What's Going on...? Need advice please!

Pretty much, this is my problem...

Weekly Weigh-in:
May 19th - 156.4
May 26th - 156.4
Jun 2nd - 157.4
Jun 9th - 157.3
Jun 16th - 157.4
Jun 23rd - 157.2
Jun 30th - 157.2
Jul 7th - 157.4

I'm 5'4, 157.4 lbs (weighed today), goal is 135 lbs. Been here since May 5th, lost a few lbs the first few weeks, started on 1200 calories a day, soon realized I was getting hungry, bumped it up to 1440 calories a day, rarely eat back my exercise calories (exercise is usually just walking), I'm content throughout the day aka never get that hungry feeling. I find I eat healthier than the average person. If it's as simple as calories in vs calories out.. then I should be down at least 10-15 lbs by now..

Can someone please give me some advice on what I should be doing differently.


My Diary is open..


Thank-you!!! :flowerforyou:
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Replies

  • junemiller
    junemiller Posts: 16 Member
    What if you try alternating 1200 calorie days with 1400 calorie days.
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
    What's your BMR? How are you measuring your food and exercise?
  • up the exercise. i recommend insanity workouts. each is about 30-45 minutes and you do one a day. you will drop weight like crazy. i just started and in 2 days lost 4 lbs.
  • AimersBee
    AimersBee Posts: 775 Member
    up the exercise. i recommend insanity workouts. each is about 30-45 minutes and you do one a day. you will drop weight like crazy. i just started and in 2 days lost 4 lbs.

    I'm looking to do a daily routine that I can actually keep up in the end, not work my *kitten* off and then gain it all back. Plus I work 10 days straight 10-12 hrs of work/travel, not a lot of time to have a life and keep up on 30-45 min on insanity workouts.. lol
  • AimersBee
    AimersBee Posts: 775 Member
    What's your BMR? How are you measuring your food and exercise?

    BMR is the number that MFP gives you right.. 1440?
  • Peep_chic
    Peep_chic Posts: 369 Member
    Assuming you have your bmr correct...you need to eat more. If you net between 1200-1500. You'll stay under but not too under that your body will hold on to the weight for dear life.
  • jrlja5
    jrlja5 Posts: 59
    I have the same problem. I''ve been at 7 lbs lost for about 5 wks now. I do notice that my inches(around hips and waist) must be going though because my pants are getting loose. But I don't get the lb thing. I am 1200 cals. and have no problems with being hungry. I was exercising every am and walking on lunch break. But I've cut back on the a m exercising. I've tried changing up my food choices because I tend to get into a rut. Thought that might help but , no. I, too am looking to be about 130-135. Right now I can't get below 140! If you figure it out please let me know. good luck!
  • AimersBee
    AimersBee Posts: 775 Member
    Assuming you have your bmr correct...you need to eat more. If you net between 1200-1500. You'll stay under but not too under that your body will hold on to the weight for dear life.

    Well I put in all the correct info for MFP and it states 1440 calories. Then I check a random BMR calculator on the net and it states 1511.

    I personally try to eat anywhere from 1400-1500 calories a day. I'm thinking that's correct?
  • AimersBee
    AimersBee Posts: 775 Member
    I have the same problem. I''ve been at 7 lbs lost for about 5 wks now. I do notice that my inches(around hips and waist) must be going though because my pants are getting loose. But I don't get the lb thing. I am 1200 cals. and have no problems with being hungry. I was exercising every am and walking on lunch break. But I've cut back on the a m exercising. I've tried changing up my food choices because I tend to get into a rut. Thought that might help but , no. I, too am looking to be about 130-135. Right now I can't get below 140! If you figure it out please let me know. good luck!

