Please help before I give up
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Natztastic wrote: »eat more to lose weight is bogus.
If you really think you are eating 1200 calories and you aren't losing weight chances are you are over estimating calorie burns and/or under estimating calories in.
Do you use a food scale?
Do you log consistently and accurately using that scale and the correct entries?
How do you measure calorie burns?
Do you eat back exercise calories?
1lb a week is a good consistent weight loss...nothing wrong with it. It's not like the weight suddenly appeared on your frame so it's not going to "suddenly" disappear either...it's take a while for you to put on the weight.
I eat 1800 calories a day @143lbs (lost 60) and still lose 1/4lb a week and I am happy with it (trying 140)
If you want to lose the weight do it...but stop making excuses and looking for reasons to give up. 18lbs is not "just not getting anywhere"
Hello,
Yes I always log accurately, to be honest I have a pretty hectic schedule so usually eat pre packaged foods with calorie definites.
My usual daily food is something like this;
Greek yogurt for breakfast 90 cals
cup a soup, multigrain snacks and you're for lunch 376 cals
Microwave healthy meal for dinner, multigrain bites, fruit and a bread roll around 750 cals
I do not eat back my excessive calories, so sometimes I end up at a 0 or negative calories.
This is actually a bit troublesome. You want your net to be as close to your goal, especially when you're only eating 1200 calories. Not eating some of them back (as burns are usually highly inaccurate, and I don't know what you're doing that would burn 1200+) can cause some serious health problems in the long run.
I didn't know I needed to eat back exercise calories, I thought it would be more calories burnt so therfore more weight lost.0 -
Liftng4Lis wrote: »
Reading back through, it looks like you're actually losing a fair amount. Way to get it!Natztastic wrote: »
Hey, I am losing but not at the rate I wanted, or expected really - again will the frequent visits to the gym.
Thank you. X
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Natztastic wrote: »VintageFeline wrote: »Unless you are 200lbs overweight 3-5lbs every week is unrealistic and unhealthy, you will lose a whole bunch of muscle and the heart is a muscle. Not a good idea, that's what will kill you, not taking a few extra months to lose excess body fat!
1lb per week is fantastic, achievable and sustainable. Weighing your food will help you see if you really are only eating 1200 calories, judging by your results I think it unlikely you are eating so little, especially if you don't eat your exercise calories (which will also be inaccurate because both machines and MFP grossly overestimate burn).
But your rate of loss is great, my suggestion is to keep at it, tighten your logging and adjust by results if you don't want to weigh. The number on the scale isn't the only measure of success after all.
Thanks, I don't like to go under 1000 as you get the awful message from MFP tell you off.jessicarobinson00 wrote: »I think your loss so far is fantastic! Everyone's weight loss journey is going to be different: it took me a year to lose 25 lbs. Just remember that every day you stick to it, you are closer than you were. Giving up will only leave you right where youkare at...or worse fall back to where you started. So keep your chin up and push on! Set some mini victory goals: -20 lbs...get your nails done...-30 lbs get a massage...ect. Add some motivational friends who will push you to keep moving and keep the end in sight: you've got this! Don't give up on you.
Thank you, I like to work towards little goals than big ones, I appreciate this advice.0 -
Natztastic wrote: »
When I say around 1200, yesterday I ate 1174, and burned 934 (according to MPF - according to the gym around half) the day before was my cheat meal where I had 2074 call and burned 834 at the gym. These are pretty consistent numbers.
What exactly are you doing to burn 834 and 934 calories at the gym??
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Natztastic wrote: »Thanks for the reply. I would like to think I could get rid of the zero scale but I actually have a fear, so until I get over that fear or have lost enough weight I don't think I will be able to... I agree about the exact weight and stuff, especially because the gym equipment asks for weight etc but I can't do it (yet)
Well done with your weight loss, that's amazing. I wish I could be the same. Annoyingly, I would have given up by now (you know, the enthusiasm and frame of mind disappears) but I'm really in the right frame of mind - just not getting anywhere.
