I need help!!

kathygouldsmith1

I have a lot to lose. I’m eating salads and protein shakes I’m staying well under my calories. I’m exercising 5-6 days a week. I’m staying in a calorie deficit. I have weighed the exact same for 3 weeks. I need help?? Please.

DFW_Tom

Hi and welcome to the journey. It is not unusual for a new routine in eating and exercise to freeze the scales in place for a couple of weeks. Some folks here have even reported a slight weight gain in the first few weeks of making changes. Stick with it and the stubborn pounds will vacate.

Retroguy2000

Can you elaborate on "protein shake"? Some powders are mostly protein, add some water or milk for 30g protein under 200 calories. Others are much higher calories, plus people can add all sorts of stuff themselves.

ninerbuff

How long since you started? And what's your weight and calorie intake?

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

kathygouldsmith1

Thank you all. The protein shake is premiere vanilla.
I am not comfortable stating my weight here but suffice it to say at my Drs office I am considered morbidly obese. I have 90-100 lbs to lose

skellyc74

Are you weighing your food? Tracking every single thing that passes your lips?
How do you know you are staying well under your calories? How many calories a day are you aiming for?
No one here cares what you weigh. But if you ask for help and advice you will get it.

kathygouldsmith1

I’ve heard everything from I’ve eaten to little, to eating the wrong things etc. I know I am under my calories because I’m tracking and I’m not adding exercise calories. I literally have
Breakfast
Collagen supplement
Pre workout
Metamucil
In water
Lunch
Vanilla Premiere protein drink
In cold brew
Dinner
Big salad
Lettuce
Spinach
Tomato
Cucumber
Shredded cheese
Carrot
Zucchini
Sunflower seeds
Cottage cheese
2 tablespoons dressing
6 croutons

skellyc74

You say you are tracking but you don't say how many calories are in any of those things.
How many calories a day are you aiming to eat. If you were under your calories every day for 3 weeks you would see a loss.
Again, you say you are tracking Are you weighing and measuring everything out, are you choosing correct entries on mfp. Lots of them are incorrect and don't give you the correct calorie count. If you make your diary public we can look at it and see if we can help you.

cjacobsen37

If your calories are too low, your body will start hoarding away the fat as it thinks you're starving. If you're not putting your exercise in, then it's not a true representation. If you're exercising all of your calories away, there's nothing left to nourish your body. However, I'm not a professional, but had the same problem before.

yirara

cjacobsen37 wrote: »

If your calories are too low, your body will start hoarding away the fat as it thinks you're starving. If you're not putting your exercise in, then it's not a true representation. If you're exercising all of your calories away, there's nothing left to nourish your body. However, I'm not a professional, but had the same problem before.

Sorry for being so harsh but the first part is utter tosh. If what you said was true then starving people would die of organ failure while being fat. Just for your organs to actually work, your heart beating, your liver and kidneys doing their thing, blood sugar control and other hormones and your brain actually steering all this and allowing you to move and to think you need at least 1200 calories per day. Do you think your body would rather die and store fat than keep you alive?

But yes, undereating is not good. And undereating and exercising on top is totally not good. Stress on the body due to this might lead to increased cortisol levels and associated water weight gain. Also, undereating means less subconscious movement, less fiddling, etc and hence a somewhat lower calorie need. But it will not stop weight loss if in a deficit.

JBanx256

cjacobsen37 wrote: »

If your calories are too low, your body will start hoarding away the fat as it thinks you're starving.

NO. I wish this myth would freakin' die already.

Seriously. Think about it for like 2 seconds. Think about POW's, people living in famine-ravaged countries. Google the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. Heck, even bodybuilders (and other physique athletes) deep into their contest preps. Are they fat and jolly because their bodies are "hoarding away the fat"? NO. They are ACTUALLY STARVING. They lose weight because they are consuming fewer calories than they expend. Full stop.

quiksylver296

@kathygouldsmith1 - many things can mask weight loss on the scale, including menstruation and ovulation, sore muscles, sunburn, travel, injuries, etc, etc. Do any of these apply to you?


And since I see you are a KC fan from your profile pic...GO BEARS!!!

springlering62

A quick eyeball calculation puts you in the 6-700 calorie range-unless you’re using a ton of cheese, seeds, high cal dressing. But I’m going to guess that someone who takes the time to count out their croutons just isn’t.

That’s not enough nutrition to feed a toddler.

This is foolish and dangerous.

Foolish because you’re not learning anything. When the rebound hits- and it’s gonna, hard- you’re gonna have a wild binge and eat back all and more. Guilt ensues. How in the hell are you going to cut back further to recoup your losses? Because that’s where this mindset is leading.

Eat more (a lot more) log carefully, and learn new habits so that when you hit goal, you don’t just say Yippee! and fall back into bad habits.

Dangerous because you’re doing damage to your body. When you drastically undereat, your body starts to cannibalize muscle. What’s the most important muscle in your body? Heart.

Is it really worth risking permanent heart or other damage trying to go fast and hard?

Did you start you exercise regimen at the same time you began cutting so hard? Are you sore? Painful muscles? Hurts to walk? Aching thighs, calves, shoulders, back? If so, you’ll pick up pounds and pounds of water weight as your body tries to repair injuries or soreness from unfamiliar exercise.

