Over 100 to lose and not making progress. Cry for help!

mikeyrp

One of the biggest pitfalls for people struggling to burn fat is that they take exercise as an excuse to eat more. It's not!!
1200 calories will ensure that your body does not go into starvation.

I think your best bet is to consume 1200-1600 per day (or whatever your planned daily calories are), keep it stuck at that- and NOT take your exercise into account. If you need to, just enter that you exercised in the notes so that MFP doesn't give you those extra calories. That really messes with your mind.

Cardio/exercise calories burned vary per person and per workout, so they're not accurate. and the one thing that MFP may do is encourage reward eating- i.e. eating because you exercised. I heard some good advice once ----

Forget you exercised and follow your normal fat-loss nutrition plan.

If you incorporate a good preworkout and postworkout snack -within your daily calorie intake-, it should boost your muscle growth and fat-burning potential. But I say stop letting MFP put those extra calories in, try it for a week or two, and see what results you get!

hope it helped : )

You definitely don't HAVE to replace those calories - If you do, in terms of weight loss is the same as if you didn't go to the gym at all. Personally I eat some of them: but my target is 'happy and healthy' not 'lose weight as quickly as possible'.

From a pure health perspective I would suggest that you do consume some of them as protein - say 30% - this is important for rebuilding your muscles.

stormieweather

Patience and be precise in your logging. I've come to believe that the main two reasons people aren't losing is because either a) they are expecting 2.8 pounds to fall off every Tuesday at 7:13 pm and weight loss doesn't work like that or b) they aren't being accurate as to their calories eaten and/or calories burned. They don't count the sauce, the drinks, the condiments, the bites here and there and they guess at the portion sizes (most people are WAY off). And/or, they overestimate how much they're burning during exercise.

The machines at the gym say I burn 300 calories for 30 minutes on the elliptical, well I can tell you after wearing a fitbit for 2 months that I don't burn anywhere near that. And on top of that, my normal, already counted, burn is 36 calories per half an hour. So if I am actually burning 120 calories for 30 minutes and 36 calories are already in my normal 24 hour maintenance, then I actually only burned an extra 84 calories. Woohoo! Let's go to the all you can eat buffet! :noway:

So be patient, and be precise. It will happen.

lloydrt

hi jason, glad to see your posting. I read your diet, youve had more junk food in the last 5 days then I ve had in the last 3 months........I m here to help you, but if you want an honest answer, then I have to say that your sodium intake is out of control,. You are consuming 1000 - 4000 + extra mgs of sodium daily, and youre not going to lose weight doing that

Maybe you can talk to a nutritionist and go over your diet........I gotta say, you are not eating any fibre, no fruits or vegetables, only processed , salt laden, sodium rich processed food.........youre not going to lose weight that way ,...........I know personally ,been there dont that...........

Shoot me an email, Ill try to help you, but again, youre asking us a question and I did go thru your diary and Jason, Jason.........you cant eat cookies, rolls, taquitos, mint chocolate chip sundaes ,turkey burgers that are processed that had 1.062 mgs of soduim, which is about HALF your allowed input, your McDonalds biscuit and bacon/cheese/egg sandwich which Jason HAS 1,160 MGS OF SODIUM, ON THE SAME DAY YOU ATE SUSHI WHICH HAD ANOTHER 1970 MGS OF SODIUM..........JUST THOSE LAST 2 FOOD ITEMS HAS OVER 3500 MGS OF SODIUM.........

Jason, you cant lose weight eating like this, you cant............Again, Im not preaching, just reading your diary blows me away..........I care about your health, thats why Im typing all this for you, because you have people here who care........but you cant, and you WONT lose weight on the diet you are following.........you wont

Take care, please shoot me an email, Ill help you in any way I can, but man your sodium is going to really wreak havoc on your weight loss journey.........Best wishes, please email me..........Lloyd

skinnylizzard

hi jason, glad to see your posting. I read your diet, youve had more junk food in the last 5 days then I ve had in the last 3 months........I m here to help you, but if you want an honest answer, then I have to say that your sodium intake is out of control,. You are consuming 1000 - 4000 + extra mgs of sodium daily, and youre not going to lose weight doing that

Maybe you can talk to a nutritionist and go over your diet........I gotta say, you are not eating any fibre, no fruits or vegetables, only processed , salt laden, sodium rich processed food.........youre not going to lose weight that way ,...........I know personally ,been there dont that...........

