Haven't lost a lost a thing!

beastmode2718

I've been restricting for about 6 six weeks and I'm exactly the same. I exercise 2-3 days a week and am on a 1200 calories a day diet. My husband is a big eater and stays thin easily so I end up having 2 cheat meals a week. Kinda hard not too when he wants to go to burger joints a lot. Is this sabotaging my diet? How can I tell him I cant go with him because I'm on a diet? Need support, I'm about to just give up.

janejellyroll

If your cheat meals wind up canceling out your deficit (which many people could do easily), then it will sabotage your weight loss. If you aren't logging accurately (not weighing food, using incorrect database entries), then you could be eating much more in a week than you think you are.

You can just say "I don't want to go with you." Or you can figure out options to order there that fit within your calorie goals.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

lucerorojo

If you feel you must go with your husband for these "cheat meals" skip the fries. Get a burger and that's it--or if they have a salad bar get a salad instead of the fries. You could also take off the bun, or get a kid's size meal (if they have it). No soda, just water. Log in the calories into your MFP. Also that day if you can, do additional exercise. That would cancel out some of the effect. Does your husband know that you are trying to lose weight? I would think that he would understand if he knew, and perhaps suggest going to a different kind of restaurant.

TeaBea

Whenever possible look up calorie counts before you go. If your burger joint isn't a chain, find something comparable. Red Robin for example: https://www.redrobin.com/nutrition-customizer.html

If the burgers are large (many restaurants have huge portions) - cut your burger in half when it comes to the table and ask for a to-go box. Select veggie/salad sides whenever possible.

You can go with him, you just make adjustments.

an0nemus

Weight Loss is math.

How are you measuring your food? How are you measuring your exercise?
How much do you want to lose?

For burger joints, follow other's advice:
Skip anything fried (onion rings, french fries)
To save further calories, don't get mayo and don't get cheese. I personally order burgers 'neat', no sauce and no bun but extra pickles/onions/lettuce.

If you do get a salad be VERY careful, most fast food salads are worse than their burgers.

PaytraB

Don't give up. Figure out where things are going off track.

Are you weighing and measuring all your food?
What are your stats (height, weight) and what are your weight loss goals per week? 1200 is a minimum amount for women and unless you're really short it may be an aggressive goal.
If you are accurately logging your food and not losing, it could be because of the 2 cheat meals a week. You can go out with your husband and still make this work:
- as said above, don't have the fried foods and perhaps no bun or only eat half the bun.
- eat a salad at home before going out to ensure that you aren't so hungry that you'll overlook the "no fried food" stipulation and to keep your high cal portions smaller.
- pre-log what you intend to eat on your cheat meals to ensure that you won't be overeating.
- exercise the cheat meal calories away each week. This will require preplanning what you intend to eat, sticking to that and pre-exercising those calories away.

You can do this with some planning. It will teach you the tools to keep a healthy weight and live a good life for all the years ahead. It's all about finding a balance that works for your lifestyle.

CMNVA

I would think that at 1200 calories per day, two higher calorie days shouldn't be erasing all effort. Unless those two days are absolute blow outs OR you aren't really managing 1200 calories a day. You've got to be mighty strict to in your measuring to ensure 1200 calories per day. Maybe you are not strict (even though you think you are) and you are really getting 1400 calories a day (still a good deficit) but adding in two very high calories meals could definitely keep you in maintenance.

We eat out 2-3 times a week. Mainly because I get really tired of being in the kitchen and my family wants their good stuff. I usually try to go to places where I can keep my dinner at 600 calories or lower. I can go to Five Guys and have a Little Cheeseburger and stay within goals.

rheddmobile

Weigh everything you make yourself. Log everything. Look up calorie counts for the fast food. Yes, you can easily blow a deficit with French fries, it's just plain sorrowful how many calories they have. If you eat fried food, make sure you have an idea of the calories and stay within an appropriate portion size.

If you can get the burger joint to make you a hamburger without a bun, and skip the mayo and cheese (Five Guys is happy to wrap a burger in lettuce) you can save quite a few calories. If your husband is willing to get his food to go, you could also eat a smaller calorie meal of your own making while he ate whatever. If he's making you sit there for half an hour after you have finished a small portion with an empty plate watching him scarf down fries, well, that's just torture - say you don't want to and ask to go somewhere else to eat.

Muscleflex79

beastmode2718 wrote: »

I've been restricting for about 6 six weeks and I'm exactly the same. I exercise 2-3 days a week and am on a 1200 calories a day diet. My husband is a big eater and stays thin easily so I end up having 2 cheat meals a week. Kinda hard not too when he wants to go to burger joints a lot. Is this sabotaging my diet? How can I tell him I cant go with him because I'm on a diet? Need support, I'm about to just give up.

are you weighing everything you eat?? doesn't sound like it - start there.

Okiludy

If you are not losing you are not in a deficit. Sorry but that is the truth of it. You mentioned a cheat meal and this could be throwing you off but I bet it's something more. You might be forgetting something small or not weighting foods. The 100 calorie snack you ate could be 125 calories. Not a lot by itself but if everything is over by some on weight it adds up.

I eat double cheeseburgers with bacon almost 3 times a week and maintain a 1600 calories diet. I have lost 43lbs since beginning of April. I don't see how a few 600-800 calorie meals would stop loss unless your getting fries and a large soda bumping that total to something closer to 1200 for a meal. On top of that a cheat meal IMHO still needs to fit into your weekly goals. Over one day by a couple of hundred and make up for it over next few by going a hundred or 50 less on other days.

tl;dr - You are not in deficit, eat less.

Muscleflex79

Okiludy wrote: »

If you are not losing you are not in a deficit. Sorry but that is the truth of it. You mentioned a cheat meal and this could be throwing you off but I bet it's something more. You might be forgetting something small or not weighting foods. The 100 calorie snack you ate could be 125 calories. Not a lot by itself but if everything is over by some on weight it adds up.

I eat double cheeseburgers with bacon almost 3 times a week and maintain a 1600 calories diet. I have lost 43lbs since beginning of April. I don't see how a few 600-800 calorie meals would stop loss unless your getting fries and a large soda bumping that total to something closer to 1200 for a meal. On top of that a cheat meal IMHO still needs to fit into your weekly goals. Over one day by a couple of hundred and make up for it over next few by going a hundred or 50 less on other days.

tl;dr - You are not in deficit, eat less.

this! all of this!