Frustrated and in need of help!! :(

firefoxxie

I got back in the groove of wanting to lose weight a month ago. Before my break, I had been eating 1400 calories a day. I had stopped losing weight and stayed at 170 for weeks on end. I thought, maybe I needed a break from counting. I went on vacation, seeing the family for 3 weeks and weighed 185 at the end. I decided to go back to losing weight with the same 1400 calories a day thinking i would lose further but I was wrong. I lost weight up until the same 170# mark.

I decided to do some digging and figure out my problem. I came to the conclusion that I should eat more! So, about 2 weeks ago I did just that. I began zig zagging about 1750 calories a day. A week in, no results. Not even a little gain in weight that I'm supposed to see! My weight would not budge up or down.

Then, this week I've decided to take it up to 1800 calories. In 10 days I have averaged 1875 calories but still nothing! No weight gain or loss!

I don't exercise, except work 4 times a week in a position that requires me to run around constantly for 8 hours.

I'm 21yo at 5'6" and my goal weight is 140

My diary should be open. Let me know if it's not.

Lozze

Well from looking at the past two weeks, you're over more often than not. And there were one or two days of not logging. And the days you were over were by a couple of hundred.

D you weigh your foods or just guess?

firefoxxie

I wasn't weighing(though I'm in the process of getting a scale) I was using measuring cups.
I started eating more on 10/18
From 10/18 - 10/24 I was doing zig zag so I was up and down. After that I was trying to stay close to 1800 but allowed myself to go over to see any type of weight change

RebeccaBecca26

Eating more to loose weight is crap.
Starvation mode is crap.
Not logging your food is crap

I am 26 y/o 5'3 and eat anywhere from 1,000-1,300 calories a day. I AM LOOSING WEIGHT.

Log your food- be serious about it
Stop eating enough calories for a man.
Of course- don't starve yourself.
Plan your meal ahead of time.
And perhaps entertain working out in addition to your work.

*Friend me if you like

TavistockToad

how did you come up with 1800 cals as your 'eating more' figure? MFP? TDEE?

Lozze

It sounds like you've found your maintainence goal (which from your eating is 2000-2200)

You don't seem to be doing any exercise so it might be worth adding some exercise into your day and keeping the food intake the same.

Also maybe add some water?

firefoxxie

Eating more to loose weight is crap.
Starvation mode is crap.
Not logging your food is crap

I am 26 y/o 5'3 and eat anywhere from 1,000-1,300 calories a day. I AM LOOSING WEIGHT.

Log your food- be serious about it
Stop eating enough calories for a man.
Of course- don't starve yourself.
Plan your meal ahead of time.
And perhaps entertain working out in addition to your work.

*Friend me if you like

1. You're shorter than I am
2. I have been there, done that with the 1k-1.3k calories and it has gotten me no where
3. Eating 1k - 1.3k would be starving myself
4. I do plan ahead of time

Thanks for trying to help though

Lozze

Eating more to loose weight is crap.
Starvation mode is crap.
Not logging your food is crap

I am 26 y/o 5'3 and eat anywhere from 1,000-1,300 calories a day. I AM LOOSING WEIGHT.

Log your food- be serious about it
Stop eating enough calories for a man.
Of course- don't starve yourself.
Plan your meal ahead of time.
And perhaps entertain working out in addition to your work.

*Friend me if you like

First off, losing. My personal bugbear :-)

Secondly, how much weight have you lost? You' haven't logged any weight loss in your profile.

The OP has a lot less to lose then you, therefore the advice will need to be different. And 'eating like a man' is a lot more calories than what she's doing.

jeffpettis

If you weren't losing weight eating more is not the answer. The only thing absolutely "required" for weight loss is a calorie deficit. You have to figure out what your maintenance calories are, and it sounds like you did that if you went for weeks without losing or gaining, then subtract about 20%. If you are not losing, you are not in a deficit, you just have to figure out why. Good luck.

firefoxxie

how did you come up with 1800 cals as your 'eating more' figure? MFP? TDEE?

