just started and really struggling~someone please help

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  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
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    Are you weighing and measuring your intake?

    Yep :)
    I know its not the best but most of my food is packaged so its easier. When it isn't, yes I weigh and measure.

    According to your ticker you are trying to lose 6 lbs? Those will be the slowest ones. Patience and accuracy will be your best friend. With only 1300 I would be sure to eat most of my exercise calories back.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    calories in=8298 and 8317
    calories out= 13367 and 14207
    calorie deficit= 5069 and 5890

    and with that I lost 2 ounces.... :(

    It can often take 3-4 weeks for the numbers to start piling up. The thing is, your scale is only going to be accurate to ~5%, which is +/- 3 pounds at your weight. Between that and natural fluctuations in water retention, its difficult to know exactly what is happening on a short time frame like 2 weeks.

    What we do know is that if you maintain your 1200 cal/day intake, you will lose weight, guaranteed. You're on the right track, just need to stick with it.
  • jcorpern
    jcorpern Posts: 96 Member
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    calories in=8298 and 8317
    calories out= 13367 and 14207
    calorie deficit= 5069 and 5890

    and with that I lost 2 ounces.... :(

    It can often take 3-4 weeks for the numbers to start piling up. The thing is, your scale is only going to be accurate to ~5%, which is +/- 3 pounds at your weight. Between that and natural fluctuations in water retention, its difficult to know exactly what is happening on a short time frame like 2 weeks.

    What we do know is that if you maintain your 1200 cal/day intake, you will lose weight, guaranteed. You're on the right track, just need to stick with it.

    This

    If you've just started that fitness routine, it's very likely that you're retaining water. The body does that to help enable muscle repair when we start any new activity that breaks muscle down. As you are accurately logging your calories and your activity, you WILL see a weight loss if you continue at a deficit.

    I'd warn against the temptation to eat more to weigh less. Many people will try to tell you that the body will go into "starvation mode" and hoard calories and prevent weight loss if you aren't eating enough. Try out this article:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/761810-the-starvation-mode-myth-again

    Increasing your calories will only make it more unlikely for you to lose weight.

    Keep up the good work and good luck!
  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 Member
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    Also just be aware that calories on packaged food can be significantly lower than is actually in the packet. There's lots of information about it if you google. Here's one article to get you started...

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/health/12calo.html?_r=0
  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 Member
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    This

    If you've just started that fitness routine, it's very likely that you're retaining water. The body does that to help enable muscle repair when we start any new activity that breaks muscle down. As you are accurately logging your calories and your activity, you WILL see a weight loss if you continue at a deficit.

    I'd warn against the temptation to eat more to weigh less. Many people will try to tell you that the body will go into "starvation mode" and hoard calories and prevent weight loss if you aren't eating enough. Try out this article:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/761810-the-starvation-mode-myth-again

    Increasing your calories will only make it more unlikely for you to lose weight.

    Keep up the good work and good luck!

    We'll agree to disagree. My recommendation to try eating more has nothing to do with "starvation mode" I just think that when my body is "happier" it does a better job of losing weight. Maybe I just subconsciously move more. Maybe I fixate on food less and eat less than I think. I just know that, like many on this site, I upped my calorie allowance by a few hundred calories and saw a corresponding loss in weight.

    You can't know for sure that she'll lose weight at 1200 calories and I can't know for sure that upping her calories will work but there's no harm in experimenting, especially since she's got such a small amount to lose.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    My recommendation to try eating more...

    If the OP was looking to put more weight on, the advice would be "try eating more".

    Since the OP is looking to drop weight, the same advice cannot hold.
    You can't know for sure that she'll lose weight at 1200 calories...

    Yeah, we pretty much can.

    Put another way - if she can't lose on 1200 calories/day, she for damn sure can't lose on more than 1200 calories/day.
  • armmh
    armmh Posts: 25
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    Also just be aware that calories on packaged food can be significantly lower than is actually in the packet. There's lots of information about it if you google. Here's one article to get you started...

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/health/12calo.html?_r=0

    UGH:sad:
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
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    You're logging but are you weighing all of your food?

    ETA: Never mind. Asked and answered.

    Keep at it, OP, and be patient. You have only been at this a very short time. Watch your weekly weight changes and don't forget that this is a long process. The quick diet ideas have really screwed up peoples' thinking in this area.
  • armmh
    armmh Posts: 25
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    You're logging but are you weighing all of your food?

    Yes, I weigh/measure/count to be sure I am getting a serving.
    12 cheesepuffs :)
  • SugarLou57
    SugarLou57 Posts: 84 Member
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    Increase your green vegetable intake, knock out those baked goods and bread/pasta for a few days see if that doesn't make a difference.
  • BrainOnAStick
    BrainOnAStick Posts: 126 Member
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    I understand your frustration--especially after doing all of the right things. My recommendation is to keep up your hard work and see how it goes. You only have one data point: Week 1 weight to Week 2 weight. There are so many variables that go into losing weight. Give it time, tweak a little here and there, give it more time, tweak again, and so on...

