I’m at a loss on my weight loss
gizzzo
Posts: 12 Member
I have been tracking my food intake religiously, logging every meal, and recording the calories and other nutritional information. I also track my exercise and sleep. And I monitor my weight to see if any of these factors affect it. My records show that I am eating way too few calories. Myfitnesspal, the app I use to track my meals, even warns me that I am eating too few calories, lower than what is healthy. Yet, my weight does not go below 83 kilograms and hovers between that and 85 kilograms.
I am 52, Male, weighing 83kg, and 170cm tall.
Over the last 7 months, I averaged 1400 calories, 90 grams of protein, 117 grams of carbs, and 54 grams of fat daily.
Are my calories too low to be healthy?
What am I doing wrong?
I am 52, Male, weighing 83kg, and 170cm tall.
Over the last 7 months, I averaged 1400 calories, 90 grams of protein, 117 grams of carbs, and 54 grams of fat daily.
Are my calories too low to be healthy?
What am I doing wrong?
Tagged:
1
Replies
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Has your doctor ruled out thyroid problems? If you eat too little, you will lose weight too fast to be healthy and will feel weak, tired, and there are other things as well, but you won't stop losing. That's just a myth.
If you don't have a thyroid issue, something is wrong somewhere. Did you check each of the database entries you used on MFP for accuracy against manufacture label info or FDA info? Most of the database entries when I add new are incorrect.
There was a guy here once who wasn't losing weight, and it turned out that the entry he used for his his daily potato salad was dramatically wrong, so he was under counting his potato salad by several hundred calories a day just from the potato salad entry being wrong.
I'm a 5'4" woman, and between 1400 and 1500 calories for me is maintenance at my current weight of about 140 lb. If I work out, more.1 -
How much are you eating in calories? I'm the same height, 59 years old and eat AT LEAST 2400 calories a day to just stay within my current weight of 190lbs.
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yeah, if you were actually eating 1400 calories for seven months at your current stats, you would be losing weight unless you have some medical problem. If you think you're logging accurately, I'd see a doctor.
Here's a How To for logging:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
Here, this is good:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/872212/you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think2 -
How are you determining how much you eat? Do you cook and weight every ingredient in grams? Do you use cup and spoons? Do you eat out a lot? We need a lot more information in order to help you.3
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There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public. In the app, go to Settings > Diary Setting > Diary Sharing > and check Public. Desktop: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings3
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If no medical conditions then your weekly calories are higher than you’re reporting3
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can you change your diary settings to public?1
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Thank you all for your response. To answer your questions and furnish more information:
Checking Thyroid Issues
I did think of the possibility of thyroid issues so I had myself checked and test showed I’m within ok ranges. My doctor also validated that. See results below.
Incorrect entries
Yes, I was always concerned about incorrect entries. So what I do is (1) I weigh them and (2) only use validated items in the MFP database. See screenshots of a sample of my usual practice below:
I weigh them
I use validated items in the MFP database
Note that it is always not perfect. I may be more accurate in the weights but there are days where I go out (not a lot ) where I don't bring my scale. Also the validated food item may not exactly match the food that I am taking, especially that the food database is US centric and I am from the Philippines where there are certain food items that I don't find in the database, but I use my best judgment to estimate the closest food I could find. It's not perfect but better than guessing the weight and entering unvalidated food items.
How much am I eating in calories
The average I wrote in the original post is the calories I ate. It is not net calories, ie calories consumed minus exercise calories.
My Public Diary Settings
Thanks for the suggestion of making my diary settings public. I have done so. Here's the link https://www.myfitnesspal.com/en/food/diary/gizzzo
I will share the trends I am seeing. (As you can see I have just shared summary information like averages.) I'm thinking also of sharing my data.
Thanks for all the help. I'm so lucky the community is so helpful. Thanks.2 -
I don't see the oil added for your fried foods, and one tablespoon of oil has 14 g fat, which is 126 calories. Also, if you eat out a lot it's virtually impossible to know how many calories there are in a food. You don't know how they prepared it, how much oil is in it. And guessing foods that may have the same calorie may not be working if you're not losing weight.
