2 year plateau and confused about differences in calories

WBB55

I'm not resisting anyone's feedback. I just know I know what I'm eating and it's not over 2000 calories on any day...even my splurge days.

You should be very proud of everything you've done. Congratulations on everything you've learned about food, nutrition and your body.

But you really are giving us inconsistent answers.

In one reply, you say you have splurge days. In another you say you don't binge. In one post you say you know exactly how many calories you're eating, but then you say you never prepare your own food and don't weigh your food.

To us, this doesn't add up. Either there's a piece of information you're leaving out, so everything you say makes sense.

or

you don't know how many calories you're eating.

I know you're trying. And you should be proud of what you're doing. But if you want to change, plenty of people have given you great advice.

-Fitbit
-Weigh your food
-Log accurately
-Eat at a sensible deficit

bekahlou75

[/quote]


-Fitbit
-Weigh your food
-Log accurately
-Eat at a sensible deficit
[/quote]


What she said!

kwantlen2051

I've struggled with weight for a long time and like you I'm in the happy spot for a while and then plateau for months. I finally looked at all my food diaries to see what they had in common. I've figured out that two of my beverage choices were what was hurting me. I Iove beer and make sure that I save enough calories to drink one occasionally. The weeks I drank even one or two beers I didn't lose any weight. I was under my calorie limit even with the beer, but alcohol must really affect me.

I have a similar issue with diet soda. I adore diet coke. However, if I drink even a diet soda a couple of times a week, I just don't lose weight regardless of how few calories I eat.

I refuse to give up beer completely, but I limit myself to one like every other week and I've completely given up diet soda. Now, I'm losing again.

Maybe there are specific foods you just don't react well to.

Food sensitivity. That's worth looking into.

ChrisM8971

Breakfast: Regular oatmeal and 1 egg.
Lunch: fresh pineapple, a small dark greens salad with honey french dressing on the side.
Snack: a fiber one peanut butter brownie.
Dinner: A grand turkey club from Arby's, no mayo.

Breakfast - How much oatmeal? Prepared in what manner? No sweetener?
Lunch - How much pineapple? What exactly is on your salad? How much dressing?
Dinner - nothing else? Not even a bite of french fries?

Why don't you post several days worth of your exact food diary listings? Where's this "cafeteria" food you talk about? Where's your restaurant meals? Let us see more. I know you think people are rude on here, but I didn't really see much rudeness until every valid suggestion was met with an excuse.

So, are you going to get a food scale and try it out? A food scale is MUCH cheaper than a Bodymedia fit device. If something *really* is wrong with you, the Bodymedia device isn't likely to be accurate for you anyway. If you are really that odd person who's BMR is much lower than average, the Bodymedia device isn't going to show that. It has a lot of complex calculations it does based on averages and if you are really as different as you think, this device will be useless. The food sale on the other hand will give you more accurate information which will help you arm yourself for your next doctor's visit.

1 cup oatmeal.
2 tsp light brown sugar
prepared the old fashioned way.

Two large sections of pineapple.

Salad has greens, black olives, 1 tsp of bleu cheese crumbles, 1 tsp of cranberries.
1 tbs of honey french dressing on the side.

I don't eat fries.

No, I am not opening up my diary because people will be rude and mention every time I ate something questionable...like a piece of fried fish or something...or a Russel Stover egg.

What you wouldn't find would be cheeseburgers, fries, and junk like that.

Plenty of people eat cheeseburgers and fries on occasion while losing weight and others don't and they don't lose weight. What you eat matters nutritionally but for weight loss you need to get into a calorie deficit and whether for a medical reason or because of inaccuracies in logging you are not in deficit.

You have got to change something and you do know that

weird_me2

Breakfast: Regular oatmeal and 1 egg.
Lunch: fresh pineapple, a small dark greens salad with honey french dressing on the side.
Snack: a fiber one peanut butter brownie.
Dinner: A grand turkey club from Arby's, no mayo.

Breakfast - How much oatmeal? Prepared in what manner? No sweetener?
Lunch - How much pineapple? What exactly is on your salad? How much dressing?
Dinner - nothing else? Not even a bite of french fries?

Why don't you post several days worth of your exact food diary listings? Where's this "cafeteria" food you talk about? Where's your restaurant meals? Let us see more. I know you think people are rude on here, but I didn't really see much rudeness until every valid suggestion was met with an excuse.

