Discouraged and need help! (WARNING: LOOOONG!!!)

irishdancer23

I have been on mfp since about may 2011. At the beginning, I logged religiously and always stayed under 1200 without a problem. I had lost about 16 lbs by the time august came around. At the end of august, i got really sick for a few days and didn't eat at all. I decided to take a break from logging for a few weeks, because i knew i just needed to eat normally and get better. When I gained weight, I told myself it was just because it had plummeted while I was sick. That started my downward spiral. I pretty much stopped logging and started binge eating. By february 2012, i had gained back those 16 lbs plus an extra 14, putting me over 40 lbs away from my goal. I got really depressed and didn't even want to look at myself. Just in the past few weeks, I have started to become more active on mfp. I also started to exercise again, and I finished day 19 of the 30 day shred today. I started logging again, but I felt like I was always hungry, and I got annoyed with having to log every single thing, so I decided to stop, realizing that when I didn't log, I usually ate around 1200 anyways. Today I logged just to see where I was, and I ended up over 1600 cal for the day. All of a sudden, I got SO frustrated! When I log, I stay under, but I am always hungry and eventually it catches up to me. When I don't log, I constantly think about it, and I'm always afraid I'll end up over my goal. I just kind of don't know what to do anymore! If anyone has gone through this and has any advice/suggestions, that would be greatly appreciated. I want this so badly, but right now, it seems impossible!

EDIT: I do eat exercise cals back, so i am netting 1200.

skinnyjeansdiva

Hi, kudos for coming back. I know exactly how you feel! Maybe give yourself a few more calories to work with since 1200 seems to be low for you or just make sure you are trying to eat back as many exercise cals as you can.. for being extra hungry maybe try eating more fiber foods to keep you full longer?

1234567kate9

up your calories! 1200 is not enough for most people!

EMarvie

Stick with it. It's tough starting out again.. maybe check to see that you're eating enough. Be realistic with your goals and make good food choices. You can do this. it just takes a bit to get back in the swing of thing. Log everything and be accountable for everything you eat and drink - Drink you water and if you can exercise do that. Nice weather is coming up so that will make it easier.

Keep your chin up - !! you've got this!

lmelangley

1200 calories is about as low as a person should ever go. If you're doing the 30 day shred, you're way under the calories you should be eating - which is why you're always hungry. Remember - this isn't about punishment, it's about developing healthy eating habits and becoming the healthiest you that you can be. My advice is to go onto your profile and set it up to lose 2 lbs a week and then log the majority of your exercise calories and eat those back, too.

Edcsamuel

I started my fitness pal about 10 days ago and I really love it. I have many friends who have been using it for months and they have lost alot. I tell my self every day to just stay committed. I exercise daily and eat a light snack in between. Please stay encouraged, we can do it!!!!

peacefulninja

1200 calories is unrealistic for anybody! I have it as my set goal but I'm happy if I'm within 200 calories of it. Have you ever noticed on package labels that percent daily recommended amounts are based on 2200 calorie per day diets? That might be excessive but it gives you an idea of an acceptable range. 1400 to 1600 is probably better suited to you. Why don't you try 1400 and see how you do? Try cutting yourself some slack. Give yourself some credit for staying anywhere close to it. 1200 calories is starvation mode as far as I'm concerned - and I'm a small woman.

honestlysweet

There is no magic answer. You simply HAVE to be more disciplined. Log everything and don't stop. Also, I have found that exercising helps with my appetite. But you have to exercise hard. Not just a walk in the park. I don't know anything about the shred thing, but you have to push yourself to where you are sweating and breathing hard. If you can hold a conversation while you are exercising, then you are not pushing yourself hard enough.

Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear, but this is what works for me. Dedication and hard exercise.

MarincicS

First i would suggest you open your diary so people can see what you're doing and offer some assessment. Someone just posted today that a calorie is a calorie . . . or IS it? There are foods you can eat that are healthy and make you feel fuller. Processed foods tend to be very calorie-dense without contributing equally to either feeling full or to good nutrition. So if you open your diary, lots of people here will have a look and make recommendations that will help you not feel so hungry.

Second, you may not have your goals/calories correct as 1200 is a minimum and 1600 calories may actually be right for you to lose weight. But again, opening your diary will help people provide feedback.

