Trying really hard...but still need some advice.

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LourdesitaMaria
LourdesitaMaria Posts: 58 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I need some help...I have been eating more vegetables and fruits than I ever have, consistently, in my life. I have been doing an hour of Zumba 3 times a week and I have been eating more tuna, salmon, and turkey than I had been in the past. I have been logging most everything here at MFP. I feel that I'm doing much better with my diet and exercise now, but I still feel like I'm stuck. Last week I went up 1.8lbs at weigh in (I weigh in on Wednesday evenings at a Weight Watchers meeting). This week I don't feel any better because I woke up with a bloated feeling. I just don't get what I should do differently. Could someone take a look at my food tracker and help me. I know that's a lot to ask....but I so need the HELP. I want to be healthy...and lose the 100+ lbs. that I need to lose...:cry:

I did not eat well at all on Sunday, so that's why I didn't eat back all of my exercise calories on Monday and Tuesday. To try to make up for the slide.

I will welcome and embrace any suggestions any of you may have for me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Maria
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Replies

  • LourdesitaMaria
    LourdesitaMaria Posts: 58 Member
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    Can noone help me out....please...? :sad:
  • LourdesitaMaria
    LourdesitaMaria Posts: 58 Member
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    (Sigh) where is all the support and love...peeps...:(
  • Audddua
    Audddua Posts: 176 Member
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    I hit a wicked plateau and I changed up my exercise to get losing again. It sounds like you've done a lot of zumba - maybe try adding weight lifting into the mix. If you're new, see if you can take a class, or get a trainer for a few sessions to help you sort out what to do.

    :flowerforyou: DON'T GIVE UP! I was stuck for about 6 months and now I've finally got the scale moving again. I wish I had been measuring because I'm pretty sure that I lost inches without losing pounds. Maybe if you started tracking your measurements you could enjoy some non-scale victories (NSV)
  • LourdesitaMaria
    LourdesitaMaria Posts: 58 Member
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    Mossonga, thank you so much for your input...it means a lot. I started the Zumba back up the first week of January after about a 3 month of hiatus of not doing exercise (because of a painful accident...though I'm alright now). So I have been doing Zumba 2-3 times a week since then...I have a toning DVD that I purchased that I will begin working on tonight, then. Thanks for your help, again.
  • ericapage
    ericapage Posts: 108 Member
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    How long have you been on this lifestyle change? I just see several days on your diary. I would recommend eating every two hours by incorporating healthy snacks. Adding more protein might be good too. It seems like the foods you eat at night are very high in calories/fat/sodium. It may be better to try eating a little cleaner (i.e. Homemade /non-packaged food) so you can control the calories, fat and sodium.

    I'm not knowledgeable at all about MFP goals it sets for people. It seems (just to me) a little high on the fat and calorie goal. Maybe it would be good to meet with your doctor and see what they think your goals should be?

    Best of luck to you! Feel free to friend me. :smile:
  • kyrstin__1188
    kyrstin__1188 Posts: 170 Member
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    I'm not sure how you feel about workout DVDs, but I have seen some great reviews and success stories of people using the Jillian Michaels workout DVDs. I just ordered two of them myself and will be starting them in a few days. There is a great variety to choose from. Maybe you could try one of those and see how you like it. Hope this helps! :)
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    How do you measure the calories you eat? You mentioned most everything, what don't you log?
    How accurate are your measurements for calories burned exercising? What do you use to get those numbers?
    Are you paying attention to macronutrients? Was the calorie/macronutrient levels something you got from MFP or from something else?

    I ask those as preliminary questions, certainly not as an attack. The best laid out plan is worthless if you can't accurately implement it.
  • Tia_N_Mac
    Tia_N_Mac Posts: 181 Member
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    I've only lost 15 lbs so I'm no expert. I have one day a week, Saturday, where I eat fast food and all the snacks I want. And surprisingly, I don't want much anymore. I see that you eat out several times a week so maybe try to incorporate more home cooked meals. It's hard to really account for all the fat and sodium in take-out.
  • Audddua
    Audddua Posts: 176 Member
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    I have a toning DVD that I purchased that I will begin working on tonight, then.

