Same weight since october! Help

NotGoingDown90

I dont know what im doing wrong but here is my story. I have a toddller and i graduated college in june. I weighed 128 at 5'1 at that time but i decided to travel to the state where my parents live and spend the summer with them and thats when my bad eating habits started. I went from 128 to 146 in a very short time due to me eating fast food a few times a week and drinking sodas. before that trip i had not drank any soda or any other drinks than water and orange juice for over 2 years! Anyways it took me a while since i came back in november to stop the habit of eating fast food and since january i probably ate fast food 3-4 times and when i do i eat the smallest amount compared to before. I have been in the gym since january also and i go 3-4 times a week and do mostly workout on the machines like lifting (im a 27 year old woman) i definitely got muscles in certain areas but im still over weight and its all in the same spot. My bottom, i get made fun of alot for that since all our friends are either health or carry their weight better than i do. Im sorry for this long post but i have been counting calories and working out and drinking 8 cups of water minimum a day and i really dont like how i look right now and i want to have some kind of change done before the summer starts. I also know not to focus on the scale so i bought measuring tape to measure different areas and they are still the same, nothing changed at all and i want to give up! i eat 1300 calories a day sometimes a little more but i work it out the next day and have a fit bit and average 12k steps a day, this last week however ive been getting 16k+ because im challenging friends. HELP

ilex70

So if I have this straight:

27 years old
5'1
146 pounds

You say you have been this weight since October. Have you been eating 1300 calories a day and walking an average of 12K steps since October? Or for some shorter period of time?

NotGoingDown90

On and off from october until januaray. In jan is when i really started getting serious about counting calories and using my fitbit but i feel like i should see some change in the last 6 weeks. I feel like sometimes i might be doing the calorie counting wrong because im origianlly from a different country and we eat different foods. Almost all our food contains bread or rice or both. Maybe im under estimating? i bought a food scale a week ago and have been trying to calculate things better. I know it has to be something im doing wrong i just cant pin point it

ilex70

Rice can be particularly tricky. You need to weigh the dry rice to get an accurate measure.

There is a video that gets posted often showing how different the amount of food can be using careful weighing vs. other methods.

NotGoingDown90

Thank you,i will check that out. Do you have any other advice for me?

ilex70

My best advice is to find the foods that you enjoy, that satisfy you and help you keep within your calorie range. If you don't feel deprived it is much easier to keep going.

Didn't find the video, though I'm sure it is around here somewhere.

I did find the thread by another poster who was struggling with a plateau and the discussion lead around to the proper measurement of rice. Might be helpful.

community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332947/two-month-plateau-despite-caloric-deficit-exercise-food-pics-included/p1

No need to share if you don't care to, but rice + bread makes me think Indian food. Could be Greek/Arabic though I suppose.

There was a recent thread re:good Indian diet that you might search for if that is any interest. Someone recommended a vegan Indian cookbook that I've added to my Amazon wish list because I really like most Indian food. We have a favorite local buffet and know which days are the "good" days.

booksandchocolate12

When people think that they're doing everything right, or know something is off but don't know what it is, I always post this chart, courtesy of @lemonlionheart:

NotGoingDown90

Wow both you guys are very helpful and gave great advice, im going to try it out and come back and update in a month on this thread.