Please look at my food diary for this past week

roseym10

Looking for advice on where I may be going wrong with my food intake. I've logged everything this week and gained. I'm trying to lose 20 lbs and it is very hard. Last week I managed to lose but I'm back up today even though I tracked everything and stayed within my goal. I'm open to any suggestions.

NVintage

I would go to this site to set your calorie goals...
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/bwp
and try to eat close to what the MyPlate or similar suggests as far as nutrition goes to prevent deficiencies...
https://www.myplate.gov/

TeaBea

You didn't gain weight (as in fat) by eating less than your calorie goal. You would need to eat over maintenance to gain fat. Water weight fluctuates. Ignore day-to day weigh-ins, instead look at the long term trend. You might consider a weight trending app.

Re: diary. A couple things - you're not meeting your calorie goal. A goal is something you want to reach, not something you want to be under by 200-300 calories a day. Undereating can cause a whole host of problems.

Protein - treat this is a minimum. You need to meet protein goals each day. Larger portions of protein. Your protein shake is listed as a meal replacement but it's 110 calories. This is fine for a snack, but 110 calories is not a meal.

Protein sources - meat, eggs, poultry, seafood, legumes, beans and low fat dairy. https://www.myplate.gov/eat-healthy/protein-foods

Sub out yogurt for Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt makes a nice veggie dip. Cottage cheese can be an excellent snack.

Don't trust "generic" entries, they can be way off. It's better to use recipe builder for homemade foods. If your meal was from a small restaurant, try to find an equivalent fast food entry.

cmriverside

Under-eating like you are doing is causing lots of problems, primarily stress to the body and lack of protein.

You haven't gotten even close to your protein goal and on most days you're undereating. Eat what it tells you, and get enough protein. Really focus on those two things.

The protein numbers are super important. Look at that number as a Minimum Goal to hit.

sijomial

Try actually getting close to your calorie goal consistently. Seeking to undercut your goal is making the job harder, no wonder you are finding things hard.
Meal replacements tend not to be as filling as real food, could also make things harder by leaving you hungrier.

If you are having drinks with calories they should be logged too.

Hit or exceed your protein goal.

Weight fluctuations from one weigh in to the next are normal and should be expected, watch the trend and don't pay too much concern to each data point.

margaretgalvin2

You are not eating enough calories. Be patient and trust the process, but eat more. Under eating is often the reason people start binge eating, don't sabotage your progress.

kshama2001

I cosign what everyone else said about eating more calories in general and protein in particular. After that's under control, work to hit your fiber goal as well.

I used to just retain 2-3 pounds worth of water when I ovulated and premenstrually, but now that I am close to menopause it's 6-10 pounds at ovulation.

Because of this, I compare myself to the same point in my cycle last MONTH and don't worry about last WEEK.

OllieS0806

I agree with what others are saying. I was getting annoyed with the day-to-day fluctuations also, but if you track a rolling 5 or 7 day average weight, you should see something more consistent. You can plug your daily weights into excel and just do an average over 5 or 7 days. Pay attention to the current day's average.