CAN THE HEAT SLOW PROGRESS?

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riahb2012
riahb2012 Posts: 27 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone! I have been eating well and exercising for around 2 and a half months now, I lost 9lbs in the beginning, but now I can't seem to shift any more?! Yes I slip up now and then, but not enough to really affect weight gain, I'm hoping maybe the hot summer weather here has something to do with it? As in water retention making me look fat and flabby! :(
Does anyone have any advice please?! I'm at a loss here and really starting to get down about it, surely I should be much slimmer by now, but theres barely a change in my physical appearance! PLEASE HELP!
Calorie intake-1200-1400 a day
Current weight-217lbs
Thanks everyone!
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Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
    edited July 2016
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    riahb2012 wrote: »
    Hi everyone! I have been eating well and exercising for around 2 and a half months now, I lost 9lbs in the beginning, but now I can't seem to shift any more?! Yes I slip up now and then, but not enough to really affect weight gain, I'm hoping maybe the hot summer weather here has something to do with it? As in water retention making me look fat and flabby! :(
    Does anyone have any advice please?! I'm at a loss here and really starting to get down about it, surely I should be much slimmer by now, but theres barely a change in my physical appearance! PLEASE HELP!
    Calorie intake-1200-1400 a day
    Current weight-217lbs
    Thanks everyone!

    Well, I generally lose more weight in the summer because I am more active and make different food choices.

    1. How much fluid are you drinking per day? Oddly, you retain more water when you are not drinking enough.
    2. How tall are you?

    There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
  • riahb2012
    riahb2012 Posts: 27 Member
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    Hi @amyrebeccah! Sorry I don't understand your reply, we?
    Do you mean I could be making logging errors? I don't think I am, I'm pretty good with logging accurately, which is another reason why its so frustrating! :(
  • riahb2012
    riahb2012 Posts: 27 Member
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    @kshama2001 I'm 5"6 and drinking around 3-4 litres a day, and I will change my diary settings, thankyou for your advice!
  • ryry_
    ryry_ Posts: 4,966 Member
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    riahb2012 wrote: »
    Hi everyone! I have been eating well and exercising for around 2 and a half months now, I lost 9lbs in the beginning, but now I can't seem to shift any more?! Yes I slip up now and then, but not enough to really affect weight gain, I'm hoping maybe the hot summer weather here has something to do with it? As in water retention making me look fat and flabby! :(
    Does anyone have any advice please?! I'm at a loss here and really starting to get down about it, surely I should be much slimmer by now, but theres barely a change in my physical appearance! PLEASE HELP!
    Calorie intake-1200-1400 a day
    Current weight-217lbs
    Thanks everyone!

    I can only speak from personal experience but for the past 3 years the scale basically comes to a stand still once it starts getting hot and doesn't normalize for a while.

    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-body-wieght-ambient-temperature/

  • riahb2012
    riahb2012 Posts: 27 Member
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    @ryry62685 I really think it does!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    riahb2012 wrote: »
    @kshama2001 I'm 5"6 and drinking around 3-4 litres a day, and I will change my diary settings, thankyou for your advice!

    I'm your height. I guarantee you that you are inadvertently eating more than 1200-1400 calories per day. I lose a pound a week on 1400 calories per day before exercise, and I exercise, and therefore eat more than 1400.

    Studies show people commonly underestimate their food and overestimate their exercise. What percent of your exercise calories are you eating back?
  • riahb2012
    riahb2012 Posts: 27 Member
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    @kshama2001 I try not to eat them back if im honest, im clearly going wrong somewhere, im thinking it could be my dinners, im estimating and not weighing the foods, it must be that as I know for sure i do great during the day, its when the evening comes its harder for me, sitting relaxing, bored etc.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Yes, do weigh more of your foods, especially high calorie foods like mayo, butter, and peanut butter. These are easy to weigh by putting on the scale, zeroing it out, then taking what you want. The negative number is the amount of grams. Weighing ALL your solid foods is ideal, and I find it faster than using measuring cups or spoons.

