Weight-loss struggles amongst so many success stories
svlofthouse
Posts: 46 Member
I really applaud everyone who has been able to lose weight and keep it off. However, even when I’m carefully logging, I don’t lose weight. I eat fairly healthily but get downhearted when I can’t see results. This leads to a bread binge and I hate cheating in logging, but I can’t bring myself to log a thousand calorie deficit. What can I do?
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Replies
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The first question you will be asked by everyone is, "Do you use a food scale to measure your food?"19
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I use one every time I prepare my own meals but I’m sometimes forced to pick the closest thing I can find preprepared on the app. This I the issue, as I feel like I’m doing everything right most of the time.DoubleUbea wrote: »The first question you will be asked by everyone is, "Do you use a food scale to measure your food?"
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svlofthouse wrote: »
I use one every time I prepare my own meals but I’m sometimes forced to pick the closest thing I can find preprepared on the app. This I the issue, as I feel like I’m doing everything right most of the time.DoubleUbea wrote: »The first question you will be asked by everyone is, "Do you use a food scale to measure your food?"
How are you forced? I can understand *choosing* to eat something that you aren't sure of the calories on, but forced? No.
Anyway, you don't need a thousand calorie deficit to lose weight. If 1,000 calories is too hard and leads you to binge (which would be the case for a lot of people), opt for something more reasonable like 250 calories a day. Yeah, it's slower weight loss. But if it allows you to be more consistent and avoid binges, it will wind up being faster in the long run.44 -
If you don't log you are only cheating yourself. Log everything, that way it might make you make different choices. Learn from it. It takes time to lose weight, so try to be patient and stick with it, you will be glad you did.
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The first question should be: "Do you have an exercise routine that includes resistance training?"57
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You aren't carefully logging if you don't weigh everything and using valid database entries.20
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Start logging the days when you binge. It’s hard at first but it will help. Or at least it has helped me.25
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If you really feel like you’re doing everything right you may want to focus on sugar and carbs. Too much of either and your body may be using that for energy instead of burning stored fat.65
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svlofthouse wrote: »I really applaud everyone who has been able to lose weight and keep it off. However, even when I’m carefully logging, I don’t lose weight. I eat fairly healthily but get downhearted when I can’t see results. This leads to a bread binge and I hate cheating in logging, but I can’t bring myself to log a thousand calorie deficit. What can I do?
1. Log everything! No matter how much under or over your calorie goals you go, still log everything.
2. Weigh everything you can. Weighing restaurant food is rather impractacle, so just use their website (or similar item if at a local or small chain restaurant).
3. You don't have to eat different foods, just less to lose weight. "Healthy" eating isn't required for weight loss, and if eating "healthy" means overhauling your entire diet, it's not going to be sustainable. Make small changes.23 -
Bring yourself.
I've logged 3000 deficits for a day. Still lost weight
My goal is set to a deficit even though I am aiming to maintain.
I am regularly over my "goal" and in the red... and maintaining.
It is called: mind games
Sounds like your pre-set deficit may be too large, your loss expectations aggressive with a secondary expectation of predictability and you are not using a trending weight app and discriminating between fat level changes and temporary water weight variations.
Review your weight level change vs purported deficit achieved in 4 to 6 week time periods to make adjustments.12 -
So if you log everything for a month you'll have good data from which to start deducting more calories if you haven't lost weight.
How long have you logged food using a food scale? If you do it accurately and you are maintaining your weight, then you need to lower your calories by 250-500 per day.5 -
climberbry wrote: »The first question should be: "Do you have an exercise routine that includes resistance training?"
Why? How is this relevant to the OP?31 -
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In order to lose weight, you need to have an overall calorie deficit for a long time. Patience and persistence are required. It's better to lose an average of half a pound per week successfully than it is to keep trying to lose two pounds per week and giving up so that you don't lose any at all.svlofthouse wrote: »I really applaud everyone who has been able to lose weight and keep it off. However, even when I’m carefully logging, I don’t lose weight. I eat fairly healthily but get downhearted when I can’t see results. This leads to a bread binge and I hate cheating in logging, but I can’t bring myself to log a thousand calorie deficit. What can I do?