    Will do. Yeah I tried the 1200 cal diet, but I couldn't suffice off of it. I'm up by 4:30am, off to work for 10 hrs and then back by 5pm, and then bed by 9:30-10.. so I have long days to withhold my hunger haha.
  • Peep_chic
    Peep_chic Posts: 369 Member
    I mean netting, not calories. In your home page in your daily summary you will see what I mean. Your bmr is the calories your body needs as fuel to do normal functions. Whether you sleep all day or not, your body burns this. You should not eat less than that. Added to your bmr you have some of the exercise calories because you burned fuel. If you net at the end of the day between 1,200 and 1500 you can replenish needed fuel and still lose. Bmr+ exercise calories= net
  • AimersBee
    AimersBee Posts: 775 Member
    I mean netting, not calories. In your home page in your daily summary you will see what I mean. Your bmr is the calories your body needs as fuel to do normal functions. Whether you sleep all day or not, your body burns this. You should not eat less than that. Added to your bmr you have some of the exercise calories because you burned fuel. If you net at the end of the day between 1,200 and 1500 you can replenish needed fuel and still lose. Bmr+ exercise calories= net

    Are you saying I should be eating my exercise calories? Or what are you saying?

    Should I be eating more or less? My diary usually states that I eat around 1400ish calories a day. I find that plenty isn't it? If I eat any less I'll be hungry..
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
    This is a tricky one because I just calculated your TDEE and 1400 is right about 20% below it, which is perfect for steady weight loss, so ignore the people who say you aren't eating enough. You are.

    It's also unlikely to be a plateau this early in your journey, imo.

    And it's probably not water weight because looking at your diary, you keep your sodium very much on track and stay hydrated.

    Sooooo what's going on?

    Three possibilities I see:

    1) something medical - have your doc check you out for any issues that can prevent normal weight loss - thyroid, blood sugars etc. It shouldn't take more than a simple blood test.

    2) understimating intake - are you using a food scale and strictly measuring what you take in? It's really easy to accidentally go over by a few hundred cals if you are guesstimating.

    3) Overestimating burn - to make sure you are logging your exercise cals as accurately as possible, consider buying a good HRM like a Polar FT4 or FT7.

    Hope that helps!
  • MCsAngel2
    MCsAngel2 Posts: 49 Member
    Looooots of women (women especially) will disagree that it's as simple as calories in/out. I looked at your diary and I think the reason you are losing so slowly is that your carbs are too high. Try upping your protein and lowering your carbs to under 100g NET per day (start tracking fiber instead of sugar, net carbs are your total carbs minus total fiber).
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    Before we can actually make a recommendation on your caloric needs we need to know what you do for a living and what do you do for exercise. Also do you know your body fat?
  • Peep_chic
    Peep_chic Posts: 369 Member
    Your daily goal is 1440. I'm assuming that mfp gave you this number after you put your weight, height and age. If you have your setting on losing weight then, If you eat 1440 cals you will lose weight because it is under your maintanance calories. Maintanance calories will be the number of calories to maintain your weight. When you exercise you are burning MORE calories than usual so just eating 1440 is not enough. You have to eat more or your body will try to hold on to the weight thinking its starving.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Before we can actually make a recommendation on your caloric needs we need to know what you do for a living and what do you do for exercise. Also do you know your body fat?

    Lol I was just about to ask this.
    =D
  • tom_olech
    tom_olech Posts: 139 Member
    switch up your workout every few days and make sure you dont eat so little that your body enters starvation mode
  • Prahasaurus
    Prahasaurus Posts: 1,381 Member
    switch up your workout every few days and make sure you dont eat so little that your body enters starvation mode

    LOL!

    These threads write themselves now...

    --P
  • Bobby_Clerici
    Bobby_Clerici Posts: 1,828 Member
    No, that's not the problem, here is the problem: YOUR DIARY!
    You fail to eat back exercise calories.
    I warn people daily, and some get it, some do not.
    Can you hear me now?
    Are you ready to succeed? Try doing this the right way.
    Consider:
    If your calorie deficit is too great, you can easily suffer from
    loss of muscle mass (slows down your metabolism) and impaired general progress.
    You have to find what is right for you but you also need to remember that your body
    is a machine and without the right type and amount of fuel there could be problems
    either with loss of muscle, loss of energy, less weight loss/plateaus, etc.