I used this calculator: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
I also did TDEE using this: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
and decided to go above for good measure

TavistockToad

Stop eating enough calories for a man.

wtf?!

TavistockToad

how did you come up with 1800 cals as your 'eating more' figure? MFP? TDEE?

I used this calculator: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
I also did TDEE using this: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
and decided to go above for good measure

when you say you did your TDEE and then went above, does that mean you're eating more than your TDEE? or that you took a % off your TDEE, but are eating above that!?

amy1612

Eating more to loose weight is crap.
Starvation mode is crap.
Not logging your food is crap

I am 26 y/o 5'3 and eat anywhere from 1,000-1,300 calories a day. I AM LOOSING WEIGHT.

Log your food- be serious about it
Stop eating enough calories for a man.
Of course- don't starve yourself.
Plan your meal ahead of time.
And perhaps entertain working out in addition to your work.

*Friend me if you like

Im 25 years old and eat upwards of 2000 calories a day. I'm 5ft2 and I'm not gaining. EMTLW is about eating to support daily activity. If you're working out 1000-1300 calories a day is utter nonsense. I used to do that, and all I got was tired. The OP should do what's best for her, but encouraging someone to do a VLCD is just irresponsible, IMO.

SezxyStef

Eating more to loose weight is crap.
Starvation mode is crap.
Not logging your food is crap

I am 26 y/o 5'3 and eat anywhere from 1,000-1,300 calories a day. I AM LOOSING WEIGHT.

Log your food- be serious about it
Stop eating enough calories for a man.
Of course- don't starve yourself.
Plan your meal ahead of time.
And perhaps entertain working out in addition to your work.

*Friend me if you like

Trust me 1800 calories is not enough for a man....my TDEE is 2000...my husbands is 3800 and my sons is 4300...

I do however agree with Log your food but use a kitchen scale but that's about it.

firefoxxie

If you weren't losing weight eating more is not the answer. The only thing absolutely "required" for weight loss is a calorie deficit. You have to figure out what your maintenance calories are, and it sounds like you did that if you went for weeks without losing or gaining, then subtract about 20%. If you are not losing, you are not in a deficit, you just have to figure out why. Good luck.

Using a calculator designed by research group lead by a Dr, I am supposed to eat about 1750 to lose weight in a healthy manner. I was eating below that for a long time(1400) and stood still at 170 for months. If I increased my calories I should have seen an increase in weight if I was out of that deficit. Right? So I eat too little, no change, I eat too much(maybe?) no change.
Thank you though! I will keep your advise in mind

firefoxxie

how did you come up with 1800 cals as your 'eating more' figure? MFP? TDEE?

I used this calculator: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
I also did TDEE using this: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
and decided to go above for good measure

when you say you did your TDEE and then went above, does that mean you're eating more than your TDEE? or that you took a % off your TDEE, but are eating above that!?

I took off 20% and ate above that to see what would happen

Lozze

I'd give it at least another month. Your body could be holding onto water weight, there are a number of factors. You're also closer to your goal weight now so it won't be as quick as when you were bigger.

firefoxxie

I'd give it at least another month. Your body could be holding onto water weight, there are a number of factors. You're also closer to your goal weight now so it won't be as quick as when you were bigger.

You're right, I will do so. I hope I see some kind of change to determine where I am at. Thank you so much for your help

Lozze

No problem!

My advice for change? Measurements, or buy an item of clothing that JUST fits you. Good way to tell if you're getting smaller. I had a pair of jeans that three weeks ago ewe unbearably tight (had to undo th button at work they were so uncomfortable) A week later they were still tight but bearable. So I was devastated when the numbers went up 1.4kg. But the jeans still fit!

