Not a special snowflake, just broken? Could use some advice

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13

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  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
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    gah..... i hate this, LOL! the reason my protein is so low is because im newly trying to figure out how to eat low cholesterol. turns out, all my go-to protein sources are high in cholesterol!

    i'm definitely taking this advice into account, guys. upping the protein for starters. im still not certain where i should land in the calories department. My BodyMedia gives me similar results as wearing my Polar and tracking for a solid day. If two independent sources are both wrong, I'm not sure where to go for an accurate calories number.

    Like DopeItUp said, I really think I tanked my metabolism with all these stupid low calorie, low-whatever diets I've tried in the past year. How long does it take to repair a damaged metabolism? I've got various resources here at home to hit weights, including a TRX which I love, but has not seen use in some time. I've also begun MMA classes with my husband :D

    Just piping in to point out: cholesterol in foods is not as responsible for cholesterol issues as saturated fat is. If you're trying to improve cholesterol levels, you'd be hard pressed to find things like lean protein to be bad--that protein's necessary for much in your body, including maintaining LBM. Lowering certain fats in your diet and exercising are more beneficial to cholesterol than avoiding an egg or piece of lean protein.

    Otherwise, everything Dope said, with the added thought of, "Try only tracking calories burned during set periods of exercise." Instead of using a BodyFit to measure walking to the car or sitting, try an HRM or just an average of different sources to track specific exercise.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    Don't be afraid to ask questions. You are legitimately asking for help and you are trying to do this in a safe, healthy way. Posts like yours get support. It's the people who get a lot of good advice and then start arguing with everyone that usually experience the sarcasm.

    You have received some good suggestions, but without being able to look at what you're eating, everyone is really just going to be guessing. You may have to either start logging your calories here, or just pick one of the approaches suggested, and try it for a reasonable period of time.

    Don't stress, though. We'll help you figure this out. There can sometimes be a period of trial and error until you find the caloric intake/burn that works best for you.
  • Hildy_J
    Hildy_J Posts: 1,050 Member
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    Don't be afraid to ask questions. You are legitimately asking for help and you are trying to do this in a safe, healthy way. Posts like yours get support. It's the people who get a lot of good advice and then start arguing with everyone that usually experience the sarcasm.

    Sarcasm is unnecessary... 'respectful' disagreement always best. Also... raising the stakes and being sarcastic with someone isn't going to make them accept what you're saying. But then neither is being nice! We all have times when we wrap ourselves up tight in our own justifications and excuses.

    People are only ready to hear when they're ready to hear. If they aren't.. just do your best then let it go. Horse to water etc...
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Are you using a food scale to weigh your food?
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
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    open your diary please :)

    ETA; I see you don't use the diary, you prefer to use a spreadsheet? May I ask why you use a spreadsheet instead of logging?
  • michellechawner
    michellechawner Posts: 892
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    I exercise daily. I walk 5 miles a day, sometimes more if time/weather permits. I go on long bike rides with my husband on the weekends- 35 to 50 miles at a 17+mph pace. On days that I only walk, I burn around 2600-2800 calories. On days I ride, I burn way more, and eat to balance the extra burn, always staying very close to 1,000 calorie deficit.

    Walking 5 miles a day does not burn that much...where are you getting your burned calories from???

    ^^Bingo - NEVER go off MFP numbers - they are hugely over calculated. If you ARE burning that much, you need to eat about DOUBLE that.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    I exercise daily. I walk 5 miles a day, sometimes more if time/weather permits. I go on long bike rides with my husband on the weekends- 35 to 50 miles at a 17+mph pace. On days that I only walk, I burn around 2600-2800 calories. On days I ride, I burn way more, and eat to balance the extra burn, always staying very close to 1,000 calorie deficit.

    Walking 5 miles a day does not burn that much...where are you getting your burned calories from???

    ^^Bingo - NEVER go off MFP numbers - they are hugely over calculated. If you ARE burning that much, you need to eat about DOUBLE that.

    She doesn't go off MFP numbers. She has a HRM and Bodyfit media.
    The 2000+ calories I believe she is referring to her total calories per day, not just through exercise.

    I still think they are inflated.
  • stillnot2late
    stillnot2late Posts: 385 Member
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    Good post - all of the replies are some very good answers so far, so you were worried for nothing.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    Don't be afraid to ask questions. You are legitimately asking for help and you are trying to do this in a safe, healthy way. Posts like yours get support. It's the people who get a lot of good advice and then start arguing with everyone that usually experience the sarcasm.

    Sarcasm is unnecessary... 'respectful' disagreement always best. Also... raising the stakes and being sarcastic with someone isn't going to make them accept what you're saying. But then neither is being nice! We all have times when we wrap ourselves up tight in our own justifications and excuses.

