HELP-About to give up!
Replies
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Fri wld be the day I splurge so I wld have the extra 1200 on Fri & that wld be plus 1500 correct?Do you log everything, every day, and use a food scale?
Do you even log on the cheat day? Perhaps the cheat day could be cancelling out the deficit, as someone else said. If you go back to 1,700 (I know it sounds a lot but it will shrink as YOU shrink :bigsmile:) you could eat a little under it for 6 days a week, say 1,500.. then on Saturday - enjoy yourself with 1,200 in the bank!
Alcohol has so many calories you would not believe btw - just 3 Margeritas adds up to about 750.0 -
I like this idea.If you're splurging on Fridays, you want your weekly average to be your TDEE-20%... So log your Fridays and decrease the other days to make up for it. Maybe eat a bit less than lightly active too... 3-5 workouts of 150-170 calories might not even be considered lightly active.
This. I find I don't need cheat days BECAUSE I eat TDEE - 15-20% and follow my weekly average rather than stressing over my daily. I'm over some days and under others, but my week averges out to my goal. it's much less restrictive and (for me) more successful. If you eat 1600 calories during the week, that will give you 2300 calories on Friday to play with. Surely that is enough for a "splurge".0 -
I agree also but how do I average the weekly??If you're splurging on Fridays, you want your weekly average to be your TDEE-20%... So log your Fridays and decrease the other days to make up for it. Maybe eat a bit less than lightly active too... 3-5 workouts of 150-170 calories might not even be considered lightly active.
This. I find I don't need cheat days BECAUSE I eat TDEE - 15-20% and follow my weekly average rather than stressing over my daily. I'm over some days and under others, but my week averges out to my goal. it's much less restrictive and (for me) more successful. If you eat 1600 calories during the week, that will give you 2300 calories on Friday to play with. Surely that is enough for a "splurge".Do you log everything, every day, and use a food scale?
Do you even log on the cheat day? Perhaps the cheat day could be cancelling out the deficit, as someone else said. If you go back to 1,700 (I know it sounds a lot but it will shrink as YOU shrink :bigsmile:) you could eat a little under it for 6 days a week, say 1,500.. then on Saturday - enjoy yourself with 1,200 in the bank!
Alcohol has so many calories you would not believe btw - just 3 Margeritas adds up to about 750.
I totally agree with these two posts - I originally monitored my daily intake and stressed like crazy if I went over, but now I look at the weekly and overall calories, and it's okay to go over one day if you make up for it the next day (or over the next two days or whatever is necessary).
And yeah, alcohol - particularly mixed drinks and beer - has an obscene amount of calories. Save up some of those extra calories from the beginning of the week to splurge on fridays, but LOG EVERYTHING every day, including your cheat day!0 -
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Me too. Thats not livingDo this and you *will* lose weight:
1) Eat mostly to get the nutrition your body needs, and less for enjoyment. Establish a healthful diet and learn to enjoy healthful foods, and make eating less a part of your life.
2) Three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's it. No snacks, and no "in between" meals.
3) Give up sugar. No sugar in coffee, soda, or on cereal. Give up fruit juice -- it's mainly just another form of sugar. Water is the only liquid you need.
4) In the beginning, establish a very regulated moderate calorie diet. Don't follow any sort of fad. Just pick a selection of foods that add up to a normal balanced diet -- whole grains, veggies, fruit, dairy, a little meat, etc. But start out by having exactly the same three meals each day -- the same foods and the same amounts. Weigh the portions on a scale. Consider frozen dinners. Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Kashi, Smart Ones, and probably other brands have several that are low in calories and saturated fat, 25% daily value or less of sodium, and high in fiber -- no need to weigh these.
5) Weigh yourself every day on a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale. Your weight will fluctuate, but with a constant diet it should trend down over every two or three days. If it doesn't, eliminate items from your diet or reduce the size of portions until your weight does go down. (If you don't have a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale, I'd recommend the EatSmart Precision Plus Digital Scale, which is sold on Amazon.) Don't obsess over the scale — let it be your friend and point the way to a weight losing diet.
