Becoming very frustrated. . .

TavistockToad

Heya!
I'm really sorry to hear you are struggling with this!
My advice for you would be to give up on bread for good and try and replace it with something else. Also, try eating more baked in the oven stuff, without oil or fats.
Also, it might be of help diversifying your days: one day veggies, one day meat, one day fruits, and so on, or one day carbs, then proteins and etc. Don't forget to hydrate yourself ( at least 2l of water a day!)

P.S. Have you considered you might be having water retention in your body? If so, here's a drink you can have to detox a bit:
Jillian michaels detox drink- 60oz water, 1 TBLSP cranberry juice (non -cocktail), juice from 1 lemon (or 2 TBLSP), 1 tea bag of dandelion root tea. Drink everyday for 1 week to help reduce bloat and water weight.

I used this and it really REALLY worked for me, but then again ,it depends on everyone's metabolism.

Hope this helps!
Good luck x

No :noway:

runrunrunningaway7

Okay, if you're about 190 and you're running 40 minutes a day on week days, I have no idea how you think you're going to live on 1380 calories. Please tell me that's at least NET calories?

If you don't know what your BMR and TDEE is, that's a great place to start. There are an abundance of online calculators, I've tried a bunch and they all tend to place me within about a 100 calorie range.

So for example, I'm a little shy of 5'7 and I'm down to about 173lbs right now. So my BMR is about 1620 -- that's the amount of calories my body would need to function if I was in a coma. When I calculated my TDEE -- which is a better estimation of how many calories you burn through the activity you do per day -- I set mine at lightly active; my job requires me to stand and walk around a bit, typically I work at least 4-5 days a week, and if I'm not working, I'll off set that with heading out for a walk. My TDEE comes in anywhere between 2100-2200; so that's what I would eat to maintain. I didn't factor in my exercise, because it's easier for me to do that on a daily basis for myself since sometimes I run into issues and won't do something I would consider a genuine workout for a few days at a time. So then, I eat back some of my exercise calories.

These are some numbers that it's really worth it to know. Eating below your BMR over time can wreak havoc on your body. I know I did it for a while when I was heavier (235-190) because my body fat percentage was so high that my doctor told me to go for it. If you're considering eating below your BMR, I'd really encourage you to make an appointment with a registered dietitian, or if you're somewhere where nutritionists are actually licensed, you can go that route as well.

It's really worth it to figure out those numbers now rather than later, and to recalculate them about once a month. It'll keep you from burning out and make this journey do-able rather than something you try to suffer through until you cave and give up.

Yeah, the 1380 is net calories. Yesterday, I ate a total of 1549 (before taking out the 231 calories I lost during exercising).


I calculated it and found that my BMR is 1683 calories/day and my TDEE is 2314 calories/day (have never done this before, so thanks for the suggestion). Does this mean I should be aiming to consume 1683 calories a day? Should this be my net calories or my total calories?

royaldrea

Heya!
I'm really sorry to hear you are struggling with this!
My advice for you would be to give up on bread for good and try and replace it with something else. Also, try eating more baked in the oven stuff, without oil or fats.
Also, it might be of help diversifying your days: one day veggies, one day meat, one day fruits, and so on, or one day carbs, then proteins and etc. Don't forget to hydrate yourself ( at least 2l of water a day!)

P.S. Have you considered you might be having water retention in your body? If so, here's a drink you can have to detox a bit:
Jillian michaels detox drink- 60oz water, 1 TBLSP cranberry juice (non -cocktail), juice from 1 lemon (or 2 TBLSP), 1 tea bag of dandelion root tea. Drink everyday for 1 week to help reduce bloat and water weight.

I used this and it really REALLY worked for me, but then again ,it depends on everyone's metabolism.

Hope this helps!
Good luck x

Oh boy...

You seem pretty level-headed, OP. So...fill in the blanks.

If I were to hazard a guess I'd say you're overestimating your burns and underestimating calories. Weigh and track your food really well. Think about what you want ultimately - to be skinny, to be fit, to be strong, to be thick - and do some research (including but not limited to lurking around the forums and weeding out what seems to be really far out advice in favour of sensible advice) in order to help you meet your goals.

And don't get frustrated and give up. Don't resort to restrictive diets. I'm assuming you want any changes you make to be permanent so look at it as a long-term investment into your health and try and find out what's best. Good luck, don't give up on yourself!!

nxd10

First, I know you're frustrated now, but you have come so far. Congratulations!

Second, I do trust MFP's setup, but you need to use it as it is designed. Are you logging exercise? You need to log all that running you're doing and eat back those calories. Since this is such an important part of your life, I would recommend you get a simple step counter (fitbit zip is least expensive, works great for walking and running, and works beautifully with mfp). Set yourself at sedentary and then let it add in extra calories for walking around campus and running. Eat those back. It really does work.

Third, make sure you are logging everything you put in your mouth. Weight or measure whenever possible. Use visual portion size guides when you can't (you can google them). Don't forget butter, mayo, oil, rice, whipped cream dots. They add hundreds of calories a day.

Finally, you might check your macros. If you were that heavy, your insulin levels will tend to respond strongly to carbs. Try to stick to under 40% carbs for your calories. That's not low carbs. It just means you are putting a lot of protein and a bit more fat in your diet.

Keep going and be patient. If you really focus on the basics, it will work.

runrunrunningaway7

Heya!
I'm really sorry to hear you are struggling with this!
My advice for you would be to give up on bread for good and try and replace it with something else. Also, try eating more baked in the oven stuff, without oil or fats.
Also, it might be of help diversifying your days: one day veggies, one day meat, one day fruits, and so on, or one day carbs, then proteins and etc. Don't forget to hydrate yourself ( at least 2l of water a day!)

