Help please. What can I do to make this better?

LynnJ9

I know you said the first 7 or 8 came off quickly, probably water weight. That maybe true, but some of water comes back, dome of the initial water loss is temporary. So the fact you didn't gain weight back, plus lost more, means you are losing real weight. Keep it up! But like everyone is saying, find a way to do it that doesn't make you miserable.

rheddmobile

ryenday wrote: »

everher wrote: »

Maybe I misread your original post, but you've lost 20 lbs since April correct? Depending on when in April you started that should be about a pound a week.

I don't remember the exact amount because it was pre MFP for a couple of weeks, but my first week I lost between 7 and 9 pounds. That was changing what I ate (eliminated sugar and most processed wheat) and upped veggie intake significantly and started modest portions. Much if not all that had to be water. Started on MFP shortly thereafter so since I've been watching calories and logging I'm down about 2 to 3 pounds a month.

You didn't lose 9 lbs of fat the first week, you lost mostly water. Then some of it came back, and in the meantime you lost fat. So you have been losing more than 2 lbs a month.

There's no such thing as starvation mode, but there is such a thing as compensatory behavior. There was a study which found that a subset of people lose no weight or even gain weight when their exercise is increased - closer examination revealed they were dropping their non exercise activity in response to exercising - everything from housework to fidgeting. Humans are very good at not losing weight! I really do suspect you will lose more weight when you eat more - not because CICO is broken, but because your CO will increase as you feel healthier.

In any case, the situation now is unworkable. You can't keep making yourself miserable!

kimny72

OP, I think you need to go back to basics and pick a few simple things to focus on.

First, there is no reason for you to go that high on protein. And it seems like you are making losing weight harder trying to reach this extreme protein goal. The advice I usually see is .6-.8g per lb of body weight. So drop your protein to more like 100g and don't sweat it if you don't always make it. You are wasting a lot of your calories on bars and shakes to hit your protein goal, but bars and shakes aren't filling. So dump all but one serving of protein supplement per day. Try to work in reasonable portions of chicken, pork, canned tuna, Greek yogurt, lentils, shrimp.

Set your goal on MFP to 1 lb per week, plus log your exercise and eat back at least half of those calories.

Whenever you are home, put every single thing on the food scale. Don't round up, don't go by the package or the scan. Once you are eating more actual food and less shakes, it will be easier to make smart choices and eat reasonable portions when you aren't home. Also double check the entries you are using. Always search whole foods that don't have a brand name with "USDA" in the search field. There are lots of incorrect user-entered entries that are wrong.

Finally, give yourself a dang break. You have already lost 20 lbs that lots of other people haven't bothered to lose. I'd bet you are the only one who thinks you look fat & sloppy. Play around with different macros and types of foods to find a way you can eat that is enjoyable, healthy, and realistic at the right amount of calories. It might slow your progress down a little, but you will profit from that process for the rest of your life. Hang in there :flowerforyou:

nowine4me

Or rather than cry you could simply use the number MFP gives you to lose 1# a week and eat back at least a portion of exercise. Get some rest, it sounds like you could use it. I've lost 9# so far this year -- so by my standard, you're doing great. I'm 52 and have two inches on you, but I lose steadily at 1800 and maintain at about 2200.

Machka9

everher wrote: »

I would be miserable too if a third of my calorie allowance was coming from protein shakes.

Drinking my calories does absolutely nothing for me in terms of hunger or energy levels.

I would try stopping the protein shakes and getting your protein from food and see how you feel then. I also don't think you need so much protein, imo.

Yep ... I refuse to drink my calories because that does absolutely nothing for me. Drinking my calories just leaves me hungry and grouchy.

scarlet67

Dont mean to be nosey but are you on the menopause?? Taking HRT gives you more energy and definitely helped me. Good luck

kommodevaran

I wanted to say this too, but it slipped: Weight loss is a mathematical product of calories in - calories out. You burn a certain number (TDEE), and as 1 pound of body fat equals 3500 calories, taking in that amount less (the deficit), means that your body is eating the same amount from your fat stores. This is pretty straightforward and predictable, but you need time (months) and many reliable data points (weigh-ins) to see what's really happening, because of normal day-to-day "water weight" fluctuations. Your TDEE will decrease as you lose weight, moving from (in the neighborhood of) 2100 to 1900 calories. In 132 days, you have lost 20 pounds, or 68 grams per day, or 477 grams per week. This equals a daily average deficit of 477 calories. (It's all ballpark numbers, but close enough for this purpose, which is troubleshooting.) This means that you've been eating TDEE-477 = 1423 to 1623 calories on the average.

This is a good, steady loss, and the calories eaten+the fat stores you burn, should be enough to provide you with the nutrition you need to feel energetic and happy. But you have to eat properly. I can see two problems - sloppy logging and too heavy realiance on protein shakes. You are spending calories on not very nutritious things, some of them protein shakes, some of them on god knows what. At any rate, it's not the overall best food. More accurate logging will enable you to pick the right amounts of the right foods, so that you can feel good while at the same time lose weight healthily, which is as fast as your body allows.

I really recommend (not just suggest) that you use the food scale whenever you can. Cook from scratch as often as you can, using the recipe builder, always make sure you are logging the food you are eating in the exact amount you are eating. Eating out has to be limited to maybe once per week at this point (but this should make it a treat instead of mundane so no loss of quality of life). I would guess that you already know what balanced meals look like, but if you are totally at a loss, use this: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-eating-plate/

yirara

You can do it! I was maintaing at around 1800kcal per day plus exercise calories for a long time at 43 years, 5'6.5'', 128lbs. Then I got into a depression, but that's a different story. Just want to say that you can do it! I eat about 60% carbs because they work best for me, and I never feel hungry. Every person is different. Maybe protein shakes, or anything fluid is just not for you.