Take a look at my diary............Please tell me what exact

DestinationFitnessChick

I have changed things up many different times, I've upped my calories, I've lowered my calories, I've lowered my sugar, I've lowered my carbs............I cant seem to shed a single pound. If you tell me to eat more please share a menu plan with me or give me suggestions because I just don't know how I could possibly eat more. I burn about 2,000 calories per week by teaching Zumba alone. I have also bee lifting weights two to three days per week..........nothing major my heaviest is 10 pound db and maybe a 20 pounder here and there. I also run when I have a chance, but havent here lately. I eat clean, I have only been eating one serving of fruit because I saw that my sugar intake was kind of high. I tried to cut my sugar back to around 19 grams a day and my carbs down to around 70 a day, but my body rebelled........I had no energy and wanted to sleep and that is definately not me, I am a very hyper individual. I have been fighting this battle for over a year..........I really want to lose 10-15 pounds. Please help. I do occasionaly treat myself, but not normally.

DestinationFitnessChick

I also need to add that I wear a Bodybugg and my total calorie burn is between 2,000 and 2,400 calories per day.........depending on whether I work out or not.

azazelrabbit

Perhaps you are burning fat off with all your workouts and deficits, but you're also gaining muscle when you train and teach zumba.
Muscle is generally heavier than fat.

bizco

How are you coming up with the number of calories burned from exercise that you're logging? Are you subtracting the number of calories you would have burned any way without exercising? What are your MFP inputs (weekly weight loss goal, activity/lifestyle setting)? Do not include your dedicated exercise workouts in your activity setting.

Do you use a digital food scale to accurately measure everything that goes into your mouth? Are you logging beverages and things used to cook with (oils, butter, marinades, etc.)? Most people drastically underestimate food portions.

suziecue66

No muscle is not heavier than fat. 1 pound of muscle weighs the same as 1 pound of fat. Muscle just takes up less space compared to fat.

To the OP, not sure what to suggest. Maybe you should have allowed more time to adjust to lower carb? Have you had your thyroid checked?

TavistockToad

i have had a look at the last few days, theres not much in the way of fruit and veg?

if your HRM says u burn between 2000 and 2400 cals per day, you should be taking 500cals off this to get the number to eat to lose a pound per week.

DestinationFitnessChick

The calories burned comes from my Bodybugg, it is very accurate.........I have a hrm as well and it says the same as the Bodybugg. I don't cook with oils ............all of my food (turkey burgers, chicken, etc) is all grilled on a George Foreman grill. I don't drink beverages with calories. Vegetables are steamed in a steamer and I measure those out into one cup servings, I measure salad dressing also..........I use Yogurt dressing which is low in calories, fat and sugars. I only drink water and green tea that is sweetened with stevia. Yes my food is weighed out, I put turkey burgers and chicken in individual servings and freeeze. I have my MFP at the lowest setting because I am a teacher and my daily acitivity varies. My Zumba playlists are never the same so my body doesn't get used to the same level all the time.

I'm sure I have gained some muscle, but as the poster said muscle does not weigh more than fat,a pound is a pound, muscle is however leaner. I have seen some muscle definition, however I have lots of loose skin from weighing over 200 pounds at one point in my life!

Gordie580

more protein. i know once I added more protein i started dropping alot nicer.

Becky_Boodle

I eat clean, I have only been eating one serving of fruit because I saw that my sugar intake was kind of high.

fruits and veggies have natural sugar...as long as most of your sugar intake comes from them...then I wouldn't worry about how high your sugar is...

janeite1990

I can't claim super success. I've been trying to lose for 3.5 weeks, and I've lost 4 pounds, not too impressive, But this is what I see when I look at your food diary:

You have lots of processed calories, the health food kind. Meal replacement bars and scoops of stuff, that doesn't work for me. What works best for me is eating as clean as possible, you know, food that looks like it came from this planet. I'm not vegan or paleo, and I have three kids who still need to be cooked for, and I feed them regular food, but also lots of healthy stuff. You might try eating more fruits and veggies and regular lean meat for your nutrients. Don't know if it will help, but it might be worth a try!

Good luck!

AllergicToExercise

What's your BMR and are you regularly eating under that?

