Calorie Counting (and getting discouraged)

[ShrinkingNadia]

I have been trying to count calories and am very frustrated. I am not having trouble counting them or keeping in my daily limit, just not losing any weight from it. I know it is not an exact science, but would like to know by about how much I should change things. I am getting very discouraged because at the site that I was a regular on, the people seem to have a very casual attitude when it is not their weight. "It will all work out in the end" and "Give it a month or two to see if it works" and that kind of thing. I feel like they are patting me on the head like a puppy so I will go away. I have no support system in real life, so losing (in a way) the online support is really hard.

Currently, I am just under 180 pounds, 26 years old, female, 5'6". I would like to try to lose 1-2 pounds a week, which I have heard many times would be healthy (except at the aforementioned site, where several people acted like I should only try for one pound a month! =-o). My exercise right now is minimal. I do 1/2-1 hour of treadmill or elliptical machine but it ranges from 4 times a week to none, depending on my schedule. I will be able to regularly do it 3-4 times a week in the future.

I tried doing around 1450 calories a day for a month. I do not have much of an appetite and little time to eat, so it is not that hard for me (sorry to others). When looking over my data, it seemed that the days I ate less calories I gained, and more, I lost. So I decided the calculation I was using was not working for me. I went to and it gave me a zig-zag plan. This is how it has broken down so far this week:
14-Jul Min: 1440 Max: 1512 Did: 1463.6 Exercise: No
Weight Change Next Day: Up 1.20

15-Jul Min: 1440 Max: 1450 Did: 1443.25 Exercise: 30 minutes Light
Weight Change Next Day: Down 0.30

16-Jul Min: 1728 Max: 1805 Did: 1742.75 Exercise: No
Weight Change Next Day: Up 0.20

17-Jul Min: 1440 Max: 1512 Did: 1477.75 Exercise: 30 minutes Light
Weight Change Next Day: Down 0.5

18-Jul Min: 1440 Max: 1701 Did: 1600.75 Exercise: No
Weight Change Next Day: Up 0.39

I feel that I am gaining more than losing. I get that the zig zag thing will make it go back and forth, but. . . Will let the week finish and see where I end up. I just feel bad when I eat extra that I do not want just to make calories and then gain. . . Also, it seems if I exercise, I lose, but if I do not, I gain.

 

[MelanieAnn]

I am basically at the same weight, only you are an inch taller than me.. last time I looked a week ago it said my maintenance should be 2600, so to lose 1 lb a week I should be around 2100. This was more than I have been getting in, so I am working my way back to maintenance levels and hoping for the best. I know the trial and error answer isn't what you want to hear, however that is really the only way to find out by trying. Slowly add in more calories each week would be my suggestion. Also.. and I know this is hard, I'm working on it myself, you should try weighing yourself once a week or every few days. Fluctuations will happen from day to day. I know it is also important to do strength training so that when you do start losing, you will not lose as much muscle. Try doing random stuff throughout the day to burn a few extra calories? If you don't have time to hit the gym that often yet, dancing around or taking the stairs throughout the day can help.. or so I hope, lol.

 

[allyphoe]

You can't go by short-term scale fluctuation, which says more about your hydration levels, sodium intake, hormones, and toilet habits than about fat gain or loss. I'm an every-day weigher, so I'm not going to tell you not to weigh every day. But you can't draw conclusions from your daily weight as to whether what you did the day before worked.

In order to lose an average of 1.5 pounds a week, you need a daily caloric deficit that averages 750 calories. Maintenance for you is about 1900 calories per day, assuming no particular exercise. 30 minutes of walking at 4mph will get you maybe another 100 calories, so say 2,000 calories a day with daily exercise. In order to lose 1.5 pounds a week, you'd need to consume 1,250 calories a day.

If you were at 1,450 calories, with 1,900 for maintenance (due to no / sporadic exercise), you should have lost about 3.5 pounds in a month, which is a small enough amount that it easily could have been masked by random water weight fluctuation.

So, yeah. Stick with it, and eventually the weight will come off.

 

[amagheti]

dramatic scale fluctuations i find most often happen for me when:

- i am dehydrated (morning) weight is down
- if i eat very salty the previous day (even if w/in calorie limit) scale goes up

BUT i also know that this is not a loss/gain of FAT most of the time so its insignificant. as long as the trend is downward im ok. also, i dont weigh myself in the morning before having a bowel movement and after eating, cuz i am an every day weigher just like you. but if this doesnt happen i wont weigh myself at all until the next day because i know it wont be accurate. so my tips are:

- dont weigh yourself the next day if you have eaten exceptionally salty the day before
- try to weigh yourself in the morning after going to the bathroom and before eating if you can (less frustrations this way) - if you cant do this, put it off until the next day

you may also wish to open up an account at fitday.com where you can track your calories and your weight loss, if you havent done this already. with the account, you can also chart the weight loss (even with daily fluctuations) and see that the trend is going downward regardless so no need to panic. good luck

 

[ShrinkingNadia]

Thank you all for responding. I should have expanded a bit with what I wrote, but I do understand that daily weigh-ins are not a very good reflection and can cause anyone to go crazy heh. Perhaps a bad example that I posted. I weigh in daily for many reasons, though, and when I stop I find myself not following plans.

Thanks for the fitday advice, amagheti. I currently have my "stats" (Calories/Food Eaten/BMI/Weight/Exercise) in Excel charts & graphs that have treadlines. In May, that tread was going down down even on days when I showed a gain. In July, though, it is almost straight across. That is when I realized, okay, I can not wait this out, I need to change something because something is not working! =)

Thanks, Melanie, for your advice. I guess the thing with the trial & error is I never know whether to add or subtract. Even in this thread, one says add & one says subtract hehe.

And finally, thanks, ally, for those numbers. I think I am going to try a week or two with the larger deficit. Currently, it looks like my deficit is about 300-400 calories off of what is maintenance (at least by the formula I was using). So, if I increase it to 500-750, I think that will help.

=) Thanks again for all the help & ideas!