1000 calorie deficit, still not losing weight

[shurst05]

I've been logging my food meticulously, getting 10K - 15K steps per day, tracking sleep, and adhering to a 1000 calorie per day deficit.  My weight is yo-yoing back and forth by about 4 pounds.  Two weeks into this, I am currently at my starting weight.  Calories are coming from proteins, fruits, veggies, and lean meats.  I have no known health issues...thyroid function is normal. 

This is so frustrating.  A friend is doing weight watchers, eating way more food than I am, and she has lost 10 pounds in two weeks.  Is the fitbit's process of tracking your calorie burn truly accurate?

[Heybales]

Ya, sadly you aren't building muscle in a deficit that big, not that fast.

If you were doing progressive overload heavy lifting, and newbie at it, and lots of fat to lose, and very little muscle to start with to strength first, and a minor deficit, you may gain a pound of muscle in 8 weeks.

When you start exercise, you gain water weight for so many reasons.

More stored glycogen in muscles along with water.

Water retained in muscles to aid in repair.

Increased blood volume.

Outside of that, either food logging is way off and eating way more than you think, or the exercies calories are badly inflated and not really burning what you think, which of course affects the eating level then - or likely a combo.

[Mary]

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@Liz_J wrote:
I still believe breakfast is important. I've had enough years experience to experiment with all the variants. Women are different to men. Our bodies are slower and react differently to changing hormones.
When I was 20 I could eat a custard tart and a chocolate sustagen everyday for breakfast. But I was young , working full time and running 10 km a day. I eat better now but as you get older, especially after 50 you do have to work at it. Some are very lucky and have fast metabolisms

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I think most authorities believe now it's not the actual aging or hormonal changes that cause weight gain, it's the lifestyle changes.  We move less and eat more.  Which is good news.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/womens-health/in-depth/menopause-weight-gain/art-20046058?p...

A lot of diet authorites do recommend breakfast.  In my opinion, it's more of a behavioral intervention than anything having to do with your actual metabolism.  When you do things in the morning like exercise and eat a healthy breakfast, it has a way of mentally setting the tone for the day, for many people.  A lot of people when trying to lose will wait until they're famished to eat and then make a bad choice at lunch due to that, which spirals into 'I blew it, I'll start tomorrow'.  

[paco5]

I've been using my fb since may 18. I walk anywhere from 12,000 to 17,000 five days a week at work. Almost always under calorie intake vs calories burned. Since may 18 I have lost only 3 pounds. Reading the comments it seems that I need to do the 20 minutes of intense excercise every day, as it seems the 5-7 miles of walking at work just isn't doing it. Any thoughts.

[Liz_J]

Each time you eat your metabolism fires up to burn it. Much like a fire. Obviously if you eat too much it's stored. Your resting metabism is higher am rather than pm so intake earlier is wiser than later. Sleeping burns minimal so you don't sleep on a full stomach.

Some periods of higher intensity work better than simply walking at the same pace. Seeing your arms more and power walk. Do a little jog rather than walk. Sprint to the corner then walk.

[Liz_J]

I walked for 2 months then added bits of jogging. Then noticed change in waistline. Takes 3 months before you notice clothes loose. I'm petite to start with so don't lose much unless I don't eat. Which is impossible. A dose of son trouble. ( I have 2) usually makes me skinny.

[Heybales]

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@paco5 wrote:

I've been using my fb since may 18. I walk anywhere from 12,000 to 17,000 five days a week at work. Almost always under calorie intake vs calories burned. Since may 18 I have lost only 3 pounds. Reading the comments it seems that I need to do the 20 minutes of intense excercise every day, as it seems the 5-7 miles of walking at work just isn't doing it. Any thoughts.

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So did you tell Fitbit to already include a weight loss goal?

How big a deficit?

How much do you have to lose?

So it's already reduced your eating level below what you burn so you will lose weight.

And you are making it even bigger deifcit by missing your goal, hoping to make it faster?

Don't imagine bigger is better, as you've just proved out it appears. If you truly believe that - why not just stop eating?

Diet is for weight loss.

Exercise for diet merely makes the eating level not so low. But exercise is for heart health and body improvements, and walking doesn't ask for many body improvements once you can get going.

The walking could do it for weight loss - because frankly you could do it with NO exercise at all - but your eating level would be even less, and perhaps not adhering to it very well.

Are you logging your food accurately - which means weighing everything that goes in your mouth, only measuring liquids?

The intense exercise will do more for hearth health and cardio system, and burn a tad more calories so your eating level can be even higher.

Because if you kept your current pace, and lost weight - you'd actually be doing less, you'd have to increase pace to offset moving less weight around.

