So discouraged

echelonokie

I'm not really sure that I will get a reply to everyone that replied, but I'll try here. I'm not really sure how to make it show I've replied to a specific person.

@Anniegail - I have to be VERY careful with those. I have a milk allergy and most are made with milk and if I do soy, well...too many of them and they screw with my system. I tried this plant-based one from Whole Foods and OMG it was disgusting! Couldn't get the grainy out of it. Any suggestions on non-dairy ones that are good would be great help!

As far as the eating out goes, my son sees doctors and therapists in another town that's about 45 minutes from us. So there are definitely days when it's either eat out or don't eat at all. We go to the buffet because my son actually NEEDS to eat more food (go figure lol). And I make sure to watch the amounts and sizes of the chicken breast I eat.

It's all VERY VERY confusing. "Don't eat back your burned calories", "Eat them back, but only eat half of them back", "Eat all of your burned calories back, you're already at a deficit". If I'm already under my calorie goal at the end of the day and I work out, I'm going to be even MORE under it! I honestly, on most days, can't eat what it's saying I need to eat when I exercise.

Everyone says drink more water. lol I think I'll float away. The only thing I drink usually, if I don't drink water, is unsweeted iced tea.

I do need to add more veggies and fruits and that's something I'm working on, but man it's hard. hehe

echelonokie

Okay, to those who mentioned the sodium. I went back and activated "sodium" in the diary tracker and HOLY COW! I didn't realize that I was getting THAT much. I don't salt anything ever, so getting that much sodium per day completely blew me away. That is definitely something I will be watching more closely!

pattypraises

Have you tried adding watermelon and cantaloupe to your meals? I think they are sort of secret weapons. You can eat a lot and get real full for very few calories, but lots of fiber and vitamins! Maybe also try drinking lots of water. I need to be better at the water myself. But it's easy does it, one day at the time for all of us who struggle. Don't get discouraged! Just decide that you are glad to be eating more healthy foods and being more active. Those are great changes!!!

TS65

Okay, to those who mentioned the sodium. I went back and activated "sodium" in the diary tracker and HOLY COW! I didn't realize that I was getting THAT much. I don't salt anything ever, so getting that much sodium per day completely blew me away. That is definitely something I will be watching more closely!

LOL! It's eye opening isn't it?!? I'm sure if you watch that for a couple of days and drink lots of water, you'll see those Lbs disappear pronto!

faely

I have to watch sugar intake because I'm diabetic. In order to incorporate more fruits and veggies into my 'diet' (i hate that word) I researched filling fruits with low sugar content. Answer? Berries. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries etc. For example, a medium strawberry has only 4 calories. A favorite snack is low fat greek yogurt with those three berries I mix in (real berries, not the fruit-in-bottom types of yogurts). Tastes so yummy and very good for me but low calorie. If I need to add calories I use Honey flavor greek yogurt instead of plain with a no calorie sweetner. This little snack fills me up, the yogurt = protein, and I get great benefits from the fruit i.e. antioxidents from the blueberries. With your milk allergy I don't know if this combo will work for you, but at the very least, you can eat small handfulls of these fruits. Keep some in baggies in the fridge and then when you have to go out, you'll have a great snack to take with you that both you and your son can enjoy that will be much healthier.

I also ate fried chicken a lot at buffets and there are better items in a buffet. You just have to eat them. Baked chicken is a start. Fish is great for you, etc.

I also agree with tossing your scale. (personal scale, not food scale as someone else mentioned). It is much easier on the mind if you don't focus on lbs but focus on how you feel and how your clothes fit. Add in some strength training (you can do this with just your body weight) and you'll feel better.

For the confusion on whether or not to eat back your exercise calories, it depends on what method you use. There's tons of links in here already on what the differences are between the MFP method (eating back your calories) and the TDEE method (calculating calories based on activity lvl and then eating that amount of calories every day regardless of whether or not you work out). It took me a long time to wrap my head around 'eat more to lose' too. It works though. Think of it this way, the more you burn the more fuel you need.

Good luck on your journey and don't get discouraged by the scale. It really isn't anyone's friend. Mostly it's just an evil minion playing mindgames with you to sabotage your goals. :flowerforyou:

Bobbie8786

I am not one of the "eat more" people either. Looking at a few pages of your diary would indicate you eat out a lot. Personally, I found the only way I can lose weight is to cook from scratch as much as possible. I work 2 jobs and have only 1 day off a week so I know how hard it is to find time to cook but I just do not trust restaurant and packaged food calories to be all that accurate. I do confess that I don't really exercise much (I can legitimately say I have little time for that) but I have been losing 1-1/2 to 2 pounds a week on 1400-1500 calories a day.