So, are you going to get a food scale and try it out? A food scale is MUCH cheaper than a Bodymedia fit device. If something *really* is wrong with you, the Bodymedia device isn't likely to be accurate for you anyway. If you are really that odd person who's BMR is much lower than average, the Bodymedia device isn't going to show that. It has a lot of complex calculations it does based on averages and if you are really as different as you think, this device will be useless. The food sale on the other hand will give you more accurate information which will help you arm yourself for your next doctor's visit.

1 cup oatmeal.
2 tsp light brown sugar
prepared the old fashioned way.

Two large sections of pineapple.

Salad has greens, black olives, 1 tsp of bleu cheese crumbles, 1 tsp of cranberries.
1 tbs of honey french dressing on the side.

I don't eat fries.

No, I am not opening up my diary because people will be rude and mention every time I ate something questionable...like a piece of fried fish or something...or a Russel Stover egg.

What you wouldn't find would be cheeseburgers, fries, and junk like that.

Okay, don't open the diary, but post the last 4 days of entries on here - honestly as you posted them in your diary and the calorie counts recorded with them.

Honestly, most of the people offering you advice won't have anything to say about logging candy or fried fish. Now, if you logged 1 piece fried fish - 120 calories - you might get some comments about accuracy, because really, a piece of fried fish? That's like a piece of fried chicken. There's really no way to be even close to accurate logging pieces of anything, even fruit.

About your food entries -


Your breakfast alone starts off the day at about 400 calories. Is that what you have down?

What's a big section of pineapple? For me, a non fruit lover, two big sections of pineapple would be 100 grams. For my daughters who love fruit? Two big sections would probably be 400 grams. That's a significant calorie difference.

On your salad, how many olives? The calories from these can add up even if it seems small. A tsp of blue cheese and cranberries? Really? This is one of those instances where a food scale will be much more accurate. I'm willing to bet that unless you only have 1 bite of blue cheese and 3-4 cranberries, you are eating more than you think. Same for 1 T of dressing.

Dinner, not much to say if they really prepared it the way you requested.

I'm not a "clean" or healthy eater or even an IIFYM proponent, but looking at your menu, my first thoughts are where is the protein and fruits and veggies and dairy?

Nice2BFitAgain

a tsp of cranberries? How many cranberries fit on a tsp? 3 dried cranberries? They don't even have teaspoons and tablespoons on a salad bar, they have serving tongs or serving spoons.

If you want to friend a few of these people that you think are less judgmental and let them view your diary, maybe they can help you better. Until then no one here can really do much to help.

I have my diary open and you can see the good BAD and the ugly... LOL I know where I screw up and I face it. BTW - I'm 5'5"; 140; and 43 years old and I eat 1700 per day and am loosing weight nice and slow. And I drink alcohol (beer and vodka) and eat cupcakes when there is a celebration and eat pizza.... who cares what you eat really. If you have to hide it it's because you know you don't stay at 1200 calories (1700 the last 5 weeks) and you don't want to share that.

Otterluv

I feel for you, in general, OP. I've got some severe thyroid issues. I am very rigid in weighing and measuring my food. I've been in recovery from an eating disorder.

I know what it's like to look in the general forums and realize I can't apply most advice to myself, because I am different. I can become very angry towards myself for being different, or for expecting forums to solve problems that even my endo laughingly puts "We're all still trying to figure out ourselves."

But here's the thing.

You have options. Have you had your thyroid levels checked? You mentioned a family history of hypothyroidism, but a family history doesn't mean you're doomed to have it (thank goodness!) or that you've been tested. If you haven't had them checked, perhaps get them done for you and your doctor to eliminate (or consider) a cause.

But here's the other thing: weighing and measuring your food is key. If you're not doing it, you're not aware of what you eat. You've been here awhile, I see, but not active on the forums. I cannot tell you HOW many people have come in with a VERY similar story to you, and 9 times out of 10, they're eating more than they think. "Making good choices" is fine for health, but not necessarily weight loss.

You seem to have fallen into the "bad" vs. "good" food trap as well. I've seen it firsthand; someone eats salad and chicken and thinks they're superior to others for their food, healthier for their food or "should be losing weight." Except they don't measure the dressing they put on the salad. An 8 oz. chicken breast becomes a 4 oz. chicken breast to them. "I'm eating yogurt and don't eat fried foods!" but eating 10 cups of yogurt and having a tub of nuts for snacks.

