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Calorie deficit and exercise. No results

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Hello everyone!

I’m new to the forums and wanted to see if anyone may be able to help me out. My doctor wants me to lose around 50 pounds and I can’t seem to find any results. 

 

I was eating too little before (only around 1,000 calories daily) and it was all junk food and I didn’t exercise at all. I skipped meals frequently too. That is when I got gained majority of my excess weight.

 

I did a 90 day Beachbody workout program and was eating very clean. Of course I had some days I wasn’t perfect but it’s was nowhere near what I was doing before and I was keeping a deficit of about 500 calories. I always forced myself to increase my intake to 1700.

 

I haven’t lost a pound. I have no idea what I couldn’t be doing wrong! I finished that program and started a new one which is mostly cardio and i do weight training with it so I don’t burn all my lean muscle mass. I’m still eating very well, working to get more steps in and still no inches or pounds coming off. Can anyone help me determine where I need to improve because I’m completely lost at this point!

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@Sav24 wrote:

I was eating too little before (only around 1,000 calories daily) and it was all junk food and I didn’t exercise at all. I skipped meals frequently too. That is when I got gained majority of my excess weight.


Welcome to the community, @Sav24! I’m somewhat skeptical about the above: the characteristics of junk food is that it packs a lot of calories in very little volume. For that reason, I think it’s almost impossible to only eat 1000 calories worth of junk food. And even if you were a very petite woman with a very reduced metabolism (as a result of chronic dieting), your BMR alone would still be above 1000 calories. Therefore I think it’s very unlikely you gained all the extra weight eating 1000 calories (whether they come from junk food or "clean" goods doesn’t really matter).

 

Now, the fact that you have been maintaining your weight eating 1700 calories clearly indicates confirms your metabolism isn’t as bad as you thought it were (as implied by gaining a lot of weight eating 1000 calories). It looks like you’re doing the right things in terms of eating and exercising. You need to figure out what’s your actual energy expenditure (as opposed to the estimated calories burned reported by your Fitbit). For weight loss, you should focus on your dietary intake. Exercising (especially formal exercising) only plays a minor role in weight loss.

 

Other than that, difficult to give more specific advice without knowing more about your numbers (age, height, weight, step count etc.). Also pay attention to sleep and stress management, as lack of sleep and chronic stress hinder weight loss very much.  

Dominique | Finland

Ionic, Aria, Flyer, TrendWeight | Windows 7, OS X 10.13.5 | Motorola Moto G6 (Android 9), iPad Air (iOS 12.4.4)

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

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@Sav24 wrote:

I was eating too little before (only around 1,000 calories daily) and it was all junk food and I didn’t exercise at all. I skipped meals frequently too. That is when I got gained majority of my excess weight.


Welcome to the community, @Sav24! I’m somewhat skeptical about the above: the characteristics of junk food is that it packs a lot of calories in very little volume. For that reason, I think it’s almost impossible to only eat 1000 calories worth of junk food. And even if you were a very petite woman with a very reduced metabolism (as a result of chronic dieting), your BMR alone would still be above 1000 calories. Therefore I think it’s very unlikely you gained all the extra weight eating 1000 calories (whether they come from junk food or "clean" goods doesn’t really matter).

 

Now, the fact that you have been maintaining your weight eating 1700 calories clearly indicates confirms your metabolism isn’t as bad as you thought it were (as implied by gaining a lot of weight eating 1000 calories). It looks like you’re doing the right things in terms of eating and exercising. You need to figure out what’s your actual energy expenditure (as opposed to the estimated calories burned reported by your Fitbit). For weight loss, you should focus on your dietary intake. Exercising (especially formal exercising) only plays a minor role in weight loss.

 

Other than that, difficult to give more specific advice without knowing more about your numbers (age, height, weight, step count etc.). Also pay attention to sleep and stress management, as lack of sleep and chronic stress hinder weight loss very much.  

Dominique | Finland

Ionic, Aria, Flyer, TrendWeight | Windows 7, OS X 10.13.5 | Motorola Moto G6 (Android 9), iPad Air (iOS 12.4.4)

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

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I am a very petite woman. I’m 4’11 and 22. I should clarify what I mean about the junk food and 1000 calories. When I started college I didn’t monitor my weight or calories and I gained weight quickly. After I gained weight and wanted to get in shape I started monitoring what I was eating but not calories. So my food would be healthier options but I wasn’t as strict as I am now.

 

After seeing no results from trying to improve my diet slightly I started checking my calories for a nutrition assignment and the days that I recorded only added up to 700 on one day and 1000 and 900 the other days. Which is why I don’t know how I didn’t lose weight. I’m still at the heaviest I’ve ever been at 170 and maybe doctor wants me around 110. Id be comfortable around 120. Either way I concluded I needed to eat more calories because maybe maybe metabolism was shot but I haven’t but gained or lost anything since. 

 

How would i figure out how much im burning daily if not from the Fitbit?

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there are workout apps for your smartphone that are probably a lot closer to correct calories burned. its true exercise is a small amount of weight loss. i had a app (WOD) it calculated calories pretty good i think
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@Sav24 wrote:

How would i figure out how much im burning daily if not from the Fitbit?


You can use an online calculator such as this one to double-check your numbers. It uses the same underlying equation (Mifflin St. Jeor) to estimate your BMR. For the activity part (there are five activity levels ranging from sedentary to extremely active), you can use your average step count as a proxy: 10k would be "moderate", 15k+ "high", 5k and less "sedentary".

 

If you have been logging your intake and monitoring your weight for long enough, this should also give you an idea about how close your Fitbit’s estimate is to your actual energy expenditure. It’s not uncommon for activity trackers to overestimate energy expenditure. The good news is that they will likely do so consistently, so once you’ve determined it’s by - say - 15 per cent, you can make necessary adjustments to your eating plan.

 

Tracking calories (in and out) should be viewed as imperfect (but still useful) tools, not exact science.

Dominique | Finland

Ionic, Aria, Flyer, TrendWeight | Windows 7, OS X 10.13.5 | Motorola Moto G6 (Android 9), iPad Air (iOS 12.4.4)

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

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