What am I doing wrong?

editorgrrl

I think I just need to cut out treats for awhile and maybe introduce them in moderation after awhile. I'm trying my best to cut out processed foods and eat fresh items. Working on it, not yet perfected it.

Eat "healthy" (whatever that means to you) 80% of the time. Fit yummy, portion-controlled treats into your calorie goal. Deprivation can lead to bingeing.

LexiMelo

Hi,

You don't have to log your C25k in your fitbit because it's already calculated into your step count. I don't log any activity since I have my Force connected to my MFP account. Today I did a weightlifting program for instance, and between walking around the office and gym and to my car, etc. I walked approximately 4 miles. I got a credit for like 350 calories, and I just use that and it's been working great. Of course days I run (I ran 4 miles at lunch yesterday) I get a ton of extra calories and don't always eat them all back.

I agree with the suggestion to eat more protein. Try to get 100 g. per day. I enjoy treats too, but not every day.

Also - yes, weight loss is not linear. It will start and stop just stay consistent and it will work!

Feel free to check out my diary for ideas, it's not perfect but I feel like I eat reasonably well.

Natmarie73

Is this from the OP's food diary???

Woah - way too much junk food for someone trying to lose weight. Have a treat occasionally but only a small one and only if it's deserved ie you've burnt a tonne of calories excersising or something. Both donuts and banana bread is very high in carbs and fat.

My first thought is to eliminate the processed stuff and incorporate more fresh and whole foods and see if that helps.

I agree with you, today was terrible. I am an emotional eater, I know this, admit it, and I'm working on it. I was super stressed today at work, which isn't an excuse, but it is what it is. I thought about eating the banana bread and logged it but decided to wait 30 mins and now I'm full. I think I just need to cut out treats for awhile and maybe introduce them in moderation after awhile. I'm trying my best to cut out processed foods and eat fresh items. Working on it, not yet perfected it.

Good for you! For the record, I haven't perfected it either and still have days where I eat way too many treats. Stick with it though as it does get easier to resist naughty treats the more healthy you eat as your body stops craving them as much. My trick is to always have dark 90% cocoa chocolate on hand so if I crave a sweet treat I have a square of it and it is very low in sugar so Im not doing too much damage.

Maybe when you are stressed you could go for a quick walk or something? Excersise is supposed to be a great stress reliever

huneycutt13

I'm so glad that I've posted this question, I really appreciate everyone's comment and advice. What I'm taking away so far is:

1) Connect my MFP and Fit Bit accounts for a more accurate picture
2) Invest in a weigh scale for measuring food
3) Work on my clean/healthier eating and continue to cut back on sugar/processed foods
4) It's ok to have a treat every once in a while but prepare myself so that I don't binge on unnecessary stuff

I'm still a bit unsure about my calorie count. So I'm trying to calculate my BMR and my TPEE. I'm using the http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools to help with these calculations.

My body fat right now is 34% based on the military tool. My BMR at my current weight is 1578 and my TPEE for my current weight is 2289 on light activity/exercise. A 20% subtraction for the amount of weight I want to lose is 457.8 for a total of 1831.2 to lose weight. Does this sound right? Not sure if I did my math correctly.

lindsey1979

I'm so glad that I've posted this question, I really appreciate everyone's comment and advice. What I'm taking away so far is:

1) Connect my MFP and Fit Bit accounts for a more accurate picture
2) Invest in a weigh scale for measuring food
3) Work on my clean/healthier eating and continue to cut back on sugar/processed foods
4) It's ok to have a treat every once in a while but prepare myself so that I don't binge on unnecessary stuff

I'm still a bit unsure about my calorie count. So I'm trying to calculate my BMR and my TPEE. I'm using the http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools to help with these calculations.

My body fat right now is 34% based on the military tool. My BMR at my current weight is 1578 and my TPEE for my current weight is 2289 on light activity/exercise. A 20% subtraction for the amount of weight I want to lose is 457.8 for a total of 1831.2 to lose weight. Does this sound right? Not sure if I did my math correctly.

Provided you don't have any underlying issues, those numbers sound about right. I probably have similar stats as I'm 5'9" and 186 right now, and I aim for 1700 in calories per day usually and burn of 2500 on average (but I do a decent amount of exercise -- 2 weekly heavy lifting session, 2 weekly sprint sessions and walk/hike 15-25 miles per week). I aim for a 700-800 daily deficit.

editorgrrl

My body fat right now is 34% based on the military tool. My BMR at my current weight is 1578 and my TPEE for my current weight is 2289 on light activity/exercise. A 20% subtraction for the amount of weight I want to lose is 457.8 for a total of 1831.2 to lose weight. Does this sound right?

Your Fitbit burn is your TDEE.

Set your weight-loss goal http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided enable negative calorie adjustments http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings and follow your MFP calorie goal.

huneycutt13

Provided you don't have any underlying issues, those numbers sound about right. I probably have similar stats as I'm 5'9" and 186 right now, and I aim for 1700 in calories per day usually and burn of 2500 on average (but I do a decent amount of exercise -- 2 weekly heavy lifting session, 2 weekly sprint sessions and walk/hike 15-25 miles per week). I aim for a 700-800 daily deficit.