Phoenix_Warrior

Honestly, your logging has some missing days, days where you are considerably over your goal, etc. Give it a month logging consistently, I highly suggest buying a digital scale and weighing everything you can. Only use a measuring cup for liquids. Log everything. Good luck!

micheleld73

Keep you calorie goal consistent for about 3 weeks to see what will work. Upping your calories and then zig zagging is not giving you the opportunity to figure out what your calorie intake should be to lose weight. Also, a scale for accuracy is a definite bonus - you may not be accurately recording your calorie intake. Get a cheap pedometer and find out if you really are as active at your job as you think you are. If you're not logging AT LEAST 10,000 steps you definitely need to incorporate some exercise into your day. Everyone is different and no one thing will work for everyone...find what works best for you!!

Good luck!

ETA: When you are adding those "sweet perks" make sure you're staying within your macros...if eating it all won't fit, make your portion smaller (for example, half the package of nutter butters instead of all of them...that you have some for later. ) Also, I noticed you would log the same item but with different title and different calorie count (specifically your honeynut cheerios) Check your box and make sure the recorded macros match what YOU are eating.

firefoxxie

Honestly, your logging has some missing days, days where you are considerably over your goal, etc. Give it a month logging consistently, I highly suggest buying a digital scale and weighing everything you can. Only use a measuring cup for liquids. Log everything. Good luck!

Yeah..those days are actually very high calorie days lol. I was too ashamed to log it
I am in the process of getting a digital scale as soon as my tuition is paid for
Thank you!

elsyoommen

have you re-done your TDEE etc at your current weight?

You can get a good kitchen scale for about $20.

have you tried re-jigging your macros - e.g. make the protein % higher?

try adding a bit of weight training.

Rerun201

What I noticed from you log is the consistent overages in your carbs and the more than occasional overage in sodium. Try to lower these. Sodium will cause you to hold water weight; glucose has the same tendency. I would also up your water intake the 8 cups per day as a minimum. I find that some have a tendency to sub other drinks for water. Not the same. Water is water. Make that your primary thirst quencher before moving on to other drinks.

TavistockToad

Yeah..those days are actually very high calorie days lol. I was too ashamed to log it
I am in the process of getting a digital scale as soon as my tuition is paid for
Thank you!

this is exactly why you're not losing... you're eating at maintenance!

you need to consistently hit your weekly goal (dont worry too much about each day as long as you are on target at the end of the week) for 4-6 weeks to see you are eating enough/too much, and then tweak your cals after that.

lauren3101

Eating more to loose weight is crap.
Starvation mode is crap.
Not logging your food is crap

I am 26 y/o 5'3 and eat anywhere from 1,000-1,300 calories a day. I AM LOOSING WEIGHT.

Log your food- be serious about it
Stop eating enough calories for a man.
Of course- don't starve yourself.
Plan your meal ahead of time.
And perhaps entertain working out in addition to your work.

*Friend me if you like

1. You're shorter than I am
2. I have been there, done that with the 1k-1.3k calories and it has gotten me no where
3. Eating 1k - 1.3k would be starving myself
4. I do plan ahead of time

Thanks for trying to help though

Firstly, I am glad you completely disregarded this post. Anyone that starts off by saying 'eating more to lose weight is crap' and then advocates eating 1000 calories a day is someone to be ignored.

I think you did the right thing by upping your calories. However you don't seem to be logging correctly.

1. Weigh and measure everything. Scales aren't expensive, get it sooner rather than later.
2. Log everything, even bad days, It's nothing to be ashamed of; if none of us ever slipped up we would have no reason to be here.
3. Stick to your 1800 calories by following the above for at least 6 weeks and then re-evaluate.

Until you do this properly there's very little we can do to advise you.

firefoxxie

have you re-done your TDEE etc at your current weight?

You can get a good kitchen scale for about $20.

have you tried re-jigging your macros - e.g. make the protein % higher?

try adding a bit of weight training.

