Need help and ideas

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fanniev
fanniev Posts: 7 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hello! I’ve been using the app for 2 weeks now and have tracked diligently all of my food. I love the accountability. The problem is I have not lost a pound. I’ve actually gained. I have been within my calorie range every day. I weigh my food. And I rarely eat processed. I gained a lot weight through the pandemic and with the loss of my father. Really struggling to feel healthy again. It isn’t about fitting into my old clothes as much as it is to feel better and healthier. The weight gain brings a lot of anxiety with it. Thanks for any help you may be able to give!

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  • buddharivet
    buddharivet Posts: 41 Member
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    Have you also been exercising more? If you are building muscle, you may weigh more but actually be smaller, as muscle weighs more than fat. Another possibility is that you may be under eating. If your calorie intake it too low, your body will simply refuse to let you lose weight (my gastroenterologist says this is bull pucky BTW, so YMMV). Those are the two th8ngs that come immediately to mind for me,
  • CLIMBER39
    CLIMBER39 Posts: 2 Member
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    Id imagine it's stress related. Try just eating by giving what your body needs and exercising to feel better naturally. Counting lbs and ounces in a very short 2wks is expecting results too quickly
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,857 Member
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    buddharivet wrote: »
    Have you also been exercising more? If you are building muscle, you may weigh more but actually be smaller, as muscle weighs more than fat. Another possibility is that you may be under eating. If your calorie intake it too low, your body will simply refuse to let you lose weight (my gastroenterologist says this is bull pucky BTW, so YMMV). Those are the two th8ngs that come immediately to mind for me,

    I’m going to say this as gently as possible but…. Your gastroenterologist is right.

    If you’re undereating you will definitely continue to lose fat. You also lose muscle mass, and put a tremendous amount of stress on your body. It can lead to very serious health issues, in a shorter amount of time than you might expect.

  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,857 Member
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    fanniev wrote: »
    Hello! I’ve been using the app for 2 weeks now and have tracked diligently all of my food. I love the accountability. The problem is I have not lost a pound. I’ve actually gained. I have been within my calorie range every day. I weigh my food. And I rarely eat processed. I gained a lot weight through the pandemic and with the loss of my father. Really struggling to feel healthy again. It isn’t about fitting into my old clothes as much as it is to feel better and healthier. The weight gain brings a lot of anxiety with it. Thanks for any help you may be able to give!

    Weight loss is not linear.
    Especially if you are an adult female bodied person between puberty and menopause.

    It is definitely a pain. But with a little investigating you can get to the bottom of this.

    First, read this: https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

    Then make sure you’re calculating your calorie needs properly https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/

    And for one additional point of information you may want to calculate your frame size too
    http://www.myfooddiary.com/Resources/frame_size_calculator.asp

    Also, keep in mind that not all of the food entries here (as well as other similar websites) are accurate. Many are user-entered. So if there’s something you eat frequently, double check the package or other reliable source to be sure you’re calculating your calories accurately.

    One last bit: Be sure you have entered your activity level properly.
    Sedentary assumes 3000 steps a day, for example. And if you’re disabled you might not be getting that much walking daily. That’s about 150 calories.

    If you’re actually sedentary but entered active, that will similarly give you more calories than you should have.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,858 Member
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    OP, good advice above from Margaret, IMO. Stick to a new routine for at least one full menstrual cycle, then look at the average weight loss per week to decide whether that routine is working. (Subject to things in that very good article she linked about scale fluctuations, it could take longer, like 2 cycles, though that would be unusual, unless one has chosen a very slow weight loss rate. For someone without cycles, 4-6 weeks is a reasonable minimum.)
    buddharivet wrote: »
    Have you also been exercising more? If you are building muscle, you may weigh more but actually be smaller, as muscle weighs more than fat. Another possibility is that you may be under eating. If your calorie intake it too low, your body will simply refuse to let you lose weight (my gastroenterologist says this is bull pucky BTW, so YMMV). Those are the two th8ngs that come immediately to mind for me,

    Sadly, muscle gain is slow, under the best of circumstances, and can be especially slow for women like OP, you, me. A pound *a month* of muscle mass gain would be a really good result for a women, and that much is only likely achievable under circumstances that include a well-designed progressive strength program faithfully performed, excellent nutrition (especially but not exclusively protein), relative youth, and a calorie *surplus*.

