The struggle is real!!!!

Sassenach1017

I have been getting up at five every morning the past 3-4 weeks, and walking 30 minutes. Also, I have been staying for the most part at my calorie range and sometimes over, just the exercise calories. My problem is nothing seems to be changing, last week I dropped down a few pounds, but this week, I'm back up again. Like a damn yo-yo. I'm sure my age is a big contributor(41), but I see lots of people my age on here, getting there weight off. So, am I going to have to cut out sugars, and bread. My body is so confused from years of being on diets and going off of them. It's like it doesn't know how to react. What gives already...my struggle is real!!!

Kalikel

Before you make drastic dietary changes, try sticking with the plan, but eating half of those exercise calories. Unless you really want to make drastic dietary changes, in which case you should, of course, do that.

DemoraFairy

No need to cut anything unless there's a medical need to do so. Weight loss is about calories, not what you eat.

Had you been losing weight more consistently before this week, or yo-yoing isnce you started? Can you open your diary?

quiksylver296

Do you own a food scale? Are you weighing all your food and consistently logging EVERYTHING you eat? Do this for six weeks and see how it goes.

You can get a food scale for ~$20 at Target or Walmart.

Sassenach1017

Diary is now open, please don't pay attention to yesterday, not one of my best days!!! I don't have a scale, but probably something, I should invest in. I have been logging everything I eat, even the bad. I have been pretty much yo-yoing since started, maybe it's the lack of exercise on the weekends.

jimmmer

Sassenach1017 wrote: »

Diary is now open, please don't pay attention to yesterday, not one of my best days!!! I don't have a scale, but probably something, I should invest in. I have been logging everything I eat, even the bad. I have been pretty much yo-yoing since started, maybe it's the lack of exercise on the weekends.

Get a food scale. Weigh and log everything for 2 weeks straight.

Be consistent.

Results will follow.

DemoraFairy

Sassenach1017 wrote: »

Diary is now open, please don't pay attention to yesterday, not one of my best days!!! I don't have a scale, but probably something, I should invest in. I have been logging everything I eat, even the bad. I have been pretty much yo-yoing since started, maybe it's the lack of exercise on the weekends.

It's not lack of exercise, you don't need exercise to lose weight. As you say, you should invest in a food scale. This is most likely where you're going wrong - you're eating more than you think you are, which is very easy to do if you're not weighing things. Buy a food scale, weigh everything you can for a few weeks and see where you are then (and I'd also say for a day or two to measure out what you would have eaten, then weigh it to see if how many calories it actually is is the same as, more or less than what you would have put it in your diary as).

Sabine_Stroehm

Kalikel wrote: »

Before you make drastic dietary changes, try sticking with the plan, but eating half of those exercise calories. Unless you really want to make drastic dietary changes, in which case you should, of course, do that.

And give it more time. You have normal fluctuations in scale numbers, and weight.

Sassenach1017

Thanks guys, you right I'm probably eating more than, what I think I am. I will get this gadget

kimmydear

I'm about your age and I've found that lowering my calories has been the only way, even lower than what MFP allows me, because I know that I'm not always perfectly accurate with my recording. That way it gives me a margin of error. I vary between 1200-1450 calories most days without exercise, and when I do exercise, I don't eat those calories back.

kyrannosaurus

While I am very impressed that you managed to measure out your lasagna using cups (I can't imagine that is easy to do!) it is probably rather inaccurate. I am glad you're going to get a scale. You'll probably find using a scale is quicker than using cups too.

Are all the homemade recipes in your diary ones you have created yourself using the recipe builder?

vivmom2014

You really, really don't have to give up foods that you enjoy.

Like everyone has said, get the food scale. Know your calorie limit (earn back some extra calories with exercise if you'd like) and stay under it. It works. Age doesn't really dictate anything.

Give it more time, too.

Sassenach1017

kimmydear wrote: »

I'm about your age and I've found that lowering my calories has been the only way, even lower than what MFP allows me, because I know that I'm not always perfectly accurate with my recording. That way it gives me a margin of error. I vary between 1200-1450 calories most days without exercise, and when I do exercise, I don't eat those calories back.

I have been thinking about doing this, or upping my walking distance.

Sassenach1017

kyrannosaurus wrote: »

While I am very impressed that you managed to measure out your lasagna using cups (I can't imagine that is easy to do!) it is probably rather inaccurate. I am glad you're going to get a scale. You'll probably find using a scale is quicker than using cups too.

