Frustrated, even furious
Replies
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I have found that with the many cooked-from-scratch foods I eat it is simply not practical to calculate how may calories my portion represents. I don't eat food that comes from labeled packages and for me it would just take way, way to long to figure out exactly how many calories a certain bite has.
It actually gets easier as time goes on and you start to get "go to" home cooked meals.
For example
Chicken Breasts, Broccoli - become easy to track with a scale
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think?page=8#posts-16587739
When I eat certain foods (high sodium, sweets, fast food) I won't more. when I eat less processed foods I can actually tame the "hunger tiger"
When things get really Bad
I eat egg whites. I have tried to stuff myself on egg whites and I can still only manage to eat 200 calories worth and the day is saved!
Good luck and hang in there!
btw - I am a 50+ year old male. Started at 205 and have been steadily losing at 1/2 lb per week eating 2000 calories per day.0 -
I have found that with the many cooked-from-scratch foods I eat it is simply not practical to calculate how may calories my portion represents. I don't eat food that comes from labeled packages and for me it would just take way, way to long to figure out exactly how many calories a certain bite has.
Logging your food is important. Take the extra time to do it, knowing that it's in your best interest. You are worth the time, right?0 -
Do you have any idea what your Body Composition is? When I make it to 165, I'll be close to 21% Body Fat. That is normal range, or maybe even fit range - I'd have to check. I'm 5' 5.5" and am slowing working my way down to goal. If you work out at a gym, one of the trainers could do a 3 point caliber test for you. If your goal weight is 142, you could be in the dangerously low Body Fat range when you get there.0
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i think you can get more disciplined than you actually are (your words) BY actually logging every thing you put in your mouth. just sayin.0
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Unless you're eating a lot of things that aren't in the database (and don't have nutritional data available), it's borderline effortless.
I DO eat a lot of things that aren't in the database. I did track very briefly on this forum in the beginning and it was not something that I wanted to continue doing. Very time consuming for me.
I am not American born and raised and I cook many recipes learned from my mother and grandmother - many adapted to be low in calories (less fat, salt, never sugar). There will be no such dishes in the database - only approximations - which I can do with my own eye balling.
I also sometimes graze just a little bit throughout the day given that I am restraining myself so much with the portions at meal times. Could be a few almonds, flax crackers or a fruit, or a little taste when I cook, etc;
so trying to track all these little bitty things would drive me up the wall.
Let's put it this way: when I buy shoes I favor those that I can slide my foot into in a matter of seconds. Tying shoes instead of sliding and running is time-consuming for me; between work, kids, cooking-from-scratch and trying to go to bed at a reasonable hour, my leisure time is measured in seconds. Yes, I am abusing it and pushing my luck right now by being on this forum.
So it is out of the question that I WILL add an extra "calorie counting" task to my daily routine. There's got to be a way to continue to lose weight without calculating every bit that enter my mouth every day.0 -
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.0 -
Both my grandfather and my mother-in-law (who is an amazingly healthy, flexible and thin 86 yo) have always been very moderate people with small appetites and a relative indifference to "delicious foods".
I am a creature of extremes, on the passionate and high-strung side, I love food and have a naturally large appetite. :-(
Do your elder relatives eat low fat?....because if they don't, ie: use real butter on toast, cream in coffee, eat bacon & eggs etc. This may be why they have small appetites.
I have an underlying medical issue that caused quite the scare 4 months ago. Due to that, I changed my diet from low fat/high carb to high fat/low carb. Since I started eating this way, I realized very little food is needed to make me feel satisfied. You have to be careful though, you can't eat high carb + high fat, that's where you run into a caloric overage really really easy.
A high fat, low carb meal might be a 3-4 oz piece of skirt steak and a salad with full fat bleu cheese dressing.
Eggs (cooked in ghee or coconut oil) & bacon.
Veggie omelette with cheese or ham.
