Honestly not sure what I'm doing wrong

oats4breakfast

Hello Flippy, can I be brutally honest here - I know we have the internet anonymity etc but seriously, let's not beat around the bush here people. You eat like ****. I'm sorry, there's no other way to put it. But I think a lot of people will be thinking this and will tip toe around it trying to be nice. In my opinion, the best help you(we) can receive is a reality check.

You may well be within your calorie goal, and drink almost 8 glasses of water a day etc, but what you're eating is not food. It's all processed ready to be made crap. Candy bars, processed meals ... all junk food really.
Please, get a pot of water, put it on to boil, then get two fresh vegetables, e.g. broccoli and a potato. Put that in the water and cook it. That's food. Something that comes already made with sauce added and you put the box in the microwave, then 2 minutes later is not food. It's convenient and we can eat it. But every day and only that ? These things are supplements not staples.
The candy bars should go too. Have one or two a week, not one or two a day.
Now, all that processed stuff will be increasing your sodium intakes to god only knows how high. That's not good on so many levels. It's hard with food today to keep sodium to a dull roar, but with a small bit of forethought and education, it's not that difficult. Because of the high sodium intake, you may want to consider putting a 1 in front of the water number. Target 18 glasses of water instead of 8. What a lot of people do, especially when we're at work, is get a 64 ounce (or greater) container and drink that every day. Just sip it throughout the day. Until done. This is not the only water we drink either, it's in addition to what we drink when we work out, or get home, or take that multivitamin in the morning and from REAL Food.

I also have to wonder if you're logging everything too. Soda ? I don't recall seeing any and I find it hard to believe that someone who eats two candy bars each day will only drink water. What about flavoring within the water ? It can have calories too. It all counts so everything needs to be accounted for. Even the olive oil we put in the pan to do a stir fry.

Now, we can say you should eat this and eat that, etc, and everyone's suggestions (including my own) will be good bad and indifferent, but I think the best thing you can do, is search the terms at the end of my post on the internet. Read at least 10 different sources for each term and get your own conclusions. (forget the paid Google advertisements etc at the top, if they have a story, it'll be in the results) A lot of them will be trying to sell you stuff, like diet shakes and protein powders, but contained within them all will be usable information. You don't have to buy their products to get what they are trying to say. A well balanced diet contains everything we need .... and the only good supplement that most everyone should have, is a solid multi-vitamin every morning. Some may not even agree that's necessary.
reading 10 of them will start to give you common trends, which will probably show you the truth about things.


terms:
"nutrition facts"
"healthy eating" << read 20 of these
"whole grains"
"processed foods"
"easy to cook healthy"
"how to create a balanced diet"
"how to count calories"


Another thing, if you read any of this and start to formulate excuses why you shouldn't or can't, really think about what you're saying and if it's valid.
e.g. I can't do that, I don't have time. - If "that", like cooking, takes 10-15 minutes a day ... then consider how long we spend on the internet in these forums. 10-15 minutes is easy to find.

Flippy44

First, I want to thank everyone for taking the time to review my food diary and comment. I sincerely appreciate the comments. I have to admit I was a little shocked that everyone thinks I'm eating SO horribly. Perhaps that is my problem right there - I'm just not seeing it? But almost every morning all I have is brewed coffee and either a Fiber 1 bar or an Eggbeater omelet with tomato and spinich. Is that really that bad? In addition, almost every night I make dinner. The "Bust A Meal" category is all homemade fresh. Bust A Meal is a recipe site. So everytime you see Bust A Meal, its me cooking from scratch. Also for lunch I try and either have a half turkey sandwich on wheat or a spinich tortilla wrap with B, L,T. I will admit my snacks are crap. Totally. But I do try and keep them in moderation. For instance 2-3 oreos instead of a whole sleeve. Or 3 mini butterfingers bites rather than a whole candy bar. I also realize there are not many fruits (I'm bad about that - I just don't love fruit) but there are veggies in almost every dinner I cook (fresh bell peppers, fresh brocolli, spinich, etc). I just don't have them listed because they are part of the recipe. As for no dairy, I am lactose intolerant. So at least that keeps the ice cream at bay, right!?

