Frustration was broken by....a Dunkin Doughnut =(

dixiech1ck

Yes, I admit it. I'm frustrated. I work in an office where the managers very rarely bring in any kind of "treat" that doesn't involve sugar and loads of lard. Don't I have enough of that on my *kitten*?!

After staying in the 1200 - 1300 range the past several days and working out at least 45 minutes to an hour 3-5 days, I have not seen the scale move, but stay stagnent. I lost 5 lbs the first week - yea for me, right?! I was so happy, I felt like this was going to turn my life around. But, when the scale stays rooted in the same number (236), I just step off, shake my head and go about my day, trying to be positive but completely and utterly hating myself from the inside out. I've even caught myself smacking my head going "dummy, what are you thinking?" and then popping a DVD in the tv and letting Bob Harper kick my butt. But no matter how hard I'm working, I feel like it's not going anywhere and I'm stuck chasing my tail.

Am I doing something wrong? There were two days where my results told me I was eating way under my caloric intake limit -- I think it was 1150 or 1175. I had been exercising and I'm not always hungry, even though they say to eat every 2 - 2.5 hours.

Any insight would be great! I'm new to this so encouragement, even cold, hard truths are totally welcome.

Thanks!
Angie

martyc91

Keep doing what ur doing, snack on a fruit cup or yougurt when u have the urge to eat that doghnut, trust me the 1st week you lose alot of weight but if you can get thru week 2 and 3 - you will be on your way to great success. Plus, try to drink a cup of water before each meal and after each meal as well - that has helped me trememdously! But keep doing an hr./day of cardio - it will all pay off in the end, TRUST ME!

AlisonMacKay

not sure what MFP is telling you to eat for net cals but you may not be eating enough. Hard concept to grasp but it might be whats going on. Everyone is different but since I have been with MFP I have fluctuated from my net cals to about 300 under and I have been losing every week. I would make sure you are getting close to your net cals and see how that works for you.

billsica

Yes. you are trying to run your body like a machine, but your a super complex organic being. You could be holding onto more water, or who the heck knows. Its only been a few days.
That is the big truth. . your going to fluctuate all over the place. Either deal with it, or only weigh yourself once a week. I just weigh every day, and accept that my weight is in a 5-10 pound range, that range slowly is moving down.

In your office. I know that a lot of times I want to bring in something, but have no idea what. Everyone likes doughuts! Everyone likes cookies. I would suggest just talking to your manager on the side and say, something like fruit would make this office healthier. Or one day bring in something healthy, if the managers see people flock to healthy treats, they will start doing it too.

patiencelahita

try upping your cals usually on a diet you want to start by taking your weight and multiplying it by 10 so 2360 then subtract 500 cals to eat and try to burn 500 calories through exersise or even them out thats what I have gathered through my research hop it helps

countrymom1

There is a lot of debate about eating exercise calories back. There are people on both sides of the fence. My opinion is that you should eat at least some of your exercise calories back, so that you are netting at least 1200 calories. Anything less than 1200 calories can put your body in starvation mode and it will hold onto the weight. The people on The Biggest Loser show have to eat - and they are told that all the time by their trainers - you have to fuel your body with the right kinds of foods and meet the calorie requirement.

Bride2B090812

I am in the same boat as you. I had a loss of 7 lbs my first week and nothing this week at all. It sucks, but I know I have faithfully stuck to the program. It could be that your body is trying to adjust to the new lifestyle. I'm planning to continue as I have for another week and see what happens. If I am still not getting anywhere then I will bump my calories up a bit. Good luck!

bcattoes

I'm sure you will get a lot of conflicting advice about eating under your calories. My advice is to eat enough so that you are really not hungry, and make sure that you are getting the right amounts of protein, carbs and fat because all are important. If you eat too little you might lose weight, but are you going to be able to do that forever? If you are eating too few calories but are genuinely full then you are probably not getting enough fat and/or protein because both tend to be high calorie. Maybe had a handful of nuts or some reduced fat cheese as a snack, or trade in fat free salad dressing for a healthy homemade vinegrette made with olive oil.

And more importantly, don't live by the scale. If you eat a calorie deficit you wil lose weight.

