Under eating...YIKES!
mrsodessa
Posts: 12 Member
I'm grossly under eating and I didn't realize it and I'm really not sure what I should expect as I correct this issue. Should I gradually add back in calories or jump straight into eating what I should? Im not sure if adding them ALL back in at once is possible as my appetite is small and Im also scared I will see a weight increase. I'm having a little anxiety over this but I know I cant continue to under eat...a little backstory may shed light.
I have been on this journey for almost 2 years (since Sept 2019) and have yet to reach my goal of 140lbs. I started at 175lbs. I never logged my food and when I first started I didn't have an apple watch to keep track of calories burned. So I was basically blind to what I was doing. I kind of didn't understand how a calorie deficit worked in corporation with exercise but now Im realizing Ive been doing things way wrong.
I work out M-F. I leave to walk to the gym (1.8 miles up hill) at 4:30am and arrive at 5am when it opens. I work out from 5-6:30am (weights & cardio) and do the same walk back home. By the time I reach home I have burned 900/1000 calories and by the end of the day my movement ring shows around 1300-1500 calories burned an my total for the day is around 3000-3500 burned. The amount of calories I would consume in a day was somewhere between 1200-1600. I would keep track of those by reading labels. I assumed I would have to eat under a deficit AND workout to lose before i had the watch I didn't even consider what I was burning exercising.
When I finally decided to log my food in the MFP app last week for the first time it told me I had 1700 calories remaining. I realize Im grossly under eating considering I could not exercise at all and with the way I eat id still be in a deficit.The workouts are actually overkill
when I first started at 175lbs in sept 2019 by the end of nov I was down to 155lbs. I got stuck and assumed I was in a plateau. I tried keto and got down to 152lbs but I could never get any lower than that. Every time I got my period I would gain 5-6lbs then spend the month losing that same weight. In march 2020 the gyms closed because of covid. I hate home workouts and I fell off my consistent routine. I walked when I could ate the best I could during the week and kept the weight off. The gym opened back in Oct and closed again in Nov not much changed with my weight then even tho I was going and sticking to my routine. The beginning of 2021 I was still the same weight but feb came and by march I magically went from 158 to 172. Luckily the gym opened back up March 15th and since then I have been in the gym or working out. I took a 2 week break from the gym while I was in LA and did 30min HIIT workouts 3-4 days a week. I ate out almost everyday I was there but I kept my weight steady. When I returned home I took a whole week off from anything but light walking.
Since March I have went from 171 down to 160 (11lbs) right now I seem to be hitting that wall and 160 is that number I thought after this past week I would be back in the 150s but Im actually fluctuating between 160-163. I realize after deciding to log my food last week (I didnt log over the weekend) that I am under eating and this is probably why I have struggled to lose the weight. I dont have any health issues that I know of that would prevent me from dropping weight. I know I clearly need to eat more but Id like to go about it in a way that doesnt totally undo my progress. Ive had such a hard time with this.
I have been on this journey for almost 2 years (since Sept 2019) and have yet to reach my goal of 140lbs. I started at 175lbs. I never logged my food and when I first started I didn't have an apple watch to keep track of calories burned. So I was basically blind to what I was doing. I kind of didn't understand how a calorie deficit worked in corporation with exercise but now Im realizing Ive been doing things way wrong.
I work out M-F. I leave to walk to the gym (1.8 miles up hill) at 4:30am and arrive at 5am when it opens. I work out from 5-6:30am (weights & cardio) and do the same walk back home. By the time I reach home I have burned 900/1000 calories and by the end of the day my movement ring shows around 1300-1500 calories burned an my total for the day is around 3000-3500 burned. The amount of calories I would consume in a day was somewhere between 1200-1600. I would keep track of those by reading labels. I assumed I would have to eat under a deficit AND workout to lose before i had the watch I didn't even consider what I was burning exercising.
When I finally decided to log my food in the MFP app last week for the first time it told me I had 1700 calories remaining. I realize Im grossly under eating considering I could not exercise at all and with the way I eat id still be in a deficit.The workouts are actually overkill
when I first started at 175lbs in sept 2019 by the end of nov I was down to 155lbs. I got stuck and assumed I was in a plateau. I tried keto and got down to 152lbs but I could never get any lower than that. Every time I got my period I would gain 5-6lbs then spend the month losing that same weight. In march 2020 the gyms closed because of covid. I hate home workouts and I fell off my consistent routine. I walked when I could ate the best I could during the week and kept the weight off. The gym opened back in Oct and closed again in Nov not much changed with my weight then even tho I was going and sticking to my routine. The beginning of 2021 I was still the same weight but feb came and by march I magically went from 158 to 172. Luckily the gym opened back up March 15th and since then I have been in the gym or working out. I took a 2 week break from the gym while I was in LA and did 30min HIIT workouts 3-4 days a week. I ate out almost everyday I was there but I kept my weight steady. When I returned home I took a whole week off from anything but light walking.
