Weight loss: getting it right...?

[zoom-zoom]

I tell ya', I am finding this site to be about the best invention ever. For years I logged my food on Fitday.com, but it was a PITA to enter custom things and I still had to manually figure calories eaten vs. calories burned vs. my activity level the rest of the time vs. my current body weight, etc. I've been using My Fitness Pal for about 10 days and LOVE how well it does the work for me. I enter what I'm eating (and a TON of specific things are already in the system that have been entered by other users--including things like store-brand things, canned goods, etc.), enter my workout, and it tells me how many calories I have left to eat for the day. I can also specify breakdown of those calories...what %age of fats, carbs, protein, fiber.

Best part--at the end of the day it tells me what I would weigh in 5 days if every day were like the current day. It's very motivating when I hit everything right on and it tells me I'd be 5#s lighter than I currently am. It really makes me want to hit those goals daily.

[WindingRoad]

Woohoo - I too am experiencing what you mention. I exercise consistently through the week. I'm doing cardio and strength but my weight doesn't seem to budge. I am not sure what's going on with my body but I think I'm gaining muscle right now so I'm backing away from the scales for a month or so. I've been using livestrong's website to track my calories to get a pretty good idea of what my daily intake is. I'm usually right around 15-1700 depending on the day and if I exercise hard. I know its frustrating, it is to me too. Guess I just wanted to say "I feel your pain."

[azfiddle]

I sometimes use calories, but have been on WW for the last two years the online program was very successful for me- with exercise. So I will put in a plug for trying it.

I had over 35 lbs to lose. I weighed 150, but I'm only 5'1", past 50 years old and I think I have a slow metabolism anyway. Without adding in much exercise, I lost 13 pounds, but eventually reached a plateau. I did not eat all of my extra "weekly points" or "actviity points". I lost about 1 lb with 100 miles of cycling, following the online program. I am trying to maintain - have been as much as 4 lbs above my goal of 112 during the holidays and some leg issues that prevented me from riding, but am currently only 2 lbs up.

Not sure how many calories I was eating - but I could try to figure it out if that would be helpful

[Triskeliongirl]

I looked at your chart. You are eating plenty of food to not be in 'starvation mode'. Is it possible you are overestimating the cals burned by exercise? Are you using the livestrong estimates, an exercise machine estimate, or a personal HRM estimate? While a personal HRM is the most accurate, its still only an equation that doesn't consider your personal metabolism. How old are you? I am 53 and will maintain but not lose on 1200 net cals so for me your numbers don't look surprising at all.

In addition to trying to eat less and burn more, I recommend increasing the ratio of protein to carbs in your diet. If you have any degree of impaired glucose tolerance that can make a huge difference. High protein/low carb foods are also more satisfying, so they let you feel satisfied with fewer calories, and also put you in a hormonal state that favors fat burning (glucagon>insulin).

[Susan]

For me, 1 month is just to short to see any change in my weight. If I eat sensible but not ridiculously little, so that i won't be hungry all the time, I can lose about 20 pounds in a year (and I do a quite considerable amount of exercise). Of course there are people that lose weight quicker, but maybe, if you are like me, you won't.

[woohoo]

Thanks for the great responses everyone - lots of good resources and things to consider!

Some info: I’m 28, large skeletal size from the chart suggested, and a bit more than 10-15lbs overweight Before I would have gone a 2-3mi walk once/week & maybe ridden my bike once or twice. Since the start of the year I have been trying to build my fitness up for an event in May. I've been managing (apart from one week I was ill) to increase that to include 3-4 sessions per week on the turbo trainer and either mtb or walking one day at the weekend.

A typical trainer session for me is 1-1.5 hrs of intervals on the trainer following either 'workouts in a binder' or sufferfest-type programmes. My average heart rate for the time will be approx 85% of lactic threshold, with peak intervals being just above, maybe 104%. I don’t work out the calorie burn myself, I’ve been using the livestrong app to put in the food I eat and the training I do. Maybe I’ll try an alternative calorie tracker, to see if it agrees/disagrees?

I think the point about not having such an on/off pattern in days of exercise is probably a good one. My metabolism might be better served by a more even calorie intake and making an effort to go for a 20min walk at lunch or something on my rest days. Same goes for increasing the protein, I eat a lot of rice, pasta & bread…

I should I add that although I’m not losing the lbs I’d hoped for, I am seeing muscle development. My legs are noticeably more muscular, and although I haven’t dropped a clothes size, I have noticed a shirt or two fits me a bit better, so can’t complain too much! I guess if I keep going and take all the advice above over what I’m eating, the weight loss should follow in time - I always have been an impatient so-and-so

Thanks everyone for all the help & input – really appreciate it.

woohoo

p.s. WindingRoad – glad I’m not alone, we’ll get there eventually!

[limewave]

I just want to add from my own experience, that I have the most success in losing fat when I'm consistently eating good, nutritional food with approx. 1600-2000 calories a day. That's when I'm biking and running regularly. I usually do about 60 minutes a day (6 days a week) and try to do about 30 minutes of strength 4x a week.

I was seeing great success with that, so I tried cutting my calories to about 1100-1200 a day. Not so good. I saw much less weight loss, some weeks not any. And I didn't have the energy I used to have, so my workouts were flat.

If you're worried about gaining weight, just try adding calorie for two weeks and see how it goes. You can always scale back again.