6) When you have achieved a weight losing diet, then you can start making adjustments to add variety, but make sure that you keep losing weight.
7) Maintain your exercise program.
I weep for you.0 -
I apologise if anyone has already said this, I haven't read anyone else's reply's yet.
You MUST Include your "splurge " day in the diary. that way you'll really see how it affects your intake of Calories, and maybe motivate you into "re-thinking" your "splurge" amount.
Some people wont see a change in weight for a month, it depends on how well your metabolism adjusts to the diet. if it doesn't take to well, then your body will retain fat rather than burn it.
Also, remember, if your lifting/using the wrong weights or doing the wrong exorcize, then you may actually be putting on Muscle weight, so again, you wont see a difference. (this happened to my partner). Cardio workouts, like fast pace walking for 30min or a jog is the best way to burning fat without gaining too much muscle.
HOWEVER, That said. Judging by your profile photo (if indeed that is true), you've done well to look like that after 7 months
Well done you..!!! But this could also be another reason your not seeing any more weight loss. Your metabolism has all ready adjusted to your lifestyle and weight loss, so you WILL find it harder to lose the weight without the right exorcize... and dare I say it, you might have to re-think that "splurge" day - Your metabolism might be relying on that day to re-charge your fat cells 
Chin up girl! keep going, and you can ALWAYS consult your doctor (and don't be afraid too) if you have a genuine worry. xx0 -
Fri wld be the day I splurge so I wld have the extra 1200 on Fri & that wld be plus 1500 correct?
Yup, 2,700 calories for Friday. Go nuts. :bigsmile:
PS Log the splurge 0 -
Weight loss is not linear and often weight drops off in chunks. 3 weeks is not a plateau so just keep going and see if you've lost in another 3 weeks or so. Don't cut calories to harshly as your body needs enough fuel to function and burn fat. I find when I am working out a lot I don't lose much weight and its only when I stop working out that the weight falls off. I think this is because my body has been holding onto a lot of water for repairs and when I don't workout it doesn't need the water anymore. This also means that I was really losing weight while working out but it just wasn't showing on the scale
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Try to keep different diet plans every 2 wks.Your body gets used to a diet very easy and you get stuck by no losing weight. Let me say it this way.I'm on a metabolism diet of 3 X 1 now; but I began my diet by eating protein only(eggs, cheese and meat).Then the next 2 wks you add 20 g carbs. Then I supposed to add up to 40 g carb.Adding this amount of carbs daily, not in every meals. and so is with exercise too.You could exercise one wk jogging/trotting; then next wk, you add another: you jog/trot and jump. and so on. Your body will never have the a fixed rate.Different diets and different exercise will make you lose weight that won't be back when you reach your goal.You just have to keep it that way. If you are out of new ways, you go back to your first wk of diet and exercises.And if you have cravings for anything in particular, eat a piece or eat it.Pick one day OFF. no diet And eat whatever you want.That will boost your metabolism the next day.0
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and don't forget to log everything you do and eat or drink.No matter how many calories you eat, remember to log it.0
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Hi -- I am a newbie here, but was moved by your post, and decided to read the other varied and very sensible (although somewhat harsh on occasion) comments before replying.