Since March I have went from 171 down to 160 (11lbs) right now I seem to be hitting that wall and 160 is that number I thought after this past week I would be back in the 150s but Im actually fluctuating between 160-163. I realize after deciding to log my food last week (I didnt log over the weekend) that I am under eating and this is probably why I have struggled to lose the weight. I dont have any health issues that I know of that would prevent me from dropping weight. I know I clearly need to eat more but Id like to go about it in a way that doesnt totally undo my progress. Ive had such a hard time with this.
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Replies
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I would guess that the 1220 MFP gave you would be for the sendentry profile rather than active. If I set my profile to active my allowance increases by 700 calories a day from 1500 to 2200 to lose 2 pounds per week.
Based upon the figures you give I can see why you are frustrated by the slow progress. Leaving for your work-out every day at 4:30am sounds pretty intense - are you getting enough quality sleep? I seem to lose easier when I get a solid seven hours a night.
Another thing that has worked in the past for me is the 5:2 diet - basically five days of the week you eat at maintenance and then have two days where you "fast" and limit calories to 500. This seemed to keep my system guessing which helped break plateaus (full disclosure I did 2 days maintenance, 2 days fast and three days on MFP allowance to lose 2 pounds per week).
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If you’ve lost 11-12 lbs in 2-3 months then you’re losing 1-1.5 lbs a week. I’m not sure why you are panicked at this undereating “realization”. You’re not.
Either your math is wrong on how much you’re burning or how much you’re eating (or both).
Maybe you're not actually reading everything I typed I also don't appreciate your "tone". I'm coming to this forum for help not for someone to speak to me so condescendingly. If you don't think eating 1200 calories and under (some days) on top of working out isn't under eating I probably shouldn't be taking any advice from you. Also did you miss the entire part where I said at some point I stopped losing weight while doing the same routine. From Nov 2019 to March 2020 I lost nothing.... Thus me having the realization after logging my calories and workouts together that I was under eating now and maybe that's why my weight-loss stalled before (I'm literally doing the same routine). This second time around Id like to avoid that.
You're talking to me like the MFP app is wrong, the scale I weigh my food on is wrong, and the package on my food is wrong. Its not. I know math. Even if the watch isn't precisely counting my calories burned its not that far off. I should still eat more than I have been.
Literally no one has answered my very simple question which was should I gradually add the right amount of calories back in to my diet or should I just add them back in immediately. Sitting here questioning my math skills and app data because you can't fathom these numbers are accurate instead of just answering the actual question isn't helpful at all.
What your actual results are showing you is that you're either overestimating how many calories you're burning or underestimating how many calories you're eating (and likely a combination of both). It's not that we can't "fathom" the numbers, it's that when you have a discrepancy between your real life results and your calorie estimates (and honestly, we're all estimating), then you can use your real life results as the actual source of truth.17 -
OP, I just reread the thread and it seems you're really the only one convinced you're undereating. I would really double check the exercise calories your watch is calculating for you. You say it's accurate because it's close to what the machines say but the machines are notorious for overestimating calories burned during a workout.
Let me tell you a little story about me, my beloved fitbit, and mfp. And a whole year in my life.
I had a classic fitbit and it was spot on when it came to my tdee. I lost weight accordingly. Then it broke so bad I had to replace it with a newer version. That plus two other newer versions told me I was earning maybe 1200 calories during my walks (they were REALLY long walks). It was synced to mfp and I would eat the calories mfp gave me. I ate in a 3500 calorie weekly deficit.
I gained and lost the same pound.
For a year.
A bloody (I'm not british) year.
When I posted about it in the fitbit forums I was pointed towards a recommended online exercise calorie calculator, replaced the fitbit's calculations with theirs, and OHMYGOD, I STARTED LOSING WEIGHT AGAIN!!!!!
What I'm trying to say is you're probably not undereating.
Stop being so stubborn, open your mind, realize the people here are trying to help even if they didn't answer the question you asked, and maybe you won't have to come back here with the "why am I not losing weight when I confused my metabolism by eating more" post.
Otherwise, yep, add the calories slowly and see how it goes.23 -
Last month I was sick for a few weeks and under ate during this time as I had very little appetite.
However, during this time I lost two pounds per week instead of my usual one pound/week.
I just added calories back as my appetite came back. I was back to 1500 calories net immediately after I started antibiotics. I did bounce up 5 pounds, but didn't worry about it as I had had several high sodium meals plus ovulated, a time of my cycle where I always retain water. I also added exercise back after days of rarely getting out of bed, and expected first a water weight drop from not exercising then a water weight gain from returning to exercise.
I'm currently two pounds over my low sickness weight, which seems completely normal to me.
I weigh every day and log this into Happy Scale. Its trend line helps me deal with normal fluctuations.
