Struggling to drop even an ounce

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cinderbay
cinderbay Posts: 30 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been diligent on my diet and I don't even call what I do dieting. I eat healthy. I keep a close eye on my fat/cholesterol and eat plenty of protein and healthy carbs (oats/grains/veg).
I average 7300-10k steps a day and I have done everything from 6 days a week workouts to 4 days.
I weigh all my food in grams. I track every single thing. I have worked with dieticians. My PCP had me start IF. I am two weeks in, up to 14 hours between meals (I cannot do a full 24 hour day fast because of medications). I sleep well.
I have been on this rollercoaster since January and have not dropped a single pound.

Is it really possible to NOT lose because I am not eating enough? Most days I am eating 1400 a day but sometimes in just a normal work day -without a workout - my active calorie burn can be 450-560+ cals.

Today I reset my MFP goal to 1.5 lbs/week. It puts me at 1200 and says to EAT THOSE WORKOUT CALS. Is this where I am failing? I have never in my life fought so hard to drop an ounce let alone a pound. I have maintained my WL for years and in the past year gained 40lbs (bloodwork is good but I am now in full menopause). I would love to take that 40 off but at this point, I would settle for 15!!

I am not sure what I am looking for here. Support? Guidance? Someone to scream with?

Replies

  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,741 Member
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    Eating too little won’t cause you to not lose fat. Eating more weekly calories than you burn will cause you to not lose fat. It takes around a month at a certain calorie amount do determine if that amount is correct for your goals.
  • xbowhunter
    xbowhunter Posts: 1,001 Member
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    If this goes on for several weeks, then it's one of two things.

    Overestimating CICO or a medical condition.

    I see allot of people overestimate calories in then never lose any weight and wonder why. :)
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,019 Member
    edited May 1
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    Yeah, exactly what they said ^^


    What does "most days" (at 1400) mean? Do you have big higher calorie days, too? They can wipe out your calorie deficit.

    If you've been at this for more than a month and if you're an average sized (height) adult, either you're not eating as little as you think, or you have a medical condition that needs treatment.

    How long have you been diligently logging to the gram and staying at a weekly average of 1400?

    I'd suggest that you set it to "Lose one pound per week." You will have to account for your 10,000 steps either in the Activity Level or as "Exercise." Any additional workouts would be logged as "Exercise" and you eat more to fuel that.

    It Takes Time to settle in with numbers. Keep at it.

  • cinderbay
    cinderbay Posts: 30 Member
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    Yeah, exactly what they said ^^


    What does "most days" (at 1400) mean? Do you have big higher calorie days, too? They can wipe out your calorie deficit.



    I rarely ever go over. If anything I may come in under by a couple hundred and some days I have eaten more but those were also days I had HUGE calorie deficits of over 700 calories.
  • cinderbay
    cinderbay Posts: 30 Member
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    claireychn074 wrote: »
    There is a possibility that the entries you have selected from the database are inaccurate - as it’s user-sourced the entries can be wrong. That might mean, potentially, that you’re eating more calories than MFP is telling you (put in chicken and see how the calories vary per 100g for example). Cooked and uncooked foods can also vary and not all the entries specify which they are. It does sound like you are eating at maintenance and I understand how frustrating that must be to hear. Maybe check and double check the entries you are using?

    I do try to watch that carefully. I have seen it give incorrect data for some things.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,444 Member
    edited May 2
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    Other reasons not mention yet (I think): Patience. Weight loss doesn't happen from one day to another but over a long period of time. Fat loss can be masked by lots of factors that have nothing to do with body fat: wearing different clothes when on the scale, weighing at different times of the day (after getting up vs. having eaten a breakfast weighing 300gr), water weight fluctuations due to hormonal cycle, weather, more or less salt or carbs, sitting still for a day, new exercise and related muscle healing, etc. Plus from stressing your body too much, thus eating too little and exercising too much. This can increase cortisol, which also increases water weight. You said you've adjusted your calories and have gotten 1200 calories per day. This suggests that your chosen goal is too big because MFP will never give you less than 1200. Thus your loss will be slower. Plus you're supposed to eat back at least a part of your exercise calories, especially when starving your body like this. Weightloss is not about who reaches goal weight first, feels miserable and looks not good, but who gets there, learns new tactics on maintaining the weight with the least miserable feeling.
  • wm3796
    wm3796 Posts: 73 Member
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    Exercise calories are often greatly overestimated by most trackers,, sometimes up to 40% more than what you actually did. Many have eaten all of their exercise calories without problems but for me I only ate half of my exercise calories back and worked well for me. I lost 30 pounds in perimenopause.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,988 Member
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    Any chance you're a sleep walker who stops in the kitchen for a snack?
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,741 Member
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    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Any chance you're a sleep walker who stops in the kitchen for a snack?
    calories between 1-3 am don’t count

  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,570 Member
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    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Any chance you're a sleep walker who stops in the kitchen for a snack?
    calories between 1-3 am don’t count
    Wait.
    That’s when I prefer to exercise…
    🤔🫣
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,638 Member
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    MargaretYakoda wrote: »
    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Any chance you're a sleep walker who stops in the kitchen for a snack?
    calories between 1-3 am don’t count
    Wait.
    That’s when I prefer to exercise…
    🤔🫣

    Wait, what? How do you sleep? Do you work nights? I have so many questions now.

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