HELP! Need Weight Loss Tips that actually Work. Success Stories greatly appreciated!

dawn_motley

Hi Gals and Guys,

Hope you're all doing well and reaching those health and fitness goals.

I just wanted to reach out to anybody who has experienced REAL WEIGHT LOSS SUCCESS the natural way, and pick your brains into what really works.

I have been logging all of my food and drink intake on MFP religiously since the start of November 2014, but have had NO success whatsoever in losing weight.

I have done endless amounts of research into weight loss plateaus, but thought I would look to MFP members and ask you to kindly share any helpful weight loss tips with me. My body seems to be at a complete halt and does not want to shift ANY of the weight, it's so frustrating, especially when I am going to great lengths to try and lose.

I have bought a smoothie blender, kitchen scales, measuring cups and spoons to record my food/drink intake as accurately as possible, as well as a calorie counter watch that I use to record exercise calories burned.

Here are my details:

Age: 26 Years
Sex: Female
Height: 5 ft 6 inches
Weight: 17 stone 2 llbs
Lifestyle (according to MFP): Sedentary

Any realistic health and fitness tips, advice or success stories would be much appreciated.

Need your help!

Thanks,

Dawn x

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Hi Dawn,

Would you be willing to open your diary?

My Home > Settings > Diary Settings

dawn_motley

Sure! I have changed the view to public. You should be able to view it here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/dawn_motley

I am aware that my sugar intake is too high by the way - this is a real struggle for me as I am heavily dependent/emotionally attached to sugar, unfortunately! Any tips on sweet alternatives would be a big help.

Thanks for being the first to reply! x

jgnatca

The number one tip that has worked is to pick a single issue, troubleshoot what I might do differently, try for a week and re-evaluate. I started losing weight by making very small changes that resulted in say, 100 calorie reduction in my daily intake. I got my tips from a dietitian.

So if you know that sugar is the bugbear, troubleshoot how you might change your relationship with sugar.

Stevia? Aspartame? Splenda? Sugar-free syrups?

dawn_motley

Well done to you, that's great progress! Can I ask which cardio and weight programs you follow? x

AliceDark

A couple of questions:

You say you've bought a food scale and measuring cups/spoons, but you don't say when you bought those things. How often do you you use them, and when did you get them?

Do you eat back your exercise calories? All or some?

Since actual daily intake can vary, what is your average daily intake? Let's say for the last four weeks.

Azurite27

How long have you been weighing your food with the scales. That really helped me, and still does to eat the right amount, not too much and not too little. Don't worry about sugar unless you're been diagnosed with diabetes or have been advised to reduce sugar by a doctor.

Where are you getting your calorie burns from? That's where you might be going wrong. I started out on the conservative side, logging half of what MFP or the machine said and then gradually increased when I found I was losing too fast.

If you fix that and still can't lose eating a reasonable amount, see a doctor. After I switched thyroid meds the pounds came off a lot easier, although I was losing previously.

jgnatca

I took a look at a couple days on your diary.

Mug brownie, sugar free:
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=2078808

Sugar free hot cocoa:
https://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipe-details.aspx?id=8530

dawn_motley

Hi AliceDark, great questions. I bought the kitchen equipment around august 2014 and started using them from November 2014 religiously.

When I exercise I do tend to eat back most of the calories as I tend to have a big appetite, but I have heard that you should only eat back say half of these - is this correct?

For the last 4 weeks, my intake has been between 2000-2500 calories per day. I have adjusted my MFP goal in between, and my daily goal is now at 1810.

Thanks x

girlviernes

Okay...

First thing is to make sure you are logging as accurately as possible. Weigh your food. Are there any areas in which you are using estimates or measuring cups instead of weighing? Could you be missing foods because you might forget them?

Once that is accurate, if you aren't losing you need to cut down the calories. You can cut down gradually, about 150-200 per week until you are losing.

Specifically for sugar cravings you might find it helpful to cut back a little bit on sugary and starchy foods. For example, my goal is to limit myself to 30g of carbohydrate from sugary or starchy foods (e.g., candy, pasta, potatoes) every two hours and always eat those foods with fat and/or protein. Typically I will have 1-2 portions of grains/day (oatmeal, corn, low sugar cereal) and then occasionally (2-3x week) a small portion of snack food or dessert). I used to have a major sweet tooth and really a problem binge eating on sweets, pastas, and snack foods, but this eating style has realllllllly helped me to address that. I don't like artificial sweeteners and prefer just to adjust to a more savory style of eating. Although, to be fair, the quest bars I eat have artificial sweeteners in them...

