Discouraged - week 1
xoccerlvr
Posts: 8 Member
I need to lose 40+pounds.
Last week I committed to 1. tracking food to generate better awareness of what I'm eating and 2. Trying to move more.
I had a couple cheats on the eating front (and one really bad day) but I thought I was doing OK. Eating a lot of real food, fruits, veg, lean meat. Avoiding processed foods. I'm not really enjoying eating healthy, but I'm doing it.
But I gained 0.8 lbs and I'm bummed.
Last week I committed to 1. tracking food to generate better awareness of what I'm eating and 2. Trying to move more.
I had a couple cheats on the eating front (and one really bad day) but I thought I was doing OK. Eating a lot of real food, fruits, veg, lean meat. Avoiding processed foods. I'm not really enjoying eating healthy, but I'm doing it.
But I gained 0.8 lbs and I'm bummed.
0
Replies
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1. 0.8 lbs is within normal weight fluctuations. I change that much up or down on a daily basis. You want the general long term trend to be down.
2. Any meal plan you don't enjoy isn't one that is sustainable.
3. To lose weight you need a calorie deficit. That's all. Personally, I eat low carb because I find it easier to maintain a deficit that way (in a post-babies, sleep deprived world). But before kids I easily lost almost 50 lbs just counting calories and only eating treats when I had room for them in my meal plan.
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seriously? one week? Hang in there, Champ! Read these: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest
Find healthy foods that you actually enjoy. Experiment with recipes. You will lose and sometimes you will gain. It's okay - focus on eating at a caloric deficit. What you choose to eat is up to you. Best of luck and this is a long journey. You must be committed and consistent and in it for the long haul to be successful.7 -
Chin up! Its only week 1!
Tracking for general awareness won't help lose weight if you're eating too much. Tracking and keeping within a set limit is what you need. Set mfp to sedentary and 1 lb per week loss, and keep within that limit.
Make sure you weigh your food in grams on a digital scale and measure liquids in ml using a measuring jug. Don't use cups as measuring tools - highly inaccurate. Log drinks too.2 -
0.8 lbs is most likely just a normal weight fluctuation. Some days, I'm up 1 or 2 pounds from the day before, and the next day, I drop back down. It's totally fine and normal. Also, as another poster said, if you aren't liking what you are eating, don't eat it. This isn't "a diet", it's a lifestyle change. If you make it a diet, when you reach your goal you'll go back to foods you actually like to eat, and you will gain the weight right back. Your lifestyle has to be your own, not what the media would have you believe is healthy, which is quite literally only vegetables. You don't need to banish all the foods you like. All you really need to do is log your foods and remain in a deficit. CICO, calories in need to be less than calories out. That's all. Try to get a food scale as well, because eyeballing will do you no good.8
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I need to lose 40+pounds.
Last week I committed to 1. tracking food to generate better awareness of what I'm eating and 2. Trying to move more.
I had a couple cheats on the eating front (and one really bad day) but I thought I was doing OK. Eating a lot of real food, fruits, veg, lean meat. Avoiding processed foods. I'm not really enjoying eating healthy, but I'm doing it.
But I gained 0.8 lbs and I'm bummed.
1) You know that you can eat whatever you want so long as you're in a deficit, right? If you don't like certain vegetables, chicken, fruits, etc., don't fekking eat them! All food is "real" food - unless you found that imaginary, calorie-free ice cream I've been dreaming of?
2) Weight fluctuates a LOT day to day due to a variety of reasons. Drinking a lot of water and eating dinner = I weighed about six pounds more than I did that morning. This morning I was back down. Just relax, OP.
3) It's been A WEEK. Weight loss takes patience and time. None of us got to our starting weights overnight, and the weight sure as hell won't come off any quicker.7 -
1- 40+ pounds is a huge goal. Make sure you write down WHY you want to lose weight and keep it somewhere that you can see it every single day. This way you stay motivated.
2- Since it's only been one week and you're not liking your food options already, try to find some healthy recipes that you'll enjoy. Otherwise you're not going to last very long.
3- Remember to keep track of what you eat! Simply eating real food does not cause weight loss. You can still gain weight from overeating anything, healthy or not. Find out how many calories you need to lose weight and keep track of it. Don't guess on this! Some people will cut too many calories and get weight loss for a while but then hit a plateau...
Keep moving forward!5 -
Well you can undo your deficit by having a very bad day7
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"real" food will give you nutrition and help with overall health but at the end of the day its about CICO. By modifying my calorie intake and becoming fit I lost over 50 pounds here. A slight deficit and honest logging will work. Please stick with it! I alway say "this isn't a diet, its a lifestyle change...diets end and this doesn't". I never miss a meal and have a mid morning snack. I never starve myself I just re-trained myself to eat proper portions of good food.3
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1. You seem to have taken a gradual approach, which is fine as long as you have realistic expectations. Tracking your food and trying to move more are good beginning steps, but they aren't going to generate much, if anything, in the way of weight loss.
2. You say you committed to doing this last week. Do you mean you only committed for a week? Are you committed to doing whatever it takes to reach your goal as fast as possible so that you can go back to your old comfortable habits? Or are you committed to changing how you eat, move, think, and live to allow yourself to achieve and maintain a level of health that allows you to do the things you want to do?
3. Losing weight depends on eating fewer calories than you burn through daily activities and conscious exercise. While eating real foods and avoiding processed foods may or may not be meaningful to improving your overall health, they are irrelevant to weight loss. Trying to lose weight by eating in a way that you do not enjoy is going to lead, at best, to some very temporary results. Set a calorie goal and measure your food using a food scale, then evaluate your results.
