I don’t get it

Ddsb11

If you sincerely want to understand how to be able to eat without guilt, eat foods you love without deprivation, squash the myths concerning metabolism and starvation mode, I cannot emphasize enough- READ THE STICKIES.

You will learn the “why” behind needing to weigh your food, choosing a healthy deficit, trending weight, consistency...

The only way to wrap your head around this whole weight loss thing is understanding the science and math, which provides incredible amounts of insight. With knowledge comes the confidence to reach your goal.

jennifer_417

The fact that you're calling yourself a "fat failure" at 160 lbs is a huge red flag. I suggest you talk all of this over with your doctor, pronto.

WilmaValley

Such good insight and advice!!!!

kshama2001

ellioc2 wrote: »

MHarper522 wrote: »

Yes, sodium can make a difference if it makes you retain water. It can also be because you pushed a bit harder in the gym (muscles retaining water as they repair themselves), or a lot of other reasons. With weighting yourself just once every 2 weeks all you know is your weight that day and weight fluctuates up and down. Maybe yesterday you were a pound more down. As long as you're achieving a downward trend, you're making progress.

5 pounds every 2 weeks is 2.5 lbs a week, that's a bit of an agressive rate. How much weight do you have to lose overall? How much still til goal? How much weight have you lost already? It's normal for weightloss to be quick when you start, and slow as you go.

Not sure if you weigh your food, but there's always the chance you are eating more than you think. Are you eating back your exercise calories? (You should).

I think I’m about 160 now, I’m 5’6”. My goal weight is 140, maybe even 130. I’ve probably lost 15 pounds or so already. Hard to tell, I don’t have a starting weight (I just have a really unflattering photo from last summer). My husband told me not to eat back my exercise calories, so the days where I’m burning the 600 and eating 1400 (I generally eat a bit more on my exercise days), I’m netting like 800. But he said if I eat back my exercise calories I’ll gain. I just don’t know what to do anymore. Maybe a food scale is good. I eat things that are easy to count - eggs, bell peppers, one protein shake. I do measure with cups. But some things I eyeball, like if I’m having steak I’ll say that’s about 6 oz.

If you use MFP to set your calorie goal, exercise, but don't eat back any exercise calories, you are not using MFP the way it was designed.

Unlike other sites which use TDEE calculators, MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others, however, are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1

Carmen_TX

You’re doing great!!! Don’t let one weigh-in get you down.

You still lost weight! As you mentioned, there’s a good chance it was just a little bloating from the salt and beer. Stay the course. You know from your previous weeks that what you’ve been doing is working!

Hugs! You got this!

try2again

Carmen_TX wrote: »

You’re doing great!!! Don’t let one weigh-in get you down.

You still lost weight! As you mentioned, there’s a good chance it was just a little bloating from the salt and beer. Stay the course. You know from your previous weeks that what you’ve been doing is working!

Hugs! You got this!

Come on, people- read the thread! The OP should most definitely not be "staying the course"

caroannv

There is a lot of great advice here re. Rate of weight loss, food scales etc which Is really good. What helps me keep perspective is using a weight trend tracker - I use Happy Scale because I have an iphone but there are android apps too. It helps me to see the trend weight staying steady when my daily weight jumps around.

AnnPT77

ellioc2 wrote: »

try2again wrote: »

Don't take this the wrong way, but you need to stop taking weight loss advice from your husband. Your rate is already WAY too aggressive and MFP is designed for you to eat back at least some of your exercise calories. A 600 calorie burn sounds too high, as most MFP database estimates are, but you should at least be eating back half of that, likely more. At your current weight, at the rate you are losing, you are costing yourself a lot of lean muscle mass which is not only unhealthy, but won't be very asthetically pleasing in the end. A woman needs to net at least 1200 to meet her body's basic requirements.

Yeah, he’s naturally skinny/slim and he actually has to work to put weight on! It’s very mathematical to him, the calories. I don’t think he understands the nuances of dieting and calorie counting at the low end and what it does to the metabolism. Not to mention my mood, I’ve been really hangry and just plain irritable lately.

I've been your current size (on my way down), and now am in year 3 of maintenance. 5 pounds every two weeks is too fast to lose at your current size, as others have said. It's a health risk.

Is something bad guaranteed to happen? No. But you're on the bad side of the odds.

Slowing down would have two advantages: (1) less health risk (including that risk of losing hard/slow-to-replace muscles that help with appearance and health), and (2) beginning to get you started tapering your eating slowly upward, so you can learn the habits and skills that will keep you at a healthy weight permanently once you reach goal.

I lost weight too fast by accident for a time (MFP underestimates my calorie needs), and corrected as soon as I realized, but it still took weeks to recover. Don't take the risk. It isn't worth it. You'll reach your goal, still, but will arrive there more smoothly (stalls are more likely when severely undereating), and will be healthier.

Your husband is a different person, different size, different hormones, different everything. His advice, now, is not helpful in this respect. It's time to become more independent, and take more control of your own progress (with the assistance of neutral professional expert(s) if/when needed, not someone who's invested). Your being "hangry" is a canary in the coal mine: It's a danger sign. Heed it.

Best wishes!

veganbaum

I'm going to ask the same question I asked in your thread about being hungry - have you read all the responses in that thread and in your "fear of the doctor" thread? I'm thinking you haven't. My advice is - go back and read them.

You're aiming for too big a deficit. And your husband needs to stop encouraging it, especially with your history of ED.

collectingblues

ellioc2 wrote: »

MHarper522 wrote: »

I'm going to second the advice of stop listening to your husband about your weightloss. The things you said he told you will make you sick and to be very honest I'm afraid either they'll hurt your chances at long term success or could lead you down the road to disordered eating.

MyFitnessPal has your deficit build into the calorie goals it gives you. That means if you have it set to the max of 2lbs a week and it tells you to eat 1400 cal day, it's because it estimates you burn 2400 a day just going about your life. This banks you 1000 cal/day, 1000x7 days = 2 pounds. Exercise is mainly for health, not to lose faster. I lost my first 20 without hitting the gym.

Maximum healthy weightloss is 1% a week. For you, that's 1.6 pounds a week rn and will continue to go down as you get closer to your goal weight. Losing too fast exposes you to all kinds of problems, such as gallstones. A faster rate of loss means more loose skin and muscle loss.

I lost 50 pounds in 5 months eating at a 1000cal/deficit (meaning my mfp cals + exercise calories, I was 294 at the start). You will not gain if you eat your exercise calories. I would recommend a lower rate of loss, like 1lbs/week.

I strongly recommend that you get a digital food scale.

Ah, disordered eating. It’s hard... I actually had an eating disorder (like full blown anorexia) in high school. I’ve been recovered for 10 years. I’ve just gotten fat in the process. It’s especially difficult for me because I’m like is this disordered or is this just normal dieting? And I know it’s a slippery slope. But I want this weight loss so bad

Wanting to lose weight so quickly that you're only willing to net 800 calories a day is completely unhealthy and disordered.

Overshoot in recovery is a thing. It's a normal and common thing. You really need to meet with a dietitian to get personalized appropriate goals and guidance.

Does your husband know about your anorexia? Is he aware that he's just triggering you more? Because really, he needs to stop his mouth, *now* -- he's pushing you to unhealthy behaviors and goals.