NEED HELP! dieting and exercise not working.

Focusonfifty

When you feel "hungry" drink water. Experts say when the body is dehydrated it can be mistaken for hunger and suggests drinking water first before eating something. You should be attempting to drink at least 6-8 8oz glasses daily. You can add lemon wedges/juice to it if you like. You sound soooo discouraged, please don't be. Oatmeal is also a filling food and add some fruit and you're good to go; but please NEVER INSTANT, preferably quick cooking. Good Luck and hang in there!!!:flowerforyou:

Mom0fTwo

some times when your body is not used to consuming 1600/day you will gain at first while it adjusts
For example take a person that has been used to eating 1000 cals/day and cant understand why they cant lose weight, it is because their body is holding on to everything because it is not getting the proper nourishment. Now take that same person and put them at 1600/day they will of course gain a bit at first maybe even a lot but once your body adjusts to the new calorie level the scale will start to lower.

that was my problem, there were days were i would barely eat and others where i would eat too much, at first when i started eating properly i found it was hard to eat it all, i also gained 3 lbs, and then it started to some off, slowly but consistantly, as i got more into exercising it slowed again, i upped my cals again putting my goal at 0.5lb/week, and now i eat even more!! i gained about 4 lbs back but then after a couple of weeks the weight came off plus 2 lbs so believe me more=better!! and I eat back all my exercise cals too

KansasRain

there you go guys my diary is open, so feel free to examine my eating (im sure it could be better but i try!) and thanks in advance for all the help!

rockerbabyy

EDIT: just saw you opened your diary - i see a lot of quick adds, what are those? also try tracking your sodium - it can be a big cause of water retention which shows as weight gain on the scale. , do you log all the water you drink? try to get some more if you are. im not one to believe you have to have 8 glasses of plain water a day...coffee, tea, and soda all count for me..but its important to stay hydrated.
the only other thing i would suggest is eating more fruits and veggies. they dont have to be "fresh" - frozen is a great option too. canned is a good choice if you can find low/no sodium
but i would say give it some more time of really focused trying... measure your foods with a food scale, try to get a more balanced diet.. be honest with your exercise etc. MFP can overestimate calories burned for a lot of people, so maybe think about getting a heart rate monitor with a chest strap?
i always try something for a month before i decide its not working the way i want it to. in january i started weight lifting and i upped my calories a little to 1520. i ate all my exercise calories and stuck to my exercise routine. i only weighed in on the first of jan and the first of feb and lost an average of 1.5 lbs a week. and in a month and a half of lifting, with taking one week off - i lost 20 inches overall.
this month i upped my calories a bit more to my BMR and am doing the same exercise routine and eating exercise calories.. we'll see on the first of march how it worked for me.

marynificent

Sorry, but your diet is abysmal. Try shopping around the perimeter of the food store instead of the aisles. You will never be able to achieve sustainable weight loss and life long health unless you eat better. This is as simply as it can be said:
1.) Eat mostly plants
2.) Eat lean proteins
3.) Eat healthy fats
4.) Stop eating processed food

sarahbetherck

More protien (you can look up how much you need for your weight) and start strength training. Lift, and make it heavy!

AntWrig

there you go guys my diary is open, so feel free to examine my eating (im sure it could be better but i try!) and thanks in advance for all the help!

You are just eating too many calories. Lol at the abysmal comment.

This will help.

http://www.wannabebig.com/diet-and-nutrition/the-dirt-on-clean-eating/

bjohs

there you go guys my diary is open, so feel free to examine my eating (im sure it could be better but i try!) and thanks in advance for all the help!

Kind of what I expected to see. But don't get discouraged! Like I said, it's a learning process and once you start selecting better foods.. the more results you will start seeing. Healthier choices aside, the first suggestion I have is to stop entering the "Quick Add Calories". This only gives you a calorie number (an inaccurate one too) and start taking the time to find the ingredients you are eating. You are missing the important factors like sodium count, fat count, carb count, etc. All of these things can affect your weight loss efforts. Stick with it! Friend supportive people who have been successful in their journey so far and look through their diaries for ideas. And don't stop asking questions! You are here on MFP and asking what to do to help you achieve your goals... that is a step in the right direction.

theblondetrick

it's no wonder that you've gained weight.you eat a lot of chocolate,ice-cream and such.those are full of sugar and sugar is bad for you.also,try not to eat mayo,even if it's light.try to eat a lot of protein and stay away from the processed food.

bjohs

Add Sodium and Sugar to your nutrients tracked as well. I think you'll be completely surprised by the numbers based on what I'm seeing in your meals. You may be sabotaging yourself without even knowing it. Again, when you stop adding the quick calories and entering everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) that goes in your mouth... you'll see your answer as plain as day. ;-)

Di3012

You might not be eating enough calories if there are calories left. Some peoples bodies will hold the weight if it is not getting enough calories. Try eating every calorie it has for you. Do you have it set for 1 or 2 pounds a week?