NicoleLyn1818

You should be eating some of your exercise calories that they give you back.....the limit of "1200" calories is the bare minimum. If you don't eat that amount at least every day then your body will go into starvation mode and you'll plateau off at not losing any weight for a while, or at least not losing much. Make sure you are drinking enough water to flush some of that salt out....water follows salt (haha thanks nursing classes for the info!).

Keep your chin up--you can do this!!

nakabi

Make sure you are eating enough or else your body will think you are starving it and start storing up the food since it thinks its in starvation mode. Liek the others said, when you get the urge to eat that sugar laden donut, get a piece of fruit instead. Drink lots of water and keep healthy snacks around. Sounds like you are doing a great job; keep it up!!! Don't get discouraged!

mericksmom

are you eating back some or most of your exersize calories?? You may want to eat more. A lot of people say that when they up the cal by even 100 cals it has helped them. Also Clean eating is a big one too. But I would say stay away from the scale, weigh once a week or every two, buy a measuring tape and measure your self. I have only lost 20 lbs this whole yrs from Jan 1 but the inches I am losing like crazy. HUGS . I wish you the best and that you get the answer that will help kick start the loss again.

ETsambouris

Do you watch your salt? A friend of mine had problems losing weight and when she lowered her salt intake, it came off. She drank lots of water and was holding a lot of it because of the salt. You'd be surprised how much salt is in things you don't think about.
Just a thought.
Good luck and keep up the great work!!!

TTTerri

I feel your pain. I used to look in the mirror and slump away to the couch discouraged because I had mowed the lawn and gone for a 3 mile walk, but still looked like an Oompa Loompa. But I've learned that there are enough people who can make me feel utterly bad about myself, so I'm my own cheerleader. My motto is, "If I'm NOT the best I can be - I will keep working until I am." Nothing or no one can stop me from working on loving myself: from the inside out.

Also, don't forget the inches! My results are far more rewarding when I try on my clothes than when I look at the scale.

Be happy and healthy!

bryals

I am a big guy and working at losing weight. I had the same problem with weight loss I lost some and then stayed at the same weight for 2 months. During that time I slowly stopped trying as hard but worked to at least stay at that weight. I just recently decided to try again. Before I began I talked with my doctor and he kindly reminded me of two things I sit all day doing very little at work and I am getting older. He said these two things mean you don't need as many calories as you did years ago. So I reduced my portions again and keep eating the same things just less of them, well the weight has started coming off again.

Also, check how much sodium you are consuming that will hinder your weight loss if you are getting more than you daily allowance.

Don't worry you keep working at losing weight checking calorie intake and you'll do fine.

Nelski

Try eating more, seriously. My opinion is that MFP's suggestion of the amount of calories you should eat is way too low.

Example...When I weighed around 150, I was losing weight on eating around 1800 calories and working out about 30-40 min 5 days a week.
When my husband weighed around 225 he was eating 1700ish and working out about 5 days a week and not losing. When he bumped that up to about 2200 the weight came off.


Try this site for suggested calorie intake...
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

pickadilly2009

Persistance! Just keep on keeping on! It will get you where you want to go but you may have to have some patience to get there. It didn't take 2 weeks to put it on, it wont take two weeks to take it off. Hang tough!! You want this and it makes you feel good! Don't let your mind/emotions sabotage your goals! So what you didn't see the scale go down this week...5 lbs last week makes up for nothing this week! 1.5 to 2.5 lbs per week is normal and you had an abnormal week last week. It will catch back up next week. Pay attention to what you are eating and exercise.

You CAN do this!

I tell myself this same thing all the time!!!

MinnieInMaine

It's hard to say for sure without access to your diary but from what you've said, I'd have to assume that you're not eating enough so your body is holding on to every morsel it can (starvation mode). I'm not sure what you have your weight loss goal set at but if it's 2 pounds per week, I'd suggest lowering that to at least 1.5 pounds per week so you get 2-300 more calories per day.

