A challenge for you: Spot the reason I'm not losing weight
zoe_tay
Posts: 2 Member
Hey there, I've sourced a mission for you, to see if you can figure out why it is that I don't lose weight.
5"3, 146 pounds, 19 years of age
I've been at university for a year now, and lead a much much much more healthy and active lifestyle than I did at home. I never buy microwave meals, have had a takeaway probably 3 or 4 times out of the whole year, and hit the gym 3 times a week bar the odd exception (NB: I do workout hard, I love the Les Mills classes), I don't tend to log these on mfp so don't be surprised not to see them on there.
Trouble is, apart from a couple of inches here and there (nothing drastic) I've not got thinner at all for a whole year. No weight lost, neither many inches. I am at a complete loss (pun unintended)
3 weeks ago I started "low carbing", eating around 120 grams of carbs a day. I know this isn't strictly low carb, but it is a lot less than what I HAD been eating, so you would think your body would respond to that, but nope, nothing.
Tried slim fast for 5 weeks last summer, no joys there either.
My boyfriend thinks I snack too much, does this appear to be the case? My snacks are generally fruit and meat, and fit within in calorie goal for the day, so I personally don't think it is. I treat myself to something sweet and relatively low calorie in the evening so I don't go insane, and the only other thing I can think of which would hinder my weight loss is that I go out drinking once a week with friends (find one student that doesn't). I find it hard to believe that one night of drinks would neutralize a weeks worth of healthy eating, but perhaps I'm wrong? You tell me?
WHO HAS THE MAGIC SOLUTION TO MY FAT LOSS!? I'm honestly so sick of it that I wonder why I even bother. Am I oblivious to my bad diet choices?
LETS GET BRUTALLY HONEST.
5"3, 146 pounds, 19 years of age
I've been at university for a year now, and lead a much much much more healthy and active lifestyle than I did at home. I never buy microwave meals, have had a takeaway probably 3 or 4 times out of the whole year, and hit the gym 3 times a week bar the odd exception (NB: I do workout hard, I love the Les Mills classes), I don't tend to log these on mfp so don't be surprised not to see them on there.
Trouble is, apart from a couple of inches here and there (nothing drastic) I've not got thinner at all for a whole year. No weight lost, neither many inches. I am at a complete loss (pun unintended)
3 weeks ago I started "low carbing", eating around 120 grams of carbs a day. I know this isn't strictly low carb, but it is a lot less than what I HAD been eating, so you would think your body would respond to that, but nope, nothing.
Tried slim fast for 5 weeks last summer, no joys there either.
My boyfriend thinks I snack too much, does this appear to be the case? My snacks are generally fruit and meat, and fit within in calorie goal for the day, so I personally don't think it is. I treat myself to something sweet and relatively low calorie in the evening so I don't go insane, and the only other thing I can think of which would hinder my weight loss is that I go out drinking once a week with friends (find one student that doesn't). I find it hard to believe that one night of drinks would neutralize a weeks worth of healthy eating, but perhaps I'm wrong? You tell me?
WHO HAS THE MAGIC SOLUTION TO MY FAT LOSS!? I'm honestly so sick of it that I wonder why I even bother. Am I oblivious to my bad diet choices?
LETS GET BRUTALLY HONEST.
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Replies
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Honestly, I think you eat great! Some of us just have sluggish metabolisms that are sensitive to carbs and sugars. Have you tried Atkins and low-carb? I did Atkins years ago, and dropped almost 20 lbs. This time around (after gaining that back) I went back to dieting the "regular" way of counting calories. I've been losing maybe 1 lbs every 2-3 weeks. It was agonizingly slow. Then I remembered Atkins, and how much success I had with that. I've only been doing it a week, but I can tell a huge difference and can suddenly fit into my "skinny jeans." I still try to stay within my calories, but most of my calories come from fat and protein.
Also, stay away from "Light" foods. If you look at the ingredient list, they're full of chemicals! Do some research on excitotoxins and flavor enhancers. They can mess up your metabolism. In addition to Atkins, I'm also doing the 100 Day "Real Food" challenge. I don't eat anything that has more than 3 ingredients in the label, except for Ezekiel bread. Yeah, I've strayed on occasion, but not very often. I find it easy to stick with it. Aim for keeping your carbs under 60 grams, increase your fat and protein intake, and get rid of the frankenfoods. I bet you'll see better results then. Good luck! (And friend me if you want to share our food diaries.)
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There's no "magic solution." Are you actually tracking your food accurately and consistently? To lose weight, it doesn't as much matter WHAT you eat as how much. Each individual has to figure out the number of calories that works for them, but otherwise, there really is no mystery. Commit to tracking everything you eat, weighing it or measuring. See if you gain or lose, and adjust accordingly.
