Getting frustrated

ezekiel571

I agree that the absolute min should be 1200 calories. Also, a very very important thing to remember is to treat yourself.
Eat the things you would normally eat, just change how you eat them (ie, lower portions or splitting up meals)

Its ok to have that 1/3 cup of ben and jerry's for 130 calories as long as you measure and log it!

Carolyn130

Wow! Thanks everyone! I am so appreciative for our input.

Vegan_Chick

I had something similar happen recently. I was shooting for 1410 calories per day, but when I reviewed 2 weeks worth of entries, I was averaging 1820. Now, some of that I had "earned" back through exercise, so it wasn't all bad news. Here are the questions I asked myself to turn it around, and the things I'm doing now. I went from 270 to start, down to 267, then gained EIGHT pounds in a weekend, and now have netted out at 8.4 lbs lost in about 45 days.

(1) Are you being COMPLETELY honest about the calories you log? I noticed that if I grabbed a Twix mini from the bowl at work (50+ calories), that it was so mindless and I'd forget to record it.
(2) Are you sticking to your calorie max, or are you allowing yourself extra calories because of your workouts? I ask, because I'm not 100% confident that myfitnesspal is accurate in telling you how many calories you burned (seems like it over-estimates).
(3) Are you completely honest about your "lifestyle" in the settings? I initially had it one notch above "sedentary" and have now bumped it down, thus lowering my calorie goals.

Bottom line, calories in, calories out. If you're logging, and under your calorie goal, you should lose. I had this mentality that "maybe I'm different." I thought that my body is so unique that eating fewer calories maybe doesn't work on me. I thought I was immune to the different rules. Then, my mom sent me an article (which is no longer up, but referenced here: http://one-twenty-five.tumblr.com/post/10466126688/this-day) from a blogger trying to reach 125 pounds. She wrote about how she was training for a marathon because she was told that running would just "melt" the pounds off. It didn't. Once she finally gripped the reality that weight loss rules applied to her, it changed her.

I'm not saying you're lying, or that you think these things. But, I certainly did, and here's how I turned it around:

(1) Five 300-calorie meals per day (7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm). It's been so simple for me to follow. If I'm 10 over at 7am, then I make sure to get back on track at 10am by eating 290 calories. I can't say for sure, but I think this is helping with my metabolism.
(2) Track everything that goes into your mouth - even zero-calorie diet soda and added salt.
(3) Take pictures of yourself in a bikini or bra and panties. Even if the scale doesn't say you've lost weight, it's nice to see toning and changes in the mirror.
(4) Do your hair every day. Silly, I know. But there's something about feeling great above the neck that makes me want to perpetuate those good feelings throughout the rest of my body.
(5) When you feel tempted to eat something "bad" or too much, ask yourself "will this make me feel empowered?"
(6) Build habits of monitoring everything by monitoring your finances through a site like mint.com. There's something about tracking in general (calories, money, etc. ) that is a habit you just have to get into.

Hope something in here is helpful to you or others!

This is great advice. I feel like I am struggling with the same problem and I eat mostly healthy and whole foods, plus I exericise like a maniac but I have not received any results in the last 2 months. I took before and after pictures and saw no changes what-so-ever as of last night. It is so fustrating and I think it is MFP telling me I can eat more after exercising. I think I am going to try to eat 1500 calories (5 meals per day) regardless of how much I exercise. My main problem is I like to document my exercising so I can see where I'm at, but I can't stand the fact that it automatically gives you extra calories. There is a psychological efferect to this and it is hard to ignore. Especially when your stomach starts grumbling.....but MFP says I can eat more.....
I looked at that blog and she said something like losing weight is 95% food and 5% exercising. That makes sense and I need to focus more on the food and less on the exercise.

Jean410

(1) Are you being COMPLETELY honest about the calories you log? I noticed that if I grabbed a Twix mini from the bowl at work (50+ calories), that it was so mindless and I'd forget to record it.
(2) Are you sticking to your calorie max, or are you allowing yourself extra calories because of your workouts? I ask, because I'm not 100% confident that myfitnesspal is accurate in telling you how many calories you burned (seems like it over-estimates).
(3) Are you completely honest about your "lifestyle" in the settings? I initially had it one notch above "sedentary" and have now bumped it down, thus lowering my calorie goals.

Great advice. I adjust my excercise to lower my calories burned because I'm sure it overestimates.

ecmcnamee

I just took a quick look at your diary and your net numbers are really low .. some days under 1000 ... Try bumping up your net to 1200 to 1400. Your body NEEDS food (good calories) otherwise it thinks it's starving ... just my two cents

hrobinson416

I looked at your diary - you arent eatintg the MINIMUM of 1200 calories a day. You HAVE to do this. I have issues with this too but I am guessing your body is in starvation mode. Eat 1200 minimum and once you get to that point start working on eating back some of the workout calories if you feel hungry after the 1200 has been eaten. I bet you will see a difference if you start eating 1200 cals min every day. :-) keep up the good work though on your workouts and up the food a little and DEF take measurements!!! You will see it in the measurements even if the scale doesnt show much.

Keep your chin up!

Raf702

Unless you have Hypothyroidism or any medical condition that can affect your metabolism. It's all about your calorie deficit where you will see optimal weight loss. Are you positive about the amount of calories your consuming daily? Have you determined what your BMR is? And what your maintenance calories are? Your exercise routine is spot on, but if your nutrition is not. Then your exercises will do very little in weight loss. For sure it will increase your overall health, but the weight will either be at a stand still or not go anywhere.

Carolyn130

Thanks for the note. No hypothyroidism or hormonal shifts as the bloodwork has all been done. I am going to get to the 1200 calories with good whole nutritious foods and will continue to tweek it. I am glad my exercise is spot on. I think if I eat only 1200 cal. I can stack the exercise cal earned in my 3600 cal. weight loss bank! 2 days without processed sugar....woo hoo!

Anya1982

Try this book Jillian Michaels Making the Cut.
It tells you how to fight the last 10-20 pounds.
I have the same problem as you and I do not think that eating more calories ever helped me. Just my body is very very effective and it has always been this way. If I eat more it srores it. I am totally sure that by eating more I will not lose any weight because I have been trying this for 1 year. For some people might work but for me the only thing that ever works is low calories and lots of exercises.
I am sure that all those celebrities would not starve themselve if it was just sooo easy-just eat more!

The last 10-20 pounds are very difficult to lose and for some people it is even more difficult. I am from that second category.

Good luck:)

God bless you!