1200 calories, exercise, but no weight loss!!

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Replies

  • I looked at your diary..your exercise calories seem a bit high, are u wearing a HRM?

    I would also suggest consulting a dietitian to make sure you are eating the right balance of foods..a lot seemed to be processed, but I'm not a professional..I'm a work in progress :)

    I don't wear a HRM. I estimate my exercise calories just based off what others say they are burning doing those exercises. I went with a lower number to be safe. But, I don't eat back my exercise calories, so should that even matter?
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    and it only took 8 pages for it to come to this conclusion ... sigh ... you are currently eating at maintenance and it's not 1200 cals like you think it is, you are eating more then you think and as you are experiencing it is not just coming out in the wash

    Truer words have never been spoken.
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
    You do weigh some foods on a scale, but you should weight everything.
    Weigh out those chips instead of counting 14 of them to eat.
    Put your bread on the scale, Tare to 0, then add the mayo or peanut butter, and weight it.
    Weigh the teaspoon' of sugar.
    Most nutrition labels have both the volume (cup, teaspoon) and the weight for the serving. Use the weight information.

    And have a check up with your doctor if you haven,t recently, just in case it is a thyroid or other issue.

    I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.
    It isn't that time consuming once you start, maybe an extra five minutes in a whole day. Underestimating your intake truly could be a major part of the problem. A bite of cake, licking the peanut butter spoon and an extra few ounces of granola, can add up to a couple of hundred extra calories easily. Add that to the possibility of overestimating exercise calories and your deficit can disappear. Like many of the others here, I weigh food religiously, and I've lost 123lbs in about 16 months. Maybe try it for a week, just to see?
  • You do weigh some foods on a scale, but you should weight everything.
    Weigh out those chips instead of counting 14 of them to eat.
    Put your bread on the scale, Tare to 0, then add the mayo or peanut butter, and weight it.
    Weigh the teaspoon' of sugar.
    Most nutrition labels have both the volume (cup, teaspoon) and the weight for the serving. Use the weight information.

    And have a check up with your doctor if you haven,t recently, just in case it is a thyroid or other issue.

    I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    Peanut butter is among the worst. What I thought was 190 calories of PB was more like 400.

    You've been dieting with no success for a year or more, and you don't have the time to weigh your peanut butter?

    Fine. Keep doing what you've been doing, and keep seeing the results you've been seeing.

    If you want to succeed you'll need to change and start doing it right.

    I don't eat peanut butter.
  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
    raise it to 1400-1500 & that will work-
  • shayemimi
    shayemimi Posts: 203 Member

    This ^^^^

    Yep. Believe me, you will generally err on the 'more calories than you think' side when not logging accurately, and that means weighing and counting EVERYTHING, including bites of cake, sips, licks etc. lol, even if you don't eat peanut butter. It obviously adds up. Anyone who has been eating so little and working out so much would have lost more by now, even with a slowed metabolism. So I'd say you are actually eating/exercising at maintenance, or you would have lost. Try taking the time to be more accurate for a while (a few months) and you will see. Good luck!
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    You eat cheese, salad dressing, granola etc - all of which are calorie dense. Also, you eat a lot of take out food. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but it can lead to additional inaccuracies. Unless you control the preparation, you do not know how much oil is being used for example.

    The point is, unless you weigh your food, and log everything, you do not know what your intake is.

    You are not losing on your intake, whatever that is so you are at maintenance.

    You may have a slower metabolism than average due to metabolic issues

    If you want to see progress, start weighing and see a doctor to get yourself checked for metabolic issues. Alternatively, or as well as, increase your activity.
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
    You do weigh some foods on a scale, but you should weight everything.
    Weigh out those chips instead of counting 14 of them to eat.
    Put your bread on the scale, Tare to 0, then add the mayo or peanut butter, and weight it.
    Weigh the teaspoon' of sugar.
    Most nutrition labels have both the volume (cup, teaspoon) and the weight for the serving. Use the weight information.

    And have a check up with your doctor if you haven,t recently, just in case it is a thyroid or other issue.

    I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    Peanut butter is among the worst. What I thought was 190 calories of PB was more like 400.

    You've been dieting with no success for a year or more, and you don't have the time to weigh your peanut butter?

    Fine. Keep doing what you've been doing, and keep seeing the results you've been seeing.

