Thoughts on slow progress?

Tandi_S
Tandi_S Posts: 439 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Good morning, MFpals!

I've seen the threads a million times asking for advice on this stuff, so I'll try to keep it brief. I started out on MFP at a daily intake of 1270 in November/December. Lost weight over those 2 months. Then started educating myself through here and other websites about BMR, TDEE, and re-acquainting myself with regular exercise. Once the exercise started, the weight loss stopped and I was wiped out all the time. Typical of the other threads on here. I raised my calories to 1500/day, right around my BMR estimate. Still no weight loss, but much more energy. I upped my cals to 1600 about 4 weeks ago, still not much loss to speak of. What seems to be typical for me is to weigh in at a loss once a month, and it's typically only around 1 lb. Shouldn't this be coming off faster? Like at least 2-3 lbs a month?

I exercise 30-40 minutes, 5-6 days a week, currently on level 3 of the 30 day shred, plus some other toning exercises. I wear a Polar ft4 for heart rate and calorie burn estimates. Aside from that, I have a desk job, but I run around the house like a mad-woman with my two girls and the usual stuff that needs to be done there. I've considered upping my limit to 1700 or 1800 calories, but would that really make that much difference? I would think I'd be fairly close to maintenance at that point.

I know I don't eat the best, but I'm working on it. I do pretty well with staying within my limit. I've been logging for what seems like a long time, aside from this weekend when we were away from home and I had zero time to log, but I made good choices.

Any thoughts? I see now that I have it written, it isn't exactly brief. In any case, thanks for reading! :drinker:

Replies

  • huntindawg1962
    huntindawg1962 Posts: 277 Member
    Are you also taking measurements? How are the clothes fitting these days? The addition of the workouts activity that is new will certainly add some muscle and you may just be replacing lbs of fat with lbs of muscle so you are not seeing the net loss.
  • beattie1
    beattie1 Posts: 1,012 Member
    I'd like to know the answer to this too. Thanks for asking the question Tandi_S
  • Eponine7
    Eponine7 Posts: 161
    Can I ask how much weight you have to lose?

    I found it not "that" difficult to lose my first 60 lbs....but these last 30 lbs. aren't budging. I'm focusing on strength training and measurements at this point.
  • Tandi_S
    Tandi_S Posts: 439 Member
    I do need to take another set of measurements, it's been a few weeks. I want to complete the shred first. The clothes are seeming to fit better, but a lot of my work clothes are from my starting weight and it's hard to tell improvement anymore with the bagginess. (I need to go shopping!)

    ETA: I started out at 175, would like to get down to 145. My CW is 161. I'm 5'6," so I think that's a good goal to start with....hey, it's what my license says... :blushing:
  • velsbree
    velsbree Posts: 69
    It is calories in vs calories out . Maybe try dropping calories
  • leslisa
    leslisa Posts: 1,350 Member
    Are you taking any vitamins? Truth be known, I feel like crap and seem to lose weight slower when I'm not taking my multi-vitamin with iron (for a while the doc actually had me on a pre-natal to make certain I was getting enough iron and B-something). Not that I lose quickly anyway, usually about 1 pound per week, but without the vitamin it's more like 1/2 pound per week. I think it's partially because I'm not as "energetic" during my day.
  • tangertrostle
    tangertrostle Posts: 4
    Good morning, MFpals!

    I've seen the threads a million times asking for advice on this stuff, so I'll try to keep it brief. I started out on MFP at a daily intake of 1270 in November/December. Lost weight over those 2 months. Then started educating myself through here and other websites about BMR, TDEE, and re-acquainting myself with regular exercise. Once the exercise started, the weight loss stopped and I was wiped out all the time. Typical of the other threads on here. I raised my calories to 1500/day, right around my BMR estimate. Still no weight loss, but much more energy. I upped my cals to 1600 about 4 weeks ago, still not much loss to speak of. What seems to be typical for me is to weigh in at a loss once a month, and it's typically only around 1 lb. Shouldn't this be coming off faster? Like at least 2-3 lbs a month?

