Terrified to ask, but getting frustrated
Replies
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How did you figure your daily goal? 1,710 seems high. What activity level did you select? Did you take into account your working out when you selected that activity level? If so, you shouldn't log any exercise at all.
I'm a 5'11 guy and with a 500 deficit my daily net goal is 1,610. After accounting for working out, I generally get about a 2,000 to 2,300 intake, depending on whether it's a running or lifting day, and how far I run.
I lose a consistent pound a week on that intake.
Edited to add : also everything everyone else has said about consistency. If you feel you need a 'cheat' day each week, by all means schedule it. Just keep it under control, and factor it into your predicted results.0 -
While I agree that healthy eating is essential for long term health, for an obese person who has struggled for years to lose and keep it off, I think it is important to take baby steps towards the ultimate goal. The single, biggest factor in starting a weight loss plan is SUSTAINABILITY.
Things like Whole 30, paleo, etc are great and I'm not slagging the value of good, healthy, home-cooked foods. But it is hard enough for someone struggling with weight and overeating just to log their intake and stick to a limit. Telling them that they also have to change the way they eat, give up foods they love, etc. is, IMHO, way too much at once and just setting them up to fail.
I did Paleo for a year, lost a bunch of weight effortlessly, no calorie counting, etc. But I could not sustain such a dramatic change in diet. I missed "normal" foods and eventually I fell off the wagon, felt guilty, and gave up gaining it all back and then some. Too big a change in lifestyle never works, and I'd rather see someone take it slowly than start off with too much and give up or quit.
So let them eat their Lean Cuisine's and their chocolate bars, so long as they are sticking to their caloric goals give them a "high five" and shut up about what they are eating. When they reach their goals, feel fabulous and KNOW they can DO IT, then I believe their thoughts will naturally turn to slowly improving diet. When you feel great and start exercising, you naturally want to fuel your body with good stuff.0 -
Two things that push me ahead:
1. Increase intensity when exercising. If I can have a nice conversation less than 1 minute after I finish a workout, I am not working hard enough. Work hard, sweat a lot, and be breathless. Oxygen burns fat. You need to be breathing hard to burn fat.
2. Homemade foods trump anything from a restaurant or package. Use the 80/20 rule of food. 80% of your calories (or more) need to come from your own kitchen. Even if that food isn't very healthy, if you cooked it at home, you are going to be head and shoulders above anything you get from the pick-up window or out of a package from the grocery store.
If you really want to fine tune your program, watch your micro-nutrients as well as your macros. Check out your nutrient summary to make sure you are getting all of the necessary vitamins and minerals. I find that when I'm under on something like Vitamin A or Magnesium I will binge on chocolate. Bingeing is the body's way of telling you that you are suffering from malnourishment. Listen to what your body needs. Get all of your nutrients and you will feel much, much better.0 -
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!!
Yes - this0 -
While I agree that healthy eating is essential for long term health, for an obese person who has struggled for years to lose and keep it off, I think it is important to take baby steps towards the ultimate goal. The single, biggest factor in starting a weight loss plan is SUSTAINABILITY.
Things like Whole 30, paleo, etc are great and I'm not slagging the value of good, healthy, home-cooked foods. But it is hard enough for someone struggling with weight and overeating just to log their intake and stick to a limit. Telling them that they also have to change the way they eat, give up foods they love, etc. is, IMHO, way too much at once and just setting them up to fail.
I did Paleo for a year, lost a bunch of weight effortlessly, no calorie counting, etc. But I could not sustain such a dramatic change in diet. I missed "normal" foods and eventually I fell off the wagon, felt guilty, and gave up gaining it all back and then some. Too big a change in lifestyle never works, and I'd rather see someone take it slowly than start off with too much and give up or quit.
So let them eat their Lean Cuisine's and their chocolate bars, so long as they are sticking to their caloric goals give them a "high five" and shut up about what they are eating. When they reach their goals, feel fabulous and KNOW they can DO IT, then I believe their thoughts will naturally turn to slowly improving diet. When you feel great and start exercising, you naturally want to fuel your body with good stuff.
It's hard, but it isn't impossible. It just depends on the individual's personality. For me, if I can slack and get away with it, I will. I had to get really hard core with myself. I dumped all the junk from my kitchen and forbid family members from bringing junk food into the house.
