I eat back exercise calories. I’m not looking to lose a lot - my goal weight is 64kg. It’s my fighting weight!
Diet: my diary should be open and you’ll notice I eat Keto. I’ve done so for 4 years and this WOE works for me psychologically, energy wise etc - I have no plans to change it significantly, but am more than open to suggestions of how I could tweak, within the boundaries of Keto.
Exercise: I run every day - up to about 40km a week. This distance is relatively recent but I’ve been building up to it. I put in a conservative estimate of calories burned (I track my exercise on an app but use MFP’s estimate) and eat back those calories. That usually takes me to 1800 or just under.
Issues I think might be happening:
- I run a lot and it’s hot. I wonder if my body is still adjusting to the greater distance and I’m retaining water? I’ve probably gone from 20 to 40k a week. My legs do feel swollen sometimes. Is this possibly a thing? I’m not running to lose weight so if it is a water retention thing I’m just going to have to file it and live with it.
- Overeating somehow - if anyone can see anything weird in my diary please let me know! I admit I could tighten up measuring the amount of meat I eat at dinner time - that’s an area to focus on for me. It tends to be a rushed time so I use the packet’s measurement which I know can be incorrect. I measure everything else (apart from spinach and green salad) on a good pair of digital scales.
- I’m already a healthy BMI and am close to goal weight - I just need to suck it up and accept that this will be difficult? If so that’s ok - I’m not in a rush, I just hate feeling like I’m doing something wrong.
Any suggestions would be most welcome! Thanks for looking.
Stats: 5’10”, 68kg, 31, female. My weight has been bumping along at this level for a while. 1kg up, 1kg down, and so on. No real movement. MFP says I can eat 1560 which seems right to me, and then I eat back exercise calories. I’m not looking to lose a lot - my goal weight is 64kg. It’s my fighting weight!
Diet: my diary should be open and you’ll notice I eat Keto. I’ve done so for 4 years and this WOE works for me psychologically, energy wise etc - I have no plans to change it significantly, but am more than open to suggestions of how I could tweak, within the boundaries of Keto.
Exercise: I run every day - up to about 40km a week. This distance is relatively recent but I’ve been building up to it. I put in a conservative estimate of calories burned (I track my exercise on an app but use MFP’s estimate) and eat back those calories. That usually takes me to 1800 or just under.
Issues I think might be happening:
- I run a lot and it’s hot. I wonder if my body is still adjusting to the greater distance and I’m retaining water? I’ve probably gone from 20 to 40k a week. My legs do feel swollen sometimes. Is this possibly a thing? I’m not running to lose weight so if it is a water retention thing I’m just going to have to file it and live with it.
- Overeating somehow - if anyone can see anything weird in my diary please let me know! I admit I could tighten up measuring the amount of meat I eat at dinner time - that’s an area to focus on for me. It tends to be a rushed time so I use the packet’s measurement which I know can be incorrect. I measure everything else (apart from spinach and green salad) on a good pair of digital scales.
- I’m already a healthy BMI and am close to goal weight - I just need to suck it up and accept that this will be difficult? If so that’s ok - I’m not in a rush, I just hate feeling like I’m doing something wrong.
Any suggestions would be most welcome! Thanks for looking.
2
Replies
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Sorry, I should add that I’m aware that I eat modified Keto - fat should be between 65-75%!0
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Great that you have given plenty of info.
Your diary isn't public and that would probably help a lot.
With a high fat diet (high caloric value by volume) accuracy over intake is even more important.
Be aware that using MFP's running estimate may not be the best choice as it's generous partly because it is a gross calorie estimate and not the net calorie estimate that you really want when you have a high exercise volume. Not clear how you are making the MFP estimate "cautious"?
A weight/distance based formula may be better. (e.g. weight in lbs x miles run x efficiency ratio of 0.63 efficiency ratio. Other formulae are available.)
Yes swollen/sore legs from increase in exercise volume very probably means you are retaining some water weight. I'm a cyclist not a runner and take few days off but would question if "running every day" is the best training plan - although you can programme recovery without complete rest do be aware of your fatigue and exercise stress levels. Overtraining doesn't just affect elite or extreme athletes and that can raise cortisol levels and mask underlying fat loss.
BTW - regarding weight loss near goal weight. The same energy balance rules apply whether you are close to goal or not. Slow doesn't have to equal "difficult" and slow isn't a bad thing. Times passes anyway.9 -
hurt/swollen muscles = water weight
MFP sedentary is BMR * 1.25 (per minute / 1440; or per hour / 24) <-- this would be deducted from gross calories to get net.0 -
Sorry @sijomial I thought it was public! Have just amended settings.
I feel like I’m accurate but very conscious that I may not be as accurate as I think.