Experiment to find a comfortable way of eating that leaves you at a calorie deficit for the week. Start by logging how you like to eat without making any changes for a couple of weeks. That gives you some data so that you can look back to see where you might eat smaller portions and/or make satisfying substitutions. Nutrition is important for overall health (I aim for 80% of my calories from nutrient-dense foods and 20% from treats) but weight loss and maintenance come down to how many calories you consume versus how many calories your body uses.
Concentrate on the process rather than the results or the speed of those results. Measure your success from something you can control (your behavior) rather than something that's out of your control (what the scale says today). Weight naturally fluctuates. You want a downward trend in your weight over months. Each day's weight is just a data point toward your trend.
Figure out a plan that works for you and then settle in for the long haul.
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svlofthouse wrote: »I really applaud everyone who has been able to lose weight and keep it off. However, even when I’m carefully logging, I don’t lose weight. I eat fairly healthily but get downhearted when I can’t see results. This leads to a bread binge and I hate cheating in logging, but I can’t bring myself to log a thousand calorie deficit. What can I do?
The only cheating in not logging everything is you cheating yourself of valuable information that might give you insight into your eating patterns, moods and triggers. No one cares what or how you eat. Your diary is for you, no one else. Yeah, you might be embarrassed logging certain foods, but so what? You're not likely to get people scrutinising your diary over your calories, or a particular thing you ate. Your food choices are your business. Logging might spur you to make different choices, if you can see where you might want to consider making any changes.13 -
If you're not willing to face the facts by logging EVERYTHING, you are unlikely to achieve the results you want.31
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Yup. You have to log the good, the bad, and the ugly. A binge of 1000 calories isn’t a big deal, but two weeks of that is. Be honest with yourself to understand this process and how it works- for you.22
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Remember...the reason it's called a success story is because it is not easy.14
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MFP is the only tool OP. Have you looked at other options? If you don’t wish to properly track, you can’t be let down when it doesn’t work.4
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climberbry wrote: »The first question should be: "Do you have an exercise routine that includes resistance training?"
nearly irrelevant to weight loss. great for muscle though21 -
The logging is key to understanding what is keeping you fat and seeing the effect of changes you make.
Two things that helped me get started, chromium picolineate for sweet tooth, reading up and practicing mindful eating...well three things, platejoy.com made planning easy.4 -
cmriverside wrote: »svlofthouse wrote: »However, even when I’m carefully logging, I don’t lose weight. I eat fairly healthily but get downhearted when I can’t see results. This leads to a bread binge and I hate cheating in logging, but I can’t bring myself to log a thousand calorie deficit. What can I do?
Bring yourself (to logging a thousand calorie "deficit")
I've logged 3000 Cal "deficits" for a day (not just 1000 Cal "deficits") and you're correct @cmriverside, "deficit" should have been in quotes or (sic)
Still lost weight (as in logging a 1000 Cal overage is not the end of the world and it won't, by itself, stop weight loss).
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cmriverside wrote: »svlofthouse wrote: »However, even when I’m carefully logging, I don’t lose weight. I eat fairly healthily but get downhearted when I can’t see results. This leads to a bread binge and I hate cheating in logging, but I can’t bring myself to log a thousand calorie deficit. What can I do?
Bring yourself (to logging a thousand calorie "deficit")
I've logged 3000 Cal "deficits" for a day (not just 1000 Cal "deficits") and you're correct @cmriverside, "deficit" should have been in quotes or (sic)
Still lost weight (as in logging a 1000 Cal overage is not the end of the world and it won't, by itself, stop weight loss).
I think what’s causing the confusion here is that a deficit and an overage are exact opposite things. Of course you’ll lose weight if you have a 3k-calorie deficit, but it sounds like both you and OP were actually talking about overages in this case. Putting the problematic word in quotes isn’t going to indicate that readers should assume you mean the opposite; it just makes it harder to figure out what you mean.
But yes, OP: log them anyway. A good binge can wipe out a week’s worth of deficits; I suspect you’ll see pretty quickly why you’re not getting results if you log everything.17 -
kommodevaran wrote: »You aren't carefully logging if you don't weigh everything and using valid database entries.
