Worried about my 10 day streak

Ellitamaria

Hello! This is my tenth day, yay! I haven't really noticed any weight loss in ten days. I have an public diary so if you can check out my calories and let me what I can do, thank you. My stats: I am 5'6 and I weight 208. My heaviest was 230lbs and I lost those pounds in 2014 when I first started mfp. I set my calorie intake for sedentary because I am in school and haven't made time yet to squeeze in workouts. I'll give more information if its needed. Thank you again!

Edit:

you guys are awesome. I forgot to mention that I always quit things after ten days so I get myself worried over nothing. A lot of great advice I must say! I know this will take time and I am ready for the ride!

dramaqueen45

What are your daily calorie goals? Do you weigh and log everything?

gramarye

I think you should probably give it more time. Most people recommend a few weeks to see changes in scale and measurements, in my experience.

The first question is always going to be: are you weighing your food? Are you making sure that the entries you've selected are accurate ones? Are you logging everything, including condiments? (I don't log spices, but if you feel like you're stuck, it's worth doing.) I'm a big proponent of the food scale as the most useful tool in any kitchen. [Also, I see that you like to cook as well -- me too! It's a lot more convenient for baking than measuring cups when dealing with flour and other dry ingredients. ]

Ellitamaria

My daily calorie goals are 1410. I have been calculating to the best of my ability and confirming with room mates if the math gets too difficult (lol). I don't have a food scale, but would like one in the future.

labohn91

One of the few diaries I went through that looked good. Try adding in walking a few times a week that should help.

queenliz99

Without a food scale you have no idea what your actual calorie intake is. A food scale will make a big difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

shepiccone

I looked at your food journal. I would change your ratios to 45% carbs, 30% protein, 25% fats. And change your sugars to 30 grams. Stick to these numbers as closely as you can and I assure you that you become unstuck.

999tigger

1. 10 days I wouldnt be worried yet, weight loss isnt linear so it wont go down in a straight line.
2. If you hit a plateau then thats a sign you are eating more or burning less than you think (allowing for 1 above). Plateuas are 6 weeks +.
3. Weigh and log your food, cups might be letting you down and not accurate enough.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1

jaga13

First off, welcome! It is a little early on, so I would advise patience. I do think that without a food scale it's highly possible that you are off with your calorie count. I see you are guessing a lot of ounces when it's impossible to know.
I used to scoop a tablespoon of peanut butter everyday and when was smacked with reality once I actually weighed it on a food scale. They are not expensive.

Good luck!

longtimeterp

queenliz99 wrote: »

Without a food scale you have no idea what your actual calorie intake is. A food scale will make a big difference.

Uh yes you have a very good idea of what the calorie intake will be w/o a food scale. Might not be EXACT, but still a good idea. It's not like omg i didn't weight this apple, it could have 1200 calories! Food Scales are NOT necessary, just use good guesses, and err on the side of overestimating portion sizes.

_lyndseybrooke_

1. It's been 10 days. What kind of miraculous results did you expect in this short period of time? You didn't gain the weight overnight, and you're not going to lose it overnight. If you're not patient, you're setting yourself up for failure. Chill out.
2. Invest in a food scale and properly measure your food. What's a "small" banana? What's "0.8 cups" of rice? You'll be surprised how inaccurate measuring spoons are once you start weighing food in grams and ounces.
3. Changing your macros like someone suggested won't make a difference in your weight loss. It's calories in vs. calories out. The problem here is that you're eating more calories than you think you are because you're not properly measuring your portions.

davis978

Good for you for already losing quite a bit. Many people in your position just quit, and you seem determined not to do that.

1. Get a food scale and use it for everything possible. They are very cheap these days.
2. Try to tell yourself that it's going to take a long time to meet your goals. The closer you get the harder it will be. Accept that now and try to be okay with it.
3. Most days you aren't hitting your protein goal. When I started MFP I was a very light protein eater. Eating more protein literally changed my life. Your goal is fairly low, and you aren't meeting it most days. You are also eating very little protein for breakfast. I would look into ways to increase your protein consumption, especially at breakfast.
4. Get a food scale. I know I already said this, but it's the single best thing you can do to aid your weight loss.

theawill519

Your diary looks pretty good. Are you on your period or ovulating? A lot of women hold weight during those times. If not, then you might try incorporating some exercise. I know you're a student and busy, but you can do it! If nothing else, walk more. There are also lots of workouts on youtube- some only 10 minutes.

Ellitamaria

Wow! A lot of advice! I'll take it all into consideration and I really appreciate it.

ninerbuff

If it's not changing it's one of 2 things: you're eating more than you think or you're burning less than you think. Sedentary people are especially prone to slow weight loss because the body automatically reduces metabolic rate when calories are reduced. In other words it becomes efficient at sustaining weight if calories are consistent even if the deficit isn't too big. Make it a goal to at LEAST walk for 10-30 minutes a day for some sort of activity along with whatever you doing now to see if that helps.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Snow__White

try to get as close to your calorie goal as u can,i looked at your diary and im seeing that most days your eating way below your calorie allowance
im 5'7 and a half.started out at 217 and now im 159 but when i was heavier,i was eating way more than 1400 cals a day,and had my settings at lightly active. (even tho i wasent that active)i was eating around 1600-1800
give it some time,if u see no change u may want to adjust some of your settings
good luck hun

Ellitamaria

queenliz99 wrote: »

Without a food scale you have no idea what your actual calorie intake is. A food scale will make a big difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

Holy moly! Great video!

erickirb

shepiccone wrote: »

I looked at your food journal. I would change your ratios to 45% carbs, 30% protein, 25% fats. And change your sugars to 30 grams. Stick to these numbers as closely as you can and I assure you that you become unstuck.

Why the change in macros to that level? esp. sugar.