So to answer your question, I just added calories back immediately. However, like others, I'm not convinced you are undereating nearly as much as you think you are. I know you feel your device is accurate as you have been using it for some time, but perhaps try logging the calories manually into MFP and see what you get.6 -
Lots of debate on whether or not you are undereating. But in the end, it's your real life results that will show what is really going on.
Just based on your stats (160lbs), the fact that you feel extremely tired and that you're eating 1200-1500kcal max, I would say it definitely is a possibility that you may be undereating. Considering you're scared of gaining weight, I would advise increasing slowly. Increasy your daily calorie allowance weekly by 100kcal or so.
A small increase in weight is normal (a bit more food waste and carbs in your body) but if the weight gain continues consistently over a few weeks, you might have reached your maintenance calories. If, on the other hand, you feel less fatigued after a few weeks and you don't gain weight (or even continue losing), than you could conclude you were undereating.
Personally, I feel that many people are way too agressive with their eating goal and ending up stuck because of it (too hungry, too tired, water retention from the stress of the large deficit leading to weight loss stalls), I can only encourage trying to lose weight with a higher calorie allowance. It does take some careful monitoring though (and looking past short term fluctuations), to make sure you are still in a calorie deficit (most people have an average metabolism, but there can be individual variations, so it's important to look at real life results, not just calculators and results of other people). I lost all of my weight eating 1700+calories (sometimes quite a lot more even), slower than most people would choose to lose weight, but a lot more painless.
I think 'reverse dieting' is something you could look into, it's pretty much what I described (increasing food intake gradually).
I honestly think I was too aggressive with my calorie cut and I don't want to continue doing something that isn't healthy. I have noticed if I get a cut or bruise or even a pimple they take forever to heal and that makes sense now. I think I am showing signs of not eating enough.
I weigh my food by scale and read the package. So actually if something says about 2tbs is 90 calories but it gives a oz measurement I will weigh it and match the ounce. I realize that hidden calories exist when you don't go by the ounce you could be eating way more than you think accidentally.
Also for a few days I ate prepackaged salads and meals and went off those calories listed on the package. I drink 2/3 cups of coffee a day with stevia and creamer thats 20 calories and a gallon of water a day.
I'm positive I'm accurately logging my food intake and it's just not a healthy amount considering it's also with exercise.
I do think you guys have the right idea gradually adding in or eating at maintenance level while continuing exercising is what I will do. That way I don't undo the weight loss I've accomplished so far.
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Slow healing. slow nail growth. tiredness. feeling cold. slow healing. etc. CAN all be signs of undereating and partial adaptation. The general recommendation when healing an injury is to eat at/near maintenance.
If you add food suddenly you will have more food and waste in your system. Your scale weight will go up correspondingly. If you are low glycogen (keto for example), the increase in glycogen storage will show up disproportionately. I like using weight trend applications and reviewing if there has been a change that explains a scale "departure" from the previous. For example a change of weigh in time, before or after drinking coffee
, or change of scale (oops, I broke it again), or a change of location!
The trend post a major explainable change matters. The exact numbers less so.
I am not a proponent of pulling bandages too slowly. 50% of the difference and then 50% of the difference a week later gets you there pretty quickly if you need to coddle your brain hamsters. As already suggested, sedentary maintenance levels (especially if you're not actually sedentary) may be a good first place to hang around at.
While losing weight I got quite into keeping track of things and using graphs and measurements. At maintenance, I no longer log every bite BEFORE eating it, like I did when I first started trying to log my food and lose weight. But it annoys me when I miss things.
Yesterday I went back to two days ago to log a cliff bar because my package of 12 finished and I had only logged 11. The bar was logged as 70g, instead of 68g, because that was the average of the first 4 bars from the package.
YMMV, but do keep in mind that it is EASY to miss items. Maintenance breaks, especially when healing an injury, are not the devil.6 -
OP, I just reread the thread and it seems you're really the only one convinced you're undereating. I would really double check the exercise calories your watch is calculating for you. You say it's accurate because it's close to what the machines say but the machines are notorious for overestimating calories burned during a workout.
Let me tell you a little story about me, my beloved fitbit, and mfp. And a whole year in my life.
I had a classic fitbit and it was spot on when it came to my tdee. I lost weight accordingly. Then it broke so bad I had to replace it with a newer version. That plus two other newer versions told me I was earning maybe 1200 calories during my walks (they were REALLY long walks). It was synced to mfp and I would eat the calories mfp gave me. I ate in a 3500 calorie weekly deficit.
I gained and lost the same pound.
For a year.
A bloody (I'm not british) year.
When I posted about it in the fitbit forums I was pointed towards a recommended online exercise calorie calculator, replaced the fitbit's calculations with theirs, and OHMYGOD, I STARTED LOSING WEIGHT AGAIN!!!!!