    People are only ready to hear when they're ready to hear. If they aren't.. just do your best then let it go. Horse to water etc...

    I was addressing the OP's concerns about posting her question - not asking for advice on how to reply to posts. I was sharing what I have witnessed on the boards in terms of under what circumstances sarcasm occurs.
  • BITEME_GRRR
    BITEME_GRRR Posts: 150 Member
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    Do you lift? Lifting will increase your metabolism and really help you out...
  • bridgie101
    bridgie101 Posts: 817 Member
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    I'm very wary to put myself out there like this, because I've seen the hostility on this forum and never want it directed at me. I've seen the '700 calories a day and still not losing' threads, the low carb threads, paleo, hcg.....and can't say that I disagree with a lot of the vitriol I see spewed because weight loss/health shouldn't be a gimmick, it shouldn't be a short term change to a short-lived goal, and it doesn't come in magical drops/pills/etc. We're not special snowflakes, and it is, for the most part, weight loss = consume less calories than you burn.

    It is with that understanding that I've taken on a healthy way of eating- a proper, balanced diet. I'm trying to cure myself of my carb phobia, after having experienced short-lived success due to low carb dieting. I eat whole foods, I *rarely*, like twice a month, eat a meal I haven't prepared myself, and when I do, it's a 'treat' to have a burger at a local burger joint, or a steak on date night, not some crazy 5,000 calorie fried mess with dessert afterwards. For instance, a typical day looks like this:

    Breakfast- 1 cup steel cut oatmeal w/half a banana and 6 raspberries, cinnamon, and a tsp of raw honey. Cup of coffee with 2TB 2% milk :: 303 calories

    Lunch- Havana salad on bed of lettuce (havana salad is brown rice, avocado, black beans, tomatoes, cumin, and balsamic vinegar) :: 500 calories (if I've added extra avocado on top, 420'sih if not)

    Afternoon snack- Apple and a cheese stick :: 150 calories

    Dinner- Salmon, sweet potato with brown sugar and light butter, steamed yellow squash with light butter, salt and pepper, and a side salad with cherry tomatoes and home made balsamic vinaigrette :: 644 calories

    Total: 1597 calories


    I exercise daily. I walk 5 miles a day, sometimes more if time/weather permits. I go on long bike rides with my husband on the weekends- 35 to 50 miles at a 17+mph pace. On days that I only walk, I burn around 2600-2800 calories. On days I ride, I burn way more, and eat to balance the extra burn, always staying very close to 1,000 calorie deficit.

    I've had my blood panel done. I'm not insulin resistant, my thyroid is fine. Only thing a little off was my cholesterol/triglycerides, which I'm sure is because I'm carting around about 50 extra pounds on my 5'11" frame.

    So you'd think that after a month of following this pattern, you'd see SOME sort of weight loss, no? I've not lost anything. I teeter on the scale daily, watching the same 5# or so come and go over the course of the week. I never see below 206, usually top out at 213. It's the same thing, every week. I don't understand it. I'm paying meticulous attention to what I put in my mouth, I make sure to get in some form of exercise every single day, and I wear a BodyMedia that tracks my caloric expenditures so I know for certain where I stand there (within reason, I know these things aren't spot on exact)

    Could it be that I've tanked my metabolism and it's just taking a while to get back on track? Before trying to lose weight in a reasonable manner, I was ultra low cal on MediFast for a month. I only turned to MF because I had great success there at one point a few years ago, weight came off quick and stayed off til I got lazy and stopped caring. But even my old friend MF was not giving me any results this time, so I decided to come back to what I know in my heart and brain is the right way, with proper diet and exercise. I just can't seem to find the right balance.

    Any suggestions? Any theories on what might be going on? It's very demotivational to be trying my best, keeping myself honest with my food and exercise logs, only to see nothing in return.

    You won't see any weight loss if you plummeted hugely on this other diet.

    All you can do for this month is keep that weight off that you lost and not have it creep back on.

    What's happening in your eyes is the scales are staying the same. What's happening in the background is that your water loss is being turned into fat loss. When you have finally lost all that fat that you thought you lost last month, it'll start going down again.

    :)
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
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    There are a few things I think you should think about.

    1) You have only been at this a month. Weight loss is not going to be linear. You could lose 8 pounds one month, zero the next, 2 the next, and ten the month after that. You need to give things a little more time.

    2) Weigh and measure EVERYTHING that you eat if you can. Using a food scale to portion your food is the most important element of losing weight by counting calories. If you are using one, great! If not, you might be surprised to learn that you are overeating by a lot. I know I was really surprised to learn I was eating easily 500 or 600 calories a day more than I thought.

