Weight Loss Rant

[CremeDeSudo]

Since early August I’ve been doing my best to stick to between 1650 and 1700 calories each day ie, above my BMR which is apparently 1630. I admit there has been the odd day here and there where I’ve come in at between 1800 and 1900, but these have been rare. My average daily intake has been c1700 cals. I’m sticking to a balanced diet. It’s not 1700 calories of rubbish or anything like that.

My TDEE is 1950 calories each day as I’m in a desk job but walk to work/home most days. I’ve started trying to move more – walking up the stairs rather than taking the lift, parking my car up a hill so I have to walk up it. I also do pilates once a week plus 2x cardio-type classes and a half hour run if I get chance.

I’ve been doing this since beginning of August and have only lost 4lb. 4. Bloody. Pounds. How?!

My PT has asked that this week I try and stick to 1950 cals as an experiment and see what happens. He’s wondering if I might be undereating. Is this even remotely likely? I’ve only lost 4lbs, I don’t want to put 25%+ back on!

For background, I’ve only ever successfully lost weight by taking extreme measures – VLCD’s, eating bugger all etc etc. My most recent stint was 3 yrs ago though and haven’t under-eaten for a long time to I think my metabolism should be ok. I’m convinced I have a sluggish digestive system because I find tablets take ages to kick in. Also, my weight fluctuates depending on the time of the month – I’ve usually avoided weighing myself and stuck to measuring for this reason. I have 2 stone to lose.

I’m not sure what I’m hoping for really but just wanted to rant as I’m so frustrated! I hate calorie counting and using My Fitness Pal but consoled myself with knowing I had a plan and would lose 1lb a week and it's not happening!

Sorry, ds pressed post!

.....factor them into your deficit, then you can overestimate the calories used. Not sure if Apple Watch calculates this as it monitors your cal usage all the time?

The Apple Watch separates the active calories out from the ones you burn anyway .

Sorry i mean it separates them when you set it for an activity but not if you don't. It tells what you have burned altogether at the end of the day.

Your face i thought it probably would as it's quite a techno bit of kit! I think it's more likely a problem if you jot down your calories in a notebook like me or use a tracker app.

I'm 5 ft 2 and between April and august went from 10 stone 1 to 7 stone 12( I'm 8 stone this week due to a naughty weekend)

I hate low carb as I put on huge amounts as soon as I stop .
This time I have eaten between 1000/1200 cals a day with a holiday and a couple of weekends away within it . I got straight back on it after my treats and lost my gains fairly quickly .
I walked between 10,000 and 15,000 steps a day plus bought an exercise bike and burn 200 cals whilst watching eastenders 4 times a week. I have a wee gin and slim a few nights a week.

The eat more to lose doesn't work for me . The eat less move more old school has worked .
Well done in the 4lb. If you google 4 lb if fat it might seem like more of an achievement.

Maybe you should ditch the pt and get a heart rate monitor Watch like Apple or fit bit and then you really will be able to monitor energy our better. I used to overestimate also. My fitness pal tends to give too high a value to most activities. It's quite eye opening.

Oh , I used mfp and and tried to be very honest on it.

I would not lose any weight on 1700, that's a lot of food. Especially considering most people significantly under-estimate their calories consumed, even when logging. Have you seen the secret eaters where people honestly claimed they logged 1300, but the cameras revealed they were more around 4000?

Eat more not to get into starvation mode is BS. You only go to starvation mode once you have burned all the fat in your body.

Just thought I'd give you my experience, in case it helps. I'm a touch under 5'9 and weighed 214 lbs (the heaviest I've ever been!) back in April. Since then I've steadily lost weight eating between 1600 - 1700 cals a day, tracking on My Fitness Pal. I've lost around 26 lbs, but want to lose another 25 or so, so about halfway there. I'm pretty sedentary due to my work, plus for a month and half my foot was in a boot and I had crutches - so definitely haven't been down the gym!