ETA: And yes, I do only drink coffee and water. Honest Abe. I mean for goodness sake I'm putting my Little Debbies in there - lying isn't going to help me lose weight! And yes, I had Jimmy John's and Doritos for dinner tonight - I was at a kids b-day party and that's all there was to eat. So I only ate 1/2 the sandwich and did they Turkey. At least I tried - some!

Given all of that - does everyone still agree that I'm eating so poorly?

abricklin

I was a little shocked that everyone thinks I'm eating SO horribly. Perhaps that is my problem right there - I'm just not seeing it?

Also for lunch I try and either have a half turkey sandwich on wheat or a spinich tortilla wrap with B, L,T.

I will admit my snacks are crap. Totally. But I do try and keep them in moderation. For instance 2-3 oreos instead of a whole sleeve. Or 3 mini butterfingers bites rather than a whole candy bar. I also realize there are not many fruits (I'm bad about that - I just don't love fruit)

Given all of that - does everyone still agree that I'm eating so poorly?

Yes, as a lay person, I still think you are eating very poorly. This is the sort of diet I imagine for a poor college student honestly. On the flip side, no one knows where you started. If you WERE eating a sleeve of oreos a day then yes 2-3 is a huge improvement and eventually you can eliminate those 2-3 per day and make it 2-3 per week. Assuming you were not binging on boxes of cookies, your diet lacks NUTRITION. Can you make smoothies to get your fruit in? peanut butter, banana, milk and ice? I think eating in moderation is proper for maintenance. Eating LIMITED portions = weightloss mode.

You have not indicated whether you breasfeed but my presumption on caloric intake is no?

Agree witht he others, add fiber to your tracker and you wou will notice that you probably get less than half of what you shuold because there are so little fruits/veggies/whole grains.

Lastly, are your sandwiches/wraps homemade or storebought. If store bought, you are likely getting more fat/calories in 1/2 than you would in a whole homemade one. Lots of mayo, cheese, etc. BLT= should be a rare treat unless you are making a light alternative at home.

I see that fiber is now on your tracker. I would suggest going to the goals tab and custom changing your fiber. You shoud be consuming about 25 grams a day, not 14, at MINIMUM.

Azdak

First, I want to thank everyone for taking the time to review my food diary and comment. I sincerely appreciate the comments. I have to admit I was a little shocked that everyone thinks I'm eating SO horribly. Perhaps that is my problem right there - I'm just not seeing it? But almost every morning all I have is brewed coffee and either a Fiber 1 bar or an Eggbeater omelet with tomato and spinich. Is that really that bad? In addition, almost every night I make dinner. The "Bust A Meal" category is all homemade fresh. Bust A Meal is a recipe site. So everytime you see Bust A Meal, its me cooking from scratch. Also for lunch I try and either have a half turkey sandwich on wheat or a spinich tortilla wrap with B, L,T. I will admit my snacks are crap. Totally. But I do try and keep them in moderation. For instance 2-3 oreos instead of a whole sleeve. Or 3 mini butterfingers bites rather than a whole candy bar. I also realize there are not many fruits (I'm bad about that - I just don't love fruit) but there are veggies in almost every dinner I cook (fresh bell peppers, fresh brocolli, spinich, etc). I just don't have them listed because they are part of the recipe. As for no dairy, I am lactose intolerant. So at least that keeps the ice cream at bay, right!?

ETA: And yes, I do only drink coffee and water. Honest Abe. I mean for goodness sake I'm putting my Little Debbies in there - lying isn't going to help me lose weight! And yes, I had Jimmy John's and Doritos for dinner tonight - I was at a kids b-day party and that's all there was to eat. So I only ate 1/2 the sandwich and did they Turkey. At least I tried - some!

Given all of that - does everyone still agree that I'm eating so poorly?

I have to say, yes. You keep saying you are "not that bad", but when I looked at just a few days, between 30% and 42% of your total calories were from junk food "snacks". If you only eat 1200 calories a day and 500 of them are from junk food snacks, that's a HUGE percentage, no matter how small the portion sizes seem.

Flippy44

You have not indicated whether you breasfeed but my presumption on caloric intake is no?

No I am not.

Lastly, are your sandwiches/wraps homemade or storebought. If store bought, you are likely getting more fat/calories in 1/2 than you would in a whole homemade one. Lots of mayo, cheese, etc. BLT= should be a rare treat unless you are making a light alternative at home.