What I'm trying to say is you're probably not undereating.
Stop being so stubborn, open your mind, realize the people here are trying to help even if they didn't answer the question you asked, and maybe you won't have to come back here with the "why am I not losing weight when I confused my metabolism by eating more" post.
Otherwise, yep, add the calories slowly and see how it goes.
I get what you guys are saying but I'm literally telling you guys I am eating 1200 calories and under some days PLUS exercising. Lets try not to focus on the exact amount of calories burned on my watch.
Every single site/app/doctor says eating 1200 is the minimum healthy deficit you should have. So eating that way and doing 2-3hrs of cardio and strength training would make my deficit greater even if my accurate calorie burn was only 300 for my workouts. What I'm hearing from this forum is that's wrong despite every other medical source saying that isn't healthy/sustainable.
So are you saying I can continue to eat only 1200 calories and continue workouts the way that I am?1 -
OP, I just reread the thread and it seems you're really the only one convinced you're undereating. I would really double check the exercise calories your watch is calculating for you. You say it's accurate because it's close to what the machines say but the machines are notorious for overestimating calories burned during a workout.
Let me tell you a little story about me, my beloved fitbit, and mfp. And a whole year in my life.
I had a classic fitbit and it was spot on when it came to my tdee. I lost weight accordingly. Then it broke so bad I had to replace it with a newer version. That plus two other newer versions told me I was earning maybe 1200 calories during my walks (they were REALLY long walks). It was synced to mfp and I would eat the calories mfp gave me. I ate in a 3500 calorie weekly deficit.
I gained and lost the same pound.
For a year.
A bloody (I'm not british) year.
When I posted about it in the fitbit forums I was pointed towards a recommended online exercise calorie calculator, replaced the fitbit's calculations with theirs, and OHMYGOD, I STARTED LOSING WEIGHT AGAIN!!!!!
What I'm trying to say is you're probably not undereating.
Stop being so stubborn, open your mind, realize the people here are trying to help even if they didn't answer the question you asked, and maybe you won't have to come back here with the "why am I not losing weight when I confused my metabolism by eating more" post.
Otherwise, yep, add the calories slowly and see how it goes.
I get what you guys are saying but I'm literally telling you guys I am eating 1200 calories and under some days PLUS exercising. Lets try not to focus on the exact amount of calories burned on my watch.
Every single site/app/doctor says eating 1200 is the minimum healthy deficit you should have. So eating that way and doing 2-3hrs of cardio and strength training would make my deficit greater even if my accurate calorie burn was only 300 for my workouts. What I'm hearing from this forum is that's wrong despite every other medical source saying that isn't healthy/sustainable.
So are you saying I can continue to eat only 1200 calories and continue workouts the way that I am?
No, people are saying because you are not losing weight there's likely something wrong with your calculation of Calories In and/or Calories Out.
For how long have you been stuck at 160-ish?
Please change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings6 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Last month I was sick for a few weeks and under ate during this time as I had very little appetite.
However, during this time I lost two pounds per week instead of my usual one pound/week.
I just added calories back as my appetite came back. I was back to 1500 calories net immediately after I started antibiotics. I did bounce up 5 pounds, but didn't worry about it as I had had several high sodium meals plus ovulated, a time of my cycle where I always retain water. I also added exercise back after days of rarely getting out of bed, and expected first a water weight drop from not exercising then a water weight gain from returning to exercise.
I'm currently two pounds over my low sickness weight, which seems completely normal to me.
I weigh every day and log this into Happy Scale. Its trend line helps me deal with normal fluctuations.
So to answer your question, I just added calories back immediately. However, like others, I'm not convinced you are undereating nearly as much as you think you are. I know you feel your device is accurate as you have been using it for some time, but perhaps try logging the calories manually into MFP and see what you get.
Glad you are feeling better and back to your routine!
I'm not saying the watch is accurate but I know I am logging my food intake accurately. Even if the watch is less than half right eating 1200 calories and some days a bit shy of that plus exercise would be a bit much? I feel like this forum is the first place I've ever had people say eating under 1200 calories isn't bad or assume I'm inaccurately counting them.
For example one day my meals were:
Protein shake 140 calories
Chicken Caesar salad
from Trader Joe's 460 calories
2 Trader Joe's green tamales 560 calories
I had no snacks and only drank water. It was one of the days I just didn't have much of an appetite.
That's 1160 calories.
Plus 3hrs of physical activity.
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jamesha100 wrote: »I would guess that the 1220 MFP gave you would be for the sendentry profile rather than active. If I set my profile to active my allowance increases by 700 calories a day from 1500 to 2200 to lose 2 pounds per week.
Based upon the figures you give I can see why you are frustrated by the slow progress. Leaving for your work-out every day at 4:30am sounds pretty intense - are you getting enough quality sleep? I seem to lose easier when I get a solid seven hours a night.
