I think I don't know how to eat

csec6pak

I gained a lot of weight in college and lost it all when I was 24 years old by religiously eating only 1200-1300 calories per day, Sunday-Thursday. On Friday and Saturday I'd eat (and drink) whatever I wanted for dinner and not count the calories. I worked out 1-2 hours per day, 6 days per week. Cardio every day and weight training in the gym with a trainer 2-3 times per week.

You may say that isn't sustainable, but I sustained it for 6 months, lost 60 pounds, and then moved to a more moderate maintenance plan. I maintained within 10 pounds of my goal weight for over a decade.

So now following the birth of my second child, I seem to have fallen off the wagon. I lost weight quickly after he was born, but since he was nursing, I was still eating like I was pregnant and not finding much time for exercise. Once he stopped nursing about 6 months ago, I started packing on the pounds. I'm now 15-20 pounds over where I'd like to be. I'm almost back to my pregnancy weight and I'm definitely not pregnant.

So I went back to what worked in my 20's. I tried to maintain 1200-1300 calories per day with 2 cheat meals per week, and workout 6 days a week (although it's under an hour a day due to time constraints). I have lost some weight but I feel like crap. I am just completely exhausted. My muscles ache, and not in the good "just worked out" kind of way. They ache in a completely worn out, worn down, kill me now kind of way.

I'm too tired to do anything and every aspect of my life is suffering. I tried going up 1500 calories per day for awhile but didn't really see a difference.

I'm about ready to give up and go back to being fat and happy. I thought I had this diet thing down; it worked so well when I was younger. But it's not working now.

I have never paid attention to what I eat in terms of percent fat/protein/carbs. I really have no idea what I need there; I always just counted calories and it just worked. What do I need to do there?

If you tell me that I need to eat more, please provide the math to prove it. I'm a numbers person and I'm having trouble figuring out how I'd lose weight eating more than 1500 calories per day.

Yes, I do weigh my food. My entries may look generic because I choose a generic entry that has approximately the right number of calories for what I actually ate. Same with exercise. I calculate calories with a HRM and mapmyrun and adjust the minutes in MFP to get the right number of calories. I am also doing strength training twice a week but I haven't been logging it.

I'm 37 years old, 5'10", about 183 pounds and I'd like to get down to around 165-170 and just generally tone up. I've got the "mummy tummy" and I'm sick of it.

Meerataila

You need to make your food diary public.

csec6pak

It is set to allow "everyone" to view. Is there something else I need to do to make it public?

sweetd6

What works in our 20's never works in our later 30's and works even less in our 40's and 50's, lol. You could be feeling like crap because you're not getting the proper nutrition from your calories. I know they say it doesn't matter what you eat as long as there is a deficit for losing weight, but it does matter for how you feel.

hill8570

It is set to allow "everyone" to view. Is there something else I need to do to make it public?

Settings->Diary Settings, then set Diary to Public (near the bottom of the Diary Settings page)

115s

Start strength training and stop worrying.

ponycyndi

You are where I was a year and a half ago. Ate while I was breastfeeding like I was still pg, and didn't slow down when I stopped breastfeeding. Then what worked when I was in my 20's no longer worked.

I found a better way, and it was taking care of my body instead of hating and abusing it because it was "too" fat.

I eat a lot and don't exercise an hour a day, but I love my body anyway, and now I'm smaller than I was in my teens, before 3 kids, 3 pregnancies and 3 c sections.

You can friend me if you want to see how.

ninerbuff

Based on numbers your BMR alone is 1606. If you add in regular daily tasks and exercise, you're more than likely over 2100 calories a day in TDEE. So if you're a numbers person, eating a 1200 calorie intake may be too low for you.
I'm also betting that you lack sleep and that's a major contributor to fat loss since rest is when the body burns more fat than at any other time of the day.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

pg08302

I went through something similar in my 30's after having my first baby. In my 20's I ate a lot of lean cuisine and frozen diet foods for convenience and the weight fell off. In my 30's I switched to focusing on quality of food over calories. Focus on vegetables, protein and fat in every meal. Healthy carbs like quinoa. Don't go overboard on fruit either. Try to eat in the morning and concentrate on berries. I also went organic as much as possible. Hope that helps.

RodaRose

Somehow work out your days and nights so that you get more sleep. Things will be easier if you are sleeping.

neverevergiveup81

What works in our 20's never works in our later 30's and works even less in our 40's and 50's, lol. You could be feeling like crap because you're not getting the proper nutrition from your calories. I know they say it doesn't matter what you eat as long as there is a deficit for losing weight, but it does matter for how you feel.

^^^ THIS!!!

Never a truer statement.