As far as being embarrassed to say your weight, honey, every single person here has been there. You’re making an honest attempt to work on it. Kudos to you. There is no shame in the game. You’re amongst friends and likeminded individuals all trying to accomplish better health via weight, whether it’s losing or gaining.

Please please please rethink what you’re doing here. Love and respect your body.

I think the most important, fascinating, breathtaking thing I’ve learned losing 40% of me is what a wondrous, delicate yet strong, miracle of a piece of Nature’s machinery am I.

kathygouldsmith1

I thank you all for your insight and I’m hoping for a loss this week. My exercise is cardio mostly in a VR headset. It is so much fun but I sweat my butt off.

15822

@kathygouldsmith1 piping in to applaud you for being here. Some of the comments in these sort of threads are really harsh and we often see OPs getting defensive or abandoning the thread, but you're still here. Everyone means well and we're rooting for you.

Seffell

kathygouldsmith1 wrote: »

I’ve heard everything from I’ve eaten to little, to eating the wrong things etc. I know I am under my calories because I’m tracking and I’m not adding exercise calories. I literally have
Breakfast
Collagen supplement
Pre workout
Metamucil
In water
Lunch
Vanilla Premiere protein drink
In cold brew
Dinner
Big salad
Lettuce
Spinach
Tomato
Cucumber
Shredded cheese
Carrot
Zucchini
Sunflower seeds
Cottage cheese
2 tablespoons dressing
6 croutons

It matters what not. How much it does.

springlering62

Good for you for sticking it out!!!!

I’m going to quote another new user, @Pikachica who said this yesterday in another thread. I think this is the absolute best summary I’ve read here:

In 2016 I lost a lot of weight by being severely under my calorie goal, because every time I would log in my food for the day, it would tell me: "Oh, you'll lose this much weight by this time if you ate x amount of calories" and the weight was a lot lower the less I ate, so that got me excited and I started eating a lot less because of that... Of course, it wasn't sustainable so I stopped and gained everything plus more.

It’s so tempting to cut cut cut, yet absolutely destined for failure.

There’s nothing wrong with a salad. I eat a giant mixing bowl sized one several times a week, as my husband shakes his head in disbelief at me. But mine includes chopped chicken, roasted edamame (crunchy and tastier than croutons btw!) and feta. I’m a protein freak. Keeps me satiated.

BTW, my husband joined me on MFP about a year ago. He loathes weighing in because he seldom shows weight loss on the scale, but I put my foot down this weekend and bought him size L pants because I was sick and tired of seeing his billowing clown pants. He about had a cow. “You know I wear XXL!” Ya know what? They fit like a glove.

Check out the NSV (non scale victories) thread over under Success Stories. And be sure to take progress pics. I didn’t, and it wasn’t til I saw a photo about eight months in that my brain began to sync with my body and realize that I had gotten a lot smaller.

Everyone’s journey is different.

Eat more, go slower on the weight loss, you’ll learn new habits you can keep, schedule in some snacks, and this will be a much more pleasant adventure when you’re not clawing at the clock til the next bite.

Amberelise40

Some people forget to count their liquid calories. Are you only having water throughout the day? I don't see you accounting for any beverages. Just curious.

lgfrie

I humbly suggest you consider transitioning to a more satisfying, well-rounded diet. The list of what you're eating doesn't sound at all sustainable or satisfying. Even if you manage to lose some weight with that diet, you're probably not going to be able to sustain it. Most of the people I know who regained the weight (sometimes a lot more than they lost in the first place) basically tried the same kind of "salads, seeds, and supplements" food plan as you're doing. That may backfire ferociously when you can't stand it anymore. There's no point in losing weight if you're just going to give it back.

Anyway, the most likely reason you're not yet losing weight is that you're eating more calories than you think you are. A food scale that measures by the gram is really your most important tool and ally in this journey. For people who have a lot of weight to lose, which, barring some rare medical conditions, means people who do not have a history of eating discipline or a natural disinclination to overeat, a food scale is extremely important. I can promise you when you start using a food scale, it's a very eye-opening experience, as far as discovering how many calories you've really been eating.

kathygouldsmith1

I exercise 5-6 days a week and don’t add calories for it. Thank you for your kindness.

TicTacToo

Hi OP - I joined MFP a few weeks ago. My weight hasn't changed much in the last few weeks (maybe 2lb in a month) but I've lost at least an inch off my waist cos I'm exercising. This morning I got cranky about something, huffily put my hands on my hips, then realised with a shock that my fingers were feeling muscles instead of belly. It was like, "Far out! I have some obliques!!!" So I'm just trying to say, don't pay the scale much mind, and find other ways to measure your progress :-)

avatiach

One thing a lot of people don’t realize at first it that Mfp calculates what your calorie goal should be based on your current weight and height, and the rate you want to lose. So if you weigh 200 pounds and want to lose 50 pounds, and you set your goal at losing one pound a week, you can eat ALL the calories MFP gives you. That might be 1900 calories a day. Eat back some or all of your exercise calories too if you want. If you keep going at that rate, you could lose the 50 pounds in a year.