Edited to add- it is possible that the one night of drinking can undo any progress you would be making otherwise. It doesn't matter if you eat "healthy" all week. The only way you'll know is by counting everything, even the drinks! I'm a bit of a drinker, and I definitely have to factor it in.0 -
Also, you mention fruit. I only eat fruit once a day, and I try to pick a high quality antioxidant fruit like berries or cherries. And I always, always eat it with protein, which slows down the blood sugar rush. If you snack, try to keep it protein and fat, like nuts or jerky. If you do eat fruit, stay away from bananas and papayas and kiwis and pineapple -- the sugary ones. Sugar and refined carbs make us fat, and fruit should only be a luxury for those who are trying to lose weight. Even though it's got antioxidants, it's a weight-loss killer for me. And always eat cheese or Greek yogurt (full fat or at least 2%) when eating your fruit, so that protein goes down with it.0
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Exercise more:drinker:0
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I stop eating around 7pm. Gives my body time to digest all the food before bedtime. I also try to eat most of my daily carbs before dinner. These changes made a big difference.0
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Snacking is not going to be the issue...I am the queen of snacking and have lost 184 pounds. Is the calorie range correct for you? How did you work it out? MFP? If so how much did you set it to lose? ie 1 pound or 2 pounds etc? Or are you doing TDEE-20% How much are you trying to lose? Are you weighing and measuring everything? While the foods dont look high in sodium I personally would track sodium as well.0
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No.Also, you mention fruit. I only eat fruit once a day, and I try to pick a high quality antioxidant fruit like berries or cherries. And I always, always eat it with protein, which slows down the blood sugar rush. If you snack, try to keep it protein and fat, like nuts or jerky. If you do eat fruit, stay away from bananas and papayas and kiwis and pineapple -- the sugary ones. Sugar and refined carbs make us fat, and fruit should only be a luxury for those who are trying to lose weight. Even though it's got antioxidants, it's a weight-loss killer for me. And always eat cheese or Greek yogurt (full fat or at least 2%) when eating your fruit, so that protein goes down with it.
Telling someone to avoid ANYTHING,let alone fruit,is a recipe for disaters.
Carbs DONT matter,fat Doesn't matter,protein doesn't matter in terms of weight loss.
Everything comes down to calories in<calories out.
It's that simple.0 -
either too much of a deficit, or not enough.
boom. done.0 -
Spending too much time online.0
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Also, you mention fruit. I only eat fruit once a day, and I try to pick a high quality antioxidant fruit like berries or cherries. And I always, always eat it with protein, which slows down the blood sugar rush. If you snack, try to keep it protein and fat, like nuts or jerky. If you do eat fruit, stay away from bananas and papayas and kiwis and pineapple -- the sugary ones. Sugar and refined carbs make us fat, and fruit should only be a luxury for those who are trying to lose weight. Even though it's got antioxidants, it's a weight-loss killer for me. And always eat cheese or Greek yogurt (full fat or at least 2%) when eating your fruit, so that protein goes down with it.
Avoid fruit? Are you high?0 -
My body react to a night of drinking, something you really need to factor in especially if you go silly.
I recommend big work out on the day and the day after.
Lastly you need to be honest and enter Everything, even weigh what you eat for a couple of weeks so you get a fair picture.0 -
My guesses would be:
1) Incomplete logging (you have a few days recently with less than 1,000 calories, are you doing IF or just not logging everything?)
2) A lot of processed sugar--there still seems to be a lot of chocolate and biscuits, etc. in there.
3) You're eating a lot of protein--are you exercising enough that you need it all?0 -
3 weeks ago I started "low carbing", eating around 120 grams of carbs a day. I know this isn't strictly low carb, but it is a lot less than what I HAD been eating, so you would think your body would respond to that, but nope, nothing.
I treat myself to something sweet and relatively low calorie in the evening so I don't go insane, and the only other thing I can think of which would hinder my weight loss is that I go out drinking once a week with friends (find one student that doesn't).
LETS GET BRUTALLY HONEST.
When I started low carb, I was limited to 30 grams a day or less. I was not supposed to eat anything over 5. That may be some of it. I lost 20 pounds in no time.
I gave up on ALL treats at the office. I think that helped a ton (oops, no pun intended) When I look back at how many calories those "little" snacks had, it was no wonder I was not losing anything. As far as the drinking, the low carb literally meant no beer. A beer had like a weeks worth of carbs. I cheated and had one and felt like I swallowed an inflatable life raft. Whiskey has no carbs and comparatively speaking, not that many calories. Sip it with a water chaser and your golden. Just be sure to get a better whiskey, not rail. And it cant be that often either. All the "cheating" adds up quicker than you think.0 -
Also, you mention fruit. I only eat fruit once a day, and I try to pick a high quality antioxidant fruit like berries or cherries. And I always, always eat it with protein, which slows down the blood sugar rush. If you snack, try to keep it protein and fat, like nuts or jerky. If you do eat fruit, stay away from bananas and papayas and kiwis and pineapple -- the sugary ones. Sugar and refined carbs make us fat, and fruit should only be a luxury for those who are trying to lose weight. Even though it's got antioxidants, it's a weight-loss killer for me. And always eat cheese or Greek yogurt (full fat or at least 2%) when eating your fruit, so that protein goes down with it.