Another thing that has worked in the past for me is the 5:2 diet - basically five days of the week you eat at maintenance and then have two days where you "fast" and limit calories to 500. This seemed to keep my system guessing which helped break plateaus (full disclosure I did 2 days maintenance, 2 days fast and three days on MFP allowance to lose 2 pounds per week).
I do not get enough sleep and spend a lot of my day tired but I can't really tell right now if that's because I'm still readjusting tired getting up at 4am. I went off my routine while I was out of town for 3weeks and I spent a lot of my down time sleeping in so when I came back it was harder to get up early and fall asleep at a reasonable time. I ended up taking naps. Right now my sleeping is still off it's definitely something I need to fix.
I have MFP set to "active" and it says 1220 I can't remember what all it asked me when I set it up but I vaguely remember it asking about my goals and how quickly I wanted to lose the weight so maybe that's why it gave me such a low deficit. Is there another calculator you recommend?
I also used to intermittent fast and not eat after 8pm id have my first meal at 12 or 2pm this is actually how my appetite shrunk it was very hard to eat so many calories in a little window. I'd have a cheat day on the weekends.
Now I don't eat after 8pm but I have a protein smoothie as soon as I get in from the gym because i was told that's the best time for your muscles to get protein I also take a bcaa supplement 30mins before workout (pills). I posted an example of what I would consider a day of under eating in my previous post.
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Ok, in a nutshell, it can be 1 of 4 things:
1. Calories in is off
2. Calories out is off
3. You have some disease you don't know about (or you're already on meds) that prevents you from losing weight
4. You're a snowflake
(It ain't 4 😀)6 -
Ok, in a nutshell, it can be 1 of 4 things:
1. Calories in is off
2. Calories out is off
3. You have some disease you don't know about (or you're already on meds) that prevents you from losing weight
4. You're a snowflake
(It ain't 4 😀)
2. I do believe calories out is likely off but even if so calories in still isn't at a healthy amount with workouts incorporated.
3. would honestly make sense. I dont take medication but it is possible something is internally off because none of this makes sense.
Trust me when I say this I don't diet and exercise because I enjoy it. I do it because I have a goal I am determined to reach and not being able to get in the 140s after 2 years of actually trying HARD is killing me.3 -
Ok, in a nutshell, it can be 1 of 4 things:
1. Calories in is off
2. Calories out is off
3. You have some disease you don't know about (or you're already on meds) that prevents you from losing weight
4. You're a snowflake
(It ain't 4 😀)
2. I do believe calories out is likely off but even if so calories in still isn't at a healthy amount with workouts incorporated.
3. would honestly make sense. I dont take medication but it is possible something is internally off because none of this makes sense.
Trust me when I say this I don't diet and exercise because I enjoy it. I do it because I have a goal I am determined to reach and not being able to get in the 140s after 2 years of actually trying HARD is killing me.
Ok, in that case you not currently losing weight could be due to stress > cortisol > water retention. See:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/dietary-restraint-and-cortisol-levels-research-review.html/
...a group of women who scored higher on dietary restraint scores showed elevated baseline cortisol levels. By itself this might not be problematic, but as often as not, these types of dieters are drawn to extreme approaches to dieting.
They throw in a lot of intense exercise, try to cut calories very hard (and this often backfires if disinhibition is high; when these folks break they break) and cortisol levels go through the roof. That often causes cortisol mediated water retention (there are other mechanisms for this, mind you, leptin actually inhibits cortisol release and as it drops on a diet, cortisol levels go up further). Weight and fat loss appear to have stopped or at least slowed significantly. This is compounded even further in female dieters due to the vagaries of their menstrual cycle where water balance is changing enormously week to week anyhow.
And invariably, this type of psychology responds to the stall by going even harder. They attempt to cut calories harder, they start doing more activity. The cycle continues and gets worse. Harder dieting means more cortisol means more water retention means more dieting. Which backfires (other problems come in the long-term with this approach but you’ll have to wait for the book to read about that).
When what they should do is take a day or two off (even one day off from training, at least in men, lets cortisol drop significantly). Raise calories, especially from carbohydrates. This helps cortisol to drop. More than that they need to find a way to freaking chill out. Meditation, yoga, get a massage... Get in the bath, candles, a little Enya, a glass of wine, have some you-time but please just chill.8 -
jamesha100 wrote: »I would guess that the 1220 MFP gave you would be for the sendentry profile rather than active. If I set my profile to active my allowance increases by 700 calories a day from 1500 to 2200 to lose 2 pounds per week.
Based upon the figures you give I can see why you are frustrated by the slow progress. Leaving for your work-out every day at 4:30am sounds pretty intense - are you getting enough quality sleep? I seem to lose easier when I get a solid seven hours a night.