    Stick with the MFP recommendations.
    Here's a great group right here on MFP:
    Eat More To Lose More
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

    Join up and connect with other for support.
    Good Luck
  • dorothyhoard
    dorothyhoard Posts: 5 Member
    I'm a weight yoyo extrordinaire. Diets all my life. That was my problem. Dieting! This should (in my opinion) be a way of life. Thins to remember:
    YOU ARE DOING GREAT.
    YOUR BODY MAY JUST BE TRYING TO ADJUST TO THE WEIGHT LOSS. Be patient and kind to yourself.
    TRY NOT LOOKING AT THE SCALE FOR A WEEK.
    THIS IS NOT A RACE, IT IA A JOURNEY
    MUSCLE WEIGHS MORE THAN FAT SO YOU COULD BE GAINING MUSCLE AND LOSING FAT
    DON'T GIVE UP, DON'T WORRY ABOUT TIME JUST RIDE THE WAVE OF LIFE AND KNOW THAT YOU ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING...LET YOUR BODY HAVE A CHANCE TO DO ITS THING WHILE ADJUSTING TO YOUR NEW LIFE STYLE.

    GOOD LUCK.....I'LL BE THINKING ABOUT YOU. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE MY FRIEND?
  • SPNLuver83
    SPNLuver83 Posts: 2,050 Member
    up the exercise. i recommend insanity workouts. each is about 30-45 minutes and you do one a day. you will drop weight like crazy. i just started and in 2 days lost 4 lbs.

    I'm looking to do a daily routine that I can actually keep up in the end, not work my *kitten* off and then gain it all back. Plus I work 10 days straight 10-12 hrs of work/travel, not a lot of time to have a life and keep up on 30-45 min on insanity workouts.. lol

    Hate to be harsh but it sounds like it is excuses that is getting in your way.
  • Sheila_Ann
    Sheila_Ann Posts: 365 Member
    No, that's not the problem, here is the problem: YOUR DIARY!
    You fail to eat back exercise calories.
    I warn people daily, and some get it, some do not.
    Can you hear me now?
    Are you ready to succeed? Try doing this the right way.
    Consider:
    If your calorie deficit is too great, you can easily suffer from
    loss of muscle mass (slows down your metabolism) and impaired general progress.
    You have to find what is right for you but you also need to remember that your body
    is a machine and without the right type and amount of fuel there could be problems
    either with loss of muscle, loss of energy, less weight loss/plateaus, etc.

    Stick with the MFP recommendations.
    Here's a great group right here on MFP:
    Eat More To Lose More
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

    Join up and connect with other for support.
    Good Luck

    I eat the majority of my workout calories back and I've been at a consistent loss. I'm currently down to 129lbs and every week I lose around .8. When I started this journey I didn't know about eating back calories burned and I had taken a zumba class for 5 days straight plus worked out with my trainer 2x that week. When I weigh in I didn't lose anything. Not even an ounce. I saw a nutritionist and she told me that i was probably netting 300 calories a day after all my workout. I then changed that and the following week I had lost 1.8lbs. You don't have to eat them all back. i would also try to fit in some weight training. I know it can be hard with your work schedule but if you start to build some muscle, that will help you lose some weight.

    Best of luck in your journey!
  • AimersBee
    AimersBee Posts: 775 Member
    up the exercise. i recommend insanity workouts. each is about 30-45 minutes and you do one a day. you will drop weight like crazy. i just started and in 2 days lost 4 lbs.

    I'm looking to do a daily routine that I can actually keep up in the end, not work my *kitten* off and then gain it all back. Plus I work 10 days straight 10-12 hrs of work/travel, not a lot of time to have a life and keep up on 30-45 min on insanity workouts.. lol

    Hate to be harsh but it sounds like it is excuses that is getting in your way.

    You're not being harsh, just stating your opinion. At the same time IMO doing insanity work outs everyday is not the norm, sleep is personally more important to me and already with just my walk or quick workout I only get about 7ish hrs of sleep. I don't want to be a muscle machine, I just want to lose some excess weight.
  • AimersBee
    AimersBee Posts: 775 Member
    Before we can actually make a recommendation on your caloric needs we need to know what you do for a living and what do you do for exercise. Also do you know your body fat?

    Lol I was just about to ask this.
    =D

    What I do for a living: Sit infront of a computer mainly, walk around maybe 5-10% of the time (10 hr shifts, rarely with a break, usually eat and work at the same time)

    What I do for exercise: Usually just walks 20-40 min a day, but I just started 30 day shred on the 4th of this month.