No, excess calories make us fat.0 -
How accurately are you logging? Are you weighing your food? Logging everything, including condiments?0
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Maybe have your thyroid checked?0
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there's a lot of wrong information in this thread.0
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Make sure you log everything and weigh your food for better accuracy.0
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It's actually not that simple. Not everyone metabolizes carbs well -- women especially. Have you read the book "Why We Get Fat?" You should.0
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It's actually not that simple. Not everyone metabolizes carbs well -- women especially. Have you read the book "Why We Get Fat?" You should.
No...it is not as simple as 'sugar makes you fat'.0 -
No.Also, you mention fruit. I only eat fruit once a day, and I try to pick a high quality antioxidant fruit like berries or cherries. And I always, always eat it with protein, which slows down the blood sugar rush. If you snack, try to keep it protein and fat, like nuts or jerky. If you do eat fruit, stay away from bananas and papayas and kiwis and pineapple -- the sugary ones. Sugar and refined carbs make us fat, and fruit should only be a luxury for those who are trying to lose weight. Even though it's got antioxidants, it's a weight-loss killer for me. And always eat cheese or Greek yogurt (full fat or at least 2%) when eating your fruit, so that protein goes down with it.
Telling someone to avoid ANYTHING,let alone fruit,is a recipe for disaters.
Carbs DONT matter,fat Doesn't matter,protein doesn't matter in terms of weight loss.
Everything comes down to calories in<calories out.
It's that simple.
For some, that's not necessarily true. I lose on hi protein/low carb. The same amount of calories with carbs included make me gain and hypoglycemic. Weird, but true
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First of all there other nutrients in the above named fruits that are beneficial to the body such as Potassium and Vitamin C. To not eat them because of the amount of sugar in them and to tell some one to not do it is just wrong. It is like one of my co-workers telling me I am not going to lose any weight because I choose to eat one Lean Cuisine. We cannot tell people what they can and cannot eat. If people want to not give up a particular food such as bananas then substitute it for its less sugary cousin the Plantain. While back I found Plantain chips with sea salt. They had been dehydrated. If anything you can always use the sugary fruits instead brownies, cakes, and cookies for desert.Also, you mention fruit. I only eat fruit once a day, and I try to pick a high quality antioxidant fruit like berries or cherries. And I always, always eat it with protein, which slows down the blood sugar rush. If you snack, try to keep it protein and fat, like nuts or jerky. If you do eat fruit, stay away from bananas and papayas and kiwis and pineapple -- the sugary ones. Sugar and refined carbs make us fat, and fruit should only be a luxury for those who are trying to lose weight. Even though it's got antioxidants, it's a weight-loss killer for me. And always eat cheese or Greek yogurt (full fat or at least 2%) when eating your fruit, so that protein goes down with it.0 -
I just looked at your pictures and you look wonderful. You just might be where you are supposed to be. Don't just worry about pounds, look at the total picture0
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You aren't logging your exercise sessions. So you're not netting your 1450 calorie goal. That goal already has your weight loss deficit built into it which is why (IF you're using MFP and not TDEE-%) you're supposed to log exercise and eat those calories back. If you don't give your body enough fuel to function it can stall weight loss in my experience.0
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Okay, I took a quick look and your diet looks pretty healthy. One thing you might do is to weigh and log raw food and cooking oils. I see a lot of generic and grocery store entries. Log honestly and do the math, and something should happen! Good luck.0
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How accurately are you logging? Are you weighing your food? Logging everything, including condiments?
this^
do you own a digital food scale?0 -
Do you eat in a dining hall? If so, how do you measure your portions?0
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I'm a big snacker and eat 2-3 times the daily recommended amount of fruit a day. A half pound of berries here, 2 bananas in my smoothie, small watermelon are normal portions of fruit I eat throughout the day. I also eat dinner late at night. I'm also 90 pounds.
According to many on myfitnesspal, that should have kept me from losing 50 pounds...it didn't.
Everyone's bodies are different. However its safe to say that for the general population, meal timing, fruit and when you eat your carbs are not the culprits of weight gain. Nor is it "too many carbs and sugar" that will keep fat. Losing weight is about calorie deficit, it's as simple as that. Try to weed out all of the confusion, sit down and be really honest and diligent about evaluating your energy needs, your food intake, and the appropriate amount of macro's and calories you are getting.0 -
It depends how much alcohol are you drinking yes that can be a big reason alcohol slows down your metabolism.If you have mixed drinks like soda/Juice is high in sugar.I know because thats the only reason why I'm over weight or don't get anywhere.I quit drinking for a month and dropped 10lbs without diet or exercising so Yes that can be a reason I know it's hard not too,but it's the truth....Not to mention it causes cellulite in women also and soda...0
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there's a lot of wrong information in this thread.
I agree... a lot of dieting myths being thrown around... hope she is able to decifer through the good advice from the bad
Edit to the OP: have you tried adding lifting to your exercise? I don't know how close you are to your goal weight, but maybe your body is just asking to take on a shape rather than a size/weight... also you should always record your exercise, other wise how do you know your eating enough?
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