Another thing that has worked in the past for me is the 5:2 diet - basically five days of the week you eat at maintenance and then have two days where you "fast" and limit calories to 500. This seemed to keep my system guessing which helped break plateaus (full disclosure I did 2 days maintenance, 2 days fast and three days on MFP allowance to lose 2 pounds per week).
I do not get enough sleep and spend a lot of my day tired but I can't really tell right now if that's because I'm still readjusting tired getting up at 4am. I went off my routine while I was out of town for 3weeks and I spent a lot of my down time sleeping in so when I came back it was harder to get up early and fall asleep at a reasonable time. I ended up taking naps. Right now my sleeping is still off it's definitely something I need to fix.
I have MFP set to "active" and it says 1220 I can't remember what all it asked me when I set it up but I vaguely remember it asking about my goals and how quickly I wanted to lose the weight so maybe that's why it gave me such a low deficit. Is there another calculator you recommend?
I also used to intermittent fast and not eat after 8pm id have my first meal at 12 or 2pm this is actually how my appetite shrunk it was very hard to eat so many calories in a little window. I'd have a cheat day on the weekends.
Now I don't eat after 8pm but I have a protein smoothie as soon as I get in from the gym because i was told that's the best time for your muscles to get protein I also take a bcaa supplement 30mins before workout (pills). I posted an example of what I would consider a day of under eating in my previous post.
Typically you would set your activity level to sedentary and then add exercise, unless you have a physically demanding job. This is likely throwing off your calorie output. Perhaps MFP had fixed its calculations, but in the past I would always get a double read on activity.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »OP, I just reread the thread and it seems you're really the only one convinced you're undereating. I would really double check the exercise calories your watch is calculating for you. You say it's accurate because it's close to what the machines say but the machines are notorious for overestimating calories burned during a workout.
Let me tell you a little story about me, my beloved fitbit, and mfp. And a whole year in my life.
I had a classic fitbit and it was spot on when it came to my tdee. I lost weight accordingly. Then it broke so bad I had to replace it with a newer version. That plus two other newer versions told me I was earning maybe 1200 calories during my walks (they were REALLY long walks). It was synced to mfp and I would eat the calories mfp gave me. I ate in a 3500 calorie weekly deficit.
I gained and lost the same pound.
For a year.
A bloody (I'm not british) year.
When I posted about it in the fitbit forums I was pointed towards a recommended online exercise calorie calculator, replaced the fitbit's calculations with theirs, and OHMYGOD, I STARTED LOSING WEIGHT AGAIN!!!!!
What I'm trying to say is you're probably not undereating.
Stop being so stubborn, open your mind, realize the people here are trying to help even if they didn't answer the question you asked, and maybe you won't have to come back here with the "why am I not losing weight when I confused my metabolism by eating more" post.
Otherwise, yep, add the calories slowly and see how it goes.
I get what you guys are saying but I'm literally telling you guys I am eating 1200 calories and under some days PLUS exercising. Lets try not to focus on the exact amount of calories burned on my watch.
Every single site/app/doctor says eating 1200 is the minimum healthy deficit you should have. So eating that way and doing 2-3hrs of cardio and strength training would make my deficit greater even if my accurate calorie burn was only 300 for my workouts. What I'm hearing from this forum is that's wrong despite every other medical source saying that isn't healthy/sustainable.
So are you saying I can continue to eat only 1200 calories and continue workouts the way that I am?
No, people are saying because you are not losing weight there's likely something wrong with your calculation of Calories In and/or Calories Out.
For how long have you been stuck at 160-ish?
Please change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
OP if you temporarily make your diary setting public, people may be able to spot any issues and give you better advice.
Edited to add: you mentioned weekend cheat days, are you still having those?2 -
Based on the calorie intake you specify and your activity level you should be losing a lot faster than you are. Even without the exercise you should be losing steadily - I can understand your frustration as I have had occasional plateaus where the scale does not move which seems to defy all logic and reason.
It would not be a good idea to move your average daily intake below 1200 for any significant period but, as mentioned previously 5:2 intermittent fasting has helped me kick start progress in the past.
My concern is that you mentioned you are not enjoying the process. It might be a good idea to cut your workouts to three times a week - Monday, Wednesday, Friday - and get more rest on the other two weekdays plus try eating at maintenance for a while.
For long term success eating and exercise patterns have to be sustainable and your current workout schedule does sound a little bit extreme. I struggle with making sustainable changes - I have lost and gained 50 pounds three times over the past 4 years and am currently just starting again but trying this time to be less extreme so hopefully I will not crash so hard.5 -
For quick, low volume calories: use a bit more oil when making food. Then slowly add more food and less oil.
Also ignore the exercise calories. if you feel like you're losing too fast increase calories by
100-500 a day and then adjust based on your weightloss/gain.1 -
OP, I feel like you are getting frustrated by what we're telling you and I'm sorry that we seem to not be on the same page with what you're asking.
