This isn't working! Need help!

Francl27

Accurate logging, adherence to a calorie goal, & consistency will get you the results you're looking for. I also have to say you're tremendously over estimating your calorie burns. When I burn 900 / hr I drop between 5 & 6 pounds in sweat before/after workout. Seriously it's that much sweat for that much effort.

You can get the results you want, just need to get your accuracy refined acoss the board.

Listen to the pro!

BritMaxon

I am getting a little confused as to who is talking to who now. The past week I did eat too much fast food, I know that but I was very busy with school and my husband decided to not be very helpful this week. As far as water, I don't log my water but other than 2 cups of coffee in the morning water is all I drink and I drink lots of it. As far as supplements I take a multivitamin and omega 3, both of which were recommended by my doctor. I have fewer classes this week but lots of homework so hopefully, with help from my husband, we can eat a little better this week. I don't think it helps that my husband doesn't think I should be trying to lose right now so when it's his turn to cook he will go get fast food cause he's "too tired to cook" and according to him I have too much going on right now to be trying to lose weight anyways. I try to be very accurate with what I log, other than not logging water, so if it looks like I skipped a meal I probably did. That is something I am definitely guilty of doing a lot while I'm in school because I get too stressed and/ or distracted by school and end up not eating.

wilsoje74

Maybe have some easy to prepare food on hand so you don't need to eat fast food. If your husband wants to, let him but make a salad or healthy sandwich instead for yourself. I know if I gave my husband cooking duty we would eat a lot of pizza!!! It will save you money and calories to minimize fast food. Being busy does not mean you can't eat healthy. Your husband should support you!!!!

atiana19

Im also a busy mom of two I have 50 lbs or more to lose. I set my goals to 2lbs a week in July and have lost that much on average every week. I am exercising about 3-4 times a week and have cut carbs out other than fresh fruit or gluten free crackers with lunch. I also do not eat back my exercise calories.Feel free to friend me if you like

PinkNinjaLaura

BritMaxon (since there are a couple different conversations going on here) I'm going to agree with the advice you've gotten from others. The Zumba burn isn't going to be anywhere near 1000 calories, even if it's a high impact class. There are online calculators you can use to try to get a better estimate. Also your diary is kind of a disaster, at least the week and a half I looked through. The missed meals aren't helping you. The 1000+ calorie lunch with 2800+ mg of sodium isn't helping you. Like others have said work on eating less processed foods and try to eat more consistently. Especially with being a busy mom, if you set aside time once a week for food prep that will carry you through the rest of the week so when you are going in 18 different directions you don't have to stop and try to figure out what to cook or whether you have stuff on hand. Every Sunday I get my food planned out for the week. I get all my lunches made so in the morning before work I just have to grab my food out of the fridge and go.

ninerbuff

I have been exercising regularly and meeting my calorie goal and yet my weight loss is practically non-existent. I have my account set up to lose 2 lbs per week, which I did lose 2 lbs the first week, but after that it just stopped. After being unsuccessful the 2nd week I decided to mix things up. Instead of being under my calorie goal every day I went over and under and took 2 days off from working out to try and shock my body into losing again but still nothing. With my busy schedule between going to school and raising 2 kids (my husband works a lot, he helps when he is home but I have to use that time to study) I can't possibly increase the amount of time I spend working out, and I don't want to decrease my calories any more either because I don't want to overdo it. I think it's possible that it could be due to too much stress but if that's the case I don't know what I can do about that. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Shoot for 1lbs a week. Also may want to get your blood profile checked if you had gestatianal diabetes in the past.

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

BritMaxon

I have been exercising regularly and meeting my calorie goal and yet my weight loss is practically non-existent. I have my account set up to lose 2 lbs per week, which I did lose 2 lbs the first week, but after that it just stopped. After being unsuccessful the 2nd week I decided to mix things up. Instead of being under my calorie goal every day I went over and under and took 2 days off from working out to try and shock my body into losing again but still nothing. With my busy schedule between going to school and raising 2 kids (my husband works a lot, he helps when he is home but I have to use that time to study) I can't possibly increase the amount of time I spend working out, and I don't want to decrease my calories any more either because I don't want to overdo it. I think it's possible that it could be due to too much stress but if that's the case I don't know what I can do about that. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Shoot for 1lbs a week. Also may want to get your blood profile checked if you had gestatianal diabetes in the past.

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

I just had that checked in May along with cholesterol. The doctor said everything is fine except my good cholesterol is low so that is why I take omega 3. This Friday when I get some money I am going to try to buy more fresh ingredients to cook meals with and start making a weekly meal plan. I am also thinking about buying some new workout DVDs this month so if anyone has any that they enjoy, suggestions on that would be great too. I want to switch it up a little and not just to zumba all the time and I have already determined that running really isn't my thing.

Michelle_dirtracer

My diary is now open.