Friday and Sunday, you only have two meals logged. Did you only eat two meals or did you miss logging at least one other meal?
BTW, the validated database entries are very often wrong, and that's why I always check against the manufacturer packaging or the FDA listing.2 -
I agree with zebasschick, I wouldn’t believe anything you haven’t weighed yourself. Although you did have some measurements in grams, there was also a lot of: 1 serving, 1/2 cup, 2 fried drumsticks, type of logging as well. Your post was really helpful and sounds like you have the right idea, but unfortunately you may be underestimating the calories if you’re not losing. I know, it’s frustrating. Just to get back on track I would stick to weighing everything for awhile until you have a handle on your logging and weight trend. If you’re not able to use your scale for a better part of the day consider meal prepping. Just some small tweaks and you’re there.3
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Just a couple of ideas. When I hit a weight loss plateau, I change what I eat and/or change the type of activity I do (sorry, may have missed it but didn't see whether you're active physically or not). That seems to shock my body somewhat and some weight loss will usually follow.1
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Thanks for opening your diary.
The simplest explanation for a man eating 1400 gross calories and not losing weight is that he is in fact eating more than 1400 calories.
You've already received some good logging tips above and perhaps someone else will take a close look at your diary.2 -
I'm guessing some prepared foods are inaccurate:
- sushi by the piece instead of weight, no mention of brand for most of them so really not sure of the sushi eaten was similar in size
- beef ramen bowl from a certain brand - was that the actual brand eaten?
- Chinese fried rice: generic entry and logged in cups rather than weight
- 'fish, cooked': generic entry not specifying a specific fish, and 100gr is quite a small portion?
- 2 boiled eggs for 143 calories looks low, those would be very small eggs. Weighing is more accurate.
- general remark: are the brands in your diary the actual brands consumed? Different recipes can make a big difference regarding calorie count1 -
I am impressed with the fact that you weight your stuff! That's AWESOME.
However the database and green marks are NOT to be truly trusted even through they do look pretty! They were just voted by a popularity contest among users like us as opposed to manually verified by a responsible volunteer or paid employee.
If I were not able to confirm the number here: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/ I would personally not consider it confirmed.
Unfortunately even there I would more fully trust the SR Legacy and Foundation food databases as compared to the Branded and Survey food ones. But... that's just me!
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I’ve had this problem in the past. I changed my diet to lower my carbs to under 50 g per day and the weight suddenly started dropping again. I have found that my body loses weight the fastest with a high protein/low carb diet. Good luck!1
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Some people have already mentioned this, but you are pulling generic listings that aren't accurate. Example: Hamburger, 6 ounces for 300 calories.
Instead, you need to enter in the exact kind of bun you ate as its own entry under Dinner. Nature's Own, whole wheat with sesame seeds? Hawaiian Roll brand slider buns, white? Then enter in the type of beef used -- was it 80/20? 85/15? 90/10? Weigh the beef on a digital food scale before you cook it to make sure it's 6 ounces. Then you need to add condiments -- two tablespoons ketchup? half a tomato? pickles?
Six ounces of 80/20 ground beef is closer to 450 calories by itself. Maybe 440?
This means that most your meals need to be prepped at home -- as many as possible -- so you are logging accurately.
If you're eating "Spaghetti with Pork Meatballs," you need to weigh the pork on a food scale before you cook it and log it as ground pork, X ounces. Also log the oil you put in the pan. And any breadcrumbs or condiments that went into the meatballs. You need to weigh the dry noodles (2 ounces of thin spaghetti is 200 calories). Then figure out the sauce from there.
No more generic listings hoping they are close enough!1 -
zebasschick wrote: »Friday and Sunday, you only have two meals logged. Did you only eat two meals or did you miss logging at least one other meal?
I do intermittent fasting so I only usually have lunch and dinner.0 -
Hi All, I really appreciate all the help.