You get the idea
Not sure if this will help you, but it sure helped me. I don't count calories. I used to when I first started here before I knew about my medical issue. There's just no reason to do it anymore. I eat when I'm hungry and the signals that tell me I'm done come from my head, not my insides anymore.
The glycogen stores link is dead on. I freaked out & thought I was plateauing for the past 4 months but it turned out to be 'carb creep' because I started eating cashews by the fistful multiple times per day. I suddenly gained 4#'s at the rate of about 1 pound per day and then stayed there. Ooops. I accidentally got to maintenance eating too many cashews. I'm very carb sensitive to begin with and because I'm eating lower carb than most, it has a tendency to increase your carb sensitivity, so if I really HAD wanted to be in maintenance, I would've increased my carb intake by 5-10 grams per day until I got to where I maintained.
Good luck & I hope you can work this out.0 -
It sounds like this method is working for you, but you're a bit frustrated that it's so difficult?
You got it.
I couldn't believe that only two days of being less-than-perfect had to turn into 2 pounds+ back.0 -
I have found that with the many cooked-from-scratch foods I eat it is simply not practical to calculate how may calories my portion represents. I don't eat food that comes from labeled packages and for me it would just take way, way to long to figure out exactly how many calories a certain bite has.
Congrats on losing weight so far. Be proud of what you've accomplished.
Now that you've hit a plateau, make adjustments. I suggest logging food and exercise. As has been said many times, you can't really know how much you're eating unless you log for awhile. That will give you a sense of how much a certain amount of food "feels". It will help you re-train your hunger pangs.
Simply log all the ingredients of what you cook. You don't even have to turn it into a recipe. Just log all ingredients in the amounts used. I cook from scratch and log the ingredients. You can make logging calories work for you. The database here is huge and adding something is not hard.0 -
Unless you're eating a lot of things that aren't in the database (and don't have nutritional data available), it's borderline effortless.
I DO eat a lot of things that aren't in the database. I did track very briefly on this forum in the beginning and it was not something that I wanted to continue doing. Very time consuming for me.
I am not American born and raised and I cook many recipes learned from my mother and grandmother - many adapted to be low in calories (less fat, salt, never sugar). There will be no such dishes in the database - only approximations - which I can do with my own eye balling.
I also sometimes graze just a little bit throughout the day given that I am restraining myself so much with the portions at meal times. Could be a few almonds, flax crackers or a fruit, or a little taste when I cook, etc;
so trying to track all these little bitty things would drive me up the wall.
Let's put it this way: when I buy shoes I favor those that I can slide my foot into in a matter of seconds. Tying shoes instead of sliding and running is time-consuming for me; between work, kids, cooking-from-scratch and trying to go to bed at a reasonable hour, my leisure time is measured in seconds. Yes, I am abusing it and pushing my luck right now by being on this forum.
So it is out of the question that I WILL add an extra "calorie counting" task to my daily routine. There's got to be a way to continue to lose weight without calculating every bit that enter my mouth every day.
1. You can enter in your recipes using the recipe function here, which will help you count your calories. I do it all the time. It will take 5 minutes.
2. Cook on the weekends for food during the week. At any given time I have homeade soup, pasta sauce, stew, shredded chicken, marinated meats cubed for easy kabobs, frozen fish and frozen turkey burgers in my freezer. Have your husband take the kids for a few hours over the weekend and bang out some healthy meals. It saves SO much time. Also, crockpot.
3. Take a step back from the situation and work with your husband to carve out some time to get a good schedule going. Work as a team.
You sound incredibly stressed. You either need to figure out a solution with the resources you have (husband, family, neighbors, nanny, etc.) or you're going to drive yourself crazy.0 -
It sounds like this method is working for you, but you're a bit frustrated that it's so difficult?
You got it.
I couldn't believe that only two days of being less-than-perfect had to turn into 2 pounds+ back.
Also, 2 pounds is nothing. I have a 5 pound swing up and down on any given week due to water retention, TOM, stress.0 -
Haven't read all the other posts, but if you count calories, at least for a while, to give you perspective. It's not a waste of time. Believe me!
