what am I doing wrong

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I am sure you have all read things similar to this before but I am stuck.

I weigh EVERYTHING - I place my bread on the scales & weight the butter, zero the scales & weigh each & everything I put on to my sandwich.

I weigh the milk on my cereal & everything individually for my dinner.

I work out everyday - I do Jillian Michaels 30ds or go for long walks.

For the last week I have been using a HRM so my workout calories are correct too.

So why am I maintaining!

I am rubbish at working out what is good & what is bad food.

I know when a day is bad even though I am within my cals by the weight that MFP says I will be in 5 weeks time.

Someone please pick my diary apart & give me tips on moving forward.

I had lost 10lb in 8 weeks but have put 2lb back on, I think this is possibly to the change in exercise....

I have 10 weeks in which I want to lose a stone and a half. please help me get to my goal!

Sue
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Replies

  • Chadomaniac
    Chadomaniac Posts: 1,785 Member
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    Ill help you because I like your profile pic

    How many cals do you eat daily ?
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    I am sure you have all read things similar to this before but I am stuck.

    I weigh EVERYTHING - I place my bread on the scales & weight the butter, zero the scales & weigh each & everything I put on to my sandwich.

    I weigh the milk on my cereal & everything individually for my dinner.

    I work out everyday - I do Jillian Michaels 30ds or go for long walks.

    For the last week I have been using a HRM so my workout calories are correct too.

    So why am I maintaining!

    I am rubbish at working out what is good & what is bad food.

    I know when a day is bad even though I am within my cals by the weight that MFP says I will be in 5 weeks time.

    Someone please pick my diary apart & give me tips on moving forward.

    I had lost 10lb in 8 weeks but have put 2lb back on, I think this is possibly to the change in exercise....

    I have 10 weeks in which I want to lose a stone and a half. please help me get to my goal!

    Sue

    You should know the answer to this already. You are not eating at a calorie deficit. There is no other answer.

    Funny how many people claim to weigh everything religiously but it still doesnt work....
  • Suebepinkydoo
    Suebepinkydoo Posts: 32 Member
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    Ill help you because I like your profile pic

    How many cals do you eat daily ?

    I like my profile pic too!

    I eat between 1200 & 1500 dependant on the amount of exercise......
  • Suebepinkydoo
    Suebepinkydoo Posts: 32 Member
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    Funny how many people claim to weigh everything religiously but it still doesnt work....

    I dont CLAIM - I DO weigh everything. I am asking for help.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    Funny how many people claim to weigh everything religiously but it still doesnt work....

    I dont CLAIM - I DO weigh everything. I am asking for help.

    Oh so you are one of those 'I would like advice but only if I like it' people.
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
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    Funny how many people claim to weigh everything religiously but it still doesnt work....

    I dont CLAIM - I DO weigh everything. I am asking for help.

    Oh so you are one of those 'I would like advice but only if I like it' people.

    Christ, there's no need to jump down her throat like that.

    OP, can you open up your food diary? That will help.
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,141 Member
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    Hi

    True weight gain is down to eating more calories than you burn. You say you've started working out more recently? When new to working out or increasing it's common to retain more water. Make sure you drink lots to replace what your body needs.
  • errorist
    errorist Posts: 142 Member
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    It does sound as though you are weighing things accurately to me. On that basis, and because you're using a HRM, you are probably eating at enough of a deficit for 1 pound a week weight loss (3500 calorie deficit per week). 8 pounds in 8 weeks is a good, sustainable level of weight loss. The most recent week's maintenance is not really long enough at one weight to think that you have reached balance between calories in and calories out - it could just as easily be water weight related to salt intake or related to muscle repair.

    You could open your diary so that people can look at how your intake is made up, but the basic fact is that you are doing it right. Just stay patient!
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
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    It does sound as though you are weighing things accurately to me. On that basis, and because you're using a HRM, you are probably eating at enough of a deficit for 1 pound a week weight loss (3500 calorie deficit per week). 8 pounds in 8 weeks is a good, sustainable level of weight loss. The most recent week's maintenance is not really long enough at one weight to think that you have reached balance between calories in and calories out - it could just as easily be water weight related to salt intake or related to muscle repair.

    You could open your diary so that people can look at how your intake is made up, but the basic fact is that you are doing it right. Just stay patient!

    This is a very good point. You didn't mention in your post how long you have stalled for? Fluctuations are totally normally and weight loss is not linear. 8lb in 8 weeks is a good, sustainable weight loss.
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
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    That's very frustrating! You'd need to open your diary and say a bit more about your current weight and height for anyone to be able to offer helpful advice (ignore the unhelpful people, they're just hungry and bad-tempered!)
  • Suebepinkydoo
    Suebepinkydoo Posts: 32 Member
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    my diary is now open

    I am 5ft 6.5

    my current weight is 12st 9

    I did go down to 12st 7 but that was due to a stomach bug.....

    fire away.