She is averaging around 1800 calories, she is eating by far, enough.

OP, look at WHAT you are eating rather than the calories.

Try to cut out fast foods such as MacDonalds, they are not filling enough, you eat a burger and no sooner is it swallowed then you get peckish again. 800 odd calories on a pizza, you could have had a massive dinner on that amount of calories.

Watch those "quick calories" meals, often people log like this because they are guessing the calories, this can be a fatal mistake. Underestimating calories in foods is a common error as is overestimating calories burned during exercise. How do you measure your burned calories for exercise?

600 calories yesterday for instance, went on sweet desserts, that is 600 calories that would have been better off spent on a proper meal. Those sweet desserts will not be protein based which is what your body needs when you are doing exercise, especially if, as you say, you are working very hard at.

It isn't the calories consumed, it is WHAT you eat and what you eat is extremely important, if all your body is living on is high carb food that contains little of anything else, where you do you think it will get the protein and everything else it needs from? The answer is your muscles.

Rethink the whole of your meal plans because the reason you are not losing weight is staring you right in the face when you look honestly at your own food diary x

kimikko

It sounds like you need to change up your exercise. Your body gets use to what you are doing, example do strength training one day and then do cardio the next day.

elsinora

Truthful - with all the quick adds in your diary -it's hard to tell but I honestly think its a case of underestimating calories in and overestimating calories out.

rockerbabyy

also feel free to take a peek at my diary. im not on the "clean eating only' bandwagon - i still have my treats...but it can be done in a balanced way.
ignore last night >.> it was an unplanned trip out and ill be working my *kitten* off the next few days to make up for it lol

tmandras

Sorry, but your diet is abysmal. Try shopping around the perimeter of the food store instead of the aisles. You will never be able to achieve sustainable weight loss and life long health unless you eat better. This is as simply as it can be said:
1.) Eat mostly plants
2.) Eat lean proteins
3.) Eat healthy fats
4.) Stop eating processed food

^ this!
drink lots of water, eat smaller portions, more often and add some strength training to your workouts, cut down on sugar ... patience with all of the above , it takes time for change & for your body to get used to it

Di3012

I do not think you have given this enough time, if in 2 months you do not see results then I would be worried

Two months??? That would be one abysmal diet if it took two whole months to even start to see any weight loss.

If a diet is done correctly, weight loss can occur in the very first week.

bjohs

To elaborate on what people are saying about eating too many calories: Never trust what you find in the MFP food database. Even labels at the stores are really an 'estimate'. For the best results, assume two things:

1. That you are actually eating more calories than you think you are. Estimate your calories consumed on the high side.

2. That you are not burning as many calories as you think you are. Estimate your calories burned on the low side.

sziemba1

Watch the carbs too. Those nasty carbs I think are more important to watch than calories as if you have them under control then the calories will take care of themselves. In 2010 I went on a diet to lost 70 pounds and I did it in 4 months by keeping carbs at 115 on average per day, drinking 8 cups of water daily, staying away from anything made with flour, sugar, potatoes, and rice, and doing aerobic exercises 3 times a week.. I am not saying that I was "good" every day but when I got off the wagon one day I jumped back on the next. Good luck!

realme56

Your food choices are definitely not the best.Less fast food and processed food.
Portion control is big too, smaller portions more often.
Do not utilize the exercise numbers in a data base! HRM is best, if you cannot afford that fitbit is inexpensive and gives a better idea of activity level. If neither of those are possible check your heart rate during exercise and get an average then use a site like: http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/calculators/calories-burned-calculator-based-on-average-heart-rate/
but be sure to put in the 35% where she says to be more accurate.

AZKristi

What is your activity level set at? If you've said you are lightly active, don't include normal things like cleaning or cooking or gardening as exercise. If you've said your highly active because you go to the gym every day (but sit at a desk all day) and you are also entering exercise, you could be double counting normal activity as exercise. My activity level throughout the day varies a LOT, so I just set my activity level at sedentary and enter all my exercise. If I end up walking several miles at work, I just log that as exercise

How are you calculating your exercise calories? MFP tends to overestimate calories burned during exercise, anywhere from 20-50%. For me, if I am completing a vigorous spin class, a moderate jog, or rapidly climbing on the stairmill - the max burn for me is usually averages about 12 cals per min based on my HRM.

I only looked at a few days but I saw restaurant food on each day I looked at. I find it very hard to loose weight when eating out, perhaps due to the salt or perhaps just because the calorie load can vary so much depending on who prepares the food.

How much water are you drinking? I find the weight comes off more easily if I am drinking plenty of water. 8 cups is not enough for me. My goal is 12 cups, but it is sometimes hard for me to get there.

I typically loose 1.5-2 lbs a week eating 1700 cals per day doing 7 hours of High Intensity Cardio (running or spin or stair climbing) per week and 4-5 hours of strength training (pilates, yoga or lifting).

Good luck on your journey!