HELP! I'm a failure!

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Katniss12Peeta
Katniss12Peeta Posts: 29 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Everyone, please help me out! This is my first post on here, even though I read them all the time.
I am 5'4''. I weigh 189 pounds right now. I have been dieting for a month- about 1800 calories eaten per day the first 2 weeks to ease myself into it. Then the last 2 weeks, I have went to the gym 5-6 times a week with walks or bike rides on my "rest" days. I have also cut to about 1200 calories, sometimes more, sometimes less. I do NOT underestimate my calorie intake. I log religiously on LoseIt! and I measure everything I eat. I don't eat desserts, I don't drink alcohol or cokes. I drink water and tea. A cup of coffee here and there. Besides my stomach being a little less bloated, I have not lost even HALF a pound!!!! What am I doing wrong?
- Side note: I am an "athlete" although a fat one, at this point. In the past, when I was 20 I have been able to reduce calorie intake, work out a little, and lose 20 pounds in 2 months, and never plateau. This time, its just not working. Is it because I'm getting "older"? I'm 23.

I get enough sleep. I have a varied diet. I avoid carbs, but don't completely cancel them out. I don't eat breads or pasta or cookies - nothing crazy. My diet is mostly protein. I burn about 400 calories each gym session and always eat them back since I am on a 1200 calorie plan. I don't think I'm gaining muscle really because I mostly do cardio and a little bit of high rep/low weight training. I also don't see any difference in my body. I know I've only been dieting for a month, but shouldn't I have at least lost 1 pound?!?!?!?

Any advice you could give would be great!! I am so lost and upset and I feel like I am going to be a fat failure forever. I miss my strong, small body. I hate being too big for my husband to carry. Guys, please help me!
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Replies

  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
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    How do you know how much you are burning at the gym? Somewhere you are either overestimating your burn (either physically or metabolically) or underestimating your intake, or both.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    How are you measuring your food, with cups and spoons or with a food scale? If it's the former then yes, you probably are underestimating what you're eating. Also, if you're eating back 100% of your exercise calories that may be putting you over. Most people on MFP who eat them back only do 50-75% due to overestimations of burns.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    Katniss12Peeta wrote: »
    Everyone, please help me out! This is my first post on here, even though I read them all the time.
    I am 5'4''. I weigh 189 pounds right now. I have been dieting for a month- about 1800 calories eaten per day the first 2 weeks to ease myself into it. Then the last 2 weeks, I have went to the gym 5-6 times a week with walks or bike rides on my "rest" days. I have also cut to about 1200 calories, sometimes more, sometimes less. I do NOT underestimate my calorie intake. I log religiously on LoseIt! and I measure everything I eat. I don't eat desserts, I don't drink alcohol or cokes. I drink water and tea. A cup of coffee here and there. Besides my stomach being a little less bloated, I have not lost even HALF a pound!!!! What am I doing wrong?
    - Side note: I am an "athlete" although a fat one, at this point. In the past, when I was 20 I have been able to reduce calorie intake, work out a little, and lose 20 pounds in 2 months, and never plateau. This time, its just not working. Is it because I'm getting "older"? I'm 23.

    I get enough sleep. I have a varied diet. I avoid carbs, but don't completely cancel them out. I don't eat breads or pasta or cookies - nothing crazy. My diet is mostly protein. I burn about 400 calories each gym session and always eat them back since I am on a 1200 calorie plan. I don't think I'm gaining muscle really because I mostly do cardio and a little bit of high rep/low weight training. I also don't see any difference in my body. I know I've only been dieting for a month, but shouldn't I have at least lost 1 pound?!?!?!?

    Any advice you could give would be great!! I am so lost and upset and I feel like I am going to be a fat failure forever. I miss my strong, small body. I hate being too big for my husband to carry. Guys, please help me!

    Sounds like your husband needs to get stronger LOL. JK though. Well depending on what you lost you could have increased in Lean body mass and lost a little in fat that shows no scale change.

    Usually the answer to this question is underestimate foods log and overestimate exercise calories.

