Stalled weight loss: Am I eating enough?

MFP gave me a daily goal of 1200 calories, which I've had no problem adhering to at all (and yes, I'm properly weighing and logging *all* my food!). I'm eating very well (lots of veggies, salad, lean meats etc) and I'm also doing approx. 400-500 calories (on average) worth of exercise per day. My weight loss has just stopped over the last week or so and as I was at a bit of a loss so started looking around online. I've then found that on most other calorie calculators I'm getting told that I should be eating something like 1600+ calories!

Naturally I'm quite confused and would appreciate some input from people in the know!

(Possibly useful info: 5" 5', 182 lbs, want to lose at least 2lbs per week)

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a week isn't long enough to say your weight loss is stalled. But, eating more is a good idea. The MFP recommendation counts on you eating back the calories that you earn from exercise. If you want to follow the MFP plan especially on such a low daily goal you definitely want to eat back most of the calories you burn. Alternatively, revise your goal closer to 1600+. 2 lbs per week is aggressive weight loss since you don't have all that much to lose.

A week isn't long enough to judge by. Things like TOM, exercise, too much sodium, can all cause water retention that will mask a loss.
To answer your question, NO, eating more is not going to help you lose.

What's TOM ? (bit new to all this, not up on the lingo yet)

jfestival wrote: »

What's TOM ? (bit new to all this, not up on the lingo yet)

Time of the month

my stats are similar to yours, my calorie and exercise is similar and I'm losing. some weeks I lose, some I don't, but on the whole it's a downward trend. I've lost 35 pounds

I too am 5'5", and at 176#. I also am almost 60, so with hormonal changes and a slower metabolism, weight loss could be slower for me.
The 1200 is correct, but consider your range to be +/- 100. So between 1100-1300. If you are also working out, your calories on MFP will be increased. I, personally, do not try to consume those burned calories. I follow a general rule of a 500 cal deficit. If I exercise 500 cal, my consumption should be 1200. If I exercise 800, I need to increase my consumption 300 cal. I have consistently lost 1/2 to 1 1/2 lbs per week using this formula. 500 cal deficiency per day at 3750 cal/pound means about a pound a week.

I try to maintain a diet of 50% whole grain or vegetable & fruit carbs, 30% lean protein and 20% fats.

The real trick to the exercise, is knowing how much you actually burn. Every body is different so the amounts listed on charts and machines for calorie burn are an average. Most machines say you burn more than you actually do to increase their sales, I doubt the averages take into account every body type, or every level of metabolism.

Wear a heart rate monitor during your exercise routine to get a correct reading.

As a general rule, if I walk 4 miles or less, I do not need to add food. I go more by what my body tells me. If I feel weak or dizzy, I have a high protein snack to answer the need.

Be sure to check how you entered your goals on MFP. Some have inadvertently said they wanted to maintain, so we're put at higher caloric levels.

Hope this helps.

MFP is just a calculator. It takes the information you input and spits out a number, but it doesn't evaluate your inputs to see if they make any sense. At 5'5" and 182 pounds, 2 pounds per week is probably too aggressive for you. Here is a good guideline:

If you have 75+ pounds to lose: set to lose 2 pounds
Between 40 - 75 pounds: set to lose 1.5 pounds
Between 25-40 pounds: set to lose 1 pound
Between 15-25 pounds: set to lose 0.5-1 pound
Less than 15 pounds: set to lose 0.5 pound

Eating more won't help you lose more weight, but it can help you stick with your eating plan in the long term. If you're eating 1200 calories, exercising 400 off and not eating back any exercise calories, you're doing it wrong and you're eventually going to burn out.

Are you eating 1200 total or 1200 net calories?

1200 total (and I was actually below that on a number of days). That's why I was asking, after everything I've read over the last couple of days, the 1200 'goal' in the app didn't seem like enough.

jfestival wrote: »

1200 total (and I was actually below that on a number of days). That's why I was asking, after everything I've read over the last couple of days, the 1200 'goal' in the app didn't seem like enough.

The 1200 goal is 1200 net calories.

So if I do 400 calories of exercise I'm meant to eat all of them back? Sorry if I'm appearing really thick right now, I'm just trying to wrap my head around all of this and how it works.

Yes, or at least a portion of them. Lots of people eat back 50-75% just to be on the safe side, because MFP can sometimes over-estimate your exercise calories, but you're supposed to be eating them back. MFP doesn't factor exercise into your goal, whereas other calculators do. So, your 1200 goal + 400 eat-back calories is the same as another site's 1600, if it's factoring in your exercise.

jfestival wrote: »

Naturally I'm quite confused and would appreciate some input from people in the know!

The best input you may get is that one week doesn't mean anything. Why would you think you have stopped losing based on one week?

AliceDark wrote: »

Yes, or at least a portion of them. Lots of people eat back 50-75% just to be on the safe side, because MFP can sometimes over-estimate your exercise calories, but you're supposed to be eating them back. MFP doesn't factor exercise into your goal, whereas other calculators do. So, your 1200 goal + 400 eat-back calories is the same as another site's 1600, if it's factoring in your exercise.

Yeah, I think the way it's presented has just not gelled with my brain whatsoever or something! I think I'd be better with it telling me that a straight 'X' is what I need to eat.

Anyway, what I've gathered from this thread so far (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is:
- I need to eat (only a bit) more to make up a portion of my exercise calories back
- I should probably only think about losing 1lb per week
- 1 week or so isn't long enough to determine whether or not you've truly stalled

ncboiler89 wrote: »

The best input you may get is that one week doesn't mean anything. Why would you think you have stopped losing based on one week?

Actually it was closer to two weeks to be honest, but anyway: mostly because my weight loss over the previous weeks had been quite linear. I'd lost around 10lbs in 4 - 5 weeks. I knew it would eventually start slowing down, but this seemed to suddenly plateau. Regardless, now I know to only worry about it if it goes on for longer than that (how long would you say?).

You got it!

The only other thing that I would suggest is that if MFP's eat-back method really doesn't work for you, try the TDEE method. This factors in your average weekly exercise into your goal, so you eat the same amount every day. (This works best if you have a consistent exercise schedule -- if not, it'll be hard to pin down your daily goal). This is a good TDEE calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

If you go that route, determine your goal and custom-set MFP to that target. You still need to give it about 4 weeks to determine whether or not it's working for you. A week isn't long enough to see any kind of trend.

jfestival wrote: »

Regardless, now I know to only worry about it if it goes on for longer than that (how long would you say?).

A couple of months.

Thanks for the help everyone, I really appreciate it!

AliceDark wrote: »

You got it!

The only other thing that I would suggest is that if MFP's eat-back method really doesn't work for you, try the TDEE method. This factors in your average weekly exercise into your goal, so you eat the same amount every day. (This works best if you have a consistent exercise schedule -- if not, it'll be hard to pin down your daily goal). This is a good TDEE calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

If you go that route, determine your goal and custom-set MFP to that target. You still need to give it about 4 weeks to determine whether or not it's working for you. A week isn't long enough to see any kind of trend.

Good calc

In reality, the only difference between TDEE and NEAT is when exercise calories are factored into the equation.

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