HELP! Need Weight Loss Tips that actually Work. Success Stories greatly appreciated!
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Welcome to MFP! Perfect place to be.
As others have suggested be totally honest with logging - we cannot change what we do not understand and you have to know where your calories are really coming from in order for you get ahold of them and manage your eating.
I made changes that I felt I could live with, and that came from educating myself on where those dang calories hide. Along the way you will learn that a calorie is not a calorie, yes it is a unit of measuring but they are not all created equally. Food should be used as fuel first, pleasure second. You will need to figure out how to manage your calories in the best possible way in order to stave off some hunger while still keeping you energized. I love sweets, never really gave them up managed my eating by portion control. The food scale can be your best ally, learning how to manage your day and controlling portions. It is a process of re-establishing a healthy relationship with food.
I was hungry at first, changing your eating habits is hard, after a while you realize you are sort of eating a lot and can cut down on some of it - this came as a surprise to me, but MFP helps with that as you lose it will adjust your calories. Don't be so hard on yourself and remember even though we think we gained weight overnight we didn't and it takes time to lose it the right, long lasting way.0 -
Normal stuff.
Calories too high, eating too much and overestimating burns. Take some time out and get the basics right, which is why its a good idea to check your plan before you start.
Easily sorted though.
Some bonkers advice on this thread though, complete mix.0 -
First, congrats for wanting to make a change and asking for advice when you know what you're doing isn't working. That's a hard thing to admit sometimes.
With that said, I have lost 30 pounds with using MFP, changing my diet, and exercise.
First, log everything you put into your mouth. This will make sure that little lost calories don't add up during the day.
Second, weigh and measure your food with your food scale. This is when I noticed the MOST success. I finally figured out what a serving of different kinds of food looked like. I have since slowed on the scales, but I can also tell a difference in my ability to estimate.
Third, exercise. Just get out and do it. Walking, treadmill, elliptical, what ever. But, my number 1 suggestion would be to purchase a heart rate monitor. That will really help you know how many calories you're burning. I have a feeling you are way overestimating your calorie burn, which is making you think you can eat more when you shouldn't. In the beginning I never ate back my exercise calories. But, now I do.
I took a look at your diary. I would try really hard to find lower calorie substitutes or halving things you know you can't get rid of out of your diet (like sweets). Maybe instead of having a 400-600 calorie muffin, cut it in half from the get go, place the other half in a zip lock and save it for the next day's snack? I've found that sometimes I feel just as satisfied with a half of a serving and I'll go ahead and eat the rest just because it's there. Also, there are really great sweet cereals. I found a great Special K Chocolate and Almond cereal that I love. It curbs my sweet craving and it's not high in calories.
I also changed up my coffee drinking. I used to have rich mochas and lattes. I changed to drinking coffee from my Keurig and just putting a sweetened creamer. That went from a 300 calorie cup of coffee (or more sometimes) to a 30-50 calorie cup of coffee.
I changed the breads and carbs I eat. I was REALLY bad with bread. I found a great substitute that I could still enjoy my bread without the massive calories. I'm still satisfied and I've cut back what I'm eating.
Good luck to you!! You've gotten a lot of great suggestions and feedback. Don't get discouraged. Make one change at a time and you'll find what works for you
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One other suggestion is to decrease your processed food consumption. The chemicals, additives, etc. can stall weight loss. One rule of thumb is if your great grandmother wouldn't recognize it as food, don't eat it! Good luck, friend!0
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You are eating too much.
The reasons for doing so are legion. (Secret eating, binge eating, improper weights & measures, sloppy logging, incorrect logging, denial ... a partridge in a pear tree)
Find out why. Correct it. You will begin again to lose weight.0 -
kellycasey5 wrote: »
Take your weight in pounds, multiply it by 10, and that is an approximate number of calories needed to maintain your current weight (not gain, not lose, just hold).
Might I suggest not eating back the exercise calories
At least twice a week I burn more than 10x in under two hours during a morning run. My training runs go up to a 22-miler in the 4 weeks prior to race days.