JoanneKendrick

You have not long had a baby so give yourself a break. Women's body change once they have a baby and your shattered as you have a child to look after. Eat a balanced meal, cut back on sugar. Drink 2 litres of water a day. Exercise between 4-5 times a week at a minimum of 30 minutes per work out. Use weights, do squats, sit ups, plank, press ups as well as cardio. Also try and get as much rest as you can when you have a child. You will get there but take it day by day :-)

kducky22

I'm also betting that you lack sleep and that's a major contributor to fat loss since rest is when the body burns more fat than at any other time of the day.

Interesting! I've never heard this before! Can you give a little more info, or an article to read?



PS - As a Seahawks fan I am obliged to say Niners suck..

meridianova

What works in our 20's never works in our later 30's and works even less in our 40's and 50's, lol. You could be feeling like crap because you're not getting the proper nutrition from your calories. I know they say it doesn't matter what you eat as long as there is a deficit for losing weight, but it does matter for how you feel.

^^^ THIS!!!

Never a truer statement.

i was going to say exactly the same thing. i had great success losing weight in my late 20's, now i'm battling for every pound. having kids throws a monkeywrench into everything too (as i've come to find out).

BusyRaeNOTBusty

I think it's going to be hard to recommend a calorie amount to you if you don't count your "cheat meals". You could be doing 1500 5 days a week and 3000 the other 2, averaging 1900. And 1900 might be good for you to lose on (I'm 5'9" and 160 and can lose on 2000). So first step I think, is tracking on weekends.

Second step is paying attention to macros. I'd go for at least 100 grams of protein and 50 grams of fat.

Next, micros. Try to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Foods with high nutritional value for their calories, which generally means less "processed foods" but you don't have to give them up completely.

And lastly rest. Try for 7-8 hours of sleep a night (I know it's hard with a baby) and make sure you are taking adequate rest days. Don't strength train the same body part 2 days in a row. If you are just not feeling it, take the day off. You don't need to kill yourself in the gym to lose a little weight.

csec6pak

Thanks for the responses so far.

I actually don't have a baby anymore. He was born in May 2012. But he just stopped nursing this year, which was where my problems started. Sometimes I think that I should have kept pumping breast milk after weaning him, just to keep the calorie deficit going, ha ha.

I get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. My kids sleep through the night so it's not like I'm up with a newborn or anything. I go to bed between 10-11 and get up between 6-7. I still wake feeling exhausted, but with working full time and having 2 kids, I don't think more than 8 hours per night is realistic (at least not a weeknights).

I am logging my "cheat" meals, for the most part. There have been a couple of weeks where I was too lazy to do it on the weekend. I actually didn't cheat much this past weekend, so that may be why you are not seeing it. Even on cheat days I haven't been going over 2000 for the day most of the time.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

Hrm. Well I'd still recommend paying closer attention to your macro and micro nutrients. If you are doing 2000 on weekends and 1500 on weekdays, that's an average of 1642, which isn't that low. But you aren't a small woman, you could probably go higher, maybe an average of 1800 or 1900. You could also try taking a week off of working out, and see if that helps, or even a week off of dieting as well. A lot of people recommend a "diet break" occasionally (but this depends on how long you've been at this).

Have you been to the doctor recently to check for hormonal issues that could be causing the fatigue?

BusyRaeNOTBusty

Try this calculator to show you how you can lose at more than 1500:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Ninkyou

I would say work on your accuracy in logging.

You say you are weighing your food but your diary does not reflect that at all. For example, how many grams is .5 medium banana? I sure as heck don't know. Weigh the banana and then choose the entries without the * unless there isn't one, in which case, look for the entries with the most confirmations. And again, enter it by grams, not size or dimension.

Also, entries like your "meghans - lettuce wrap" with no carbs, fat, protein, sodium, etc? You know that entry isn't accurate whatsoever just based on that. So don't use it. If it's a wrap you're making yourself, use the recipe builder. If it's store bought, look for the store brand. Otherwise, if there's nutrition information on it and there's no entry in the database, create one.

It's inaccuracies like these that can really add up. This is why your should log accurately and consistently, every day, regardless of being a cheat meal or not. It's fine to guess on things like takeaway, because let's face it, when will those ever be 100% accurate? But you should still enter your foods in in a more accurate manor and leave the 'abouts" and "approximates" out of the equation.

Good luck!

csec6pak

As I explained, I believe I am logging accurately. I weigh my banana, look up the calories for that number of grams, and then adjust the portion size on MFP to match that number of calories. I didn't realize about the asterisked foods; can you explain better what that means and how to use it?

I have also created some custom foods (like the lettuce wrap) where I measured out all of the ingredients, looked up the calories for each one, and then created a custom food with that number of calories so that I do not have to log the many components individually each time I make it. I didn't bother adding all the other nutrients to the custom foods because like I said, I haven't been tracking them. That may need to change, but the calories at least are accurate.