It has been not too hard so far, I have the odd meal out along the way but otherwise I've stuck within that calorie ballpark. Now I'm getting under 190lbs, I'm at a similar point to you and my weight did recently start to plateau. I've tried to keep to 1600 (rather than towards 1700) and get really focussed on portion size as there is much less leeway for me to guesstimate calories and continue to lose weight now. This broke the plateau, but I'm still losing weight a bit more slowly now (now about 0.5 lb per week rather than 1 lb). But I did want to raise my hand as an example that you can shift weight eating quite a bit more than 1300 calories per day, particularly if you are on the taller side! It is all dependent on how much your daily expenditure / TDEE. You are slightly smaller than me, but with a PT you are likely much more active!

I know I'll have to now up my exercise (and aim to not eat the exercise cals back) or reduce the calories if I want to lose at around 1lb a week, based on my current weight. I would rather increase the exercise tbh, as I find that the current calorie level is easy to maintain and consistent with a lifestyle I can continue beyond losing the weight. I eat really healthy food in sensible portions, plus the odd small bit of chocolate every now and again! I also feel upping the exercise will be much better for my overall health and wellbeing. I will keep an eye on stalls and tweak my routine and daily diet accordingly. And if it is a bit slower than a 1lb per week it is no biggie.

OP, could you be eating even slightly more than you think? It is crazy but a few small miscalculations a day (things like how much milk in your tea, the butter on your toast etc) can mean an extra 100 cals - meaning another 700cals onto your weekly total which could definitely stall progress. I found that monitoring this helped to break the deadlock!

It's taken me since January to lose 25 pounds.

Same as you, 1700 cals, exercise etc etc. I simply don't need that many calories to maintain my weight.

The last five pounds have only started coming off because I had to fast for 30 hours in preparation for a colonoscopy and I now have hand, foot and mouth and have totally lost my appetite.

So maybe do that

@CremeDeSudo: Just saw this and I fee your pain.

But you're going about this the wrong way - it's not your fault. You've been taught weight loss is about calories in and out.

Hate to say it but it's almost completely false.

Your body will deal with a calorie from a Coke differently from a calorie from chicken breast, or a spoonful of olive oil ...

Ponder that and if think this could be right and are interested I can tell you how you should be looking at things and why. I can also give you detailed instructions to burn through tons of body fat and even - if you want it - get below 20% body fat.

If not, that's OK too.

DH is 6' 3" and it was recommended he aimed for 1700 calories to lose weight - he's much taller than you! So yes drop the calorie intake.

Wow - that seems a small amount of calories for someone that is 6ft3. How much did he have to lose @RandomMess?

I was set at 1650 cals per day by My Fitness Pal to lose 1lb per week as a 5'9 woman (at an admittedly hefty 214lbs), which has been pretty on the nose so far. Now that I'm 26lbs slimmer, I do have to slightly tweak things but generally not eating much less than that and still losing. My partner is about the same height as me but more slender, weighing around 150lbs, and even he lost half a stone eating the same as I did (actually probably eating a bit more as he usually has fairly calorific lunches at work) - I had to make sure I added to his portions to ensure he didn't lose any more!

I guess there are differences in metabolism and no one-size fits all. But 1700 sounds low for such a strapping lad :)

That was to loose 2lb per week and has 4 stone to loose. I think he can go up to 2,000 if he wants to and still lose - so unfair as I'm only 5' so need to stick rigidly to1,200 to stand a chance as only need 1,400 to maintain

Oh no, @oldlaundbooth, that sounds awful! Hope you feel better soon.

I was thinking about the PT
He has a vested interest in you needing him to help you spend more time exercising to lose weight rather than changing eating habits to achieve it...

I know it is unfair, my sister is 5'2 and has a much lower calorie goal than me, which is harder to keep up with.

On the other hand, when she loses weight you can see it a lot quicker - even a small-ish loss is really noticeable. I've lost nearly two stone and hardly anyone notices apart from my DP, I don't think it will be noticeable until I get pretty near my goal :(

So swings and roundabouts I suppose - we'll get there in the end!