That's the setting I've been using since April. I eat all my exercise calories back (granted, they're from my heart rate monitor, not the high #s that MFP gives), usually go over caloires 1 day per week by at least 300 and have been losing about 1 pound per week consistently. I know it sounds odd but keep reading around on these message boards and more often than not, you'll see people saying to eat more to lose more. It really works!

dixiech1ck

Thank you for all of the suggestions and advice. I will definitely take them to heart. I don't want to give up, but sometimes I just feel like all the work is for naught (kind of like my REAL job). And the funny thing --- I work in WELLNESS!! So, I'm the one sending communications to employees about the power of eating well and living a healthy lifestyle, to help with reductions in their overall health insurance. Crazy, right?!!

I definitely have healthy snacks around me. My daily routine usually follows this pattern:

Bkfst - egg substitute (1/2 cup) with some veggies like mushrooms, peppers or tomato as an omlete
Snack - a yougart or piece of fruit and/or a packet of weight control oatmeal
Lunch - either a spinach salad with a bunch of veggies -- broccoli, zucchini, tomatoes, cauliflower, cucumber, peppers and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegarette
Snack - another piece of fruit or a snack bar
Dinner - either fish or meat (chicken or steak) always the size of my palm, a sweet potato and some kind of vegetable or small salad
Dessert - maybe a fruit salad, a fruit bar, a yougart

The weird thing is that I am not hungry once I eat my dinner. I start to feel hungry, really really hungry around 11pm. But it's too late and I don't want to jeopardize myself.

Lleldiranne

First, stop weighing yourself every day. You're just giving yourself stress. Weight can fluctuate day to day, and expecting to see much change in one day is setting yourself up for disappointment. Weigh in once a week.

Realize that you won't be losing 5 lbs a week most weeks. It often happens in the first week or two of a serious weight loss program, but a good portion of that is water your body sheds with the new diet and activity. Expect to lose 1-2 lbs a week most of the time (that means you'd only average .2-.4 lbs a day at best). Losing "slowly" is actually better for you - it allows your body time to adjust and your mind time to build habits that will keep you slim long-term.

Do make sure that you are consuming at least 1200 NET calories a day. That means if your MFP weight goal is set to 1200, you need to eat back your exercise calories. MFP already works your calorie deficit into your goal, and if you drop below 1200 calories on a regular basis it can send your system into what is frequently called "starvation mode." (Something of a misnomer, but still not what you want for losing weight).

Finally, don't kick yourself if you cave once in a while. Everybody needs a little cheat here and there. I'm not saying eat the donut every day, or even once a week. But every once in a while you're going to be hit by a craving for something, and treating yourself in moderation (as long as you're careful for the rest of the day and "good" the rest of the week and most weeks) is perfectly fine. After all, this is a lifelong change, and the occasional treat is part of life. It's only when that is the norm that it is bad.

dixiech1ck

I would love to stop weighing myself daily but I'm anal retentive.

pickadilly2009

Thank you for all of the suggestions and advice. I will definitely take them to heart. I don't want to give up, but sometimes I just feel like all the work is for naught (kind of like my REAL job). And the funny thing --- I work in WELLNESS!! So, I'm the one sending communications to employees about the power of eating well and living a healthy lifestyle, to help with reductions in their overall health insurance. Crazy, right?!!

I definitely have healthy snacks around me. My daily routine usually follows this pattern:

Bkfst - egg substitute (1/2 cup) with some veggies like mushrooms, peppers or tomato as an omlete
Snack - a yougart or piece of fruit and/or a packet of weight control oatmeal
Lunch - either a spinach salad with a bunch of veggies -- broccoli, zucchini, tomatoes, cauliflower, cucumber, peppers and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegarette
Snack - another piece of fruit or a snack bar
Dinner - either fish or meat (chicken or steak) always the size of my palm, a sweet potato and some kind of vegetable or small salad
Dessert - maybe a fruit salad, a fruit bar, a yougart

The weird thing is that I am not hungry once I eat my dinner. I start to feel hungry, really really hungry around 11pm. But it's too late and I don't want to jeopardize myself.

Any chance your diary says that you are going over on sugar? Maybe a little more protein?

trouserchili

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

A great article into the science behind why too much working out and too little eating is a big problem. I highly recommend everyone who is on a health and weight loss journey to become familiar with his site. Just one word of warning: Search, search and search some more if you ever post a question on his forum. Not a place for the faint of heart.