Yes they are homemade and yes, they are whole wheat, or Spinach (tortillas) and low cal with no cheese, etc

If you only eat 1200 calories a day and 500 of them are from junk food snacks, that's a HUGE percentage, no matter how small the portion sizes seem.

I've eaten 500 cals in snacks ONE weekend - which I admitted was a mess. Apart from that I've rarely gone over 300 cals in snacks.

oats4breakfast

I applaud you for logging all the chocolates etc. Here's something that helps, go back through your diary and look at it. Think, is this really how I want to eat and think I have been eating ? popcorn and pancakes for dinner ?? Here's a simple formula for eating, say three meals a day. Protein/carb for breakfast. Protein/carb/veg for lunch. Protein/veg for dinner. Preferably you eat more in morning and less at night, but in the real world, we often turn that around. So eating more smaller meals can help, e.g. protein/carb, protein/carb, protein/veg, protein/veg.

So, I agree that even with this new information, that your diet isn't all that it could be. There's a ton of comments and some have reasons and some have observations, but here's some of my thoughts.
(totally agree with Azdak comments too, among others, but his I noticed)

Look at your vegetable intake over the past 10 days.

7/19/10
Lettuce and Tomato from BLT
A small token selection of veges from Uncle Ben's - Ready Rice Pouch~ Garden Vegetable.
7/20
Lettuce and Tomato from BLT
Sun Dried Tomatoes from Bust a meal
7/21
errrr, was Kraft - Miracle Whip your veg for dinner or the hotdog bun ?
7/22
Lettuce leaf and a pickle
(bust a meal only a pork chop ? Anything else?)
7/23
There's veges on pizza right ? Let's count the ketchup for today
7/24
chirp chirp
7/25
Beans, good. Don't know what Mrs grimes is, but beans is good. Prefer it to simply be "unflavored" or naked beans and you do your own to it, but it's a start.
7/26
Chinese take out has veges, but who on earth knows what the true cals are here. You may as well write that day off. Hopefully, there was mushrooms and maybe something else in the strog.
No choccy bars or miracle whip though, well done !!
7/27
Lettuce and tomato from BLT
7/28
I dunno, maybe maple syrup. Is pancakes a vegetable or well balanced ?
7/29
Lettuce tomato from BLT and a pickle.


So, there's a lot missing here. Sure, I may have missed one of your servings, but I didn't see anything resembling a serving of fruit or veg. Not even a simple banana or apple in the morning with your coffee and sugar filled fiber bar. Simply getting in some more veges would help you out, if not for weight loss, but simply health. It may help you stop eating butterfingers and popcorn for dinner too.

I had thought that bust-a-meal was something from a box. So I apologize for that type of comment before. However, I'd be curious to know whether the nutrition values you are entering are from that website/recipe, or, something already in the database, or, did you create that yourself based off of every single morsel that you used to make that recipe.
If your serious about this weight loss, don't trust the database. It's useful in a pinch, but I double check all the values. Often I find the food I'm looking for, then compare the label to the entries I find, and pick the accurate one. If none are accurate, I'll either create my own or update the existing one.

Let's look at 7/22
You had a bust a meal pork chop. If it were my menu, I'd have a pork chop (just grilled), mash potato and green peas listed. (or something). Maybe there'd be some grated cheese on the mash, and some apple sauce with the pork chop. It would all be listed. Every single bit.

Now, If I used a bust a meal recipe, I may add it as a bust a meal pork chop, but I would not trust that entry if found in DB. I'd create my own entry based off of the actual size and cut of my pork chop, along with how much other ingredients were included, along with the correct portion size.

I also wonder about the "cafe omelet" and "cafe BLT". Are these your creations or something found in DB ? If your creations, then I assume they are correct. If they are not your creations ...... then how do you know it's the same as what you are eating ?
I too will add something generic if I can't be bothered creating my own, I'm sure we all do. But to be successful, you need to check and double check the labels, what your putting in your mouth, and the data points in the database itself. I will often pick a bought sandwich apart and see what's in it. Then make a note of sizes and quantities, then create my own entry. Especially if a repeat customer. After a while, you do get good and "seeing" what an ounce of this is, or a cup of that is.


Remember this formula: garbage in equals garbage out.
It applies to anything where results are dependent on input.
So, garbage in could be the chocolate bars and pancakes for dinner, or, it could simply be the line items that we add to our diaries. If these items aren't really what we ate, and just something close, then it's garbage in and we'll get garbage for results (unless we're lucky, but it will catch up with us).