    Being 23 is a little bit different and that old methods might need to be tweak a little on how you lose weight.

    You can open diary so people can give you ideas on what might be wrong if anything is.

  • Katniss12Peeta
    Katniss12Peeta Posts: 29 Member
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    glevinso wrote: »
    How do you know how much you are burning at the gym? Somewhere you are either overestimating your burn (either physically or metabolically) or underestimating your intake, or both.

    Usually what I do is put in all my info on the machine and do not cheat at all. I get that calorie amount. Then I look on the web as well for calorie burned and kinda pick a number in the middle.
  • Katniss12Peeta
    Katniss12Peeta Posts: 29 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    How are you measuring your food, with cups and spoons or with a food scale? If it's the former then yes, you probably are underestimating what you're eating. Also, if you're eating back 100% of your exercise calories that may be putting you over. Most people on MFP who eat them back only do 50-75% due to overestimations of burns.

    Cups and spoons. Ok, so I should lower my calorie goal perhaps so that when I underestimate my eating, I will be on track?
    And I could probably stop eating back my exercise calories, but I think I will starve to death combining these two ideas. =(
  • adnaram
    adnaram Posts: 44 Member
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    1. You're NOT a failure. You're taking better care of yourself and probably feel better physically, right?
    2. How do your clothes fit? Are you seeing/feeling results that the scale isn't sharing?
    3. How is your water intake? I'd try bumping it up some.
    4. You go to a gym you said? do they have someone there who can help with body fat percentage and workout ideas to help you?
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    Katniss12Peeta wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    How are you measuring your food, with cups and spoons or with a food scale? If it's the former then yes, you probably are underestimating what you're eating. Also, if you're eating back 100% of your exercise calories that may be putting you over. Most people on MFP who eat them back only do 50-75% due to overestimations of burns.

    Cups and spoons. Ok, so I should lower my calorie goal perhaps so that when I underestimate my eating, I will be on track?
    And I could probably stop eating back my exercise calories, but I think I will starve to death combining these two ideas. =(

    Maybe time to get a food scale.
  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
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    The machine is unfortunately incapable of knowing anything about you physiologically, other than the height/weight/gender it lets you input. It doesn't know your fitness level, how hard you are working, etc.

    If you are using a heart rate monitor and a gadget that can read it and calculate calories off of it, you can get much closer to reality. Also if it's a burn of only 400 or so according to the machine, you may want to consider that only "bonus" and not try to eat back too much of it. The reality is it is likely much less.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    Katniss12Peeta wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    How are you measuring your food, with cups and spoons or with a food scale? If it's the former then yes, you probably are underestimating what you're eating. Also, if you're eating back 100% of your exercise calories that may be putting you over. Most people on MFP who eat them back only do 50-75% due to overestimations of burns.

    Cups and spoons. Ok, so I should lower my calorie goal perhaps so that when I underestimate my eating, I will be on track?
    And I could probably stop eating back my exercise calories, but I think I will starve to death combining these two ideas. =(

    Weigh liquids in cups, and solids on a food scale. You are not getting accurate measurements for your caloric intake by using cups and spoon.

    Food scales are cheap at Walmart; I'd invest in one!

  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
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    Katniss12Peeta wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    How are you measuring your food, with cups and spoons or with a food scale? If it's the former then yes, you probably are underestimating what you're eating. Also, if you're eating back 100% of your exercise calories that may be putting you over. Most people on MFP who eat them back only do 50-75% due to overestimations of burns.

    Cups and spoons. Ok, so I should lower my calorie goal perhaps so that when I underestimate my eating, I will be on track?
    And I could probably stop eating back my exercise calories, but I think I will starve to death combining these two ideas. =(

    Buy a $15 food scale and see if your logging has been accurate. Take what you think was a certain amount of, say, chicken or peanut butter, weigh it out and see if you were close. If you were way off, start using it regularly.
  • Katniss12Peeta
    Katniss12Peeta Posts: 29 Member
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    Sounds like your husband needs to get stronger LOL. JK though. Well depending on what you lost you could have increased in Lean body mass and lost a little in fat that shows no scale change.