    I think i need help with "good" foods to eat.
  • Suebepinkydoo
    Suebepinkydoo Posts: 32 Member
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    oh friday 28th march to 1st april I had a stomach bug hence why i did not eat enough calories & the 3rd April was a day out at a theme park - I would not normally eat that amount of pizza & pasta!
  • Blokeypoo
    Blokeypoo Posts: 274 Member
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    Hi OP, looked at diary, I'm no expert so will leave specific advice to others.

    I do wonder though whether you cook fresh food? I know some say cals in vs out is all that matters but lots of shop stuff can make you feel sluggish and crave more food as well as having high sodium levels. Apols if you do, I looked back as many days as I could sneak at work!

    I'm in UK and find the Hairy Dieters recipes great (and I hate food which isn't nice to eat!), also the Biggest Loser cookbook is good. They do some quick meals too so I cook nearly every night (unless using a ready meal to allow me to get to gym etc too!) despite working full time.

    I maintain now but my wt fluctuates like buggery so don't worry if this is a recent blip.

    Good luck, I'm sure you'll get some good advice.
  • errorist
    errorist Posts: 142 Member
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    Your basic calorie intake, as set out in these entries, looks really good to me.

    So anything else I say has minimal relevance when it comes to improving your actual weight-loss chances, but it might help you stick with it in the longer term (as long as you introduce changes slowly and thoughtfully).

    In general, you eat quite a lot of wheat and starchy veg, and there's not a lot of green veg. You could do with finding some more sources of protein as well. All this will do is to fuel your workouts better, possibly make you feel a little healthier (as you'll have a better vitamin intake) and it will make you feel a little fuller for longer.

    I'd recommend that you make salads for lunch and try to think about getting more of a balance between calories from carb / fat and protein. 40% from carbs, 30% from fats and 30% from protein is not a bad thing to aim for. I will open my diary for a bit and you can see that I try to aim for this, or slightly lower carb.

    As I say, this isn't really going to make you lose more weight, but it makes it a more positive lifestyle change, rather than just eating a bit less of what you were eating before.
  • Suebepinkydoo
    Suebepinkydoo Posts: 32 Member
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    Hi OP, looked at diary, I'm no expert so will leave specific advice to others.

    I do wonder though whether you cook fresh food? I know some say cals in vs out is all that matters but lots of shop stuff can make you feel sluggish and crave more food as well as having high sodium levels. Apols if you do, I looked back as many days as I could sneak at work!

    I'm in UK and find the Hairy Dieters recipes great (and I hate food which isn't nice to eat!), also the Biggest Loser cookbook is good. They do some quick meals too so I cook nearly every night (unless using a ready meal to allow me to get to gym etc too!) despite working full time.

    I maintain now but my wt fluctuates like buggery so don't worry if this is a recent blip.

    Good luck, I'm sure you'll get some good advice.

    Thanks

    I use mainly fresh things where I can.

    Meat is bought from butchers, Always buy fresh veg except for my stir fries, I tend to pick up the fresh packets from the veg section.

    I do use jars though for things like spag bol & or pasta bakes, but these are meals that I dont cook very often.

    I pick things from the list in mfp as close to what I am actually using. I have learnt that not everything is correct which is why you will see somethings that are the same under different headings.
  • sarahmoo12
    sarahmoo12 Posts: 756 Member
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    oh you dont seem to be drinking much btw! Make sure you log all water/hot drinks/ juice!
  • Suebepinkydoo
    Suebepinkydoo Posts: 32 Member
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    oh you dont seem to be drinking much btw! Make sure you log all water/hot drinks/ juice!

    I drink between 4 & 6 litres of squash every day!

    I am not much of a tea drinker - I just forget to add the water on

    :)
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    So in 8 weeks you lost 8 lbs that is a lb a week, which is a nice pace. It's been 1 week that you haven't dropped, you need to have patience, you should be very happy with that loss. Weight will fluctuate due to many factors, is it your TOM, higher sodium levels can cause a spike.

    Why are you setting 10 weeks to lose the weight? Did you put the weigh on in 10 weeks?

    As for good vs bad foods, that doesn't matter when it comes to weight loss, calories in vs calories out.

    Continue logging, have patience and be realistic

    Good luck
  • Poods71
    Poods71 Posts: 502 Member
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    I found that when I upped my exercise I actually put on weight, I dropped a little after a couple of weeks but didn't go back down to what I had been and seemed to stall but my measurements told a different story. I had lost over an inch everywhere. You should try measuring and you may see something happening there. I don't know long it has been but if you give it time I'm sure you will start losing again. I think it just takes the body a bit of time to adjust to a change.
  • Suebepinkydoo
    Suebepinkydoo Posts: 32 Member
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    I lost that weight on the first few weeks, it came off quick, it works out at a pound a week which I am happy with but have had no loss for two weeks now.

    I am going away in 10 weeks which is why I have that as a target!