[MrsRatfire]

I do not find it uncommon for weight to do this. I am keeping approx. 1000 calorie deficit and stalled too. But then, like majic, the scale dropped yesterday.  I thought the same thing, the ammount of steps was off as well as the calories burned calculation. But now, it has changed. Per the math, it should be 2 pounds a week, but nothing works out that neatly, ever.  Your friend is going to stall on WW too. If they do not add excercise, I can promise it.  Weight goes up down and sideways everyday. Some weeks are like that as well. But I relied on the math and figured, keep going. I did not let ti a play with my head. I just kept going- it has to work eventually.

I have also tracked on My Fitness Pal, did not like that at all- the data base is a mess. For months I have tracked on My Fat Secret- free. When tracking on both sites, the calories come in within a few.  I also employed a sprint interval walking technique I read in a magazine. I re-capped the article on my blog:  www.mrsratfirelosesweight.com   The techniqe is reported to burn 3 x the fat (which is 300 %) and the instructions are super simple. May even be too good to be true, but it was easy to implement so I am doing that. Good Luck!

[jnoko]

I too have struggled with losing weight, but I would like to share my story.  Three years ago, I lost 20 pounds and felt great. I kept it off for about a year.  Last year I became more lax about my eating habits and put on 14 pounds.  I struggled for a year, but the weight would not come off.  This past summer I purchased my fitbit and became serious about the 10k steps a day, however the weight did not drop or it wavered + or - 2 pounds from week to week.  Here is what I did to change things:

1. Kept a food journal

2.  Reduced carb intake

3.  Stopped eating after 5:00

In the beginning of September I weighted 168 pounds.  As of November 7, I weigh 159 pounds.  It took three months to lose this weight and I attribute it to eating before 5:00.  I notice that when I eat after 5:00 or save my biggest meal for after 5:00, I either gain weight or retain my present weight.  Eating my largest meal at lunch or not eating after 5:00 is the only way I am able to lose weight, although at a snail's pace.  The good news is that I am determined to stick to this plan, since I am motivated by the way my clothes fit.  Pants that were once tight, now fit just right. 

My advice to you is to keep a food journal and to look for patterns of weight gain, retention or loss.  Also, note the times that you eat.  Hopefully this will make a difference.  Good luck!!!

[MichaelP1234]

I have the same battle with my weight too, I went from 170 pounds to 185 pounds. Still struggling though to get back down to 170 pounds. What I usually do is try to reach up to 40K steps a day, I sometimes try to reach to 50K steps in 1 day. I'm a giant when it comes to power walking by the way. I power-walk mostly all-day "Morning, Noon & Night".

[SunsetRunner]

WOW!! Busy topic!!!

Sounds like you're eating pretty clean.  Avoiding processed foods.  I didn't seen anything about WHEN you're eating and how often. 

- Agree with the others...you should eat within 30-45 mins of waking up. 

- You should be eating 5x a day...meal...snack...meal...snack...meal...keep the body humming along.

- Eat till you're satisfied, not till you're full.

- Eat based on either what you just did, or what you're going to do.  If you're going to be sitting on couch watching football all day....don't have high carb/high calorie foods.  If you just worked out, you need to replenish your body.  If you're going to workout, you need to fuel up.

Countings macros (calories, grams of this and that) can be decieveing.  Not only are not all calories equal, eathing the wrong things at the wrong times can slow down your progress.  Too few calories can put your body into starvation mode....packing on fat, consuming muscle for it's needs. 

My suggestion....if what you've been doing isn't producing results you need to change it up but in a bigger way.  Try ditching dairy if you already haven't.  Avoid inflammation triggering foods.  If you're getting all your steps in but not seeing effect, introduce some higher intensity steps.  Try incorporating some body weight exercises...change it up.

[HelenaFitbit]

My 2 cents: 

Check what is the accurate (or at least closest) number to your BMR, set a proper plan with a medium intensity and manage your caloric budget, no meal replacements, no restrictions of food groups and plenty of water. Also, make sure you get a proper night's sleep. 

[HelenaFitbit]

I use it too! Incredible amounts of information. 

[tristramnz]

I'm a novice exerciser to be fair, but I've lost about 10% of my body weight in about 10 weeks... things I've noticed are...

1)  When you look at packets of food at the supermarket, calorie counts are great, but, look at the sugar and fat levels per 100 grams (not sure of the US scale equivalent, but never use serving size as thats really at the behest of the food manufacturer and how they want to market the product).  If its less than 10 grams per 100 grams, its ok for an every day food.  If its more, it can still be ok but not for everyday consumption...

2)  Don't eat fruit after 2pm.