Keep at it and change things little by little for the change. It's a journey. I think you've done a good thing by opening yourself up to comments etc. Keep the thick skin too, most people are well meaning here - even if it gets frustrating for you.

angiereid

well i have to be honest as well from what i read, your sugar is very high and that is probably why you are having a lot of trouble i go over my sugar a lot too however mine is usually all from fruit. it's okay to have those snacks but not everyday, think of this as a way of life, just choose healthier snacks like nuts, fruit etc...

bumbalina

NO PROCESSED FOODS SHOULD PASS YOUR LIPS CAUSE THEY'LL JUST END UP ON YOUR HIPS!!!!!

Basically if it doesn't have a mother don't eat it! (mother earth or mother with a heart beat) I viewed your diary and your consuming dead calories that are burnt off very quickly. It will leave you tired and grumpy. And with a 4 month old thats the last thing you need. I LOVED sugar and cut it out of my diet cold turkey. I thought I was going to die for the first 4 days but now i feel fantastic and don't get headaches or sleepy at 3 in the afternoon anymore. And I don't miss it at all.

A couple of tricks I use are
Always have hard boiled eggs in fridge
bananas and apples on the beanch where they are visable
Almonds in your handbag for snacks
Buy 50g packs of deli meats so if your starving you can grab one out of the fridge
NO WHITE FOODS (except potatoe)
Plan your weeks meals before you shop
If your going out to kids parties take a salad with you or eat before you go
I always have a basic fruit salad made up from scratch in my fridge

Loosing weight is 80% food and 20% excersise and 100% determination!
You can do it, hang in there and try some changes and see how you go:happy:

Feel free to have a look at my diary if you want

godblessourhome

i have three suggestions (the fruit/veggie thing has been beaten to death).

1.) i think you are not eating enough. with exercise calories you get 1400 calories; you were barely eating 1200. add in that extra food and i think you will reach for the candy/pick-me-up a little less.

2.) i think you are eating too many carbs/not eating enough protein. for example, the pancakes (carb) and syrup (carb). there were no eggs or bacon/sausage/beans (protein). (i find mpf's protein setting very low, you can customize that if you want.) protein and fat will keep you feeling fuller for a longer period of time and reduce sugar spikes in your blood. for some people, women in particular, carb consumption is a really big deal and they won't lose weight without reducing the amount they eat.

3.) i also agree that your snack are probably the main problem. if you are consuming 300 calories in chocolate in a 1200 diet, that is 25% of your calories from sugar/no nutritional value. add in the chips, starbucks, a breakfast bar, etc and you have a real problem, malnutrition-wise.

i find that i crave sugar when my protein is not high enough. when i eat something sweet, i always try to eat it with a protein or i will crash and need another snack. some proteins that i choose as snacks are soy milk, bacon, hard boiled egg, string cheese [might not work if you are lactose intolerant], greek yogurt (with honey - yum!), a handful of nuts (sunflower seeds, peanuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, almonds). to start changing something slowly, eat your chocolate with one of the above proteins and that takes care of all three of my suggestions in one shot. for example, instead of 5-6 tootsie rolls, have a handful of a homemade trailmix with m&m's, raisins, cheerios and nuts.

my diary is always public. i eat crappy on some day and like a rockstar on others. you are welcome to stop by for ideas. good luck!
dawn

p.s. fruit really works when you are craving sweets/sugar. a half of a frozen banana covered in chocolate and nuts? yum-o!

hawaiibound

Alright lady....i know the feeling! All to well! Its very frustrating to feel like your working your butt off and then get on the scale and see nothing! Or a gain, even worse! Keep going! Don't give up! Did you take your measurements when you started...if so take them again. Anything is a postive! If you look at your diet and feel like its fine than it probably is...anything is better than how you used to eat. Make small changes and don't expect huge results fast. As a mom of two and on a limited budget I totally understand having to eat whatever you have. Somedays like today I had to eat whatever i could. So i worked out extra hard tonite....which included playin on the Wii with my family. Don't allow ppl on here to treat you like crap...you joined this program to get help not to be talked to like a piece of crap...take it one day at a time. I was almost 80lbs overwieght when i started my journey so my weight started to come off fast...and then I platued...I have to keep at it everyday...when I slip and decide to eat Mac&cheese with the kids than i just work out harder at night...so what so i might not loose 10lbs in a month but any lose is a plus for me...even if its feeling healthy and seeing a difference in my clothes...i'm praying for you...you will do great!