I also really appreciate the attention to detail and accuracy. Believe me, I used to be very OC, weighing everything down to the recipe. For example, for home-cooked meals, I used to weigh everything I put in as I prepared the food. That was very accurate. It was also very unsustainable. I stopped using MFP for a long time then.
I realized that I had to strike a balance. If I were to religiously weigh and measure what I eat every meal, I would resort to weighing the prepared meal (someone prepares meals for me), then trying to find the closest meal that already exists in the database. It's already creating a bit of tension in the family dinner table as I have a weighing scale beside my plate and I weigh and log as I eat. But it's the only way I think in my situation I could be consistent.
So I am making some compromises and having to choose between 100% accuracy or very infrequent and inconsistent logging. And I guess I am choosing 80% accurate but consistent.
I guess in this community, most of the people here tend towards perfect accuracy. Anyways, thanks for the help and advice.
I will just assume I am eating more than I am measuring. If I just look at patterns instead of grams and calories to the decimal, I think I am seeing that I am eating way more carbs. So I think my plan will be to cut down on that macro.1 -
RE that last post, gizzzo:
You can use the Recipe builder instead of trying to find something in the database...
I get it though.
People are going to always say, "Food scale. Grams." Doesn't mean it's the only way, but it is the more accurate. We just see so many posts of people who are doing very loose logging and not losing the way they think they should be and it's usually because of their logging.
Do what works. I still log food, still use my food scale. I know that wouldn't work for some people. I did lose all my weight nearly 15 years ago. I'm pretty tired of logging and have tried to be more intuitive, but for whatever reason I haven't been able to make that work and always end up gaining weight. To each their own.1 -
Hi All, I really appreciate all the help.
I also really appreciate the attention to detail and accuracy. Believe me, I used to be very OC, weighing everything down to the recipe. For example, for home-cooked meals, I used to weigh everything I put in as I prepared the food. That was very accurate. It was also very unsustainable. I stopped using MFP for a long time then.
I realized that I had to strike a balance. If I were to religiously weigh and measure what I eat every meal, I would resort to weighing the prepared meal (someone prepares meals for me), then trying to find the closest meal that already exists in the database. It's already creating a bit of tension in the family dinner table as I have a weighing scale beside my plate and I weigh and log as I eat. But it's the only way I think in my situation I could be consistent.
So I am making some compromises and having to choose between 100% accuracy or very infrequent and inconsistent logging. And I guess I am choosing 80% accurate but consistent.
I guess in this community, most of the people here tend towards perfect accuracy. Anyways, thanks for the help and advice.
I will just assume I am eating more than I am measuring. If I just look at patterns instead of grams and calories to the decimal, I think I am seeing that I am eating way more carbs. So I think my plan will be to cut down on that macro.
They do. Because it's a calorie counting app many users are rather.... militant about it. But what I do is very similar to what you do. It's about what works for you.0 -
Hi All, I really appreciate all the help.
I also really appreciate the attention to detail and accuracy. Believe me, I used to be very OC, weighing everything down to the recipe. For example, for home-cooked meals, I used to weigh everything I put in as I prepared the food. That was very accurate. It was also very unsustainable. I stopped using MFP for a long time then.
I realized that I had to strike a balance. If I were to religiously weigh and measure what I eat every meal, I would resort to weighing the prepared meal (someone prepares meals for me), then trying to find the closest meal that already exists in the database. It's already creating a bit of tension in the family dinner table as I have a weighing scale beside my plate and I weigh and log as I eat. But it's the only way I think in my situation I could be consistent.
So I am making some compromises and having to choose between 100% accuracy or very infrequent and inconsistent logging. And I guess I am choosing 80% accurate but consistent.
I guess in this community, most of the people here tend towards perfect accuracy. Anyways, thanks for the help and advice.
I will just assume I am eating more than I am measuring. If I just look at patterns instead of grams and calories to the decimal, I think I am seeing that I am eating way more carbs. So I think my plan will be to cut down on that macro.
