Getting frustrated with myself

OCDOD

I’ve been working since December with a personal trainer to get myself in better shape. I have about 30 pounds to loose. After training and working on my diet for months I actually gained weight, sigh. I will say I lost some size but for some reason that scale is killing my will power. I know it doesn’t always mean I’m doing bad. In this last week, I started logging food again and using my food scale. I’m trying to stick to a 1500 calorie diet which has been REALLY hard for me to do. I can see now I was overeating. I do personal training twice a week and spin 3-4 times per week. It feels like I’m killing myself and getting such diminished returns. I just needed to rant a bit, I’m frustrated.

L1zardQueen

One week is good. You need to keep going. You can do this. 30 pounds is going to take you 30 weeks? Maybe. Think about the big picture.

lovelyclaire86

My sister in law went to a PT for an upcoming wedding. She managed to drop a dress size and her weight stayed the same. I know it’s easier said that done (I’m guilty of it myself) but try not to fixate on the scales. Keep doing what your doing and don’t beat yourself up about it xx

PAV8888

So slack off on the training!

Exercise is for health, of course. But, caloric control is what will control your weight.

And if you're unwilling to "kill yourself" for health just reduce the exercise to something that is reasonable and that you will be happy to do long term.

Yes, tracking you food for several weeks will allow you to make intelligent decisions about your weight trend and what it says about your caloric balance.

Grab a weight trend app and realize that water weight changes much faster than your underlying fat level.

A true 1500 intake is way too little for your level of activity.

You really need to balance these things a bit more...

Don't aim for more than a lb a week....making things harder than they have to be is not a recipe for success!

TavistockToad

OCDOD wrote: »

I’ve been working since December with a personal trainer to get myself in better shape. I have about 30 pounds to loose. After training and working on my diet for months I actually gained weight, sigh. I will say I lost some size but for some reason that scale is killing my will power. I know it doesn’t always mean I’m doing bad. In this last week, I started logging food again and using my food scale. I’m trying to stick to a 1500 calorie diet which has been REALLY hard for me to do. I can see now I was overeating. I do personal training twice a week and spin 3-4 times per week. It feels like I’m killing myself and getting such diminished returns. I just needed to rant a bit, I’m frustrated.

what has 'working on your diet' entailed? you can still over eat 'healthy' foods?

your post suggests you haven't been weighing or logging your food? so you may not have been eating in a deficit?

daniwilford

Last time I lost weight, I was doing lots of cardio and lifting. I was hungry all the time. I definitely stalled out if I wasn't meticulous with weighing and logging all my foods.

Strudders67

Where did you get your "1500 calories" number from? Did you make that up or is it what MFP gave you? Do you log your exercise and eat at least 50% of your exercise calories on top of however many calories MFP gave you to start with?

Assuming MFP gave you 1500 and you log / eat your exercise calories on top of that, do you weigh ALL your food and do you include cooking oils, condiments, sauces etc?

OCDOD

I definitely was overeating on “good food”. I have a food scale and now I’m living by it which is why I realized I was over eating. I’ve been weighing out everything. Unfortunately I love cooking and of course eating it. The 1500 calorie goal was one my Personal Trainer gave me to go by. I’m trying to lose weight so I get why she wants lower calories. I just didn’t think it would be so hard. I now realize my meals really need to be about 350-450 calories to allow for a couple of snacks through the day. Coffee is pretty much my favorite thing so I’ve cut down to two cups per day so that’s less calories. I guess for me “killing myself” is PT and my spin classes. While this is time consuming it’s not something I don’t enjoy. I actually am an outdoor cyclist and I’m training for a very long ride this July. I really wanted to get my weight down not just for that ride but just for health’s sake. I am assuming when I start training outside and doing long training rides I’m NOT going to be able to survive on 1500 calories. Someone mentioned eating back half the calories of work outs, I suspect I do that, sometime all the calories. I’ve discovered that double workout days are rather counter productive. I just eat twice as much, sigh.

L1zardQueen

Exercise will do that. Instead of eating half back, why not eat them all back? The hungries is an indication of not eating enough. Fuel your workouts.

apullum

With your level of activity, I'm guessing that 1500 is awfully low for you, and it sounds like your trainer arbitrarily picked that number. Set your rate of weight loss on MFP for 1 pound per week, and eat that number plus your exercise calories assuming they are calculated accurately.

OCDOD

I really appreciate all the advice and suggestions.

