Should wt loss be slow w/ daily exercise/1200 calories?

[kjreusser]

I used elliptical for 1 hr for 3-4 miles + calories to 1200. Scale doesn't show difference. Middle-aged. Will it show loss soon?

[kjreusser]

Erica: Thanks for your help. I'm on the elliptical 4 miles /6 days/week + trying to not eat gluten or much sugar= calories around 1200-1400. Not much wt loss since Jan 1. Shouldn't something be happening in that area?

[gerrymcd · Accepted solution]

Assuming you burn around 150 calories a mile on the elliptical, that means about 600 calories per day burned by exercise.   So, you should have lost about 2 to 3 lbs in three weeks.  Keep at it, it may take a little time, but it will eventually happen.

[captmiddy]

To know if something should be happening, there are things that it would be necessary to know.  Your current weight, your height and approximate age.  These would allow someone to plug the numbers into a BMR calculator and identify what your daily calorie expendature is for just being alive.  Then we could guess at your general activity level and come up with how many calories you would burn in a day.  Then based on that we could see if 1200 calories represents a deficit and by how much.  If you are at a 250 calorie a day average deficit, you would expect to lose up to 1/2 lbs per week.  Which means, you could go a month to a month and a half before you really see a change in average scale numbers (your body varies by as much as about 4lbs in a single day so at 1/2 lbs it can take a long while before you really notice a shift).  For every 250 calories per day you are below your calorie expenditure, you would lose another 1/2 lbs (this is over the course of a week not a day, so 250 a day over 1 week would be 1750 over a week which is 1/2 lb, it takes about 3500 calorie deficit in a week to lose 1 lb).  

Also since you are estimating your calorie intake as between numbers does this mean you are estimating in general your calorie intake or are you measuring everything (and I do mean everything) with a scale or measure cup to determine a real approximate calorie intake?  Little things like cream in coffee, an extra sugar packet, 1.5T of butter on your toast instead of 1T add up all day long and can send you several hundred calories higher than you think. 

[carl669]

if you have had weight loss prior to this, your body could just be recalibrating.  every so often, i notice that i seem to plateau for a period of time.  it could be a couple days or longer.  the longest i've had is 3 weeks.  i've read others having longer.  during this time, my weight would fluctuate a bit, sometimes up 1-2 lbs, sometimes down 1-2 lbs.  then suddenly, without me changing anything, my body would go back into weight loss mode.  i'm guessing my system just needed time to adjust to the new weight or it was doing something in the background.

i'm eating around 1500-1700 calories per day, averaging 7.5-8k steps a day.  there's a whole lot of things that come into play when you're trying to lose weight.  what kinds of food are you eating?  

[gerrymcd]

Variations at this level are probably all down to water -- drinking two cups of water will add a pound to the scales (and likewise, activity at the other end will lighten you by the some amount). 

[robert01]

Another good post and comments.....I too have been wondering why my weight loss has stalled after a great start. The comment about weight from water was enlightening...I have never hydrated so much before... also, I may start weighing my food to make sure the totals are accurate. Anyway, I am glad that others have similar questions and answers. Thanks

[Idahonancy]

Here's a BMR calculator that a gentlemen posted on another thread.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

Mine comes out to 1307 calories per day so if I eat 1400 calories I need to really up the exercise to create a 500 calorie daily deficit to lose 1 lb a week. A lot of women complain that it is harder to lose weight over 50. I have to track everything little thing I eat/drink in order to lose. I also notice lower carbs and higher protein helps. I do eat whole wheat breads, brown rice, sweet potatoes and white potatoes but not as many as I did when I gained all my weight.

The Fitbit note on the food log says to keep my dinner at 30% or under of daily calories in order to lose. My losses are better when I do that. I would think a calorie is a calorie no matter when you eat it but I have noticed a difference. My dinner isn't usually until after 8pm most nights so that might be one reason.

There is a group called 50+ Menapausal Women that you might find helpful too.

[kjreusser]

Thanks for this info. I'll take it to heart. This is all new to me. But I'm persevering. Take care,

[kjreusser]

I'm measuring everything. Thanks for the reminder. I do have access to a BMI machine so once a week I measure that. I'm guessing it will take a while to see a difference there.

[kjreusser]

This is my first time to seriously diet in years so I don't think I've hit a plateau yet. But good idea. I'll just keep persevering. Thanks!

[kjreusser]

Wow! I didn't know that but that's good to know. Thanks!

[kjreusser]

Yes it is nice when we can share helpful info. Good luck to you in your journey!

[kjreusser]

I've not noticed that on the fitbit calorie page. I'll look to see if the calories are best to eat early in the day. I get on the scale for my weekly weigh-in tomorrow! Yikes!