I also sold my car and bought a bicycle as my only form of transportation. No excuses! I will exercise whether I'm in the mood or not. I have to leave myself no other choice, because I will always choose the path of least resistance. Knowing yourself and your weaknesses can be a strength in getting control.0 -
Another way to see just how you're doing is the reports feature MFP offers. Because you can only track so many things on a daily basis, I sometimes use the reports to see how I've been doing for a week or month at a time. I stopped tracking sugar because every time I ate fruit, my sugar would be over for the day. I decided that I would do better to track cholesterol. Some people may want to track fiber. Regardless of what you track in your diary every day, you can still use the reports to see a record of all the other options. Just click on Reports, and you'll get to choose what you want to view. If you view "last 30 days" you'll see the trend of where different things are. You may find that your sodium counts are all really high, or that your fiber counts are all really low, or even what you might want to work on changing. I don't track my fiber on a daily basis, but I like to make sure I'm eating plenty of it, so I check that report regularly to make sure I'm keeping up my intake.
Good luck....aside from calories in versus calories out, everyone has something different that works for them. Don't be afraid to play around with your options. The important thing is that you're making the effort.0 -
time to change things up, do different things0
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Well said.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!!0 -
Two things that push me ahead:
1. Increase intensity when exercising. If I can have a nice conversation less than 1 minute after I finish a workout, I am not working hard enough. Work hard, sweat a lot, and be breathless. Oxygen burns fat. You need to be breathing hard to burn fat.
2. Homemade foods trump anything from a restaurant or package. Use the 80/20 rule of food. 80% of your calories (or more) need to come from your own kitchen. Even if that food isn't very healthy, if you cooked it at home, you are going to be head and shoulders above anything you get from the pick-up window or out of a package from the grocery store.
If you really want to fine tune your program, watch your micro-nutrients as well as your macros. Check out your nutrient summary to make sure you are getting all of the necessary vitamins and minerals. I find that when I'm under on something like Vitamin A or Magnesium I will binge on chocolate. Bingeing is the body's way of telling you that you are suffering from malnourishment. Listen to what your body needs. Get all of your nutrients and you will feel much, much better.
Very much agree with this. Eating fresh homemade food will satisfy you alot more, and nutritionally it will be better. There are loads of recipes on internet recipe books etc about making delicious meals that are low fat or low carb or low-moderate calorie.
Good luck in your journey I know you will make it work!0 -
I had this same problem. I would lose and gain the same five pounds. Then I realized that while MFP is great for tracking on a daily basis, I needed something on a weekly basis.
I created an Excel spreadsheet (nothing complicated) and each night, after I close my diary for the day, I log those calories in my spreadsheet. This gives me an idea of where I am for the week.
You said you sometimes "go over calories". My guess is that it's a lot more than sometimes. By logging in a weekly spreadsheet you'll be able to see how many times a week you go over and how much it wrecks your weekly caloric intake.0 -
Have you gotten your metabolism tested? You might consider seeing a nutritionist and doing the MedGem - it'll tell you what your actual metabolism is and that might help. Mine is on the very low side, so I have to eat to compensate for that.
ETA: coming from 383lbs, I understand what you're saying. When I was right around 200, I would gain and lose the same 5lbs. What helped for me was shaking up my exercise. I'd previously done the elliptical, and switched to running. I think it got my heart rate up, which is what has driven me to where I am now. Try shaking up your routine - add free weights (heavy ones!), try something you haven't done before. Consider getting a heart rate monitor and seeing how hard you're actually pushing yourself.
Of course, exercise doesn't mean anything if you don't watch your food intake. Eat well, exercise well, and you'll see results!
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Have you gotten your metabolism tested? You might consider seeing a nutritionist and doing the MedGem - it'll tell you what your actual metabolism is and that might help. Mine is on the very low side, so I have to eat to compensate for that.
With all due respect, when you hear hoof beats your first thought should be horses, not zebras. It is significantly more likely that she has her calorie goal incorrectly calculated, is over logging exercise, or is under logging food. It's only when all those things are eliminated that anyone should consider metabolic disorders.0 -
Track everything you eat.
Consider using Copy Cat recipes to replace your dining out habit. If you begin to cook at home with items or meals you like, you can then tailor them to your diet (baked, not fried etc).
Commit to exercising.
Recognize why you eat what you eat and when you eat it.
Be patient. But never give up. A pound lost is one less gained.0 -
Didn't read all the responses, but...
Are you weighing everything with a food scale or measuring everything using measuring cups and spoons?
If I "think" I'm tracking well and eating at a deficit, but the scale is not moving, it is generally because I've gotten sloppy with estimating portions. As soon as I go back to accurately measuring my food, the scale goes in the right direction.
Now that I'm in maintenance, I don't weigh and measure everything, but I do try to do it at random times to remind myself what a portion size actually looks like.0 -
I agree with not eating your calories burned. I have stopped logging my exercise, because iIt was kind of a guess anyway. I am too tempted to eat what I burn. Especially when stressing.0
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A lot of great advice here!