I would literally melt away and die of starvation within weeks if I didn't eat ALL the exercise calories back on those days (Usually spread out over the following 2 or 3 days)0 -
Noticed alot of errors in your entries , for example on Jan 13th Breakfast... You had;
1. Croissant which has nothing but calories, but no fat, no sugar, no sodium. This must be wrong, there is heaps of fat in a croissant.
http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-marks-spencer-all-butter-croissant-i73408
3. Nutella seems to report correctly.
4. Again , the Green Tea drink you have has got a whopping 21g of sugar. See this link. Again, the nutritional information shown is incorrect in your MFP. Did you use the barcode feature in MFP to scan the barcode of the product. You should do this rather than typing it in the phone and searching for the product.
http://fatsecret.co.uk/calories-nutrition/marks-spencer/peach-camomile-green-tea/1-bottle
To be honest I think your breakfast is pretty unhealthy, all 3 items are processed foods. First one is full of fat (13.5grams) , second is full sugar (8 grams), third is loaded with sugar (21grams)
Basically, you've already eaten half of your daily requirement of sugars in one meal.
I looked on a few of your diary entries, it seems that MFP has zero fat and zero sugar for many items. So even if you are recording it correctly, MFP has gotten it wrong somehow, it has never happened to me though.
Hope this helps.0 -
Also on Jan the 12th,
M&s - Super Sweet Corn on the Cob, 1 Cob you had during lunch, had zero sugar. Impossible for a "super sweet" corn on the cob. Seems like all the M&S foods in MFP have missing info?? I only looked at 2 days in your diary, but heads up!
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I don't often look at people's diaries and comment on threads like this, but one thing that struck me is your snacking to be honest hun. We could get into a big debate about accurate scales vs cups are, and how many processed foods there are at breakfast, but IMO if you could get a grip on the type and amount of snacks it would be a big help towards putting you in deficit. It looks to me like you're doing a decent job of keeping your main meals to 300-400 cals, but you're eating an awful lot of chocolately snacks on top, often up to 1200 cals a day (very honest logging by the way).
Don't get me wrong, anyone looking at my diary will see some chocolatey stuff included modst days (and I usually go over mainly at weekends because of alcohol and a meal out) so I'm not judging. However, you do say you have problems with sweet stuff and it does look as if you've had a few binges or emotional eating episodes, or maybe you're more of a "picker" like I was/am training myself out of being.
I also agree with others about overestimating the calorie burns from your exercise. Maybe treat yourself to a HRM for a better idea of your burns. I would say I burn about 3 calories a minute for walking (maybe 4 for fast wlaking and 5 for hiking with lots of uphill, at a push), 8 - 10 cals a minute for strenuous exercise like running or circuits. You'll probably burn a bit more as you're heavier, but not significantly more. (I've gone from 14 stone to 12 and a half btw, still got some to go).
Feel free to friend me if you like
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mtsang1981 wrote: »Noticed alot of errors in your entries , for example on Jan 13th Breakfast... You had;
1. Croissant which has nothing but calories, but no fat, no sugar, no sodium. This must be wrong, there is heaps of fat in a croissant.
http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-marks-spencer-all-butter-croissant-i73408
3. Nutella seems to report correctly.
4. Again , the Green Tea drink you have has got a whopping 21g of sugar. See this link. Again, the nutritional information shown is incorrect in your MFP. Did you use the barcode feature in MFP to scan the barcode of the product. You should do this rather than typing it in the phone and searching for the product.
http://fatsecret.co.uk/calories-nutrition/marks-spencer/peach-camomile-green-tea/1-bottle
To be honest I think your breakfast is pretty unhealthy, all 3 items are processed foods. First one is full of fat (13.5grams) , second is full sugar (8 grams), third is loaded with sugar (21grams)
Basically, you've already eaten half of your daily requirement of sugars in one meal.
