Advice needed!!!

butterflimom

After I turned 30 last year and decided that 200+ pounds was not the way I wanted my kids to see me, I began my own personal healthy journey. I started slowly by cutting back on sugars, fried food, etc... I began walking in my neighborhood just to begin some sort of exercise, since I had hardly done anything in almost 10 years. Within 6 months, I had went from a size 18/20 to a 12/14. Weight wise I went from around 220ish to 175. I got a little slack during the holidays, but nothing terrible.

The first part of this year, I slacked off from exercising, but still watched my portions. I got down to my lowest since middle school at 164.5 in March 2011- still a long ways from my healthy goal weight for someone who is barely 5'4". Almost overnight, the scales started climbing and I got back up to 173ish. I then made the decision to try again, but this time harder. I got an elliptical and started at just 5 minutes a day (all I could handle.)

Since July, I have pushed myself endurance wise and I work out 30 -45 minutes a day either with the elliptical, Taebo, or Walk at Home 3-5 days a week. I increased my almost absent water intake to 8+ glasses daily. I also started using MFP to monitor my calories intake. My weight is now fluctuating between 166.3- 169.1 daily, with today being 167.7. What can I do to loose the weight and why the fluctuations?

As you can imagine I am frustrated and just want to break free from this plateau. Any honest, helpful advice will be appreciated.

bens_mommy

It could be your diet, perhaps you're not eating enough calories? If you make your diary public I'm sure people can offer more solid advice.

pippy1973

it sounds to me like you are doing a great job. i read something the other day that helped me understand the reason for plateaus. our body is "programmed" at a certain weight. this is the reason that the moment we let down our guard and go back to our old way of eating and exercising, our body climbs back up to it's old weight...and usually more. when we hit a plateau, that is when our body is "reprogramming" to become used to our new weight. in the article, they discussed how instead of looking at a plateau as a hindurance...to realize that it is our body adjusting to our new weight and to use them as practice for maintanence when we hit our goal weight. i wish you the best of luck. the only advice i would give is to watch your protein levels and try to get in 60 to 90 grams a day regardless of what it shows on your mfp food diary. also, make sure you are getting in enough cals. God bless you!!!!

JoanNLV

The people helping me had me on 2300 calories for a week. I barely ate anything before so my body was storing everything that I ate. So, the first week I gained maybe a pound, and since that I have lost 4 pounds (since Friday...so in two days!)
I don't know that much about how much you should increase your food intake for a short period of time, but maybe someone else knows how to do that...or you could Google to find something.

mydeloo78

Plateus usually just mean you need to shake things up a little.. so change up your exercise, add in some High Intensity Intervals.. o0r change your cals up, make one day higher calories and one day lower calories. Your body adjusts to things quickly so changing things up my get you moving again.

butterflimom

Okay- it's now open to the public. Sorry, didn't realize it was set to private, still trying to get the hang of the site

cardbucfan

O.K., you are not gonna like what I have to say. You aren't eating enough protein and you are eating a lot of junk. While I am a firm believer in things in moderation, I don't think you can get the results you want by eating poptarts and a lot of fast food. The calories need to be GOOD calories. If you want a poptart, go for it, but have healthier stuff the rest of the day. I had Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls for breakfast this morning (my children begged for them and we've not had them in over a year) but I had a salad for lunch with a 1/2 sandwich, I'm gonna workout and eat a healthy dinner. I try to live by the 80/20 rule (and of course, we all know I'm perfect :laugh: ) 80% of the time I eat well, 20% is not so great. Also, make certain you are getting your water in. You may just not be logging it, but do drink it, it helps A LOT.

brittbergh

O.K., you are not gonna like what I have to say. You aren't eating enough protein and you are eating a lot of junk. While I am a firm believer in things in moderation, I don't think you can get the results you want by eating poptarts and a lot of fast food. The calories need to be GOOD calories. If you want a poptart, go for it, but have healthier stuff the rest of the day. I had Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls for breakfast this morning (my children begged for them and we've not had them in over a year) but I had a salad for lunch with a 1/2 sandwich, I'm gonna workout and eat a healthy dinner. I try to live by the 80/20 rule (and of course, we all know I'm perfect :laugh: ) 80% of the time I eat well, 20% is not so great. Also, make certain you are getting your water in. You may just not be logging it, but do drink it, it helps A LOT.

ditto this. You are eating really empty calories you nee REAL foods for your body to fuel and push through.
Also maybe try uppering your workouts...something to challenge you..longer workouts...really push yourself.

butterflimom

Thanks for your honest reply. That's what I was afraid of. I use the excuse of my busy life and my kids along with 20 + years of bad eating habits. What you said makes sense.

brittbergh

it also looks like you are eating way too much sugars..watch that and see what happens!
You can TOTALLY do this for yourself, your kids, your life!! You just work at it and remember you ARE worth it..every single second...every sweat bead..everything is worth it! Nobody said it would be easy but you will feel so much better!

morkiemama

My suggestions would be to up the veggies and protein and cut down on processed/fast foods if you can. I see you aren't tracking your sodium and you might consider it. You could be going over on that by a lot (from the processed/fast foods) and that could be causing you to retain a lot of water. High sodium is one of my battles too!

lisajlb

Looks like too much sugar and remember this can lead to diabetes problems, you seem to be over on this most days. I learnt the same way using MFP and adjusted to make sure that sugar and fat didn't go over any more than calories did. Stick with it you will get there x

smcassaro

I know you & I are having the same problem & IT SUCKS! I don't have any good advise, just supoort & encouragement not to give up. I can tell you that I met with my trainer last week & asked him what I was doing wrong. He said I am not eating enough. I know you & I are similar in current & goal weight, so we are probably aiming for similar calories. Even though it's hard for me to wrap my brain around eating MORE to lose weight, I'm going to try for the next month. Hang in there with me- we can do this!

blondechic213

I noticed that you aren't keeping track of your sodium intake. This has always been my trouble area. There is so much in everything and it really takes a toll on your weight. My goal is 1700mg per day and a recommended max is around 2500mg. I've noticed that if I have too many days of high sodium intake, it doesn't matter how much I work out or how low any other nutritional value is. The big things to avoid that have high sodium are frozen meals, sauces, soups and canned foods. It is difficult to maintain, but once you get in the habit of finding alternatives, it gets easier. Hope this helps. Good luck.

butterflimom

Thanks for all of the honest and helpful answers. I think that I needed any eye opener. Even though it is easier to just eat what the kids eat and to be able to go through a drive thru for convenience, deep down I know that it's bad for me. Last year both me and my hubby started this journey by using the Belly Fat cure book. It keeps your sugars low as well as carbs. You really have no choice but to eat high protein and veggies. So I guess if it worked before very well and since stopping it almost a year ago now I haven't put on but 5-6 pounds, I will try it again.
I went to the store and bought lots of healthy veggies,organic health foods, etc... I know that it's going to be hard to change my thinking and learn to like "healthy" foods, but my mind frame is that I have come too far to stop now and instead of seeing someone who is a healthy weight and saying "I wish I could look like that" I am now saying " I am going to look like that and be healthy."
I will admit that tonight will be a cheat night just to get it out of my system and tomorrow is a NEW DAY!!!