THEN find yourself low calorie foods you like and eat lots of them. I eat chicken, fish, beef, etc. in a healthy serving size, and then TONS of veggies, steamed, like broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, spaghetti squash, zucchini. I mean like 3-4 cups of them if I'm really hungry. Add in a little rice or small portion of pasta/carb you like, and your set. I eat low calorie yogurt and fruit for breakfast, and a small lunch- something with protein. Don't starve yourself on tiny meals. No one can live like that. Find low calorie things you can eat a lot of. MOVE- just walk, whatever doesn't have to be fancy. Burn more calories than you eat in a day and you will see results! BUT you GOTTA EAT!!!0 -
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.
I know you guys mean well - and I have learned tremendously by reading on this forum, but calorie counting just doesn't work for me. I do understand it's a marathon, but I am starting not to like this marathon anymore :-(.
I think I might just have to eat slightly more than I am eating and accept a very, very small weight loss rate from here on.0 -
It sounds like this method is working for you, but you're a bit frustrated that it's so difficult?
You got it.
I couldn't believe that only two days of being less-than-perfect had to turn into 2 pounds+ back.
Are you reading any of the responses you've been given about water weight, glycogen storage, sodium, etc? You did not gain two pounds of fat back after two days. Your body was holding onto extra water which can mask the fat loss that's happening. If the normal, day-to-day water fluctuations are going to bother you so much it might be time to put away the scale and focus more on measurements and overall health.0 -
It sounds like this method is working for you, but you're a bit frustrated that it's so difficult?
You got it.
I couldn't believe that only two days of being less-than-perfect had to turn into 2 pounds+ back.
In order to gan 2lbs you would have had to eat 7000 more calories then you burned.....do you realize how much food that is????
7000=12 big macs
or 112 oz steak (depending on the cut) which is 7lbs of steak
or 134 med sized apples....
And his as long as you didn't move ever...just sat there...even then you are burning by living.
do you see where this is going..0 -
you should try eating the Yoplait smoothie mixes. you just add some milk and its super filing (: and taste like it should be unhealthy! some even come with chocolate . theyre great when you feel a binge coming along. only 130 calories0
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Haven't read all the other posts, but if you count calories, at least for a while, to give you perspective. It's not a waste of time. Believe me!
I did in the beginning - per my doctor who recommended the site.
He said "count at first" then you'll gain perspective and then you don't need to log anymore.
I did, so I am just using the perspective now. :-)0 -
So it is out of the question that I WILL add an extra "calorie counting" task to my daily routine. There's got to be a way to continue to lose weight without calculating every bit that enter my mouth every day.
It sounds like you are very busy and very accomplished professionally. i just did an informal count that you have received 26 responses already from people who have taken time to share their experiences. Nearly all of them have said Logging is a good use of time. Plus, most of these people have posted over 200 times. It looks like something is working here.
I think many of us here just want to ask you to give this a try because it has worked for us. Many of us started out way over 200 lbs in this journey.
Good luck and don't leave the forums.. there is a lot of positive support here.
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Count the calories. Your body burns food or food stored as fat for fuel. If you create a deficit you lose if you have a surplus you store it. We all burn the same number of calories for similar effort or activity level. The two pounds weight gain is equivalent to a litre of water or whatever meals you eat in a day. Measure at the same time of day, say in the morning before breakfast and it should be consistent.
There is no way for someone to maintain the weight if they don't eat. So somewhere between no food and a reasonable amount of food is the amount that will see you lose at a safe rate. If you don't count every single calorie you will never know where you are going wrong.
1 tsb olive oil 119 cal
1 oz cheddar 113 cal
1 oz almonds 163 cal
1 tbsp peanut butter 188 cal
The little things add up. And no one eats THAT little of anything.