Flippy44

Ok - I think probably I have what I need from this thread - but just wanted to answer a few of the last questions posed:

1) Yes, this is a vast improvement from how I used to eat. Believe it or not. And yes, I did used to eat an entire sleeve of Oreos in one night - sucks but its true. So I AM trying.

2) The Bust A Meal values are input from their own recipe database that breaks all entries down by ingredient and shows you exactly where each calorie/fat/etc is coming from - so I do believe that they are pretty accurate. They include every ingredient down to the 1T of olive oil you put in the pan.

3) The "Cafe Omlette" is something I created myself on here and includes the tomato, spinach, egg beater, and sm amt of shredded mozzerela. Same with Cafe BLT Wrap. They are made fresh to order while I watch so I know what's going into them (and more importantly what's not).

4) Yes occasionally we do "breakfast for dinner" when my 3 year old has a rockstar day and gets to choose our dinner plan. It doesn't happen often, but its her favorite. Other than that I do make weekly meal plans for dinners and try to keep each thing either low fat, low carb, or low cal (not usually all three but I'm trying to make some headway).

5) I will work harder on cutting down the sugar and snacks. Starting today - not "tomorrow". I brought in a banana to have with my bfast and will cut out the candy. In fact I started last night with no "reward" oreos after my workout.

As far as having a "thick skin" I'm afraid I don't. In fact quite honestly last night I was in tears after reading all the posts. I really had felt good about the changes I'd make and knew I was trying - hard - from where I had been. I got pretty discouraged and almost gave up my workout last night - but I knew that was just hurting myself. So I got off my butt and did it. Yes my diet is not perfect - but its better than a lot of America. No fast food, fresh meals prepared from scratch quite often. There is certainly room for improvement, but at least I'm not eating Taco Bell every night. And even though my meals aren't perfect I have a hard time believing that consuming 1200-1300 cals a day - regardless of the form - would not result in at least 1-2lbs of weight loss. That is where I'm stumped. I went from eating MUCH worse, and not exercising at all, to watching what I eat (even with room for improvement) and working out almost everyday. Part of me wonders "why bother".

heathercrist1

PLEASE don't get discouraged! Many people who posted on here we rude in the way they put out their information...but I don't think they intended to hurt your feelings or make you quit. When I started my journey years ago, I thought ordering a chicken sandwich (crispy/fried) and a lemonade at McDonalds was healthy! I've come a long way with my nutritional knowledge, as will you! Please don't look at it as a "fail, I'm done"....look at it as a learning experience. You are absolutely correct, your diet is not as bad a many Americans...but many Americans are morbidly obese, for a reason!

Sometimes when we ask for help/suggestions/etc we really aren't prepared to hear the harsh truth, especially when it means we aren't doing something correct even if we are trying our hardest! Here is the other thing, you want to lose 15-25lbs? That means that you are closer to your goal weight than most. I've been trying to lose the last 10 for years now! I workout (HARD, VERY HARD) 6 days a week and eat clean (I don't diet, I just don't eat junk) which is about 1400-1800 cals a day. I am at a healthy BMI (as I'm assuming you are too or close to it to only need to lose 15-25lbs). It takes the right combination of nutrition and exercise to really drop pounds when you don't have a lot to lose! This is not an excuse to quit...this is just a fyi so that you know this is normal.

Here are my suggestions:

1. Get a tape measure and measure (or have someone help you) yourself: neck, arms/upper arm, waist at belly button, hips at widest part of your body, thighs...measurements tell a lot more about success than does a scale! I was lucky to have a friend who was qualified to do a body fat analysis. I go by that as a goal tracker than my weight now.

2. The nutritional suggestions have been beaten to death on here...I would take them to heart and continue to try and incorporate more fruits, veggies, and lean meats into your diet.

3. Make simple changes. Park your car further in parking lots. Take stairs instead of elevators. Go on walks after dinner. Etc. These little things add up more than we realize!

4. Drink LOTS of water. I found that adding a splash of lemon juice concentrate into my ice water makes me more likely to gulp it down!

