Wondering What I am doing wrong

RNewton4269

I gained 4 pounds in a matter of two days. I chalk it up to too much sodium, not drinking my water, stress and getting close to TOM. Tomorrow is another day....and weight is going to fluctuate.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

food choices don't matter as much as a caloric deficit, you can basically eat whatever you want as long as you stay in a deficit to lose weight.

Sorry, but that is so not true. If it was, Burger King, McDs, Pizza Hut, etc... would all have their own version of Jared hawking the 1200 cal/day super-sized burger and fries diet... Funny how every time I see someone complaining that they are not losing weight even though they've maintained a deficit, their diary is full of junk, sugar, simple carbs, and high fat foods, and I never see anyone eating a well balanced diet high in vegetables, fruits and lean proteins on here complaining about that problem... A boy in his teens or 20s may be able to eat whatever he wants and still lose, but it doesn't work like that for the rest of the population. And then there are the health consequences of bad food choices, which will catch up...

in the end all diets work, and they all work the same way, a caloric deficit. does eating only so called junk food make it tougher to stay within your caloric goals? most likely but doesn't mean it can't be done. the answer to the OP's original question in why she gained weight in the span of 2 days was water retention, which is easily shed

I have to disagree with "in the end all diet's work." Her water retention is a product of the draw to high processed high sodium foods. Not all foods are created equal therefore they aren't all processed by the body and used equally, so moving the calorie count around may help you stay within those goals, but your body uses 100 calories of lard differently than 100 calories of lean protein. Yeah, you need to drive that calorie count, but you have to appropriately fuel your body for proper health and functioning (otherwise there wouldn't be conditions such as scurvy). You should start with a good food foundation: lean proteins, whole grains, raw fruits and vegetables (the darker the better, ie spinach has far more nutrients than iceberg lettuce), and meeting calories goals not to fall under 1200 calories a day for a woman. After you set your foundation throw some junk on top if you have to (like my ice cream and wine).

Acg67

I have to disagree with "in the end all diet's work." Her water retention is a product of the draw to high processed high sodium foods. Not all foods are created equal therefore they aren't all processed by the body and used equally, so moving the calorie count around may help you stay within those goals, but your body uses 100 calories of lard differently than 100 calories of lean protein. Yeah, you need to drive that calorie count, but you have to appropriately fuel your body for proper health and functioning (otherwise there wouldn't be conditions such as scurvy). You should start with a good food foundation: lean proteins, whole grains, raw fruits and vegetables (the darker the better, ie spinach has far more nutrients than iceberg lettuce), and meeting calories goals not to fall under 1200 calories a day for a woman. After you set your foundation throw some junk on top if you have to (like my ice cream and wine).

i don't disagree that optimally you want to eat whole, unprocessed foods. But you can lose weight eating all junk if you so chose, it's not the healthiest way of eating but in terms of weight loss, no less effective then eating only supposed clean foods

AlsDonkBoxSquat

Um, actually this isn't entirely accurate. Yes, a caloric deficit is essential to losing weight, but the foods you eat can and do affect the chemicals and hormones in your body, and can stop or slow down weight loss, and promote fat storage. Diets high in simple sugars and carbs can cause blood sugar spikes and an insulin reaction that promotes storage of incoming calories as fat, making it harder to lose. Other foods (and stress) can increase cortisol production which can shift the balance to fat storage (and unfortunately, storage of unhealthy abdominal fat). So no, it's not as simple as maintaining a calorie deficit... junk food diets will not work for the vast majority of adults.

Bray GA et. al. Hormonal Responses to a Fast-Food Meal Compared with Nutritionally Comparable Meals of Different Composition. Ann Nutr Metab. 2007 May 29;51(2):163-171

Background: Fast food is consumed in large quantities each day. Whether there are differences in the acute metabolic response to these meals as compared to ‘healthy’ meals with similar composition is unknown. Design: Three-way crossover. Methods: Six overweight men were given a standard breakfast at 8:00 a.m. on each of 3 occasions, followed by 1 of 3 lunches at noon. The 3 lunches included: (1) a fast-food meal consisting of a burger, French fries and root beer sweetened with high fructose corn syrup; (2) an organic beef meal prepared with organic foods and a root beer containing sucrose, and (3) a turkey meal consisting of a turkey sandwich and granola made with organic foods and an organic orange juice. Glucose, insulin, free fatty acids, ghrelin, leptin, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol were measured at 30-min intervals over 6 h. Salivary cortisol was measured after lunch. Results: Total fat, protein and energy content were similar in the 3 meals, but the fatty acid content differed. The fast-food meal had more myristic (C14:0), palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0) and trans fatty acids (C18:1) than the other 2 meals. The pattern of nutrient and hormonal response was similar for a given subject to each of the 3 meals. The only statistically significant acute difference observed was a decrease in the AUC of LDL cholesterol after the organic beef meal relative to that for the other two meals. Other metabolic responses were not different. Conclusion: LDL-cholesterol decreased more with the organic beef meal which had lesser amounts of saturated and trans fatty acids than in the fast-food beef meal.