I am no expert, but, in a spirit of positive support, I would suggest you the following in broad terms:
(1) Know your body type and what is 'normal' for it:
This is important as a starting place for determining what you wish to achieve and what you can achieve according to the parameters of your genetic make-up. From what you say about your height/weight -- and from your photograph -- I would suggest that you are an endomorph (naturally short and stocky build). I am an ectomorph (long-limbed and tending towards being lanky). This is important because, by way of example, try as I might, I will never have the physique that Arnold Schwarzenegger had in his hey-day as a body-building champion (he is a mesomorph) because my genetic make-up dictates otherwise. However, I CAN achieve good results for my age and sex within the limits imposed by my ectomorphic body-type. The same is true for everyone;
(2) It's all about balance:
A litte of this and a little of that will get you where you want to go: extreme and radical action (such as savagely dropping your calorie intake for four days a week and overloading on your 'splurge Friday' will throw your body into a state of feast-or-famine and it will attempt to retain every calorie it consumes; this is perfectly natural and a genetic hallmark handed down to us by our hunter-gatherer ancestors who were obliged to eat what they could kill. So, drink alcohol if you wish (I do), but the trick is not to overload on one day at the expense of the others (this is not good for the liver, the heart or the gall-bladder, etc), but rather to drink a glass or two of wine a day, etc. There is little argument that alcohol is largely full of empty calories, but, as you say, you are human. By the way, when Daniel Craig prepared for his role as James Bond in the remake of 'Casino Royale', he told his physical trainer that whatever routine he would have to undertake, this would have to allow for him to drink a few glasses of wine at the weekend; it did and Mr Craig achieved fantastic results;
(3) Set realistic, medium-to-long term goals and do not starve yourself:
I would suggest that, whatever weight you wish to achieve, you only set medium-to-long-term goals -- they are less stressful to achieve and allow for the short-term fluctuations which are inevitable. Medium-term goals of 12 weeks/3 months and long-term goals of 24 weeks/ 6 months work for me. Eg, in April of this year I determined that I was 3 kg over my average ideal weight for someone of my age/gender, and so resolved to lose the weight. I set a three-month goal of only losing 0.25kg per week, but managed to achieve this my making only modest changes to my lifestyle/diet/exercise routine -- nothing drastic. Also, it takes roughly 8-12 weeks for the body to adapt to any new stimulus in exercise/diet owing to the principle of Generals Adaptation Syndrome (GAS);
It is also worth bearing in mind that, as an adult, a daily calorie intake of 1200 calories (KCal) or less is considered as throwing the body into 'starvation mode', which means that the body will attempt to store every calorie it can get. On this basis, a calorie-reduction target of 'average'-200-500 calories (kCal) might work for you -- ie 2,500 (for an adult woman)-200/500 = a suggested daily calorie intake of between 2,000 and 2,200 calories (kCal), which, over a three-to-six-month period coupled with a reasonable exercise routine ought to yield results.
(3) Exercise for health and shape -- not for weight:
If your exercise focus is for health, I believe your weight will 'normalise' within the parameters I refer to in (1) above -- and you will not need to stress-out about how much you weigh. It is also important to change your exercise routine every 12 weeks/3 months or so, so that, once your body has adapted to a particular exercise routine (which it will do), you can then provide a different exercise stimulus to keep it changing.
While I do weigh myself, I also take my 'vital stats' with a tape-measure every month -- this, for me, is a better indicator of how I am doing than simply stepping on to a set of scales, as it give me information about how much fat/muscle I am carrying and whether I am heading in the right direction, according to my goals; so shape is important.
I also advocate the use of a heart-rate monitor (HRM) for cardio exercise (walking, running, cycling, etc) to ensure that the right level of stimulus and overload is placed on the heart; and
(4) A little goes a long way and your doctor is your friend:
One step-at-a-time and we all get there ... WHO recommended daily vigorous activity is 30 minutes per day: this is not a lot but stacks up in a week and certainly over months.
I am not sure how doctor (GP) -patient relationships work in the US, but in the UK, where I live, I have always found my local doctor to be a great source of information and support when it comes to me wanting to live as healthy a lifestyle as possible, and so I always take time to keep him/her informed whenever I have a consultation. My doctor is also excellent about keeping my understanding about what is 'normal' on track:-)
Keep up the good work and do not lose heart. As another poster in this forum said: 'Did you graduate high school in three weeks?'
I look forward to you posting another photograph of yourself in three months' time.
All the best
Talprofs0 -
TDEE method has worked for me for nearly two years now. I'd stick with that - it accommodates the "cheat days" (I just fit things into my goals, and as long as I'm under TDEE, I know I won't gain), just make sure you log everything as others have said.
And I think I saw others mention this as well - make sure you are taking your measurements, not just weighing yourself! I went about six month last year going up and down the same 2-3lbs on the scale, which would seem like zero progress. But during this time I lost fast and inches and dropped a full pants size! :drinker: I laughed at my silly scale and went out to buy new jeans.