    Usually the answer to this question is underestimate foods log and overestimate exercise calories.

    Being 23 is a little bit different and that old methods might need to be tweak a little on how you lose weight.

    You can open diary so people can give you ideas on what might be wrong if anything is.

    [/quote]


    I would open my diary but I do my diary on LoseIt because thats where my mom does it and we help each other. Sorry! My days are usually something like this: Cottage cheese and pineapple for breakfast - measured serving sizes. 180 calories.... Lunch is some sort of frozen meal or a salad.. usually around 300 calories. Then i sometimes do a P3 protein pack for before workout snack (I'm usually pretty hungry).. 160 calories. Then workout, burn an average of 250 calories. Dinner varies a lot, but usually chicken and veggies or salad, or a very small serving of a meatloaf or something - usually about 500. If I stay up late, I let myself have a coconut bar... 160 calories... That means a grand total of 1050 net.... that is if I am estimating right. I look everything up online and even enter recipes and serving sizes on my app.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Katniss12Peeta wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    How are you measuring your food, with cups and spoons or with a food scale? If it's the former then yes, you probably are underestimating what you're eating. Also, if you're eating back 100% of your exercise calories that may be putting you over. Most people on MFP who eat them back only do 50-75% due to overestimations of burns.

    Cups and spoons. Ok, so I should lower my calorie goal perhaps so that when I underestimate my eating, I will be on track?
    And I could probably stop eating back my exercise calories, but I think I will starve to death combining these two ideas. =(

    A food scale is way more accurate than cups/spoons. Invest in one (you can find them for as low as $10-15) and you'll see. What a manufacturer says is 3/4 of a cup for something may end up being an entire cup if you follow the weight.
  • 50sFit
    50sFit Posts: 712 Member
    edited October 2014
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    I am reading through some great posts, and remember, the road to success is paved with the stones of failure.
    Never quit!
    Read through this thread and start again. Nobody is a failure so long as they keep trying.
    Good Luck!
    :)
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    50sFit wrote: »
    I am reading through some great posts, and remember, the road to success is paved with the stones of failure.
    Never quit!
    Read through this thread and start again. Nobody is a failure so long as they keep trying.
    Good Luck!

    Yeah it is man. My profile pic is prime example of my best to my worst to now which will be my new best in over a decade.

  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
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    I'll also add...you said you just started working out. When you first start an exercise program, you can retain water, masking weight loss. So it's possible you're in a deficit and just need to give it a little more time. When I started a new program this summer, I gained a few pounds of scale weight for the first week and a half or so. It went down to normal.
  • Katniss12Peeta
    Katniss12Peeta Posts: 29 Member
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    To: Adnaram:
    1. I am feeling better and sleeping like a log.
    2. my clothes don't really feel any different. My stomach is slightly flatter, but I think its just bloat gone from eating well.
    3. I could bump up my water intake a lot.
    4. I use the gym at a senior center community gym. No one really there to help me. Just you guys on MFP
  • Katniss12Peeta
    Katniss12Peeta Posts: 29 Member
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    OK, so you guys are saying to get a food scale and a heart rate monitor.... good ideas. How do you use a food scale? like if I was going to measure out my cottage cheese and pinapple, how to I use the food scale for that?
  • Katniss12Peeta
    Katniss12Peeta Posts: 29 Member
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    I will be patient and keep trying... get a food scale and a heart rate monitor. Should I take anything like that Garcinia or Green Coffee Bean or ask my doctor for something?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    What is your sport as an athlete?
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
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    Katniss12Peeta wrote: »
    OK, so you guys are saying to get a food scale and a heart rate monitor.... good ideas. How do you use a food scale? like if I was going to measure out my cottage cheese and pinapple, how to I use the food scale for that?

    But the pineapple on the scale, note the weight, figure out the calories in the app you use. Just put in the weight and it should give you the calories. (I'm not familiar with the one you mentioned). For the cottage cheese, put the container on the scale, note the weight, add the cottage cheese, take the difference, add the amount to your calorie tracker.

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