    I'm not saying muscle gain is impossible in a calorie deficit, just that it would likely be slower than a quarter pound a week. In contrast, half a pound of fat loss per week is about the slowest observable rate, and even that can take multiple weeks to show up clearly on the bodyweight scale, amongst normal day to day water weight fluctuations of a pound or few.

    Sometimes people believe they've gained muscle quickly, because they've gained strength and maybe some muscle definition. In new strength trainers, strength gain is fast, from neuromuscular adaptation (NMA), which is basically better recruiting and using existing muscle fibers. (Adding new fibers is slower.) On top of that, there can be a firmer or more defined appearance, mostly from the water retention (pump) involved with muscle repair. It's all good stuff, but not necessarily added muscle mass.

    As a general rule of thumb, when following a reasonably consistent routine, multi-pound weight changes over a day or few tend to be about fluctuating water weight; body fat changes can show up on the scale over a week or few, depending on loss rate; and muscle mass changes are more a matter of months and beyond.

    P.S. I also vote that your gastroenterologist is correct. If bodies did that "starvation mode" myth thing, people wouldn't starve to death quickly under conditions of no food, and sadly they do so regularly worldwide. Eating too little can increase stress-related water retention, down-regulate activity level (perhaps subconsciously/inobviously), and slow down scale weight losses beyond what's expected. It's counterproductive to undereat, in those and other way. Eating too little won't stop all fat loss, though.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    buddharivet wrote: »
    Have you also been exercising more? If you are building muscle, you may weigh more but actually be smaller, as muscle weighs more than fat. Another possibility is that you may be under eating. If your calorie intake it too low, your body will simply refuse to let you lose weight (my gastroenterologist says this is bull pucky BTW, so YMMV). Those are the two th8ngs that come immediately to mind for me,

    so..... your doctor is correct, though its fun to think we know more than MD's (well, sometimes we do in certain things, but in this case, you do not)

    You do not build muscle by under eating and your body does not refuse to let you lose weight when you eat too little. Your body will punish you in other ways, and bad things will happen, but holding onto fat is not one of them.

    Back to OP...

    Without an open diary, we can only help so much. It's only been two weeks, so keep that in mind. also, if you began exercising in any way or (not sure of your age) your period began (or is about to)... those things can add a lot of water weight and mask any weight loss. So, something to think about on that end.

    If neither of those situations apply, I would really consider taking a close look at your diary, or asking us to help you. I promise we do not care what you are eating, just that you are weighing it correctly and choosing accurate database entries. If you haven't read the links below, take the time to do so, there is a TON of really good material in them that will help teach you how to correctly log your food.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1

    and basically ... all of these :)

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-health-fitness-and-diet-must-reads#latest



  • fanniev
    fanniev Posts: 7 Member
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    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    buddharivet wrote: »
    Have you also been exercising more? If you are building muscle, you may weigh more but actually be smaller, as muscle weighs more than fat. Another possibility is that you may be under eating. If your calorie intake it too low, your body will simply refuse to let you lose weight (my gastroenterologist says this is bull pucky BTW, so YMMV). Those are the two th8ngs that come immediately to mind for me,

    so..... your doctor is correct, though its fun to think we know more than MD's (well, sometimes we do in certain things, but in this case, you do not)

    You do not build muscle by under eating and your body does not refuse to let you lose weight when you eat too little. Your body will punish you in other ways, and bad things will happen, but holding onto fat is not one of them.

    Back to OP...

    Without an open diary, we can only help so much. It's only been two weeks, so keep that in mind. also, if you began exercising in any way or (not sure of your age) your period began (or is about to)... those things can add a lot of water weight and mask any weight loss. So, something to think about on that end.

    If neither of those situations apply, I would really consider taking a close look at your diary, or asking us to help you. I promise we do not care what you are eating, just that you are weighing it correctly and choosing accurate database entries. If you haven't read the links below, take the time to do so, there is a TON of really good material in them that will help teach you how to correctly log your food.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1

    and basically ... all of these :)

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-health-fitness-and-diet-must-reads#latest


    Thank you for all of this insightful information! Very helpful and I have some reading to do!