You are not eating enough. It doesn't look like you log your dinner. Either you are eating too much and just not logging or if you are skipping dinner you are not getting enough calories

silken555

I just had that checked in May along with cholesterol. The doctor said everything is fine except my good cholesterol is low so that is why I take omega 3. This Friday when I get some money I am going to try to buy more fresh ingredients to cook meals with and start making a weekly meal plan. I am also thinking about buying some new workout DVDs this month so if anyone has any that they enjoy, suggestions on that would be great too. I want to switch it up a little and not just to zumba all the time and I have already determined that running really isn't my thing.

Jillian Micheals 30 Day Shred is popular. ..so are a few others of hers. Just concentrate on the exercise though. The diet parts in some of them aren't really necessary.

BritMaxon

I just had that checked in May along with cholesterol. The doctor said everything is fine except my good cholesterol is low so that is why I take omega 3. This Friday when I get some money I am going to try to buy more fresh ingredients to cook meals with and start making a weekly meal plan. I am also thinking about buying some new workout DVDs this month so if anyone has any that they enjoy, suggestions on that would be great too. I want to switch it up a little and not just to zumba all the time and I have already determined that running really isn't my thing.

Jillian Micheals 30 Day Shred is popular. ..so are a few others of hers. Just concentrate on the exercise though. The diet parts in some of them aren't really necessary.

I love Jillian Micheals workouts! I used to use her website which gives you a personalized workout plan and I was actually thinking about getting back on there.

pavrg

Looking at your log and reading your post, the answer is simple: you aren't measuring properly.

1) 1500 calories in exercise? Are you an ameteur or pro athlete? Because if not, there's not a chance you are burning close to that many calories in a workout. You might be getting 1/5 of that, if you are lucky.

MFP calculates swimming as if you are doing laps constantly as fast as you can, which I guarantee you aren't doing for an hour.

2) "I eat food my husband prepares which I think is healthy." Is your husband measuring or weighing EVERYTHING in the food you eat? Even that tbsp of oil or butter he used to grease the pan? That isn't reflected in your log. In fact, other than today your log generally looks like you have missed entering foods quite a bit in the last 5 days and there's no rhyme or reason to the entries...I can't actually tell what you ate through your log.

3) In the past week you have a couple days in your log that are incomplete.

So the solution is: log stuff accurately and adjust your diet accordingly. The concept that eating too few calories leads to weight retention is a myth. You are eating more than you think and expending less than you think during exercise. It's that simple.

Also, 1200 isn't this magic starvation number even though MFP thinks it is. Many women will need to eat under 1200 calories to lose weight. And I feel for you for that, because I have a hard enough time meeting my 1600 cal/day goal as a man unless I run 3 miles. I couldn't imagine eating 1000-1200 calories, but alas God created us differently.

Eating under your required calories/nutritional needs can make you feel weak, lathargic, and generally crappy. This can affect your exercise performance and how you feel about yourself. It also may make you lose more lean body mass than you want to, which means you won't look as good as you think you will when you get to your goal weight. But you will STILL LOSE WEIGHT until your body runs out of stored fat. There is no voodoo magic your body will perform to stay at the same weight when it needs to consume stored energy (ie fat) to maintain metabolic processes until it is out of that energy source entirely.

So to sum up again, because it's important: Your problem isn't eating more. If you eat more when you are maintaining your weight now, you will gain weight.

The calories in a pound of fatty tissue are not based on a % of your TDEE...it is approximately 3500 calories.

pavrg

Whoops, last post was in the wrong thread. Sorry.

bostonj1

I read an article that talked about a study done on wt loss and eating meals habits. Based on 1400 calories a day, you eat 1/2 of those calories at breakfast making sure to get 5-11 grams of protein. Then 400 - 500 at lunch and 200 - 300 at dinner - no eating in the evenings. I started it to reduce wt and cholesterol and at first I could hardly stuff in the 700 calories of food in the morning, but now it's ok. And it seems to really work by cutting down the appetite and giving me lots more energy during the day. I suggest you try it for wt loss. I have been doing it for 3 weeks and I've lost 3 lbs which is more than my goal of 1/2 lb a week. And I don't feel hungry or deprived of food - I even eat ice cream at lunch some times and have a glass of wine. It doesn't even feel like I am "dieting" I eat so much food in the mornings it's ridiculous!
Try it!

spammarino

I recommend Shaun T's Insanity Workout. Its a difficult HIT workout, but have seen great results in the past. I have started back up on it recently as well. My HRM averages about 375-550 calories in the 40-45 minute workouts. Like many others who do the workout, I've had to build up my strength and endurance to stay with the group, so don't get discouraged if the same happens to you. It look me about a week before I could go through the 8-10 minute warmup without stopping!

Regarding your calories, have you considered using the TDEE method? It simplified things for me as your activity level is already built into your total calorie number so you do not have to be guessing on your exercise calories burned as long as you stay fairly consistent throughout the week. Start with a 10-15% deficit on maintenance calories and see where you are after one week. You can adjust things from there.