Why am I not losing?

hiyomi

You're 20, in college and have no job? Not even a summer job? Okay, maybe I'm being judgemental, but staying up all night and sleeping in until 4 PM is kind of counter productive to weight loss.

You said yourself you aren't working as hard as you used to. 30 Day Shred is only like...25 minutes? Most people add cardio or lifting on top of 30 Day Shred to see results. You burn *maybe* 120-200 calories in that 30 minutes.

It sounds like the OP is willing to create excuse after excuse. You are in denial if you honestly think what you are doing is the proper thing. As I've said, fast food is not inherently wrong. But you know in your heart of hearts that a Big Mac isn't doing you any favors over maybe a chicken wrap or a nice salad. A cheeseburger every once in awhile won't kill you.

Just because the dietician told you that a calorie is a calorie doesn't mean that we're giving you the green light to eat the crappiest foods available to you. Just sayin'. And if you're not logging ACCURATELY, you won't get ACCURATE results. That is *technically* lying to your diary and yourself. You can lie to your diary, but you can't lie to your body and it'll show you the results you're going to get, like 'em or not.

This isn't your parents' responsibility. This isn't the dietician's responsibility. This is your responsibility. If you're not willing to put forth 100% of the effort, you will go nowhere.

Instead of getting defensive and prideful, you could always LISTEN to other people around you.

I was told before thati was doing too much cardio and eating too little. I understand the fast food is a habit though. And I wake up at 4PM when I go to sleep at 7AM lol it's summer time. It's not like I wake up at 4PM every day of my life ^_^

hiyomi

If exercising every day, and cooking at home when I can is not the right thing, then I have nothing more to say. ^_^ I exercise 5 days a week and just lowered my hour cardio and weight lifting to the 30 day shed. First too much cardio and now not enough. ~_~

People look at my diary and only see the fast food and not the homemade meals it seems. I'd say my eating at home and fast food is 50/50 excluding some weekends lol but people see 100% fast food. Like I said I know it's not the best of choices. But I cook at home quite a bit too.

babydiego87

I looked at your diary earlier and it had burger king and chik fila a listed for today and now theyre gone. looks like youre actually paying attention to this thread well done

ThinLizzie0802

Totally peeked through your diary through the last 3 days. You eat fast food once, sometimes twice a day. Junk food is consistently nonstop as well.

...What do you expect with that sort of food? Like, I'm not saying give up fast food. It's all about moderation, though.

Incorporate more fruits and vegetables. Prepare more food at home. When eating out, choose the healthier options. So on and so forth.

I lost my 30lbs eating fast food 3x per day while travelling.

All burgers, fries, dressings, condiments, potato cakes and pizza, too?

I looked further back. Nearly EVERY DAY is a trend of the same foods above.

I eat out a fair amount. I most definitely wouldn't be upset about no weight loss if I lived on cheeseburgers though. Just sayin'.

All that? No, but fries and grilled chicken sandwiches daily, and pizza twice per week.

Your ability to eat fast food consistently and lose weight has no bearing on her ability to do it. Your a man with a different build and metabolism. Clearly, it isn't working for her and is more than likely preventing her from losing the weight she wants. And just because you lost weight while eating fast food doesn't mean your biometric numbers wouldn't still be high.-blood sugar, cholesterol, etc. Skinny people have heart attacks too.

hiyomi

I looked at your diary earlier and it had burger king and chik fila a listed for today and now theyre gone. looks like youre actually paying attention to this thread well done

It had Chick fil a.....and only chick fil a lol don't get too dramatic here.

babydiego87

I looked at your diary earlier and it had burger king and chik fila a listed for today and now theyre gone. looks like youre actually paying attention to this thread well done

It had Chick fil a.....and only chick fil a lol don't get too dramatic here.

im not the one being dramatic, just telling it how it is. good luck

hiyomi

Case closed. Eat more...home food, less fast food. Will do that to best I can. But for the record I will argue to the pits of hell that I do log everything I eat. Fast food and home food. Maybe as some of you say I'm lying to myself eating fast food, but if there's one thing I know, it's that I log every single thing I eat. Healthy or unhealthy. I know that myself and no one can change my mind about that. If I eat it, I log it. Spinach or chips.

Heather032190

I do not mean to sound rude and just by skimming what everyone has said I have yet to see this...Do you have a job? Do you plan on it? A part time/summer job? Something, I have been working since I was 15...maybe if YOU personally had extra money then go to the store YOURSELF and BUY what YOU WANT and go home and COOK it then things would be easier for you...idk just a thought.

My apologies if I sound rude but truly something to consider. Also great job on the 20+ so far.

hiyomi

I do not mean to sound rude and just by skimming what everyone has said I have yet to see this...Do you have a job? Do you plan on it? A part time/summer job? Something, I have been working since I was 15...maybe if YOU personally had extra money then go to the store YOURSELF and BUY what YOU WANT and go home and COOK it then things would be easier for you...idk just a thought.