I looked on a few of your diary entries, it seems that MFP has zero fat and zero sugar for many items. So even if you are recording it correctly, MFP has gotten it wrong somehow, it has never happened to me though.
Hope this helps.
Agree ^^0 -
joseccastaneda wrote: »some of the entries also seem incorrect. How or why would you eat 1.9 of something?
Because when you put the portion you want on a scale, it doesn't always come to a nice round number. Matter of fact those that always have round numbers (for things like meat, etc) may not be weighing their food
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<-- lost 120lbs.
my tips - reduce your calorie intake a little more (I'd aim for 1500). Don't trust MFP or the treadmills calorie counts - you probably aren't burning 1000 calories in exercise (sadly). I wouldn't eat your exercise calories back either. I wouldn't stress overly much about macronutrients at this stage although others are suggesting as much. You need to just focus on achieving a moderate caloric deficit.
The hard part is limiting calories so try and do these things
- drink water if you feel hungry or bored
- eat slow, chew lots, enjoy your food, don't eat in front of the tv (eat mindfully)
- switch whatever you can to lower calorie alternatives (eg full cream to skim)
- if you eat due to boredom, find other things to do to distract you
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You eat in snacks the amount of calories I eat an entire day.
I don't care actually how many calories people eat, because calories alone don't mean anything. But you eat so unhealthy I wouldn't be surprised you end up with diabetes etc..-2 -
Truth: You can eat under your BMR/TDEE and still maintain/gain weight if a large portion of your caloric intake comes from sugar/starches/refined carbs. The laws of thermodynamics don't apply to the human body. We don't actually set food on fire in our bodies like calorie measurements do.
Check your total carb count for the past week. You're exceeding the MAXIMUM RDA of 300g on a regular basis. Fat doesn't make you fat, protein doesn't make you fat, sitting around being inactive doesn't make you fat. Sugar does.
Since I was also addicted to sugar at one point, I'll share what worked for me. Stop drinking sodas. That includes energy drinks and "diet" varieties. If you're going to drink juice, do so in small quantities and never for the sake of thirst. Water is for thirst. Juice is for...taste? Drink a TON of water slowly. 9/10 if I'm craving sugar, it's actually because I'm thirsty. We also have a tendency to eat when we're really thirsty too.
Artificial sweeteners are NOT a viable alternative to kicking your sugar addiction. You'll need to ween yourself of the sugar/starches and not try to trick your brain into thinking you're eating sweets.
Once I was comfortable not drinking sugar 24/7, I started ditching other crap from my diet. Bread, pasta, cereal, corn, white potatoes, ice cream, cake, desserts.
Once I got to that point and was going to the gym regularly, I lost 12 lbs in 3 months. Lots of walking. And then I plateaued and no amount of calorie counting, veggies, eating "clean" or HIIT was making the scale budge.
But look at my progress scale. Something worked...what was it?0 -
Three tips:
1. Listen to every poster that says you're eating too much
2. Listen to every poster that tells you're badly overestimating your burns
3. Ignore everyone else0 -
The_Designer wrote: »Truth: You can eat under your BMR/TDEE and still maintain/gain weight if a large portion of your caloric intake comes from sugar/starches/refined carbs. The laws of thermodynamics don't apply to the human body. We don't actually set food on fire in our bodies like calorie measurements do.
Check your total carb count for the past week. You're exceeding the MAXIMUM RDA of 300g on a regular basis. Fat doesn't make you fat, protein doesn't make you fat, sitting around being inactive doesn't make you fat. Sugar does.
Since I was also addicted to sugar at one point, I'll share what worked for me. Stop drinking sodas. That includes energy drinks and "diet" varieties. If you're going to drink juice, do so in small quantities and never for the sake of thirst. Water is for thirst. Juice is for...taste? Drink a TON of water slowly. 9/10 if I'm craving sugar, it's actually because I'm thirsty. We also have a tendency to eat when we're really thirsty too.