Watch your salt too. Water retention shows on the scale because water weighs 2.2lbs per liter.0 -
Not sure how a small fibroid is a health scare for you. I've had one the size of a grapefruit and was able to function just fine. Also, not sure why you would ask for advice on a site that is built around counting calories when you do not count calories.
Completely agree with all of this. I have a few fibroids and have never been too concerned. Apparently up to 80% of women may have them--and most probably don't even know it.
But even more on point, MFP is all about tracking calories. I'm not sure what you're getting out of logging in if you're not doing this. It really doesn't take much time to log, and it can actually be fun. I assure you that I also know a ton about what is healthy and such, but I've still been amazed by what logging does for me--and how it changes my food choices. Try it for a month and see if you agree or still feel frustrated.0 -
Are you reading any of the responses you've been given about water weight, glycogen storage, sodium, etc? You did not gain two pounds of fat back after two days. Your body was holding onto extra water which can mask the fat loss that's happening. If the normal, day-to-day water fluctuations are going to bother you so much it might be time to put away the scale and focus more on measurements and overall health.
Oh, yes - I did; and it might just be water after all...but I certainly don't have such water retention problems if I am "saintly" the whole week even if I ate salty.
You are right about the scale though - perhaps I should just cut it out for a month or so.
I only weigh about once a week...but when I see a whole week has gone by and not only did I not lose a thing, but two pounds are back - it is very frustrating.0 -
Whenever I get frustrated I try to remember how long it took me to gain 100# and that its not going to come off overnight. I know it's hard but baby steps will get you there.0
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I log pretty much everything I eat (may forget a few things if I share potluck for a meal). I don't weigh or measure most things, but since I'm still losing, I have to assume my estimates are "close enough". When I felt like I was starting to plateau I REDUCED my desired rate of loss in MFP (to .5 pounds/week) and the losing kicked back in. I have altered my macros as I have learned more about nutrition, but I don't obsess if I don't hit my macro numbers on a daily basis. Right now I am set for 45% carb, 30% fat and 25% protein, within 1400 calories (before exercise). I try to net at least 1200 calories and eat 140 grams of carbs (tend to get lightheaded if I cut carbs too much). I am rarely hungry after a meal. I try to get a little of "everything" in each meal - protein, fat and carb (though if I'm filling out my calories with a nightime snack at the end of the day, my selections will be based on which macros I need to get more of and which are approaching "max"). Typical day (gluten free) is:
breakfast: 2 rice cakes with nut butter or fried eggs
lunch: 1 head of chopped romaine lettuce, 12 cherry tomatoes, 1 pouch of low sodium tuna, 20 squirts of salad spritzer dressing or a couple of TBL of vinaigrette
afternoon snack: 1 cup of plain greek yogurt with 1 TBL of fruit spread OR 2 rice cakes with hummus OR fruit OR nuts
dinner (this is the most variable): some meat, some starch, some vegetable (heavy on the meat and vegetable
night snack (if need to boost calories): yogurt with fruit spread, rice cakes with nut butter and/or fruit spread0 -
I have found that with the many cooked-from-scratch foods I eat it is simply not practical to calculate how may calories my portion represents. I don't eat food that comes from labeled packages and for me it would just take way, way to long to figure out exactly how many calories a certain bite has.
When you enter a recipe it asks how many people it serves, I've found it easier to log the entire recipe & put the # of people it's for. When I add it to my diary I log 1 serving (or 1.5, or whatever I have) & the magic math fairies do the calculations.....0 -
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.
I know you guys mean well - and I have learned tremendously by reading on this forum, but calorie counting just doesn't work for me. I do understand it's a marathon, but I am starting not to like this marathon anymore :-(.
I think I might just have to eat slightly more than I am eating and accept a very, very small weight loss rate from here on.
So, what exactly are you looking for then?