4. As others have noted, a gain of 0.8 pounds is inconsequential - definitely not something over which to get discouraged. If the scale affects you in this way, you might want to look at alternate ways of tracking your progress, such as measurements or how your clothing fits.
Good luck to you!2 -
The week was not a total loss (pun intended).
You learned: If your tracking was accurate, the amount of calories it takes to maintain your present weight. Subtract 500/day from that to lose 1 lb a week.
You learned: "Trying to move more" is not the same as "I will briskly walk 20 minutes three days this week". Yoda was not impressed with any sort of "trying"
You learned: You have selected a "diet" not a lifestyle. You will not stick with anything you don't enjoy long enough for it to make any real changes in your life or weight.
Rethink your "commitment". Perhaps your expectations are based on TV shows instead of real facts. Research this site and ask questions. The real winners at the losing game are right here.8 -
If you're going to get discouraged after one week, you have a really tough road ahead of you. Weight loss is a long term proposition. And it is not linear, meaning some weeks you will lose, some weeks you won't, and some weeks you will gain. Even if you do everything perfect. That's real life.
In order to lose weight, you need to commit to the long term. Get a food scale, and log everything, everyday. Do a little homework to make sure you are choosing accurate entries in the database. And judge your success in terms of weeks and months, not days. With 40+ lbs to lose, this will probably take a year or even more. Accept that in that beginning, commit to establishing the habits you need to succeed, and have faith that eventually your body will get there. Best of luck2 -
I use this thought process a lot to get me thru my weight loss journey. How do you eat an elephant? The same way you eat anything else, one bite at a time. Take it one day at a time. This didn't happen over night so it wont unhappen over night. Set small goals so you don't get overwhelmed or discouraged.3
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You probably won't know for at least a month what your actual weekly weight loss trend is since, as others have mentioned, our weight can fluctuate pretty drastically on a day-to-day basis. But there are a couple of other more concerning things in your post. A couple of "cheats" and a "really bad day" can negate your calorie deficit for the week. Rather than "cheating", work those things into your calorie allowance for the day. Also, it isn't wise to try to overhaul your entire diet overnight. Achieving a calorie deficit is challenging enough without the added stress of having to eat certain foods. Eat what you enjoy, but do be mindful that achieving your macro goals (protein, fat, & fiber) will be the key to you feeling satisfied. As time goes on, you might gradually add new foods you enjoy that help you meet those goals, or drop foods that just don't satisfy you enough for the calories, but that doesn't have to happen overnight. I've been at this over a year (and lost 40 lbs) and my food choices are still a work in progress. You have plenty of time. Just worry about hitting your calorie allowance for now.2
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Also should add, it's very helpful to acquire some active friends who are meeting their goals and raid their food diaries for food ideas/products you might enjoy.0
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I need to lose 40+pounds.
Last week I committed to 1. tracking food to generate better awareness of what I'm eating and 2. Trying to move more.
I had a couple cheats on the eating front (and one really bad day) but I thought I was doing OK. Eating a lot of real food, fruits, veg, lean meat. Avoiding processed foods. I'm not really enjoying eating healthy, but I'm doing it.
But I gained 0.8 lbs and I'm bummed.
Tell us what you think of as "eating healthy". Healthy doesn't have to translate to Plain even though we often approach it that way. I see your list of real food - the secret may be in the preparation. Lean meat. for example, CAN be dry - but if you cook it in moist heat, or crock-pot, or marinade/grill, or even cube for soups and stews along with your vegetables and nice seasoning you can start to enjoy.
Skipping the beer/wine may be tough if that was part of your regular routine - I had to do that and didn't like one little bit! For me that made me become aware that I had probably been drinking too much in the first place, so a good wake-up call on multiple fronts! I say IF it was part of your routine so please don't be offended. It could just as easily be a problem with soft drinks or sweet tea!0 -
If you don't like the food that you are now eating you are setting yourself up for failure. It maybe easier for you to just practice more portion control when starting and work in healthier options that you like over time. You didn't gain 40+ pounds overnight or even a week so don't set unrealistic goals and be too impatient for results. Slow and steady wins the game, this isn't about dieting it's about long term habits.1
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I know how it is lost 20# beginning of the year and gained back ten its a sad story lol. But that's what I get for doing a very low cal diet now I'm struggling with snacking. My meals are on point but dam snacking I tell ya1
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If you're feeling discouraged after 1 week, you need to re-evaluate what you're eating. Aim for 1-2 lbs a week (whatever gives you more calories to be happy with) and eat things that you enjoy. As long as you don't go over the calorie limit, you'll still lose. You need weight loss to be sustainable so you don't feel this way after just 1 week.1
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1. 0.8 lbs is within normal weight fluctuations. I change that much up or down on a daily basis. You want the general long term trend to be down.
2. Any meal plan you don't enjoy isn't one that is sustainable.
3. To lose weight you need a calorie deficit. That's all. Personally, I eat low carb because I find it easier to maintain a deficit that way (in a post-babies, sleep deprived world). But before kids I easily lost almost 50 lbs just counting calories and only eating treats when I had room for them in my meal plan.
^^this^^
OP, it's only been a week. Commit to at least 6 weeks of a calorie deficit and see where that brings you.
Also, as pp have stated, one bad day can knock out your deficit for the week. How are you tracking your food? Are you using a food scale?1 -
You didn't fail. You learned things. One is that trying to eat healthy foods only. Three cheats in a week is sure sign that this is not a great plan for you. As long as you are in a calorie deficit, you will lose weight. It will take time.
I stay within my calories and hit close to my macros, but my diet is not super clean. I haven't outlawed foods so I'm not cheating.2
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