I need help please

tjoyner10

I'm reading about so many people who are successful on here and I want that to be me. I had a terrible weigh in today. I normally go to aerobic class 3 times a week or more. I've been going to classes for almost a year now but I haven't been able to lose. This is my second week on fitness pal and I gained a pound even though I didn't go over my calories and I exercised. I looked over my last week and I noticed I went over my sodium, protein, and fat three of the days. I have buckle down and stay focus to stay within all my goals. I need some encouragement or advice on what I'm doing wrong.
Help....

hollyb9871

Hello and welcome to MFP!

The first few weeks are discouraging for many, I personally 'gained' weight the first few weeks even though I was eating within my calories and exercising. It isn't actually real weight, there's no way to put on 2-3 lbs. when you aren't over eating, it's your body adjusting to the changes you are making.

That being said, I looked over your food diary and you have a lot of processed and fast foods. That equals a lot of sodium. Try to eat cleaner, lean chicken/meat, fresh veggies and fruits, whole grain breads and drink all your water. Water does help a lot especially when you have really sodium rich foods. Don't worry so much about going over in protein, it's the sodium that's the main problem.

Aerobic class is a great way to exercise, are you doing any weight lifting? Weight lifting will help you tone up your muscles and sculpt your body in amazing ways. Also you may need to shake things up a little, and try some different cardio workouts you're body may be used to what you're doing.

Good Luck to you!

mallory3411

How much water are you drinking? By looking at your diary you eat a lot of processed and high sodium foods. You also don't really habe fruits and vegetables in your diet. Lower the processed foods, drink more water and eat more fruits and veggies and you should see a difference. Good luck!

Iamkim73

I agree with the above... Feel free to add me if you are looking for support.

carrie_eggo

I'm reading about so many people who are successful on here and I want that to be me. I had a terrible weigh in today. I normally go to aerobic class 3 times a week or more. I've been going to classes for almost a year now but I haven't been able to lose. This is my second week on fitness pal and I gained a pound even though I didn't go over my calories and I exercised. I looked over my last week and I noticed I went over my sodium, protein, and fat three of the days. I have buckle down and stay focus to stay within all my goals. I need some encouragement or advice on what I'm doing wrong.
Help....

Personally, I think your macros (carbs/protein/fat) look great! You should be hitting or going over on protein (as long as you don't over do the calories). Protein is ESSENTIAL, especially when dieting. This will help you feel fuller longer and the protein will help to preserve your muscles while in a calorie deficit. (You also need fat in your diet, and you are doing just fine there too. Eating fat will not make you fat, eating too many calories will make you fat.)

Weight can fluctuate, especially for females, on a daily basis. I agree with the others in that it's probably water weight. Keep up the good work! Make sure you are netting your 1200 calories, and don't worry about being a little bit over. If you still aren't losing after a couple more weeks, you may have to re-evaluate your calorie goal. Sometimes, if we have too large of a deficit, our bodies work against us. Some people have found that they lose weight easier if their calories are set a little higher than the MFP recommendation.

rpantusa

Cut down on your fat and sodium, eat lots of veggies, and drink a TON of water. do that and keep going and you will see some results. You may also need to change up your workout, if you have been doing the same classes for a while, your body is probly used to them, switch it up. Good Luck on your journey!

dovesgate

I'm reading about so many people who are successful on here and I want that to be me. I had a terrible weigh in today. I normally go to aerobic class 3 times a week or more. I've been going to classes for almost a year now but I haven't been able to lose. This is my second week on fitness pal and I gained a pound even though I didn't go over my calories and I exercised. I looked over my last week and I noticed I went over my sodium, protein, and fat three of the days. I have buckle down and stay focus to stay within all my goals. I need some encouragement or advice on what I'm doing wrong.
Help....

Personally, I think your macros (carbs/protein/fat) look great! You should be hitting or going over on protein (as long as you don't over do the calories). Protein is ESSENTIAL, especially when dieting. This will help you feel fuller longer and the protein will help to preserve your muscles while in a calorie deficit. (You also need fat in your diet, and you are doing just fine there too. Eating fat will not make you fat, eating too many calories will make you fat.)

Weight can fluctuate, especially for females, on a daily basis. I agree with the others in that it's probably water weight. Keep up the good work! Make sure you are netting your 1200 calories, and don't worry about being a little bit over. If you still aren't losing after a couple more weeks, you may have to re-evaluate your calorie goal. Sometimes, if we have too large of a deficit, our bodies work against us. Some people have found that they lose weight easier if their calories are set a little higher than the MFP recommendation.

This.

Another thing, are you eating more calories now that you are dieting than before? If you are, the weight gain is just a temporary deal where your body is fixing your metabolism.

tjoyner10

Yes I am eating more calories now. It's hard for me to eat 1200 a day I think that's why I'm eating things that make me go over on sodium and fat because I'm not able to meet my calories

tjoyner10

Thanks for the advice. I will try to implement some changes.

Usbornegal

If you've been doing the same thing over and over again with the same results - do something different! My trainer says that once your body is used to a single exercise, it will settle into that and not change. So switch up your exercise, like take a week off of aerobics and do cardio (treadmill, bike) or the circuit for strength training and see how your body responds.

And I second the sodium comments.

determined2lose89

Hello and welcome to MFP!

The first few weeks are discouraging for many, I personally 'gained' weight the first few weeks even though I was eating within my calories and exercising. It isn't actually real weight, there's no way to put on 2-3 lbs. when you aren't over eating, it's your body adjusting to the changes you are making.

That being said, I looked over your food diary and you have a lot of processed and fast foods. That equals a lot of sodium. Try to eat cleaner, lean chicken/meat, fresh veggies and fruits, whole grain breads and drink all your water. Water does help a lot especially when you have really sodium rich foods. Don't worry so much about going over in protein, it's the sodium that's the main problem.

Aerobic class is a great way to exercise, are you doing any weight lifting? Weight lifting will help you tone up your muscles and sculpt your body in amazing ways. Also you may need to shake things up a little, and try some different cardio workouts you're body may be used to what you're doing.

Good Luck to you!

Exactly this.

MrsRobertson1005

Ditto on making sure you eat more and drink more water, that pound could easily be from sodium bloat or water weight. Look for some high calorie, low sodium foods to help you reach that calorie goal without going over your sodium goal, maybe some fruit.
Great job on making the first step and joining mfp! Take it all one step at a time, it can be very overwhelming if you try cutting out all the bad at once, start by cutting down on fast food. I started waking up 30 minutes earlier so i can make breakfast (chocolate banana protein smoothie and whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter) and pack a lunch, sandwich, fruit, and veggies, or a frozen meal with a fruit and veggies. A good way, if you don't have a lot of time or are just too tire to make dinner at night, to make sure you have food all week is to cook on the weekend, i try to do most of my cooking on Sunday, then all i have to do during the week is heat it up and eat it (turkey burgers, chili (turkey homemade)) or do something easy, take a frozen chicken breast out of the freezer in the morning and when you get home you can cut it up and cook it on the stove or put some spices on it and put it in the oven, then heat up some frozen veggies and tada! Good luck!

tjoyner10

Thank you that's a great ideal. Most nights I don't have time to cook so cooking on the weekend would work best for me. I will definitely try to add different exercises to my routine. I know everything takes time so I'm not going to get discouraged.