All of this could still be fine... provided someone is aware of exactly how many calories/portions they're ingesting vs. what they're putting out.

I do have to say, that assuming anything of your "skinny" doctor's experience doesn't put you in a good light. You have no idea what she may have gone through as a child, as a young adult, etc. She may have had an eating disorder. She may have lost weight before. She might have struggled with weight during her residency when she couldn't be bothered to focus on her weight.

Most of all? If she's thin, why would you discount anything she says? She's doing something you want, correct... to be a lower weight, a healthier weight?

Again I say about my doctor...I HAVE TALKED ABOUT IT WITH HER. She even said she couldn't know how I felt.

OMG...before you all jump my case, read the posts

I never said I wasn't going to weigh my food.

Most of the people think I'm trying to starve myself because I eat so little.

I appreciate all of you who have given me advisement. I'm not being defensive, but rather trying to explain that I"m not a novice at this and am really stuck. Some of you seem to not care about anything but being heard. That's fine.

I didn't get on your case, yet for someone who claims to not be defensive... why would you interpret my post in anyway like that?

I read all your posts on here. I didn't see anywhere where you specifically got thyroid tests or asked for a blood panel. I could assume your statement that "She keeps saying it's food" means you might have asked that and your doctor hasn't given you the bloodwork, but if I've learned one thing about these forums, it's not to assume things. Provide us with more detail if you want us to know the intimate details of your journey. Plus, the fact that a gyno wouldn't be the doctor to go to for thyroid advice at all, a GP or (better yet) an endo would be.

Unfortunately, I'm seeing "The lady doth protest too much"--you interpreted attacks by page 2, you "assume" responses before they're said, and now lengthy posts full of as much objective advice as possible (with doses of empathy in many of them) get dubbed as "People only care about being heard" and passive-aggression.

Well, it's a forum. People want to be heard when they share advice with you, a forum is designed for different voices *to* be heard; the issue here is that you don't appear to want to hear what so many are saying, and seem to be hearing things that no one is doing (a.k.a, attacks).
[/quote

The problem is, someone else even said they could see how I would feel attacked. I didn't say YOU attacked me.

I've had a thyroid test...she said it was fine and refused to dig further, insisting it was just food.

I'm not defensive, just trying to explain, and before you fuss at me for something, go back and read the other posts.

Okay, it really seems like you're only focusing on the negative here. It seems like you are doing this as a way of avoiding looking at what's really wrong. There have been lots of suggestions to weigh your food and be more accurate - all of which have been met with excuses:

I know the calories in my food because it's packaged or the cafeteria at work is exact
I don't eat a lot of salt
I measure with a measuring cup

You've said yourself that "it's not the food, something else has to be wrong..." yet, your doctor has told you that your problem is your food and many of the people on here have told you the same thing. Yet, instead of responding to the suggestions in a manner that says that it's given you something to think about, you respond in a manner that says that you're not willing to change.

It's easy to play the victim card - my skinny doctor doesn't understand me, my family is all big and we're not meant to be skinny, there has to be something wrong because I'm doing everything right. There is a very slight chance that maybe there is a medical issue, however instead of ruling out the other options, you are complaining that nothing's working when you're not willing to even SEE if there's another problem.

In one of your defensive responses, I see that you finally said that you "never said you weren't going to use a food scale" yet every other excuse of a response indicates that you have no intention of using a food scale. Being so defensive about everything (and I did not see anything attacking you in the first couple of pages) makes it seem to me like you KNOW what your problem is and aren't willing to do what it takes to fix it. If you don't want to, that's fine, you aren't ready, but life gets a lot easier when you stop being a victim and start being in control.

FWIW, here are the problems I'm guessing (which are only guesses since you still haven't opened your food diary or even given a run down of what you typically eat).