If I have to eat more I don't know what I would eat that isn't unhealthy - plus I don't want to eat when I don't feel I have to.
18lbs is only just over a lb each week. For my efforts s that really justice? Shall I give up the gym? At this rate I will be dead before I am at a healthy weight
Thanks again
The thing is this...what happens if you give up? The scale will ONLY climb up again, and you've already lost alot, why would you want to cheat yourself of your obvious success?
If you need to eat more, and I'm betting you might, just eat more of what you're already eating to start with..and then maybe challenge yourself once a month. Pick one NOT very healthy food item from your daily intake, and replace it with a NEW healthier item...this means thinking about your food instead of just eating what you are used to....think about something healthy you've seen, but don't know how to prepare, or are not sure if it's to your taste (a couple examples might be avocado, quinoa, kale, bok choy, spinach, almond butter, brown rice, sweet potatoes, tuna etc..) ...pick up one of that item to start with, find a recipe, and give it a whirl. Do this even once a month, I bet it helps to move the scale a bit. Good luck, and like I said, quitting isn't going to get you anywhere that will make you happy in the future. And none of us are getting any younger, meaning it won't get easier. Do what you can, WHILE you can...Feel free to add me if you'd like! xo0 -
Natztastic wrote: »Liftng4Lis wrote: »Redbeard333 wrote: »It sounds counter-intuitive, but you have to eat to lose weight, and if you're limiting yourself to 1200 cal/day, PLUS exercise, your body isn't getting what it needs to fuel you properly. Another thing: if the zero scale works for you, great, but I would get rid of it. You need to know your actual numbers so that MFP can come up with an appropriate plan for you, including your daily intake goal. Don't be afraid of what it says, because with the right plan you won't see that number again! Additionally, expecting a loss of 3-5 pounds/week is unhealthy; you should be aiming for 1.5-2 pounds/week for healthy, sustainable loss.
My brief story: started mid-January at 286.8. I'm now at 208, and plan to be under 200 before the end of the year. I've been consistently logging for 250+ days, and use a Fitbit Charge to get an accurate view of my daily activity. While I don't necessarily lose every week, the trend is definitely downwards.
WRONG!
If you're not losing, you're not in a deficit. Can you unlock your diary?
Hey, I am losing but not at the rate I wanted, or expected really - again will the frequent visits to the gym.
Frequent visits to the gym don't necessarily equal a good high calorie burning workout, especially if you aren't giving the machines the correct, HONEST numbers it needs to work you to your fullest potential. I understand your fear, maybe acknowledging you have this fear is the first step to conquering it. Your challenge to yourself could simply be to start being honest with yourself, as scary as that might be. I do understand, my friend, and I'm not diminishing the terror you feel....but you can't live like that forever, that's giving those numbers TOO MUCH POWER!!! Take control of your life, you deserve that much! xo Big Hugs xo0 -
MommyL2015 wrote: »You know what, I refused to have a scale for a long time. I knew I was big, but did not want to face it and if I didn't know how much I weighed, I wouldn't have to face it. Then one day last spring, I took out a pair of jeans out of my drawer and put them on after a shower and started going about my day. I happened to catch something in the mirror and horrifyingly realized that I did not have on my own jeans--I had on my husband's. And they were almost tight.
I bought a scale and it woke me up completely. I am 5'1". I should not fit into my 180lb, 5'10" husband's jeans! Weigh yourself. You need a starting point and you need to know where you are starting from in order to know what you need to do.
OMG I've done the same thing!! And I hate that they looked better on me than my own do! (I'm 5'3, he's your hubs height and weight)0 -
Great job on the loss so far. As many others have said, losing over 1 pound a week is healthy, sustainable weight loss, so give yourself a pat on the back!
Here are my thoughts--You are very likely eating more calories than you think, and you are almost surely burning a lot fewer calories than you think. Without knowing your weight, your calorie burn can't be estimated accurately at all. Unless you're spending hours when you go to the gym, 800-900 calories seems VERY high to me. And as far as logging, you can't always trust those prepackaged serving sizes, and there's no way to really know how many calories you get when you eat out.
