Frustrated, even furious

thepetiterunner

I am just want to be a normal person.
Normal people have their bodies regulated, they eat until they are not hungry anymore, they don't gain any weight and they never log.

I think perhaps you would do well to realign your perspective on what "normal" people do. Everyone gains weight if they eat more calories than they need/burn off. Simple math. No one is immune to this - some people just have genetics that hide it well. Ever heard of skinny fat?

Also, have you considered that your body is adapting and as you lose more weight and get used to exercise, your body gets more efficient and good at it? Change up your routine. Get a personal trainer - just an hour a week. Sometimes you need to not work harder per say, but smarter. Your body is meant to adapt and it's good at it. Keep it guessing.

And are you sure you're really hungry and not just thirsty? I found when I first started, I used to think that when I felt "hungry", I really was just thirsty. I'd drink a glass of water and wait and 80-90% of the time I didn't feel "hungry" after that glass of water. But everyone is different.

lisajsund

I support your efforts, but no one commented on my previous post on here, at least that I saw.

Do you have any idea what your Body Fat Composition is? You are in a healthy range if you are 21-30%, as a woman.

There are many ways to find this out, and some of those more accurate than others. Your goal weight at 142 seems awfully low to me.

I also think your body is adjusting and you need to fuel. But, that's for you to figure out. We can only make suggestions to help.

Body Composition is more important than the number on the scale, tells you how much fat you have versus muscle, water, organs, etc. Not worth losing the lean tissue, since that losing lean tissue means your lower your metabolic rate.

No one is supposed to be hungry all of the time for the rest of their lives.

NonnyMary

Eating out at restaurants and eating food that is prepared for you (not fresh) and eyeballing food USUALLY IS THE KILLER OF ONE'S DIET HOPES.

change that, and your'e 9/10 of the way there to weight loss.

clairedrose

In the past few weeks, I haven't lost much of anything. The thought of starting to eat more and seeing that scale go back up makes me sick, after so much struggle.

I started May 22 at 194 and here I am today, August 19, at 167 lbs (it was 165 but 2 were added back up this past week because I have been "oh, so bad").
This makes it about 27 pounds in 13 weeks. 2 lbs a week. I didn't think this was a terrible weight loss rate.

Question for all of you: say somebody continues with a relatively low calorie program. I understand that their body goes into thermogenesis at some point, but what if that person persists down this path? Will they eventually continue to lose weight or even a salad leaf will now turn them obese? Or ...you get the idea - I am just frustrated.

Feels like I can't win no matter what I do. Had I eaten more from the beginning, as you suggest, I would not have lost a thing. My body hangs on to weight and piles weight like crazy - unless you give it clearly less food than what my appetite requires.

It could just also be that my normal appetite is very large (I have always had the tendency to eat fast/to gulp and to use food for pleasure...and I see it in my daughter now :-((((( );

I may even be underestimating a bit the number of calories I am eating on a daily basis. They feel so little because I always have an empty stomach.

Again - just very jealous of naturally skinny people. :-(

Since May I lost about about 29 lbs mainly by eating nice and "clean" (cooked from scratch, 99% non-processed foods, many organic), reducing portion sizes and exercising 4-5 times a week. During the first month, I remember eating very little because I had zero appetite because of the scare. Then I calmed down a little bit, my appetite came back and I began eating a bit more - but still quite little, always abstaining from more.

Sounds like you went into it and changed everything, cut back your intake dramatically and have managed to lose 29 lbs in less than 3 months by starving yourself. Understand 10 lbs a month is NOT normal..That is VERY aggressive..unless you happen to be over 400 lbs you are losing WAY too quickly. When you have only a little weight to lose - which by your ticker..maybe 30 lbs total you should be no where near 10 lbs per month loss.

Your goal is way too aggressive. Your body has now started down the path to adaptive thermogenisis. Your body refuses to lose weight because it has determined by the lack of nutrition that it has been getting the past few months that it needs to conserve its stores. Every extra calorie you give it will be stored because you have not been providing your body with enough fuel.

Set your goal to .5lbs/week loss and eat. You will gain weight for the first while until your body can re-establish a 'normal' level of nutrients. Unfortunately there is not really much way around that.

Read:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1077746-starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss

clairedrose

In the past few weeks, I haven't lost much of anything. The thought of starting to eat more and seeing that scale go back up makes me sick, after so much struggle.

I started May 22 at 194 and here I am today, August 19, at 167 lbs"

MY TWO CENTS:
I don't mean this in any negative way at all, because losing weight is difficult BUT I read your statement and reflected how much our expectations differ. I started May 26 -at 199 and today on August 23 I am 183. I am thrilled!

Do I want to lose more? You bet I do. I figure it will take me 1 or 2 years. Now I am 20 years older than you are, so that's a factor. I went through what you are so many times, I just plain gave up. But now I am hopeful. Last year I lost 6-10 pounds (don't know) and 2 pants size. This summer I have lost 16 pounds. Yay!

NonnyMary

In the past few weeks, I haven't lost much of anything. The thought of starting to eat more and seeing that scale go back up makes me sick, after so much struggle.

I started May 22 at 194 and here I am today, August 19, at 167 lbs"

MY TWO CENTS:
I don't mean this in any negative way at all, because losing weight is difficult BUT I read your statement and reflected how much our expectations differ. I started May 26 -at 199 and today on August 23 I am 183. I am thrilled!