    I exercise 30-40 minutes, 5-6 days a week, currently on level 3 of the 30 day shred, plus some other toning exercises. I wear a Polar ft4 for heart rate and calorie burn estimates. Aside from that, I have a desk job, but I run around the house like a mad-woman with my two girls and the usual stuff that needs to be done there. I've considered upping my limit to 1700 or 1800 calories, but would that really make that much difference? I would think I'd be fairly close to maintenance at that point.

    I know I don't eat the best, but I'm working on it. I do pretty well with staying within my limit. I've been logging for what seems like a long time, aside from this weekend when we were away from home and I had zero time to log, but I made good choices.

    Any thoughts? I see now that I have it written, it isn't exactly brief. In any case, thanks for reading! :drinker:
  • tangertrostle
    tangertrostle Posts: 4
    WOW! It could have been me that wrote this! Sounds very familiar - other then I'm chasing after 2 dogs rather then two kids. I've done the 30 day shred and think it's great but also think exercise needs to be changed up frequently. Think about doing some circuit training (wt training). Women's Health has a great book of 15 minute circuit training. I do it all from home which I love. The more muscle you build the more calories you burn. I do have the additional challenge of thyroid issues but know I just need to hang in there and not give up! My eating habits are actually pretty good. Just work on changing one bad eating habit at a time and you'll get there! GOOD LUCK!
  • Tandi_S
    Tandi_S Posts: 439 Member
    bump
  • xarla16
    xarla16 Posts: 84 Member
    Are you taking any vitamins? Truth be known, I feel like crap and seem to lose weight slower when I'm not taking my multi-vitamin with iron (for a while the doc actually had me on a pre-natal to make certain I was getting enough iron and B-something). Not that I lose quickly anyway, usually about 1 pound per week, but without the vitamin it's more like 1/2 pound per week. I think it's partially because I'm not as "energetic" during my day.

    I'm not entirely sure what it is but I completely agree with this. I have way more energy since I started taking a multivitamin and as a result I am way more on the go than I used to be.
  • myak623
    myak623 Posts: 615 Member
    I do need to take another set of measurements, it's been a few weeks. I want to complete the shred first. The clothes are seeming to fit better, but a lot of my work clothes are from my starting weight and it's hard to tell improvement anymore with the bagginess. (I need to go shopping!)

    ETA: I started out at 175, would like to get down to 145. My CW is 161. I'm 5'6," so I think that's a good goal to start with....hey, it's what my license says... :blushing:

    Based on your CW, age, height, I calculated your BMR at 1430 and TDEE at 2216. Take a 20% cut from TDEE and that would put you at 1772. You would be ok to set MFP to 1700 and not eat back exercise calories since they are factored into the equation. Change your macros (carbs/protein/fat) to 40/30/30.

    ETA: And do take measurements. Those are actually more important than the scale.
  • castlerobber
    castlerobber Posts: 528 Member
    Quite a lot of starch and sugar listed in your diary, especially junk stuff like Doritos, french fries, and cookies. You might try swapping out some of that for non-starchy veggies and low-sugar fruit. Some people can lose while still eating the high-GI carbs; others of us find they spike our blood sugar too much and stall weight loss.
  • Tandi_S
    Tandi_S Posts: 439 Member

    Based on your CW, age, height, I calculated your BMR at 1430 and TDEE at 2216. Take a 20% cut from TDEE and that would put you at 1772. You would be ok to set MFP to 1700 and not eat back exercise calories since they are factored into the equation. Change your macros (carbs/protein/fat) to 40/30/30.

    ETA: And do take measurements. Those are actually more important than the scale.

    So, do you think one of my issues is that with a level at 1600 plus eating back my exercise calories I could be slowing my progress that way?

    Yes, there is some crap in my diary, it's true. Especially over the last week and weekend. I'm a work in progress....

    ETA: Thank you for all the great replies!

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