Re the exercise calorie estimate, I did calculate my exercise using a calculator (I think on the Runners World website or similar) and it gave my higher calorie burn estimates than MFP. I often don’t log all of my exercise time to be cautious, particularly if I’ve had a less active day overall - although I’ve classed myself as lightly active and think that is cautious too. Hope that makes sense. I think I might be missing something from your explanation so am going to do some more research - thank you.
Good point re running every day - I do build in recovery runs, and certainly don’t run at tempo every day. My pattern is: long run; short recovery run; short run; short run; tempo run. I feel swollen but not sore if that makes sense - very conscious of picking up an injury. Perhaps I should built in a total rest day...1 -
I’ve just rechecked calories burned from running (on Kesian - hopefully this is accurate, it’s quite detailed) and it’s about 20 calories difference from the MFP calculation at the same speed and distance. So nothing significant?0
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The formula used on the Runner's World site is the same as I used above and is a net cal estimate for flat ground so should be perfectly reasonable, if not conservative.
Would be cautious about using tablespoons for measurements - for a liquid can be fine but for something like mayo highly unlikely to accurately reflect the weight/quantity/calories of the mayo. You should see how much peanut butter I can pile up on a spoon....
A lot of measurements are very round numbers of grams, you could be measuring to precise numbers or you could be eyeballing.
No drinks logged which could be that you only drink water. Beware quite a few drinks that are thought of as zero calories are actually just low calorie and can add up.
Having said that if you are happy your logging is consistent if not entirely accurate (which described my approach TBH) you could simply drop your daily goal by a little (as I did when long trend weight didn't match expectations).
But in your shoes I'd simply take a rest day (or active recovery day that didn't involve running) as a very simple experiment to see if your swollen feeling legs are the cause of your disparity between expected and actual rate of loss.
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Kodekai1988 wrote: »Sorry @sijomial I thought it was public! Have just amended settings.
I feel like I’m accurate but very conscious that I may not be as accurate as I think.
I just looked at the last two days and I feel like it's logging accuracy. Your numbers are all very round - unless you are measuring to the exact numbers on purpose you are guesstimating somewhere no? Like has been said, with high fat, that fuzzy math can get out of hand quickly.5 -
Hey thanks for replying! Answering some of the points:
- Yes a lot of round numbers! I hadn’t really realised I did that tbh! Interesting. So, when it says 30, 60, 90 grams etc that’s because I weighed out that amount on the digital scale. I am weighing everything exactly, apart from salad and and spinach. The only caveat is I sometimes don’t weigh meat at dinner time and go by the stated weight on the package which I know is less than ideal. I’m going to change that from now.
- For weighing a tbsp of mayo I have a special weighing tbsp? Not sure what it’s called - but you put in the mayo and then scrape it flat with a knife, so it’s not heaped. BUT I weighed out my mayo this morning just in case and will continue to do that!
- I drink a ton of water - but sometimes I have lemon squeezed into it which I haven’t been counting - that’s a wake up call and I’ll log it from now - it’s not a lot at all but every little counts. The cream you see in my diary is for coffees, and other than that I have a 500ml Coke Zero every fewdays. I will start logging the Coke Zero too.
Thanks for all your thoughts - I don’t want to cheat myself out of decent weight loss by making silly mistakes so there are definitely some things I’m going to tweak: see above.
@sijomial thank you you’ve been very patient and yes, I’m going to have a proper rest day this weekend and see what that does - combined with tightening up with diary entries a bit - we’ll see! Glad the runners world calculation is sensibly accurate - I live in what is essentially a geographical basin so get plenty of hills in too - which is good, I guess 😂5 -
I don't know how much measuring you do with the spoon but stick the jar on the scale, tare it, and then take what you need and use the grams instead. Small differences over a lot of condiments might get you a quarter or even half pound a week deficit.6
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You're 5'10, 149 pounds. How much are you trying to lose?!?
ETA: Never mind, I found the answer, 64 kg/141 lbs. When you say it's your fighting weight, does that mean you have an actual competition of some sort coming up where you have to make weight?
Also, read this article...
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations4 -
@melanieCN77 that’s a good idea, I will do that going forward thank you - good to know. I measure mayo, olive oil and coconut oil with the spoon and given its a Keto diet, these feature in my diet daily.
You’re right, I think it the realm of small differences.1 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »You're 5'10, 149 pounds. How much are you trying to lose?!?
ETA: Never mind, I found the answer, 64 kg/141 lbs. When you say it's your fighting weight, does that mean you have an actual competition of some sort coming up where you have to make weight?
Also, read this article...
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
Just to piggyback on this, you are already in the lower half of the healthy weight range for your height. When you are already lean and trying to get leaner, you need to put on your patient pants. I lost my last 5 lbs at a rate of 1 lb every 4-6 weeks. Why? You have no wiggle room, and the kind of small losses you can expect at this point can hide behind water weight fluctuations for weeks at a time.
As quicksylver alluded to, is this a weight you must hit for some reason, or is there some kind of athletic or aesthetic goal you think this 8 lbs will help you get to?