    If you want to succeed you'll need to change and start doing it right.

    I don't eat peanut butter.
    Okay, but there's salad dressing, bacon bits, and other calorie dense items in your diary that can easily be underestimated. I weigh out my salad dressing and usually end up with 3 or 4 servings before it seems like 1 serving. :ohwell: It's those little things that can add up.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    raise it to 1400-1500 & that will work-

    How would increasing calories work?
  • jjplato
    jjplato Posts: 155 Member
    I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    and it only took 8 pages for it to come to this conclusion ... sigh ... you are currently eating at maintenance and it's not 1200 cals like you think it is, you are eating more then you think and as you are experiencing it is not just coming out in the wash

    I agree. Everybody seems to undercount when they don't weigh everything. And you'll forget about that handful of chips you had, that "teaspoon" of creamer was really a tablespoon, etc, etc. Here's a simple rule that I use if I'm trying to drop weight: if I can't be bothered to weigh it, I don't eat it.
  • I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    and it only took 8 pages for it to come to this conclusion ... sigh ... you are currently eating at maintenance and it's not 1200 cals like you think it is, you are eating more then you think and as you are experiencing it is not just coming out in the wash

    I disagree. I measure. I just don't weigh most things other than meat . If you are saying that I'm not losing weight because I didn't weigh my tortilla chips yesterday and that resulted in me eating 13 instead of the 12 I should have had, or that the 1/8 cup of granola I measured out was really 70 calories instead of 60 because I didn't weigh it, I will have to disagree with you.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    and it only took 8 pages for it to come to this conclusion ... sigh ... you are currently eating at maintenance and it's not 1200 cals like you think it is, you are eating more then you think and as you are experiencing it is not just coming out in the wash

    I disagree. I measure. I just don't weigh most things other than meat . If you are saying that I'm not losing weight because I didn't weigh my tortilla chips yesterday and that resulted in me eating 13 instead of the 12 I should have had, or that the 1/8 cup of granola I measured out was really 70 calories instead of 60 because I didn't weigh it, I will have to disagree with you.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
  • Mr_Excitement
    Mr_Excitement Posts: 833 Member
    Well, a lot of what the sillysquirrel has been eating are pre-packaged items, like breakfast sandwiches, which I have to assume have fairly accurate calorie listings and don't require any estimating by the cup or scoop.

    So keep with it for awhile-- log your items for a few weeks and see how it goes. :)
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    You do weigh some foods on a scale, but you should weight everything.
    Weigh out those chips instead of counting 14 of them to eat.
    Put your bread on the scale, Tare to 0, then add the mayo or peanut butter, and weight it.
    Weigh the teaspoon' of sugar.
    Most nutrition labels have both the volume (cup, teaspoon) and the weight for the serving. Use the weight information.

    And have a check up with your doctor if you haven,t recently, just in case it is a thyroid or other issue.

    I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    Well, then best of luck to you!
  • I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    and it only took 8 pages for it to come to this conclusion ... sigh ... you are currently eating at maintenance and it's not 1200 cals like you think it is, you are eating more then you think and as you are experiencing it is not just coming out in the wash

    I agree. Everybody seems to undercount when they don't weigh everything. And you'll forget about that handful of chips you had, that "teaspoon" of creamer was really a tablespoon, etc, etc. Here's a simple rule that I use if I'm trying to drop weight: if I can't be bothered to weigh it, I don't eat it.

    I measure out my creamer with a measuring spoon. I counted out my chips. They were the uniform round ones to those of you that are going to tell me how far off that can be. Weighing everything that I eat is not sustainable for me. I don't know anyone that does that, and I have a lot of fit friends. Just sayin.....I don't think it is a requirement for weight loss, at least not for everyone. I do measure, but weighing a spoonful of sugar is just making me shake my head. How about if I don't fill my measuring spoons and cups all of the way to the top, to account for all of those calories I am missing?
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    and it only took 8 pages for it to come to this conclusion ... sigh ... you are currently eating at maintenance and it's not 1200 cals like you think it is, you are eating more then you think and as you are experiencing it is not just coming out in the wash

    I agree. Everybody seems to undercount when they don't weigh everything. And you'll forget about that handful of chips you had, that "teaspoon" of creamer was really a tablespoon, etc, etc. Here's a simple rule that I use if I'm trying to drop weight: if I can't be bothered to weigh it, I don't eat it.