OCDOD

I am noticing that after you measure and weigh things for a while it does get easier to do. It’s interesting to see how eating 1500 calories is actually possible even though at first I thought I was going to starve to death. Maybe the body and/or mind adjust over time. I have lost about 4 pounds. I see things are going to be very slow and deliberate. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, God why does a glass of wine have to have so many calories, gah!

TavistockToad

OCDOD wrote: »

I am noticing that after you measure and weigh things for a while it does get easier to do. It’s interesting to see how eating 1500 calories is actually possible even though at first I thought I was going to starve to death. Maybe the body and/or mind adjust over time. I have lost about 4 pounds. I see things are going to be very slow and deliberate. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, God why does a glass of wine have to have so many calories, gah!

If you've lost 4lbs since you made this thread then that isn't 'very slow' at all.

crb426

I see calorie counting as the most important part of losing weight. Then I add in exercise as more of a "bonus". I don't go crazy with it, 20-30 minute workout video or a 3-5 mile fast-paced walk. But I try to do this everyday. Basically, the workout could allow me about 200 extra calories a day which would make it easier to squeeze in that glass of wine or two.

Your workouts will give you beautiful strength and muscles, but if losing weight is your goal you're going to really have to crack down on your food intake.

lin_be

OCDOD wrote: »

I am noticing that after you measure and weigh things for a while it does get easier to do. It’s interesting to see how eating 1500 calories is actually possible even though at first I thought I was going to starve to death. Maybe the body and/or mind adjust over time. I have lost about 4 pounds. I see things are going to be very slow and deliberate. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, God why does a glass of wine have to have so many calories, gah!

I love hearing this! You’ll learn how to move things around to have that glass on wine. Were there any foods that particularly surprised you when you actually weighed them?

OCDOD

Cheese was the biggest surprise on calories. I LOVE cheese and if I drink wine too then well... it’s over. Even cottage cheese though, it’s not as much of a serving as you think. I think it’s learning to substitute in the fruits and vegetables instead of heavy calorie foods. Another thing I’ve done is not use any artificial sweeteners aside of Stevia sparingly. I figure at least Stevia comes from a plant I have actually grown so it doesn’t seem as chemically processed. Quitting the Splenda, aspartame and Sweet and Low has really made my tastebuds more sensitive to subtle sweetness that I couldn’t even detect before.

sijomial

If you are ramping up your cycling then you will probably hit a point pretty quickly where not fuelling your rides properly will seriously impact your performance and recovery.
When training for a long distance event I can typically go for about 6 weeks in a moderate deficit of 1lb/week (a deficit that includes eating back all my exercise calories) before I have to choose between deficit and performance.

Both Strava and Garmin estimates for cycling have proved entirely reasonable for estimates over many thousands of miles. The estimates on MyFitnessPal are pretty inflated for me as a road cyclist even though I have the aerodynamics of a garden shed - I wouldn't suggest using them.

The "eat back exercise calories" method really does work well for endurance sports - but you may have to explain it to your trainer as it's atypical.

DevilsFan1

sijomial wrote: »

If you are ramping up your cycling then you will probably hit a point pretty quickly where not fuelling your rides properly will seriously impact your performance and recovery.
When training for a long distance event I can typically go for about 6 weeks in a moderate deficit of 1lb/week (a deficit that includes eating back all my exercise calories) before I have to choose between deficit and performance.

Both Strava and Garmin estimates for cycling have proved entirely reasonable for estimates over many thousands of miles. The estimates on MyFitnessPal are pretty inflated for me as a road cyclist even though I have the aerodynamics of a garden shed - I wouldn't suggest using them.

The "eat back exercise calories" method really does work well for endurance sports - but you may have to explain it to your trainer as it's atypical.

I'm also a cyclist and I use the 35 calories per mile rule of thumb for anything under 18 mph and 40 cal/mi for 18 mph and over. That has worked out to a pretty reasonable estimate in my experience. I do agree that MFP numbers are way too optimistic.

jesspen91

Woop I love being the 5th person to flag spam! Goodbye by unhelpful confusing spam!

OCDOD

I’m feeling less frustrated now. I had a weigh in and measurement check today with my trainer. I lost 10 pounds, 2 inches from my waist, 2 inches from my hips, 4 inches in the chest about an inch from each leg about 1/2 inch in my right arm and my left arm stayed the same. My efforts are finally starting to pay off.

L1zardQueen

Way to go!