Becky_Boodle

You have lots of processed calories, the health food kind. Meal replacement bars and scoops of stuff

I noticed this too...both the bars and scoops had high cals and high sugar
I use whey protein powder...but it only has 110 cals per scoop and no sugar

DestinationFitnessChick

According to MFP my BMR is around 1275, but I don't agree with that. I am a numbers person and I really love my Bodybugg and feel that it is correct. I burn around 1800 calories per day even if I go to work and do nothing else. So Im pretty sure that my BMR is higher than 1275. So yes I do eat under that........I just don't know what else to add to get more calories!

DestinationFitnessChick

The Body By Vi protein shake (which is what I usually use) only has 90 calories and 1 gram of sugar and has lots of vitamins and minerals that I prob wouldn't get elsewhere

sydneysider

Hey Fitnesschicki... i had a look at your diary and i want to say i see alot of processed foods and meal replacement products ... i lost 25 kilos (not sure in pounds) by following a very regimented eating plan. All it was - was fruit, vegetables and meats... i barely ate carbs if it was .. just during the day and usually a sandwich... i know alot of people who have found success from meal replacements but i seriously dont think that is the way --- way better to just eat real food.

Hope that doesnt sound harsh but i think you should give it a go without the replacement products.. Good Luck!

lmelangley

more protein. i know once I added more protein i started dropping alot nicer.

Totally agree. You should have a good amount of protein, complex carbs and a vegetable/fruit with just about every meal. Especially breakfast. Doesn't have to be meat. Greek yogurt - with protein grams higher than sugar grahams, is just as good.

DestinationFitnessChick

Hey Fitnesschicki... i had a look at your diary and i want to say i see alot of processed foods and meal replacement products ... i lost 25 kilos (not sure in pounds) by following a very regimented eating plan. All it was - was fruit, vegetables and meats... i barely ate carbs if it was .. just during the day and usually a sandwich... i know alot of people who have found success from meal replacements but i seriously dont think that is the way --- way better to just eat real food.

Hope that doesnt sound harsh but i think you should give it a go without the replacement products.. Good Luck!

hdlb123

You have lots of processed calories, the health food kind. Meal replacement bars and scoops of stuff

I noticed this too...both the bars and scoops had high cals and high sugar
I use whey protein powder...but it only has 110 cals per scoop and no sugar

There is a ton do processed calories. I noticed in your OP that you "eat clean"?...you might want to re-read up on that. Most of what is in your diary is not "clean". Special K bars, ritz crackers, pizza, premade soups, and a ton of protein powders/bars.

DestinationFitnessChick

No harsh is good........Im frustrated and need all the advice anyone can give me Is your diary public?

DestinationFitnessChick

hdlb123........... go back to last week and the week before this week was not a good week and is not at all typical of my eating...except for the protein powders . I did eat pizza from the school cafeteria one day, but that is like the 2nd time I have even eaten in the school cafeteria. The soup was actually homemade I made it in my crockpot with fresh veggies and chicken. I normally do not eat ritz crackers and usually leave them on the shelf at the grocery store.

andreaeose777

I agree with the other posters about meal replacement stuff. Eat more real protein. Also no artificial sweetners. Look at your protein powder see if it has sugars or artificial sweetners such as asparatame, or splenda, or sucrolose. Xtylitol and Stevia is okay. You might also want to read the book "making the cut" by jillian micheals, this talks about how to loose those last 10 lbs. Good luck and great job on the 80lbs so far.

ladyraven68

If your boddybugg is telling you that your daily calorie requirements are 2000+, your MFP calorie goal of 1290 seems way too low,

A healthy loss is achieved by subtracting 15-20% from your TDEE.

chammich

You are eating all processed food with no veggies. Try experimenting with making your own recipes and snack bars.

meerkat70

Have you considered eating food? (Not all the nasty meal replacement stuff... ?)

pucenavel

I only went back a few days and what struck me was the lack of 'real' food. Yes, you are eating some veggies, blueberries, etc., but in very small amounts (or at least as a very small percentage of your total calories). The other thing was a trend of "replacement" foods. I don't suggest you never eat them, but they should be only for 'emergency use'. I believe you are better off getting protein from lean meats and fish.

