A little support

azelzimmer11

I am a 32 year old widowed mother of 2 boys. I've been a bigger girl my whole life, but I am trying to get a handle on things to be healthy and be around for my boys. I am active, I exercise and I eat right, but every time I go to the doctor I have gained weight. I'm getting very discouraged. Any suggestions will definitely help.

GlassAngyl

Eating right but eating too much. Do you have your diary open? Do you measure and weigh and are careful with reading prepackaged labels? Only one way to gain weight.. eat more calories than you expend. Pounds in the kitchen, oz in the gym.

Well.. some diseases cause weight gain but they are rare. Hypothyroid makes it harder to lose because of messin with hormones and making you hungrier than you should be.. but it doesn't make you fat. Just means you work harder combatting it.

azelzimmer11

I count my calories. And I don't eat too many carbs, sugar, or things that are terrible for you. I watch my portions. I've stopped drinking pop. I stay very active and log my activities that burn calories. My doctor is just as confused as I am.

amdsf

But do you weigh everything? And I mean everything! Ketchup, apples, bread, whatever. Don't just try to guess. It is notoriously difficult to estimate how much any given food is if you don't weigh it. Could that be it? Or if you enter your exercise calories (and eat them back) you may be overestimating how much energy you actually burn. Those are two quite common mistakes.

azelzimmer11

Thanks for the advice, I will try and be more aware of my intake and output.

GlassAngyl

Yeah.. forgot to mention overestimating exercise burn. Whatever it says you burned..half it. And no need to weigh EVERYTHING.. ketchup??? Really? Just be careful with your measuring. A heaping teaspoon does not equal a teaspoon. There are lines in measuring cups and spoons. Level with the top is usually wrong. It's up to the line. I prefer the measuring cups that have clearly labeled lines so there is no confusion.. and packaging lies as one person here pointed out about Trader Joe's merchandise. It said something to the effect of "250 calories per serving. Servings size 1 container -258 grams." (I'm guessing.. I don't have a eidetic memory..) but the package was 100g heavier than the serving size. But since it was "close enough" in their opinion.. they lied. Same goes for eating out. Add an additional 20% to the calories they post on their boards. They are allowed to be up to a certain percent OFF on their estimations.. so naturally to entice people to order something, they estimate low.

azelzimmer11

Thank you so much. That really helps. Thinking about weighing out ketchup was very discouraging! Lol

GlassAngyl

I don't weigh everything. To be honest, I rarely weigh anything. I weigh a chicken breast and cut it up into "approximate" serving sizes. I don't quibble over a few extra calories missing or existing. I'll just over estimate elsewhere to make up for it.

I'm losing weight for the first time on a low carb high fat diet. It's good for people like me who have hypothyroid or other insulin resistance. You could try that?

amdsf

OK, maybe not ketchup... I don't WEIGH ketchup. But I do measure it, and mayo and butter and salad dressing etc by the tablespoon. My point was exactly what you are saying, GlassAngyl, that you need to measure everything. And creep is so easy. It looks like 100 g of meat, but turns out it was 140 g. And so on. And it can make a big difference over the course of a day. Nothing more frustrating than thinking you are doing all the right things for weight loss, and then not seeing any results. Good luck!

GlassAngyl

amdsf wrote: »

OK, maybe not ketchup... I don't WEIGH ketchup. But I do measure it, and mayo and butter and salad dressing etc by the tablespoon. My point was exactly what you are saying, GlassAngyl, that you need to measure everything. And creep is so easy. It looks like 100 g of meat, but turns out it was 140 g. And so on. And it can make a big difference over the course of a day. Nothing more frustrating than thinking you are doing all the right things for weight loss, and then not seeing any results. Good luck!

Yes..creep IS easy. That's why I overestimate. Serving size 4oz of chicken? Let's post that as 1 and 1/4 servings for "just in case".. I have sooo many Just in cases logged. But that's a good thing cause it turns out that's EXACTLY how much weight I'm losing in the end!

Good job giving up soda OP. Juices, sodas, coffee creamer.. they creep up on you. It's easy to grab a bottle of hazelnut creamer from the fridge and just start pouring in the AM. I measured out if curiosity and found I was getting 6-8 tablespoons of creamer a day...at 35 calories a pop and 5g carbs a pop. OUCH. I measure out 1 now and it just isn't as good..

azelzimmer11

Yeah I try to overestimate everything too, because I want and need to lose the weight so I can't leave anything to chane. I appreciate eveyones advice and support, it means allot when u feel like u are n this alone.

Picklefrits

I would also watch what you are drinking everyday. Even without drinking pop, people neglect to remember that basically everything that isn't plain water has calories. I found when I started watching, I was almost drinking half my daily calories in drinks and taking that into account has helped me break through plateau's.

azelzimmer11

Yeah I have been more conscious about what I drink too. Even logging milk or juice. Thank you for ur input, it is greatly appreciated

jjsjrs

All good advice. When I start measuring and weighting I was eating way more than I needed. You can add me if you like.