    I see three Sundays in a row that aren't logged. What's up with that? Are these cheat days? Those can undo all your progress.
  • riahb2012
    riahb2012 Posts: 27 Member
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    @kshama2001 @amyrebeccah yes the sundays are usually my cheat days, and with the peanut butter, mayo and butter and tea I do weigh all that out, thinking about it I think I need to go easier on my cheat days, I have alot of trouble with temptation, and stress leads me to eat, thats my go to thing when im stressed, I need more cast irom will power, but I don't know how! :( and thanks for your advice guys, you're really helping! Xx
  • mycoffeetherapy
    mycoffeetherapy Posts: 15 Member
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    With heat in the 90's it is not too safe to overdo it. Water Water Water is so important. Keep to fresh veggies you can eat more without calories adding up. I also freeze my fruits so I have "ice cream" on those hot days.
  • bakemma
    bakemma Posts: 161 Member
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    Long you cheat days. Weigh everything. Thats it. If you do that you'll have success. Feel free to add me if you want to check out my diary and have some extra support :)
  • Ricksh1000
    Ricksh1000 Posts: 88 Member
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    riahb2012 wrote: »
    im thinking it could be my dinners, im estimating and not weighing the foods, it must be that as I know for sure i do great during the day, its when the evening comes its harder for me, sitting relaxing, bored etc.

    Before using MFP and weighing everything, i used to guesstimate everything. Biggest shock for me was breakfast... I'd had porrige (plus seeds, raisins etc) for breakfast for years. It was only when i used MFP and weighed everything that it really hit home how many calories i was having every morning :o

  • tlflag1620
    tlflag1620 Posts: 1,358 Member
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    I do notice I retain more water in hotter weather, no matter how much water I drink. That said, if you are 5' 6" and 217 lbs, you should be losing on 1200-1400 cal per day, regardless of water retention. I'm with @kshama2001 on this one - weigh more of your foods, especially calorie dense items, and log those cheat days (it's okay to eat at maintenance once a week, if it helps you adhere better the rest of the time, but it is easy to blow your weekly deficit if you don't log your cheat day - you could go well over maintenance!).

    As for stress eating - try to find nonfood stress reducers. Exercise is the obvious choice, but also things like knitting, coloring, video games, taking a nice relaxing bath, etc. anything that keeps your hands busy really. The problem with using food for stress is that when you over eat, you then feel MORE stressed, and guilty to boot. You may find you have more willpower in the evenings if you eat lighter during the day and actually save enough calories to have a late night "treat". Also focus on getting enough fat, fiber, and protein. Those are the more filling foods that can help bolster will power (hard to feel tempted when you are full of steak and butter, lol). Consider slowing your rate of loss (if you are set to lose 2 lbs per week, try shooting for 1.5 lbs instead, you may find yourself less tempted if you have more calories to work with every day). But definitely be more accurate in your logging, and log those cheat days, no matter how bad they are. At the very least you won't have to ask "why" if you aren't getting the results you want.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
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    If you feel your cheat days are derailing your progress, consider making room for those foods into your every day logging. That way, you enjoy your favourites and stay within your calories.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
    edited July 2016
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    DeviatedNorm wrote: »
    At minimum, you need to start logging your cheat days.

    Cosigned. Not saying not to have cheat days, but you need to know what they are costing you.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    DeviatedNorm wrote: »
    At minimum, you need to start logging your cheat days.

    Cosigned. Not saying not to have cheat days, but you need to know what they are costing you.

    This.

    I've destroyed any progress with unlogged cheat days.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,919 Member
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    If you're having trouble logging everything in your diary consider closing it till you get things under control.

    While there is SOME point in keeping a diary for the good days.. there is an even bigger point in keeping a diary on bad days.

    Just logging the food sometimes makes you stop. And it is sobering to see how you quickly can blast through several days of effort!
  • riahb2012
    riahb2012 Posts: 27 Member
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    Thank you everyone for your fantastic advice! I will start logging cheat days and get stricter with weighing foods, thanks again! X

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