A three week "stall" isn't necessarily a stall - figure out what method you want to use (TDEE or MFP), set your goals and then stick with it. Take your measurements, weigh and measure and log ALL your food. Exercise, drink water, take rest days, and get good sleep.
Good luck!0 -
first of all look how far you have come... THE most important thing here is calorie in calorie out and watching your sodium intake.. dont let it go above 2500 mg a day.. your caloric intake should have a 500 cal deficit it takes 3500 cal to make a pound0
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Hey OP,
I'm a short girl too (4'11). I'm 28 and started out at 169lbs 3 months ago. I began my diet eating 1350 calories a day and running 1 mile 3 days a week. I've since lost 21lbs and I now eat 1300 calories a day and run 3-5 miles 3 days a week.
I know you don't want too (and trust me, I understand) but I would consider giving up your weekly cheat day. I have one cheat meal per month where I really eat whatever I want. I log that meal and I move on. Once a week seems a little much. You could just eat the foods you want in moderation so you don't 'need' a cheat day.0 -
Do this and you *will* lose weight:
1) Eat mostly to get the nutrition your body needs, and less for enjoyment. Establish a healthful diet and learn to enjoy healthful foods, and make eating less a part of your life.
2) Three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's it. No snacks, and no "in between" meals.
3) Give up sugar. No sugar in coffee, soda, or on cereal. Give up fruit juice -- it's mainly just another form of sugar. Water is the only liquid you need.
4) In the beginning, establish a very regulated moderate calorie diet. Don't follow any sort of fad. Just pick a selection of foods that add up to a normal balanced diet -- whole grains, veggies, fruit, dairy, a little meat, etc. But start out by having exactly the same three meals each day -- the same foods and the same amounts. Weigh the portions on a scale. Consider frozen dinners. Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Kashi, Smart Ones, and probably other brands have several that are low in calories and saturated fat, 25% daily value or less of sodium, and high in fiber -- no need to weigh these.
5) Weigh yourself every day on a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale. Your weight will fluctuate, but with a constant diet it should trend down over every two or three days. If it doesn't, eliminate items from your diet or reduce the size of portions until your weight does go down. (If you don't have a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale, I'd recommend the EatSmart Precision Plus Digital Scale, which is sold on Amazon.) Don't obsess over the scale — let it be your friend and point the way to a weight losing diet.
6) When you have achieved a weight losing diet, then you can start making adjustments to add variety, but make sure that you keep losing weight.
7) Maintain your exercise program.
This was probably the most boring and unhelpful advice I have ever read.
No offence.0 -
Do this and you *will* lose weight:
1) Eat mostly to get the nutrition your body needs, and less for enjoyment. Establish a healthful diet and learn to enjoy healthful foods, and make eating less a part of your life.
2) Three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's it. No snacks, and no "in between" meals.
3) Give up sugar. No sugar in coffee, soda, or on cereal. Give up fruit juice -- it's mainly just another form of sugar. Water is the only liquid you need.
4) In the beginning, establish a very regulated moderate calorie diet. Don't follow any sort of fad. Just pick a selection of foods that add up to a normal balanced diet -- whole grains, veggies, fruit, dairy, a little meat, etc. But start out by having exactly the same three meals each day -- the same foods and the same amounts. Weigh the portions on a scale. Consider frozen dinners. Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Kashi, Smart Ones, and probably other brands have several that are low in calories and saturated fat, 25% daily value or less of sodium, and high in fiber -- no need to weigh these.
5) Weigh yourself every day on a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale. Your weight will fluctuate, but with a constant diet it should trend down over every two or three days. If it doesn't, eliminate items from your diet or reduce the size of portions until your weight does go down. (If you don't have a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale, I'd recommend the EatSmart Precision Plus Digital Scale, which is sold on Amazon.) Don't obsess over the scale — let it be your friend and point the way to a weight losing diet.
6) When you have achieved a weight losing diet, then you can start making adjustments to add variety, but make sure that you keep losing weight.
7) Maintain your exercise program.
