What am I doing wrong?

JenniTheVeggie

I am so freakin frustrated right now. I was down four pounds and now I am back up two. Yesterday for Easter (and there was more then plenty to go around) did not have any candy, green bean casserole (my favorite), dessert, NOTHING. The worst thing I ate was too many deviled eggs.

I have been at this for 16 days. I have exercised EVERY day except yesterday. I do the Leslie Sansone walk at home. I do one mile because it is all I can do at this point. I am not eating bread, pasta, potatoes and sugar. Plus I cut out beer and wine. I would have at least a drink a night. All I drink is water, a cup or two of coffee with splash of half and half and the special K protein water.

I have sooo much to lose and I have never been so serious at doing this. I don't understand why the scale isn't moving. My hubby said the same thing today. He sees all my hard work and does not understand why I am not losing.

deksgrl

Do you know your BMR and your TDEE?

A 2 pound gain could be because of sodium, time of the month, etc.

Take your measurements as well, don't use only the scale to measure progress.

lambertj

Um, you just signed up to MFP on 4/5/12, the only thing you are doing wrong is not being patient It takes time and consistency. How bad do you want it?

JenniTheVeggie

I'm sorry I am sort of new here and I don't know what BMR and TDEE is. It that body fat? If it is I do not know because my scale only does weight.

beckajw

The scale lies. You can't trust it. Excess sodium from the deviled eggs, hormones, stress, etc. all can cause false gains.

16 days isn't all that long. You can expect to have many ups and downs on this journey. Don't let a bad weigh in stop you from being healthy.

With that said, don't deprive yourself either. Make this something that you can do forever. Take slow, minor losses over the big ones.

A lot of times, a big loss is just water weight, that your body puts back on in a couple of weigh-ins after it has re-regulated itself.

Don't get discouraged, it's a long hard road, but worth it.

lambertj

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

silkysly

I am so freakin frustrated right now. I was down four pounds and now I am back up two. Yesterday for Easter (and there was more then plenty to go around) did not have any candy, green bean casserole (my favorite), dessert, NOTHING. The worst thing I ate was too many deviled eggs.

I have been at this for 16 days. I have exercised EVERY day except yesterday. I do the Leslie Sansone walk at home. I do one mile because it is all I can do at this point. I am not eating bread, pasta, potatoes and sugar. Plus I cut out beer and wine. I would have at least a drink a night. All I drink is water, a cup or two of coffee with splash of half and half and the special K protein water.

I have sooo much to lose and I have never been so serious at doing this. I don't understand why the scale isn't moving. My hubby said the same thing today. He sees all my hard work and does not understand why I am not losing.

I’m truly not trying to be mean, but please remember it didn’t take 16 days to get you to where you are right now. You need to incorporate time & patience in your weight lose journey. Hang in there, you got this!

JenniTheVeggie

Um, you just signed up to MFP on 4/5/12, the only thing you are doing wrong is not being patient It takes time and consistency. How bad do you want it?

I just signed up but I have been at it for over two weeks. I know that isn't a lot but I have not cheated, strayed, slacked...etc. etc.

How bad do I want it? I have been motivated before but never like I am right now.

graciemom828

I totally get what you are saying - just continue to do what you are doing - it will eventually start to work. I know that it is frustrating - Leslie Sansone is good - just keep adding as you are able. Make sure you are staying hydrated and nutritionally sound. You are doing the right thing - I admire your restraint to have cut out the carbs the way you have. What a will power!

chachadiva150

You can't burn out so early in your journey. The extra weight could be your cycle or it could be water retention from eating salty food.

Do you have an established weight in day? If not, get one and only count the weight on that day.

Leslie Sansone is great but your body may need more. You have to push yourself with the exercise. A 15 min. slow paced walk may not be enough. Consider checking out some aerobics videos from your public library to test the waters with more vigorous exercise.

By the way, what are you eating?

JenniTheVeggie

I read and hear about people that have so much to lose and lost a lot at first because of changes they made.

mfpcopine

I'm sorry I am sort of new here and I don't know what BMR and TDEE is. It that body fat? If it is I do not know because my scale only does weight.

Google these terms for explanations:

BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate

The minimum number of calories you need to support basic functions if you did nothing all day but lie in bed.

TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure

The total number of calories burned through activity.



Here's a link to a body fat calculator. It tends to give me a higher percentage than my Tanita scale.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/


All of these numbers are estimates, but they do provide a baseline.