    I measure out my creamer with a measuring spoon. I counted out my chips. They were the uniform round ones to those of you that are going to tell me how far off that can be. Weighing everything that I eat is not sustainable for me. I don't know anyone that does that, and I have a lot of fit friends. Just sayin.....I don't think it is a requirement for weight loss, at least not for everyone. I do measure, but weighing a spoonful of sugar is just making me shake my head. How about if I don't fill my measuring spoons and cups all of the way to the top, to account for all of those calories I am missing?

    It isn't - but it's usually a good idea for those not seeing progress.
  • You do weigh some foods on a scale, but you should weight everything.
    Weigh out those chips instead of counting 14 of them to eat.
    Put your bread on the scale, Tare to 0, then add the mayo or peanut butter, and weight it.
    Weigh the teaspoon' of sugar.
    Most nutrition labels have both the volume (cup, teaspoon) and the weight for the serving. Use the weight information.

    And have a check up with your doctor if you haven,t recently, just in case it is a thyroid or other issue.

    I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    Peanut butter is among the worst. What I thought was 190 calories of PB was more like 400.

    You've been dieting with no success for a year or more, and you don't have the time to weigh your peanut butter?

    Fine. Keep doing what you've been doing, and keep seeing the results you've been seeing.

    If you want to succeed you'll need to change and start doing it right.

    I don't eat peanut butter.
    Okay, but there's salad dressing, bacon bits, and other calorie dense items in your diary that can easily be underestimated. I weigh out my salad dressing and usually end up with 3 or 4 servings before it seems like 1 serving. :ohwell: It's those little things that can add up.

    I measure my dressing, bacon bits, and mayo with a TBSP. I just don't weigh it.
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
    I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    and it only took 8 pages for it to come to this conclusion ... sigh ... you are currently eating at maintenance and it's not 1200 cals like you think it is, you are eating more then you think and as you are experiencing it is not just coming out in the wash

    I agree. Everybody seems to undercount when they don't weigh everything. And you'll forget about that handful of chips you had, that "teaspoon" of creamer was really a tablespoon, etc, etc. Here's a simple rule that I use if I'm trying to drop weight: if I can't be bothered to weigh it, I don't eat it.

    I measure out my creamer with a measuring spoon. I counted out my chips. They were the uniform round ones to those of you that are going to tell me how far off that can be. Weighing everything that I eat is not sustainable for me. I don't know anyone that does that, and I have a lot of fit friends. Just sayin.....I don't think it is a requirement for weight loss, at least not for everyone. I do measure, but weighing a spoonful of sugar is just making me shake my head. How about if I don't fill my measuring spoons and cups all of the way to the top, to account for all of those calories I am missing?
    Did you watch the video Sara posted in the last page?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
    It really is eye opening. As I already suggested, take the time to weigh everything you normally eat, for a week or so and see if you've been overestimating in any areas. It's worth a shot, right? :flowerforyou:
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    >> This is nonsense <<

    Pretty opinionated for a guy who doesn't know what he's talking about, and offers no proof to the contrary other than his assertion. The fact that protein requires more calories to metabolize is well established:

    - http://www.livestrong.com/article/299424-calories-burned-digesting-protein/
    - http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/10-fat-burning-foods-you-should-be-eating.html
    - http://www.rd.com/health/fitness/5-fitness-myths-you-need-to-forget/
    - Feinman RD, Fine EJ. “A calorie is a calorie” violates the second law of thermodynamics. Nutr J. 2004 Jul 28;3:9. PubMed PMID: 15282028; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC506782.
    - Halton TL, Hu FB. The effects of high protein diets on thermogenesis, satiety and weight loss: a critical review. J Am Coll Nutr. 2004 Oct;23(5):373-85. Review. PubMed PMID: 15466943.
    - Johnston CS, Day CS, Swan PD. Postprandial thermogenesis is increased 100% on a high-protein, low-fat diet versus a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet in healthy, young women. J Am Coll Nutr. 2002 Feb;21(1):55-61. PubMed PMID: 11838888.

    But who are you going to believe, the experts or the guy with a cat on his shoulder?

    The difference is simply not significant within the confines of a normal diet. If you ate all your calories from protein vs all your calories from carbs, then there would be a measurable difference. But within reasonable, human macronutrient partitions? Not so much.