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Are you using your food scale to weigh all foods? How long have you been doing that? edit: I see you answered this-- I do see fruits and veggies still in cups though so that's something you can watch. It's probably not a huge amount of difference but it's a good habit.

About your exercise calories-- what kind of calorie counter watch are you using? Does it have a HRM or is it more like fitbit? Some of your calories burned seem high-- 450 calories for 24 minutes of walking, for example.

I'm less concerned about your sugar intake (which I don't even track, btw, I just track carbs) as I am by the fact that you're over a lot. I have no doubt that you're working really hard to reduce your intake, but on most of the days I looked at you were over your goal by hundreds of calories. I would just focus on making sure you're weighing all of your food and making sure you come in under goal every day for awhile. Stuff happens, and there's some flexibility for occasional days over, but you have to eat at a deficit consistently to see results.

AliceDark

Nice job on measuring correctly! I'll admit -- I posed those questions before looking at your diary, and it does look like you're measuring things pretty well. (Not weighing/measuring foods seems to be the #1 most common issue people tend to have around here, so we try to rule that out in the beginning if we can).

MFP tends to over-estimate calories burned through exercise, so it's a good idea to eat back 50-75% of them, instead of 100%, to be on the safe side.

If your goal is 1810, the very first thing I would do is to stick to that, plus 50-75% of your exercise calories, for 4 weeks and see how your body responds. You could probably even go up to 2000 plus part of your burns and still be safe.

sllm1

Choose the food scale over measuring cups/spoons, for sure. It's much more accurate.

maidentl

I'm not sure why no one has mentioned this, maybe I just got lucky but every single random day I looked at you logged well over your daily goal. I'm sure you're not over every day but again, I just got lucky or you're over a lot.

sllm1

Also keep an eye on your sodium numbers. High sodium will cause your weight to increase for several days (water retention). And, drink your water to help with this.

queenliz99

maidentl wrote: »

I'm not sure why no one has mentioned this, maybe I just got lucky but every single random day I looked at you logged well over your daily goal. I'm sure you're not over every day but again, I just got lucky or you're over a lot.

I also noticed this too

keelz2010

I too love sugar, and this was tough for me. I switched my regular chocolate bars to those mini bars like chomps, taz, and fudge. I drank fruity teas and and ate sweet fruits to combat my sugar cravings. Don't buy anything sweet in your weekly shop, if its not there you cant eat it.

I only looked at a day or two in your diary but you eat a bit of convenience food, like Subway and Costa. If you go in for a latte it's hard to resist the muffins on offer too. Get a travel cup and make a latte at home (half milk half water) instead and save cash and calories.

FitnessTrainer69

I lost more then 80lbs when I started. I do know a thing or two. I wont judge what you do but will only let you know what worked for me. Also, im not sure what you mean by "REAL". And yes I had set backs ( Injuries, gained weight ect ) but always looked foward. I changed my ENTIRE diet. I didnt count my food but did make a certain amount of meals each day. I went to the gym on an empty stomach everyday and always would drink 1 protien shake after working out. for my work out. I would always start with a what I like to call metabalism boosting workouts. either on a row or spin machine. start off with a momentum thats slow enough to talk for 1 1/2 minutes then all out for 30 sec. repeat for 20 minutes ( if possible ). If not, you'll get there enventually. If not starting out on one of the machines then do intense cardio on what ever machine you can handle for atleast 20-30 minutes ( make sure your heart rate is atleast 70% of your max. Follow this up with a workout plan that hits atleasst all muscle groups once during your week of training. As for the diet portion. I would make some type of lean meat. chicken, turkey, fish ect. So if I bought a pack of chicken breasts I would split it into atleast 3 meals. and I bought a variety of all fruits and veggies. I stayed as far away from white rice, white bread and flour as possible. So once I was done with the gym and already taken my shake I would eat as often as I could handle. but my meals were only 1 chicken breast, cup of veggies (colorful variety) with brown rice or sweet potatoe. then I would make a tupperware full of different fruits and veggies. Before bed I would always take either a caisen shake or eat low fat cottage cheese. Not sure if any of this makes sense to you. Im at work typing this and not proof reading. bottom line. eat clean and stay away from sugars and high glycemic carbs ( flour, white rice, soda ECT). And dont forget to reward your self from time to time. with a SMALL amount.

lemonlionheart

Where are you getting your calorie burns for exercise? You have an entry called 'custom walking' where you've put in 1100 calories burned for 50 minutes??? I barely burn 500 calories an HOUR going as hard as I can on the elliptical. Unless you are very overweight and/or pushing yourself to the extreme, any exercise burn over 10cal/minute is probably overestimated. You appear to be eating back all of these calories too, so I'd say that's your problem.