5. Don't give up! You have done the hardest part....you started this journey! Just because some people were a little harsh, don't give up on yourself (and your family). I know it is hard when we feel like we are being attacked to just quit, but stand up, dust yourself off, and keep going! If I stopped every time I had a negative comment from people, I'd still be overweight and unhappy!

You've got this!

WrenLynn

Please don't get discouraged! The old saying can apply here on what people have responded. "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water". Keep what makes sense and is good advice for you and disregard the rest. Keep plugging along and you will see a difference on the scale. The biggest key is moderation in all things. I have told myself that there is nothing that I can't have if I really want it but I work it in and only have it once in a great while. You only have ten or so pounds to lose so they are going to come off a lot slower than ten pounds on someone of a larger size. Good luck on your weight loss journey.

carolinemacdonald22

Try adding Cardio. When i did it i didnt lose much weight, only toned. Once i added cardio it started coming off (:

Mindful_Trent

I'm jumping in here really late - lots of good advice has been given. I just wanted to say, don't give up! It's easy to get overwhelmed, but if you try to jump from "old habits" to "perfect" overnight it'll never work. IJust take it one step at a time. Take the easy things first - working more water into your diet, adding in more fresh fruits/veggies, etc. And once you feel solid with the "basics" then you can pay more attention to specific stuff like sodium, fiber, etc. Try picking one or two food improvement goals a week - as you add all the improvements up over time, your diet will get better and better. I eat pretty well now, but it took me a good 10 months to get here from where I was before (lots of fast food, lots of binging on sweets/high calorie foods, etc.).

One step at a time and you'll get there eventually. It's hard when you don't see the weight fall off, but if you keep it up and just focus on eating well and exercising, you'll see the results slowly but surely. Good luck!

godblessourhome

i hope you are not lumping me in with anyone you considered rude. if i was less-than-encouraging to you, i am so sorry! i was tired last night and should not have been responding to thread posts.

1) Yes, this is a vast improvement from how I used to eat. Believe it or not. And yes, I did used to eat an entire sleeve of Oreos in one night - sucks but its true. So I AM trying.

good job! any improvement for our health (even if we don't see it on the scale) is fantastic. you should be proud of yourself!

2) The Bust A Meal values are input from their own recipe database that breaks all entries down by ingredient and shows you exactly where each calorie/fat/etc is coming from - so I do believe that they are pretty accurate. They include every ingredient down to the 1T of olive oil you put in the pan.

i'm not sure why someone felt the need to question you on this.

3) The "Cafe Omlette" is something I created myself on here and includes the tomato, spinach, egg beater, and sm amt of shredded mozzerela. Same with Cafe BLT Wrap. They are made fresh to order while I watch so I know what's going into them (and more importantly what's not).

i think these sound very tasty and healthy! a small carb would round this out nicely (fruit, juice, half piece of toast).

4) Yes occasionally we do "breakfast for dinner" when my 3 year old has a rockstar day and gets to choose our dinner plan. It doesn't happen often, but its her favorite. Other than that I do make weekly meal plans for dinners and try to keep each thing either low fat, low carb, or low cal (not usually all three but I'm trying to make some headway).

we do breakfast for dinner too about 4-5 times a year. it even has it's own name - we call it 'brinner'. there is nothing wrong with that! the only thing that will help you with that is making sure it has a protein to balance the high carbs. i was using it as an example, but i didn't mean to make it sound like breakfast for dinner isn't a great choice!

great job on making and sticking to a weekly meal plan. you are doing better than i am with that. my dad died at the end of may and it has really messed with me. i still make a weekly meal plan on my blog, but now i very rarely follow it. it has become so easy to just say, 'let's go out to eat' and my husband is always agreeable. i need to start being accountable to only eating out twice a week again (once for lunch with friends and once for supper with family). ugh! i need some self-discipline (can i borrow some of yours? i promise to treat it nice).

5) I will work harder on cutting down the sugar and snacks. Starting today - not "tomorrow". I brought in a banana to have with my bfast and will cut out the candy. In fact I started last night with no "reward" oreos after my workout.

it may take awhile to find a fruit that you like. bananas may not cut it. i love banana bread and frozen bananas, but i can't stand the texture of a regular banana. doesn't work for me; you might love it. i love, love, love kiwi. there are so many varieties out there on fruit, experiment until you find one or two that you enjoy.

as far as the 'reward' oreos, plan them into one night of your weekly meal. you don't have to give them up completely.