1) Not logging your food regularly
2) Eating more than you think you are - if you aren't weighing your food, you have no clue, even when using a measuring cup - yeah, sometimes your estimates might only be off by 10-20%, but that could be several hundred calories a day depending on density
3) You don't know how most of your food is really made - even if the kitchen at work is "healthy", it doesn't mean that the chef doesn't use extra oil or butter on stuff - it also doesn't mean that they are cooking low calorie - healthy =/= calorie controlled
4) You are using the wrong entries for what you do eat - even if you know what you are eating, calories vary by brand and item type. Entries in the database are also often VERY wrong. I was logging fajita meat yesterday - one entry listed a 4 oz portion of cooked chicken fajita meat as 110 calories. There's really no possible way that's accurate - 4 oz of cooked chicken (by the NI for what I buy) is closer to 180 calories and that doesn't even take in to account the marinade/oil. I've seen much bigger errors on some entries, even for some name brand products.
5) You have binges or "cheat" meals that you don't accurately account for. These can add up to thousands of calories - yes THOUSANDS. Last night I had a medium shake from Sonic - I figured based on a medium blizzard it would be between 500-1000 calories - I logged it and it was over 1200! A lot of people I know would have probably guessed it as 500 calories. Have a few items like this per week/month and it's enough to make you gain.

My suggestions:
1) Cook for yourself and weigh everything
2) If you won't cook for yourself, then do a couple of weeks Jenny Craig style - only eat pre-packaged meals from home, no restaurant or cafeteria food. This will probably be much more accurate than what you are currently doing. It won't be fun, but it will probably get the scale moving in the right direction.
3) Try a different "diet". It sounds like you are burnt out on calorie counting. Maybe try Weight Watchers? It's the same concept, but different. Or, maybe look at something like Intermittent Fasting - just do something different. Maybe having a fresh perspective will help you get the weight loss going again.
4) Find a new goal that's not weight loss related. Set a fitness goal and up your exercise to be better. Do you know that there are some recommendations that in order to lose weight and keep it off we need 60-90 minutes of exercise MOST days of the week? Three days of 45 minutes isn't burning a ton of calories and obviously isn't boosting your loss. Maybe, if you aren't willing to change the food, then changing the exercise will make a difference. You can find time to do it, you just have to want to.

Finally, be honest with yourself. If you aren't in the right frame of mind to lose weight right now, then focus on maintaining and stop stressing yourself out. It's okay. Yes, losing weight is going to be beneficial, but not gaining back what you've already lost will be more beneficial than giving up and gaining it all back.

I'm not opening my diary because there are rude people on here.

I'll give you an example of what I eat.

Breakfast: Regular oatmeal and 1 egg.
Lunch: fresh pineapple, a small dark greens salad with honey french dressing on the side.
Snack: a fiber one peanut butter brownie.
Dinner: A grand turkey club from Arby's, no mayo.

I do not binge. I log even my snacks. I have learned the calories of just about everything I like and so it deterrs me from eating it. Hahaha.

My workouts are Leslie Sansone workouts and according to my meter I'm burning 400-600 calories depending on if I do 3 or 4 miles.

Doubtful. Even running I don't burn that in 3-4 miles.

Here is the thing, if doing what you are doing isn't working, try something new.

Bring your own lunch, one that is weighed and measured accurately. Don't eat out for a while. It sucks, yes, but it also will give you more accuracy to really see what's going on and to narrow down the issue.

Stop overestimating your burns. Seriously, that's like close to double what it should be. Also, one rude awakening I had was when I got my fitbit I found that I would burn while exercising and then sit on my *kitten* the rest of the day, which lowered my TDEE significantly from what was estimated by MFP.

One of these smaller inaccuracies may not be enough to stall you out, but add them all up and it sure as hell will.

Get your math under control, get some accurate data, try it for a month and then get back to us.

sunshinesoprano

a tsp of cranberries? How many cranberries fit on a tsp? 3 dried cranberries? They don't even have teaspoons and tablespoons on a salad bar, they have serving tongs or serving spoons.

If you want to friend a few of these people that you think are less judgmental and let them view your diary, maybe they can help you better. Until then no one here can really do much to help.

I have my diary open and you can see the good BAD and the ugly... LOL I know where I screw up and I face it. BTW - I'm 5'5"; 140; and 43 years old and I eat 1700 per day and am loosing weight nice and slow. And I drink alcohol (beer and vodka) and eat cupcakes when there is a celebration and eat pizza.... who cares what you eat really. If you have to hide it it's because you know you don't stay at 1200 calories (1700 the last 5 weeks) and you don't want to share that.

