10 days in and no weight loss at all

godisgood1167

Hello. First let me say that I love this website. My niece introduced me to it when I told her I had joined the Biggest Loser contest at work. I looked over the site and I am still trying to familiarize myself with the whole calorie count, deficit, exercise and all of that. I have the logging of the foods and exercise down pretty good. What I am not understanding is why I have not even lost a pound in 10 days. I admit, I just started exercising, but I have been eating healthy (I think lol). I have cut out fried foods, pop (soda), a lot of sweets (and anybody who knows me, knows I love my sweets). I started drinking a lot of water, which is something that I did not like in the past but I know I needed it if I am going to win this contest. Can you all look at my food diary and let me know where I am going wrong or what I should or should not be doing. I know I need to cut out the brandy and cranberry juice, but after a long day at work, that is my unwind drink. I appreciate/welcome all suggestions, good and bad. Thanks :-)

SezxyStef

well first things first with new exercise you will retain water and glycogen in the muscles which appears to be no weight loss or even gain....

That being said I checked your diary and you don't weigh your food...you could be over esitmating intake for example your grilled cheese said 170 calories...

my wonder bread 2 slices whole wheat is 180 calories never mind the cheese slice....usually 50 calories...and that's fat free.

When entering your intake try not to use the entries that start with "Homemade" or "Generic"...enter in individual items such as bread 2 slices and check the package against your entry....

As well if you can buy a food scale and only measure liquids with the cup/tsp/tbsp measurment.

Another thing with the exercise it can overestimate the burns so only eat back a portion of them...50-75% is what most recommend.

caminoslo

Sometimes youlll feel it in your clothes

godisgood1167

Thank you and I see what you mean. I did go look at my bread package and 1 slice is 70 calories and 1 slice of Kraft American cheese is 60 calories, so that would be 200 calories. The thing is, if I eat something out of the cafeteria at work, I cannot get the nutritional value nor can I weigh the food. I also forgot to mention that I have Graves DIsease. I was hyper for 2 years and just recently became hypo, which means that weight will be easier to gain and harder to lose,

godisgood1167

Yes I notice that my pants fit a little loose where I have to wear a belt, but I know that was from when I was hyper thyroid. I lost 30 pounds in 1 month.......I want to see it on the scale, in numbers lol. Maybe I should just weigh myself once a month and not once a week.

CaraHelmrich

I feel your pain. I eat well and exercise extremely well (which is not new). I turned 40 in June and it was like a line was drawn in the sand and my body decided that no weight may be lost : (
If I ate/exercised this way in my 20s, I'd be thin as a rail.

This morning I decided to cut out my drink at night. I hear ya on the brandy thing. I have two toddlers and really look forward to my glass of wine at night. I doubt it's what is holding me back, but I'm officially off of wine for the week, to see if that's what's sabotaging me.

Good luck to you. Hang in there. Even if the pounds don't pour off, you're keeping yourself around longer! I'm trying to keep that in focus.

tracywintn

My advice is bring your lunch to work-so you know exactly what is in it. I just made a post about an almost 1000 cal sandwich from Applebees-it's hard to estimate cafeteria food-and you are probably under estimating. Also you have something like "scrambled eggs" for 365 cals and other "homemade" meals-I wonder how accurate these are. Instead log each food (how many eggs, if you put cheese measure it and log it). For the brandy/cranberry juice. Are you measuring that? Two oz of cranberry juice is nothing. You could easily be doing 2 oz of brandy and 4 oz of juice which would double that calorie count. Try to eat at home as much as possible-it's the only way (IMO) to eat within a normal calorie allowance. Eating out should be a treat-not an everyday thing. I know people will slam me for that, but for anyone overweight I truly believe it is the only way. There are naturally thin people (my kids are two) who could eat out everyday and never gain, but most of us are not like that. Most will eat out and it's hard to do for less than 1200+ and then eat 2 more meals plus maybe some snacks.

SezxyStef

Thank you and I see what you mean. I did go look at my bread package and 1 slice is 70 calories and 1 slice of Kraft American cheese is 60 calories, so that would be 200 calories. The thing is, if I eat something out of the cafeteria at work, I cannot get the nutritional value nor can I weigh the food. I also forgot to mention that I have Graves DIsease. I was hyper for 2 years and just recently became hypo, which means that weight will be easier to gain and harder to lose,

Yes medical issues can cause issues but being in a deficet is all you need...it might be slower but it will come off...

You just have to be "extra" careful..

As for the cafeteria ask the nice people that work there to help you out...I am sure they would...fast food resturants help me all the time...like Pita Pit...I asked how many oz of meat goes into a regular pita they were happy to answer.

If they don't you can always use the portion sizes such as 4oz = deck of cards for meat etc.

SLLRunner

Welcome.

Ten days is not that long, so you body could be adjusting to your new diet and exercise program.

I looked at your diary, and I suspect your are not logging in everything you eat because you are usually 1,200 or below. If you were truly eating such few calories you would have lost weight in the first week.