Are all the homemade recipes in your diary ones you have created yourself using the recipe builder?

Most of them, but some of them I have just searched and and picked them out of the ones that are listed, so not very accurate!!

Sassenach1017

vivmom2014 wrote: »

You really, really don't have to give up foods that you enjoy.

Like everyone has said, get the food scale. Know your calorie limit (earn back some extra calories with exercise if you'd like) and stay under it. It works. Age doesn't really dictate anything.

Give it more time, too.

Thank you!!! I will give it more time

jimmmer

Sassenach1017 wrote: »

kyrannosaurus wrote: »

While I am very impressed that you managed to measure out your lasagna using cups (I can't imagine that is easy to do!) it is probably rather inaccurate. I am glad you're going to get a scale. You'll probably find using a scale is quicker than using cups too.

Are all the homemade recipes in your diary ones you have created yourself using the recipe builder?

Most of them, but some of them I have just searched and and picked them out of the ones that are listed, so not very accurate!!

This is your problem in a nutshell.

Fix this and you won't have to give up foods you love or be miserable eating lettuce leaves all the time.

kyrannosaurus

When you get your scale it'd be wise to edit all your recipes weighing all the ingredients too.

Most of my recipes, each time I cook them I'll add different amounts of ingredients. So I edit them to reflect this each time I cook.

PeachyCarol

You don't need to change the foods you eat, but after a quick look at your diary, two common errors jumped out at me:

1. You're not weighing your food. Measuring cups are helpful, but they're not as accurate as a food scale.
2. Your eating back almost all of your exercise calories. The burns in the MFP data base, particularly for walking, are wildly inflated. Try eating back only half.

While I normally agree with the advice to give things time, you can institute these two changes and not lose any more time futilely plugging on while having these two things working against you.

wealthychica

Hello,

I am about the same age as you. Started cutting calories and exercising since May. The weight loss has been quite slow. I would suggest you continue to follow your MFP recommendations and also with your exercise regimen. In June I hardly lost any weight, actually I gained. However today I dropped from 130.2 (yesterday's weigh-in) to 127.2. I am 5' 2" and started at 134 lbs. I exercise 5/6 days/wk following Fitness blender's Eight week fat loss plan round 5 and I keep my calories at 1200 or below most times. The process is slow, actually I believe it tests your persistence. Keep at it, the weight will come off. Good luck!

blankiefinder

My $10 food scale (got it on clearance) was the best $10 I ever spent. Get one, and improve your logging accuracy, and the weight will come off. And just like Carol said, eat back 50% of your exercise calories, and see if that helps.

Sassenach1017

Thank you all so much!!! Very helpful!!!

boogiewookie

walking is great but if you start lifting weights the lean muscle will burn calories long after the workout is over. also you don't have to "cut out" anything, just eat it in moderation :-) if you're eating less than you're burning off in a day you will lose weight! it's not easy but it's worth it :-)

LeslieB042812

I just took a peek at your food diary and I agree with the other posters. You definitely need a food scale! I think it's highly likely that you're eating more than you think you are. For example, how do you know that you're eating 2 oz of pork chops without weighing it? And, 86 calories for 2 oz of pork chops also seems low to me, which leads me to my next point. You need to be careful which entries you use for foods you enter. I looked up boneless broiled pork loin chop, lean meat only (the lowest calorie of the pork chop options), in the USDA database and it showed one chop as being about 5.17 oz (so, did you have less than 1/2 a chop?) and the calories for 2 oz would be 97. Although that's only 11 calories more, that can add up over a day, especially if you actually had more than 2 oz! Say your chop was actually 3 oz, then the actual calories would be 146, which is 60 more calories than you recorded. Try to double check your entries with the USDA database and also avoid entries with * and labeled "homemade", as these tend to be less accurate.

Along the lines of precision, I noticed two meals that consisted of "mexican chicken". Unless that's a recipe that you measured and weighed out and cooked yourself, it's unlikely that a database entry would match what you had. If you're eating out, you're better off estimating the components of the meal and entering each of those and then adding a couple servings of oil and/or butter since restaurants tend to be pretty heavy on that for cooking.

While each imprecise entry might be small in itself, they do add up over the course of a day. Add that to your occasional "splurge" days or meals and that could very easily keep you at maintenance. I know for me, I only maintain if I have weekly splurge days and am less than precise with my tracking. I need to be more strict on both counts to lose.

Good luck!