Not Seeing Results

egrooms88

I don't want to lose major weight, my goal is just a jeans size or two. I have trouble sticking to an exercise regimen, but I've been working really hard at portion control. I'm on 1500 calories a day. I eat a lot of fiber, including cereal for breakfast and a fiber one bar for lunch with an apple or banana, and then a disciplined square meal for dinner, no second helpings. Any suggestions for how to kick start and stay strong?

Toxictwist

gotta get that workout routine in there

Bamacraft

Why 1500 calories per day? Second Q is you eat cereal for breakfast and a fiber one bar for lunch with an apple or banana. Thats not much, are you eating the remaining calories for dinner? Portion control is fine but you really need to exercise 3 - 4x per week. Even if you just start parking further away from office, take stairs etc..

ashnm88

I agree with Bamacraft. To me I don't think your eating enough through the day to keep your energy levels up.

Sidesteal

Please specify:

What results ARE you seeing and how long have you strictly eaten 1500 calories? (How many weeks)?

Tea1672

You might want to try increasing your raw veggies and fruits. Especially the veggies. I've been looking at the "Eat to Live" information by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. and I think what he says makes sense. Not saying that I'll do everything he says :-) but I'm doing 1200 calories and though I was hungry the first day I've been fine since. I snack on raw veggies and fruits in between very small meals. At one point I'd lost 4.5 pounds in two weeks (I'm also on the treadmill doing a walk, run a minute or two, walk, etc several times a week if I can) but i keep going up and down a little. But my clothes are beginning to be a little loose! Yay!

Mama_CAEI

How long have you been at it? How much are you looking to lose? 1500 calories seems a bit high to me, MFP has never had me much over 1400 for a goal of 1 lb/week. You may need to start exercising more to jump start your metabolism (though to be honest, I have lost 41 lbs without exercise).

Jeff92se

Almost impossible to make a suggestion w/o the food diary to examine

mcsolis

try the biggest losers last chance workout dvd its amazing and that is what helped me kick start my weight loss its a 6 week program with lots of cardio and its very inexpensive i got it at walmart for about 10 bucks

Buddhaboy

I hate to tell you that you need to exercise...but it's an important part of making weight loss work
Forget that regular exercise tones and firms you, and makes you stronger and heathly
What's best is that if you exercise you can eat back the caloires that you lose!
So that means instead of nibbling a 1500 calorie diet, you could potentially add another 600 caloires to that
And you'll still lose weight AND you'll look great too

yummummum

This is a controversial subject but I could not lose much weight until after years of trying FINALLY cut out wheat all together and went low carb. Suddenly, I had energy to workout and the pounds have melted off me. I know it is not for every one but for me cutting out grains was huge. I eat huge amounts of veggies and protein and fat now.

Good luck!

Dave198lbs

gotta get that workout routine in there

this!!!

janeinspain

Cut carbs and replace with protein. That is instead of cereal in the morning, better eggs with some sort of meat and a tomato, for ex. Have 1-2 fruits/day, get rid of the bread, rice, pasta, pizza, cereal. Have eggs, meat, fish, greek yogurt, some cheeses. Lots of vegetables, but few fruits (due to their high sugar content).

adriayellow11

Workout workout workout. I repeat, you gotta workout. And it doesn't seem like you are eating enough/often. But who knows until we can see your diary!

ADoucette416

To loose weight you have to eat. It's really that simple. I tried a diet much like yours every time I started diets and whatnot. It didn't work. Then I started researching and educating myself on what to put into my body to get fat off my body. And yes, my biggest results have come from eating correctly and working out. That's me though. Loosing weight is seeing what works and what doesn't work for you and your body. Educate yourself on what to eat and what not to eat. And if you don't have time to go to the gym or don't have the motivation, look into ways to squeeze in a great work out and make them more interesting!

kimtpa1417

You have to play around. You may not be eating enough during the day and eating to much at night and it is taking longer to digest your dinner. I try to keep my dinner around 500 calories so throughout the day I eat almost 800 calories. Also if you work, walk on your lunch and breaks and that gives you almost 60 minutes are cardio a day. I do that and a 20 minute work out video after dinner and burn over 400 calories a day.

