Can anyone help me with why this weight isn't shifting??

[DakotaFanny]

hello all, I'm struggling to lose this bloomin' weight, even though I (think I) am working really hard to shift it. Last week I stayed the same, this week I put on a pound and a half. Mathematically, this isn't making any sense to me (I will explain in a second) so thought I'd post her to see if anyone has any clever ideas. I go from "maybe I'm eating too much" to "maybe I'm not eating enough". Below is my calorie input and output for this week. Any help sssoooooooooo much appreciated!

So, my TDEE is 2089 ( I am 39, 5 ft 6, 182 lbs). To lose 1 lb a week, MFP put me at a target of 1420 calories a day. I told it I was sedentary, so that my exercise would be added in as a bonus. i use Runkeeper and have a Fitbit, so these pieces of info all get added to MFP, which means that, by the end of the day, I have usually earned between 200 and 800 calories extra a day through exercise.

Anyway, I also aim to walk 10,000 steps a day (which accounts for some of the calories 'earned' every day), and I am also doing four 30 day challenges (the plank challenge, a slim thigh challenge, a butt lift and a slim arms) Ie; I move quite a lot and don't usually eat back the calories I have earned. Therefore, I should be losing a pound a week by calorie deficit of 3500 and then a bit more through exercise bonus calories, right??

Last week, my days looked like this

Saturday I consumed 2454 calories (bad start, I know). I burned 295 through exercise. In total then I was over target by 739....keep reading, it gets better!!

Sunday I consumed 1339, burned 857 through exercise. In total 938 under target (so Saturday should have been 'canceled out'.

Monday, consumed 1409, burned 285, total of 296 under target.

Tuesday, consumed 1383, burned 626, total of 663 under target.

wednesday, consumed 1422, burned 182, total of 180 under target.

Thursday, consumed 1427, burned 475' total of 468 under target.

friday, consumed 1478, burned 570, total of 512 under target.

in total, MFP wants me to eat 9940 calories a week, in order to lose 1 lb. this week I ate 10, 912....so 972 cals over....but I burnt a total of 3290. If you take those two bits of info together, I had a total calorie deficit/burn combo of 5818 calories, so should definitely have lost 1-1.5lbs. Does that make sense???

Food wise, the only things that might be imprecise AT ALL in my logging is milk in tea and coffee, but I can't see that that can account for more than about 50 calories a day, and is just as likely to be an undercalculation as an over calculation.

Phew, this has been long! Sorry! If you're still with me, thanks and any thoughts?

dakota.

I also agree that weight watchers/scottish slimmers/slimming world are excellent ways to lose weight with the support of a group.

Have you successfully lost a lot of weight in this way catlady?

crazy

The only thing that seems to work for me at the moment is 1000 calories a day as a target calorie intake

Some days I do go slightly over, when I am (back) at target I will switch to increasing my calories on a gradual basis and maintain using 5:2

How much food is 1000 calories? That sounds like hardly anything?

1000 cals would be something like my recovering anorexic friend. She really struggles to eat more than this.
No breakfast,
No snacking at all
Veg stir fry for lunch with caulli rice. Tea plate sized portion rather than big dinner plate. 450 cals (ish - I'm trying to remember from when we talked about this)

Porridge for dinner, made with milk, 50g oats, drizzle of honey
400 ish cals
A banana chopped up with jelly

If you eat vegetarian your cal intake drops because some things like rocket and mushrooms are really low cal. I know when we were hard up financially a year ago and eating lots of veggie meals I lost weight. I know she used to need the sugar hit of the jelly to keep going because she'd be seriously flagging energy wise. Jelly is also v low cal. But yeah 1000 cals is not sustainable and just 100 less at 900 cals daily intake is part of the criteria for a diagnosis of anorexia so be very careful if you are restricting that much.

God, you'd be thinking about food all the time if you could only eat that each.

day.