Two weeks doesn't seem like very long to me to see results, but it is possible that you are eating more than you think you are. Remember, calorie estimates on food labels can be off by as much as 15 to 20%.

Best of luck.

beckajw

I read and hear about people that have so much to lose and lost a lot at first because of changes they made.

Those people are the exception, not the rule.

mfpcopine

You can't burn out so early in your journey. The extra weight could be your cycle or it could be water retention from eating salty food.

Do you have an established weight in day? If not, get one and only count the weight on that day.

Leslie Sansone is great but your body may need more. You have to push yourself with the exercise. A 15 min. slow paced walk may not be enough. Consider checking out some aerobics videos from your public library to test the waters with more vigorous exercise.

By the way, what are you eating?

I didn't push the exercise because it sounded as if the OP can't exercise flat out right now. But weight loss -- not general fitness -- usually requires a vigorous cardio workout of at least 45 minutes five to six times a week. Strength training is also recommended.

JenniTheVeggie

You can't burn out so early in your journey. The extra weight could be your cycle or it could be water retention from eating salty food.

Do you have an established weight in day? If not, get one and only count the weight on that day.

Leslie Sansone is great but your body may need more. You have to push yourself with the exercise. A 15 min. slow paced walk may not be enough. Consider checking out some aerobics videos from your public library to test the waters with more vigorous exercise.

By the way, what are you eating?

I am eating throughout the day. That is another big change I made. I used to eat two big meals twice a day and then snack/drink wine at night. I am eating things like roasted vegetables (asparagus, squash, broccoli) no potatoes or carrots. I am eating things like Vegetarian soy "meats", pure protein powder shake mix; greek non fat, no sugar yogurt, low fat string cheese, almonds 1/4 cup.

deksgrl

I read and hear about people that have so much to lose and lost a lot at first because of changes they made.

Well everybody is different. Somebody who always ate a lot of calories but cut for two weeks may lost quite a bit in the first few weeks. But somebody who was not eating a lot of calories and then cut them further may not lose as much. Some people have health issues that make it harder to lose weight.

It is important to understand your numbers. You have to find the optimal range that is going to work for you. This is going to be different from everyone else.

BMR means Basal Metabolic Rate, it is the amount of calories your body needs just to power your organs if you laid in bed all day.
TDEE means Total Daily Energy Expenditure, it is the amount of calories your body needs to fuel all of your daily activities.

You need to be eating more than BMR but less than TDEE.

But as others have said, you do need to be consistent and be patient longer than a few weeks.

JenniTheVeggie

Okay, thank you for the kick in the butt. What i got from the replies was that I need to keep at it. I am doing it right and it isn't normal to lose a bunch right away.

FTR, I do feel better and I have a lot more energy since starting.

Lesa_Sass

Just keep going. Make small changes every day, this does not happen over night. When we try to make all the changes at once, we end up saying screw it and fail.

I started this journey by giving up alcohol, then I gave up regular soda, then I gave up caffeinated soda, then I gave up diet soda all together. Then I gave up white pasta and switched to wheat, same with white potatoes to sweet potoatoes. Now, 4 and a half years later, I am 40 lbs lighter, some where between 13 and 15 body fat percent lower and I FEEL GREAT! I had to learn to live with out these things a little at a time before I could move on to the next one.

This is a life long journey and it begins again every single morning when we wake up.

And I would also like to mention posts like these are EXACTLY the reason I HATE those posts on here and facebook that say, "Lost 11 pounds in one week, message me for details" Simple fact of the matter is, that is just not right.

Your profile name indicates you are a mommy. If one of your children decided to play a sport, and in 2 weeks was not the star of the team, would you want them to give up? Or would you want them to keep trying, practicing until they got better over time?

JenniTheVeggie

Also, I wondering if I should do the walk at home DVD every other day and use hand weights/strength training on they days off from the cardio? Or at this point would I be better off doing the 20 minute dvd everyday?

Lesa_Sass

Also, I wondering if I should do the walk at home DVD every other day and use hand weights/strength training on they days off from the cardio? Or at this point would I be better off doing the 20 minute dvd everyday?

Switching it up is good. I suggest an hour of exercise. So if you do 20 minute dvd, try to get in 40 minutes cardio.

megsmom2

Log your food and exercise.....all of it. Believe me, it helps incredibly much. And invest in a food scale. And finally...relax. you can do this. It'd a marathon not a sprint. Best wishes to you!