P.S. Have you considered you might be having water retention in your body? If so, here's a drink you can have to detox a bit:
Jillian michaels detox drink- 60oz water, 1 TBLSP cranberry juice (non -cocktail), juice from 1 lemon (or 2 TBLSP), 1 tea bag of dandelion root tea. Drink everyday for 1 week to help reduce bloat and water weight.

I used this and it really REALLY worked for me, but then again ,it depends on everyone's metabolism.

Hope this helps!
Good luck x

I really don't want to give up on bread (for obvious reasons, haha). I just find giving up on anything I really like would just end up making me more frustrated. I love bread, especially white bread, so instead of putting all consumption to a stop, I switched to the thin bread Pepperidge Farms sells very early on my journey to lose weight. I don't want an unrealistic "diet" plan because this is about a lifestyle change for me more than anything. Also, I do eat a fair amount of baked foods already and I aim for diversity in my food every day - not just one day of veggies, meat, etc.

And thanks for the detox drink suggestion. Even if it wouldn't work for me, it does sound like something that could taste good and be low in calories.

No no no no.
Please don't do a super restrictive diet. It's not supposed to be a diet, it's supposed to be a lifestyle change, otherwise what happened before will happen again; you'll take off 50lbs and put it right back on.
You need to learn to have a good relationship with food; keep eating your bread, eat balanced, work to hit your macros and do exercise that makes you happy and give you the results and body composition you're aiming for.

I think you've got a good head on your shoulders, so don't listen to anything restrictive unless you're willing to live without bread or carbs or whatever food group for the rest of your life.

Oh yeah, I definitely will not do that. Like I said - I'm not going to deprive myself from any food I enjoy. Of course, I will moderate how much I eat of what, but not completely eliminate it from my life.

runrunrunningaway7

First, I know you're frustrated now, but you have come so far. Congratulations!

Second, I do trust MFP's setup, but you need to use it as it is designed. Are you logging exercise? You need to log all that running you're doing and eat back those calories. Since this is such an important part of your life, I would recommend you get a simple step counter (fitbit zip is least expensive, works great for walking and running, and works beautifully with mfp). Set yourself at sedentary and then let it add in extra calories for walking around campus and running. Eat those back. It really does work.

Third, make sure you are logging everything you put in your mouth. Weight or measure whenever possible. Use visual portion size guides when you can't (you can google them). Don't forget butter, mayo, oil, rice, whipped cream dots. They add hundreds of calories a day.

Finally, you might check your macros. If you were that heavy, your insulin levels will tend to respond strongly to carbs. Try to stick to under 40% carbs for your calories. That's not low carbs. It just means you are putting a lot of protein and a bit more fat in your diet.

Keep going and be patient. If you really focus on the basics, it will work.

Thanks!

I do log my exercises, but I use LoseIt instead of MyFitnessPal (it's just because it's something I had started with and wanted to keep using). When I exercise, I use an armband and open the NikePlus Running app. It seems pretty accurate with it using a GPS and all, but I will definitely look into a step counter.

I just purchased a food scale a bit ago, so hopefully that will help me get a better idea of how much I am consuming. I am usually very watchful of the amount of condiments I put on my food, but will obviously still keep this in mind more-so.

I don't mean to sound dumb, but what do you mean by macros? Also, I had never read about that before, so that's really insightful.

Thanks a lot in general for all the information!

365andstillalive

Okay, if you're about 190 and you're running 40 minutes a day on week days, I have no idea how you think you're going to live on 1380 calories. Please tell me that's at least NET calories?

If you don't know what your BMR and TDEE is, that's a great place to start. There are an abundance of online calculators, I've tried a bunch and they all tend to place me within about a 100 calorie range.

So for example, I'm a little shy of 5'7 and I'm down to about 173lbs right now. So my BMR is about 1620 -- that's the amount of calories my body would need to function if I was in a coma. When I calculated my TDEE -- which is a better estimation of how many calories you burn through the activity you do per day -- I set mine at lightly active; my job requires me to stand and walk around a bit, typically I work at least 4-5 days a week, and if I'm not working, I'll off set that with heading out for a walk. My TDEE comes in anywhere between 2100-2200; so that's what I would eat to maintain. I didn't factor in my exercise, because it's easier for me to do that on a daily basis for myself since sometimes I run into issues and won't do something I would consider a genuine workout for a few days at a time. So then, I eat back some of my exercise calories.

These are some numbers that it's really worth it to know. Eating below your BMR over time can wreak havoc on your body. I know I did it for a while when I was heavier (235-190) because my body fat percentage was so high that my doctor told me to go for it. If you're considering eating below your BMR, I'd really encourage you to make an appointment with a registered dietitian, or if you're somewhere where nutritionists are actually licensed, you can go that route as well.

It's really worth it to figure out those numbers now rather than later, and to recalculate them about once a month. It'll keep you from burning out and make this journey do-able rather than something you try to suffer through until you cave and give up.

Yeah, the 1380 is net calories. Yesterday, I ate a total of 1549 (before taking out the 231 calories I lost during exercising).


I calculated it and found that my BMR is 1683 calories/day and my TDEE is 2314 calories/day (have never done this before, so thanks for the suggestion). Does this mean I should be aiming to consume 1683 calories a day? Should this be my net calories or my total calories?

Awesome!

So yes, you should be aiming for 1683, ideally as your NET calories. MFP tend to over-estimate exercise, so I have a habit of only eating back about half of my exercise calories, so on the MFP screen, I may be 150 cals below or so. Try to run fairly close to it.

Eating at your BMR, you're still creating a deficit of 630 cals a day, plus whatever exercise you choose to add, which leaves you easily able to drop about 1.5lbs a week (on average) and helps you to lose more fat than lean muscle. When you're cutting below, you're also cutting into your lean body mass (aka muscle).