Artificial sweeteners are NOT a viable alternative to kicking your sugar addiction. You'll need to ween yourself of the sugar/starches and not try to trick your brain into thinking you're eating sweets.
Once I was comfortable not drinking sugar 24/7, I started ditching other crap from my diet. Bread, pasta, cereal, corn, white potatoes, ice cream, cake, desserts.
Once I got to that point and was going to the gym regularly, I lost 12 lbs in 3 months. Lots of walking. And then I plateaued and no amount of calorie counting, veggies, eating "clean" or HIIT was making the scale budge.
But look at my progress scale. Something worked...what was it?
Where's a popcorn gif when you need one?
OP, I agree with the posters who say that you're plain just eating too much and overestimating your exercise calorie burns.
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When it comes to eating well, meal planning is one of the easiest things you can do to set yourself up for success. The beauty of it is there are no rules and, you can’t really mess it up. The key is just to start, and to set aside a little bit of time each week to do it. There are so many ways to approach meal planning that, after practicing just once or twice, you’ll begin to find what works for you and your family too.
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/meal-planning-for-beginners/
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SergeantSausage wrote: »kellycasey5 wrote: »
Take your weight in pounds, multiply it by 10, and that is an approximate number of calories needed to maintain your current weight (not gain, not lose, just hold).
Might I suggest not eating back the exercise calories
At least twice a week I burn more than 10x in under two hours during a morning run. My training runs go up to a 22-miler in the 4 weeks prior to race days.
I would literally melt away and die of starvation within weeks if I didn't eat ALL the exercise calories back on those days (Usually spread out over the following 2 or 3 days)
But the poster is suggesting it for the OP and not you. The OP does very little exercise so its not going to be a big deal for her. Eaying her exercise calories at the moment will just confise the issue becayse she is overeating as it is and isnt doing too well on accuracy either. Im sure if she starts doing 22 mile runs then she will wnat to eat some of the exercise calories back, but she isnt.0 -
The_Designer wrote: »Truth: You can eat under your BMR/TDEE and still maintain/gain weight if a large portion of your caloric intake comes from sugar/starches/refined carbs. The laws of thermodynamics don't apply to the human body. We don't actually set food on fire in our bodies like calorie measurements do.
Check your total carb count for the past week. You're exceeding the MAXIMUM RDA of 300g on a regular basis. Fat doesn't make you fat, protein doesn't make you fat, sitting around being inactive doesn't make you fat. Sugar does.
Since I was also addicted to sugar at one point, I'll share what worked for me. Stop drinking sodas. That includes energy drinks and "diet" varieties. If you're going to drink juice, do so in small quantities and never for the sake of thirst. Water is for thirst. Juice is for...taste? Drink a TON of water slowly. 9/10 if I'm craving sugar, it's actually because I'm thirsty. We also have a tendency to eat when we're really thirsty too.
Artificial sweeteners are NOT a viable alternative to kicking your sugar addiction. You'll need to ween yourself of the sugar/starches and not try to trick your brain into thinking you're eating sweets.
Once I was comfortable not drinking sugar 24/7, I started ditching other crap from my diet. Bread, pasta, cereal, corn, white potatoes, ice cream, cake, desserts.
Once I got to that point and was going to the gym regularly, I lost 12 lbs in 3 months. Lots of walking. And then I plateaued and no amount of calorie counting, veggies, eating "clean" or HIIT was making the scale budge.
But look at my progress scale. Something worked...what was it?
complete and total hogwash…
when I was cutting I was getting at least 75 to 100 grams of sugar a day and still lost …
please just stop posting.
eating sugar does not negate math and physics.
you lost weight because you created a calorie deficit that broke you plateau…same as anyone else.
unless you also believe in magic, fairys, and unicorns….0 -
I've found with Chocolate or sweet things that you can still have a little and if taken slowly can come close to fixing the craving. For me they have those little Milky Bar Bars at 66 calories each or 2 pieces of dark chocolate. 62% cocoa. Works for me anyway.0
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