I have taken some shortcuts with how I logged because I never expected to be sharing it with anyone. The only reason I started using MFP at all was because I wanted something easy to use on my phone. Previously I had just used an Excel spreadsheet and tracked only calories.

Ninkyou

There's a really good guide here on the forums about the * thing and logging accurately...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

It's pretty simple to follow and even has pictures to follow.

Fuzzipeg

Have you considered a thyroid problem. Tiredness after what should have been a good night. The tendency to hold weight. Thinking you no longer know how to eat properly, could be saying it all, you do and it is just not working. A recent pregnancy could have taken the thyroid out of its old pattern. There are many seemingly unrelated problems which also might be rumbling in the background too. The US have a good thyroid site as well as "stop the thyroid madness" site which has so much information in them for you to assess if you could benefit from having tests to save years of frustration.

Most people do not realise we should consume an average of 150 microns of iodine daily (only half a teaspoon in a life time) as well as selenium and many other minerals at the best of times, but when keeping to a low calorie diet when you are active, have a job, children, more so when they are small and you are rushing after or with them, chores and what ever else you are doing. There is no shame in considering medical interventions, many people are at risk of thyroid problems here in Europe as well as the USA and other affluent societies; especially if they use fat free dairy, avoid eggs and hardly ever eat fish and dislike their dark greens. The problem could be getting access to the blood test in the first place. Much better done sooner rather than later when it could be more of a problem. The sites mentioned will tell you about the numbers game too.

All the best, Hope you feel better soon.

hill8570

With your stats, your BMR comes out to a smidge under 1600 calories. In my experience, not eating at least BMR leads to a lot of fatigue.

Personally, I'd recommend eating your BMR plus about half of your exercise calories (so, most days around 1800 calories). That should give you a loss rate of about a pound a week, maybe more, depending on how active you are outside of the running.

If you insist on "cheat meals", then the average over the week needs to work out about the same. I'm not a big fan of large cheat meals, simply because they force you to undereat the remainder of the week.

SeptemberLondon

What works in our 20's never works in our later 30's and works even less in our 40's and 50's, lol. You could be feeling like crap because you're not getting the proper nutrition from your calories. I know they say it doesn't matter what you eat as long as there is a deficit for losing weight, but it does matter for how you feel.

So, so true!!!

lemurcat12

As I explained, I believe I am logging accurately. I weigh my banana, look up the calories for that number of grams, and then adjust the portion size on MFP to match that number of calories. I didn't realize about the asterisked foods; can you explain better what that means and how to use it?

Even if this is accurate, it sounds like a lot more work than just using the correct MFP entries.

The post you were referred to is a good one, but basically there are USDA entries (not astericked) in the database that are reliable (they also have lots of confirmations, typically). They exist for most fruits and vegetables and a huge range of meat options. They also all generally have a 100 gram option, so if you weight and choose that option, you can just put in .68 for 68 grams rather than have to figure it with another entry that may or may not line up well.

This may not help at all with your calories question, but it will make logging less burdensome.

CLM1227

I'm also betting that you lack sleep and that's a major contributor to fat loss since rest is when the body burns more fat than at any other time of the day.

Interesting! I've never heard this before! Can you give a little more info, or an article to read?



PS - As a Seahawks fan I am obliged to say Niners suck..

I take lots of naps. Not so much to aid in digestion and fat loss as to avoid eating too much food >.<

ksaranya

What works in our 20's never works in our later 30's and works even less in our 40's and 50's, lol. You could be feeling like crap because you're not getting the proper nutrition from your calories. I know they say it doesn't matter what you eat as long as there is a deficit for losing weight, but it does matter for how you feel.

This..


Totally!
I am in the same boat. Lost weight when I was 24, and simply doing the same now doesnt work!

I am struggling too.

Will follow this thread.

likitisplit

I gained a lot of weight in college and lost it all when I was 24 years old by religiously eating only 1200-1300 calories per day, Sunday-Thursday. On Friday and Saturday I'd eat (and drink) whatever I wanted for dinner and not count the calories. I worked out 1-2 hours per day, 6 days per week. Cardio every day and weight training in the gym with a trainer 2-3 times per week.

You may say that isn't sustainable, but I sustained it for 6 months, lost 60 pounds, and then moved to a more moderate maintenance plan. I maintained within 10 pounds of my goal weight for over a decade.

So now following the birth of my second child, I seem to have fallen off the wagon. I lost weight quickly after he was born, but since he was nursing, I was still eating like I was pregnant and not finding much time for exercise. Once he stopped nursing about 6 months ago, I started packing on the pounds. I'm now 15-20 pounds over where I'd like to be. I'm almost back to my pregnancy weight and I'm definitely not pregnant.