I often can’t weigh all of my food as I have to eat food that soemone else has prepared because of the nature of my work. Although I will try to make the healthiest choice I can at lunch, I’m limited to what is served and my vegetarianism.
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cmriverside wrote: »svlofthouse wrote: »However, even when I’m carefully logging, I don’t lose weight. I eat fairly healthily but get downhearted when I can’t see results. This leads to a bread binge and I hate cheating in logging, but I can’t bring myself to log a thousand calorie deficit. What can I do?
Bring yourself (to logging a thousand calorie "deficit")
I've logged 3000 Cal "deficits" for a day (not just 1000 Cal "deficits") and you're correct @cmriverside, "deficit" should have been in quotes or (sic)
Still lost weight (as in logging a 1000 Cal overage is not the end of the world and it won't, by itself, stop weight loss).
This still makes no sense to me, but I'm losing interest in trying to figure out what you mean by "deficits."
What the *puppy* is a 3000 calorie deficit anyway?9 -
janejellyroll wrote: »svlofthouse wrote: »
I use one every time I prepare my own meals but I’m sometimes forced to pick the closest thing I can find preprepared on the app. This I the issue, as I feel like I’m doing everything right most of the time.DoubleUbea wrote: »The first question you will be asked by everyone is, "Do you use a food scale to measure your food?"
How are you forced? I can understand *choosing* to eat something that you aren't sure of the calories on, but forced? No.
Anyway, you don't need a thousand calorie deficit to lose weight. If 1,000 calories is too hard and leads you to binge (which would be the case for a lot of people), opt for something more reasonable like 250 calories a day. Yeah, it's slower weight loss. But if it allows you to be more consistent and avoid binges, it will wind up being faster in the long run.
Another vote for a less aggressive deficit which will be less likely to lead to binges.1 -
svlofthouse wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »You aren't carefully logging if you don't weigh everything and using valid database entries.
I often can’t weigh all of my food as I have to eat food that soemone else has prepared because of the nature of my work. Although I will try to make the healthiest choice I can at lunch, I’m limited to what is served and my vegetarianism.
What's your protein goal and do you consistently hit it? I get the munchies when I don't get enough protein. My brain thinks it wants carbs, but what my body actually wants is protein.0 -
Best thing I changed in this new lifestyle was logging "EVERYTHING". What it accomplished will surprise you, it did me. It stops me from continuing on with the binge. Before I would think that the day was a bust so I might as well keep eating. This resulted in me becoming 100 pounds overweight. Once I started logging everything I ate even if I went over I found often the damage wasn't as bad as I thought which made me stop eating. When I saw that my "binge" was only 300 calories for example I thought "I can make this up in a couple days". It actually helped me. Log honestly. You will be amazed at how much insight it gives you.19
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cmriverside wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »svlofthouse wrote: »However, even when I’m carefully logging, I don’t lose weight. I eat fairly healthily but get downhearted when I can’t see results. This leads to a bread binge and I hate cheating in logging, but I can’t bring myself to log a thousand calorie deficit. What can I do?
Bring yourself (to logging a thousand calorie "deficit")
I've logged 3000 Cal "deficits" for a day (not just 1000 Cal "deficits") and you're correct @cmriverside, "deficit" should have been in quotes or (sic)
Still lost weight (as in logging a 1000 Cal overage is not the end of the world and it won't, by itself, stop weight loss).
This still makes no sense to me, but I'm losing interest in trying to figure out what you mean by "deficits."
What the *puppy* is a 3000 calorie deficit anyway?
I think what they mean is an overage. It's the only thing that makes any sense... so basically they're saying the opposite of what they actually mean.11 -
If you aren't logging accurately everyday - when you are over, under, or maintaining - than a site like this one is not going to work for you. I log everyday. Sometimes I go over by a lot but I log it, move forward, and make slight adjustments the rest of the week to accommodate so my weekly intake still balances out. If I didn't log those high cal days than how would I know what adjustments to make to keep me on my plan?7
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