Terrified to ask, but getting frustrated

aezaidan

Ok, I know that asking this is asking for people to pick me apart, but I think I may be at the point where I need that now.... My weight loss has puttered to a stop already and I really just got started. My weight has been fluctuating since the beginning, but it was trending down... Now it just seems stuck between 303-300. I got down to 299, but it went back up right away and now won't go back down again.

I did have some issues where I think I was overestimating calorie burn from zumba, which I now adjusted so I only eat back 100 calories on those days, so that should be taken care of (the past week anyway)

Also, I will state now that I don't eat super clean. I try to stay in my calorie limit although I have days when I binge and I have days when I just go a bit over, but even when I go just a bit over, I should still be eating at below maintenance....

What am I doing wrong?! at this weight and this early in the game I should be losing super quickly, right?!

Ok... deep breath.... bring it on.....

sjhalida

I don't have any fabulous advice for you but I did want to say I really admire your courage to put yourself out there like this. Keep up the good work and you will achieve your goals!!

Contrarian

Please open your diary so we can help.

random_user75

Will you open your food diary?

SoDamnHungry

How long have you been stalled?

And clean eating doesn't matter much. As long as you're eating at a deficit you should be losing weight, so don't worry about that too much.

fatfudgery

You're eating more calories than you're burning. It really is that simple.

Open your diary so we can give you more specific feedback.

ninerbuff

Ok, I know that asking this is asking for people to pick me apart, but I think I may be at the point where I need that now.... My weight loss has puttered to a stop already and I really just got started. My weight has been fluctuating since the beginning, but it was trending down... Now it just seems stuck between 303-300. I got down to 299, but it went back up right away and now won't go back down again.

I did have some issues where I think I was overestimating calorie burn from zumba, which I now adjusted so I only eat back 100 calories on those days, so that should be taken care of (the past week anyway)

Also, I will state now that I don't eat super clean. I try to stay in my calorie limit although I have days when I binge and I have days when I just go a bit over, but even when I go just a bit over, I should still be eating at below maintenance....

What am I doing wrong?! at this weight and this early in the game I should be losing super quickly, right?!

Ok... deep breath.... bring it on.....

You're not consistent is the reason. If you binge and go over that means you're not consistent with your program. Fix that first and you losses should continue.

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

aezaidan

it's open now... sorry!!!

YoungGma29

I suspect that you have just hit an early plateau. Your body is trying to figure out what is going on. Just do exactly what you have already done - re-evaluate what you are doing and adjust it. Stick with it and you will find the weight loss happens eventually. It also gets easier to eat healthier and staying within daily calories gets easier too. Just don't give up! :happy:

darkguardian419

Make sure you are weighing your food... overestimating exercise is one thing, underestimating your intake is even worse.

Holly_Roman_Empire

I'm not able to view your food diary, but do you use a food scale? Are you logging all your foods even on binge days? If not, I will stress that it's absolutely necessary. Nothing got me to quit binging more than seeing ten days in a row of 1500-1600 calorie days, and then seeing one 4000 calorie day completely go off the chart. The only time I don't log foods is when it's a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Are you using a heart rate monitor to measure your calories burned during work outs? I would highly recommend using one if you don't already. I would be lost without mine. It's a foolproof way to measure your calorie burns.

keelerangela

You should add sodium to your counts. Alot of your meals are fast food or pre-packaged.. I am willing to bet you are consuming at least 3-4000 of sodium a day which will lead to water retention so make sure you are really pushing that water. Try to be more conscious of your salt intake.

RGv2

Eating "clean" has nothing to do with it. You don't need to eat clean to lose weight.

Your diary is closed. What is your calorie goal? Are you diligently logging? It's good you adjusted your caloric burn down on Zumba, MFP greatly over exaggerates caloric burn.

I guess I would start with, what is your caloric goal for the day and how do you measure to make sure you're under it. It's all calories in vs calories out.

mheebner

Just remember that its not always automatic about how fast weight comes off. My first two weeks I didn't lose a single pound, and there have been a few times where I didn't lose anything for three weeks in a row. I ate within my caloric range, exercised hard, and drank plenty of water and didn't lose a single pound. That's frustrating but eventually it works itself out. Sometimes you just have to give it the hardest part of this whole thing...patience.