We agree with you that eating less than 1200 calories is bad. Adding exercise on top of that is very bad. If you are eating less than 1200 calories you should increase your calories to a more sustainable number such as maybe 1400 calories, at least to start.
If after adding in more calories you are losing at the rate you want, then you're good to go. If you start gaining, then you know you are eating too many calories and can adjust from there.
We're just saying that if you are not gaining, and not losing, then you are eating at maintenance right now. So there seems to be a general consensus here that is predicting by increasing your calories you will gain weight. That is why we are reluctant to advise it.
Eating more will not make you lose weight faster. If you are losing weight too quickly then yes, eat more. If you are not losing at all, then you should eat less. *And I'm not saying eat under 1200 calories, I'm saying you are eating more than you think right now and less would actually be in a healthy range.* And that's not an attack on your calorie counting skills, it's just the science behind it.8 -
kshama2001 wrote: »So are you saying I can continue to eat only 1200 calories and continue workouts the way that I am?
No, people are saying because you are not losing weight there's likely something wrong with your calculation of Calories In and/or Calories Out.
^^^This...2 -
@kshama2001 it would really help if you opened your diary. It will be a lot easier to help you figure out what's wrong.2
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@kshama2001 it would really help if you opened your diary. It will be a lot easier to help you figure out what's wrong.
@mrsodessa is the OP not @kshama2001
2 -
Ooops, sorry @kshama2001 I indeed wanted to ring up the TO2
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OP, I feel like you are getting frustrated by what we're telling you and I'm sorry that we seem to not be on the same page with what you're asking.
We agree with you that eating less than 1200 calories is bad. Adding exercise on top of that is very bad. If you are eating less than 1200 calories you should increase your calories to a more sustainable number such as maybe 1400 calories, at least to start.
If after adding in more calories you are losing at the rate you want, then you're good to go. If you start gaining, then you know you are eating too many calories and can adjust from there.
We're just saying that if you are not gaining, and not losing, then you are eating at maintenance right now. So there seems to be a general consensus here that is predicting by increasing your calories you will gain weight. That is why we are reluctant to advise it.
Eating more will not make you lose weight faster. If you are losing weight too quickly then yes, eat more. If you are not losing at all, then you should eat less. *And I'm not saying eat under 1200 calories, I'm saying you are eating more than you think right now and less would actually be in a healthy range.* And that's not an attack on your calorie counting skills, it's just the science behind it.
I think people were overlooking what I typed because I said before I hit plateau where despite doing the same exact thing I stopped losing weight for 4 months. I am currently losing weight but trying to avoid another situation where I hit a wall. I'm eating 1200 calories now and have dropped 12lbs but if I hit another wall it would be unsafe to cut lower than that to continue losing weight? We agree that anything less than 1200 would be unhealthy.
with that said how does one proceed when weightloss stalls without doing it an unhealthy manner and under eating because Im essentially heading in that direction.
1 -
OP, I feel like you are getting frustrated by what we're telling you and I'm sorry that we seem to not be on the same page with what you're asking.
We agree with you that eating less than 1200 calories is bad. Adding exercise on top of that is very bad. If you are eating less than 1200 calories you should increase your calories to a more sustainable number such as maybe 1400 calories, at least to start.
If after adding in more calories you are losing at the rate you want, then you're good to go. If you start gaining, then you know you are eating too many calories and can adjust from there.
We're just saying that if you are not gaining, and not losing, then you are eating at maintenance right now. So there seems to be a general consensus here that is predicting by increasing your calories you will gain weight. That is why we are reluctant to advise it.
Eating more will not make you lose weight faster. If you are losing weight too quickly then yes, eat more. If you are not losing at all, then you should eat less. *And I'm not saying eat under 1200 calories, I'm saying you are eating more than you think right now and less would actually be in a healthy range.* And that's not an attack on your calorie counting skills, it's just the science behind it.
I think people were overlooking what I typed because I said before I hit plateau where despite doing the same exact thing I stopped losing weight for 4 months. I am currently losing weight but trying to avoid another situation where I hit a wall. I'm eating 1200 calories now and have dropped 12lbs but if I hit another wall it would be unsafe to cut lower than that to continue losing weight? We agree that anything less than 1200 would be unhealthy.
with that said how does one proceed when weightloss stalls without doing it an unhealthy manner and under eating because Im essentially heading in that direction.
One option, if a stall happens: Take a maintenance break.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p17 -
Based on your activity level, I would expect you could raise your calories in and still lose weight right now. How long did it take to lose 12 lbs? As an example, if you’re losing 2lbs a week you could add 500 a day and lose 1lb per week (on average of course)
By upping your calories now to lose weight, you will have some cushion to lower that later if you stall for several weeks.1 -
Based on your activity level, I would expect you could raise your calories in and still lose weight right now. How long did it take to lose 12 lbs? As an example, if you’re losing 2lbs a week you could add 500 a day and lose 1lb per week (on average of course)
By upping your calories now to lose weight, you will have some cushion to lower that later if you stall for several weeks.