1) No. Eating is a wonderful and beautiful thing, and my love for food knows no bounds. That does not mean I can't lose weight. That means I have to be more choosy about which foods I indulge in and when. I can't have all the delicious things I love in one day. That's fine. OP, you don't have to sacrifice any foods you can't part with. Ever. Have you ever seen a skinny person eat cake, or a donut, or a cheeseburger? Yes. They eat them too. Just not as often as fat people. When you have your "splurge," maybe try keeping it to one thing? Instead of going all out on Friday nights, you can have "bad" things throughout the week, and save your Friday for the alcohol. I eat ice cream several times a week, but I make sure I have room for them in my calories. You can splurge and not go over.
2) No. I literally eat all day long. That's how I like to eat. Some people like 3 square meals, some people like 1 square meal, and some people like 8 little meals. It doesn't matter. Calories matter, not how often or when you consume them.
3) No. A teaspoon of sugar in some coffee isn't going to break your diet. A single glass of juice isn't going to break your diet either. Account for your sugar, be reasonable about it, and drink mostly water. Once again, you don't have to cut anything out of your diet entirely.
4) Maybe. Not arguing with eating a balanced diet, but eating the same thing every day makes some people go crazy. Some people are comfortable with their small selection of favorites and are good with it. Some people don't like frozen meals or don't like the sodium/preservative content, some people do. What you eat is up to you.
5) No. You can weigh every day if you want, but trending down every 2-3 days? That's just wishful thinking. Not everyone's body operates that way. I'm stalled right now, and you know what, I was stalled exactly four weeks ago too, and four weeks before that stall as well. That's what MY body does, and I'm certainly not going to go slashing things out of my diet until the scale drops again. IT HAPPENS. Some people lose a little bit of weight almost every day, some people lose in big chunks once a week, some people alternate between the two.
6) No. Variety should be a part of your diet now, not something you can look forward to later. That's how completely falling off the wagon and regaining all the weight happens.
7) Yes. Or increase the intensity, duration, or type of exercise.
That's all.0 -
I agree also but how do I average the weekly??If you're splurging on Fridays, you want your weekly average to be your TDEE-20%... So log your Fridays and decrease the other days to make up for it. Maybe eat a bit less than lightly active too... 3-5 workouts of 150-170 calories might not even be considered lightly active.
This. I find I don't need cheat days BECAUSE I eat TDEE - 15-20% and follow my weekly average rather than stressing over my daily. I'm over some days and under others, but my week averges out to my goal. it's much less restrictive and (for me) more successful. If you eat 1600 calories during the week, that will give you 2300 calories on Friday to play with. Surely that is enough for a "splurge".Do you log everything, every day, and use a food scale?
Do you even log on the cheat day? Perhaps the cheat day could be cancelling out the deficit, as someone else said. If you go back to 1,700 (I know it sounds a lot but it will shrink as YOU shrink :bigsmile:) you could eat a little under it for 6 days a week, say 1,500.. then on Saturday - enjoy yourself with 1,200 in the bank!
Alcohol has so many calories you would not believe btw - just 3 Margeritas adds up to about 750.
I totally agree with these two posts - I originally monitored my daily intake and stressed like crazy if I went over, but now I look at the weekly and overall calories, and it's okay to go over one day if you make up for it the next day (or over the next two days or whatever is necessary).
And yeah, alcohol - particularly mixed drinks and beer - has an obscene amount of calories. Save up some of those extra calories from the beginning of the week to splurge on fridays, but LOG EVERYTHING every day, including your cheat day!
If you have the MyFitnessPal app on your phone, there is a tab (under Home I believe) that shows a graph with your daily intake and your daily average throughout the week.
It also gives you about weekly total calories left. You cal also see your weekly macro intake, if you're following that. For me, my goal is to not go over my total weekly calories and to have my weekly macro balance be as close to optimal as possible.
