What are your secrets? Need advice

flattsfan22

Hello,

I am fairly new to MFP and have been trying to incorporate a healthier lifestyle. I've been at my calorie goal or below it for about 2 weeks now. I have also began to work out consistantly. I'm confused because even though I am accumulating a deficit in calories I'm not losing weight. I've actually gained some.....what gives? I know there are days where I go over my carbs and/or my sugar goals, which is hard for me because I eat a TON of fruit. For those of you who have lost some weight already what advice can you give me to get my weightloss jump started? I've cut out my diet soda, I still have a cup of coffee in the morning. I'm drinking my recommended amount of water.....just frustrated. Please help

Amber

DeeDeeLHF

It sounds like you are doing a lot of things right. Don't be discouraged. Part of the big picture is learning to love yourself and your uniqueness. Everyone's body reacts differently to the "stress" of change. (stress does not need to be bad). So you are treating your body better and respecting it, the creates a new stress for the body. It will adapt and figure it out and when it does you will start to see the changes.

It is hard to see some people jumping out of the bull pen and dropping 10# without blinking...but comparison is the death of contentment. Know that you are doing something wonderful for your body and it will in turn thank you. Some times our bodies are just slower learners.

A few ideas:

Stay hydrated.
Measure carefully and weigh foods. It is so easy to add a 20-50 calories per meal just by estimating.

Sugar, if it is from the fruit should not be too much of a concern.

Eat foods that are as close to the natural food chain as possible. Stay away from refined things.

Great job on cutting the diet soda. It is poison! You will feel better.

Personally, I think a bit of caffeine in the morning is fine.

Stay with it and keep us posted!

D

Robin1109

Be careful not to fall to much below your calorie goal. You don't want your body to hoard what it's got because it doesn't think you're feeding it a enough. If you eat a ton of fruit, like you say, you might have to revisit that. I eat about 2-3 servings of fruit a day and I don't see it affect my weight loss. Fruit does have natural sugars so if you're eating 5-6 servings a day, it might be too much sugar for your body. Some people are sensitive to it and some aren't as much. Maybe try to balance that out with veges for a week and see if there is a difference. If you're working out on a regular basis, again, you have to watch your calories. Some people can get away with not eating back the calories they burn exercising and some can't. It's a little trial and error until you see how your body reacts. The last thing I'll say is watch your sodium! You can drink all the water you want but if your meals are mostly prepackaged, the sodium is going to make you retain LOTS of water! Good luck!

Chenoachem

First off, awesome job for working on getting healthier.

Second, being under your calories every day is not necessarily a good thing. Your body needs food to create energy. When it doesn't have enough food it thinks it needs to store some as fat because it a mechanism to protect us in times of fammin. So your weight difference can be a couple of things.

1. Not eating enough and therefore starving the body so it stores fat.
2. Too much sodium. The daily recommended sodium levels on here are actually a little high compared to recommended. So try to stay at or around the recommended 2500mg a day. To little sodium can also cause problems.
3. If you just started working out and have previously been pretty seditary, your body will want to store extra water and glycogen to repair the muscles. This is normal and should correct itself after a couple weeks.

I have also done things like, make sure to swich up my workout routines to different intensities, eat varying amounts of calories a day, and try to stay at least close to my calorie limit (not to much over or under). It worked for me.

Good Luck.

ambercole

The best things for me are, drink plenty of water. I know that's a DUH! But it really helps, I can easily drink a gallon a day ( I add those 0 calorie flavor packets to mine) But whatever gets you to drink it. And get enough sleep, and don't push yourself too hard working out. I find that if I push myself too hard consistently then I get burnt out. Also my favorite site in the world (besides this one of course:) is www.hungrygirl.com. It has the most amazing low-calorie recipies ever. I could live off of the recipes on there! Also, there's are always plenty of people here to talk to and give support when you need help. Keep it up girl! You can do it!

lutzsher

If you are exercising you have to make sure you are eating enough. I've learned that for me (and Im only 5"4") I must get in 1200 to 1350 calories per day if I don't do much exercise, maybe a light walk at lunch. If I exercise I have to increase my calories to at least 1400 per day . . . or the scale just does not move!
Although it seems unbeleivable . . . eat more to lose more (healthy "clean" food though).
Stay away from all processed food, drink that water, and get your sleep. Everything working this way together is the formula for results.
Good luck to you!

FlashBang

First, discouragement is a way bigger problem than weight gain. Don't sweat it. Everyone has given you excellent advice. It really is not mystical, it is calories in calories out, if you have a deficit you will loose body fat. I started the year just exercising, I had dieted and failed and decided that exercise was the answer, and guess what, fail! Started MFP, logged everything and because of the fitness I had accumulated finally began to get some success. Back in July I went to Haiti to build some houses. I stopped logging and gained some weight on purpose, Haiti is no place to be trying to loose weight. I gained 11 or 12 pounds. Now, I was working hard and developed some extra physical fitness. When I got home the weight shed immediately, I lost no ground. So, I say that to say this, keep with your plan, be sure you have a sensible calorie deficit, increase your physical fitness, and you will reach your goal. It really is that simple. Going up and down is just a part of process. Fat will burn you just have to light it.

iplayoutside19

Cut back on the fruit, and replace with veggies.

Fruit has lots of sugar, and sugar is still sugar.