Rufus,

That sounds great and then using the 5:2 for maintenance sounds sensible.

I think you may have cracked it! Well done :)

1000kcals can be as much or as little food as you want...

Breakfast - 50g fresh fruit with 40g oats and 200ml skimmed milk (estimated 250kcals)

Mid-morning - diet yoghurt and fruit (estimate 100kcals)

Lunch - skinless chicken breast or tin tuna with 100g cooked weight basmati rice or 1-2 x slices bread (depending on size) and 80-100g boiled veg or salad with fat free dressing (estimate 300kcals)

Mid-afternoon - 30g nuts and dried fruit (estimate 100kcals)

Evening Meal - chicken or lean steak or quorn burger or 2 medium boiled eggs with salad or boiled veg or salad with fat free dressing (estimate 200kcals)

Supper - yoghurt or chocolate biscuit (estimate 50 to 100kcal)

Total: 1000-1050kcals

Please keep in mind its 10.39pm and I am tired and I haven't done exact kcals - because I know about 5 people are ready to post and tell me everything above is wrong or nobody wants to live on rabbit food or there isn't enough carbs etc etc etc.

My weight is normal, sometimes on the lower side of the BMI.

That either means one of two things:

1. I know what I am talking about because I manage my own weight

or

2. I don't have a clue about weight loss because I have never had to do it myself.

You choose which...

I have seen many people lose weight this way including people who have lowered their blood pressure and stopped blood pressure medication or stopped Diabetes medication. When there is medication involved it is essential it is under medical supervision.

If there is no medication involved its not essential.

Motivation is a key element to any weight loss.

I am not commenting any further because I am aware my views, despite having an evidence base, are too controversial for this thread.

Keep meaning to get jelly

Will put it on the shopping list now

shadows

Thanks for your comments, I don't eat meat so I'm sure that's easier...and my mushroom stroganoff comes in at less than 250cal...gotta love those mushrooms

swedish

I think about food all the time anyway

Agree with pp about MFP over estimating exercise calories

Ignore them completely

(I've just trained and done a marathon and ignored them and prob lost about 2lbs - I don't actually need to lose weight just to show that I just ate my usual calories per day (1400ish) and didnt lose weight despite masses of exercise - some days for example showing as 2000 deficit. It's bollocks)

I actually think maintenance is the easy part, if you make A sustainable lifestyle change rather than going on a daft crash diet. It took me a year to lose 2 stone, I have had no problem with maintaining this, my weight only fluctuates by a pound or 2 either way now. doing a 'diet' and then going back to how you ate before doesn't work, this is why so many people fail to keep the weight off.

If you have found yourself in the position of being very overweight, your in it for the long haul, looking at it as a 28 week prison sentence of eating skinless chicken and weighing out oats is ridiculous.

I actually think maintenance is the easy part, if you make A sustainable lifestyle change rather than going on a daft crash diet. It took me a year to lose 2 stone, I have had no problem with maintaining this, my weight only fluctuates by a pound or 2 either way now. doing a 'diet' and then going back to how you ate before doesn't work, this is why so many people fail to keep the weight off.

If you have found yourself in the position of being very overweight, your in it for the long haul, looking at it as a 28 week prison sentence of eating skinless chicken and weighing out oats is ridiculous.

sorry for the double post, my phone is being goofy

I do agree with you, I was maintaining quite happily til a three week holiday caused me to gain some weight back and then Christmas!!!

I'm hoping I'm going to learn from my mistake this time...if I gain a few pounds watch what I'm eating for a few weeks and then go back to maintaining

Not gain half a stone and then ignore it!!

A VLCD is fine for a limited time, under the supervision of a doctor and after a full health check.

OP you said you have a while to get to your goal. 1600-1700 calories should stop you binging (which can be a problem with VLCDs) and is healthy.

1600-1700 calories a day would make me PILE on weight!