    I am mid 40s and entering the peri menopausal stage and also severe stress and anxiety as mentioned. (I work in health care… sigh!)

    Would love to share my diary but not sure how to do that. Any help? I would love feedback on my diary. That would be amazing and I would be grateful.

    Thank you everyone.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    fanniev wrote: »
    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    buddharivet wrote: »
    Have you also been exercising more? If you are building muscle, you may weigh more but actually be smaller, as muscle weighs more than fat. Another possibility is that you may be under eating. If your calorie intake it too low, your body will simply refuse to let you lose weight (my gastroenterologist says this is bull pucky BTW, so YMMV). Those are the two th8ngs that come immediately to mind for me,

    so..... your doctor is correct, though its fun to think we know more than MD's (well, sometimes we do in certain things, but in this case, you do not)

    You do not build muscle by under eating and your body does not refuse to let you lose weight when you eat too little. Your body will punish you in other ways, and bad things will happen, but holding onto fat is not one of them.

    Back to OP...

    Without an open diary, we can only help so much. It's only been two weeks, so keep that in mind. also, if you began exercising in any way or (not sure of your age) your period began (or is about to)... those things can add a lot of water weight and mask any weight loss. So, something to think about on that end.

    If neither of those situations apply, I would really consider taking a close look at your diary, or asking us to help you. I promise we do not care what you are eating, just that you are weighing it correctly and choosing accurate database entries. If you haven't read the links below, take the time to do so, there is a TON of really good material in them that will help teach you how to correctly log your food.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1

    and basically ... all of these :)

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-health-fitness-and-diet-must-reads#latest


    Thank you for all of this insightful information! Very helpful and I have some reading to do!

    I am mid 40s and entering the peri menopausal stage and also severe stress and anxiety as mentioned. (I work in health care… sigh!)

    Would love to share my diary but not sure how to do that. Any help? I would love feedback on my diary. That would be amazing and I would be grateful.

    Thank you everyone.

    https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    bottom left, click 'public'

    if you are on a phone ... im not quite as much help. it will be in your settings somewhere, look for diary settings, diary sharing, then set to public. something like that. i use mfp on my phone as little as possible, so im not quite as much help when it comes to that platform lol
  • fanniev
    fanniev Posts: 7 Member
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    Thank you! I have shared it publicly!
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    thanks!

    I think this is probably mostly a logging issue. these are just the items that immediately jumped out at me scrolling back the past few days. The items listed as homemade- are they items you selected from the database (if so dont ever do that lol) or recipes you actually entered through the recipe maker?

    Homemade - Italian Meatballs, 3 Meatballs
    Homemade Chicken & Noodle Soup - Chicken Soup, 6 fluid ounce
    Pizza - Meat, 1 slice
    Homemade - Bruschetta, 0.5 Cups (how do you measure bruschetta in cups?)
    Salmon, 0.25 fillet
    My Homemade - Spaghetti, 2 cup

    Learning how to accurately weigh and log food (and find correct database entries) can feel like a huge chore that takes forever to do. And at FIRST, it is a bit cumbersome. But it DOES get a lot easier (especially as your diary fills with those things you use all the time), and you DO get a lot faster at it.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1


    I know you had pizza at least 2 days and that's high sodium (especially the meat pizzas). the meatballs you also had a couple of times, iirc, that too could be higher sodium (dont recall what the # in your diary said, assuming it was correct to begin with)- higher sodium than normal can result in water retention that can show on the scale, even though its not 'real' weight, and falls off for most people within a few days/week. Same for the chinese food I remember seeing. If food like this is normal for you though, you shouldnt have really seen a difference since your body would be used to it (in contrast, for me, its not 'normal' per say, though i do eat it on occasion. i do weigh daily, so when I do have it, I almost always see the scale go up the next day and know what to attribute it to).

    And then, as was mentioned, if you have begun working out recently, its also possible that you could be retaining water from that, as well.

    So, it may be a combination of things, but definitely go and read those links, and learn how to accurately log your food. It will help immensely. I don't recall if you said how much weight you have to lose, but at first you may have a lot of room for error in your logging. But as you lose weight, you have LESS room for error. If you learn how to do it properly now, it will save a lot of headaches later on, and keep you from having to RE-LEARN how to do it after you are already 'set in your ways' and unlearn bad habits.

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