    You won't suddenly start losing weight by maintaining the same calorie intake but getting an extra 10-15% of your calories from protein.

    I see someone quoted the Eugene Fine studies on Metabolic Advantage as evidence towards "well-established" something or other.
    That is not the case. These papers are theoretical in nature or selective reviews of studies and while interesting have significant issues (not the least being self circular referencing articles - that's a no no). They do not prove anything but set up a theory of possible metabolic advantage in one diet versus another. While this might be true. There is also evidence questioning the framework and arguing for the absence of MA at least as proposed in those early papers.

    Ketogenic low-carbohydrate diets have no metabolic advantage over nonketogenic low-carbohydrate diets
    http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/83/5/1055.short
  • shayemimi
    shayemimi Posts: 203 Member
    when I started weighing my foods was when I REALLY started seeing what the serving sizes actually were, AND when I started seeing the scale go down! :D

    And fit people may not have to weigh everything, but that's because they already are eating what their bodies need to stay fit (along with their movement,etc). When you are trying to REDUCE you have to find the balance for YOU. And it looks like you are miscalculating just enough to keep you around the maintenance mark. It really does add up- if you are worried that weighing and measuring more accurately means you won't get enough food, just try eating more of the foods that are naturally low in calories like unprocessed veggies and lean proteins, and less of the processed, low volume foods. It works!
  • jjplato
    jjplato Posts: 155 Member
    I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    and it only took 8 pages for it to come to this conclusion ... sigh ... you are currently eating at maintenance and it's not 1200 cals like you think it is, you are eating more then you think and as you are experiencing it is not just coming out in the wash

    I agree. Everybody seems to undercount when they don't weigh everything. And you'll forget about that handful of chips you had, that "teaspoon" of creamer was really a tablespoon, etc, etc. Here's a simple rule that I use if I'm trying to drop weight: if I can't be bothered to weigh it, I don't eat it.

    I measure out my creamer with a measuring spoon. I counted out my chips. They were the uniform round ones to those of you that are going to tell me how far off that can be. Weighing everything that I eat is not sustainable for me. I don't know anyone that does that, and I have a lot of fit friends. Just sayin.....I don't think it is a requirement for weight loss, at least not for everyone. I do measure, but weighing a spoonful of sugar is just making me shake my head. How about if I don't fill my measuring spoons and cups all of the way to the top, to account for all of those calories I am missing?

    I weigh just about everything (at least once), to be sure that the three cups of whole wheat flour I'm using is really X grams, for instance. Your comment about it all "coming out in the wash" is what caught a lot of people's attention, I think, and trying to fudge here and there to make up for the calories you're "missing" probably isn't going to work. A lot of people think that "bite of cake" they didn't count shouldn't make a difference. In my opinion, if you want to lose weight - especially if you're not having any success, you've *got* to be anal about this stuff. Same thing with your exercise calories - you have to be diligent about accuracy. Many people over-estimate.
  • In a nutshell, it seems that the majority of people responding to my post feel that I am eating a lot more calories than what I am logging. I am logging everything and I don't think it would be healthy for me to eat less than what I am eating now. So, basically I have learned that I should eat more, I should eat less, I should work out more, I should work out less, I am paranoid, I may have an ED, I need to change what I am doing, I need to stick to what I am doing, etc. I am more confused now than I was when I originally posted this! Ha Ha!!! To those of you that are truly here to help....THANK YOU!! And to those of you that find joy in being rude and sarcastic and have no desire to be helpful, get a life!
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    So, basically I have learned that I should eat more, I should eat less, I should work out more, I should work out less, I am paranoid, I may have an ED, I need to change what I am doing, I need to stick to what I am doing, etc. I am more confused now than I was when I originally posted this! Ha Ha!!!

    Welcome to MFP. :smile:
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
    You do weigh some foods on a scale, but you should weight everything.
    Weigh out those chips instead of counting 14 of them to eat.
    Put your bread on the scale, Tare to 0, then add the mayo or peanut butter, and weight it.
    Weigh the teaspoon' of sugar.
    Most nutrition labels have both the volume (cup, teaspoon) and the weight for the serving. Use the weight information.

    And have a check up with your doctor if you haven,t recently, just in case it is a thyroid or other issue.

    I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    I don't eat peanut butter.