I will warn you that when you first increase your daily calories, you will get a slight up tick on the scale. This is water weight from your body replenishing glycogen stores. It is NOT fat gain and it will level out and go away. Don't panic and quit immediately. It took my body a couple of weeks to start losing weight again, and my weight loss is personally less linear with this method (I may go a couple of weeks with no loss on the scale then lose multiple lbs on the third week), but it's more consistent and I'm way happier doing it this way.0 -
What ever you do DONT GIVE UP! I know what it feels like to put your all into dieting and exercising but the key thing to do is talk to your doctor! but if you dont want to, this diet my mother went on was a no sugar no starches no meat diet and she lost 90 pounds in 2 months and it did her wonders. most people over eat and stress about their calories but if you follow this diet and research it some more i guarantee you will lose weight. just keep going and never give up and i will route for you!!!!!0
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Hahahaha..I love your ideaFri wld be the day I splurge so I wld have the extra 1200 on Fri & that wld be plus 1500 correct?
Yup, 2,700 calories for Friday. Go nuts. :bigsmile:
PS Log the splurge0 -
Great info. I noticed I lose more too when I dnt work out as much and was wondering why....Weight loss is not linear and often weight drops off in chunks. 3 weeks is not a plateau so just keep going and see if you've lost in another 3 weeks or so. Don't cut calories to harshly as your body needs enough fuel to function and burn fat. I find when I am working out a lot I don't lose much weight and its only when I stop working out that the weight falls off. I think this is because my body has been holding onto a lot of water for repairs and when I don't workout it doesn't need the water anymore. This also means that I was really losing weight while working out but it just wasn't showing on the scale0
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I know the numbers aren't an exact science... but maybe you want to change your "research model" on the scooby site to "Mifflin-St Jeor", as opposed to the Harris-Benedict model.
From the scooby site:
"For example, two of the most commonly used equations come from the research done by Harris-Benedict in 1919 or Mifflin-St Jeor done in 1990. The Mifflin-St Jeor appears to be about 5% more accurate than the Harris-Benedict equations, this is probably because the older research was based upon a population that was much leaner and more active than we currently have. "
If using the Mifflin numbers:
BMR: 1463
TDEE: 2012
Cal to consume: 1609
Say you drop that by 100 calories to 1500 calories per day. (this is still just above your BMR). Then you will have 6x100 = 600 extra calories/week to splurge with friday night. 1609+600 = 2209 calories for a Friday splurge.
Granted, these are just estimates of your body, but these numbers make sense to me.
Good luck!0 -
great reply! ty sooo much! i jst knw on Friday's when i cheat sometimes, i will still be over the 1700 tdee allowsTDEE method has worked for me for nearly two years now. I'd stick with that - it accommodates the "cheat days" (I just fit things into my goals, and as long as I'm under TDEE, I know I won't gain), just make sure you log everything as others have said.
And I think I saw others mention this as well - make sure you are taking your measurements, not just weighing yourself! I went about six month last year going up and down the same 2-3lbs on the scale, which would seem like zero progress. But during this time I lost fast and inches and dropped a full pants size! :drinker: I laughed at my silly scale and went out to buy new jeans.
A three week "stall" isn't necessarily a stall - figure out what method you want to use (TDEE or MFP), set your goals and then stick with it. Take your measurements, weigh and measure and log ALL your food. Exercise, drink water, take rest days, and get good sleep.
Good luck!0 -
Thanks I will look into this!I know the numbers aren't an exact science... but maybe you want to change your "research model" on the scooby site to "Mifflin-St Jeor", as opposed to the Harris-Benedict model.
From the scooby site:
"For example, two of the most commonly used equations come from the research done by Harris-Benedict in 1919 or Mifflin-St Jeor done in 1990. The Mifflin-St Jeor appears to be about 5% more accurate than the Harris-Benedict equations, this is probably because the older research was based upon a population that was much leaner and more active than we currently have. "
If using the Mifflin numbers:
BMR: 1463
TDEE: 2012
Cal to consume: 1609
Say you drop that by 100 calories to 1500 calories per day. (this is still just above your BMR). Then you will have 6x100 = 600 extra calories/week to splurge with friday night. 1609+600 = 2209 calories for a Friday splurge.
Granted, these are just estimates of your body, but these numbers make sense to me.
Good luck!0
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