Don't know what I'm doing. Disappointed

cece5300

I started MFP a few years ago but I absolutely detest counting calories so I quit. Recently my pants started not fitting which prompted me to try to take up some sort of fitness regimen, so I downloaded the Lose It app and I was doing pretty well but I "fell off the wagon" so to speak and decided to come back to MFP for the community aspect.

The thing is, I'm not sure what I'm doing or how to go about this. I'm 5'4 and I currently weigh about 144. The past few years have been horrible, emotionally, and I want to get back to my "normal" weight, 125. I looked best at that weight, I've weighed 115 and that's too skinny for me, that's when I was starving myself.

Lose It said that in order to lose 1.5lbs a week I could eat 1217 calories a day. Well it made me ANXIOUS every time I ate, to see the calories adding up. I was so terrified of going over that I would usually stay 200-300 calories under just to be on the safe side. I've been trying to burn 300-600 calories a day, but then my daily calories go up, which would confuse me.

Say I woke up and see my 1200 calorie allowance, then I worked out which boosted me to 1500. Does that mean I should eat 1500 calories? Or do I subtract 300 and keep it under 1200? Everything confused me. Also I noticed I wasn't having a bowel movement for like 5 days at a time, which I don't think is healthy.

I'm not going about this the right way. Today I crashed and got emotional and ate popcorn, gummy bears, m&ms, and a snickers. It was the worst I've been since I started. I know this shouldn't be a restrictive diet, and it should be a lifestyle change, but I keep depriving myself and making the process harder. Every time I eat, I feel like I need to immediately go exercise, it's becoming an obsession and I don't want it to be. I just want to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle.

What do I do?

For example, usually I have a bowl of cereal (Special K redberries) or oatmeal for breakfast. Oatmeal will hold me over but cereal won't usually. For lunch I will have a grilled chicken salad and for dinner I will have a soup. For a snack I will have almonds and a babybel light cheese. Then all my calories are used up for the day and I'm starving and grumpy. I really feel like I am under eating. Today everyone told me "you are a totally different person, you're so happy!" And I know it's because I ate but I feel gross after eating so much.

What am I doing wrong? I hate counting calories and I wish I could just eat 3 meals a day and be normal. I love snacking and I come from a large family, people are always eating junk food around me, we are Hispanic and there's a lot of rice and bean action. Rice and beans are one of my favorite meals and I haven't eaten them in weeks. It hurts!

I have lost a bit of weight, I can feel it, but I'm scared I gained it all back just from what I ate today. I'm going to start tracking tomorrow but any suggestions or advice is appreciated. Meal examples, snack examples, exercise tips, etc. I am going to peruse the rest of the forums now but just wanted some encouragement!! I see people who have a huge breakfast: egg frittata and almond milk and chia seeds, and in my head I'm like "How do people squeeze this small amount of calories into so much food al day?" I'm starting to feel defeated and I've been busting my tail the last 2 weeks. I work out twice a day, 7 days a week. What am I doing wrong?

AwesomeSquirrel

I didn't want to just read and run.. Sorry you're having a hard time!

1. Yes, eat back your exercise calories. What MFP has given is the amount to eat assuming no workouts, just lifestyle (eg. sedentary/light active) so anything on top of that you can eat back.

2. 1.5 lbs a week is quite aggressive when you don't have a lot to lose. Combined with the fact that you feel you're not eating enough I would suggest to change your setting to 1 or even .5 lbs per week instead. It will take longer, but might be more suitable for you.

3. With the food, make sure to get enough bang for your caloric buck. I.e. as you noticed Special K, not really a great investment energy wise. Oatmeal=good. I can't see your diary so I don't know what's in your salad or sup (from a can?) but there might be room for improvement here. In general protein and fats are what keep me full. So I would rather have a big piece of chicken, plenty of veg (hello fiber!) and a small serving of starch. I eat a lot of homemade soups, all of which contain a lot of vegetables. These are two of my favourites that are reasonably low calorie and filling:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3020698/red-lentil-and-chorizo-soup (skip the extra oil, dry fry the chorizo and use the relaxed oil for the onions etc)
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1959647/creamy-lentil-and-spinach-soup-with-bacon (half the amount of bacon, skip the cream)

pleasepleaseno

What might be helpful is logging what you're going to eat for the day BEFORE the day actually starts. That way you don't have to constantly worry about calories. Maybe leave 100-150 calories wiggle room for if you're still hungry so you can have a snack.

And if what you're eating isn't making you full, eat something different next time! Always add extra veggies to meals to fill you up more for fewer calories, and of course DRINK A FLIP LOAD OF WATER. Other beverages work too, like coffee or tea.

2013sk

I wouldn't complicate it all - That's when it gets confusing!

Just log your foods on here, do your exercise & drink water.... That really is it!!

If you want to eat say 1200 calories full of rubbish you can, 1200 calories full of veggies, protein, fats etc you can!

What you eat every day is up to you!

Eat less, Move more : )

melaniecheeks

Change your goal to 0.5 pound a week, and use your exercise calories. Try a protein based breakfast instead of cereal.

princessG12

so you have a fat rebound after losing weight you gain so much weight so here is the solution about that kind of problem www.bit.ly/1iVzT3a ( kindly watch the video )