I don't know what the issue is :'( !!!!!!!

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0Leena0
0Leena0 Posts: 61 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi everybody, I hope you all are safe and sound :)

after struggling for finding the solution for 8 months right now, I thought of posting it here hoping to find the solution.
I started my weight loss journey in January 2020, my weight was 90.7 Kg. I cut out on calories and I was walking every other day. Each week on Friday I have a meeting and since I cannot cook on that day I eat from the food there.. so I consider it my cheating meal but eat carefully. After a few months, I had access to a treadmill. I was walking for 30 minutes (changing the speed during this 30 min) and the other 30 is different workouts (total one hour).

So I watched my calorie intake + working out 5-6 days a week for an hour. I only stop working out when my period comes for 6 weeks but my diet is almost the same (cause during this time I might have some chocolate) In a span of 6 months (Jan-June) I lost ONLY 10 kg!! to be honest I was a little upset cause I felt this is really small loss.

From the end of June +July + August, I only managed to lose 3kg!!! I started reading about what could be the problem and I saw a lot of articles talking about weight loss plateau. I tried different suggestions: I changed the type of food I eat, still keeping track of my calories, I changed my workout routines and I'm having a cheat meal every week and I take a week off from workout in a month for my period but nothing seems to work!!! I tried some extreme diets thinking it might shock my body like ( egg fast diet) people lost following this diet for 3-5 days 4.5 pounds. I did it for 5 days +working out and the result is ZERO loss. I'm going nuts right now. I tried everything, changing the workout routine, taking breaks. changing eating plan, having cheat meals.

I do not know what to do anymore!! :neutral:

Replies

  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 694 Member
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    To make any advice worthwhile we need a few more specifics, how tall are you?
    What is your calorie goal?
    Do you track everything to try to make sure you stay within that?
    What's the end goal?

    Apologies for all the questions, but that will help to establish how much you have left to lose, and that effects the advice that is likely to be helpful.

  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    Food scale. Get one, use it, weigh and log everything. Check out these two threads.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10697068/how-i-stopped-kidding-myself/p1
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
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    Sorry for you're frustration. Weight loss is a frustratingly low process. But, you have been successful, having lost 13kg! That's 14% of your original bodyweight, which is nothing to sneeze at. Take a victory lap!

    Your Jan-June loss rate of .4kg/week is actually very good. I mean, you could possibly lose faster, but the point is to lose it and keep it off, which I think is more effectively done by going slower. Your June-Aug loss rate of 0.25/week is also fine. Many people adopt this rate explicitly because it is easier to achieve. Get ready for maintenance, in which you will eat only slightly more than you are now.

    You must also be getting into good shape from working out. Enjoy it! The main thing is to make your life as fantastic as possible so you don't fixate just on your weight. Best of luck!
  • 0Leena0
    0Leena0 Posts: 61 Member
    edited August 2020
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    littlegreenparrot1 wrote: »
    To make any advice worthwhile we need a few more specifics, how tall are you?
    What is your calorie goal?
    Do you track everything to try to make sure you stay within that?
    What's the end goal?

    Apologies for all the questions, but that will help to establish how much you have left to lose, and that effects the advice that is likely to be helpful.


    no not at all I'm happy to answer your questions:

    1/ I'm 163/164. cm

    2/ my first goal is 60kg. I think my ideal goal will be in the mid-50s.

    3/ at the start not too much but I know that I don't exceed the number of calories. sometimes I even think that I eat too little.
  • 0Leena0
    0Leena0 Posts: 61 Member
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    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    Sorry for you're frustration. Weight loss is a frustratingly low process. But, you have been successful, having lost 13kg! That's 14% of your original bodyweight, which is nothing to sneeze at. Take a victory lap!

    Your Jan-June loss rate of .4kg/week is actually very good. I mean, you could possibly lose faster, but the point is to lose it and keep it off, which I think is more effectively done by going slower. Your June-Aug loss rate of 0.25/week is also fine. Many people adopt this rate explicitly because it is easier to achieve. Get ready for maintenance, in which you will eat only slightly more than you are now.

