Losing hope instead of weight :(

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Replies

  • BarryTone99
    BarryTone99 Posts: 9 Member
    Are you taking measurments? When I went from 250 to 175 pounds there were several plateau's. Some were weeks long! Measuring (chest, waist, hips) was the proof that I was still moving in the right direction even though the scale was stalled.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,724 Member
    sbelletti wrote: »
    How are you determining exercise calories burned and are you eating those calories back? I see this in your diary:

    Walking, brisk pace for 30 minutes: 362 calories burned.

    Where are you getting that calorie count as it seems very, very high. If you're eating all of those back and you're logging this several times a week with an inaccurate number, that could also account for the scale not moving. I would expect a 30 minute walk to be around 100-200 calories, and I would only give myself a portion of that to eat back. So if you're eating an additional 362 calories vs around 50 calories, that could make a huge difference over the course of a month.

    In addition, I can easily walk briskly for 30 minutes as part of my daily activity. Is this an activity that you are logging completely separately from the exercise already included in your daily calorie calculation?

    A decent source for walking calorie estimates is here:

    https://exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs

    Be sure to select "Net" in the "Energy" box.

    You need to know the speed, and amount of time, plus personal characteristics. There are other boxes there (like Grade), and might fine-tune the estimate if you know them, but they're optional.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,572 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    sbelletti wrote: »
    How are you determining exercise calories burned and are you eating those calories back? I see this in your diary:

    Walking, brisk pace for 30 minutes: 362 calories burned.

    Where are you getting that calorie count as it seems very, very high. If you're eating all of those back and you're logging this several times a week with an inaccurate number, that could also account for the scale not moving. I would expect a 30 minute walk to be around 100-200 calories, and I would only give myself a portion of that to eat back. So if you're eating an additional 362 calories vs around 50 calories, that could make a huge difference over the course of a month.

    In addition, I can easily walk briskly for 30 minutes as part of my daily activity. Is this an activity that you are logging completely separately from the exercise already included in your daily calorie calculation?

    A decent source for walking calorie estimates is here:

    https://exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs

    Be sure to select "Net" in the "Energy" box.

    You need to know the speed, and amount of time, plus personal characteristics. There are other boxes there (like Grade), and might fine-tune the estimate if you know them, but they're optional.

    As depressing as it was, this calculator showed me during the year I gained and lost the same poundthat my fitbit's exercise calories were NOWHERE NEAR what my true exercise calories were. Once I started using the exrx.net calculation, I started losing again.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,329 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    sbelletti wrote: »
    How are you determining exercise calories burned and are you eating those calories back? I see this in your diary:

    Walking, brisk pace for 30 minutes: 362 calories burned.

    Where are you getting that calorie count as it seems very, very high. If you're eating all of those back and you're logging this several times a week with an inaccurate number, that could also account for the scale not moving. I would expect a 30 minute walk to be around 100-200 calories, and I would only give myself a portion of that to eat back. So if you're eating an additional 362 calories vs around 50 calories, that could make a huge difference over the course of a month.

    In addition, I can easily walk briskly for 30 minutes as part of my daily activity. Is this an activity that you are logging completely separately from the exercise already included in your daily calorie calculation?

    A decent source for walking calorie estimates is here:

    https://exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs

    Be sure to select "Net" in the "Energy" box.

    You need to know the speed, and amount of time, plus personal characteristics. There are other boxes there (like Grade), and might fine-tune the estimate if you know them, but they're optional.

    This calculator seems to be using a multiplier of roughly 0.36 for average walking speeds in flat terrain. Thus 0.36* weight in lbs * distance in miles. Might be easier than figuring out how fast someone walks. The distance can for example be pulled out of google maps.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,329 Member
    glassyo wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    sbelletti wrote: »
    How are you determining exercise calories burned and are you eating those calories back? I see this in your diary:

    Walking, brisk pace for 30 minutes: 362 calories burned.

    Where are you getting that calorie count as it seems very, very high. If you're eating all of those back and you're logging this several times a week with an inaccurate number, that could also account for the scale not moving. I would expect a 30 minute walk to be around 100-200 calories, and I would only give myself a portion of that to eat back. So if you're eating an additional 362 calories vs around 50 calories, that could make a huge difference over the course of a month.

    In addition, I can easily walk briskly for 30 minutes as part of my daily activity. Is this an activity that you are logging completely separately from the exercise already included in your daily calorie calculation?

    A decent source for walking calorie estimates is here:

    https://exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs

    Be sure to select "Net" in the "Energy" box.

    You need to know the speed, and amount of time, plus personal characteristics. There are other boxes there (like Grade), and might fine-tune the estimate if you know them, but they're optional.

    As depressing as it was, this calculator showed me during the year I gained and lost the same poundthat my fitbit's exercise calories were NOWHERE NEAR what my true exercise calories were. Once I started using the exrx.net calculation, I started losing again.

    Yeah, I know what you mean. Both fitbit and garmin give me crazy calorie burns for walking. Say I do a 20km hike in flat terrain. I don't do it often, but it might happen. Both devices would give me around 1800 calories. So that's probably gross calories, but even if I assume net I'd still be looking at 1500 calories or so. This calculator would give me about 600 calories. I feel that the truth might be a bit higher as there's still a difference between walking through a mall and walking in actual nature where nothing is truly flat, but it's eye opening.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,036 Member
    The difference won't be huge, but the calorie burn does vary according to speed. This is the basis for the calculator:
    https://exrx.net/Aerobic/WalkCalExp

    I went 'supernerd' and made my own calculator in a spreadsheet, but I also know the speed of all my walks and runs through my fitness tracker. For people who don't time their walks, a more simple formula certainly has its benefits too.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,329 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    I went 'supernerd' and made my own calculator in a spreadsheet, but I also know the speed of all my walks and runs through my fitness tracker. For people who don't time their walks, a more simple formula certainly has its benefits too.

    I have a spreadsheet somewhere that compares this and similar equations (I usually use the slightly lower 0.3 and 0.67 multipliers) to an exercise test I once had, and amount of energy from fatty acids and glycogen. Don't ask... The lower multiplyers seem to provide a rather good fit for me, but all my movement is aimed at preserving energy as much as possible, like not lifting up feel properly, not walking on sidewalks because they constantly go up and down a bit, using lots of other small hacks. Btw, I'm getting likely two more exercise tests with a prof in sports medicine to figure out what's wrong with me <3