Third, i don't know how to say this gently or nonjudgementally, but your feeling that when you are logging you are not eating "normally" is likeley to cause you lots of problems. The point of logging and tracking calories and other nutrients is to ensure your body is getting healthy nutrition and to limit extra "unhealthy" calories. The foods your body needs ARE "normal" eating. Whatever you have been eating that has put you so far over a healthy weight - that's the part that's NOT normal.

If you read these community pages, you will see that many people here, if not most, do not support "diets." They support healthy eating - all the time. When you are trying to lose weight, you still eat healthy, just with a calorie deficit. And once you are at your healthy goal weight, you eliminate the calorie deficit.

In any case, stick with it and keep posting. I think you will get lots of support that may help you. I always do.

StevLL

I noticed you said you wanted to eat normal. We found that we had to redefine our definition of normal and adopt an eating plan that we could follow forever. Occasionally you'll have overages and it's normal. Add some csardio on those days or the next. Drink plenty of water and watch your sodium. If you deprive yourself you won't be successful long term. My wife (hootsmamma) is losing on 1500 daily and sometimes she is under and rarely goes over especially on excercise days. I'm losing at 2350 calories and go over occasionally, but take it in stride.
Good luck, you can do this. Friend us if you need more support.

heresmyinsidevoice

I know it can be hard to find the motivation to continue when you reach a rut, but PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP! When you say you were consistently logging under 1200 calories, how far under were you? If anything, the 1200 mark is the very MINIMUM you should consume in a day.

Remember to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. If you are finding that after 1600 calories you are still hungry, provided that you are well hydrated (make sure you get in your 8 glasses of water a day), then by all means, you should be eating a little more. Go back into your MFP settings and redo them based on your current age, height, weight and keep your goal as the recommended 1 pound a week. Don't go over that, because it's just going to bring your net calories down and again make you feel hungry, tired and defeated. The weight didn't come on overnight, so it's not going to come off overnight either. Make sure you get enough sleep and exercise within your means. On exercise days, if you find you have to eat some of those calories back, do it - that's what they're there for - and again - NEVER give up. You CAN do this!

Also, when you say you are on Day 19 of the 30 Day Shred, are you meaning that you are doing this workout every day? If anything, you need to give your muscles one day of rest in between, otherwise you're going to overwork your body and make it prone to injury. You're young - don't be buggering up your knees or tendons this early in the game - or at all! Muscle repairs itself and gets stronger over the time that it's resting. I'm rootin for you, and if you would like, feel free to add me!

steelersfamily6

Well I haven't been through what you are going through but I am always afraid I will. I did stop using MFP for about 2 weeks when my bff visited me and we ate everywhere we could because the last time she had visited me she was using HCG drops and couldn't eat anywhere. Anyways I didn't gain too much while she was here but after she left I just kept eating and did no exercise so I gained 5 lbs back. I was 212 lbs when I started and I was down to 196 lbs and then went right back up to 201 lbs. I was so mad and discouraged and I thought I had screwed up and that I wasn't going to be able to lose again. Well I got on MFP and started talking to all my friends and got right back in the swing of things and started exercising again and I lost it & then some. I am at 191.4 and I have learned that 1200 calories is not enough but I still have 50+ lbs to lose so I am not going to be starving myself. I have also learned that I need to eat back my exercise calories, at least some of them. What you really need to do is pay attention to your net calories. Try and make sure your net calories are at least 1200 if not more depending on how much you work out. If you ever want to email me go ahead I will answer any questions you have, I am just not accepting anymore friends right now. I am trying to support the ones I have and there are a lot of them.

Good luck, if you want this bad enough it will happen.

mzhokie

Are you eating any of your exercise calories? Every time I read post like this a bunch of people say you need to eat your exercise calories.

You can not go into starvation mode and expect to lose weight.

Now maybe it's the type of calories you are eating..... add more fiber and lean protein so your blood sugar doesn't crash. Lots of veggies so you stay full. Go to five small meals a day to keep you satisfied or two 100-150 calorie snacks in between your meals.

I have no idea what you are eating so you might be doing all of this. For me if it's only 100-200 exercise calories, I don't worry about eating them if I at least met the goal that MFP set for me. If it's more than 200, then I eat something extra to balance it out.

irishdancer23

thank you so much guys! mfp ROCKS! while reading your posts, i realized that i have been eating the right amount of calories, but not necessarily the right nutrients. DUH! i am going to reassess WHAT i am eating, not how many calories are in the foods i eat. hopefully that will help! thanks SO much for all of the support!