What am I doing incorrectly?

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ameeters
ameeters Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm about 5'6 and I currently weigh about 160lbs. At my lowest I was 145 lbs which is where I would like to sit.

I'm on a 1500 daily calorie high protein (about 115g a day) diet.

For macros, I try to aim for a 30/30/50 protein/fat/carb split but it tends to be more 30/45/35 protein/fat/carb which I guess is okay.

I weight train with a trainer twice a week and have seen great progress with my strength and new muscles.

I used to walk 11,000 steps a day but that stopped during the winter due to the weather but also my mental health. I've been getting back into it but am struggling a little.

I make sure I get a 10 minutes walk in every day but I haven't really been hitting the new goal of 7500 consistently.

I have a bit of a sweet tooth but I've been able to manage it well and make room in my calories for my sweets (no more than 20% of my daily calories).

It feels like I'm doing the right things but the scale is not moving and it's really discouraging as I've done it once before but I seemingly am unable to do it again.


Any insight & guidance on how to get back to my ideal weight would be amazing.

PS. I'm T2 diabetic and would really like to go into 'remission' which is why the weightloss is so important to me.
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Replies

  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    Hi! Could you share how long the scale has been stalled please?
  • ameeters
    ameeters Posts: 8 Member
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    MelodyandBarbells wrote: »
    Hi! Could you share how long the scale has been stalled please?

    I stopped checking me weight in October and started checking again in January. In that time frame, I saw a 10 lbs increase (likely most from December as that was where my mental health was it's lowest).

    I have been hovering between 160 - 164 since the start of the new year.
  • StaciInGa
    StaciInGa Posts: 65 Member
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    How accurate is your logging? Food scale for solids, accurate diary entries, eating mostly food made by you? (Nothing wrong in my opinion with eating food made by others, but it requires you to estimate.) If you can improve your logging accuracy, you'll probably find your answer.
  • ameeters
    ameeters Posts: 8 Member
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    StaciInGa wrote: »
    How accurate is your logging? Food scale for solids, accurate diary entries, eating mostly food made by you? (Nothing wrong in my opinion with eating food made by others, but it requires you to estimate.) If you can improve your logging accuracy, you'll probably find your answer.

    I would like to believe it's pretty accurate.

    I usually meal prep and I'll measure everything before it goes into the container.

    I have been eating ready for you the last few days and will likely be doing the same this week as I'm part of a wedding at the end of the week so time is a bit limited.

    Also, if I eat ready made or take out, I'll usually add an extra 100 calories to somewhat make up for any discrepancies.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,960 Member
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    Your calories are probably okay if you're feeling okay, maybe even a little low if you're working out.

    With 15 pounds to lose I was also at 160. I ate 1500 per day PLUS 300 more on exercise days.

    It takes time to lose that last 15. I would say two pounds per month would be very good progress. If you are a menstruating woman you'll have lots of scale changes per month and that's okay. Stay the course, you'll get there - but it is better to not try to eat too little. That just leads to frustration, binging, and difficulty sticking with the Plan.
  • ameeters
    ameeters Posts: 8 Member
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    Your calories are probably okay if you're feeling okay, maybe even a little low if you're working out.

    With 15 pounds to lose I was also at 160. I ate 1500 per day PLUS 300 more on exercise days.

    It takes time to lose that last 15. I would say two pounds per month would be very good progress. If you are a menstruating woman you'll have lots of scale changes per month and that's okay. Stay the course, you'll get there - but it is better to not try to eat too little. That just leads to frustration, binging, and difficulty sticking with the Plan.

    The frustration was real this weekend and I definitely binge ate basically the entire weekend which hasn't happened in several months but it is what it is. I fully plan on getting back on track today but it's just frustrating to see the scale not move in the direction that I'm looking for after cleaning up my eating, but I guess it is what it is.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 9,081 Member
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    The scale only measures mass, not what TYPE of mass. If you lose a pound of fat, but gain a pound of muscle, the scale shows "no change." If you lose a pound of fat but gain a pound of water, the scale shows "no change." You could very well be making continued progress in terms of fat loss, but it's being masked from the scale.

    The fat loss will make its presence known, however, in the form of inches lost from the body, as a pound of fat takes up more volume than either a pound of muscle or water. So if your clothes are feeling looser, or a tape measure shows a smaller figure, that's a more accurate barometer of whether you're still losing fat.
  • ameeters
    ameeters Posts: 8 Member
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    StaciInGa wrote: »
    It is possible your TDEE is a little lower than you think. You can try shaving 100-150 off your daily calorie allowance, accept slow but steady weight loss, or try to increase your daily activity to burn a little more.