You're using a study specifically designed to test the impact that one meal has on LDL cholesterol and extrapolating the results in a broad sense, your extrapolation doesn't make logical or scientific sense to me.

Acg67

You're using a study specifically designed to test the impact that one meal has on LDL cholesterol and extrapolating the results in a broad sense, your extrapolation doesn't make logical or scientific sense to me.

the study was designed to see the difference in metabolic response, since people are saying fast food is worse then a "cleaner" meal for weight loss there should be profound differences in metabolic responses to the fast food meal

ladybg81

My first piece of advise, track your sodium.

My second piece of advise, stop eating so much CRAP!!!

srp2011

Um, actually this isn't entirely accurate. Yes, a caloric deficit is essential to losing weight, but the foods you eat can and do affect the chemicals and hormones in your body, and can stop or slow down weight loss, and promote fat storage. Diets high in simple sugars and carbs can cause blood sugar spikes and an insulin reaction that promotes storage of incoming calories as fat, making it harder to lose. Other foods (and stress) can increase cortisol production which can shift the balance to fat storage (and unfortunately, storage of unhealthy abdominal fat). So no, it's not as simple as maintaining a calorie deficit... junk food diets will not work for the vast majority of adults.

Bray GA et. al. Hormonal Responses to a Fast-Food Meal Compared with Nutritionally Comparable Meals of Different Composition. Ann Nutr Metab. 2007 May 29;51(2):163-171

Background: Fast food is consumed in large quantities each day. Whether there are differences in the acute metabolic response to these meals as compared to ‘healthy’ meals with similar composition is unknown. Design: Three-way crossover. Methods: Six overweight men were given a standard breakfast at 8:00 a.m. on each of 3 occasions, followed by 1 of 3 lunches at noon. The 3 lunches included: (1) a fast-food meal consisting of a burger, French fries and root beer sweetened with high fructose corn syrup; (2) an organic beef meal prepared with organic foods and a root beer containing sucrose, and (3) a turkey meal consisting of a turkey sandwich and granola made with organic foods and an organic orange juice. Glucose, insulin, free fatty acids, ghrelin, leptin, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol were measured at 30-min intervals over 6 h. Salivary cortisol was measured after lunch. Results: Total fat, protein and energy content were similar in the 3 meals, but the fatty acid content differed. The fast-food meal had more myristic (C14:0), palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0) and trans fatty acids (C18:1) than the other 2 meals. The pattern of nutrient and hormonal response was similar for a given subject to each of the 3 meals. The only statistically significant acute difference observed was a decrease in the AUC of LDL cholesterol after the organic beef meal relative to that for the other two meals. Other metabolic responses were not different. Conclusion: LDL-cholesterol decreased more with the organic beef meal which had lesser amounts of saturated and trans fatty acids than in the fast-food beef meal.

There are a lot of problems with this study - first, it's a study of 6 men with 3 time points, which may be hypothesis generating, but certainly doesn't support any firm conclusions. You would need a much larger randomized trial, controlling for all other variables to do that. Second, the foods they ate surrounding those meals are not controlled at all, and you don't know how that has affected the basal levels of metabolic markers. Third, they did actually see acute differences in LDL levels, so that goes against your point that foods make no difference in the body's biochemistry (and the type of fat in the meals was the main variable). Fourth, they each had a high-glycemic index beverage with their meals, so not a big shock that insulin and glucose levels were similar (juices are very high in sugar content - note that juice is what you give someone who has taken too much insulin... not a great diet food). Let's try contrasting the burger and fries and soda with a piece of broiled fish, salad or steamed vegetable, and apple and water. Finally, the occasional fast food meal may not have an adverse effect overall on diet (heck, I eat out occasionally), but the point was that eating ALL or MOST of your meals at fast food restaurants was not conducive to weight loss, not to mention good health. This study does not look at all about the chronic effects of a poor diet, which is what I was referring to.

Acg67

"the point was that eating ALL or MOST of your meals at fast food restaurants was not conducive to weight loss"

the question is, is it detrimental to weight loss though. assuming identical macros, food choice makes little difference for weight loss. i've never stated that eating all fast food was the optimal way to eat for health, just that for weight loss it doesn't make a huge difference.

http://chazzweaver.com/site/projects/down-size-me/

lpeacock06

I was addicted to fast food as well!! ESP w/ 2 kids that want cfa & other junk! I've had to totally change my eating habits!! I just started a new boot camp & they want you to eat @ least 60g of protein & 25 of fiber....a protein & fiber at each meal!!!
I'll type out my list & maybe it will help:
Protein: boneless skinless chicken breast
Turkey breast
Lean ground turkey
Swordfish
Salmon
Tilapia
Canned or packaged tuna
Shrimp
98% fat free ground bee98% buffalo
Eggs & egg beaters
Fat free cottage cheese
Almonds
Skim milk
Zone perfect bars
South beach bkfst bars
Think thin protein bars
Eas carb control drinks
Kashi go lean cereal
Low fat string cheese
Laughing cow Swiss cheese
Chobani yogurt
Vegetarian protein:
Tempeh
Tofu
Soy foods
Veggies burgers