OP if you don't have diabetes I wouldn't even bother tracking sugar, it is just a carb and you already track those. For starters I would focus on calories and hitting the protein as a minimum amount, before making any other changes.

erickirb

longtimeterp wrote: »

queenliz99 wrote: »

Without a food scale you have no idea what your actual calorie intake is. A food scale will make a big difference.

Uh yes you have a very good idea of what the calorie intake will be w/o a food scale. Might not be EXACT, but still a good idea. It's not like omg i didn't weight this apple, it could have 1200 calories! Food Scales are NOT necessary, just use good guesses, and err on the side of overestimating portion sizes.

Uh No, If you measure instead of weighing your food you could be as much as 10-50% off, depending on what it is you are measuring. If you are eyeballing you may be off by more than 50%.

cwolfman13

how about a little patience...10 days is jack *kitten*.

malibu927

shepiccone wrote: »

I looked at your food journal. I would change your ratios to 45% carbs, 30% protein, 25% fats. And change your sugars to 30 grams. Stick to these numbers as closely as you can and I assure you that you become unstuck.

Why should she go with arbitrary numbers like that?

OP, it's been ten days. Be patient and stick it out, and if it doesn't start moving in 2-3 weeks then it's time for adjustments.

tephanies1234

You should be losing and it looks like you weigh things already from the entries you have chosen but maybe you're not. How many times do you step on a scale in a week? If you do it every morning, does your weight for the last 10 days just go up or stay the same? You haven't seen a fluctuation yet? I'm not saying to be obsessive about weighing in, but once a day in the morning is fine for people who don't get worried about ups and downs, like myself. If you only weigh once a week, you might miss the drop in scale weight that occurred on the day you didn't weigh in...

Init_to_winit

First of all, congrats on your already successful weight loss!

I think you should notice at least some loss in 10 days, even if it's just a couple of ounces, especially since your calorie targets seem to be on point. So that tells me, something is not right about your calorie counts.

I took a gander at your diary too, I noticed a lot of Chinese food takeout in your diary (yum). Eating out is tricky, often calories are hard to determine since you are not the one actually preparing the food. That could account for a lot of extra calories you may not be aware you're consuming. I also agree with others on measuring your food, that can really make a big difference. A serving of cereal for example is just one cup, which honestly is not much! Definitely not enough to fill a whole bowl!

The most important thing, don't get discouraged! Eat less, move more, and you'll look and more importantly feel better and be healthier! You're on the right path!

Ellitamaria

tephanies1234 wrote: »

You should be losing and it looks like you weigh things already from the entries you have chosen but maybe you're not. How many times do you step on a scale in a week? If you do it every morning, does your weight for the last 10 days just go up or stay the same? You haven't seen a fluctuation yet? I'm not saying to be obsessive about weighing in, but once a day in the morning is fine for people who don't get worried about ups and downs, like myself. If you only weigh once a week, you might miss the drop in scale weight that occurred on the day you didn't weigh in...

I have been weighing myself everday and my weight goes up to about 209-210 and goes down to 208 (where I have been). : )

Ellitamaria

cwolfman13 wrote: »

how about a little patience...10 days is jack *kitten*.

Of course! I probably should have mentioned that I want to make sure I am going in the right direction! : ) Thanks for the support

Ellitamaria

Init_to_winit wrote: »

First of all, congrats on your already successful weight loss!

I think you should notice at least some loss in 10 days, even if it's just a couple of ounces, especially since your calorie targets seem to be on point. So that tells me, something is not right about your calorie counts.

I took a gander at your diary too, I noticed a lot of Chinese food takeout in your diary (yum). Eating out is tricky, often calories are hard to determine since you are not the one actually preparing the food. That could account for a lot of extra calories you may not be aware you're consuming. I also agree with others on measuring your food, that can really make a big difference. A serving of cereal for example is just one cup, which honestly is not much! Definitely not enough to fill a whole bowl!

The most important thing, don't get discouraged! Eat less, move more, and you'll look and more importantly feel better and be healthier! You're on the right path!

Haha. You are so right! I will keep on doing my best! Too much Chinese food, it's hard when you live with room mates and they're all like "Yeah! Let's order takeout!" and I'm sitting with my salad bowl XD haha That's an over exaggerating .

Ellitamaria

Snow__White wrote: »

try to get as close to your calorie goal as u can,i looked at your diary and im seeing that most days your eating way below your calorie allowance
im 5'7 and a half.started out at 217 and now im 159 but when i was heavier,i was eating way more than 1400 cals a day,and had my settings at lightly active. (even tho i wasent that active)i was eating around 1600-1800
give it some time,if u see no change u may want to adjust some of your settings
good luck hun

You're so kind and beautiful! Congrats on your amazing weight loss! good luck to you!

cwolfman13

Ellitamaria wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

how about a little patience...10 days is jack *kitten*.

Of course! I probably should have mentioned that I want to make sure I am going in the right direction! : ) Thanks for the support

this stuff takes time...it's not cut and dry/black and white...watch the trends. honestly, most people are actually eating more than what they actually log...estimation error is big with calorie counting...track the trends for 4 weeks or so...if nothing changes, drop calories. make sure you're being as accurate as possible.

you just have to give it time...10 days is absolutely nothing...losing weight is an extremely slow process, just like putting the weight on is a slow process...it doesn't just fall off like you see on t.v. have patience and reasonable expectations.

tephanies1234

I'm wondering if it's just the sodium from the Chinese takeout. Looks like you had it a couple times in the past few days. Whenever I eat out, I'm pretty much guaranteed to be 2 lbs higher from the water weight. A couple days without high sodium/eating out would probably help you drop the water weight. And make sure you weigh all weighable foods at home so you know you're on target with calories because you can't be certain otherwise. And give it more time.