Sometimes we need a psychological break as well. It might not be a bad idea to put the scale away for a few weeks, just keep logging and taking on the great advice you've gotten in here, then get back to it if you'd like4 -
Hello - sorry, I managed to miss the initial question about why I want to go to 64kg.
I don’t have to hit the weight for anything specific - I think it will help with running and would like to be in great shape to compete once lockdown is over, but I can be in good shape at my current weight.
And honestly, vanity. I have a small bone structure despite my height and have always looked my best at around 64kg. Any less isn’t great. It’s a weight that has always seemed to suit me - though I note that it’s never been this hard to get to it before. Of course, I say “hard” but I’m eating a decent amount so perhaps I mean “long”.
I’ve been thinking about it today and, ultimately, if I don’t lose the weight it isn’t a disaster (obviously). I have no desire to eat “less” than I’m currently doing given my activity levels - I will make sure my counting is 100% accurate by taking the advice hefe and trust the rest to the gods. 64kg isn’t a magic number in reality and the advice to take a scale break is a good one - I think I may be conflating Fitness results with weight results and the two aren’t as connected as I think.12 -
Sounds to me like your body is telling you that your new, and healthiest, fighting weight is 68 kg, and that you shouldn't be fighting as hard as you are trying to.
Unlax. Instead of obsessing over a few kg/lbs, spend that time meditating.1 -
Kodekai1988 wrote: »Hello - sorry, I managed to miss the initial question about why I want to go to 64kg.
I don’t have to hit the weight for anything specific - I think it will help with running and would like to be in great shape to compete once lockdown is over, but I can be in good shape at my current weight.
And honestly, vanity. I have a small bone structure despite my height and have always looked my best at around 64kg. Any less isn’t great. It’s a weight that has always seemed to suit me - though I note that it’s never been this hard to get to it before. Of course, I say “hard” but I’m eating a decent amount so perhaps I mean “long”.
I’ve been thinking about it today and, ultimately, if I don’t lose the weight it isn’t a disaster (obviously). I have no desire to eat “less” than I’m currently doing given my activity levels - I will make sure my counting is 100% accurate by taking the advice hefe and trust the rest to the gods. 64kg isn’t a magic number in reality and the advice to take a scale break is a good one - I think I may be conflating Fitness results with weight results and the two aren’t as connected as I think.
Just something to think about: when I was younger, i could just focus on my weight to look the way I wanted to. As I got older, I found I needed to focus on resistance/strength training to make everything look better. If you continue to not be quite happy with your progress, that's just another avenue to consider!6 -
Kodekai1988 wrote: »<<snip>>
I’ve been thinking about it today and, ultimately, if I don’t lose the weight it isn’t a disaster (obviously). I have no desire to eat “less” than I’m currently doing given my activity levels - I will make sure my counting is 100% accurate by taking the advice hefe and trust the rest to the gods. 64kg isn’t a magic number in reality and the advice to take a scale break is a good one - I think I may be conflating Fitness results with weight results and the two aren’t as connected as I think.
That's an important point. If there's a certain physique you are going for, lifting heavy (to you) weights may be something you need to add into your routine.4 -
Lifting/strength training is a good idea - I did start doing some resistance barre stuff but nothing seems to give me the high that running does.
I’m thinking that when lockdown is over I may find a PT at the gym and see how I can integrate strength training with my running.
This has all been brilliant advice thank you so much! You’ll be pleased to know I properly weighted my mayo this morning, and haven’t looked at the scales5 -
Kodekai1988 wrote: »Lifting/strength training is a good idea - I did start doing some resistance barre stuff but nothing seems to give me the high that running does.
I’m thinking that when lockdown is over I may find a PT at the gym and see how I can integrate strength training with my running.
This has all been brilliant advice thank you so much! You’ll be pleased to know I properly weighted my mayo this morning, and haven’t looked at the scales
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Hi everyone,
I just wanted to come back and say thank you for all your replies!
I stopped focussing on my weight quite as much and just started measuring absolutely everything on my digital food scale - all mayo, cream, butter, etc. The pesky weighing spoons haven’t left the drawer. This, I think has made a big difference but I haven’t noticed it in terms of volume of food, which has been great. I’ve also moved very slightly away from round numbers - it is a bit weird to remove 2g or broccoli from a bowl to make it an even 100g!
I also had a think about the physique I’m going for - and I’ve added in some body strength work (at home) to my routine, with a resistance band. Still running but with a well-deserved rest day weekly - getting 5k and 10k PBs which is good.
I’m now very close to goal weight and starting to research maintenance - which I’m really looking forward to! I think I’ll be there in a week or two which will be relaxing, as my maintenance calories will be fairly generous.
I really appreciate everyone’s thoughts and advice - just wanted to check in and say that I did take it on board, and am seeing good results.
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