Weight loss stuck

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ams1507
ams1507 Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am 68, I gained 25 pounds over the last 6 years, up to 154 from 130. I had hip replacement 2 1/2 years ago, recovered very well within 2 weeks, had gallbladder removed after pancreatitis in November 2019. Everything was fine at first, now I can't lose weight whatever I try. I started going to the gym every other day a few weeks ago, slowly increasing walking the treadmill and using the incumbent bike. My lower back is bad, I am seeing my orthopedic doc for that in 2 weeks.
MFP calculated my calorie intake with about 1,200 calories. I follow that religously, and my weight is still stuck, sometimes 2 pounds up, then 1 down, but remains around the same 154 for several months now. I can't eat less, and I can't exercise more right now. It is frustrating. I am sleeping well, Apple watch is showing good and enough sleep, my heart rate is fine. My family physician shrugged me off like I am crazy. I am not out to get back to my 130 pounds, I would be very happy with 140.
What can/should I do?

Replies

  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,593 Member
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    How tall are you? How long have you been tracking calories on myfitnespal? How are you measuring your food? Cups and spoons? Or do you use a food scale?
  • ams1507
    ams1507 Posts: 6 Member
    edited March 2022
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    I am 5’6”. I use a food scale and scan the barcodes on food packaging. I use the MFP app, and I keep tracking for about 3 years, even when I did not really tried to lose. It just became a habit.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,593 Member
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    At your height and current weight, you are already within the healthy bmi range. Going down to 130 would still be within a healthy range for your height. However it will be very difficult to lose unless you are tracking your calories very closely. You may want to consider using a food scale to improve your accuracy tracking your calorie intake. And expect not to lose more than half a pound per week.
  • Seasonal_One
    Seasonal_One Posts: 49 Member
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    At age 68, I'm glad to see you still trying. I'm not too far behind you in age and have noticed lots of older people have just given up. Good luck and glad to see you still trying. :)
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,948 Member
    edited April 2022
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    ams1507 wrote: »
    I am 5’6”. I use a food scale and scan the barcodes on food packaging. I use the MFP app, and I keep tracking for about 3 years, even when I did not really tried to lose. It just became a habit.

    I'm 67, 5'7" 140-143 (or 5'8" depending on who's measuring) - I would be sssssssoooo hungry on 1200. I lose on 1700 PLUS additional Exercise calories on days I get some exercise.

    Those barcodes - are you checking the data against the data on the actual label of the product? Barcode info is entered by other users and is often wrong. Just one idea.

    Set your Goal to, "Lose 1/2 pound per week," that's reasonable at your current weight. If you exercise eat a little more.

    Just as an aside, it took me nine months to lose the last 15 pounds. It should be slow, that's to be expected.

    Here's a good thread about logging: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
  • Cheesy567
    Cheesy567 Posts: 1,186 Member
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    How are you logging foods without a barcode? I’ve found many of those entries to be inaccurate, too. The USDA has a database with accurate info on those foods, and the entire USDA database is within the MFP database, but it has particular syntax. I’ve made “meals” with the foods that I searched within the USDA database, copied the title and then searched that in MFP to get the most accurate entry. Saving it to a “meal” in MFP means it won’t fall off my recent food list. I have meals of chicken entries, produce entries, etc. It took some upfront work but saves time now, and saves a lot of frustration with the erroneous entries in MFP that were slowing me down.

    The USDA database: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/index.html

    Other things to consider:
    - what foods are you not weighing? Oils when you cook? Recipes you make? Calorie dense foods like nut butters? Salad dressings? Fruits? Breads? Grains? Maybe be thoughtful of this for a few weeks.

    - what foods are you not logging? Any bites / tastes / licks of the knife or spoon when cooking? Snacks when food prepping? Social bites at the office or other times? Bites off a loved one’s snack? Meals out that you don’t think of or don’t log typically? Eating in the evening that isn’t making it into the diary? Maybe keep a pen and paper handy for a week or two, be mindful of these times and jot them down. Ask a family member to be aware if you want help. Don’t be afraid of logging everything into your diary. Go back a day or two later and add it in if you remember it later, you’ll have better data to review if you need it.

    -manually average what you have logged. Go back over the past month, or pick any past month. Get out a calculator and manually average it. See what you’re logging, actually logging. It might be more than you think you’re logging. We all have memory bias when something seems hard, we think it’s harder than it is, so you might remember the number differently than it actually is. Realize that people tend to under-log— we all miss food, underestimate servings when we eyeball servings, misapproximate restaurant calories, etc. You might have more high days than you realize. Or maybe not. But maybe there’s a pattern of several days of 1200, then one day of 3000. If you average it, it might be be the reason that you’re not losing. The high days might negate the lower days. In those situations, you might be better off picking a higher calorie goal overall, so you’re not feeling restricted and don’t overeat on the other days.
  • ams1507
    ams1507 Posts: 6 Member
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    I know I am most likely never get back to 130 lbs., but 140 would be great. I recently started going to the gym, which is free for me through my health insurance. Due to my hip replacement and arthritis I can't work out as much as I would like to, but I started with 15 min treadmill and 15 min incumbent bike, and I slowly increase the time and speed. It causes severe pain in my lower back, I've seen my orthopedic doctor for it last week, and he told me my back is fine, it is the unusual exercise and to keep doing it.
    There might be some flaws in my calorie counting, I get that, but with 1200 calories it shouldn't matter too much if I end up with 1300 or 1400 calories/day.
    What puzzles me is, that in the last week I actually started gaining weight. I was so frustrated yesterday that we went out for dinner and I ate a "real" meal at Applebees, which was listed in the menu at 1400 calories. I was 2.5 lbs more this morning. And since last week I am up from 152 to 156.8 lbs.
    That is frustrating and does not make any sense to me. I seems to all sitting around my belly area.
    Now what?
    Did I mention that I had gallbladder surgery 2 years ago? I have a lot of diarrhea since then and a lot of bile in my bowls, I mentioned it to my doctor the last time, he shrugged me off like "oh, just stop eating yogurt".
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,948 Member
    edited April 2022
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    Weight fluctuation from new exercise (increases inflammation, hence water) and salty meals (Applebees, water retention) is common.

    This is really good...https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

    Here's the web article: https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

    The other thing is not getting too invested in the daily numbers. There are weight-trending apps you may find helpful that graph out your progress over time, like Libra or Happy Scale. Maybe try one of those.

    You don't have much to lose. Set your goals and try to hit them. Then trust the process. It's going to take time.

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