We actually do have measuring spoons where I work for those condiments. And it is a teaspoon. That's all I want.

bajoyba

Breakfast: Regular oatmeal and 1 egg.
Lunch: fresh pineapple, a small dark greens salad with honey french dressing on the side.
Snack: a fiber one peanut butter brownie.
Dinner: A grand turkey club from Arby's, no mayo.

Breakfast - How much oatmeal? Prepared in what manner? No sweetener?
Lunch - How much pineapple? What exactly is on your salad? How much dressing?
Dinner - nothing else? Not even a bite of french fries?

Why don't you post several days worth of your exact food diary listings? Where's this "cafeteria" food you talk about? Where's your restaurant meals? Let us see more. I know you think people are rude on here, but I didn't really see much rudeness until every valid suggestion was met with an excuse.

So, are you going to get a food scale and try it out? A food scale is MUCH cheaper than a Bodymedia fit device. If something *really* is wrong with you, the Bodymedia device isn't likely to be accurate for you anyway. If you are really that odd person who's BMR is much lower than average, the Bodymedia device isn't going to show that. It has a lot of complex calculations it does based on averages and if you are really as different as you think, this device will be useless. The food sale on the other hand will give you more accurate information which will help you arm yourself for your next doctor's visit.

1 cup oatmeal.
2 tsp light brown sugar
prepared the old fashioned way.

Two large sections of pineapple.

Salad has greens, black olives, 1 tsp of bleu cheese crumbles, 1 tsp of cranberries.
1 tbs of honey french dressing on the side.

I don't eat fries.

No, I am not opening up my diary because people will be rude and mention every time I ate something questionable...like a piece of fried fish or something...or a Russel Stover egg.

What you wouldn't find would be cheeseburgers, fries, and junk like that.

I'm not trying to be rude, but I just want to make sure you understand.

A "cup" of oatmeal is not necessarily the same as a weighed serving of oatmeal.
"Two large sections of pineapple" means nothing in terms of how much that really is, because everyone's definition of "large" is different. You need to know what an actual serving of pineapple is vs. how much you're actually eating of it.
1 tsp of cheese or dried berries is not the same as a serving or portion of a serving by weight.

I understand that you think you're being careful with your food, but eyeballing portions and measuring food by volume rather than weight just isn't accurate.

Also, there's nothing wrong with eating "junk" like cheeseburgers and fries. I eat things like fries, pizza, cake, and candy, and I drink beer and soda sometimes, too. The difference is, when I eat french fries, I make them at home in the oven, and then I actually weigh out 3 oz. of fries. I weigh my hamburger bun. The majority of the time, I know exactly how much food I'm eating because I weigh it out and prepare it myself.

It really does make a difference.
Weight loss is all about math and running a calorie deficit.

smn76237

A teaspoon of cranberries? that would literally be 3 berries. Also, the reason why people say to *weigh* your food is because measuring cups and spoons are only accurate for liquids. Not cranberries.

OP, people have been generously and patiently trying to help you, and you won't have any of it. Good luck continuing to maintain your weight because unless you change something, that's all you'll be doing.

sunshinesoprano

Breakfast: Regular oatmeal and 1 egg.
Lunch: fresh pineapple, a small dark greens salad with honey french dressing on the side.
Snack: a fiber one peanut butter brownie.
Dinner: A grand turkey club from Arby's, no mayo.

Breakfast - How much oatmeal? Prepared in what manner? No sweetener?
Lunch - How much pineapple? What exactly is on your salad? How much dressing?
Dinner - nothing else? Not even a bite of french fries?

Why don't you post several days worth of your exact food diary listings? Where's this "cafeteria" food you talk about? Where's your restaurant meals? Let us see more. I know you think people are rude on here, but I didn't really see much rudeness until every valid suggestion was met with an excuse.

So, are you going to get a food scale and try it out? A food scale is MUCH cheaper than a Bodymedia fit device. If something *really* is wrong with you, the Bodymedia device isn't likely to be accurate for you anyway. If you are really that odd person who's BMR is much lower than average, the Bodymedia device isn't going to show that. It has a lot of complex calculations it does based on averages and if you are really as different as you think, this device will be useless. The food sale on the other hand will give you more accurate information which will help you arm yourself for your next doctor's visit.

1 cup oatmeal.
2 tsp light brown sugar
prepared the old fashioned way.