Oh and I want to echo some of the previous posts, the sodium thing is VERY real. One or two days of excessive sodium with screw up a whole weeks loss with water retention. That too works itself out but can be super frustrating.

amberbabb26

I can help you more with diary open. What I can see from reading it that you aren't sticking with it. While you are trying to loose weight you don't need to go over. I have stuck with it since jan hard core. I don't go over. Also maybe try to get a heart rate moniter to know what you really burn!.

madtownjeremy

It's super important that you find a more accurate way to gather data on what you're doing than MFP. Everything here, as helpful as it tries to be is just an estimate. I use a BodyMedia on my arm to find out preceisely what my calorie burn is throughout the day...after a week or so I can look at it and say "okay, so every time I just sit there I burn 2 cals a minute. And that's consistent over days". So i can safely say without guessing that my resting metabolic rate is (2 cals per minute x 60 minutes x 24 hours) 2640 cals per day. Any activity I do will kick my cal burn above that. So in order to fuel my body for those exercises but still have enough to simply function, I have to eat at least 2640 to maintain my RMR but less than what I spend on activity in order to create a deficit.

If I went on MFP's estimate, it'd be about 20-25% lower on the RMR and the activity burn, which would stall my progress. You're doing some good things...just have to find a better way to collect the data that you can use to tweak your results. Good luck!

phillyb2013

dont be discouraged, we all are on here because we need support and none of us is perfect all the time.....I am back now after slacking a bit.

I would advise you not to eat the calories you burn....I know that is hard, but by doing that you make your journey longer. Try to stay in your calorie goal and have maybe one dinner you treat yourself.

Good luck :-)

gymboreejunkie

Asking for help is never wrong!

If you're able, I would buy a Heart Rate Monitor to truly know what calories you're burning during exercise. I love mine (Polar) and it doesn't feel uncomfortable in anyway while I'm exercising.

I would also recommend getting a kitchen scale to weigh your food. I know it might be a pain at first but underestimating can be just as bad as overestimating. On most days I will use my kitchen scale and measuring cups to accurately measure my food since "eyeballing it" doesn't help me.

Make sure you switch up your exercise routines. Zumba is great, but try to incorporate some resistance bands or light weights into your routine. You want to make sure you're not losing muscle while you're trying to burn fat. I love Turbo Fire as has a huge variety of DVD's with different types of exercises.

If you are incorporating strength training into your exercise routine then I would start taking my measurements to see if you are building muscle which will help you burn the fat. It may not reflect on the scale, but it will reflect in your measurements and how your clothes are fitting.

Please don't give up! Think of how hard you worked to get to this point. If it was easy, everyone would be thin. That's what makes this journey so rewarding because no one but you can take credit for the long term positive changes you're making in your life. Becoming healthy is a rollercoster ride with ups and downs, just keep focused at the light at the end of the tunnel and you'll do great!

Greenrun99

First I would try to cut out all the eating out or any take out stuff until you figure out a number where you know you lose weight.. because all of that stuff is estimated and could be off.
Your calorie count is a good start to gauge where you can go, as you do have a lot to lose you can see just how much or how far you are away (1 lb a week, 2 lb a week loss kinda thing).
Saturday was a good day, the rest your either eating just frozen dinners or drinking calories or having cookies for dinner.. I would just focus on what you eat, cooking meals, and getting a control of your meals for a few weeks.. Oh and Stop eating exercise calories for the time being while you do that.. if you chose to do this.

supremelady

i'm sorry but even if you overestimated your calories burned, if you are doing zumba at 300 lbs you should be burning more than 100 calories unless you are not moving.

PositiveBody

Congrads for asking for help. Most of the replies here are very helpful but I wanted to add something here I don't see. When we eat foods that are processed, we are not getting a lot of the micronutrients we need because they have been processed out. When we eats foods that aren't manipulated in some way, we are getting what we need so our body is not triggering hunger. Hence, challenge yourself to eat less processed foods and more of it...so you won't feel as hungry plus, your body is getting the nutrients it needs. As I have introduced less processed foods into my diet, I no longer crave "junk" foods.

Good luck! You Can Do it!

amberbabb26

What I can see I looked back in your diary a week. You go way over your macros. Mainly fat and a few days over carbs and calories. Keeping up with your macros will help you. It's not easy at first but will get better

askeates

A couple things I noticed about your diary....

You have a lot of prepackaged salads, but there is never any dressing. Do you eat it without? If you use dressing, make sure to add that because most salad dressings are filled with calories, sodium & fat.