I will counter that with the trauma of gaining 4-6lbs and nothing in the wardrobe fits anymore! I have probably 3 or 4 lots of wardrobe for less than a 2 stone weight difference!

Haha! I feel for you - that is a massive pain in the bum!

I literally have the opposite problem - I'm still wearing the same size as when I was nearly two stone heavier (much roomier mind, but still...)! My mind is totally thinking about the new "thin" clothes I want to buy, but realistically I'm probably only going to be about a 1-2 sizes smaller when I reach my goal (after losing nearly 4 stone!). That's how I gained all the weight in the first place, I didn't notice it was creeping on slowly over a number of years until all of a sudden my clothes were finally too tight and I was into the obese BMI category(!). I know now I need to keep an eye on my weight and my food intake or it will keep happening.

It's rubbish isn't I just start binging on Christmas chicks I got as gifts undid my good work and then it's crept up to my heaviest ever!! I have very slim hips relative to everything else and people always say "your not fat" alas the scales do not lie and I was 3.5 stone lighter when I got pregnant in my mid 20s so for me I'm huge

Looking forward to losing probably 3lbs and wearing my work dresses that are "just" too tight. On a boring 8 dress rota at the moment!

Yourface, even the heart rate monitors don't accurately calculate calories so should not be relied upon. I have a new garmin with HRM and if I just take the dog for a walk at say 3.5-4.0 miles per hour it will tell me I have burned 150-200 calories. If I set the watch to a "walk" in the options for exercise it will double those calories....not good!

I also only burn abour 250-280 calories in a Zumba class yet there are pictures all over the internet of people claiming they burn 800-900 calories in one hour of zumba plus in our class the instructor will sometimes ask someone who has a watch how many calories they have burnt and people will claim they have burnt 600 or more - that is absolutely impossible from the classes we are doing - very scary.

I read a fascinating article the other day about all the different watches on the market and there are 3 different ways in which they "estimate" calorie expenditure and none are really 100% reliable - it was an interesting read.

I always say don't eat your exercise calories and then there is no confusion and any exercise you are doing is just a bonus - I find it helps me in so many other ways rather than just weight loss so stick with it rather than use it for an extra ice cream etc.

I wasn't able to lose weight on 1600 calories so I shifted to low carb/ low calorie. I have around 1000 cals a day during the week and have more at the weekend and the weight is dropping off me. I don't feel hungry really. I think we have actually forgotten that it is okay to gel a bit hungry between meals!

interesting about heart rate monitors and individual variation. I have a Fitbit Charge 2 and it was wildly inaccurate at first (overestimating) but has now settled down and appears to be fairly accurate working on the 3500 cals equals 1lb thing.

I've lost 80lbs since middle of last November and am now a similar weight but inch shorter than OP and late 40's. I use something similar to MFP called Nutracheck as it is really quick and easy and useful on portion size. I just make sure the difference between calories I've eaten and burned is what I want it to be over the week and I lose that amount (not linear but works out pretty much spot on over time).

Last week I averaged 2150 cals a day and lost 0.75lb. I do about 12k steps a day which is mostly dog walking but includes 3 x 30 mins jogging. My TDEE is 2572 cals a day (using the heavy exercise figure) so daily deficit of 422 x7 is 2954 cals so weight loss reflected deficit pretty accurately.

PostNotinHaste interesting how we are all different isn't it! My TDEE is 1750 per day (sedentary) and for the last 3 weeks I have averaged 2150 per day on food so have overeaten by 400 X 21 = 8,400 calories which would mean a weight gain of 2.4 lbs had I not done any exercise. My garmin says I have done about 6,000 calories of exercise and I haven't worn it every day so could be more but 6,000/21 = 285.

285 + 1750 = 2,035 which means I technically should have only gone over by 85 calories a day for 21 days which equals about half a lb gain.

Yes I am due on but 3 weeks ago I weighed 169.5 lbs and today and 174.5 lbs so a gain of 5lbs apparently - WTF!!!!

That's horrible Loubilou getting on and finding that, my sympathies . Hopefully it's period related and will vanish quickly, my DD puts on about the same amount with hers.