    Well in that casement never mind, just continue to do the same thing over & over that isn't succeeding and expect different results next time,
  • You do weigh some foods on a scale, but you should weight everything.
    Weigh out those chips instead of counting 14 of them to eat.
    Put your bread on the scale, Tare to 0, then add the mayo or peanut butter, and weight it.
    Weigh the teaspoon' of sugar.
    Most nutrition labels have both the volume (cup, teaspoon) and the weight for the serving. Use the weight information.

    And have a check up with your doctor if you haven,t recently, just in case it is a thyroid or other issue.

    I am sure that works great for those that have the time and desire, but I just don't see myself weighing a spoonful of peanut butter or a tsp of sugar. If the calories listed on food packages is that far off, how do I know I can trust my scale? Or how do I know if the weight of that particular food is really the calories the package says? I guess I just don't believe that getting that obsessed about what the exact calories were in my portion is necessary. If it was 10 calories more....oh well. Maybe it was 12 calories less...It just seems that it would all come out in the wash. I feel that my calorie intake is low enough that even if I added in that bite of cake and it was 200 calories (it's not), I should still be losing something. And no disrespect to those of you that do weigh everything. I admire you, but it's just not something I will ever do.

    I don't eat peanut butter.


    Well in that casement never mind, just continue to do the same thing over & over that isn't succeeding and expect different results next time,

    Thank you for your input. However, I am not here looking for sarcasm. I was just innocently looking for some advice. If that isn't something that you can offer, please don't post. Thank you.
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member

    and it only took 8 pages for it to come to this conclusion ... sigh ... you are currently eating at maintenance and it's not 1200 cals like you think it is, you are eating more then you think and as you are experiencing it is not just coming out in the wash

    I disagree. I measure. I just don't weigh most things other than meat . If you are saying that I'm not losing weight because I didn't weigh my tortilla chips yesterday and that resulted in me eating 13 instead of the 12 I should have had, or that the 1/8 cup of granola I measured out was really 70 calories instead of 60 because I didn't weigh it, I will have to disagree with you.

    you can disagree all you want. Your body is keeping a pretty accurate food diary and it's saying you are eating at maintenance. Unless you have medical issues your TDEE is not going to be 1200 or less, so if you have been the same weight for the last year, you have been eating more.
  • 2spamagnet
    2spamagnet Posts: 60 Member
    In a nutshell, it seems that the majority of people responding to my post feel that I am eating a lot more calories than what I am logging. I am logging everything and I don't think it would be healthy for me to eat less than what I am eating now. So, basically I have learned that I should eat more, I should eat less, I should work out more, I should work out less, I am paranoid, I may have an ED, I need to change what I am doing, I need to stick to what I am doing, etc. I am more confused now than I was when I originally posted this! Ha Ha!!! To those of you that are truly here to help....THANK YOU!! And to those of you that find joy in being rude and sarcastic and have no desire to be helpful, get a life!

    Crikey. Keep logging like you have been, and cut more calories. Simple. If your food measurements are off, cutting more will solve that issue (by bringing you to a true deficit). Don't need to change HOW you have been measuring, just eat less. **Eating less food always works to lose fat. Try it for a couple weeks and see what the results are.

    Sounds like you are working out, so as long as you get at least 0.8 grams of protein per lb that you weigh, you should be able to sustain or gain muscle (despite what people may think) while you lose fat.

    **If you have more than the essential body fat levels of 10% - 13% (for a woman), cutting below 1200 is not a problem. You will continue to function doing your daily routine because your body converts body fat (stored energy) to do this. If it did not, we would pass out when we were out of food, and we would not wake up. Thankfully, our bodies magically do this for us, so losing fat is really a simple math problem. Calories in/calories out.
  • hedgiie
    hedgiie Posts: 1,226 Member
    that's magic
  • ereck44
    ereck44 Posts: 1,170 Member
    Use a scale that weighs in grams. Measuring cups are so subjective as are tablespoons, teaspoons. You should mainly measure things that come in packages. Try not to eat at fast food restaurants for a couple of months--they underestimate the calories and those foods are full of salt. I only weigh fruit like apples, pears, and bananas. Vegetables have virtually no calories, but if you put butter or cheese, then yes, weigh that. Weighing takes a few seconds--I have been doing it for almost a year and have lost 32 pounds this year.

    You can do this. Keep an open mind.
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