Help! A little confused and frustrated!

Briacha
Briacha Posts: 160 Member
edited November 14 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone. I have been on this journey for approx. 130 days. I've lost 21 pounds so far. I am 5'2 and I weigh 186.6 currently. I'd like to lose an additional 56 pounds. I know slow and steady wins the race, but with that said here is my dilemma in a nutshell!!!

I did not gain over the holidays, stayed under my caloric intake (1200) and kept to exercising (walking atleast 30 min per day / 5-7 x week). Now, for the last 4 weeks, I've remained basically the same weight, up or down 1/2 ounces.

Is my body "used to" what I am doing? Should I be eating more? I have high blood pressure and my Dr really encourages walking, so I def do not want to change that. Besides exercising my body, the brisk outdoor walks really helps the mind as well!

I totally do not understand the macros and stuff. But, I do make sure I hit my protein goal and eat pretty good. A ton of veggies, chickpeas and chicken! I drink atleast 7-10 glasses of water per day and if I have a snack, it's a handful of chips or pepperoni/cheese (which I count out, etc.)

I would appreciate any tips/advise on what I should be doing to help myself along this journey!
thank you in advance :)
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Replies

  • Briacha
    Briacha Posts: 160 Member
    For the most part yes, I do weigh my food. I have 2 scales and I count things such as nuts, chips, pretzels, etc too!!!
  • korny09
    korny09 Posts: 4 Member
    Bria, have you also looked into macros? Macros or ratios are very important. Also, when you exercise, is your heart rate in fat burn range? Just some thoughts you may have already thought.

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited January 2017
    If the scale is not moving, then perhaps it is time to increase accuracy? "For the most part" means there are some things that you estimate or skip logging.

    Ps-could you open your diary?
  • Briacha
    Briacha Posts: 160 Member
    My diary should be open, I will check my settings!
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    Briacha wrote: »
    My diary should be open, I will check my settings!

    Just looked at today's input.

    Full Stop.

    1.5 cup of Brussels Sprouts - weigh that. It's not particularly Calorie-dense, but those things add up - especially when there's a lot of it or the items do become Calorie-dense, like...

    1 sausage link. Weigh it.


    The olive oil? Yes, as a liquid, it's correct to use a tsp/tbsp. And the Strawberry Smoothie is most likely OK.
  • Briacha
    Briacha Posts: 160 Member
    I did weigh it. It was 1.5 cups Brussels uncooked!
    The link I did not weigh.
  • LoriWolfert
    LoriWolfert Posts: 1 Member
    If you've increased your workout, you may need to re-calculate your calorie intake to match the intensity of the work you're doing.

    If you're doing the same workout day in and day out, try to switch it up a bit, try a different video, routine, or even different number of reps/sets. Anything you can do to keep your body from expecting the same thing on a schedule may help too.

    Good luck and great job so far.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    when she says weigh it - how many grams of BS was it? 1.5 cups could be a wide range of weights

    She? :#
  • Briacha
    Briacha Posts: 160 Member

    deannalfisher wrote: »
    when she says weigh it - how many grams of BS was it? 1.5 cups could be a wide range of weights

    Yikes, see now I am even more confused!
  • hellobaconplease
    hellobaconplease Posts: 108 Member
    Liquids for measuring cups, solid foods should be weighed in grams, not by the cup.
  • Briacha
    Briacha Posts: 160 Member
    I used ounces on the scale...Oy vey!
  • Briacha
    Briacha Posts: 160 Member
    I scan most things that can scan when adding to my diary and I bought a digital scale, but had it on ounces! I upped the walk to 60 minutes, but on snowy, really cold days (like yesterday) I only walked 35 minutes.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    Briacha wrote: »
    I did weigh it. It was 1.5 cups Brussels uncooked!
    The link I did not weigh.

    so you weighed it on the scale in grams and not in measuring cups? and you arent supposed to eat under 1200 calories. you are supposed to eat 1200 calories net(after exercise,which means eating back some of your calories you burned off through exercise), if you are weighing all solids and semi solids in grams on a scale,and all liquids in measuring cups(you can weigh on a scale if it has fl oz or ml also). then you should be losing weight.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    Briacha wrote: »
    I did weigh it. It was 1.5 cups Brussels uncooked!

    That's not weighed. It's measured. That's fine for baking, not (usually) fine for accurate food logging.

    There's a variance in size and shape of foods - including Brussels Sprouts. Especially if halved or shredded. As such, you can end up with more or less air between individual Sprouts. As such, you can often end up with more (sometimes less) Sprouts than anticipated. That means you end up with a different Calorie and nutrient count.

    As I mentioned previously - Brussels Sprouts may not be a huge deal-breaker as far as Calorie counts go. But, other things that are more Calorie-dense can easily blow your Caloric deficit for the day, if measured instead of weighed.
  • Briacha
    Briacha Posts: 160 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Briacha wrote: »
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    when she says weigh it - how many grams of BS was it? 1.5 cups could be a wide range of weights

    Yikes, see now I am even more confused!

    Weight is measured in units like grams and (avoirdupois) ounces/pounds.
    Cups are a measurement of volume. The amount of solid foods you can fit in a cup varies widely depending on how small or large the pieces of the food are (whole brussels sprouts? are they large or small sprouts? halved? shredded?) and much you pack them down, etc.
    Weight does not change based on the size of the pieces or how much you pack them down.
    People are saying you weigh your food, on a scale, not measure them by volume in a cup.

    I do, but had the scale set to ounces. It's a digital scale that I bought at Target!
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    Briacha wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Briacha wrote: »
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    when she says weigh it - how many grams of BS was it? 1.5 cups could be a wide range of weights

    Yikes, see now I am even more confused!

    Weight is measured in units like grams and (avoirdupois) ounces/pounds.
    Cups are a measurement of volume. The amount of solid foods you can fit in a cup varies widely depending on how small or large the pieces of the food are (whole brussels sprouts? are they large or small sprouts? halved? shredded?) and much you pack them down, etc.
    Weight does not change based on the size of the pieces or how much you pack them down.
    People are saying you weigh your food, on a scale, not measure them by volume in a cup.

    I do, but had the scale set to ounces. It's a digital scale that I bought at Target!

    it should have a way to set it to grams. it should have a few different ways to set weight. even my cheap $10 scale does oz,grams and lbs.grams is more accurate than oz for most things.

  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    No, I'm confused. More or less out of curiosity, what weight did the scale say, in oz?

    Because 1.5 oz is only ~43 g. So that probably would only be about 1/2 cup, if that entry was reasonably accurate (1.5 c ~ 100 g). Conversely, 100 oz is ~2800 g, which would be a lot more than 1.5 c.
  • hellobaconplease
    hellobaconplease Posts: 108 Member
    I'm sure ounces are OK to use to measure? Sorry, I forget most on here use imperial measurements.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    Grams are more accurate, smaller increments.
This discussion has been closed.

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