Shoot me an email, Ill try to help you, but again, youre asking us a question and I did go thru your diary and Jason, Jason.........you cant eat cookies, rolls, taquitos, mint chocolate chip sundaes ,turkey burgers that are processed that had 1.062 mgs of soduim, which is about HALF your allowed input, your McDonalds biscuit and bacon/cheese/egg sandwich which Jason HAS 1,160 MGS OF SODIUM, ON THE SAME DAY YOU ATE SUSHI WHICH HAD ANOTHER 1970 MGS OF SODIUM..........JUST THOSE LAST 2 FOOD ITEMS HAS OVER 3500 MGS OF SODIUM.........

Jason, you cant lose weight eating like this, you cant............Again, Im not preaching, just reading your diary blows me away..........I care about your health, thats why Im typing all this for you, because you have people here who care........but you cant, and you WONT lose weight on the diet you are following.........you wont

Take care, please shoot me an email, Ill help you in any way I can, but man your sodium is going to really wreak havoc on your weight loss journey.........Best wishes, please email me..........Lloyd

This is the best reply I've seen so far. I think you're very smart taking the time to *kitten* the situation and you truly want to help.

JMJohnson1005

I will go for a couple weeks and not really see the scale move and then one week I drop like 5 lbs. It will happen, give it time!

lloydrt

thanks skinny, I sure hope Jason understands, hes emailed me in the beginning and I really think the world of him. , really I do, that is why I took the time to type what I did, and go over his diary

I ve been there, buying low fat, fat free , low in calories diet food, ONLY TO GAIN MORE THAN I WIEGHED, LOL

I can truly say that Jason needs some professional nutritionist to help him. I got one, got about 50% of my daily food is vegetables, 14% fruit, tons of beans and cilantro, and protein from chicken breast

I m not an expert, I just had to lose weight or else die........it was that simple ..I wasnt trying to look hot for the prom, look sexxy in the latest pants I bought.........I was warned by my Dr that I was killing myslef weighting 360 lbs and being 55

Read my bio, its me..................

Thanks for understanding my message to Jason.. I know what hes going thru, but all that diet, processed , sodium and sugar laden food that is marked "Diet' or Sugar Free is going to destroy his weight loss journey........hes had bi pass surgery and gained more than 70 lbs back, so he can reallly really use the help...........Take care, Lloyd

please read my bio ,its what I have been thru in the last year.....

mikeyrp

lloydrt

I have a lot of admiration for your honesty - mutual encouragement shouldn't just be about saying 'its all ok' and you clearly really took the time to look at Jason's diary. Good for you - and - I hope - good for Jason!

mrjason

Thanks to everyone for your posts. To answer some of the questions.

1) The site give me 1900 calories to start with. I do not eat all 1900 calories on the majority of the days.
(I believe all but 2 of the last 23)
2) My workout is strictly elliptical, built up from 5 minutes a day and am at 40-45 right now. Doctor tells me to stick with cardio for now. Being a fat person, the site gives me a significant number of "extra calories" for this exercise. I do not eat them.
3) This far I've had 2 “cheat meals" and they were while I was on the road.
4. No soda, ever!
5. Due to my hours worked and the nature of my job, I eat most of my calories later in the evening. My doctor and nutritionist have both told me that the time of day is not relevant to the number of calories we eat.
6. I've lost 10 pounds so far. It was in the first week but still, I'll take it!
7. I had lap-band in December 2009 and lost my insurance so never got it filled. I lost around 100 pounds prior and after but NONE due to the lap band. It was from sticking to a diet with fewer than 100 grams of carbs a day. The moment I started eating normally I gained it back slowly, got depressed, lost my job, started eating out of control, got a new job, got happy, started eating again out of control. Anyone who is obese or even just struggles with weight has been there. Otherwise we wouldn't be fat.

