MY DIARY IS OPEN

djwife03

can somenoe review? I've posted this before, and gave it more time, but I'm still not losing. in fact, some days I gain! I know I need more water and have been logging that, and also need to work on my sodium. I am just STUCK!!!! I log everyday. I think I missed Satruday or Sunday this past week, as we were away. I didn't eat terrbily though. I do measure my food. even when we cook with olive oil!

Alacey88

Have you measured? You may be losing inches then what is on the scale.

djwife03

i do measure, and I think i have lost a couple, but i don't know. maybe I'm measuring wrong! i do see change in my body......it's just frustrating!

raylenel

I found it helpful when I increased my protein a bit more.

oldandhealthier

Your diary looks good. Are you getting any excercise? Do not weigh yourself every day that will drive you nuts. Try to weigh in no more than once a week. I do not know how long you have been trying but I know when I started it seemed to drop so slow. Be patient do not let it get you down. Maybe consult a doctor if you keep having a problem, I know with some of my wife medication hers is dropping real slow. Good luck and hang in there.

rlwaldie

One of the first things I did was adjust my macronutrient goals in MFP since it was set to 15% protein and 55% carbs. I do a lot of strength training so I adjusted it to 40 carbs/30 protein/30 fat.

I'm not sure what your weight is, but a lot of people look to the 1gr per lb rule as a way to break some plateaus. Basically, for every pound of your 'goal weight' you should aim for a gram of protein per day. This doesn't really work for people looking to build a lot of muscle, since it will hinder that, but it is a great goal to work at when trying to break a plateau. This is just my experience though, so I'm sure there's many who will not agree with my suggestion.

Something you might want to try is, as well, is buying things that aren't flavoured and flavouring them yourself and avoiding prepared items in lieu of making them. For example, the greek yogurts you could buy plain and add your own fruit or honey instead of buying flavoured. Buy chicken breast and season it instead of buying seasoned chicken breast. These might not impact much but it's worth a shot if you're finding you're not seeing any results on your current plan.

Preparing your own food will help a lot with the sodium since prepackaged items often are higher in that area.

3laine75

your diary looks good - you could maybe have a fiddle with your macros - try upping the protein (&fat) to find what works for you.

djwife03

thanks all! my weight is 166. but this morning it was 168! so, i was upset. I do exercise, and that is logged in my diary. i just finished the 30day shred. and am doing Jillian MIchaels 6 week abs workout, and just started her Ripped in 30 this week(i did the ab workout with the shred, and am still doing it with the ripped in 30 workout). Depending on how I feel, certain days I do all three....30 day shred, ripped in 30, and the ab workout. I am not eating exercise cals back mostly either. I don't want to deprive myself either, but I have been because I don't know what else to do! I try not to weigh myself everyday, as it drives me nutso!

djwife03

Do I need to workout more? if so, then I need to eat more.....Dont' want to do that!

djwife03

I can't help but feel that I'm doing something wrong! last year at this time I was 158!

glassyo

Here's my question. Did you set your mfp up to lose a lb a week or to maintain. I'm mostly looking at how you're in the green every day and if you set it up to maintain, that's fine. But you're in a hell of a deficit if you have it already set up to lose a lb a week.

djwife03

I set it up for 1/2 lb per week. my TDEE -20% is 1886, and MFP gave me 1810, so i stuck with 1810. Not eating back all calories, but i will have an apple or a banana after a workout. i set my MFP activity level as lightly active. I do sit at a desk for 8hrs a day, but i do workout at least 4 days a week, so I picked lightly active.

teagirlmedium

You are not supposed to have calories left over even when you work out. Your left over calories is supposed to be 0 or as close to zero as possible to lose the weight you told this website you want to lose.

herblackwings39

MFP doesn't count any of your exercise activity toward their calorie goal. Most people are lightly active even with a desk job since the majority of us move around, cook, do chores, etc. That's what makes eating back exercise calories important. You have a 250 calorie deficit built in to lose .5 lb a week. By not eating the burned calories back your deficit gets too large.

glassyo

i do measure, and I think i have lost a couple, but i don't know. maybe I'm measuring wrong! i do see change in my body......it's just frustrating!