You're the one who mentioned tracking 'religiously' in your opening post
I'm not saying this to blame you: you are obviously free to not track as accurately as as you (theoretically) could. But you then need to conclude that you're working with most likely inaccurate data. As you said yourself, you are likely consuming more calories than you think, if your weight is stable at your current intake.
You can then either opt to
- log more accurately for a shorter period, to get a better idea of your actual intake/the margin of error
- log more accurately long-term
- continue logging as you are now, but aim for a lower 'inaccurate' calorie count
- not log calories at all but attempt to lose weight via another strategy: intermittent fasting, low carb, using smaller dinner plates etc.4 -
Do you really sit at the family dinner table with your scale? Do you think that is appropriate behavior? Can't you fix your plate at the counter and then sit down and enjoy a dinner with your family? Can you offer to cook for the family once or twice a week where you can use a recipe you want, while treating the family by taking some of the work away from the primary cook?
If I took the time and energy to prepare a meal from scratch only to have a guest (or family member) pick it apart and weigh at the table it would happen once and only once. Sorry, but that is rude behavior.2 -
Do you really sit at the family dinner table with your scale? Do you think that is appropriate behavior? Can't you fix your plate at the counter and then sit down and enjoy a dinner with your family? Can you offer to cook for the family once or twice a week where you can use a recipe you want, while treating the family by taking some of the work away from the primary cook?
If I took the time and energy to prepare a meal from scratch only to have a guest (or family member) pick it apart and weigh at the table it would happen once and only once. Sorry, but that is rude behavior.
I really don't see how that's rude. I always weigh at the table at home. Weighing is just a part of serving myself dinner. Pots and pans at the table means scale at the table. And that's regardless of who cooks, my BF or me.2 -
Do you really sit at the family dinner table with your scale? Do you think that is appropriate behavior? Can't you fix your plate at the counter and then sit down and enjoy a dinner with your family? Can you offer to cook for the family once or twice a week where you can use a recipe you want, while treating the family by taking some of the work away from the primary cook?
If I took the time and energy to prepare a meal from scratch only to have a guest (or family member) pick it apart and weigh at the table it would happen once and only once. Sorry, but that is rude behavior.
Did I miss something? I didn't see that anywhere?
ETA: ooohhh, I see it now. Got it. You have a point.0 -
Do you really sit at the family dinner table with your scale? Do you think that is appropriate behavior? Can't you fix your plate at the counter and then sit down and enjoy a dinner with your family? Can you offer to cook for the family once or twice a week where you can use a recipe you want, while treating the family by taking some of the work away from the primary cook?
If I took the time and energy to prepare a meal from scratch only to have a guest (or family member) pick it apart and weigh at the table it would happen once and only once. Sorry, but that is rude behavior.
I really don't see how that's rude. I always weigh at the table at home. Weighing is just a part of serving myself dinner. Pots and pans at the table means scale at the table. And that's regardless of who cooks, my BF or me.
Yeah, TBH, it really wouldn't bother me if someone did that. But people can be touchy I guess.1 -
Just me, I have pots and pans either on the counter or stove, not at the table. I got the feeling that the family was sitting at the table for dinner. I'm too old school I guess.3
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Just me, I have pots and pans either on the counter or stove, not at the table. I got the feeling that the family was sitting at the table for dinner. I'm too old school I guess.
Not sure if it's old school versus 'new school', more cultural I think? I've always had family dinner with my parents at the dinner table, with pots and pans on the table. It's that way for most families I know.
But that's going off-topic a bit much I guess!1 -
Hi All, I really appreciate all the help.
I also really appreciate the attention to detail and accuracy. Believe me, I used to be very OC, weighing everything down to the recipe. For example, for home-cooked meals, I used to weigh everything I put in as I prepared the food. That was very accurate. It was also very unsustainable. I stopped using MFP for a long time then.
I realized that I had to strike a balance. If I were to religiously weigh and measure what I eat every meal, I would resort to weighing the prepared meal (someone prepares meals for me), then trying to find the closest meal that already exists in the database. It's already creating a bit of tension in the family dinner table as I have a weighing scale beside my plate and I weigh and log as I eat. But it's the only way I think in my situation I could be consistent.
