new here and starting to get super discouraged!!!

Mandy_t52

I have been trying my hardest to lose weight, I am 60 pounds overweight... I am having health problems because of it... I have cut back on my foods, cut out all soda's, and cut out greasy foods... I am eating fresh veggies or frozen veggies, fruits, and water (lots of water) and I do drink coffee every morning and tea every now and then but I try to drink a 44 ounce water after each tea.. Yet I still keep gaining! I babysit at home so I am constantly chase little ones (aged 2-6)... Any advice? I am sure I am doing a ton wrong!

Veil5577

Count your calories. Create a deficit and use MFP to help you.

Unknown

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Liftng4Lis

Without a caloric deficit, it doesn't matter how great the quality of food, you would still gain.

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malibu927

Do you know how many calories you're eating a day?

Kalikel

I can imagine that it would be very difficult to weigh and measure all your foods while running around after a bunch of toddlers!

Maybe you could prepare your food at night?

If you cannot weigh and measure, you must just guess and eat less.

And if you haven't seen your doctor yet to kick off this weight loss journey, do that. You never know what might be wrong with you, what supplements you might need, etc.

Hope you're losing soon!

simplydelish2

Since your diary isn't open it's hard to help. I agree with the above posters - you must count calories and create a deficit to lose weight. Make sure you weigh or measure everything you put in your mouth - no guessing! Make sure you aren't over counting exercise calories - IMO MPF is way too generous on calorie burns.

SnuggleSmacks

It can be really frustrating when you're just starting out on this journey, and you're not sure how to go about it. A lot of the information you read or hear is completely bogus, meant only to make your bank account slimmer, not your waist.

The fact is that the ONLY THING you really need to lose weight is a calorie deficit. You have to eat less than you burn. Period. There are no magic foods or pills or diets that will allow you to eat more than you burn and still lose weight. It's a simple formula of calories in, calories out.

However, there's a ton of different methods and combinations and gadgets and such which will help you maintain that mathematical formula.

Calories in: Track everything you consume. That includes snacks, pieces of candy or bites of this and that which you've taken in passing, late night swings by the fridge...everything. Every. Single. Thing. And track it as accurately as possible by weighing all solids and measuring out all liquids. It sounds like a daunting task at first, and it can take a little getting used to, but our perception of "servings" is so distorted, plus some foods will measure differently depending on its size (think 1 cup of freshly opened cereal as opposed to the crumbled stuff in the bottom of the box) so it's impossible to modify your calories in if you don't know how many calories you consume in the first place.

Calories out: There are a number of calculators on the internet that can estimate how many calories you burn each day. You could also make a small investment ($50-$150 or so) in a fitness tracker to help you estimate, since you run around after toddlers. It's super helpful to know about how many calories you burn each day, and that way you know how many calories you can eat and still lose weight.

So basically, the secret to weight loss is to eat less/move more. Tip the scales of that equation so that you eat less than you burn, and your body will get the rest of its energy from using the fat and muscle stores in your body...ie. you'll lose weight.

emdeesea

Like everyone else said, but also... this. Chasing kids is not a workout.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/32841438/ns/health-fitness/t/chasing-kids-not-workout-it-seems/#.VFlB1PTx2nk

zyxst

Is there a particular reason you have for drinking water immediately after drinking tea?

lemurcat12

malibu927 wrote: »

Do you know how many calories you're eating a day?

This. The best way to start is to understand how many calories you are eating (and if you can figure how many you were eating, that's useful too). I find weighing my food makes it easier, but when I started I didn't do that--I just logged what I ate in MFP.

Once you know that you can see what's going on and start to make adjustments.

jgnatca

Yeah, my dietitian worked with me and if I stopped losing weight all it took sometimes was making changes to another100 calorie deficit to get things moving again.

pander101

Like many have mentioned before, stick to a deficit. If you aren't weighing out your solid food, do so. Measuring cups are very inaccurate for these. Measure liquids and log everything, be consistent.

DeWoSa

I didn't lose a pound for the first two weeks, even though I weighed and measured everything. Then I lost 10 pounds in two weeks. I was getting discouraged then realized I had no idea how my body worked and I just needed to have patience and let my body do it's own thing.

I've been on MFP for 42 days now and have lost 11 pounds. I don't lose every week, and some weeks I gain, but overall I'm down.

Weigh and measure all foods you eat -- every single bite. And wait.

meltedsno

I spent years... literally... trying to lose weight and instead gained. Gained myself right up to 270lbs.... then things clicked for me... first thing I did was ditch the scale. I found weighing myself was the culprit. I'd think I was doing great... step on the scale and see I've gained a couple of pounds... a day later, dropped a pound... then gain 2 lbs. Yeah, I know... weight fluctuates... but in my case, I was obsessed with weighing. I'd get discouraged and end up eating because I figured that I'd gain weight anyway so I might as well "earn the weight I gained". So... I decided to go from weighing in numerous times a day (yeah I was that obsessed!) to giving myself a week... that first week came and went and I couldn't bear to be discouraged again, so thought maybe I'd give it another couple of weeks... those couple of weeks have now turned into 18 months... I still don't know what I weigh, but I can tell you this much... I've gone from an all time high of size 28 jeans to a size 4. I should add that I really had to push myself at the beginning to walk. I hated it... 15 minutes was 14 1/2 minutes too long in my book... fast forward 18 months and I am now jogging 1 hour a day almost every day. The days I don't jog, I walk... it has become second nature to me... plus, of course, I log all my food. I KNOW that if I had continued to weigh on my scale, I'd never be where I am today. By relying on my clothing and changes in my physical appearance I no longer had the numbers on the scale controlling my life.

Aemely

Use MyFitnessPal (MFP) to log calories in and calories out, as suggested by SnuggleSmacks.

Click Goals > Change Goals > Guided, Continue, enter in your accurate information and realistic goal weight, and click Update Profile. MFP will give you good information on how many calories you should eat each day to safely lose weight. You can lose weight without feeling like you are starving.

Good luck!

Direct Link: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/my_goals
BMI Calculator: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmi-calculator
BMR Calculator: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

Tristansmom2004

Remember you didn't put the weight on overnight, so you aren't going to lose it overnight either. Check your sodium intake, log everything & invest in a good food scale. Also, have your primary do a full blood work up--there may be a reason you aren't losing. Lastly, don't give up. I tried everything also and finally had gastric bypass 15 months ago. I use mfp to keep myself on track. To date, I've lost 105 pounds since my surgery--and 113 from my highest. The return to a Healthy life has brought me indescribable joy...I never thought I'd be out hiking and biking with my family, and setting a good example for my son.