    You must also be getting into good shape from working out. Enjoy it! The main thing is to make your life as fantastic as possible so you don't fixate just on your weight. Best of luck!


    yes, I'm happy that I lost this weight but according to my diet and exercise plan, I thought I would lose more. I know people's bodies are different but let's say the average that people lose is more than what I lost. from observing I'm starting to lose weight slower and slower.. three months and only 3kg! to be honest, I'm afraid that I'm reaching a point where I will stop losing completely.

    the thing is I cannot fix anything because I don't know what should I do more, I don't fall under any category whether is a plateau ..etc.
  • upoffthemat
    upoffthemat Posts: 679 Member
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    It doesn't sound like a plateau honestly. You lost 10 kg in 6 months... July and and August are 2 months and you lost 3kg. Sounds like you are pretty consistently losing a kg and a half per month, which isn't actually horrible. If you are not happy about it, the best thing to do is tighten up your tracking.
    As was mentioned above, be sure to have a scale and not just believe the packaging. It can be surprisingly far off
    If you are giving yourself credit for exercise, maybe cut that exercise credit in half or three quarters. You might not be exercising as hard or burning the calories it says you are.
    Be sure to track everything. It is easy to miss sauces, garnishes, and beverages. Make sure they aren't loaded with calories.
    You say you have a meeting every week you free eat, but carefully. Do some research on what you are eating, make sure something you are always eating isn't a calorie bomb.... or bring your own food for a few weeks and see if things improve.
    Sometimes what we think we know isn't right. Question everything if you can just to verify your facts are right.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,437 Member
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    I'm having a little trouble following your timing, but this is how I'm interpreting it: You started in January, lost 10kg, then from June until now another 3kg, for a total of 13kg in about 7.5 months? (For other murcans like me, around 28.6 pounds.) You started at 90.7kg (199.5lbs) in January, and are now around 77.7kg (171lbs)?

    If that's right, you've been losing a little under a pound a week since January, on average, a bit slower as you've gotten lighter. That would be a perfectly reasonable rate of loss, given your current bodyweight, IMO.

    Diets where you lose 3.5 pounds in 4-5 days are (1) mostly water weight loss, not fat loss, so who cares; (2) not sustainable long enough to lose a meaningful amount of weight; (3) tend to sacrifice nutritional or fueling adequacy in some way; (4) don't teach you anything about how to maintain a healthy weight long terms; and (5) the marketing is usually lying, anyway.

    I'm wondering two things, since you seem to be saying your weight loss has slowed down since June.

    One is whether you're still eating the number of calories you were eating when you were heavier, to lose weight then. If so, that's one reason things have slowed: Your lighter body inherently burns fewer calories just moving through the world in normal life, and via some types of exercise, compared to your heavier body. You'll lose slower as a consequence. (That's not necessarily a bad thing, because losing fast with less left to lose creates more risk of muscle loss and other negative health consequences.)

    The second is whether your daily routine has been affected in some way by the pandemic. I've seen some folks here report slowdown in weight loss during the lockdowns, despite eating the same calories & doing the same exercise . . . but not thinking about whether they walk as much while working from home & not commuting (or have other changes in movement levels from work, hobby, education and home activities). Those can account for potentially hundreds of calories a day, for some people. Is there a possibility of some impact for you, from changes in non-exercise routine since June?

    Best wishes!
  • gceinca
    gceinca Posts: 22 Member
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    I definitely think MyFitnessPal overestimates exercise calories. Compared to my fitness tracker, MyFitnessPal estimates almost twice the calories for exercise.

    I am also frustrated by slow weight loss. I have lost three pounds since July 1, when according to the app, I should have lost nine. In addition to the excerise, I think the app overestimates the number of calories you can consume.
  • 0Leena0
    0Leena0 Posts: 61 Member
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I'm having a little trouble following your timing, but this is how I'm interpreting it: You started in January, lost 10kg, then from June until now another 3kg, for a total of 13kg in about 7.5 months? (For other murcans like me, around 28.6 pounds.) You started at 90.7kg (199.5lbs) in January, and are now around 77.7kg (171lbs)?

    If that's right, you've been losing a little under a pound a week since January, on average, a bit slower as you've gotten lighter. That would be a perfectly reasonable rate of loss, given your current bodyweight, IMO.