Yes I redid my TDEE at my current weight, I'm just eating above it.
I am going to get a kitchen scale, I just haven't had a friendly budget until recently
I never was a macros type of person but I will start working on it
I unfortunately don't have time for weight training. I wish I did but I'm going to try doing exercise videos like insanity

What I noticed from you log is the consistent overages in your carbs and the more than occasional overage in sodium. Try to lower these. Sodium will cause you to hold water weight; glucose has the same tendency. I would also up your water intake the 8 cups per day as a minimum. I find that some have a tendency to sub other drinks for water. Not the same. Water is water. Make that your primary thirst quencher before moving on to other drinks.

I will work on lowering sodium and I have been trying to increase my water but sometimes I forgot to drink...I do only mark water for water though. I'll also try lowering my carbs. Thanks for your advice!

Pooks1n1Schmoops

I'd give it at least another month. Your body could be holding onto water weight, there are a number of factors. You're also closer to your goal weight now so it won't be as quick as when you were bigger.

I agree. Also, I don't agree with the eating calories back thing or with the starvation mode thing. Your body isn't going to go into starvation mode by a few days or a week of eating lower. If you have excess fat, then it will burn that. Think about when you're sick. Your body doesn't go into starvation mode if you don't eat for a few days. I need to start weighing my stuff too. I am lazy

You can do it babe!

micheleld73

have you re-done your TDEE etc at your current weight?

You can get a good kitchen scale for about $20.

have you tried re-jigging your macros - e.g. make the protein % higher?

try adding a bit of weight training.

Yes I redid my TDEE at my current weight, I'm just eating above it.
I am going to get a kitchen scale, I just haven't had a friendly budget until recently
I never was a macros type of person but I will start working on it
I unfortunately don't have time for weight training. I wish I did but I'm going to try doing exercise videos like insanity

If you haven't been working out maybe start with T25 or some Jillian Michael's videos first...trying to tackle the big monster first may discourage you from continuing to workout.

lauren3101

What I noticed from you log is the consistent overages in your carbs and the more than occasional overage in sodium. Try to lower these. Sodium will cause you to hold water weight; glucose has the same tendency. I would also up your water intake the 8 cups per day as a minimum. I find that some have a tendency to sub other drinks for water. Not the same. Water is water. Make that your primary thirst quencher before moving on to other drinks.

I will work on lowering sodium and I have been trying to increase my water but sometimes I forgot to drink...I do only mark water for water though. I'll also try lowering my carbs. Thanks for your advice!
[/quote]

You don't need to worry about lowering carbs or drinking only water, there's no need to make it more complicated than it needs to be. There's no reason to limit carbs unless you have a medical reason to do so. Carbs are not the devil and will not stop you from losing weight.

As for the drink, the only thing you shouldn't count is alcohol. A can of diet coke will still hydrate you, will it not? A cup of coffee is 90% water, so why wouldn't you count it?

The only thing I agree on is the sodium; sodium can disguise weight loss and you should look at lowering that.

firefoxxie

Firstly, I am glad you completely disregarded this post. Anyone that starts off by saying 'eating more to lose weight is crap' and then advocates eating 1000 calories a day is someone to be ignored.

I think you did the right thing by upping your calories. However you don't seem to be logging correctly.

1. Weigh and measure everything. Scales aren't expensive, get it sooner rather than later.
2. Log everything, even bad days, It's nothing to be ashamed of; if none of us ever slipped up we would have no reason to be here.
3. Stick to your 1800 calories by following the above for at least 6 weeks and then re-evaluate.

Until you do this properly there's very little we can do to advise you.

I will try to the best of my ability to weigh and measure everything You are right, I should log no matter what. I will try and continue at 1800 for at least more than a month.
Thanks for your help

this is exactly why you're not losing... you're eating at maintenance!

you need to consistently hit your weekly goal (dont worry too much about each day as long as you are on target at the end of the week) for 4-6 weeks to see you are eating enough/too much, and then tweak your cals after that.

I will try and do so, thanks so much for your help