    Workout with a mirror so you can check to make sure you're form is good. My old roommate only worked out with DVDs and her form was AWFUL. (Admittedly there was precious little space in our dorm for working out, so some modifications were needed.) You can hurt yourself (aka be forced to miss workouts) if you're form is off. Go slow the first few times through and make sure you can do everything with good form before you push yourself too hard. My trainer taught me, "Less reps with good form is better than more reps with bad form. Keep up the work and you'll be able to do more reps with good form."
  • Bagman12002
    Bagman12002 Posts: 216 Member
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    No expert here still trying my self, but you put in looks like 1700-2000 calories daily, how many are you burning off, when you snack is it later at night, and maybe cook at home more eat out less. good luck.
  • LourdesitaMaria
    LourdesitaMaria Posts: 58 Member
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    How long have you been on this lifestyle change? I just see several days on your diary. I would recommend eating every two hours by incorporating healthy snacks. Adding more protein might be good too. It seems like the foods you eat at night are very high in calories/fat/sodium. It may be better to try eating a little cleaner (i.e. Homemade /non-packaged food) so you can control the calories, fat and sodium.

    I'm not knowledgeable at all about MFP goals it sets for people. It seems (just to me) a little high on the fat and calorie goal. Maybe it would be good to meet with your doctor and see what they think your goals should be?

    Best of luck to you! Feel free to friend me. :smile:

    Hi Erica,
    Thank you for your help! I have just started back up on my tracking here at MFP, but I've been doing Weight Watchers since last March....I had not been eating as well till January when I started to add more fish and vegetables and fruits to my diet. I have started to snack every two hours on fruits and vegetables like a tangerine or celery and cauliflower. I've cut out all the frozen dinners. I have been evading the doctor, but I will have to make an appointment as you suggested. Thank you again. Every bit of advice helps me get strong and move forward.
  • brett1117
    brett1117 Posts: 208
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    Your body adjusts to doing the SAME diet and SAME workout week after week. tinker with the diet..egg whites, add more protein. mix in resistance training. more muscle your have more calories you will burn..Not saying be a power lifter either. W/o 4-5 days a week
  • LourdesitaMaria
    LourdesitaMaria Posts: 58 Member
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    I'm not sure how you feel about workout DVDs, but I have seen some great reviews and success stories of people using the Jillian Michaels workout DVDs. I just ordered two of them myself and will be starting them in a few days. There is a great variety to choose from. Maybe you could try one of those and see how you like it. Hope this helps! :)

    Thanks for noting my post and for giving me your advice! I have one Jillian Michaels DVD and it was so hard....I tried it last year...I have lost a bit since then so I may be able to do the exercises better...so I will have to try it again. I may have to modify her moves; she's intense! :) Every bit of input helps if it is positive, thank you again!
  • busyPK
    busyPK Posts: 3,788 Member
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    Based on your diary these are my pointers. Drink AT LEAST 8 cups of water a day, the more the better. Wake up and drink 1 cup right away and keep a water bottle with you throughout your day and drink, drink, drink. :smile: Next, look at your sodium and try and get that down to 2500. This is also hard for me, but I've started trying to reduce that to make it green each day. Eat every 3 hours or so and make your snacks count. Eat fresh fruit and protein for snacks at around 100calories - almonds, hardboiled eggs, Greek yogurt, string cheese, etc.. If you are starting out on this lifestyle change, give it time and you will see the changes you want. :smile:
  • casbar911
    casbar911 Posts: 61 Member
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    I would recommend going to a dietician if you are really concerned.

    I went to one and found out my resting metabolism was A LOT less then the online calculators where telling me so I had to adjust my calorie intake and macro ratio's - helped alot.... MFP just gives you "Recommendations" they dont necessarily work work for everyone. It takes a little bit of work to find out what is best for "YOU"

    Try to keep your sodium down and drink lots of water- will help with "bloat"
    BE careful with the amounts that MFP tells you that you burn during exercise- it tends to give you more than you actually did.
    I personally only eat my "exercise" calories back if I am truly hungry.