So, I've gone from eating and drinking like a pig to keeping well under my calories and bumping up my exercise from sedentary to 40+ minutes a day 5-6 days a week.

I understand that I need to increase my veggies and decrease my sodium, and have been working on that. My nutritionist has told me that making 1-2 changes per week will be the way to go about this, and I've been making way more than that.

I could eat a full package of Oreos or a bag of M&M's in an evening and most nights I did just that. I've cut out THOUSANDS of calories a day. Every night I would binge on high calorie foods and in great quantity. It's called Nighttime Eating Syndrome and I've come a long way with books and the help of my doctor, shrink (an md) and nutritionist.

Not making excuses, but going over my progress so far.

It's interesting, Lloyd regarding your comment om processed foods. Although I do take in some processed foods, the majority of what i eat are low cal, home made recipes my wife has obtained from Weight Watchers or Hungry Girl. The McDonalds, definitely a "cheat" thing and calories were accounted for and budgeted. In the airport there's not too many choices at 5:00am. Taquitos...Just the name she gave the meal. Stuffed with veggies. Baked, etc. Not from a store. Cookies? Not here. I had a chance to eat a cookie and didn't touch it. Closest is a "breakfast cookie" by quaker which is a breakfast bar in cookie form. As for the sundaes, again, Weight Watchers., 150 Calories. Turkey Burger, made at home by my wife. It sounds like I'm on the defensive but I'm leading to a point, which is....

Let's assume yesterday was ALL junk food. Let's say I ate a gallon of ice cream. I'm given 1900 calories by the site (with exercise it's 2846) , I ate 1890 calories. I was still UNDER my calorie goal for the day, as I am on a lot of days. I understand the quality of the food I eat and things like sodium will have temporary impacts like water retention, etc, but my nutritionist tells me that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. For HEALTH reasons I definitely need to refine my diet and make the changes that you've talked about and am doing so more each day. Based on your feedback, it sounds like you're saying that not all calories are the same. Ultimately I'm burning more than I'm taking in. That should eventually lead to weight loss. Even the thought of eating a salad, which I do almost daily, would have been shocking to me. I'm amazed with the willpower that I am able to summon in regards to sticking to the calorie plan.

I'm in this for the long haul, even a pound lost a week is sufficient. It's not a race, I realize that, but I was hoping to get some advice. Diet will change both because I understand the nutritional and health value of "eating right" and I'm on the right track and continue to make changes to lead to that plate that's 25% protein, 25% carbs and 50% veggies. Extreme changes lead to failure and I can't fail this time. *I* don't want to die either. The no carb thing was quick but not effective when getting off of it.

Net-net, I appreciate the advice and take it to heart. I aspire to have a success story like yours.

I'm really trying to understand the barriers that are keeping me from moving even slightly in the right direction. Lifestyle changes, extreme calorie reductions should show more results than they are. I've been given a lot to think about here. Thanks to everyone.

What's the next step? More protein, more veggies, less sodium, fewer carbs!

I'll get there. It fills my heart almost to the point of tears reading everyone's replies to my post. I'm fortunate to have this site and I know it will work thanks to people like you.

Jason

hi jason, glad to see your posting. I read your diet, youve had more junk food in the last 5 days then I ve had in the last 3 months........I m here to help you, but if you want an honest answer, then I have to say that your sodium intake is out of control,. You are consuming 1000 - 4000 + extra mgs of sodium daily, and youre not going to lose weight doing that

Maybe you can talk to a nutritionist and go over your diet........I gotta say, you are not eating any fibre, no fruits or vegetables, only processed , salt laden, sodium rich processed food.........youre not going to lose weight that way ,...........I know personally ,been there dont that...........