So I went back to what worked in my 20's. I tried to maintain 1200-1300 calories per day with 2 cheat meals per week, and workout 6 days a week (although it's under an hour a day due to time constraints). I have lost some weight but I feel like crap. I am just completely exhausted. My muscles ache, and not in the good "just worked out" kind of way. They ache in a completely worn out, worn down, kill me now kind of way.

I'm too tired to do anything and every aspect of my life is suffering. I tried going up 1500 calories per day for awhile but didn't really see a difference.

I'm about ready to give up and go back to being fat and happy. I thought I had this diet thing down; it worked so well when I was younger. But it's not working now.

I have never paid attention to what I eat in terms of percent fat/protein/carbs. I really have no idea what I need there; I always just counted calories and it just worked. What do I need to do there?

If you tell me that I need to eat more, please provide the math to prove it. I'm a numbers person and I'm having trouble figuring out how I'd lose weight eating more than 1500 calories per day.

Yes, I do weigh my food. My entries may look generic because I choose a generic entry that has approximately the right number of calories for what I actually ate. Same with exercise. I calculate calories with a HRM and mapmyrun and adjust the minutes in MFP to get the right number of calories. I am also doing strength training twice a week but I haven't been logging it.

I'm 37 years old, 5'10", about 183 pounds and I'd like to get down to around 165-170 and just generally tone up. I've got the "mummy tummy" and I'm sick of it.

I'm 42, 5'9" and am now about 170. When I lose weight, I eat around 1900 calories + exercise a day, otherwise I'm too hungry, tired and tend to binge. I maintain around 2200 + exercise.

SpecialKitty7

i don't really have anything to add, except you eat a lot of junk. not saying you need to eat clean or anything (i don't either) but you don't have a lot of nutrition in your diet. maybe try out some veggies or chicken instead of so much take out.

also, i'd like to know what this is: Thomas' - English Muffin - Whole Wheat - Jesuslovesyou from August 25th. my foods are not nearly that friendly

yo_andi

I'm 5'11, 235 lbs and lose at 2200+exercise cals a day. I think you can definitely up your calories a bit. Also, recognize that when you're within 10-15 lbs of your goal weight, it's going to come off verrrryyyy slowly. I would recommend setting your weight loss goal on MFP at .5 lb a week instead of 2 lbs. When you only have 10 or so lbs to lose, it's highly unlikely that you'll lose at a rate of 2 lbs a week.

Fsunami

I gained a lot of weight in college and lost it all when I was 24 years old by religiously eating only 1200-1300 calories per day, Sunday-Thursday. On Friday and Saturday I'd eat (and drink) whatever I wanted for dinner and not count the calories. I worked out 1-2 hours per day, 6 days per week. Cardio every day and weight training in the gym with a trainer 2-3 times per week.

You may say that isn't sustainable, but I sustained it for 6 months, lost 60 pounds, and then moved to a more moderate maintenance plan. I maintained within 10 pounds of my goal weight for over a decade.

So now following the birth of my second child, I seem to have fallen off the wagon. I lost weight quickly after he was born, but since he was nursing, I was still eating like I was pregnant and not finding much time for exercise. Once he stopped nursing about 6 months ago, I started packing on the pounds. I'm now 15-20 pounds over where I'd like to be. I'm almost back to my pregnancy weight and I'm definitely not pregnant.

So I went back to what worked in my 20's. I tried to maintain 1200-1300 calories per day with 2 cheat meals per week, and workout 6 days a week (although it's under an hour a day due to time constraints). I have lost some weight but I feel like crap. I am just completely exhausted. My muscles ache, and not in the good "just worked out" kind of way. They ache in a completely worn out, worn down, kill me now kind of way.

I'm too tired to do anything and every aspect of my life is suffering. I tried going up 1500 calories per day for awhile but didn't really see a difference.

I'm about ready to give up and go back to being fat and happy. I thought I had this diet thing down; it worked so well when I was younger. But it's not working now.

I have never paid attention to what I eat in terms of percent fat/protein/carbs. I really have no idea what I need there; I always just counted calories and it just worked. What do I need to do there?

If you tell me that I need to eat more, please provide the math to prove it. I'm a numbers person and I'm having trouble figuring out how I'd lose weight eating more than 1500 calories per day.

Yes, I do weigh my food. My entries may look generic because I choose a generic entry that has approximately the right number of calories for what I actually ate. Same with exercise. I calculate calories with a HRM and mapmyrun and adjust the minutes in MFP to get the right number of calories. I am also doing strength training twice a week but I haven't been logging it.

I'm 37 years old, 5'10", about 183 pounds and I'd like to get down to around 165-170 and just generally tone up. I've got the "mummy tummy" and I'm sick of it.

Have you seen your doctor to eliminatre something other than your diet being the cause of your "Blah" feeling?

A blood workup might tell you some things youre not currenlyl aware of & could impact every statement made above.

Gotta fix the foundation before you put in the windows, so to speak.

Just my .02
Fsunami