I'm currently trying some links I've read about on the forums; like figuring out your TDEE
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
I also take Zumba classes and someone gave me this link to help calculate calories burned in class: http://caloriesburnedhq.com/zumba-calories-burned/
- short of the HRM (heart rate monitor) or FitBit or other devices for complete accuracy -
Good luck!0 -
Have you gotten your metabolism tested? You might consider seeing a nutritionist and doing the MedGem - it'll tell you what your actual metabolism is and that might help. Mine is on the very low side, so I have to eat to compensate for that.
With all due respect, when you hear hoof beats your first thought should be horses, not zebras. It is significantly more likely that she has her calorie goal incorrectly calculated, is over logging exercise, or is under logging food. It's only when all those things are eliminated that anyone should consider metabolic disorders.
I didn't suggest a metabolic disorder, but I did suggest a slow metabolism. Many on MFP will yell from the rooftops that someone SHOULD be eating xxx calories, when all actuality, they don't NEED that many calories. Why not give the test a shot? All it can do is give the user more information. If OP is eating 1700 calories and doesn't really need 1700 (or on the flip side, DOES need 1700), why not check out out? In my mind, it's not just 1 thing that can cause a stall, it's many potential problems, all of which should be addressed.0 -
Thank you. I am a single mom dealing with my family and an acquisition at work and I am going crazy trying to log in and keep track of calories, and this week here we are eating boxed food from the freezer. Other wise I am so crazy busy I am not sure what I am eating .... Arrgh. I feel so guilty not knowing what I ate. The good news is so far I am maintaining my weight and not gaining more, which was my goal for this summer.0
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Your TDEE should be somewhere around 2300-2500 when sedentary at your weight, provided your height is between 5'0 and 5'8". So if you're exercising and eating 1800 calories or so, you should be losing weight. Definitely get detailed with your food intake. Get a HRM to figure out your exercise burns more closely. If you can afford one, try something like a Body Media armband for all-day calorie burn measurement.0
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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.....
I think if you tracked your sodium you would be surprised at how much you consume daily.0 -
I'm sure you are already aware but you are eating processed food .Also you have to understand CALORIE is not a main thing, it is something to adjust to, BUT you HAVE to pay attention to grams of fat you consume and carbs, AND sugars! Staying within CALORIE limit as well as within carb, fat, sugar allowance.
Best of luck!:flowerforyou:0 -
the truth is you really don't know how much your eating and I am sorry but you must start there. you are only kidding yourself. you need to know exactley what you are eating.
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I keep hovering within shouting distance of 300 lbs myself.....and i don't know if i can help at all, except to say that the life-long changes are not supposed to happen overnight. And i know how utterly frustrating it is!!!!!!!!!!!! So hang in there!
I can't TELL you how many times i have heard it said that THE WEIGHT JUST FALLS OFF when you have a lot of weight to lose.
Maybe it's happened that way for other people, but definitely NOT for me. It has taken me probably more than 6 months to lose 17 lbs...and i started at 312 lbs.
Maybe this myth is one you keep expecting to see fulfilled....and when it doesn't happen quickly you lose steam and binge...?0 -
There is nothing wrong with a bit of salt/fat/cream (I use grass fed butter and coconut oil) - just trying using them with vegetables and meats!BUT I have a hard time making my own food without crap tons of salt, butter, cream and all the things in the world that taste so darn good!!!!
I don't think you have to eat 'clean' all the time, but you are eating mostly junk food and a salad. I saw some figs and I feel you on that but depending on what you put on it, that salad might not have all that many nutrients. Maybe try some steamed broccoli with a little butter, with some steak or chicken or fish. Potatoes, chard, bananas, etc... pick some new veggies and a fruit you like each week and try to eat something. There are millions of recipies to make them taste good, if you're one of those 'i hate veggies' people.
Are you hungry? Are you feeling good or off?
One of the first things I did when I started losing weight was dropping sugary drinks (for me this was cokes, mostly). You can also limit things like that to one day a week or a special occasion or whatever if you want. Some will disagree with this, but it worked for me.0 -
Well, I don't eat super clean myself, but I do keep under unless it's a special occasion. I have been at this a little while and as long as you keep your diary under and you move, you should be losing. I agree with the folks who say for you to open your diary. That being said though if you keep on moving and you continue to eat less, sooner or later, you will lose. Just keep plugging away at it!0
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When I got honest with my tracking, I lose. When I'm not so diligent, it stalls. Some things to try: Don't eat after 8pm, eat at least 5 vegetables a day. Eat a pear or an apple a day (pears actually have more fiber). Drink lots of water. Maybe find someone who you can diary share with for one week. Knowing you have to show someone your food diary makes you more accountable. Good luck we have ALL been where you are and if I know me, will be there again too. 0
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Thanks guys!
That is a whole lot of info to take in.... but i appreciate people taking time to go through my info and lending a helping hand!!!0
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