Shoot me an email, Ill try to help you, but again, youre asking us a question and I did go thru your diary and Jason, Jason.........you cant eat cookies, rolls, taquitos, mint chocolate chip sundaes ,turkey burgers that are processed that had 1.062 mgs of soduim, which is about HALF your allowed input, your McDonalds biscuit and bacon/cheese/egg sandwich which Jason HAS 1,160 MGS OF SODIUM, ON THE SAME DAY YOU ATE SUSHI WHICH HAD ANOTHER 1970 MGS OF SODIUM..........JUST THOSE LAST 2 FOOD ITEMS HAS OVER 3500 MGS OF SODIUM.........

Jason, you cant lose weight eating like this, you cant............Again, Im not preaching, just reading your diary blows me away..........I care about your health, thats why Im typing all this for you, because you have people here who care........but you cant, and you WONT lose weight on the diet you are following.........you wont

Take care, please shoot me an email, Ill help you in any way I can, but man your sodium is going to really wreak havoc on your weight loss journey.........Best wishes, please email me..........Lloyd

FluffyMamaNeeds2Lose

I started my journey to weight loss at a whopping 418 lbs.. now 7 months later I'm down to 349.. you can do it! Sodium was a huge problem for me and after I started really watching and upping my water intake I lost consistantly.. then I hit a plateau for awhile and so I upped my calories and started losing again. I also started eating more calories in the morning and afternoon and less in the evenings and that helped alot.. because whatever you eat at night just sits in your belly while you sleep however whatever you eat in the morning you burn off during your day. The last plateau I hit (didn't lose for about a month, but maintained) I added one cheat day every week.. nothing too drastic just not as low fat and now I"m back to losing again. I pray that your journey goes well and that you get where you want to be. Calories are calories and that is true but in the long run you need to try to find the healthy calories and eat the bad ones in moderation.

mrjason

So you ate MORE calories and started losing again. This is so bizzare. A wonderful MyFitnessPal pal gave me some great advice (Thanks McKay) saying the same thing, it's just so hard to believe that eating close to 3000 calories a day would spur weight loss.

Thanks!
P.S. You're going to love your goal for 100 pounds! Kindle is awesome.

I started my journey to weight loss at a whopping 418 lbs.. now 7 months later I'm down to 349.. you can do it! Sodium was a huge problem for me and after I started really watching and upping my water intake I lost consistantly.. then I hit a plateau for awhile and so I upped my calories and started losing again. I also started eating more calories in the morning and afternoon and less in the evenings and that helped alot.. because whatever you eat at night just sits in your belly while you sleep however whatever you eat in the morning you burn off during your day. The last plateau I hit (didn't lose for about a month, but maintained) I added one cheat day every week.. nothing too drastic just not as low fat and now I"m back to losing again. I pray that your journey goes well and that you get where you want to be. Calories are calories and that is true but in the long run you need to try to find the healthy calories and eat the bad ones in moderation.

lloydrt

Hi Jason, great to see you buddy


hey you said "but my nutritionist tells me that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie"

ok, now to me, again, Im not a nutrionist, but Id take 500 calories of fruit and vegetables over 500 calories of ice cream any day

look at your fibre that youd get from fruits and vegetables, look at the nutrition that youd receive. I ate tons and tons of brocolli over one year, lol, I wished I d bought stock in brocolli, and check this out......I LOWERED MY LIVER LEVELS, lol

to funny, I had so much fat around my belly that it was pressing my liver and inflaming it that my levels increased.......Brocolli, cucumbers, dark green vegetables with tons of berries, i., strawberries, blue berries and black berries were my new friends.........Im serious Jason, I lost over 70 lbs in the first 3 . 5 months, literally, before I even worked out

then I had to work out, which I love doing, but I could only start doing 10 mins, then 20 , then 30 because I had exercise induced asthma, I had to use a bronchidialotor to help me breath, I was so fat.......but I hung in there

then the plateus, talk about sucking big time, but hey, didnt bother me because I WAS LOSING INCHES, not so much pounds

Id put a shirt or a pair of slacks that I could barely squeeze into, and then use that for my guide. Id put in there in my closet, the first thing Id see........and know what, at the end of one month, I could fit into them, .........then Id find anohter pair, then another, lol....I never threw away clothes, so I had pants from 34 - 52 in the waist.......