It looks like you're doing fine so far, other than having exaggerated expectations of losing 3-5pounds a week, but you're only working with partial information. I suggest taking a deep breath, stepping on a real scale, accepting whatever number you see, and moving forward.0 -
You might value taking a step back and dealing with the anxiety straight on, through either a cognitive behavioral or a mindful exercise.0
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I've read ... you don't need to exercise to lose weight but you do need to exercise to keep fit.
And if you are trying to build muscle, you cannot do that on a big deficit in calories.
Another thing about exercise is that your body gets used to it and you don't expend as much energy on it as you get better fit. Your lungs and heart don't work as hard, your muscles aren't strained as much ... in fact, your body takes that activity as par for the course and you have to do more, harder ... so you need to mix it up. If you lift weights, you need to increase the weights and drop back down on the number of reps. If you do cardio, you have to do more and longer cardio. You actually need to change your activity routine every couple of months. ... this is what I have learned from reading, and I hope it helps you get back to losing more.
Aside from that, 18 pounds in 3 months is admirable. Usually, you do not lose as fast as time goes on as you did in the very beginning. That big loss people get in the first week or two is usually due more to excess water being lost from your muscles and fat than on more muscle and less fat. As you improve your body structure, your muscle to fat ratio will shift ... and while muscle burns more energy than fat does, it's a very small percentage more. Keep at your plan.0 -
By the way, the weight loss game is not won on extra pain. Make sure you are enjoying this regimen because it will look about the same going forward. Are there exercises you don't enjoy? Change them. Is the diet sustainable? If not, bring new foods in.
You should be NETTING about 1,200 calories a day, which means eat more. That being said, I think you are over-estimating your calorie burn.
You don't get THAT many more calories from exercise. Exercise is for other things like fitness, endurance, strength, and vitality. It is good to have a routine that includes taking care of your body. But it doesn't give you SIGNIFICANT weight losses. In fact, when I increased my exercise significantly, my weight loss leveled off for a couple months. I had to decide if weight loss was my primary goal, or if it was fitness. Fitness won.0 -
Natztastic wrote: »I'm sorry or confusing people. I am currently at -36 lbs,this has been since last year, but I have lost 18 of those lbs since the end of July, basically 3 months.
When I say around 1200, yesterday I ate 1174, and burned 934 (according to MPF - according to the gym around half) the day before was my cheat meal where I had 2074 call and burned 834 at the gym. These are pretty consistent numbers.
I suppose my body feels a bit "tighter" having gone to the gym - but I think I would be too big to start gaining muscle over losing fat, but I don't know about that.
To the people who say I need to know my weight or I am babyish or whatever, I agree I also need to know, but trust me if I knew I think I would give up on the whole thing, knowing I have so far to go.
Thanks for all the replies so far, apart from the ones who were mean for no reason.
You will never know how much you're really burning if you don't know how much you weigh. You will never know how much you really should be eating if you don't know how much you weigh. You will continue to struggle (I say that loosely because you've lost weight at a good range so far) if you don't know how much you weigh. Stats are very important in weight loss.0 -
Natztastic wrote: »Natztastic wrote: »eat more to lose weight is bogus.
If you really think you are eating 1200 calories and you aren't losing weight chances are you are over estimating calorie burns and/or under estimating calories in.
Do you use a food scale?
Do you log consistently and accurately using that scale and the correct entries?
How do you measure calorie burns?
Do you eat back exercise calories?
1lb a week is a good consistent weight loss...nothing wrong with it. It's not like the weight suddenly appeared on your frame so it's not going to "suddenly" disappear either...it's take a while for you to put on the weight.
I eat 1800 calories a day @143lbs (lost 60) and still lose 1/4lb a week and I am happy with it (trying 140)
If you want to lose the weight do it...but stop making excuses and looking for reasons to give up. 18lbs is not "just not getting anywhere"
Hello,
Yes I always log accurately, to be honest I have a pretty hectic schedule so usually eat pre packaged foods with calorie definites.