March 15-april 25th I lost 10lbs
April 25- May 7th I maintained my weight while out of town 162lbs
Period came May 15th gained 4lbs 166lbs
From May 19 until now I have lost the menstrual weight plus 2lbs.
My last weigh in was last Friday and I was 160.4lbs
0 -
Based on your activity level, I would expect you could raise your calories in and still lose weight right now. How long did it take to lose 12 lbs? As an example, if you’re losing 2lbs a week you could add 500 a day and lose 1lb per week (on average of course)
By upping your calories now to lose weight, you will have some cushion to lower that later if you stall for several weeks.
March 15-april 25th I lost 10lbs
April 25- May 7th I maintained my weight while out of town 162lbs
Period came May 15th gained 4lbs 166lbs
From May 19 until now I have lost the menstrual weight plus 2lbs.
My last weigh in was last Friday and I was 160.4lbs
So basically you lost 172-160lbs = 12lbs since mit March? So that’s 11 weeks. One week doesn’t count as you weren’t tracking. Thus 10 weeks for 12lbs. I’m sorry, but you really need to adjust your expectations. With your weight you should not be losing more than 1lbs per week, but you lost 1.2.
You
a) might actually need to eat more as you might crash and burn
b) stop panicking!
c) accept that water weight fluctuations happen12 -
Based on your activity level, I would expect you could raise your calories in and still lose weight right now. How long did it take to lose 12 lbs? As an example, if you’re losing 2lbs a week you could add 500 a day and lose 1lb per week (on average of course)
By upping your calories now to lose weight, you will have some cushion to lower that later if you stall for several weeks.
March 15-april 25th I lost 10lbs
April 25- May 7th I maintained my weight while out of town 162lbs
Period came May 15th gained 4lbs 166lbs
From May 19 until now I have lost the menstrual weight plus 2lbs.
My last weigh in was last Friday and I was 160.4lbs
So basically you lost 172-160lbs = 12lbs since mit March? So that’s 11 weeks. One week doesn’t count as you weren’t tracking. Thus 10 weeks for 12lbs. I’m sorry, but you really need to adjust your expectations. With your weight you should not be losing more than 1lbs per week, but you lost 1.2.
You
a) might actually need to eat more as you might crash and burn
b) stop panicking!
c) accept that water weight fluctuations happen
Yeah I pretty much agree with this to OP. I think you are doing really well. What you need, and what most of us lack, and IMO, is the most critical piece of the puzzle is patience...8 -
Oh, just wanted to add that I might have appeared a bit blunt. This wasn't my intention. So you're doing well and there's certainly no need to eat less. I'd rather eat a bit more and practice patience. Yes, there will always be weeks where things move slower, either due to not tracking, or do to waterweight. Menstruation is a typical case for an increase in waterweight as you have noticed. It's normal. It's frustrating that nothing happens for a few days, but there's nothing you can do about it other than accepting it.4
-
Based on your activity level, I would expect you could raise your calories in and still lose weight right now. How long did it take to lose 12 lbs? As an example, if you’re losing 2lbs a week you could add 500 a day and lose 1lb per week (on average of course)
By upping your calories now to lose weight, you will have some cushion to lower that later if you stall for several weeks.
March 15-april 25th I lost 10lbs
April 25- May 7th I maintained my weight while out of town 162lbs
Period came May 15th gained 4lbs 166lbs
From May 19 until now I have lost the menstrual weight plus 2lbs.
My last weigh in was last Friday and I was 160.4lbs
So basically you lost 172-160lbs = 12lbs since mit March? So that’s 11 weeks. One week doesn’t count as you weren’t tracking. Thus 10 weeks for 12lbs. I’m sorry, but you really need to adjust your expectations. With your weight you should not be losing more than 1lbs per week, but you lost 1.2.
You
a) might actually need to eat more as you might crash and burn
b) stop panicking!
c) accept that water weight fluctuations happen
A. is what I have been saying this whole time.
B. I'm not exactly panicking Im more frustrated at the thought of crashing and burning because I'm over exerting myself in areas where I don't need to.
C. I understand weight fluctuations because of water especially during my menstrual cycle. I drink a gallon of water everyday. I expect that. My last crash I basically spent 4 months going up and down with menstrual weight gain. i don't consider that weight dropping actually losing weight because whether i worked out or not it would've left me it was water.
It just sucked to never get under 152 despite trying. During my first crash I thought maybe because I was lifting my body was going through body re-composition...gaining muscle while losing fat so it doesn't reflect on the scale but I had taken measurements and nothing had changed. I know we cant always trust the scale so I did take measurements.2
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