I'm lost.

evans2018

I'm not losing. I was 120 pounds before my two kids and I was healthy. But now I'm 188 and I can't get it to go away. I quit drinking soda three months ago, just water and green tea mostly now. And I quit eating red meat 2 months ago. And not 1 single pound is gone, I actually gained some. Help!

janejellyroll

Are you counting calories? You can eliminate all kinds of things and it will only result in weight loss if it causes you to consume fewer calories than you're burning.

MommaGem2017

Tracking what you're eating and counting calories is really the key, not just eliminating items. I eliminated meat entirely and gained 15 pounds.

toxikon

Weight loss is simple! Eat fewer calories than your body needs. Those calories can come from whatever you enjoy.

Invest in a digital food scale and start weighing and logging every bite of food that goes into your mouth. Stick to a modest calorie deficit and you will see results. MFP will calculate your deficit or you can do it yourself with a TDEE calculator.

The key is staying diligent in your tracking. Good luck!

Adc7225

Weighing your food and counting your calories is a great start. Sometimes we have other ideas about where our calories are hiding - because they are sneaky and evil they are really good as hiding

For me it took some effort to educate myself on what I was eating and how to manage what I wanted to eat while cutting calories and making changes I could live with.

cwolfman13

evans2018 wrote: »

I'm not losing. I was 120 pounds before my two kids and I was healthy. But now I'm 188 and I can't get it to go away. I quit drinking soda three months ago, just water and green tea mostly now. And I quit eating red meat 2 months ago. And not 1 single pound is gone, I actually gained some. Help!

Cutting out this or that is irrelevant if you're not in a calorie deficit...sometimes cutting out this or that results in a calorie deficit, but not always.

nenecris

How much sugar and processed foods do you eat?

LeanButNotMean44

nenecris wrote: »

How much sugar and processed foods do you eat?

toxikon

nenecris wrote: »

How much sugar and processed foods do you eat?

As much as you want. You could eat MacDonalds for every meal and still lose weight if you were in a calorie deficit. You'd probably feel like crap though, because you'd be consuming a ton of sodium and not many vitamins.

Everything in moderation is a good approach. If you love cheesecake, enjoy a slice or two once a week. It's up to you to find a way of eating that works for you. Everyone has different opinions and preferences.

aeloine

I second the above - cutting anything out doesn't mean that you will lose. In fact, when I went vegetarian, I GAINED, because I was eating HIGH CALORIE carbs to make myself feel full.

spiriteagle99

When you start logging everything you eat, you will be able to see which foods are increasing your total calories the most. For me, logging restaurant meals was a revelation. One meal contains a whole day's worth of calories. When I ate out several days a week, I always gained weight, even when I thought I was choosing healthy foods. When you know what you are eating you'll be better placed to choose which foods you want to continue to eat and which you can cut back on or eliminate. i.e. one cookie instead of four, yogurt instead of ice cream, etc.

4legsRbetterthan2

As already mentioned above, cutting out specific foods in no way guarantees weight loss. You have to be in a calorie deficit. To get the best results from MFP I suggest reading these two posts:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

The first covers accurate logging and some of the tools in MFP to help you make things easier. The second discusses caloric needs and setting goals. This one is a little heavier but if you take the time to digest it there is alot of very valuable information there. These two posts completely changed my MFP experience and helped me be much more successful, so I hope they do the same for you.

~Best wishes on your journey

TeaBea

evans2018 wrote: »

I'm not losing. I was 120 pounds before my two kids and I was healthy. But now I'm 188 and I can't get it to go away. I quit drinking soda three months ago, just water and green tea mostly now. And I quit eating red meat 2 months ago. And not 1 single pound is gone, I actually gained some. Help!

You don't have to eliminate foods...you need to reduce calories.

Measure portions and log everything you eat. Stay within the calorie goal MFP gave you. If you choose to do exercise, log it and eat a portion of those calories back (only a portion because calorie burns are estimates).

Tweak (not radically change) your current eating habits to something you can see yourself doing forever.

boredloser

Like others have said, you don't need to eliminate foods.
Just weigh and measure everything you eat and log it on here and stay within your calories.
Maybe play around with your macros and see what works too (I've only recently started looking into and trying this more lately).

jennifer_417

Neither meat nor alcohol have any weight loss - or gain - properties other than the number of calories they contain.
All you need to lose weight to so consume fewer calories than you burn.
Plug your stats into MFP and eat the number of calories it allots to you.