I REALLY need help.. 2 year anniversary and not where I want to be.

Jaffsa

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

First thought is have you ever used your friend's scale before? If not then that weigh in can't really compare to your previous weigh ins. Kind of like saying I will be somewhere at 1pm. My watch says its 12:22 but your watch says its 12:25. I could be on time by my watch, but late by yours. They are not set to the same time. Scales are bad about that.

Other than that, how are you determining a calorie intake goal? Could be that your activity level is wrong. Such as if you say 'lightly active' and MFP interprets that to mean you will burn X per day, but you're maybe burning a little less than MFP thinks. The key to 'fixing' that if you're not losing at a pace you think you should be is to adjust your calorie goal. Downward 100-200/day for example. Then be accurate, honest and check for results in 4-8 weeks.

But if you're going to use a scale for monitoring progress it needs to be the same scale and weighins need to be consistent.

Edited-I see you're aiming for 1200/day. Disregard my comment about lowering calorie intake. Aim for 100% (as much as humanly possible at least) accuracy for 2-3 months. Yes its frustrating to look so far out, but its easier to see 4-6 pounds than 2-3. If you track for a month and you're down 2-3, you will wonder if its normal fluctuations. But giving it more time, you can see a trend forming.

Thank you for taking the time to write all this out! I appreciate it!
I hear you about the scale- I suppose I jumped to conclusions too fast.

I was thinking about my activity level setting actually- Its currently set at sedentary because I do have a desk job (ugh!)- but I work out twice a day and I move around quite a bit.. but I wanted to be safe and stick with "sedentary".

Thanks again!

PAV8888

Your before/after pic is way more than 10lbs.
Different scales cannot be compared to each other.
Having data allows you to derive conclusions. Not logging means you don't have data.

As an outside observer i hear two distinct "warning" signs in your narrative:
#1) I am not getting on a scale because weight loss is not arbitrated by a scale.
Technically true; but, often this is a warning sign that weight loss is not progressing as it should yet the individual isn't quite ready to confront the issue head on.

#2) I am not logging on Xday. Xday is very similar to Zday.
Again, i am in no way implying that you're saying this in bad faith; but, again, it is normally an issue worth probing as in most cases the reality doesn't 100% match the statement.
If the days were so similar... you would just be able to cut and paste...

Take a break and come back to it re-invigorated when you're ready to put your ducks in order.
Or, if you are ready now, put your ALL your ducks in order for a full month... and let's compare real notes with real data in 30 days or so!

Psychgrrl

One things that helped me was a fitness tracker. I bought a BodyMedia arm band and it pulls in the food diary from MFP. It also syncs the exercise to MFP, but it gives me too many calories that day.

The fitness tracker keeps me honest. It shows how many calories I've burned and how much I've eaten and let's me know where that is in relation to the deficit I've set up (it also does exercise intensity, sleep, steps). When I was losing, I wanted a pound per week, which was a 500 calorie/day deficit. When you log food accurately, those numbers don't lie.

It showed me where I was. There are tons of good ones on the market now.

I also fear the scale. I know better, and I take measurements as well. But it really takes a lot of mental power to get me to weigh-in each week. I know at 44, that I'm in better shape than I was at 30. I can see it, I can feel it. But there's something about that dang scale that does a number on my psyche and my self-esteem. But I do it. Every week. To hold myself accountable and keep myself on track.

You need to figure out what will work for you. There have been tons of good suggestions here. It is possible. I'm 5'3 and was 190 when I started. I'm 115-120 now.

Numberwang22

I would also suggest getting a cheap step tracker that synchs with MFP if you don't have one. I found fitbit to be most accurate, and you can wear all the time. Not all walks are equal in effort and the tracker will adjust calories accordingly. You might not be burning the same level of calories now than when you used your HRM...