    3) Don't accept the calorie burn rates on this website or on many of the calculators out there. Most way overestimate burns. There are so many factors that go into burn calculations. I will use myself as an example. Through a couple years of trial and error, the most I burn in an hour is 350 calories. This is for very vigorous activities. You very likely burn more than this, but it takes time to gauge your actual burn rate. Your deficit probably isn't as high as you think.

    4) Go slow. A pound to 1.5 pounds a week is a good weight loss rate. It's more sustainable.

    5) Protein! It really is an important part of your diet. As for dietary cholesterol, avoiding certain foods that are naturally high in cholesterol (like eggs) isn't going to have a lot of impact. Several major medical institutions have studied this and found that foods like excess refined carbohydrates and partially hydrogenated oils are more likely to have an impact. But even then, the data is spotty. Omega 3s, fats in fish, etc., and even saturated fats in red meat have not been shown to have a negative impact on cholesterol. If you're really stressed about dietary fat, though, greek yogurt, low fat and fat free cheeses, and even vegetarian protein sources are great.

    Just keep at it. Give it time.
  • daryl1902
    daryl1902 Posts: 1 Member
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    You won't see any weight loss if you plummeted hugely on this other diet.

    All you can do for this month is keep that weight off that you lost and not have it creep back on.

    What's happening in your eyes is the scales are staying the same. What's happening in the background is that your water loss is being turned into fat loss. When you have finally lost all that fat that you thought you lost last month, it'll start going down again.

    :)


    This is highly likely to be what's happening if you started MFP straight after the last diet.
  • emAZn
    emAZn Posts: 413 Member
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    It can take 12-15 weeks to reset your metabolism from a low calorie diet. Be patient and stay healthy and it will work out for you. Sounds like you are very dedicated and passionate and I hope you are proud of yourself for that!
  • JessicaBR13
    JessicaBR13 Posts: 294 Member
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    Check out the Eat More 2 Weigh Less group here on MFP. If you are burning 2,300 calories and only eating around 1,600 calories, you are taking a 700 calorie deficit and an even larger deficit on days you workout. It sounds like you are eating too little.
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    I like the suggestion of 1600-1700 calories per day with 160g protein, 50g fat and the rest carbs. The percentages that you worked out look good to me and eating cholesterol does not give you cholesterol.

    Add some weight training in there somewhere, even one day a week is a good start.

    Measure, weigh and log your food on MFP - maybe you are not calculating right. As someone else said, one of the main reasons for not being successful is eating more than you think you are, and burning more calories that you think you are.

    You raised some good questions, I like to think that we are special snowflakes. One cookie cutter approach does not fit all.
  • MrsBozz1
    MrsBozz1 Posts: 248 Member
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    Certainly a lot of possibilities here.

    First off, I will say that 2300 maintenance calories sounds at least a LITTLE high (if not very high),prior to exercise. I am a 6'3" male and that's right around my maintenance too (before exercise). Then adding several hundred calories for cardio...it's easy to see where you could be vastly overrating your output. You probably don't burn nearly as much as whatever gadget you're using says you do.


    I agree with this, I am female and 6'1" (so several inches tall than you) and my maintenance calories at the beginning were only 2100. When I first started this journey I ate about 1400 day, I also walk and bike ride every weekend :flowerforyou: For me I just ate 1400 no matter what exercising I did, if I felt really hungry I would eat some of my Cals back but it didn't happen very often. I know it is discouraging but give your body some time, keep it up, your body will catch up :smile: Best of luck!!
    Tall girls rock!!! :happy:
  • glreim21
    glreim21 Posts: 206 Member
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    You sound very similar to me... I am 5"11 BMR is 1710 and TDEE lightly active is 2300. I was stuck around the 210 mark for a good couple of months, I finally started lifting heavy weights and within one week, I broke through the plateau...weight loss is very slow for me, about 1 lb a month but if I look at my graph for the begins of the year it is trending in the downward direction. I am currently eating 2000-2300 calories a day but am closely monitoring body fat instead of the scale. What ever you do, don't give up. I second the suggestions of eating more protein and start some strength training. The scale will start to move again, don't worry.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
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    Three yesses on the protein. I can't tell you what a difference protein makes! The biggest difference in my weight loss was protein! It made me feel full and built my muscles. I had to add a protein powder to make it happen, but the change was wonderful.
  • indianmoundtrail
    indianmoundtrail Posts: 1
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    you seem to be working way to hard ... try simple "good foods" not so much a diet thing .. I was walking 5 to 7 miles and it just was to hot ... so I started doing Wii Dance , Just Sweat, now I'm doing Zumba, 30 to 45 minutes 4 days a week .. since June I've lost 27 lbs and I feel great and I look good .. I also down loaded My Fitness Pal on my phone, what a great tool it has been ... best advice I have to anyone is ... Keep it simple .... Good Luck ...

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