    Good luck!
  • retirehappy
    retirehappy Posts: 4,757 Member
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    My clothes arent fitting better either......which is why I am struggling so much. I could live with the numbers if I could start to fit back into my clothes

    Read the posts listed in here:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read

    Make sure you are getting enough cals for the exercising and hit your macros, women in menopause need more protein, make sure you get enough to support your Lean Body Mass.

    I am post menopausal and have not had to give up dark chocolate nor wine to loss weight. I lost over 40 lbs. during menopause and later gained most of that back because I lowered my protein and upped over all carbs. Been there, done that. Now that things are more balanced, I have lost half the weight since July 2013 and I don't deny myself any food, I just log it and make it fit within the macros.

    All the best in your Journey :flowerforyou:
  • Hazel9999
    Hazel9999 Posts: 21 Member
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    Counting ounces? really? stop at once! thank goodness my scales don't tell me ounces...... If you are obsessive about dieting you will end up putting weight back on, just try and eat more sensibly and do more exercise it's boring I know but you need to recognise what you do that puts weight on and do less of it, for me its wine, cheese and Chinese food. So I try and have a week with no wine, half fat cheese and make my own quorn curry,
  • just4nessa
    just4nessa Posts: 459 Member
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    Having looked at the last few days of your diary, it seems like you're barely hitting 1200 calories and with your fitbit adjustments it's making it look as if you're over your goal. Something doesn't seem right with your fitbit settings, IMO. I would suggest you make sure your fitbit settings match your MFP settings for goal, activity level, etc. Also, verify that your stride length is set correctly for fitbit; mine came with a default setting way higher than my actual stride length which gave me very inaccurate activity reads. Finally, if you're logging your food and exercise on MFP, do not log those entries on fitbit; MFP will send the data to fitbit.

    Once you're sure your settings are correct, aim to hit your daily goal, not below, and give it a few weeks. The less you have to lose, the harder it seems to be. I am the same height and age (not full-blown menopause, but perimenopausal for about a year now); I lost about a pound a week eating 1400 calories a day, plus my exercise calories. I didn't intentionally give up anything, including wine, chocolate and the occasional fast food hamburger.
  • linhao
    linhao Posts: 12
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    I think you should stop worrying about the scales and take your measurements (hip/waist/neck) and you'll see a difference
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
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    calories in=8298 and 8317
    calories out= 13367 and 14207
    calorie deficit= 5069 and 5890

    and with that I lost 2 ounces.... :(

    It can often take 3-4 weeks for the numbers to start piling up. The thing is, your scale is only going to be accurate to ~5%, which is +/- 3 pounds at your weight. Between that and natural fluctuations in water retention, its difficult to know exactly what is happening on a short time frame like 2 weeks.

    What we do know is that if you maintain your 1200 cal/day intake, you will lose weight, guaranteed. You're on the right track, just need to stick with it.

    This

    If you've just started that fitness routine, it's very likely that you're retaining water. The body does that to help enable muscle repair when we start any new activity that breaks muscle down. As you are accurately logging your calories and your activity, you WILL see a weight loss if you continue at a deficit.

    I'd warn against the temptation to eat more to weigh less. Many people will try to tell you that the body will go into "starvation mode" and hoard calories and prevent weight loss if you aren't eating enough. Try out this article:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/761810-the-starvation-mode-myth-again

    Increasing your calories will only make it more unlikely for you to lose weight.

    Keep up the good work and good luck!

    I disagree. If you are doing this the MFP method you are supposed to eat your exercise calories and net the 1200. Her deficits are too high, in my opinion. On average, her fitbit is telling her that her TDEE is about 2000 a day (just from the quick look I took). If you subtract 500 from that, she could be eating 1500 calories, and this might be easier for her. This is what I did. Yes, it looks like I've lost 0 pounds from my ticker, but I have actually lost 53 pounds doing it this way. New year, new account.
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
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    My recommendation to try eating more...

    If the OP was looking to put more weight on, the advice would be "try eating more".

    Since the OP is looking to drop weight, the same advice cannot hold.
    You can't know for sure that she'll lose weight at 1200 calories...

    Yeah, we pretty much can.

    Put another way - if she can't lose on 1200 calories/day, she for damn sure can't lose on more than 1200 calories/day.

    Except that I see it all the time. People up their calories by about 200 to 300, and the weight starts to shift again. Her deficits are too high right now. This site means for you to eat the exercise calories back and net 1200. Yes, if she waits, she will probably start losing weight on 1200, but she doesn't have to eat that low if she is working out the way she is. I ate at 1600 to 1700 calories a day and lost weight. I am 48 years old and 5 ft 4in. But I am not in menopause.

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