dawnna76

your just eating to much. plain and simple. I looked at your diary and you were over most days, some you were over by hundreds of calories. you cant exercise your way out of a bad diet and diet seems to be your issue. try sticking to the goals mfp gives you for a few weeks (watch your sodium and sugar) and try not to go over. if your hungry eat back half of your exercise calories. choose more fillings foods (oat bran, protien, veggies) over muffins, fruit and fruit drinks. see what happens. I think you will be pleasantly surprised

slucki01

I would let MFP help you establish your goal based on your current stats and objectives. Then I would start eating at the calorie level MFP recommends. I eat back the many of my exercise calories. I also eat a lot of chicken and fish and veggies. My biggest challenge is keeping with my carb goals and, sometimes, getting enough protein. I also exercise at least one hour a day.

Abby2205

You might consider if your calorie burns are inaccurate particularly for walking. For example, on Friday the 8th you had 1099 extra calories from walking 51 minutes. This sounds very high, and you ate back all of them. I know I've seen calorie burn estimators for walking somewhere, you might try searching for one to do a reasonableness check.

Laurend224

dawnna76 wrote: »

your just eating to much. plain and simple. I looked at your diary and you were over most days, some you were over by hundreds of calories. you cant exercise your way out of a bad diet and diet seems to be your issue. try sticking to the goals mfp gives you for a few weeks (watch your sodium and sugar) and try not to go over. if your hungry eat back half of your exercise calories. choose more fillings foods (oat bran, protien, veggies) over muffins, fruit and fruit drinks. see what happens. I think you will be pleasantly surprised

I believe OP just changed her calorie goals to that current number, so it would show as being over.
OP what was your original calorie goal?

slomo22

AAAHhh your calorie counter watch is complete garbage. It's estimating about 1,000 cal/hr walking, it's probably more like 200-300/hr. Also, you go over calorie limit a lot. So eat less and you'll loose weight.

joseccastaneda

some of the entries also seem incorrect. How or why would you eat 1.9 of something?

fatboy_rob

To Be Honest, there's a lot of snacks on your diary. I've struggled in the past with the same thing but this time I have 'filled' up on Diet Pepsi or Coke when I'm fancying a snack.

I'm not sure if this is great in the long run but it's working for me for now.

I also starting weighing myself daily. I know people say you shouldn't do that as your weight can go up and down daily but it works for me as I can remember what I had yesterday (and what time) and change it if I put on.

The biggest win for me was getting a Jawbone step counter for Christmas. It really does help to keep active and feeds directly into MFP. I don't generally use my exercise calories but I do have 1800 a day to play with.

Good Luck!

Natihilator

In addition to everyone else's suggestion, it may help to look at your weekly consumed calories to understand where you're going wrong - I've looked at your diary and added up your weekly caloric consumption to average 2457 calories per day - your goal intake is 2000, which means you're going over by 450+ calories daily (on average).

That's nearly 1lb. of calories a week that you aren't losing if you were to actually eat 2000 calories per day.

blankiefinder

slomo22 wrote: »

AAAHhh your calorie counter watch is complete garbage. It's estimating about 1,000 cal/hr walking, it's probably more like 200-300/hr. Also, you go over calorie limit a lot. So eat less and you'll loose weight.

Slomo hit the nail on the head! From your exercise diary "Custom-Walking 51 minutes 1,099 calories", that is impossible!! 51 minutes of very brisk walking, entering your height, weight and age, would be 477 calories if you are walking very very briskly. 4mph+ (6.5 km/hr)

LAWoman72

I'm sorry, but I agree that as your diary shows, you are eating too much to meet your goals.

Marilyn0924

Based on the measurements you supplied, your TDEE is 2260. If you set a reasonable goal of near 1pound loss per week, you'd have to decrease your daily calories to 1800 per day. Eating back 50 - 75% of your exercise calories would give you a steady and healthy loss. Let MFP calculate your totals based on a max of 1 pound per week. Cut back on salt/sugar and processed foods where you can, and of course, like others have mentioned, weigh everything. Good luck

KMaggi3

You're doing great, Dawn. Hang in there! The thing that's worked for me the most is filling up on veggies! I fix big plates of veggies and everything else is small portions. Keep in mind that there are some vegetables out there that aren't as great for you: potatoes, corn and peas are all high in calories! I like to cut up a bunch of different kinds (peppers, onions, zucchini, squash and mushrooms) and sauté them in light olive oil with lots of spices. Yummy!

My weakness is SWEET TEA. And I don't like the after taste some artificial sweeteners make. My remedy was to cut the calories in half by using 1/2 of the sugar and 1/2 Splenda. That made a huge difference in my calorie intake.

Good luck!