So I am making some compromises and having to choose between 100% accuracy or very infrequent and inconsistent logging. And I guess I am choosing 80% accurate but consistent.
I guess in this community, most of the people here tend towards perfect accuracy. Anyways, thanks for the help and advice.
Maybe to some extent. I weigh things myself because it's simpler for me as well as more accurate. (I do all the cooking, and know a bunch of time-saving scale tricks.) But I don't insist that everyone must weigh food, let alone do that forever. People do succeed without weighing . . . even without calorie counting at all.
Here's the thing, though: When someone posts that they're not losing weight as expected, getting more accurate with logging - including weighing food - would be what I'd recommend. On some threads, I've even said "do it for a couple of weeks to figure out what's going on, not necessarily forever". It's generally the right diagnostic process to figure out what's really happening.
I (and some other folks in long term maintenance) have been here a long time. We see "not losing as expected" posts very frequently. Not always, but very often, if the person is willing to tighten up accuracy, they find that they're undercounting calorie intake. Research studies have also suggested that undercounting is a very common thing. In that context, doesn't it make sense that we recommend "weigh your food" in these cases?
If you re-read your first post on this thread, pretending you're someone who doesn't know what you meant, it sounds like you're tracking very meticulously. In your current posts, it becomes clear that it's unworkable for you to be super meticulous in the way some of us think of it. That's a perfectly reasonable thing, in your case . . . but we didn't know about it at first.
Yes, in your case, where you're not the cook, and you've found that you can fall into obsessive behavior, some other strategy is likely a better idea.I will just assume I am eating more than I am measuring. If I just look at patterns instead of grams and calories to the decimal, I think I am seeing that I am eating way more carbs. So I think my plan will be to cut down on that macro.
Given your circumstances that you've now filled us in on, that makes good sense as a plan going forward: Changing your routine patterns to eat somewhat fewer calories.
Carbs are one possible place to cut - and you know what you're eating better than I do - but I'd observe that fats are more calorie dense, plus a little sneaky, so they're very easy to overeat.
By "sneaky", I mean that especially when we're not the one cooking, we don't always know how much of things like butter, cooking oil, oil in dressings, inclusion of condiments like mayo, etc., may be used. They're not very visible in finished dishes, but those things can add shockingly many calories to a food. It's also the case that some common foods people often call "carbs" - cookies, many chocolates, cakes, etc. - get more of their calories from fats rather than carbs.
I'm not saying fat is evil. It's an essential nutrient! But it's calorie dense, and like I said, sneaky.
It sounds like you have a tack to take at this point. I hope it'll bring you success!1 -
Do you really sit at the family dinner table with your scale? Do you think that is appropriate behavior? Can't you fix your plate at the counter and then sit down and enjoy a dinner with your family? Can you offer to cook for the family once or twice a week where you can use a recipe you want, while treating the family by taking some of the work away from the primary cook?
If I took the time and energy to prepare a meal from scratch only to have a guest (or family member) pick it apart and weigh at the table it would happen once and only once. Sorry, but that is rude behavior.
I really don't see how that's rude. I always weigh at the table at home. Weighing is just a part of serving myself dinner. Pots and pans at the table means scale at the table. And that's regardless of who cooks, my BF or me.
This. I'm betting OP knows his family culture better than we do. If I had a family member striving to lose weight by calorie counting, I'd be fine with a scale at the table for routine family meals. Being cool with that seems like supportive familial behavior. I want to help my family/friends achieve their goals . . . especially when it's something this easy!
Pressuring the calorie counting family member not to do it would seem rude to me. But people and families differ, so if it's offensive in one's family, that's a factor.0 -
But the OP has already stated that having the scale at the table is causing tension with the family, hence my response that for the OP, having created tension is perhaps rude. I can see that for some families it would be met with an eye roll that this is just a current phase to be ignored.1
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