1. You don't want to count calories
2. You can't make time for exercise
3. You don't seem to want to hear that a 2 pound fluctuation is perfectly normal DAY BY DAY even
How CAN we help?0 -
Not sure how a small fibroid is a health scare for you. I've had one the size of a grapefruit and was able to function just fine. Also, not sure why you would ask for advice on a site that is built around counting calories when you do not count calories.
^^ This. Count calories, each and every bite that enters your mouth. I make lots of things from scratch, I just build the recipe and divide it by the number of servings. It's not that hard. And please don't tell me you don't have the time, that's a straight up lie/excuse.
What you describe in your first post is the beggining slide into ED. Almost no one is magically thin without counting calories. So start counting and eat an appropriate amount not a guesstimate.0 -
I have found that with the many cooked-from-scratch foods I eat it is simply not practical to calculate how may calories my portion represents. I don't eat food that comes from labeled packages and for me it would just take way, way to long to figure out exactly how many calories a certain bite has.
What?? :huh: I have a hard time believing that you have time to post some rather lengthy replies in this thread but counting calories is too time consuming. It's really not time consuming at all.
This site has a recipe calculator. I'm guessing you have a smartphone - it's SO EASY to calculate recipes even on the app. I also try and cook from scratch a fair bit but never use that as an excuse to not count calories. "Clean eating" is HUGE around here, you don't see anyone saying that they don't eat anything packaged so they're not going to track what they're eating. Also, you may THINK you have a good understanding of portion sizes, but until you weigh and measure everything you can't eyeball your food.
Trust me, I thought that my metabolism was wrecked, that I was just not a naturally skinny person, you name it I thought it. I didn't think I ate THAT much (as in, I knew I binged sometimes, but on a normal basis I didn't eat a lot), so these were all things I believed. Then I started keeping track of what I ate. I wrote down every single bite I ate, while I was binging or otherwise. Turns out it was a lot more than I thought it was. Keep an accurate diary for two weeks and then come back and talk to us about your weight loss issues. If you really are eating 900-1200 calories a day, I have a good idea of why you gain weight when you up them at all. Once you are logging accurately, the people on MFP more knowledgeable than I can help you with TDEE -20%, etc. Until then it's a crap shoot and no one can give good advice if they're just going off of what you think you know.0 -
Have you thought about doing the 5:2? Only two days of very restrictive calories. The other 5 are maintenance calorie days. I too find it extremely difficult to be hungry ALL the time. This way of eating is helping a lot of people! And when you have lost what you want to lose, you go to 6:1 to maintain.
If you don't want to count calories, don't. Just eat healthfully on maintenance days and don't over stuff yourself. It's worth a try!0 -
The thing is...if your not getting results, and not logging, but trying to eat around 1500cal a day, you might be underestimating, just enough to keep you from losing. At least weigh and measure everything and do the logging total, honestly, in your head.
Also, as I'm sure has been said, but after a weekend of 'cheat's' or what ever, and you see a 2-5 weight gain, it's not fat. It's water, extra food still in your system etc. Go back to healthy eating and exercising and those pounds disappear. My weight goes up and down by 5 or more pounds. I just try to keep it in my maintenance range now...and while I was losing I would keep track of the ups and downs and just make sure that the downs out numbered the ups. lol I didn't log the ups. Just kept going and didn't log weight till it was down. Kept me motivated to get those numbers down. It worked, it just takes time, patience, and stubbornness! lol0 -
It's probably harder for some than for others, and who knows what would happen if you started logging, or raised calories as some have suggested, but if it were me I would just continue doing what has already been working for you, and resign myself to the fact that yes, it's going to be difficult the whole time. Most things in life that are worth having are hard work. Maintaining my weight is hard for me too, I'm in the same boat as you are where I never eat till I'm totally full and pass up many things that would taste good because if I eat them, I'll probably gain weight. If I have a day where I slip up, usually I'm up 2 lbs the next day (which is usually water weight and goes away pretty quick if I get back on track). Sometimes I wish it were easier, but mostly I welcome the challenge.
You probably nailed it here. Thank you for bringing me back to reality.0
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