I'm 5'8.5" and approx 186lbs (didnt weigh myself today, going off my last weigh in). I've burned 2475 calories today but its usually less on my 30 day shred days than my c25k days (today). I don't have a gym so I'm not sure what I can do for strength/heavy lifting other than the hand weights I'm currently using. As for underlying issues: family history of diabetes and heart problems. Currently being treated for neurally mediated syncope/taccycardia but doesn't effect my exercise unless I'm off my mediation.

huneycutt13

Your Fitbit burn is your TDEE.

Thanks the numbers I calculated the one on fitbit are pretty close.

lindsey1979

Provided you don't have any underlying issues, those numbers sound about right. I probably have similar stats as I'm 5'9" and 186 right now, and I aim for 1700 in calories per day usually and burn of 2500 on average (but I do a decent amount of exercise -- 2 weekly heavy lifting session, 2 weekly sprint sessions and walk/hike 15-25 miles per week). I aim for a 700-800 daily deficit.

I'm 5'8.5" and approx 186lbs (didnt weigh myself today, going off my last weigh in). I've burned 2475 calories today but its usually less on my 30 day shred days than my c25k days (today). I don't have a gym so I'm not sure what I can do for strength/heavy lifting other than the hand weights I'm currently using. As for underlying issues: family history of diabetes and heart problems. Currently being treated for neurally mediated syncope/taccycardia but doesn't effect my exercise unless I'm off my mediation.

Yeah, we have pretty similar numbers. Looking at my numbers, my average burn for the 21 days was 2576 (2150-2200 on my lowest and 2900 or so on my highest) and my average calories were 1717 (a couple high days and a couple low days but most in the 1650-1750 range). If that were all fat, I'd have lost 5.15 lbs. I've lost 5.4 lbs. So, to me, those numbers look pretty good and I'm hoping that I'm just losing mostly fat as I do the resistance training, the sprints and make sure I get enough protein (131 grams for me) to minimize the lean body mass loss. Had that been all muscle, it could have been over 20 lbs -- luckily no one loses ALL muscle -- it's usually a combo of both, though you can do things to minimize the muscle loss and maximize the fat loss, but the numbers on the scale will go down slower.

I don't go to the gym either, but we set up a barbel (olympic) in the garage, so that's what we do for lifting heavy - a 3x5 regime of squats, military press, deadlift and dips one day and then squats, bench, pullups/chinups and back extensions the other day. I'm not sure there is too much to substitute for that unless you have a lot of big tires you can flip or logs to move around.

But, the sprints are super easy -- you can do those anywhere, though a hill is probably ideal. Just start off with 3 sets of 8 second sprints with enough down time in between to catch your breath and bring your heart rate back to normal. Literally, that's all it is -- 8 seconds each, 3 times. Then throw in an extra round each week until you're up to 8 sets of 8 sec sprints. Then, you start to slowly increase the time -- from 8 seconds, to 10, etc. until you're doing a combo of short and longer sprints (10 secs and up to 30 secs). It really takes very little time and you'll be shocked by how much it works. Here's a great article on it (wordy, but good): http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/par46.htm

Given that you said you had a family history of diabetes and crave carbs and binge on them sometimes, have you been checked for insulin resistance?

I don't have a family history of diabetes, but I can totally relate to the carb cravings and occasional binging -- and it turned out that I was insulin resistant. Once I got that under control (through low carb diet and metformin), they've largely gone away -- almost completely. Once I get rid of the weight, my doctor is hopeful that I'll have reversed it and can go off the metformin. My insulin resistance is tied to my thyroid condition (secondary effect), but my blood sugars were so high, I was in the prediabetic category -- and man, was that a shock! Just something you might want to look into -- having your Ac1 tested (sugar level indicator) and your insulin. Because if your body is pumping out too much insulin because your cells are resistant to it and don't take up the glucose from the blood stream like they should, you carb craves because the rest of your body thinks you have low blood sugar when you really don't and then the excess glucose gets turned into fat = weight gain.

nerual13

You've got tons of great advice here, but just gotta do it... PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN!!! I LOVE pasta and breads, but guess what happened when I focused on protein and lowered the carbs? I FELT AWESOME!!! Lots more energy, staying full longer. My body just likes it. Give it a shot, push that protein way up and see how you feel. If you hate it, cool. But you might be surprised too!

huneycutt13

You've got tons of great advice here, but just gotta do it... PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN!!! I LOVE pasta and breads, but guess what happened when I focused on protein and lowered the carbs? I FELT AWESOME!!! Lots more energy, staying full longer. My body just likes it. Give it a shot, push that protein way up and see how you feel. If you hate it, cool. But you might be surprised too!

Thanks, I'm gonna try it. I definintely LOVE carbs (omg delicious). I'll try cutting it back, upping the protein, and see what happens.

nerual13

How did upping the protein go????