Try substantially upping the amount of raw veggies you eat. When I was really pushing to drop weight, I was eating 300 calories or more each day of fresh, raw veggies. A typical day (I was doing 1200/day NET) was:

Greek Yogurt for breakfast with a PINT (not a spoonful) of berries- 250 cal
Grilled Chicken on a Salad, chicken breast on a whole grain bun and fresh fruit, or similar meal around 500 cal for lunch
Grilled Vegetables and Grilled Fish, Chicken or Pork for dinner at around 600 cal
Between snacks at work and bedtime snack, I was eating enough celery, mushrooms, snap peas, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, radishes and carrots to fill a medium mixing bowl.
With an average of 45-60 minutes of cardio each day, I had enough calories left over for about 200 calories of roasted peanuts to round out my fat intake.

Reading up on the philosophies of Michael Pollen got me thinking about it and kept me focused.

A little taste....

Because most of what we’re consuming today is not food, and how we’re consuming it — in the car, in front of the TV, and increasingly alone — is not really eating. Instead of food, we’re consuming “edible foodlike substances” — no longer the products of nature but of food science. Many of them come packaged with health claims that should be our first clue they are anything but healthy. In the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion. The result is what Michael Pollan calls the American paradox: The more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we seem to become.

But if real food — the sort of food our great grandmothers would recognize as food — stands in need of defense, from whom does it need defending? From the food industry on one side and nutritional science on the other. Both stand to gain much from widespread confusion about what to eat, a question that for most of human history people have been able to answer without expert help. Yet the professionalization of eating has failed to make Americans healthier. Thirty years of official nutritional advice has only made us sicker and fatter while ruining countless numbers of meals.

Pollan proposes a new (and very old) answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words:

(... and here's the important bit...)

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

reddi2roll

Other posters have covered the obvious issues. I would recommend that you stop tracking your sugar intake as you are already looking at carbs and see how much sodium you are getting with the foods you are eating. Too much sodium can cause fluid retention among other issues and that may be contributing to your lack of loss.

DestinationFitnessChick

I feel like my biggest problem is snacks. Can someone suggest something besides cheese and nuts? I get really bored with this. I can't heat anything up and don't have a lot of time to eat it because I work with kids all day and have maybe five minutes to eat my snacks.

aprilgicker

I looked at your diary. You said you metabolize close to 2000 cals a day, but you are only eating 1300-1400- cals.
You need to eat more. Math says you should be losing 1 lb every 3 days.Tthat may be a bit too much now that you weight less.
I know you said you don't add fruits to your diet because of the sugar. But maybe try eating them. Small amounts will raise your cal amount up without feeling like you have to stuff yourself.
Try strawberries, cantaloupe, pineapple, apples, grapes. These are natural foods to get cals from. good luck

reddi2roll

I feel like my biggest problem is snacks. Can someone suggest something besides cheese and nuts? I get really bored with this. I can't heat anything up and don't have a lot of time to eat it because I work with kids all day and have maybe five minutes to eat my snacks.

I think you missed the point. For snacks you might want to change to fruit, apple with peanut butter for example, banana, yoghourt with fruit. Again I would also recommend you track your sodium instead of sugar.

reddi2roll

I looked at your diary. You said you metabolize close to 2000 cals a day, but you are only eating 1300-1400- cals.
You need to eat more. Math says you should be losing 1 lb every 3 days.Tthat may be a bit too much now that you weight less.
I know you said you don't add fruits to your diet because of the sugar. But maybe try eating them. Small amounts will raise your cal amount up without feeling like you have to stuff yourself.
Try strawberries, cantaloupe, pineapple, apples, grapes. These are natural foods to get cals from. good luck

Fruit sugar is usually combined with fiber which slows the bodies insulin spike and is not as problematic as regular sugar. Would add more fruit if you are looking for alternate snacks.

bizco

I feel like my biggest problem is snacks. Can someone suggest something besides cheese and nuts? I get really bored with this. I can't heat anything up and don't have a lot of time to eat it because I work with kids all day and have maybe five minutes to eat my snacks.

Raw vegetables. Carrots, celery, brocolli, cauiflower, grape tomatoes (technically a fruit), cucumbers, peppers (all colors), the list goes on and on. Browse the produce department and try new things.