My apologies if I sound rude but truly something to consider. Also great job on the 20+ so far.

I have been looking for a job since April* so far, no luck yet. ^_^ but case closed

shimmer615

Hiyomi I'm 10 years older than you, but when I was your age I worked. You mention that you can't find a job, but almost always people can find jobs in the restaurant/retail industry. You just have to WANT to find one.

I can sympathize about you wondering what is going on, but the answer is with YOU. You lost 20 lbs to start, and that is great. But I'm being honest when I say you throw out excuse after excuse about not changing habits.

Does your school schedule allow you to cook dinner for you and your parents? My suggestion is to bring it up to your parents that you want to be healthier in your eating habits and volunteer to do the grocery shopping and food preparing for them. Get the full amount of money and go to the store every week or every 2 weeks. Meal plan. This will help out with running out of food at the end of the month.

Otherwise, you need to take some responsibility and get a job to buy the food that you need and stop making those excuses.

ramonafrincu

Hiyomi I'm 10 years older than you, but when I was your age I worked. You mention that you can't find a job, but almost always people can find jobs in the restaurant/retail industry. You just have to WANT to find one.

I can sympathize about you wondering what is going on, but the answer is with YOU. You lost 20 lbs to start, and that is great. But I'm being honest when I say you throw out excuse after excuse about not changing habits.

Does your school schedule allow you to cook dinner for you and your parents? My suggestion is to bring it up to your parents that you want to be healthier in your eating habits and volunteer to do the grocery shopping and food preparing for them. Get the full amount of money and go to the store every week or every 2 weeks. Meal plan. This will help out with running out of food at the end of the month.

Otherwise, you need to take some responsibility and get a job to buy the food that you need and stop making those excuses.

Is nobody's business why the OP doesn't have a job. If you eat less than you burn you loose weight, fast food or no fast food.

JanAlyssa825

I actually find it easier to log home-cooked foods than restaurant ones, because who knows who accurate the restaurants' calorie counts are, or how heavy-handed the cook is?

If the potatoes are out of a bag (like the frozen hashbrown kind), measure out your serving with a scale and add in any oil or butter you might use. Measure the butter or oil. You can also scan the barcode of the butter/bag of hashbrowns on your smartphone to make it easy to get the calorie count. If you used real potatoes, even better! Just make sure to weigh out the portion and search for "raw potato" in the MFP food database. Either add the elements separately, or you can use the recipe function to make it easy to access things you make frequently! I use the recipe function almost daily and input all the ingredients I'm using, then divide by servings. It has made weight loss a lot easier. Hope that helps!

shimmer615

I'm sorry, but I don't think that my post is any worse than someone flat out telling her she's lying. She posted all kinds of things about how she HAS to eat fast food but wants to eat differently. I provided some suggestions, some a little "softer" so to speak, than others.

LiftAllThePizzas

I think my favorite part is the implication that sodium prevents fat loss. For months at a time. Either that or you've lost 25 pounds of fat but are somehow retaining that much water because of sodium. Do people think that water retention caused by sodium is cumulative or something?

higher sodium content generally comes from more calorie dense and nutritient poor foods (fast food). I also know on a personal level on days I eat higher sodium i am puffier (and heavier) the following day or so and require more water and better food choices for a few days. If eating high sodium on MULTIPLE days I assume it would be multiple days worth of puffiness and heavier weight.

Since March.

Have you looked at her food log?

Have you ever known anyone to gain 20, 50, or 100 lbs of water weight from sodium consumption?

when you look at the source of the sodium, yes, I have known ppl to gain excess amounts of weight from fast food which is high in sodium.

Wow, nice cover story. Hope you didn't pull anything by reaching so far.

Lupercalia

I'm not gonna comment on the fast food--that's all been said. I agree with some of the fast food comments, while I think others are over the top and kind of ridiculous. I think more importantly you need to log everything really accurately. Do you have a digital scale that you're weighing your food on? That's been a must for me. Measuring cups and spoons, and going by generic measurements (one apple, etc.) are not nearly as accurate as a scale. Don't forget to track all the little nibbles and spoon licking that goes on throughout the day as well. That stuff adds up. Condiments and oils, too. If you drink alcohol, that should also be logged--tons of calories there.

Getting your sleeping habits normalised would probably help you out a bit. I know it's summer and you're young and want to stay up all night, but getting enough uninterrupted, deep sleep is really important for weight loss. My weight loss will stall out if I'm not sleeping enough, or am keeping strange hours.

The calorie range you mentioned in your first post is pretty huge. I'd get that nailed down to something more reasonable. Maybe something like a 100 calorie range rather than whatever you had (I think it was like 500 calories, can't recall). On a similar note, you may need to run your numbers again. What you were able to lose on when you started out is probably different than what it should be now, since you've lost a bunch of weight.