My usual daily food is something like this;
Greek yogurt for breakfast 90 cals
cup a soup, multigrain snacks and you're for lunch 376 cals
Microwave healthy meal for dinner, multigrain bites, fruit and a bread roll around 750 cals
I do not eat back my excessive calories, so sometimes I end up at a 0 or negative calories.
This is actually a bit troublesome. You want your net to be as close to your goal, especially when you're only eating 1200 calories. Not eating some of them back (as burns are usually highly inaccurate, and I don't know what you're doing that would burn 1200+) can cause some serious health problems in the long run.
I didn't know I needed to eat back exercise calories, I thought it would be more calories burnt so therfore more weight lost.
It would be. In your case, I wouldn't suggest eating back exercise calories. You're losing slowly, adding more food in will slow it down even more. And you probably aren't burning as much as you think (800-900 calories is A LOT and doesn't sound realistic) especially since you don't even know how much you weigh in order to calculate how much you're burning. I think you should stick with what you're doing. Either you are eating a little more than you think or your cheat days are wiping out a good part of your deficit. Stick with what is working.0 -
I_Will_End_You wrote: »Natztastic wrote: »Natztastic wrote: »eat more to lose weight is bogus.
If you really think you are eating 1200 calories and you aren't losing weight chances are you are over estimating calorie burns and/or under estimating calories in.
Do you use a food scale?
Do you log consistently and accurately using that scale and the correct entries?
How do you measure calorie burns?
Do you eat back exercise calories?
1lb a week is a good consistent weight loss...nothing wrong with it. It's not like the weight suddenly appeared on your frame so it's not going to "suddenly" disappear either...it's take a while for you to put on the weight.
I eat 1800 calories a day @143lbs (lost 60) and still lose 1/4lb a week and I am happy with it (trying 140)
If you want to lose the weight do it...but stop making excuses and looking for reasons to give up. 18lbs is not "just not getting anywhere"
Hello,
Yes I always log accurately, to be honest I have a pretty hectic schedule so usually eat pre packaged foods with calorie definites.
My usual daily food is something like this;
Greek yogurt for breakfast 90 cals
cup a soup, multigrain snacks and you're for lunch 376 cals
Microwave healthy meal for dinner, multigrain bites, fruit and a bread roll around 750 cals
I do not eat back my excessive calories, so sometimes I end up at a 0 or negative calories.
This is actually a bit troublesome. You want your net to be as close to your goal, especially when you're only eating 1200 calories. Not eating some of them back (as burns are usually highly inaccurate, and I don't know what you're doing that would burn 1200+) can cause some serious health problems in the long run.
I didn't know I needed to eat back exercise calories, I thought it would be more calories burnt so therfore more weight lost.
It would be. In your case, I wouldn't suggest eating back exercise calories. You're losing slowly, adding more food in will slow it down even more. And you probably aren't burning as much as you think (800-900 calories is A LOT and doesn't sound realistic) especially since you don't even know how much you weigh in order to calculate how much you're burning. I think you should stick with what you're doing. Either you are eating a little more than you think or your cheat days are wiping out a good part of your deficit. Stick with what is working.
I agree. You are losing at a good rate right now. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.0 -
Hey, well done on what you have lost already. That amount of weight is substantial so congrats !!! Listen to the person above, not eating enough at the wrong time can be detrimental. For example, not eating breakfast after being asleep for hours will only encourage your body to lay down fat later when you do eat as it knows it has to prepare the long periods of fasting that you do. The other response above saying that you wont gain weight by not eating isn't true based on the above but they are correct in saying that you need to eat less calories than you burn. Both are correct, eat small amounts throughout the day rather than eating big meals (particularly at night) and eat less calories than you burn.
As for your target calories, I have found My Fitness Pal pretty good at predicting the calorie target for you. But it does need your actual weight and target weight loss to be effective. I understand your reluctance but it will help. Its about eating enough but not too little as this can slow down your results.
As for the exercise. Going to the gym will not burn significant calories but heavy workouts will. Think less about the time spent exercising and more about the efforts. 25 minutes of interval running on a treadmill will do as much as 45 minute running at a slow pace. if you are pushed for time this can be very helpful.