Do I want to lose more? You bet I do. I figure it will take me 1 or 2 years. Now I am 20 years older than you are, so that's a factor. I went through what you are so many times, I just plain gave up. But now I am hopeful. Last year I lost 6-10 pounds (don't know) and 2 pants size. This summer I have lost 16 pounds. Yay!

mee too, it will take me about 2 years. seems like a long time, but eventually that 2 years will come and will we be fat or not fat? maybe 2 years is a good time because its less painful than going on a crash diet, and losing the weight in 6 months.

HappyStack

I'm trying not to pitch in with this again, but this thread keeps popping up in my topics.

OP, the simple answer to all of your problems is to plan your meals in advance. Most of us do this. It isn't obsessive, just log your recipes as you make them using the app and barcode scanner (or use the generic listed items in the food database) and then go from there. It takes literal seconds to scan a barcode and put in the quantity. I frequently do it as I'm cooking.

You'll soon have a pretty big database of recipes you can plan your weekly meals with. Counting calories isn't as hard as you make it seem, and if you have a bunch of go-to meals with their nutritional information on hand then you have no excuse.

MrsFowler1069

IT IS helpful to log for a few days, especially the foods most frequently consumed, just to be able to memorize the calories of different foods. For example, I found I was quite a bit off on watermelon - which I had been treated as a low calorie food when it is actually not that low because of all that sugar; so I was surprised to see it had more calories than I thought it had.

I still need a food scale because I am very fuzzy on how much an oz of anything is, so I might still be overestimating my daily caloric intake because I tend to make tiny portions, and then I record 1 oz when it's actually not an oz but much less.

I will try to increase to around 1350 or so (which is what the calculator says should be my "extreme fat loss" level)...and I'll see what happens.

I wasn't involved in this conversation earlier (although I may have been the only one who wasn't lol), but just browsing through a few pages, I think you're on to a couple of key things here. One, how easy it is to under- or overestimate when not logging. Even if you're spot on most of the time, when you're off, it still makes a difference. If you are underestimating what you're ingesting, you are sabotaging your program, obviously.....but if you're overestimating, you're actually doing the same thing in two different ways.

Firstly, you count calories you haven't actually eaten and leave yourself hungry rather than falsely go "over." Secondly, the closer you are to your calorie goal, the more positive results you will likely see, as compared to being significantly under on any kind of regular basis. It is a little bit of a tightrope walk, but what's the point of doing it at all if you are undermining your own efforts?

Another thing is that logging really does get easier as you do it longer and use the resources available. What could it really hurt to give it a month and see how you do? It never hurts to know your options.

Anyhow, forgive me please if I'm being redundant - like I said, I only browsed the first few and last couple of pages, but I thought your later posts were more positive than the earlier ones, so I mostly wanted to say well done for being open to making the small adjustments that will ultimately make differences in sustainability and success. Take care.

DiabetesCooking

Living With Diabetes Sucks. I Know. I've Suffered From Diabetes For 20 Years.

Whether recently diagnosed, or you or a loved one has been living with diabetes for years, every food choice you make must take the disease into very real consideration.

0somuchbetter0

I would still want to know.
What happens if you keep going like that - eating in such a way that you are always slightly hungry?

I know what would happen to me. I would eventually crack and start eating everything in sight. In fact, I've done it many times in the past. I've learned my lesson. Now I TRACK MY CALORIES and eat enough to feel satisfied.

SherryTeach

It's not practical to enter your recipes or you just don't want to take the time? I have all my recipes entered. I've been working on it and logging for almost 500 days. I now spend no more than 5 minutes a day logging my food and exercise. I don't have any plan to stop because it keeps me aware.

susieoj

Has anyone mentioned yet that most thin people aren't naturally thin and no one who is actually fit and toned got that way by accident? It's hard work, and 90% of the time those thin and fit people that may make it seem easy -from a distance- are fighting the same battle that you are every darn day. This should be something you take comfort in, don't separate yourself from someone because they are further into their weight loss or fitness journey than you are, they probably don't have any naturally amazing willpower or metabolism or genetic predisposition to a model physique, they just get up every day and keep working at it and they fall off the wagon too, but they climb back on that wagon.....brushing off the crumbs and peeling the sticky spoon off their bedspread....not that I've done that.....and they keep trying.

elyelyse

edited because redundant...plus zombie thread.

JorisSt

For me it helps to eat a high protein meal at morning. Before i managed to eat nothing or almost nothing. Now with the high protein meal/product i have a saturated feeling and i'm not so hungry anymore and it also gives me more energy.
If you have a hungry feeling you quickly grab to bad food and thats sometimes the reason why it goes wrong.

Debbie_Ferr

This week I had two days of slightly less-than-orthodox eating (orthodoxy for me being what I described above). One day I ate a little extra at a department meeting at work (don't imagine any sort of serious overeating!!) and two days after that, husband and I went out for sushi and a coffee with a bit of cream on top...and bamm!! - two ponds gained this week,

To gain 2 pounds, you'd have to consume an Extra 7,00 calories .
You really don't seem the type that would consume 7k from 1 department meeting . and sushi. and cream.

or maybe it's caused by water retention.
or maybe it's caused by too much sodium.
or maybe you haven't pooped enough.
or maybe you haven't peed enough.
or maybe you haven't drank enough water.
or maybe you're being selective when you 'acknowledge the (temp) weight gain, ie after you've deviated from your original regimine/plan. and you feel guilty (for not staying restrained in your actions), therefore you focus on your punishment ( gaining weight).
or maybe your weight just flexuates 2-5 pounds during the day, just like anyone else's.

Debbie_Ferr

Nevermind.

What I was going to say would be met with another reason why it won't work for you.

Best of luck on your journey.

BTW, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

this.