It's not difficult to see why the diet industry is worth millions is it, when the range of opinion just here is so diverse!! Thank you to everyone who has contributed, even those who fel they have caused controversy. I really do appreciate your opinions and advice and, at various points in my life, would have (probably already have) tried all of the above.

For now, I am trying to teach myself sustainable habits, after years of yo yo style (only within two or three stone but a yo yo just the same) and really want to find a place where healthy food is my go-to but where I am living a life aswell. I enjoy eating out, I enjoy a glass of wine with my dh, I do not want to feel miseable on a diet....I just want to see the scales moving a bit every week! More importantly, I want my kids to see me eating normally, for 'diet' not to become a buzz word in their lives.

So, I'm going to perservere. i'm going to aim for 1400, I'm not going to eat activity calories, unless I have an extra active day, in which case I may, but will stay above a net intake of 1200. I'm going to keep on doing my 30day challenges, my 10000 steps and extra exercise such as cycling and walking.

By my 40th, I'll be rocking the skinny dress I have hanging on my wardrobe as inspiration.

I love MN and you guys just proved why. Thank you.

Good luck dakota

Good luck Dakota, let us know how you get on

Hi DakotaFanny - I lost 2 stone on MyFitnessPal so you can do it (and kept it off)

I totally agree with ignoring all the calorie estimates for exercise - they all overestimate.

I stuck to 1,200 calories a day and logged everything obsessively, even 1 quality street. When you only have that many calories a day you realise how much you've blown your target by just one chocolate.

I think 'starvation mode' is a bit of a myth - if people really went into starvation mode, people in famine areas would manage a lot better. There have been experiments with people in locked rooms were all their calorie input and output is entirely monitored, right down to weighing their poo (!) which have proved changes to metabolism is also a myth - the people putting on weight simply ate too much.

I also looked at evidence from the National Weight Loss Registry in America. This is a study of people who have managed to sustain their weight loss rather than yo-yo. They found that these people have several things in common:

They eat breakfast everyday
They stick to a low calorie, low fat diet with no changes at weekends
They do regular exercise
They weigh themselves regularly, usually every day

There are some really interesting articles about them - there's a summary of the findings here:

www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm

Some people do have faster metabolisms than others. I maintain my weight by mindful eating. I don't calorie count just listen to my body and eat when I am actually hungry and stop when I have had enough, maybe only a couple of mouthfuls. Body led calorie control.

Quick update...

This week, I checked and altered calories earned with other activity calorie websites, and corrected on MFP (staggering difference usually, often about 40% less). I stuck to 1400 calories a day, with more rigorous food weight checking etc. i will also openly admit to eating more ready meals this week, since I wanted a better check on calorie intake. Lots of lovely Waitrose Love Life meals, around 400 calories each, eaten with fresh veg. Bit expensive, but actually very tasty and, like I say, for one week only I wanted to be able to track calories very simply.

I probably did slightly less exercise this week too, around 200 calories a day. Where I did more, I made sure that my net calorie intake stuck above 1200 (only had to eat exercise calories twice).

Anyway, I've lost 4 lbs this week.

Lessons learned? None!

Was last week's gain merely a blip? The week before I sts, so actually 4lbs in 3 weeks, not that impressive but a solid, steady loss.

Was I exercising too much and eating too little last week, so my body clung on?

Was i eating more calories than I was acknowledging last week?

Who knows!? All I can do is carry on doing what I'm doing- exercising, eating 1400, only eating back exercise calories if not doing so means I will dip below 1200 calories net.

That's the plan!

Again, thanks for your support last week.

Dakota.

Yay! 4lb in 3 weeks is within the 1-2 lb per week that is considered healthy and sustainable :)

Your body can't cling onto weight if you're doing too much exercise, it can't create energy from nothing. But you would have clung onto water to help repair muscles. A lot of people stay the same weight for a while then have a 'whoosh' when they suddenly lose. It's a good feeling :)