Two large sections of pineapple.

Salad has greens, black olives, 1 tsp of bleu cheese crumbles, 1 tsp of cranberries.
1 tbs of honey french dressing on the side.

I don't eat fries.

No, I am not opening up my diary because people will be rude and mention every time I ate something questionable...like a piece of fried fish or something...or a Russel Stover egg.

What you wouldn't find would be cheeseburgers, fries, and junk like that.

I'm not trying to be rude, but I just want to make sure you understand.

A "cup" of oatmeal is not necessarily the same as a weighed serving of oatmeal.
"Two large sections of pineapple" means nothing in terms of how much that really is, because everyone's definition of "large" is different. You need to know what an actual serving of pineapple is vs. how much you're actually eating of it.
1 tsp of cheese or dried berries is not the same as a serving or portion of a serving by weight.

I understand that you think you're being careful with your food, but eyeballing portions and measuring food by volume rather than weight just isn't accurate.

Also, there's nothing wrong with eating "junk" like cheeseburgers and fries. I eat things like fries, pizza, cake, and candy, and I drink beer and soda sometimes, too. The difference is, when I eat french fries, I make them at home in the oven, and then I actually weigh out 3 oz. of fries. I weigh my hamburger bun. The majority of the time, I know exactly how much food I'm eating because I weigh it out and prepare it myself.

It really does make a difference.
Weight loss is all about math and running a calorie deficit.

I completely understand how to measure food, no worries. I know that uncooked oatmeal and cooked oatmeal weigh differently and I know how to tell the difference.

sunshinesoprano

Okay, so here is two days from my diary....

GOAL 1740 per day.
Tuesday
Breakfast
Aramark Cafeteria Scrambled Eggs ½ cup 120 Cals
Pillsbury White Chocolate Raspberry Chunk Scone 440
560
Coffee black.

Lunch
Kellogg’s Special K Deluxe Egg and Cheese Flatbread Sandwich 120 Cals
Red Plum 30 Cals
Fiber One Brownie 90
Cals
310

Dinner

Fazoli’s Chicken Parm 870 cals
2 breadsticks 300

TOTAL
Remaining 64

Wednesday
Breakfast
Aramark Cafeteria Scrambled Eggs ½ cup 120 Cals
Raspberry Pastry (yeah, I know, was going bad) 340
460
Coffee black.
Lunch
Food Lion Blueberry Bagel (per website) 270 cals
Smucker’s Peanut Butter 1.5 oz tub 240
510
Dinner
Cracker Barrel Dinner: 2 scrambled eggs, 1 slice Colby cheese, 2 slices sourdough bread, 1 serving hashbrown casserole, 1 pat butter, 1 grape jam.
791
Water unless coffee specified.

Snack
Costco Pineapple Spears..2 cups 148
217 remaining after 420 exercise cals.

firstsip

Breakfast: Regular oatmeal and 1 egg.
Lunch: fresh pineapple, a small dark greens salad with honey french dressing on the side.
Snack: a fiber one peanut butter brownie.
Dinner: A grand turkey club from Arby's, no mayo.

Breakfast - How much oatmeal? Prepared in what manner? No sweetener?
Lunch - How much pineapple? What exactly is on your salad? How much dressing?
Dinner - nothing else? Not even a bite of french fries?

Why don't you post several days worth of your exact food diary listings? Where's this "cafeteria" food you talk about? Where's your restaurant meals? Let us see more. I know you think people are rude on here, but I didn't really see much rudeness until every valid suggestion was met with an excuse.

So, are you going to get a food scale and try it out? A food scale is MUCH cheaper than a Bodymedia fit device. If something *really* is wrong with you, the Bodymedia device isn't likely to be accurate for you anyway. If you are really that odd person who's BMR is much lower than average, the Bodymedia device isn't going to show that. It has a lot of complex calculations it does based on averages and if you are really as different as you think, this device will be useless. The food sale on the other hand will give you more accurate information which will help you arm yourself for your next doctor's visit.

1 cup oatmeal.
2 tsp light brown sugar
prepared the old fashioned way.

Two large sections of pineapple.

Salad has greens, black olives, 1 tsp of bleu cheese crumbles, 1 tsp of cranberries.
1 tbs of honey french dressing on the side.

I don't eat fries.

