Massive Lifestyle Change- No results! :(

MinnieInMaine

I totally get the hesitation with weighing food. I have a food scale but I don't use it most of the time because I get a ltitle OCD and it becomes overwhelming. However, it can be an eye opener so I would encourage you to get one (around $20) and use it to at least double check things now and then.

Your apple for example - you're saying it's a small (probably around 100g) but if you were to weigh it, it may be more like 150-200g and more like 75-100 calories. That's not many more calories per day but what if the same thing is happening with other foods you're logging so you're actually eating 200-300 cal more a day than you think and basically negating your deficit.

I didn't look closely at your diaries but just wanted to add - if yu're eating back all your exercise calories, that may be part of the problem. Many MFP listings overestimate but you still want to make sure you're eating enough so maybe try planning to only eat back about half of them instead and see if that helps.

However I did notice that you had a couple recipes logged - if those aren't your created recipes, be careful as their portion sizes or ingredients may be different than what you use.

Good luck!

Beploveshomer

A food scale is a good tool, but that's it. It's not the only tool. If it feels like that would be too big of a change right now, that's fine. Keep an open mind and maybe you'll be ready to get one later.

OP, I would suggest just working on your logging skills first. There are some tricks to navigating the MFP database that can make a huge difference in how successful you are. I took a quick peek at your diary, and have a couple of suggestions:

1. Avoid entries marked "generic" or "homemade." You have no idea whether or not your recipe is even close to what the person who added that entry was using, so you could easily be off by a few hundred calories every time.

2. All entries marked with an asterisk (*) are user-created. Sometimes they can be very accurate, especially for packaged food, but not always. Try to pick entries without asterisks if you can. Entries that include "USDA" tend to be more accurate.

3. The recipe builder tool is a great resource if you make a lot of homemade food.

4. It's always more accurate to add each individual component of a meal than it is to look for an entry for the whole thing (add the eggs and the butter/oil as separate entries rather than finding one marked "scrambled eggs.")

Thanks for the tip, I never noticed the recipe builder tool!

Beploveshomer

This is all very interesting...I guess I didn't think about how much the weight of things like apples could add up.

I was just thinking that myfitness pal "add food" thing was pretty much dead-on accurate.

Not eating back my exercise calories? Didn't think of that, I kind of thought I was supposed to! :P

Julesoola

Alright, what I'm going to say is coming from good, helpful intentions.

I looked back at your food entries for the week that you've been logging.

You say you've given up sugar, yet I see snickers, smiley fries, McDonald's sandwich, crackers and bread, alcohol, etc.

You say you've given up beer, yet with only 1 week of logging there's an entry for 60 oz of corona.

There are many very generic entries such as muffins, jambalaya, chili, etc. The thing with these is, unless you know the associated recipe for this entry and are following it exactly, the associated calorie counts are meaningless and you might as well just be making up numbers.

I think you need to be a little more honest with yourself about the changes you're making and also learn to deconstruct meals so that you can more accurately get a handle on how much of each individual ingredient you are consuming. Also, yes, food scale...a must have until you get a better idea what servings of your most frequent foods really look like.

lemurcat12

Weigh and measure your food. If you haven't lost weight in 3 weeks, you're probably eating more calories than you realize.

Or you could simply be a healthy young woman with fluctuating weight due to a normal cycle. Three weeks is not enough. Keep at it. You're in this for the long haul, right OP?

This.

Also, I can't tell from the post whether you were in the habit of weighing yourself before you started and whether you have been weighing yourself regularly since. I prefer more frequent weighing (if you can manage not to get freaked by normal fluctuations) to avoid hitting it on a high or low day. When I first started and hadn't weighed myself for a while, the scale went up and down by too much to really have a firm starting weight. I'd say keep going and measure yourself also.

Also, although I'm sure the weight will start coming off--you just may need to adjust your logging or calories--it's helpful in keeping motivation to think of everything you are doing as worthy in themselves, stuff you want to do to be more healthy. That might mean being less restrictive in what you eat, it might not--depends on you--but I'd focus on thinking about this as something that will make you more healthy and fit and feel better.

50sFit

Great comments!
In my experience results are purely determined by my actions. I have engaged various programs that looked great on paper but failed to produce success. I had to make adjustments. Some have suggested various medical tests: good idea! Others have suggested you're eating more than you think. Maybe...
If it were me, I'd give my program a solid 6 weeks and measure results with weight as well as body measurements. Sometimes results come painfully slow, but remember, it's not a race.
If after 6 weeks or so, you don't product some measurable changes, it's time to get honest about the program you're on.
For me when results get stalled after a reasonable period of time, I am fast to make changes. Soak up what's been said, give it time and then take a hard, objective look at your programs of exercise and food intake.
Good Luck! :flowerforyou:

forkofpower

Maybe what you're doing is enough to keep you from gaining, but not enough to start losing. My friend cut out a lot of sugary stuff from her diet, and was disappointed that she didn't lose weight -- then, we realized that she'd been consistently gaining weight before, and so even with all of her diet changes, it was only sufficient to put her at maintenance, not at a deficit.

Weight and track all of your food VERY precisely, and keep your calories at or below your goal. Make sure you're not eating over.

CrainT1

You did not say how long has this been? As remember it will take a bit to purge your system of all the old foods and holding on to calories. Did you take measurements before starting as sometimes doing more exercise will build muscle which weights more than fat but definately takes up less space.

gothchiq

You need another doctor and a comprehensive thyroid panel, not just a TSH check.

SWEETMAY84

3 weeks is not enough... is barely a whole menstrual cycle (water retention and such)...if you were gaining at 2500 cals per day, I would think 1800 a day is making you maintain...I am 5'5 and current weight 176 pounds, I eat about 1200 per day, and sometimes is hard to meet those calories! but you have to log it ALL, every bite, alcohol is like liquid sugar... so try to cut as much as possible!

give it time! I KNOW THAT SUCKKKKKKKKS (i hate time!!!) lol but your body is just starting to get used to the new diet and exercise! your muscles are retaining water to heal...its a process!~

bets luck to you!!!

SWEETMAY84

Alright, what I'm going to say is coming from good, helpful intentions.

I looked back at your food entries for the week that you've been logging.

You say you've given up sugar, yet I see snickers, smiley fries, McDonald's sandwich, crackers and bread, alcohol, etc.

You say you've given up beer, yet with only 1 week of logging there's an entry for 60 oz of corona.

There are many very generic entries such as muffins, jambalaya, chili, etc. The thing with these is, unless you know the associated recipe for this entry and are following it exactly, the associated calorie counts are meaningless and you might as well just be making up numbers.

I think you need to be a little more honest with yourself about the changes you're making and also learn to deconstruct meals so that you can more accurately get a handle on how much of each individual ingredient you are consuming. Also, yes, food scale...a must have until you get a better idea what servings of your most frequent foods really look like.

THIS!!!! ^^^^^

seltzermint555

People get really focused on WHAT they eat instead of HOW MUCH they eat.
Log truthfully.

Give it 2 months.

If no change, double-check with your doc.

I totally agree with this.

OP, I hit 307 lb back in 2008 and "GOT SERIOUS" about exercising and eating healthier and less food. No tracking, weighing, or logging. It took me well over 4 YEARS to lose my first 45 lb. I was being pretty strict with myself that entire time. I did NOT think I was eating that much, and 90% of what I put into my mouth was considered "healthy food".

Frustrated beyond belief at 262 lb I decided to give this website a try and began tracking everything. I still don't weigh my food but I am very very honest with myself and have become great at eyeballing portion sizes (for example, I'll estimate 1/3 cup of chopped strawberries and then to test myself stick it in a measuring cup and I'm usually dead on). I wouldn't rule out weighing in the future...but my point is, no matter how much you THINK you're eating healthy and less than before...it's best to log absolutely everything.

The 89 lb I've lost in a year and a half has been WAY easier to lose than the 4+ years when I struggled (and seriously felt like I was being more active and eating less). The math of it is kind of amazing. While I agree that you may want to recheck with your doc (or preferably a NEW doctor) if you don't see results in a few months of complete & honest logging...I think it's more likely that you're not totally accurate with your calories or have it set up a bit wrong.

One more note: This might not apply to you AT ALL but I know quite a few people here who started out with the setting of lightly active or active and also ate back some or all of their exercise calories...had no luck w/ weight loss or very very slow..then switched to sedentary and saw textbook losses. I am set to sedentary and I eat back most of my exercise calories. Good luck!!

tracymayo1

Unfortunately weighing and measuring are the best options to be 100% accurate.
Just as an example, a bag of chips shows a serving as 30 grams or 14 chips.

I challenge you to find 14 chips in the bag that when combined on a scale = 30g.

You really can't even go by the 'suggestions' on the packages of the foods you buy. Not every chip is the same size, weight and shape, so how can any 14 chips possibly be equal to the 30g serving they say it does?

When I make a meal (I have several soups for example in my recipes and my BF chili) we weigh each ingredient as we add it into a bowl. Once one ingredient is weighes, we hit the TARE (mine shows it as Z/T under the button) which resets the scale to 0. Then I add the next ingredient, log it and hit Tare again for the next one.

If you weigh items this way, it is much easier.
For sandwiches, I place my bread on the scale. get the weight (cause not every slice is 53g like the bag says) - then hit tare. Then I remove the bread, spread on my peanut butter, and place the bread back on the scale. Now I can see how much peanut butter I used in grams also... I log that, and eat my sandwich. If I want a glass of milk, I either put my glass on the scale and pour - recording the weight OR I pour into a measuring cup then put in a glass and log as cups - but honestly, I tend to use weight for EVERYTHING.

It adds MAYBE a whole minute to prep work as long as you use the Tare function - and MOST if not all food scales have the tare function....

Beploveshomer

Alright, what I'm going to say is coming from good, helpful intentions.

I looked back at your food entries for the week that you've been logging.

You say you've given up sugar, yet I see snickers, smiley fries, McDonald's sandwich, crackers and bread, alcohol, etc.

You say you've given up beer, yet with only 1 week of logging there's an entry for 60 oz of corona.

There are many very generic entries such as muffins, jambalaya, chili, etc. The thing with these is, unless you know the associated recipe for this entry and are following it exactly, the associated calorie counts are meaningless and you might as well just be making up numbers.

I think you need to be a little more honest with yourself about the changes you're making and also learn to deconstruct meals so that you can more accurately get a handle on how much of each individual ingredient you are consuming. Also, yes, food scale...a must have until you get a better idea what servings of your most frequent foods really look like.

Yeah that looks pretty bad, doesn't it? But I have an explanation for almost all of them,lol. The bread is sprouted grain which, I allow, the crax are Rice, which I allow, and low-cal.
The smileys were bad, but i still kept my daily cals down, the Mcchicken, no excuse, was starving and out of town. Corona was def a slip.

But what I mean when I quit sugar, I don't mean anything with sugar in it, I mean a had a RAGING sugar addiction that would disgust most people...I'm talking several full size candy bars in a day, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream almost every day, and if I ran out of sweets at home I would spoon white sugar into my mouth by the spoonful or eat hot cocoa packets and a few time I drank corn syrup out of the bottle!!
That behavior alone must've been 1500 cals. a day. That itself is a MASSIVE change.

And yes, I am definitely looking into the recipe builder thing, I know all Jambalaya is not created equal!

JessRaddatz

No I haven't. I had my thyroid checked a couple years ago because I was tired all the time and could't lose weight, and he said the results were fine and I just had "Woman in WIsconsin Winter" syndrome.
Jerk.

Don't give up! I know it can be frustrating, but just stick with it.

BTW, Woman in Wisconsin Winter Syndrome might be a real thing, lol (not really, but seeing as how I live in Wisconsin and the last winter we just had, I might have that!).

Francl27

Alright, what I'm going to say is coming from good, helpful intentions.

I looked back at your food entries for the week that you've been logging.

You say you've given up sugar, yet I see snickers, smiley fries, McDonald's sandwich, crackers and bread, alcohol, etc.

You say you've given up beer, yet with only 1 week of logging there's an entry for 60 oz of corona.

There are many very generic entries such as muffins, jambalaya, chili, etc. The thing with these is, unless you know the associated recipe for this entry and are following it exactly, the associated calorie counts are meaningless and you might as well just be making up numbers.

I think you need to be a little more honest with yourself about the changes you're making and also learn to deconstruct meals so that you can more accurately get a handle on how much of each individual ingredient you are consuming. Also, yes, food scale...a must have until you get a better idea what servings of your most frequent foods really look like.

Yeah that looks pretty bad, doesn't it? But I have an explanation for almost all of them,lol. The bread is sprouted grain which, I allow, the crax are Rice, which I allow, and low-cal.
The smileys were bad, but i still kept my daily cals down, the Mcchicken, no excuse, was starving and out of town. Corona was def a slip.

But what I mean when I quit sugar, I don't mean anything with sugar in it, I mean a had a RAGING sugar addiction that would disgust most people...I'm talking several full size candy bars in a day, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream almost every day, and if I ran out of sweets at home I would spoon white sugar into my mouth by the spoonful or eat hot cocoa packets and a few time I drank corn syrup out of the bottle!!
That behavior alone must've been 1500 cals. a day. That itself is a MASSIVE change.

And yes, I am definitely looking into the recipe builder thing, I know all Jambalaya is not created equal!

Yeah but that's the thing though... just because you've cut 1500 calories of junk a day doesn't mean you're not eating at maintenance. There's nothing bad with what you've been eating, but if you eat too many calories, you won't lose, that's as simple as that.

Looking at your diary, few things I noticed...

59 calories for an ear of corn - no way. Try 100-150.
3oz of chicken - do you realize how tiny it is? You might be eating twice as much without realizing it.
Your salad dressing... do you measure it? Because it's very easy to go over on dressing.
3 scrambled eggs - 300 calories... since when? One egg is 70 calories, give or take... what accounts for the difference?
Small red apple, 55 calories... I've never seen an apple that only has 55 calories. Even the small ones I've been eating are typically 65-70 calories.
Butternut squash muffins at 87 calories... did you count the calories yourself? I've never seen a 90 calorie muffin.
1.5 cup of jambalaya for only 250 calories is doubtful.
1/4 cup of almonds for 160 calories... quite sure a 1/4 cup of almonds would really be more like 250 calories, but I'd have to weigh them. The 100 calorie snack bags are tiny.
1.5 drumstick 114 calories - when I eat drumsticks and actually weigh the meat (skin removed) I get closer to 220 calories for 2.


That was just the last couple days... You're not logging properly.

lemurcat12

No I haven't. I had my thyroid checked a couple years ago because I was tired all the time and could't lose weight, and he said the results were fine and I just had "Woman in WIsconsin Winter" syndrome.
Jerk.

Don't give up! I know it can be frustrating, but just stick with it.

BTW, Woman in Wisconsin Winter Syndrome might be a real thing, lol (not really, but seeing as how I live in Wisconsin and the last winter we just had, I might have that!).

I think I had Woman in Wisconsin syndrome last winter, and I live in Chicago (which counts as the south by comparison, right?).

SWEETMAY84

Alright, what I'm going to say is coming from good, helpful intentions.

I looked back at your food entries for the week that you've been logging.

You say you've given up sugar, yet I see snickers, smiley fries, McDonald's sandwich, crackers and bread, alcohol, etc.

You say you've given up beer, yet with only 1 week of logging there's an entry for 60 oz of corona.

There are many very generic entries such as muffins, jambalaya, chili, etc. The thing with these is, unless you know the associated recipe for this entry and are following it exactly, the associated calorie counts are meaningless and you might as well just be making up numbers.

I think you need to be a little more honest with yourself about the changes you're making and also learn to deconstruct meals so that you can more accurately get a handle on how much of each individual ingredient you are consuming. Also, yes, food scale...a must have until you get a better idea what servings of your most frequent foods really look like.

Yeah that looks pretty bad, doesn't it? But I have an explanation for almost all of them,lol. The bread is sprouted grain which, I allow, the crax are Rice, which I allow, and low-cal.
The smileys were bad, but i still kept my daily cals down, the Mcchicken, no excuse, was starving and out of town. Corona was def a slip.

But what I mean when I quit sugar, I don't mean anything with sugar in it, I mean a had a RAGING sugar addiction that would disgust most people...I'm talking several full size candy bars in a day, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream almost every day, and if I ran out of sweets at home I would spoon white sugar into my mouth by the spoonful or eat hot cocoa packets and a few time I drank corn syrup out of the bottle!!
That behavior alone must've been 1500 cals. a day. That itself is a MASSIVE change.

And yes, I am definitely looking into the recipe builder thing, I know all Jambalaya is not created equal!

Something you might want to take into consideration is that 1500 calories worth of fruits, veggies, meat and such will make your body healthier than 1500 worth of chocolate or beer and chips... and I am not trying to be mean at all! my advise is from the heart!

Your Sodium intake is PRETTY HIGH, over 1000 over in one of your days, close to 900 in the other, Sodium will make you retain water for dear life...

I could almost say, a spoon full of white sugar would probably make less damage than french fries... IMO.

Do you have a smartphone? use the bar scan feature when eating things from a bag or a box, drink PLENTY of water so you flush the sodium out of your body!

I think 1800 calories a day is a lot, I could not make myself eat that much! BUT you have to try and change and change aaand change the calories as many times as you need to find the perfect intake! OH! Calories burned are over estimated almost all the time! example, I run 2 miles every day, 3.8 mph and I always calculate my burns at 100 cals...

don't get discouraged this is not a trip but a complete journey full of ups and downs!

Beploveshomer

Alright, what I'm going to say is coming from good, helpful intentions.

I looked back at your food entries for the week that you've been logging.

You say you've given up sugar, yet I see snickers, smiley fries, McDonald's sandwich, crackers and bread, alcohol, etc.

You say you've given up beer, yet with only 1 week of logging there's an entry for 60 oz of corona.

There are many very generic entries such as muffins, jambalaya, chili, etc. The thing with these is, unless you know the associated recipe for this entry and are following it exactly, the associated calorie counts are meaningless and you might as well just be making up numbers.

I think you need to be a little more honest with yourself about the changes you're making and also learn to deconstruct meals so that you can more accurately get a handle on how much of each individual ingredient you are consuming. Also, yes, food scale...a must have until you get a better idea what servings of your most frequent foods really look like.

Yeah that looks pretty bad, doesn't it? But I have an explanation for almost all of them,lol. The bread is sprouted grain which, I allow, the crax are Rice, which I allow, and low-cal.
The smileys were bad, but i still kept my daily cals down, the Mcchicken, no excuse, was starving and out of town. Corona was def a slip.

But what I mean when I quit sugar, I don't mean anything with sugar in it, I mean a had a RAGING sugar addiction that would disgust most people...I'm talking several full size candy bars in a day, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream almost every day, and if I ran out of sweets at home I would spoon white sugar into my mouth by the spoonful or eat hot cocoa packets and a few time I drank corn syrup out of the bottle!!
That behavior alone must've been 1500 cals. a day. That itself is a MASSIVE change.

And yes, I am definitely looking into the recipe builder thing, I know all Jambalaya is not created equal!

Yeah but that's the thing though... just because you've cut 1500 calories of junk a day doesn't mean you're not eating at maintenance. There's nothing bad with what you've been eating, but if you eat too many calories, you won't lose, that's as simple as that.

Looking at your diary, few things I noticed...

59 calories for an ear of corn - no way. Try 100-150.
3oz of chicken - do you realize how tiny it is? You might be eating twice as much without realizing it.
Your salad dressing... do you measure it? Because it's very easy to go over on dressing.
3 scrambled eggs - 300 calories... since when? One egg is 70 calories, give or take... what accounts for the difference?
Small red apple, 55 calories... I've never seen an apple that only has 55 calories. Even the small ones I've been eating are typically 65-70 calories.
Butternut squash muffins at 87 calories... did you count the calories yourself? I've never seen a 90 calorie muffin.
1.5 cup of jambalaya for only 250 calories is doubtful.
1/4 cup of almonds for 160 calories... quite sure a 1/4 cup of almonds would really be more like 250 calories, but I'd have to weigh them. The 100 calorie snack bags are tiny.
1.5 drumstick 114 calories - when I eat drumsticks and actually weigh the meat (skin removed) I get closer to 220 calories for 2.


That was just the last couple days... You're not logging properly.

Oh man....that's scary stuff. How is there so many incorrect numbers when they are "confirmed"!?

It doesn't matter. I feel myself getting overwhelmed with all these numbers and opinions.

Lots of great advice too that I need to chew on for awhile.

I am going to continue eating healthier and logging as accurately as I can, and if I still see no change, then maybe it's time for a food scale, and if THAT doesn't work then I will make a doc appt.

Sued0nim

You can't log accurately without a scale

Why delay?

It's not scary if you weigh and log ...it works

Try it

MelodyandBarbells

You can't log accurately without a scale

Why delay?

It's not scary if you weigh and log ...it works

Try it

Agreed. Why be scared of a scale if you've made massive lifestyle changes? Buy the thing and use it as little or as much as you can stand. Worst case, it ends up in a drawer like a bunch of other crap I have. But this one is actually quite likely to help you lose weight

MelodyandBarbells

This is all very interesting...I guess I didn't think about how much the weight of things like apples could add up.

I was just thinking that myfitness pal "add food" thing was pretty much dead-on accurate.

Not eating back my exercise calories? Didn't think of that, I kind of thought I was supposed to! :P

Eating back exercise calories IMO depends on where you got your target number. If you plugged your stats into MFP and it said to eat 1800 calories net, by all means eat back some exercise calories. Please note that MFP activity level (sedentary, lightly active, etc) refers to how you spend the bulk of your day, NOT intentional exercise. Intentional exercise is what you then log and eat back some exercise calories. If you've called yourself active because you go running 3x per week and MFP already gave you a couple hundred more exercise calories to eat per day everyday, and you also log and eat back intentional exercise calories, then you're double dipping

On the other hand some people prefer to go to a TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) website. They plug in their stats including all the exercise they do. The number you'll get from such a website already takes into account that you're exercising, so you really just need to eat what it's given you and not eat back additional exercise calories

kayyaker

Lots of good advice!! Just one more thing to try...I cannot drink alcohol at all...One drink throws me off for at least a week.. Worth a try??

botch74

I to was over weight ( by a lot ) and due to HBP meds, felt sick all the time.
I decided to cut out pre processed foods, witch left me with mostly fresh food to eat ( funny how that works).
I have lost 45 pounds. Fresh is best when trying to reduce your weight. O yea cut down on meats to.

chadya07

i agree that you should measure weigh and track when you can. its not what you eat, its how much. if you cant weigh everything leave a buffer for error in your goal, and at least weigh the densest things like meat, cheese, etc. track everything no matter what.

you may have to adjust your calorie goal a number of times before you find the magic number. i had to adjust up and down for about 2 months until i found one that gave me consistent results but not too much too fast.

you should also plan for slow results. you lose slowly if you want to stay healthy and look like you want to look at the end.

but you should see results if you are doing it right, at least by this time. if not it isnt that the lifestyle change is futile, just that you need to work harder to make it work.

jjpratt1981

Actually, I have the same problem. Does anyone know any good tips to lose weight fast? Because I’ve been trying so hard but nothing seems to be working. It’s so frustrating!

JackDomingo

I use to have the same problem I tried everything from dieting to exercise but no matter what I tried it never worked. I felt bad about myself. I was ashamed of what I was. This was when my bother referred me to a friend of his a Doctor from the Philippines with that and continued exercise I reached my ideal built and weight.

bylot

Without weighing EVERYTHING accurately, this will go nowhere. Simple as that.

It really does come down to "Eat less, (and if you can) move more". End of story.

neanderthin

6 months into a total lifestyle change with little results is reason to be concerned, but 3 weeks is not. Keep monitoring and recording the best you can and make adjustments accordingly going forward.

kimtober

I agree that it's more about moderation than completely cutting out. I would have a very difficult time cutting out sugar permanently, so I let myself have a little treat every day. My starting stats were close to yours--5'8" 185lbs. I've been counting calories and doing serious cardio workouts only twice a week and I've lost 30lbs in 8 months. It's been a little under a pound a week. I'm eating around 1300-1500 calories. I've cut out most beverages besides water, but I let myself have a Coke a couple times a week. I think that's made the biggest difference for me.

3 weeks isn't that long. Don't give up!!