Fyi, intervals are running at an effort (at a speed where it can be somewhat sustained but not where you could carry a conversation while running) mixed with a recovery. A typical interval workout would be a 5-10 min warm up followed by 4 x 3 min effort with a 3 min recovery (running or walking at a recovery rate) between each one. That's no more than 30 minutes. It doesn't have to be running it can be any exercise such as an elliptical or bike. I just like running :-)
Make sure you eat within an hour or so before the workout. You need energy to exercise and follow up with some protein and sugar to get your blood sugar level back and to help muscle repair following the workout. A small chocolate milk is a great option. Fyi, this workout depending on your size can work off about 500 calories.
Again, congrats on the results so far and best of luck. Im sure with the momentum you already have that you will get to where you want0 -
Robkelly2807 wrote: »Hey, well done on what you have lost already. That amount of weight is substantial so congrats !!! Listen to the person above, not eating enough at the wrong time can be detrimental. For example, not eating breakfast after being asleep for hours will only encourage your body to lay down fat later when you do eat as it knows it has to prepare the long periods of fasting that you do. The other response above saying that you wont gain weight by not eating isn't true based on the above but they are correct in saying that you need to eat less calories than you burn. Both are correct, eat small amounts throughout the day rather than eating big meals (particularly at night) and eat less calories than you burn.
FIFY.0 -
It sounds like you have lots of great support and many replies here... I just want to add a little to encourage you.
I am 31 and have yo-yo'd with my weight my entire life. Not just as an adult, as an adolescent too. My mother thought I was "fat" as a kid and helped add to my fears and complex relating to my body and food... It's not her fault, she did the best that she knew how (though it took some time for me to stop blaming her
).
It wasn't until a few years ago that I really got myself in check. I got on a scale at my Mother-in-law's house (the first time I'd stepped on a scale in a long time) and I saw that I had ballooned to 314 pounds (~143 kg).
That was almost 10 years ago.
Since then, I have lost, gained, yo-yo'd, crash-dieted, succeeded, and failed.
About two years ago, I had struggled my way to around 260 pounds, was divorced and miserable... I had been diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease (an autoimmune disorder) and it became my excuse for EVERYTHING... weight loss, gain, starvation, whatever.
One day, I decided I had enough. I took some "Day 1" pictures, and since then I have worked my way toward the 198 lbs that I am today. It hasn't been easy... I've gained and lost (we went to see my boyfriend's family a while back and I gained *10 lbs* in less than 10 days!) ... but ultimately, I am working toward my goal, slowly but surely.
There are a few things that have been key for *ME*, and I hope they can help you in finding what works well for *YOU*.
1) Never do anything to lose weight or get in shape that you're unwilling to do for the rest of your life.
2) Hydrate... when you're happy; hydrate. When you're sad; hydrate. When you're tired; hydrate.
3) All calories are NOT created equal. 100 calories of fruit are very different than 100 calories of cookies for more reasons that the obvious... give your body a chance to LOVE good food.
4) Fat does not make you fat. Use olive oil, eat bacon... just make the right choices and portion reasonably.
5) Do this for you, my sweet friend. This is your body, your life, your existence, and you only get *ONE*. Make it count.
Love,
Kate (Brumanatious)0 -
mrsnazario1219 wrote: »Natztastic wrote: »I'm sorry or confusing people. I am currently at -36 lbs,this has been since last year, but I have lost 18 of those lbs since the end of July, basically 3 months.
When I say around 1200, yesterday I ate 1174, and burned 934 (according to MPF - according to the gym around half) the day before was my cheat meal where I had 2074 call and burned 834 at the gym. These are pretty consistent numbers.
I suppose my body feels a bit "tighter" having gone to the gym - but I think I would be too big to start gaining muscle over losing fat, but I don't know about that.
To the people who say I need to know my weight or I am babyish or whatever, I agree I also need to know, but trust me if I knew I think I would give up on the whole thing, knowing I have so far to go.