    Diets where you lose 3.5 pounds in 4-5 days are (1) mostly water weight loss, not fat loss, so who cares; (2) not sustainable long enough to lose a meaningful amount of weight; (3) tend to sacrifice nutritional or fueling adequacy in some way; (4) don't teach you anything about how to maintain a healthy weight long terms; and (5) the marketing is usually lying, anyway.

    I'm wondering two things, since you seem to be saying your weight loss has slowed down since June.

    One is whether you're still eating the number of calories you were eating when you were heavier, to lose weight then. If so, that's one reason things have slowed: Your lighter body inherently burns fewer calories just moving through the world in normal life, and via some types of exercise, compared to your heavier body. You'll lose slower as a consequence. (That's not necessarily a bad thing, because losing fast with less left to lose creates more risk of muscle loss and other negative health consequences.)

    The second is whether your daily routine has been affected in some way by the pandemic. I've seen some folks here report slowdown in weight loss during the lockdowns, despite eating the same calories & doing the same exercise . . . but not thinking about whether they walk as much while working from home & not commuting (or have other changes in movement levels from work, hobby, education and home activities). Those can account for potentially hundreds of calories a day, for some people. Is there a possibility of some impact for you, from changes in non-exercise routine since June?

    Best wishes!


    yeah, I wasn't doing these extreme diets to lose, I just wanted a change for my body since I started noticing the slower loss.

    about your theories. I did try to make a variety of eating options so I won't stay on the same things over and over and then my body halts. I was eating around 1500 cal a day then since late June, I decrease it to 1200-1300 cal /expect cheat days.

    for your second theory, I guess it makes sense.

    thanks for sharing your opinion
  • 0Leena0
    0Leena0 Posts: 61 Member
    Options
    gceinca wrote: »
    I definitely think MyFitnessPal overestimates exercise calories. Compared to my fitness tracker, MyFitnessPal estimates almost twice the calories for exercise.

    I am also frustrated by slow weight loss. I have lost three pounds since July 1, when according to the app, I should have lost nine. In addition to the excerise, I think the app overestimates the number of calories you can consume.


    I wasn't following any recommendation from MyFitnessPal. I only use it to see food calories. It does make you frustrated and discouraged.. especially when you still away from your ideal weight range because at that time you can say that maybe because I'm near my goal my weight loss is becoming slower

  • 0Leena0
    0Leena0 Posts: 61 Member
    Options
    upoffthemat wrote: »
    It doesn't sound like a plateau honestly. You lost 10 kg in 6 months... July and and August are 2 months and you lost 3kg. Sounds like you are pretty consistently losing a kg and a half per month, which isn't actually horrible. If you are not happy about it, the best thing to do is tighten up your tracking.
    As was mentioned above, be sure to have a scale and not just believe the packaging. It can be surprisingly far off
    If you are giving yourself credit for exercise, maybe cut that exercise credit in half or three quarters. You might not be exercising as hard or burning the calories it says you are.
    Be sure to track everything. It is easy to miss sauces, garnishes, and beverages. Make sure they aren't loaded with calories.
    You say you have a meeting every week you free eat, but carefully. Do some research on what you are eating, make sure something you are always eating isn't a calorie bomb.... or bring your own food for a few weeks and see if things improve.
    Sometimes what we think we know isn't right. Question everything if you can just to verify your facts are right.


    2 months and half (approx), i'm afraid if i cut more calories my body will enter starvation mode -_-

    I'm drinking my latte and tea without sugar,, and diet Pepsi occasionally. I will try to find a food scale.. thanks
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
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    As everyone is saying, your loss rate is fine and if you keep going, you will achieve your weight goal.

    If you want to know why the MFP recommendations aren't producing the result you expect: This likely comes from one of three causes

    - The MFP TDEE (daily calorie burn) estimates are based on a population average, yours may be slightly lower.
    - The MFP estimates for "exercise calories" are fairly crude and may be slightly high
    - Your estimates of your food calories may be slightly low

    Note that your TDEE reduces with weight and also with overall activity level. It is true that your body conspires to reduce your metabolic rate while you are on a cut. You can counter that by exercising (as you do) and also by being a little more active overall (getting more steps, standing desk, etc.). I feel more energetic overall if I exercise in the morning.

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