As far as having a "thick skin" I'm afraid I don't. In fact quite honestly last night I was in tears after reading all the posts. I really had felt good about the changes I'd make and knew I was trying - hard - from where I had been. I got pretty discouraged and almost gave up my workout last night - but I knew that was just hurting myself. So I got off my butt and did it. Yes my diet is not perfect - but its better than a lot of America. No fast food, fresh meals prepared from scratch quite often. There is certainly room for improvement, but at least I'm not eating Taco Bell every night. And even though my meals aren't perfect I have a hard time believing that consuming 1200-1300 cals a day - regardless of the form - would not result in at least 1-2lbs of weight loss. That is where I'm stumped. I went from eating MUCH worse, and not exercising at all, to watching what I eat (even with room for improvement) and working out almost everyday. Part of me wonders "why bother".

again, i am so sorry if i hurt your feelings! you did a really brave thing asking for advice. i have received unsolicited advice and advice i have asked for; neither were easy to swallow. the important thing is that feeling something negative did not discourage you from pressing on! whoo hoo! you are amazing! a few years back, that is all i would have needed to throw my hands up and quit. good on you for doing your workout anyway!

stick with it! it may take some time, but you will start losing weight eventually. i am set to lose a 1/2 pound a week. it usually works out to be 1/4 pound a week. for a full year (20 days doesn't seem so long now, huh?), i saw NOTHING change, even when i was eating only 1300 calories and running 3 miles a day. not a single pound left my fat waistline. i understand how not seeing movement can be frustrating! now i have 17 pounds to go and can see the progress i have made and the progress i still need to make. slow and steady wins the race.

if you really think that you should have lost something... anything... because of the changes you have previously made, it is time to visit your doctor. 5 million women suffer from hormone problems that make them resistant to losing weight. since you are only 4 months out from having a baby, your hormones might be all over the place, causing your body to fight you on weight loss.

last piece of advice: take any and all of my advice (and the given by others) and weed through it. keep what works for you and discard the rest!
dawn

Flippy44

Dawn,

No, please don't feel badly. First, you were not one of the ones that stung so badly. And second, even the ones that stung needed to be said I suppose. Its just hard for someone new to this to sort through it all (eat more, eat less, eat all your exercise cals, don't eat any, a cal is a cal, no its not....) :ohwell: Its just my learning curve. Thanks for the encouragement above and for responding again. I just have to keep plugging away and hope things will shift in the right direction. Here at work we have on-site trainers and a nutritonist - I think I may consult them to see what they say for me. If things don't improve after that I may just check in with my doc to ensure all my levels are where they should be. Anyhow - thanks again and here's to the journey!! :drinker:

ETA: I'm very sorry to hear about your dad. I know that had to be very hard. But it says lots about you that you didn't let that derail you completely. Hugs to you!

batty5

Now I am jumping in very late indeed to say DO NOT GIVE UP, like you my weight loss was non existent for weeks.In fact after 20 days I weighed more despite eating loads of "healthy " stuff & doing loads of swimming, which, due to medical problems is the only exercise I am able to do. Maybe there is a lot of truth in what has been said about high sugar intake, I haven't looked at your diary but I do have something else to tell you.Obviously healthy eating will be good for your health but just 4 months after having a baby it may be very difficult to lose the weight easily. After I had my 1st child some 38 years ago my consultant told me to eat healthily but said it would be 12 months before I would regain my figure due to water retention!!!! He was absolutely correct & 10 months after having her the weight started to come off & I ended up 14 lbs slimmer than before; so what I am really saying is it takes your body 9 months to have a baby so it is reasonable to assume it may take that long to get it back. Keep track of your eating as that will make you healthier, your skin glow & hair be glossy but don't despair if results take sometime.
Feel free to add me for support, I can reach out from the UK! Good luck & most of all enjoy your family.

SHALONDAG

I DIDN'T LOOK AT YOUR FOOD DIARY, IT'S REALLY NONE OF MY BUSINESS! IT'S UP TO YOU AND YOU ALONE TO DECIDE WHAT YOU EAT! I JUST WANT TO SAY HANG IN THERE! DON'T GIVE UP! SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE! I HAVE NOTHING BUT ENCOURAGEMENT FOR YOU!!!!!