    That's totally fair and not something I was considering. Thanks!
  • Lotusstarr
    Lotusstarr Posts: 112 Member
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    I'm sitting in the same spot basically... My newest thing I'm trying is Intermittent fasting at 16:8 split and then making sure my first meal is low carb, but lean protein. Also drinking a lot of water and trying to make sure my meals are mostly whole foods and not processed. I've mostly worked on getting the majority of unnatural sugars out of my diet. I'm also working on my mental health along with trying to get to where I'm physically happy again. I don't know if any of this is going to work they say it should help my metabolism jump back. Suffice to say I'm not sure why I'm stuck also but hoping this works.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,675 Member
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    At 5'6" and 125 my supposed maintenance calories are 1400. I am older and mostly sedentary aside from deliberate exercise, which is why the number is so low. (Fortunately, I do a lot of exercise (walking, running, bike) so can eat a lot more than that.) If your maintenance calories are only about 1600-1700, then eating 1500 would make for very slow loss and doesn't allow much room for error, and we all make errors.
  • ameeters
    ameeters Posts: 8 Member
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    spiriteagle99 wrote: »
    At 5'6" and 125 my supposed maintenance calories are 1400. I am older and mostly sedentary aside from deliberate exercise, which is why the number is so low. (Fortunately, I do a lot of exercise (walking, running, bike) so can eat a lot more than that.) If your maintenance calories are only about 1600-1700, then eating 1500 would make for very slow loss and doesn't allow much room for error, and we all make errors.

    I used a few calculators to determine my maintenance and it comes back with an average of 2050 calories so I'm 500 under what I should be eating to maintain.

    I definitely have had binge days which don't help but I'll look at the weekly average to see if there is a way to make it net 0 over calories, if that makes sense.

    I'm wondering if I should add Intermittent Fasting to the mix again and see if I can start walking more again as the sun is coming out more.

    I'm just a tad stumped
  • ameeters
    ameeters Posts: 8 Member
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    Lotusstarr wrote: »
    I'm sitting in the same spot basically... My newest thing I'm trying is Intermittent fasting at 16:8 split and then making sure my first meal is low carb, but lean protein. Also drinking a lot of water and trying to make sure my meals are mostly whole foods and not processed. I've mostly worked on getting the majority of unnatural sugars out of my diet. I'm also working on my mental health along with trying to get to where I'm physically happy again. I don't know if any of this is going to work they say it should help my metabolism jump back. Suffice to say I'm not sure why I'm stuck also but hoping this works.

    I've tried the same with the sugar part. When I first started my weightloss journey, I dropped 20 lbs simply by reducing my sugar intake which was amazing and I was hoping for that to happen again but I haven't seen the shift and I kinda ruined my streak of no sugar this weekend.

    I hope IF and the sugar reduction works out for you!
  • natajane
    natajane Posts: 295 Member
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    It looks like its your steps - you're not getting as many as you used to since winter, and that is when the weight started creeping up.

    Can you get additional steps in, in different ways? 10 mins of dancing here and there, 15 min burst of cleaning, gardening on the weekends? Break it into little lumps.

    Other than that, weigh all of your food before eating by the gram and be really precise. Weigh before you eat it, cut out processed foods where you can.

    Good luck, you can do this! x
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,921 Member
    edited March 2023
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    Yeah, total calories are too high and confirmed if you've put on 10 lbs since October. Tighten that up. Cheers.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,960 Member
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    neanderthin wrote: »
    Yeah, total calories are too high and confirmed if you've put on 10 lbs since October. Tighten that up. Cheers.

    But she is now at 1500. That weight was gained when she wasn't tracking nor exercising.

    Don't you read the whole thread before posting? Rookie! :lol:
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,921 Member
    edited March 2023
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    neanderthin wrote: »
    Yeah, total calories are too high and confirmed if you've put on 10 lbs since October. Tighten that up. Cheers.

    But she is now at 1500. That weight was gained when she wasn't tracking nor exercising.

    Don't you read the whole thread before posting? Rookie! :lol:

    Hahaha, no I just normally wing it, you know that lol. :D
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1
  • sbelletti
    sbelletti Posts: 213 Member
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    Likely culprit.. Not counting calorie intake accurately. "Adding 100 extra calories for ready made or takeout meals" is ringing alarm bells for me. Restaurant salads can easily be 1000 calories or more.

    I'm 5'5“ and maintain around 1400-1500. I lost 40+ pounds to get to my goal range of 122-125 at a slow and steady pace eating around 1200-1300. The last 10lbs required VERY accurate logging.

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