No, I am not opening up my diary because people will be rude and mention every time I ate something questionable...like a piece of fried fish or something...or a Russel Stover egg.

What you wouldn't find would be cheeseburgers, fries, and junk like that.

So... despite calling food "crap" and "I don't eat that," you do eat it?

I don't care if you do. I even do. I don't believe in demonizing food, especially when it comes to weight loss.

The issue here is your accuracy. You said you don't eat these things, you make "good choices"... but then you just said you HAVE eaten them.

I don't think they're bad choices, but you're being inconsistent with your information to us, then who's to say you're not doing it to yourself?

Just like your "2 year plateau" is apparently about a year plateau, according to your post history. Not a big deal, but again, not really accurate.

Plus a plateau is when weight loss stalls, despite eating at what was once a deficit. This is either your maintenance, or you've got some adaptive thermogenesis going on. If you've gained 9 lbs, that's not a plateau... even if it's been over the period of a year, along the way, you've been eating more than you had when you lost weight. Maybe you messed your metabolism and it could use some gradual upping to reset.

BUT... the fact that you put your diet in the hands of someone else (ex: "I ask the minimun wage workers in my work cafetieria to measure my food and trust that"), you're not being accurate.

And accuracy, be it caloric or even perception, seems to be lost here.

LKArgh

So, you want to be thinner, or to have excuses on why you cannot get thinner? If it is the later, you are on the right track. If it is the first, you know what? When I am looking for advice on how to be/stay thin, I would ask people who are thin what they do (yes, like this horrible thin dr of yours), regardless of whether they were always thin or not. When I am looking for ways to build muscle, or run faster, I am looking for advice from someone who is successfully doing this, not from someone who is not. You are looking for people to tell you "poor you, this must be so hard, you are a medical mystery". You are not. You are eating out every day, have no clue what you are eating or how much and you cannot bother with serious exercise. You have been doing the same for 2 years and nothing changes. Guess what? Keep doing exactly the same, and nothign will change in 2 more years either.

AmandaLY17

Reading this thread makes me think one thing: both in regards to the op and all those who follow up

'Doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result'
LOL

I_Will_End_You

Okay, so here is two days from my diary....

GOAL 1740 per day.
Tuesday
Breakfast
Aramark Cafeteria Scrambled Eggs ½ cup 120 Cals
Pillsbury White Chocolate Raspberry Chunk Scone 440
560
Coffee black.

Lunch
Kellogg’s Special K Deluxe Egg and Cheese Flatbread Sandwich 120 Cals
Red Plum 30 Cals
Fiber One Brownie 90
Cals
310

Dinner

Fazoli’s Chicken Parm 870 cals
2 breadsticks 300

TOTAL
Remaining 64

Wednesday
Breakfast
Aramark Cafeteria Scrambled Eggs ½ cup 120 Cals
Raspberry Pastry (yeah, I know, was going bad) 340
460
Coffee black.
Lunch
Food Lion Blueberry Bagel (per website) 270 cals
Smucker’s Peanut Butter 1.5 oz tub 240
510
Dinner
Cracker Barrel Dinner: 2 scrambled eggs, 1 slice Colby cheese, 2 slices sourdough bread, 1 serving hashbrown casserole, 1 pat butter, 1 grape jam.
791
Water unless coffee specified.

Snack
Costco Pineapple Spears..2 cups 148
217 remaining after 420 exercise cals.

There is nothing wrong with your food choices. The problem is with "cups", "slices", "spears", "pat", "serving". If you aren't losing, use grams and ounces, not all of those other pseudo measurements.

bellevie86

1. I don't honestly know why some people are so opposed to getting a food scale? One of the best things I've invested in. Seriously, a basic one is like 19$ people! And I've also bought a smaller version to take to work.

2. You don't want to eat "Lean Cuisines" for the rest of your life DO YOU? I find most of them gross but it's kind of a crutch I find because you kind of get dependent and don't really have to learn how to put together a calorie appropriate meal, and they can also be very off in calorie values. Also, I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not exploring the delicious food that is still "eating healthy". I think pre-packaged dinners have their own place they just shouldn't be the whole experience.

3. Restaurant food = Don't even get me STARTED. I have on MANY occasions made what I thought to be "healthy choices" but turned out be not so much. Ex. Veggie Burger on Red Robin? Had more trans fat than a regular burger and similar cals. Be careful with salads. Always get dressing onsd and grilled meat. Careful how much cheese is on there and even nuts, while healthy they are calorie dense.