*ahem* There's also this. If you're losing inches and your clothes are fitting better/getting looser, then that's more important than a number on the scale.

Also, teagirl's right. Even if you set up mfp to take into account your tdee minus 20%, you're putting yourself into a bigger deficit by not eating your daily goal calories.

djwife03

i get so confused with all that! so, even when I workout, i need to make sure I NET 1810? is that right?

djwife03

and, yes thank you! I do know that I should care more about the fact that I'm losing inches! I just like a hamster on a wheel right now!

so, if i burn 500 cals tonight, need to eat that much ON TOP of my daily 1810?

bonelessskinless

I would rather notice changes in my body that notice a difference on the scale any day. take some new selfies

glassyo

So tdee is total daily energy expenditure. That normally means with exercise already added in. If you set mfp up so the 1810 includes exercise then, no, don't eat them back. If it doesn't include exercise, log it and eat those calories back too.

it might help to go in and put your own manual calorie goal instead of relying on the losing .5 lbs a week way, also. That might be less confusing.

djwife03

how do i know if i set it up with exercise included? by my activity level? i have lightly active right now....???
exercise goals? I have that set at 4 x a week.

teagirlmedium

You can click on setting at the top of the page. It should be between help and logout on the right hand side. Go down the list of what shows up and click on the one that says update diet/fitness profile (should be 5th one down). After clicking on it you will be able to see what you put in for your activity level and your exercise. I think it would be better if you do not include your exercises into your daily activity level and only include your exercises in the exercise section. I think it would be better if you choose your activity level based on your job.

You can also change the information in the activity level and exercise section a lot. I played with mine just to see how it changed my net calories.

djwife03

I am at lightly active and exercising 4 days a week. So what do I need to do here?

glassyo

how do i know if i set it up with exercise included? by my activity level? i have lightly active right now....???
exercise goals? I have that set at 4 x a week.

Don't worry about what you put for your exercise goal. That's just for your reference. Again, I agree with teagirlmedium. Just take your job into account when you pick your activity level and then add your exercise calories manually. So, if you sit on your butt all day (like I do), pick sedentary. If you get some moving around in, pick lightly active. But instead of picking to lose .5 lbs a week, choose to maintain (unless you can play with the how much to lose a week part so it comes close to what the 20% off your tdee is). If you have it at maintain, make sure the green numbers at the end of the day are at 20% of tdee. If you pick however much to lose a week that equals 20% of tdee, make sure your remaining calories per day are at or very near zero.

djwife03

So I guess I'll try sedentary? I am still confused . I just burned 500 calories exercising. So now what do I do?!! And I am working out tomorrow also. So how much should I eat tomorrow so that u don't have such a huge deficit? I am doing Ripped in 30 and also 6week abs workout. Will do both tomorrow also....

glassyo

It really just depends on what's easier for you.

glassyo

Ugh, I just edited the last post with a loooooong reply but, since I'm at work and people won't leave me alone, it took too long until I could post it. I am *NOT* retyping it!

Basically, you have two options to figure out your calories. If you feel you're sedentary or lightly active you can figure out your maintenance calories per week and add your exercise calories per week together, divide by 7 and that's what you should eat TO MAINTAIN per day. Manually set your calorie goal to that number minus 20% and eat until your remaining calories is zero. You can also play with upping your activity level setting to see if it comes close to the number you want but setting it manually is probably easier.

OR

Option 2 is to figure out your maintenance calories without exercise and eat to 20% of that per day. When you exercise, add it in and change your goal number to 20% of whatever maintenance calories you're working with that day.

I also realize this might have gotten a bit off topic from your original post. How long have you even been stuck???? It could be anything!