2 weeks in and not losing weight - disheartened

aylajane

If no one linked to it yet, read this!!! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here

And *listen* to what it says... seriously

SLLRunner

Hey feel free to message me if you want some friendly advice I hate posting on the discussion boards.

Well, you certainly have plenty of other postings on the boards.

DeWitch

The OP thread got hijacked into the battle of ages of how we lose weight:
Calories In/Calories out = weigh loss, versus Carbs and sugar make you fat so eliminate/reduce them to = weight loss.

They are both acceptable methods which work. For those who stay in the healthy lifestlye, they maintain their weight loss.
If they log or know from experience what to eat to stay at their ideal weight, calories in/calorie sout works and they understand
macros and how they can enjoy pizza and ice cream in their life.

Those who hit their ideal weight and then stop tracking fall easily back into their old habits. They often easily gain their weight back. within 3-6 months. They are comfortable at their goal weight and think they're eating ok and have a grasp of it all.
They slip back to eating the convenience/already made foods which are generally higher in carbs and sugars. They reach for the bag of pretzels instead of the bag of lettuce. They do dinner through the drive by and have a whopper over grilled chicken & green beans for supper.

Carbs and sugar produce lots of fat in our body because of the spike in the body's sugar levels. The fat just gets stored.
The body loves the sugar rush so we respond by eating the same kinds of foods that continually produce fat.

People falling back into the pizza, pasta, ice cream pattern of life who are not tracking, easily put the fat right back onto and around their organs and body. They never learned that lean body mass does comes from eating low fat producing foods.

I don't have all the answers but erickeesin has valid points that everyone should think about. I just started reading,
"Why We Get Fat" by Gary Taubes. It's giving me much to consider and think about.

One of the reasons I joined MFP was because people normally can exchange ideas and opinions about nutrition, fitness, and health without acting and sounding like a bunch of politicians. Let's all be respectful to one another's thoughts.

you are so right!

mactaffy84

And please pay no attention to this logging nonsense. You can lose weight without logging. Just eat the good food and avoid the bad.

Why are you even here?

Oh, you beat me to it! Why is this person on a food logging site? Curious!

mkfoster9

The key thing that gets lost in all the hypotheticals is that a "better" diet is more nutritious (calories aside) and more satiating.

The reason no one loses weight on a "donuts and candy" diet (except a few disciplined people who have done it short term to make the point that it's possible)

Is because 2000 calories of donuts and candy is only one plate full of food and you'd drive yourself crazy like that. Whereas 2000 calories of, say, fresh veggies is probably a bushel basket full and more than you can actually eat.

There are some valid points about the efficiency of digestion of various foods, but they don't change the ultimate point that you need a calorie deficit. If 300 calories of fish is "really" 270 calories because it's less digestible than 300 calories of HFCS, then it makes up 18% of a 1500 calorie diet instead of 20 - so what? you still have to move yourself into a significant deficit to lose weight. the reason to eat a carb-light diet is to keep a low cal diet big and tasty and varied, not because of some special re-wiring that occurs short of total ketosis.

When a 25-35 year old, 200 pound guy comes in that has read up on slow carb or paleo comes in shooting at the mouth about how easy it is, what he's really saying is that "If I cut the most caloric parts out of my diet, I lose weight"

Again, not a news flash. When you take the bread off of a sandwich, you're throwing away 30-50% of the calories. Lo carb IS lo cal, unless you're just sitting there eating butter and pork.

Anyone who has a full log of their eating showing they were eating well past TDEE, and blood work to show they're hormonal normally and not in ketosis, and that they were also meeting their nutrient needs and not stressing their liver or kidneys, and still substantiate weight loss, that person could probably claim the million dollar james randi foundation prize for the supernatural ability to lose weight.

tycho_mx

Stop counting calories. Google "A calorie is not a calorie." If you are eating garbage, you will not lose weight, even if you are restricting calories.

Avoid most "no-fat" and "low fat" foods. Fat doesn't make you fat. Carbs and sugar make you fat. You and most American have been misinformed by our government.

Burn the USDA's "My Plate." The USDA is the Department of Agriculture, not the Department of Nutrition. It represents grain growers, not you.

So don't eat any refined carbs - breads, pasta, breakfast cereals (pay no attention to the "heart healthy" and "good source of vitamins" labels), and rice.

Don't eat any sugar - including all fruit juices and fruit yogurt. Yoplait yogurt is unhealthy. Repeat - Yoplait yogurt is unhealthy.

Have an egg and cheese for breakfast (and a slice of bacon won't kill you), or plain Greek yogurt (the 2% tastes better than the 0%) and add berries (but not too many). The rest of the day eat fish, poultry, red meat, avocados and all vegetables (except corn and potatoes). Eat nuts (not peanuts) and sunflower seeds instead of chips, pretzels and all that other garbage for snacks.

Avoid alcohol.

You can eat fast food, but throw out the bun and don't order French fries.

The weight will melt off you whether you exercise or not. However, exercise is great for your mind, body and sprit.

Get a scale. Weigh yourself everyday.

Once you hit your ideal weight, eat whatever you want, but keep weighing yourself. If you gain a few pounds, go back to what I told you to do and get back to that ideal weight.

Try it for two weeks and see what happens. It can't hurt you.

Good luck.

This is bull. Weight loss is calories in/calories out.

Really?

So say you take 100 people who need to lose weight. Divide them into two groups of 50. Both groups eat 2,000 calories a day.

The first group eats donuts and bagels and orange juice for breakfast, and pasta for lunch and dinner, washed down with Coke and complimented with nacho chips.

The second group has an egg and cheese or Greek Yogurt for breakfast, eats grilled chicken for lunch with avocado and lots of veggies for lunch, and fish with salad for dinner. No Coke. Snacks are almonds and cashews.

So you would have to be a complete idiot to think that the bagel/donut group is going to have the same results as the fish/chicken group after a couple of weeks, wouldn't you? It's called common sense.

GOOGLE "A CALORIE IS NOT A CALORIE!"

Since you're Googling things already, you might also want to read on "twinkie diet experiment weight loss". Proving that a net calorie deficit is paramount to weight loss (that doesn't mean it's a healthy diet).