H_Factor

actually, no, you do not have to workout to see results. you have to create a caloric deficit to burn fat. you can do that through nutrition alone. (side note: exercise does have important benefits as far as cardio health, toning as you're losing, etc...but nutrition is more important for actual weight loss).

beyond telling you this, I can't tell you much more without seeing your food diary. I also don't know if 1,500 calories creates a sufficient deficit for you. I've been in the 1280-1360 range (plus exercise calories) since I joined MFP.

you didn't mention lean protein as part of your diet, and that's SUPER important. and, as for cereal and fiber one bars, they are simply a somewhat better choice amongst processed foods...but they are still processed foods. you can lose weight eating processed foods, but some folks do better once they start cutting out or reducing processed foods, and eating more natural foods.

jlowensby

you have to eat to lose....your body is probably not getting enough calories to burn the stored fat....and yes a workout routine is good but its 80% diet and 20% exercise......try to get around 300-400 calories per meal depending on your calorie intake for the day..mine is 1240. Also eat every 3-4 hours to keep from getting hungry and drink lots of water!

sjcply

Cut carbs and replace with protein. That is instead of cereal in the morning, better eggs with some sort of meat and a tomato, for ex. Have 1-2 fruits/day, get rid of the bread, rice, pasta, pizza, cereal. Have eggs, meat, fish, greek yogurt, some cheeses. Lots of vegetables, but few fruits (due to their high sugar content).

I agree with this.....it is what jumpstarted me getting passed a certain point in my wt loss. I eat around 100-110 grams of carbs and 130-140 grams of protein. (1300 calories per day) My diet consist of lots of lean protein, veggies, fruit, potatoes,beans, brown rice, and I supplement with protein shakes after my workout! I cut out all processed/frozen foods, pasta, bread, (except on occasion).

Good Luck, and I agree with everyone else exercise is a must although what you put in your body is going to be the majority of your wt loss.! Not necessarily # of calories but what foods you eat!

tangiesharp

I don't want to lose major weight, my goal is just a jeans size or two. I have trouble sticking to an exercise regimen, but I've been working really hard at portion control.

If your goal is "just a jeans size or two," maybe you could focus on weight training and lose inches from that. It can really restructure your body without getting "bulky."

wendyw8

Change up your workout routine. I aslo drink a super healthy, all natural drink (18 grams protein) in the morning to start my day. Let me know if you want more info.

I would like more info on that I have a really hard time with breakfast because if I eat what I need to stay full it takes alot of calories and I end up with no energy later in the day!!

jeannec3631

i will have a high caloric day (1400 cal) & then follow it by 2-3 low caloric days (1200 cal). exercise a minimum of 3x day/30+ minutes & eat 6 small meals...keep your metabolism up

Sidesteal

I would like more info on that I have a really hard time with breakfast because if I eat what I need to stay full it takes alot of calories and I end up with no energy later in the day!!

Skipping breakfast is one option, this way you can save calories for later in the day.

UponThisRock

You have to find something you enjoy.

wendyw8

I would like more info on that I have a really hard time with breakfast because if I eat what I need to stay full it takes alot of calories and I end up with no energy later in the day!!

Skipping breakfast is one option, this way you can save calories for later in the day.

I used to skip breakfast but I was told that it is not healthy and that you could just end up eating more, plus I have no energy if I dont eat something since I wake up early.

Sidesteal

I would like more info on that I have a really hard time with breakfast because if I eat what I need to stay full it takes alot of calories and I end up with no energy later in the day!!

Skipping breakfast is one option, this way you can save calories for later in the day.

I used to skip breakfast but I was told that it is not healthy and that you could just end up eating more, plus I have no energy if I dont eat something since I wake up early.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with it from a health standpoint or metabolic standpoint. It's personal preference. That being said if you feel the need to eat breakfast you should do it. I was suggesting it because not eating breakfast would allow you to eat much larger meals later in the day.

Your other alternative is to look for foods that are more satiating but lower in calories. Choose foods that are less calorie dense so you can fill up on them without having to budget as many cals.