My scale didnt move as much, but whoa, did I ever lose inches

I ll disagree with your nutritionist about a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.............Ill take my fruit, beans, dark greens, pinto beans and chicken breast over ice cream , so much more fibre and nutrition

I used to diet , just like you are now, (talk about seeing some old familiar names in your diary), and I gained even more weight

then I decided its not working, so I now eat clean, mostly fruits and vegetables, literally NO PROCESSED FOODS OUT OF BOXES, they all are landened with sodium. I drink water, no booze, no drugs and I work out 6 - 7 days a week Jason, and it worked....

Keep in touch buddy, youre really trying I know, but somethings not working and I hope you find the way......There is some guy, his name is Banks, and hes a really educated and smart poster, who lost weight and kept it off.....he lost lots and hes very knowledgable...maybe he can help us.........Take care, Ill look for his name...............Lloyd

stormieweather

Banks changed his name to Sheboss1673, and he's still on and active .

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/SHBoss1673

jansus

I am not an expert - but will tell you that on a Uk slimming club - similar to WW - you are allowed to eat fruit/veg /salad and meat(lean and not cooked in fat) without measurement . Other foods are of course restricted - but it does work - with or without excercise. Therefore I do believe it is not all about calories .It is about healthy eating and thats why I am becoming very sceptical about these low fat branded meals. I have myself used them because they are convenient for actually measuring what you are eating but also convenient for making the companies money.

lloydrt

stormie, thank you, I had another poster send me his name in a message, thanks so much. Jason got it and hes going to get in touch. I guess when I read his posts and see his struggles, it reminds me so much of what I have gone thru, over and over again.......ya know

Im a food addict, and now that Im almost at goal Ill have to deal with this addiction every day of my life. Im in control and not going back to that black hole I lived in . My body cant take any more abuse. If I go back, Ill get high blood pressure again, and my sugar level will for sure increase, putting me at risk for diabetes, as well as sleep apnea

Ill take staying focused daily for the rest of my life insted of staying hooked to a dialisis machine or having to use a CPAP sleeping device, or taking the risk of having a heart attack........I have no options.............Lloyd

kkellam1

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Im a food addict, and now that Im almost at goal Ill have to deal with this addiction every day of my life. Im in control and not going back to that black hole I lived in . My body cant take any more abuse. If I go back, Ill get high blood pressure again, and my sugar level will for sure increase, putting me at risk for diabetes, as well as sleep apnea

Ill take staying focused daily for the rest of my life insted of staying hooked to a dialisis machine or having to use a CPAP sleeping device, or taking the risk of having a heart attack........I have no options.............Lloyd
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I read your story and your results, I am sure that you have heard this before, but it's very impressive. And I greatly respect the fact that you've taken the time to pass your experiences on to the rest of us.

I am another one of the 100 pounders - those of us with 100 or more to lose. Hope in a year or two, I'll be one of th eother 100 pounders - the ones who have lost 100 or more!

I recognize the beginnings of your story as a parallel to where I am now and what motivated me to get off the couch. I have had great success so far and I spend a fair amount of time visualizing the end result while I do my daily walks. Your story is one of those that helps us see what the end game can look like.

I can only hope that I can achieve similar results to yours and one day be in the position to offer the same sort of insights!

Congratulations.

twilightchica

mfp gives me way too many calories! i pretty inactive so i stick to 1200 a day. mfp tells me i should be eating like 400 more...uh no! when i excercise its to loose weight, not so i can eat more! wtf mfp??!!!