3)  No potato, bread, and preferably no rice for dinner as they are laid with carbs which at night you're not giving your body a chance to burn generally

4)  Water... water... and more water.  

5)  Your weight can and will fluctuate.  I still believe in my strongest week, I put on 300 grams on the scale.

6)  Use other measures as well... such as belly button, waist, and if you're using a fitbit look at how much stronger you are making your heart.  You will notice this two ways, one, you can do more after you've improved your heart, two, you won't burn as many calories because the body has adapted to what you're trying to do and doesn't need to pump out as much oxygen

7) If you're in an office job, move around... there are basic little step routines you can add in that won't add masses of calorie losses but will help tone your body.

The right type of exercise is really important in my opinion.  Personally, if I'm looking to strip weight, I absolutely love boxing.  And if you're looking for tone, power away on the bag with big power combos (learn the techniques to do it safely first though).  Change up your exercise I believe is important as well, I found if I did the same thing for 2 weeks then my body had kind of adapted and stopped evolving the way I wanted it to.

Good luck!

[Heybales]

Beyond the personal opinion list of things you have found work well for you, and may indeed work well for others even if not strictly required for weight loss, this point does need some correction as it's a popular myth.

"6) ...You will notice this two ways, one, you can do more after you've improved your heart, two, you won't burn as many calories because the body has adapted to what you're trying to do and doesn't need to pump out as much oxygen"

If you are doing the same intensity (pace) at the same weight, the fact you have gained fitness by heart rate being slower does NOT mean you are burning less calories. You are providing the same amount of required oxygen with less heart beats, in order to burn the same amount of fuel.

This is exactly why cheaper HRM's fail - they assume if same mass, then same burn - they do not take in to account improvement fitness unless BMI improves to a better level.

And as you point out, it is actually much easier to improve cardio system then to lose weight. So the nicer HRM's that have a VO2max stat, will correctly show that going up as fitness improves, and even if you do the same effort, and the HR is indeed lower - they show the same calorie burn.

Now usually what happens is since you can do more easier - you increase the pace and the HR is kept the same. In this case, faster pace, about the same weight - you actually are burning more calories.

Again, cheaper HRM won't catch this fact. Merely want to point that out because I see it claimed frequently.

[anrento]

Sometimes we come to a plateau and we have to do different exercises. I find the elliptical machine burns fat well. You should get your heart rate up to fat burning # 220-minus your age is your Maximum #. 50-65 % of that # You could look up the formulas.  I am 64 and anything over 110 is burning fat for me.. If you lift weiights to gain and tone muscle and mucle burns fat.  

Your body get used to routine exercises you have to switch around.

[Heybales]

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@anrento wrote:

Sometimes we come to a plateau and we have to do different exercises. I find the elliptical machine burns fat well. You should get your heart rate up to fat burning # 220-minus your age is your Maximum #. 50-65 % of that # You could look up the formulas.  I am 64 and anything over 110 is burning fat for me.. If you lift weiights to gain and tone muscle and mucle burns fat.  

Your body get used to routine exercises you have to switch around.

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Actually, your body gets used to a level of effort as you get more fit.

If doing 3.5 mph walking help lose weight at first, and you did not increase the pace, then you will burn less because of less mass to move.

You must increase the intensity. But you can keep doing the same things, just make it harder like it was when first doing it.

Many love that it feels easier, and stay there. That's the problem, not needing to different things.

Also, you could burn the exact same number of fat grams, but more calories over all, if you worked out harder.

The only reason the fat % burned is higher is because the calorie burn is lower.

So while the calorie burn goes higher the fat % will go lower - for the exact same quantity of fat.

The myth of the fat-burning zone as a means of just fat loss has been busted for along time now.

It is a active recovery HR zone though, known as that much longer, and is very correct exercise range when needing to recovery from a workout, because it adds no extra stress on the muscles that would require improvement and repair from.

Which is also the reason why it's not useful all by itself, doesn't ask for much from the body to improve.

[miracle]

Shurst05,

You're not eating enough calories!! 1,000 is way too low for the amount of exercise you're doing. Your body thinks you're going into stavation mode and will hold onto the calories! There are 3500 calories in a pound. To diet you should be eating at least 1500!

[anrento]

Exactly, you are absoultly right on all these facts.

[Jenasaurus]

Also good to remember that counting calories alone may not help. 1000 calories from fast food is not the same as 1000 cals of fruits and veggies. All calories are not created equal. But Im sure no one here really wants to get into Macros.......

[jenny123]

shurst05,

Hang in there a bit longer.  I'm the exact way when i'm trying to lose weight.  It typically takes me 3 weeks to show anything on the scale.  It didn't used to take so long when i was younger.  Keep at it!