Are you healthy apart from being overweight? No PCOS, diabetes, hypothyroid or other issues that might affect your metabolism? Any meds you're on? I think you mentioned somewhere that you're on birth control pills....but I can't recall if you mentioned anything else. Certain meds can make weight loss a bit tricky.

Hang in there--you can get this stuff figured out and lose the weight.

hiyomi

My blood pressure/diabetes check all came back normal. Health wise, besides being overweight lol I'm doing pretty well. No aches or pains or problems. When I was younger they thought I had a thyroid issue but I was checked for it all and was fine. Thanks for the info and suggestions ^_^ I need a home food scale for sure. The birth control, I've had it for quite awhile and never had problems before, I am on the shot!

Case closed. Eat more...home food, less fast food. Will do that to best I can. But for the record I will argue to the pits of hell that I do log everything I eat. Fast food and home food. Maybe as some of you say I'm lying to myself eating fast food, but if there's one thing I know, it's that I log every single thing I eat. Healthy or unhealthy. I know that myself and no one can change my mind about that. If I eat it, I log it. Spinach or chips. Thanks to all who made suggestions. ^_^

rachb26

I actually find it easier to log home-cooked foods than restaurant ones, because who knows who accurate the restaurants' calorie counts are, or how heavy-handed the cook is?

If the potatoes are out of a bag (like the frozen hashbrown kind), measure out your serving with a scale and add in any oil or butter you might use. Measure the butter or oil. You can also scan the barcode of the butter/bag of hashbrowns on your smartphone to make it easy to get the calorie count. If you used real potatoes, even better! Just make sure to weigh out the portion and search for "raw potato" in the MFP food database. Either add the elements separately, or you can use the recipe function to make it easy to access things you make frequently! I use the recipe function almost daily and input all the ingredients I'm using, then divide by servings. It has made weight loss a lot easier. Hope that helps!

I agree with this. There is also the create your own recipe option, which I think is handy to create for dishes that you have regularly. The OP said she is a little slack/cant find the CORRECT foods stuffs she eats in the database. So pre- making them for easy adding will help I think.

Also OP: if it was ME....I would do this; stick to 2100 cals on non workout days and 2300 every other time. I would be looking to log my food consistently. If i eat fast food, i would add 15% cals onto their calorie estimate total. I would up my water intake. And I would be getting up earlier than 4pm (however nice it is lol). I would then track for 2 weeks and if I STILL wasn't losing...I'd lower my intake by 200 on both non-and workout days, if I still wasn't losing after 2 weeks - I'd do the same again until I found my REAL TDEE. because at the end of the day, MPF only gives you an ESTIMATE. And judging by your lack of losses lately, it's got to be either you're eating too much or not moving as much as you think.

Good luck (again :P)

morkiemama

Grinds my gears that people say I am not logging everything I eat.

Because you're not. huh, I wonder why we would think that?

OH, and one more very important thing, sometimes I just log calories as fast food because its already there and I am too lazy to search for the actual one. I usually go by calories/sodium more than anything else. On weekends I admit I eat fast food quite often, but some days on there I swear lol I just log them because they are close to accurate. I actually baked a pizza hear at home today but in diary it says "Little Caesars" lol [/b]

Some days I go over, hell ya, but if its over its usually 100 calories or so, not including some weekends lol even so I will go over like 800 calories putting me at 2.8k. But this isn't an every day problem.

Saturday, June 8 - Over 571 calories
Sunday, June 9 - Over 1,199 calories
Thursday, June 13 - No logging at all.
Friday, June 14 - Over 785 calories. And no other meals logged.
Saturday June 15 - Over 1,163 calories
Sunday June 16 - Over 305 calories
Tuesday June 18 - Over 335 calories

It's not an everyday problem... but when it is a problem, it's a PROBLEM. And it's bigger than you think it is.

Sure, you're under on other days. You're feeding your body JUNK, and you're expecting results. Well, you're getting JUNK results.

I suppose if you ate lead... you'd expect to *kitten* gold? That's not the way it works.

.


Sooo should I listen to people telling me to eat more or less? lol because someone else just said to eat more....

I said to eat more based on the figures you gave in the original post.. not based on the figures in your diary.. The two appear to be quite different

This is inherently the problem. You need to log accurately and stick to your goals. You are doing neither at the moment. Actually log the food/products you are consuming and not substitutes. Also, stick to your calorie goal. You are going over consistently.

You need to be consistent before you can say it isn't working.

Edited for typo.

missshyeviolett

I'd really look at investing in a $50 fitbit. I'm really questioning your TDEE. I get that heavier people burn more, but I've only hit 2900 ONCE and that was when I worked out for 2 hours (intensely) and walked/ran nearly 8 miles as well as being generally active the rest of the day.

michellekicks

There is absolutely no way to know if you should eat more or less until you track accurately for at least a month and see what results you get. Start there.