Thanks for all the replies so far, apart from the ones who were mean for no reason.
You will never know how much you're really burning if you don't know how much you weigh. You will never know how much you really should be eating if you don't know how much you weigh. You will continue to struggle (I say that loosely because you've lost weight at a good range so far) if you don't know how much you weigh. Stats are very important in weight loss.
That is a bunch of garbage. I already provided a system for determining TDEE accurately. More accurately then plugging your weight into an online estimator. The only problem with my system is that you may spend the first 6 weeks spinning your wheels, but after that you are golden.
Once you know TDEE and you know how many calories to add/subtract to force the rate of change you want, nothing else matters. Knowing your weight is important to make sure you don't overshoot, but that isn't the problem here. If we were talking about someone who was a healthy weight and wanted to lose 20lb, I'd wonder what they actually weigh. If we have someone who is visibly obese then they have a lot of time to get over their fears. There is no reason to discourage someone now by saying they HAVE to do something when they really don't.0 -
brumanatious wrote: »It sounds like you have lots of great support and many replies here... I just want to add a little to encourage you.
I am 31 and have yo-yo'd with my weight my entire life. Not just as an adult, as an adolescent too. My mother thought I was "fat" as a kid and helped add to my fears and complex relating to my body and food... It's not her fault, she did the best that she knew how (though it took some time for me to stop blaming her).
It wasn't until a few years ago that I really got myself in check. I got on a scale at my Mother-in-law's house (the first time I'd stepped on a scale in a long time) and I saw that I had ballooned to 314 pounds (~143 kg).
That was almost 10 years ago.
Since then, I have lost, gained, yo-yo'd, crash-dieted, succeeded, and failed.
About two years ago, I had struggled my way to around 260 pounds, was divorced and miserable... I had been diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease (an autoimmune disorder) and it became my excuse for EVERYTHING... weight loss, gain, starvation, whatever.
One day, I decided I had enough. I took some "Day 1" pictures, and since then I have worked my way toward the 198 lbs that I am today. It hasn't been easy... I've gained and lost (we went to see my boyfriend's family a while back and I gained *10 lbs* in less than 10 days!) ... but ultimately, I am working toward my goal, slowly but surely.
There are a few things that have been key for *ME*, and I hope they can help you in finding what works well for *YOU*.
1) Never do anything to lose weight or get in shape that you're unwilling to do for the rest of your life.
2) Hydrate... when you're happy; hydrate. When you're sad; hydrate. When you're tired; hydrate.
3) All calories are NOT created equal. 100 calories of fruit are very different than 100 calories of cookies for more reasons that the obvious... give your body a chance to LOVE good food.
4) Fat does not make you fat. Use olive oil, eat bacon... just make the right choices and portion reasonably.
5) Do this for you, my sweet friend. This is your body, your life, your existence, and you only get *ONE*. Make it count.
Love,
Kate (Brumanatious)
Excellent post!0 -
Natztastic wrote: »allenpriest wrote: »22 months
115+ pounds - so far
Slow and steady has worked for me. But I think you need to get real with yourself. This idea of not wanting to know your weight because it will discourage you sounds pretty childish.
Grow up and get real. Make a solid commitment and a solid plan that you can do permanently. The motivation has to come from you. If you are not sick and tired of your old way so that you are willing to make any changes necessary then you are probably just playing with this.
So you need to really decide.
Wow that's so impressive, well done.
Childish it may be but not something I can face.
The motivation I have! That's my issue, fair enough if I hadn't been bothering to go to the gym or eating crap but hoping the gym would would fix it, but this hasn't been the case. Maybe I have just been too optimistic.
You really have to get a grip on the anxiety n I say that not to give you a hard time but as someone who has been there too. I was eating as self medicating the emotional issues. So every time it started losing the anxiety issues drove me to sabotage my efforts. So I stopped trying to deal with weight and focused on the emotional stuff. That took a while. But it got me to the place where I could deal with weight with a healthy approach. And I'm now confident that I can do this successfully for life.
Get Lose It For Life by Steve Arterburn. It will help.0
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