    I would say take a look at my tracker but I dont track on here- I use Sparkpeople (dietician logs into that one and checks and makes suggestions" but I still like this site for motivation etc.

    good luck and keep going- you will find what works for you... :)
  • KareninCanada
    KareninCanada Posts: 834 Member
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    First off, good job not getting sucked into thinking you need to starve yourself in order to lose weight. Overall your calories look pretty good. :) Sodium is definitely too high, though - try to keep that below 2300mg per day and drink lots of water to keep things moving.
  • casbar911
    casbar911 Posts: 61 Member
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    I'm not sure how you feel about workout DVDs, but I have seen some great reviews and success stories of people using the Jillian Michaels workout DVDs. I just ordered two of them myself and will be starting them in a few days. There is a great variety to choose from. Maybe you could try one of those and see how you like it. Hope this helps! :)

    Thanks for noting my post and for giving me your advice! I have one Jillian Michaels DVD and it was so hard....I tried it last year...I have lost a bit since then so I may be able to do the exercises better...so I will have to try it again. I may have to modify her moves; she's intense! :) Every bit of input helps if it is positive, thank you again!



    even if you can only a little bit- iti s better than none... also then you can also see how you progress!! thats the best feeling!! when you only last 5 mins or for 2 pushups but then in a week you can do 10 mins and 5 pushups etc.. great motivator to keep going!! when I first did the 30 day shred I lasted 5 mins and didnt get through very much - now about 6 mths later I can do all 3 levels all the way through!!! key is form!! make sure your form is right- even if you can only do 1 or 2 reps!!
    Have fun seeing results!!
  • LourdesitaMaria
    LourdesitaMaria Posts: 58 Member
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    How do you measure the calories you eat? You mentioned most everything, what don't you log?
    How accurate are your measurements for calories burned exercising? What do you use to get those numbers?
    Are you paying attention to macronutrients? Was the calorie/macronutrient levels something you got from MFP or from something else?

    I ask those as preliminary questions, certainly not as an attack. The best laid out plan is worthless if you can't accurately implement it.

    Thanks for your help and post! I usually go by the database on here and the labels on whatever I eat if there is a label available. I measure all of my food to the best of my ability and sometimes I will overestimate calories so as not to cheat myself. I log everything each day...but for example I blew Sunday and I tracked most everything, but I knew I needed to make up for it so I just got back to eating better on Monday and Tuesday. I find it difficult to eat completely whole foods when I have to eat soooo many calories according to my weight and height. I didn't get this way by eating LOTS of food at EVERY meal...I got this way by not eating all day and then eating fast food and making bad food choices during binges. Ugh. Just the thought makes me ill.

    As far as the calorie burning is concerned it is an estimation. Each Zumba class is 1 hour long and so I log it on MFP by classifying Zumba as "Dance, aerobic etc" and logging my hour workout as being 45-55 minutes instead of the hour. I break a sweat 2-3 minutes into the class and keep up the intensity till the end, (I'm not a natural "sweater" by nature...but Zumba does make me sweat all through the workout.)

    All in all as far as the calories and other numbers I get them from the MFP database...I also track my Weight Watcher points...never exceeding my daily alotment except on Sunday, when I bombed. Hope this was more detailed. I do not take your probe as an attack...I am grateful that you would want to help me. Thank you again so much!
  • LourdesitaMaria
    LourdesitaMaria Posts: 58 Member
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    even if you can only a little bit- iti s better than none... also then you can also see how you progress!! thats the best feeling!! when you only last 5 mins or for 2 pushups but then in a week you can do 10 mins and 5 pushups etc.. great motivator to keep going!! when I first did the 30 day shred I lasted 5 mins and didnt get through very much - now about 6 mths later I can do all 3 levels all the way through!!! key is form!! make sure your form is right- even if you can only do 1 or 2 reps!!
    Have fun seeing results!!

    Thank you, will give it my best shot...and you're right, I've learned that a little is better than none at all....and that I will get there at some point!! Good luck to you too! :)
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
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    Have you tried to cut back on your sodium? Some people are very sensitive to sodium and it causes them to retain water. From a quick glance at your diary, it looks like your sodium is off the charts high!

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