I'm not trying to be rude, just sharing my experience.

bajoyba

Breakfast: Regular oatmeal and 1 egg.
Lunch: fresh pineapple, a small dark greens salad with honey french dressing on the side.
Snack: a fiber one peanut butter brownie.
Dinner: A grand turkey club from Arby's, no mayo.

Breakfast - How much oatmeal? Prepared in what manner? No sweetener?
Lunch - How much pineapple? What exactly is on your salad? How much dressing?
Dinner - nothing else? Not even a bite of french fries?

Why don't you post several days worth of your exact food diary listings? Where's this "cafeteria" food you talk about? Where's your restaurant meals? Let us see more. I know you think people are rude on here, but I didn't really see much rudeness until every valid suggestion was met with an excuse.

So, are you going to get a food scale and try it out? A food scale is MUCH cheaper than a Bodymedia fit device. If something *really* is wrong with you, the Bodymedia device isn't likely to be accurate for you anyway. If you are really that odd person who's BMR is much lower than average, the Bodymedia device isn't going to show that. It has a lot of complex calculations it does based on averages and if you are really as different as you think, this device will be useless. The food sale on the other hand will give you more accurate information which will help you arm yourself for your next doctor's visit.

1 cup oatmeal.
2 tsp light brown sugar
prepared the old fashioned way.

Two large sections of pineapple.

Salad has greens, black olives, 1 tsp of bleu cheese crumbles, 1 tsp of cranberries.
1 tbs of honey french dressing on the side.

I don't eat fries.

No, I am not opening up my diary because people will be rude and mention every time I ate something questionable...like a piece of fried fish or something...or a Russel Stover egg.

What you wouldn't find would be cheeseburgers, fries, and junk like that.

I'm not trying to be rude, but I just want to make sure you understand.

A "cup" of oatmeal is not necessarily the same as a weighed serving of oatmeal.
"Two large sections of pineapple" means nothing in terms of how much that really is, because everyone's definition of "large" is different. You need to know what an actual serving of pineapple is vs. how much you're actually eating of it.
1 tsp of cheese or dried berries is not the same as a serving or portion of a serving by weight.

I understand that you think you're being careful with your food, but eyeballing portions and measuring food by volume rather than weight just isn't accurate.

Also, there's nothing wrong with eating "junk" like cheeseburgers and fries. I eat things like fries, pizza, cake, and candy, and I drink beer and soda sometimes, too. The difference is, when I eat french fries, I make them at home in the oven, and then I actually weigh out 3 oz. of fries. I weigh my hamburger bun. The majority of the time, I know exactly how much food I'm eating because I weigh it out and prepare it myself.

It really does make a difference.
Weight loss is all about math and running a calorie deficit.

I completely understand how to measure food, no worries. I know that uncooked oatmeal and cooked oatmeal weigh differently and I know how to tell the difference.

But you're not weighing the oatmeal. You're not weighing your pastries or your plum or anything else you eat. You're just trusting that one pastry is as many calories as it's supposed to be, which is rarely the case. Every plum is a different size, a different weight, a different number of calories. You're measuring the oatmeal by volume. And there is a difference in calories between the oatmeal in a measuring cup and the oatmeal on a food scale. There's just no way around that.

leodru

A bit of real advice. I don't know why i wasn't losing. I went to see a Dietitian 2 weeks ago and she looked at what i was eating. She suggested I watch my macros and watch my calories. She made recommendations specific to me. I went back again for a revisit. In my first week i'm down 2.5 pounds - now down 5 pounds. . I revisit her every 2 weeks until the weight is gone. I have to send her my complete food diary the day before i visit for her to review and make recommendations. You should consider the same - people online can not diagnose what is wrong with what you are doing specifically. If your being truthful in your diary and know that then go get help from a professional to get you back on track. The body achieves what the mind believes. Right now you seem like you believe you cant lose weight.

wilsoje74

To the OP, would you be willing to make your own meals for 2 weeks and see if you lose weight? Kind of an experiment. No cafeteria food and no restaurant food. Just to try it to see? I know I can't eat out more than once a week or the sodium just kills me. I eat out for special occasions. Might be worth a shot???