If this is helpful I'll type out the rest later tonight

mryoun

It's frustrating when you have a gain. I have found what helps me is to tell myself that it's ok, it happens. Just pick yourself back up and stay on track. Make sure you're staying within your calories and try something different like cutting down on starchy carbs (if you hadn't tried that). Or maybe try changing up your workouts. I do a workout class at the gym, we do chalean workout dvd, but it is a different workout each day. I've found that it really helps!

srp2011

"the point was that eating ALL or MOST of your meals at fast food restaurants was not conducive to weight loss"

the question is, is it detrimental to weight loss though. assuming identical macros, food choice makes little difference for weight loss. i've never stated that eating all fast food was the optimal way to eat for health, just that for weight loss it doesn't make a huge difference.

http://chazzweaver.com/site/projects/down-size-me/

One or two outliers are not scientific support for a junk-food eating plan. The average person is not going to lose weight on a diet like that - by the same token, the average person can follow the training schedule of an Olympic athlete and yet most will never be able to achieve Olympic performance status - natural ability and physiology factor in. Anecdotal evidence from a few extreme outliers is not scientifically acceptable 'proof' of anything. Yes, there are probably a few individuals out there who can eat crap but they have a super-high metabolism and they get away with it (when I was 18 I could do exactly that). This Chazz guy was already in great shape, he's eating 2500-3500 calories per day (NOT typical for the average dieter), and working out on average over an hour per day, probably quite intensely to offset that kind of intake. Really not a good role model for someone who is struggling to lose weight, like the OP.

BethanyMasters

try eating real foods and not junk foods just saying

I hate to say it but I agree with this. You are eating a lot of crap. All that stuff is highly processed and has a crap ton of sodium in it which will cause you to retain water if you are not drinking enough water to compensate.
You are eating mostly under your calories but the nutritional value isn't there.

Also put the scale away. Only weigh once a week or you are only going to get frustrated.

servilia

I highly recommend cooking classes. It's apparent from your diary that you don't cook and all of your food is ready prepared (lean cuisine, etc) or you're eating out (burger king, pizza hut, mcdonalds, etc). You should take some time to learn how. It's fun and feels great to be able to prepare almost anything you want with fresh ingredients. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but all this eating out in your diary is making me wonder what you feed your kids. Are they eating at burger king, mcdonalds, pizza hut etc with you all these times? You don't have to answer, it's just a rhetorical question and something you can think about for yourself.

BethanyMasters

And maybe I'm a bit biased because I work there but Pizza Hut? Really? I can get it for free and I still won't touch it. I've even had co workers try to pay me to eat it. Pizza Hut is by far the worst pizza on the planet right next to Cici's.

Acg67

One or two outliers are not scientific support for a junk-food eating plan. The average person is not going to lose weight on a diet like that - by the same token, the average person can follow the training schedule of an Olympic athlete and yet most will never be able to achieve Olympic performance status - natural ability and physiology factor in. Anecdotal evidence from a few extreme outliers is not scientifically acceptable 'proof' of anything. Yes, there are probably a few individuals out there who can eat crap but they have a super-high metabolism and they get away with it (when I was 18 I could do exactly that). This Chazz guy was already in great shape, he's eating 2500-3500 calories per day (NOT typical for the average dieter), and working out on average over an hour per day, probably quite intensely to offset that kind of intake. Really not a good role model for someone who is struggling to lose weight, like the OP.

these are not outliers it is creating a caloric deficit, which is how you lose weight. calories are what matter when trying to lose weight.

BethanyMasters

It's true that all that matters for weight loss is a calorie deficit if you are talking about a properly functioning body.

Your body does not function under normal parameters when you feed it nothing but junk and it's not getting the proper nutrients it needs.

I challenge anybody to find a person that has lost weight and kept it off by eating the way the OP is eating.

aprilhelmreich

food choices don't matter as much as a caloric deficit, you can basically eat whatever you want as long as you stay in a deficit to lose weight.

Thank you! I was almost getting mad at people dissing her food choices. If she wants fast food go ahead and eat it but make sure its in your calories and drink a TON (at least a gallon) of water everyday to counteract the sodium intake.

Acg67

It's true that all that matters for weight loss is a calorie deficit if you are talking about a properly functioning body.

Your body does not function under normal parameters when you feed it nothing but junk and it's not getting the proper nutrients it needs.

I challenge anybody to find a person that has lost weight and kept it off by eating the way the OP is eating.

then do tell where the energy comes from if you are in a deficit?

ZonePerfect

Sounds like you're making steps in the right direction! Keep it up! ~Brittany @ZonePerfect