Are you weighing your food? Solids need to be weighed and liquids measured. No eyeballing allowed because our eyeballs are usually smaller than the actual portions.

ETA: I also see in a latter post that you have hypothyroid? I suggest you speak with your doctor about your weight loss goals too.

MyFoodGod

Also double check the packages with the nutritional info on here. It can change over time and it can also be entered in accurately in the past.

Look at the individual items and see if the are truly worth the calories / sugar as opposed to looking for a healthy alternative. Beverages can be especially deceiving.

Enter your own recipes if you ate truly eating some you made "home made."

The convenience of picking items from the database isn't a substitute for double checking the info with the package in your hand.

SRobinson20

I would also suggest measuring your self. weighing yourself at the same time every week.... naked in the morning... after you use the bathroom.... but before you eat or even drink anything!

SRobinson20

Hello. First let me say that I love this website. My niece introduced me to it when I told her I had joined the Biggest Loser contest at work. I looked over the site and I am still trying to familiarize myself with the whole calorie count, deficit, exercise and all of that. I have the logging of the foods and exercise down pretty good. What I am not understanding is why I have not even lost a pound in 10 days. I admit, I just started exercising, but I have been eating healthy (I think lol). I have cut out fried foods, pop (soda), a lot of sweets (and anybody who knows me, knows I love my sweets). I started drinking a lot of water, which is something that I did not like in the past but I know I needed it if I am going to win this contest. Can you all look at my food diary and let me know where I am going wrong or what I should or should not be doing. I know I need to cut out the brandy and cranberry juice, but after a long day at work, that is my unwind drink. I appreciate/welcome all suggestions, good and bad. Thanks :-)

I also would make sure you are eating at least 3 meals a day and 2 snacks!!!
Breakfast is a huge meal of your day... make sure you eat within an hour of waking up, because it helps to jump start your metablism!

if you can i would suggest meal planning and prepping too! thats how i get though my week!

WonderCort

It took me quite some time to get the ball really rolling in my own weight loss. I had to give it 5-6 weeks before I started seeing real results on the scale and that included daily exercise, dedicated and truthful daily logging on both food and exercise, and controlled once a week scale logging. It took me time to figure out how to log correctly (which included weighing my food so I knew exactly how much I was eating, making sure I was entering the exact brand and type of food because they vary so much, and remembering to log everything I ate all the time). I also had to learn how to correctly enter exercise calories as I found I often would enter too many or too little. The MFP exercise calculator is useful in it's way but it can be pretty inaccurate. The easiest way to calculate a more accurate calorie burn is using a decent heart rate monitor. It is true that after exercise your body retains extra water to help in healing. It takes time to flush that out. I gave it five to six weeks of adjustment and then the weight started finally dropping off and just keeps on going!

ashenriver

I also would make sure you are eating at least 3 meals a day and 2 snacks!!!
Breakfast is a huge meal of your day... make sure you eat within an hour of waking up, because it helps to jump start your metablism!

^^False and mythical information
You can eat when and how you want to, as long as you have a calorie deficit

if you can i would suggest meal planning and prepping too! thats how i get though my week!

^^ Good advice

SLLRunner

I also would make sure you are eating at least 3 meals a day and 2 snacks!!!
Breakfast is a huge meal of your day... make sure you eat within an hour of waking up, because it helps to jump start your metablism!

The above are common misconceptions. It might work for some people to eat 5 to six meals a day, or to eat breakfast an hour after waking up, but it has nothing to do with metabolism or weight loss.

editorgrrl

If you're not losing, you're not eating at a deficit. You're underestimating your food &/or overestimating your burn. Log everything you eat accurately & honestly. Find reliable database entries. (There's a lot of incorrect data in there.) Weigh your food. Log your exercise, and eat back your exercise calories. If you're still not losing, eat back half your exercise calories.

Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants

godisgood1167

Thank you all for the comments. I log everything I eat, right down to the Cheerios I snack on......but from reading all comments, am I supposed to be in the red at the end of the day? Is that where I am going wrong?

hkied

I feel your pain. I eat well and exercise extremely well (which is not new). I turned 40 in June and it was like a line was drawn in the sand and my body decided that no weight may be lost : (
If I ate/exercised this way in my 20s, I'd be thin as a rail.

This morning I decided to cut out my drink at night. I hear ya on the brandy thing. I have two toddlers and really look forward to my glass of wine at night. I doubt it's what is holding me back, but I'm officially off of wine for the week, to see if that's what's sabotaging me.

Good luck to you. Hang in there. Even if the pounds don't pour off, you're keeping yourself around longer! I'm trying to keep that in focus.

hkied

I havent lost much either and I think It had a lot to do with my Nightly wine, I finnally counted my calories for drinking and I was drinking 500 cal a night plus my food...... no wonder I was way over my1200.

change924

Great tips!!!:happy:

janupshaw

am I supposed to be in the red at the end of the day? Is that where I am going wrong?

Your calorie goal should be just that, a goal. It's not good to be 800 calories under your goal on a daily basis.