    Body fat percentage last I checked I think was 32.4
  • Bobby_Clerici
    Bobby_Clerici Posts: 1,828 Member
    No, that's not the problem, here is the problem: YOUR DIARY!
    You fail to eat back exercise calories.
    I warn people daily, and some get it, some do not.
    Can you hear me now?
    Are you ready to succeed? Try doing this the right way.
    Consider:
    If your calorie deficit is too great, you can easily suffer from
    loss of muscle mass (slows down your metabolism) and impaired general progress.
    You have to find what is right for you but you also need to remember that your body
    is a machine and without the right type and amount of fuel there could be problems
    either with loss of muscle, loss of energy, less weight loss/plateaus, etc.

    Stick with the MFP recommendations.
    Here's a great group right here on MFP:
    Eat More To Lose More
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

    Join up and connect with other for support.
    Good Luck

    I eat the majority of my workout calories back and I've been at a consistent loss. I'm currently down to 129lbs and every week I lose around .8. When I started this journey I didn't know about eating back calories burned and I had taken a zumba class for 5 days straight plus worked out with my trainer 2x that week. When I weigh in I didn't lose anything. Not even an ounce. I saw a nutritionist and she told me that i was probably netting 300 calories a day after all my workout. I then changed that and the following week I had lost 1.8lbs. You don't have to eat them all back. i would also try to fit in some weight training. I know it can be hard with your work schedule but if you start to build some muscle, that will help you lose some weight.

    Best of luck in your journey!
    I also know this from experience. We all tend to overreach; it's human nature.
    When people are ready, they usually abandon the platitudes and get to the work of living well and achieving their goals.
    It's time to unlearn some things, and do it right.
  • AimersBee
    AimersBee Posts: 775 Member
    This is a tricky one because I just calculated your TDEE and 1400 is right about 20% below it, which is perfect for steady weight loss, so ignore the people who say you aren't eating enough. You are.

    It's also unlikely to be a plateau this early in your journey, imo.

    And it's probably not water weight because looking at your diary, you keep your sodium very much on track and stay hydrated.

    Sooooo what's going on?

    Three possibilities I see:

    1) something medical - have your doc check you out for any issues that can prevent normal weight loss - thyroid, blood sugars etc. It shouldn't take more than a simple blood test.

    2) understimating intake - are you using a food scale and strictly measuring what you take in? It's really easy to accidentally go over by a few hundred cals if you are guesstimating.

    3) Overestimating burn - to make sure you are logging your exercise cals as accurately as possible, consider buying a good HRM like a Polar FT4 or FT7.

    Hope that helps!

    1) as for the medical aspects of it, I just had some blood tests done not long ago, everything came out fine

    2) could be possible, I'm not huge on using scales but I do try and accuratley put things in on MFP, so could be possible

    3) could also be possible

    Didn't know losing weight would be such a task.. using scales to make sure food was exact for calories, and strapping me in with a HRM.. thought guestimating would do the trick as long as I was within the basic guidelines.. lol
  • F__7
    F__7 Posts: 371 Member
    way too much sugar!!!...THAT IS A BIG PROBLEM!... stay as low as possible... that will make a big difference...
  • _TastySnoBalls_
    _TastySnoBalls_ Posts: 1,298 Member
    definitely get a digital scale to weigh out portions, that may make a difference
  • orishp
    orishp Posts: 214 Member
    Looooots of women (women especially) will disagree that it's as simple as calories in/out. I looked at your diary and I think the reason you are losing so slowly is that your carbs are too high. Try upping your protein and lowering your carbs to under 100g NET per day (start tracking fiber instead of sugar, net carbs are your total carbs minus total fiber).

    I was going to say exactly this, try to get at least 100 g of protein/day, and lower carbs to less than 100g.
    And yes, up your exercise, I am a working mom of two and I find the time, I workout during lunch time, 30-45 min, take a quick shower and have a quick bite, if I can do it you can too.

    Do it not only because it will help your weight loss, but because its good for you and you'll feel so much better afterwards.

    And yes, losing weight is not easy, what else is new?????
  • AimersBee
    AimersBee Posts: 775 Member
    way too much sugar!!!...THAT IS A BIG PROBLEM!... stay as low as possible... that will make a big difference...

    Even if it's a lot of fruit I'm intaking?

    Less fruit?