My other question, are you measuring your foods or just guessing? I see mostly pre-packaged or restaraunt type foods that appear to not always go with everything else, so it almost looks like you are just picking something that may be close to what you are eating. Often times we think that we are estimating over the calories we are eating, but in reality, we are not estimating enough calories. It looks to me as if it is possible that you need to weigh and measure your food and stop estimating.

And where are the fruits and veggies Add more fresh fruits and veggies to your diet, that will help as well (from my experience).

Best of luck :drinker:

wilsoje74

I would cut back on the fast food and per packaged foods (lean cuisines) for a bit and that will decrease your sodium. Try to eat fresh foods and track closely. Don't go over your cals for a couple weeks and you should see results

happycauseIride

Are you honest with your portion sizes? I can make my food diary look pretty darn good, but in reality it's not right. How many ounces are really in that chicken breast? Did I count out and only eat 24 bite sized tostitos? Did I measure out the 2 TBSP of peanut butter or salad dressing? If your not doing that, start there. You will be surprised.

Great job so far in your weight loss. Don't let this slow you down. It could be a plateau. I have had 2 now. One lasted for 2 1/2 months and the other lasted 5 weeks. They suck. But I also dropped a jean size and only lost 4 lbs. Your body is changing and you are doing a good thing. Keep up the great work!!!!

aezaidan

I should also note that the meal times don't necessarily reflect when I'm actually eating it. sometimes when I eat a cookie or something I'll trow it in dinner because it's the first thing I clicked.....

Bgirl72

Omg, THAT helped me.

Holly_Roman_Empire

I would suggest not "drinking your calories". After looking at your diary, I notice you have a lot of coffee drinks from Starbucks and what not. I would cut back on empty calories and instead eat something more fulfilling. Of course, it is possible to lose weight while eating or drinking anything, but I prefer to eat my calories and feel full instead of drinking them and getting hungry later. Just a suggestion.

LoosingMyLast15

Ok, I know that asking this is asking for people to pick me apart, but I think I may be at the point where I need that now.... My weight loss has puttered to a stop already and I really just got started. My weight has been fluctuating since the beginning, but it was trending down... Now it just seems stuck between 303-300. I got down to 299, but it went back up right away and now won't go back down again.

I did have some issues where I think I was overestimating calorie burn from zumba, which I now adjusted so I only eat back 100 calories on those days, so that should be taken care of (the past week anyway)

Also, I will state now that I don't eat super clean. I try to stay in my calorie limit although I have days when I binge and I have days when I just go a bit over, but even when I go just a bit over, I should still be eating at below maintenance....

What am I doing wrong?! at this weight and this early in the game I should be losing super quickly, right?!

Ok... deep breath.... bring it on.....

went through a few days in your diary. forget about eating clean everyday i suspect your biggest challenge is not eating junk everyday. kfc, mcdonalds, etc. i bet if you added sodium to your list you would be over (significantly) each day just based on what you are eating. focus on just eating healthy less fast food/processed food/convenience food and i bet the weight will start to come off again. make sure you're drinking lots and lots of water.

we all enjoy convenience food from time to time but not almost everyday like what's in your diary. try not to use the quick add calories because while you're adding the calories you're not adding the fat, fiber, protein and i did notice you go over in fat almost daily. if you were eating healthy fats that would be one thing but you really are not - it's fat from greasy processed food.

get yourself a food scale and a heart rate monitor. start measuring/weighing your food - doing this will help you in the long run.

good luck to you and just remember you didn't gain the weight overnight. you won't loose it overnight either. you are doing very well and should not get discouraged!

Francl27

Your goal seems extremely low for someone who is 300 lbs. Is that with the 'lose 2lb a week' setting?

Either way, the main culprit is that you're probably not weighing your food properly and are probably eating more than you think.

hookilau

How long have you been stalled?

And clean eating doesn't matter much. As long as you're eating at a deficit you should be losing weight, so don't worry about that too much.

Yup. If all else is equal (meaning no metabolic issues or underlying medical issues, subclinical or otherwise) you should be losing if a deficit exists.

I say it this way because this didn't happen with me. I was subclinical (T2D) for a number of years and only JUST got diagnosed, and under control.

For the first time in 15 years, I've been able to lose weight as the calculators predict for everyone. I'm special, but apparently, not *that* special :laugh: