Discouraged:(

MerrynC

Don't be down. remember that boot camp is building up your muscle, which weighs more than fat. You're probably losing fat and putting on muscle at the same time.. Hopefully you can notice it in your clothes?

jess804

I actually drank my coffee black today, it was different and yes guilty for not eating a ton of fresh fuirt n veggies cause im allergic to most of the pesticides used and ive tried organic too but sometimes they r just as bad if not worse with being around chemicals before entering a store! I'm also allergic to apples, almonds, n soy so I am alittle limited. I must not have chose the correct type of bread because its actually the Franz whole grain white my family wont eat wheat and all the wheat breads i was trying had more sugar or were much more dense? I was forcing myself to eat breakfast to "start my metabolism" eating a pbnj or whole grain cereal but has not made a difference idrather go back to starving and drinking my coffee n I was trying skim milk n nutrisweet for awhile too but not the same:( So where do I compromise? But i really do appreciate all of the feedback.

jess804

All I drink is water, milk , n coffee.........tomatoe juice or v8 on occassion

jjvolner

Keep in mind when exercising like you doing boot camp etc you are building muscle and muscle weighs more than fat. The scale will show weight gain when in fact if you are sticking to your caloric intake you are building lean muscle mass. Try measuring yourself to see if inches are coming off. Inches will come before weight as well. Keep on trying!

jess804

People keep telling me im probably building muscle but I want & need to lose fat??? I dont want to "bulk" up n weight more I want to weigh a healthy weight n be physically fit. I am considered OBESE for my height n weight.

karemh

Dont feel discouraged dear! You are taking the necessary steps for a better you, it can take awhile. Make sure you watch your fats and sugars and fil up with vegis during meal time. You could do your protien and 2 vegi sides like a salad and a steamed vegi and whole grain roll. I have the South Beach diet cookbook and it has yummy recipes not short on flavor at all! It has snacks, desserts, appetizers and the dinners and soups yum! I l have made quite a few of the recipes and my hubby and kids are fans. the best thing is they all take under 30 min. Listen dear the muscles and the motivation is there, keep on exercising and eating well everything else will fall into place... dont lose hope k..... I do wish you the very best! karemh

please friend me I would love to keep in touch!

ladyhawk00

I'm new here. But I looked at your diary, try to cut out the white bread, crackers, a lot of food that turns to sugar. For me if I start out the day good, like eggs, then I continue the day good. I wake up and drink water, and I think about what I want to eat. Don't beat yourself up, life is a marathon not a sprint. Good Luck on your journey

Agreed. It looks like you've got a lot of highly processed foods in your diet. These foods have a lot of empty calories and gobs of sodium. The sodium, of course, will cause you to hold onto water. I suggest you go into your food diary setting and add sodium to the list of nutrients tracked.

I think you'd also benefit from adding more nutrient rich foods to your diet. Choose whole wheat bread (not enriched) instead of white bread; dark lettuces instead of iceberg, a sandwich on whole grain instead of a frozen dinner (tons of sodium) etc., etc. Also, don't forget your fruits and vegetables... these nutrient dense foods are generally low in calorie, so you can eat a lot of them and ward off hunger.

Basically, you've got to consider the nutritional value of the items you put in your mouth. When you don't give you're body anything good to work with, it won't do good work.

Best of luck! You can do this!

I would agree with this.

Also, I'd be curious - how different is your cal intake now, compared to what it was before? Are you eating much less, much more, or just changing the kinds of food? If you have drastically changed the amount of cals you're consuming on a regular basis, AND recently started exercising (especially going from 0 to a lot), it can take the body time to adjust and recalibrate the metabolism.

This thread may help understand how you can gain weight in the beginning, and that it can take a significant period of time to get things turned around. Be patient and stay strong!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

DeeMonjure2B

First off, yes, it would be good if we could see your diary. Were all on the same journey here. Its okay. Ill give you just a few pointers that have helped me. Ever heard the expression "Abs are made in the kitchen" SO TRUE. 80 (YES) 80% of your weight loss is gonna come from your diet! Do not underestimate the power of cardio and lifting weights but if your diets not right, your spinning your wheels. Second, Try and get the biggest bang for your buck calorie wise. You can eat the same amount of calories on crap and be very little food or you coud make awesome, wholesome, clean, close to nature, choices and have tons of food with some calories left to spare. AND BE FULL TO BOOT! Try not to eat any simple carbs after 7pm. If you have to eat carbs at all eat fiberous carbs (veggies and such). Now I myself am REALLY big on lifting weights so I make sure I get TONS of protien. (at leat my bodyweight in grams) You dont HAVE to do that but replacing a couple meals a day with a protien shake will definately make a difference. It will help to spare the muscle that you have while your losing "weight" as well. You wanna lose the fat, not the muscle. That muscles gonna help you burn more calories to keep what you can. I hope that this helps a little and keep your head up. There are so many of us that have been through the same thing! Oh, and MFP underestimates just how much protien you need. Just sayin. You should probably try and overshoot it every time. Good luck to you on your journey. Were rootin for ya!

DeeMonjure2B

OOPS, my bad, looks like from the comments, you can see your diary.

jadedone

Have you tried subbing whole milk or 2% for cream in your coffee? Half of the calories. You could also add some vanilla extract for very few calories. Or buy the sugar free toriani syrups
And you can always have a bit of sugar with the calorie free sweetener. I think splenda/nutrisweet/equal all taste funny. I like truvia more, but again they taste funny. I drink my coffee with lots of milk. At least I get more protein and calcium. More like an au lait or a latte.

Another tip: make your own salad dressing. It is actually pretty easy, and you can cut out lots of the fat and sodium
easy: mix vinegar, oil, mustard, a bit of honey. You hardly need any oil at all. Blend or mix with a fork.
I typically mix around 1 tablespoon of mustard, 3 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of oil and a squirt of honey.

medium: orange juice (squeeze part of an orange), fruit flavored vinegar, pomegranate molasses or syrup, a bit of oil, chopped onion.

hard: herbs, onion, garlic, vinegar or lemon juice, oil, plain yogurt

Do you have a farmers market nearby? Maybe you can find some safe produce. At the least you can actually ask the farmer what chemicals they use.

Good luck!

Pink3113

I find that the more excercise I do, takes off size so don't take any notice of the scales. Your weight will start to come down but in the mean time people will start to notice that you look better and slimmer even though you don't weigh less. With feeling hungry all the time, try and eat little portions of protein. That seams to satisfy me until my main meal. You're going really well so keep it up.

Staceslim

Hi not to be a nag but how much water do you drink? Although you say you've gained weight have you lost inches anywhere? I always try to remember that they say that muscle weighs more than fat so sometimes you can't really go buy the scale. I really don't want to make you more upset. I also hate that feeling of being hungry. Have you tried munching on fresh veggies? I told my diabetes dietician that I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom & I insist on grabbing a chip or ten on the way by. I have started taking veggies with me & consciously munch on the so that I fill up on them & water. Cheer up I am sure the wonderful people on here have all kinds of experiences to share.:flowerforyou:

jlsAhava

I actually drank my coffee black today, it was different and yes guilty for not eating a ton of fresh fuirt n veggies cause im allergic to most of the pesticides used and ive tried organic too but sometimes they r just as bad if not worse with being around chemicals before entering a store! I'm also allergic to apples, almonds, n soy so I am alittle limited. I must not have chose the correct type of bread because its actually the Franz whole grain white my family wont eat wheat and all the wheat breads i was trying had more sugar or were much more dense? I was forcing myself to eat breakfast to "start my metabolism" eating a pbnj or whole grain cereal but has not made a difference idrather go back to starving and drinking my coffee n I was trying skim milk n nutrisweet for awhile too but not the same:( So where do I compromise? But i really do appreciate all of the feedback.

Good job swapping out the creams and sugar... If you can continue to drink it black then great! Otherwise, keep playing around in different milk/sweetener combinations until you find something palatable.

As for the veges, try frozen organic. I imagine the bags around the items will limit the contamination with pesticides. They're also sooo easy to work with.

And breads can be tricky. Eating whole grain is good, just make sure to look at the label to avoid deceptive advertising. If the label says "enriched" flour - it's not as good for you as they would like you to believe.

People keep telling me im probably building muscle but I want & need to lose fat??? I dont want to "bulk" up n weight more I want to weigh a healthy weight n be physically fit. I am considered OBESE for my height n weight.

Muscle burns more calories than fat, so in the long run you'll be better off. Also, if you're doing sets of 12 or more reps it's unlikely that you're using weights heavy enough to truly bulk you up. To do that you would be using weights heavy enough to limit the number of reps you're able to do. And even that takes time.

I noticed someone already posted this thread, but I'll post it here again for convenience. I think it will help to put things in perspective.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

Remember - YOU CAN DO THIS!

Ceria

Add Sodium & Sugar to your settings in your food diary, and pay attention to those too, especially the sodium. Make sure you're drinking enough water to counteract the effects of sodium as it causes you to retain water weight (bloating). Try to incorporate more fruit & veggies into each meal (don't worry so much about the natural sugars from fruit), and stay away from the high density carbs. Low density carbs will fuel your body for your workouts, and give you more fibre.

Protien is essential, but make sure it's low fat. I started buying 0% fat Greek Yogurt which is high in protein, and eat it every morning with 1 cup of frozen berries (blueberries, or a trio mix I get at Costco - relatively good price), with 1 serving of a high fibre cereal - like bran flakes (low in sugar). The frozen berries freezes the yogurt and it's like eating a frozen yogurt treat. I bash the berries up a bit to help sweeten up the yogurt, as it is quite tart. Make sure to always eat breakfast, as it gets your metabolism going for the day.

When I first started I was adding a lot of cream & sugar to my coffee. I started cutting down how much I added, and how strong I made my coffee, so I didn't need to add so much! Those coffee creamers are delish, but very high in cals. My cal goal is 1200, so if I had 100 - 150 cals for my coffee each day, it really took away from how much real food I could eat.

Everything will work out for you. Keep up your exercise! It will come off, don't give up!!!

Ceria

This is exactly my suggestion. Although you are within calorie range, you are choosing foods that are designed to stick with you. Drink more water and eat less sodium and you will see dramatic results. Also if you dont add veggies and fruit, there is nothing to flush your system properly. Keep your head up and try some modification to your diet. I wish you much luck.