Weight loss

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kheath670
kheath670 Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been pretty close to my calorie intake but still haven't lost much weight. I'm trying to add exercise but am quite out of shape does anyone have any sudjestions?
Karen from northern Michigan

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,872 Member
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    Hi, Karen from northern Michigan, I'm Ann from the center of the mitten's palm. ;)

    First, to get this out of the way: The calorie goal from MFP or any other calorie calculator (even a fitness tracker) is just an estimate. A good approach is to log pretty meticulously for 4-6 weeks (at least one full menstrual period, if a person has them, to assess weight loss as of the same relative point in at least 2 different cycles). Short of that, fat loss can play peek-a-boo on the scale with random multi-pound changes in water retention or digestive contents on their way to becoming waste. The many-weeks trend tells a clearer story.

    Unless there's been some dramatic change in activity (type, intensity, frequency, duration) in that time period, whether exercise or daily life activity, losing no weight or slower/faster than expected implies that one may want to adjust calorie goal. Use the rule of thumb that 500 calories daily is about a pound a week, and use arithmetic for partial pounds.

    Early on in calorie counting, most of us also have some face-palm moments where we discover we have some systematic error in logging that's enough to distort results. If you'd like to open your food diary to other MFP-ers, some of the MFP old hands might be willing to take a look and see if anything jumps out that we've tripped over ourselves along the way. Please know that I mean that as an offer, not as a demand!

    Wishing you success!
  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 1,061 Member
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    hi, karen - i'm patti from socal.

    when i was in poor shape and low muscle, i didn't lose weight at MFP, fitbit or any other fitness' app recommended calorie allowance, it's an average, and i - and possibly you - were below the curve. i cut some more calories and started to lose. i also started walking 10 minutes 3 times a day, which helped get me started.

    now i've built more muscle, MFP's calorie recommendations are very close, so i guess i've officially achieved averageness :)

  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,867 Member
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    How long have you been trying to lose? Less than a month and it’s not enough time to gauge things. After a month into it and no loss or very little loss than that’s a sign that your weekly calories are too high. Exercise is fine however from a weightloss perspective your diet will be the biggest factor in being successful.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,940 Member
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    kheath670 wrote: »
    but still haven't lost much weight

    Hello Karen from a colder south of me!

    How much loss is "haven't lost much"?
    zero, zip, nada loss?
    Or, just a few lbs?
    Maybe 2 or 3 or 5, or something else?
    And over what time period?
  • missmerchandise
    missmerchandise Posts: 9 Member
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    I feel the same way about not losing anything but im not consistent on this app
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,563 Member
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    missmerchandise wrote: »
    I feel the same way about not losing anything but im not consistent on this app

    Well, that's the answer then <3 Really try to log everything for at least one full menstrual cycle and see where it brings you.

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