Getting Discouraged....Need help

CamyLoo

I'll start with a little info on myself. Over the past 2 years I have done all kinds of diets which I did lose only to regain it all back plus. I believe I should do the rest. I went to scoobys and here is the numbers I got:
Age - 56
Female
SW - 159
BMR - 1373
TDEE - 2129
TDEE 15% CUT - 1809
Moderately Active - 3-5 days/wk

Also, I found out about a year and half ago that I have hypothyroidism plus I'm going through menopause.

Now, why I'm getting discouraged. I started last Thurs. at my TDEE calories. I am having so much trouble trying to reach the calories and the marcos which I have set at Carb - 40%, Portein - 30%, Fat - 30%, Fiber - 30 and sodium - 2500. It seems I'm having to eat constantly all day. Can someone please look at my food diary and let me know what changes I can do or what I can add. I know this can be much easier then I'm making it. I don't have a Trader Joes or a Whole Foods near me. I live in a small town in the country. And because of the hypothyroidism I do not eat any soy. Thanks in advance.

Zylayna

to make it easier to reach your calorie goal, start choosing full fat foods instead of low fat or diet versions you used to buy. Eventually you may go back to those things a little (when your appetite speeds up with your metabolism) but for now, you need lots of cals in smaller portions so that you don't feel so stuffed and eating all the time. Choose high protein foods like full fat greek yogurt, steak, chicken, tuna etc. And you can add in things like block cheese etc to a meal to bring up the fat and cals in good ways. I don't have a Trader Joes either (I live in Canada) but there are all kinds of normal foods you can get at any store that will work just as well. Part of the process is learning to get out of 'diet food' mode and into natural/normal food mode...foods that you want to be able to incorporate while losing weight once you've started your cut!

Check your labels, plan your day out in advance so you can tweak the numbers to fit your macros. And plan to eat every 2 hours or so...set a timer if you need to until you get used to it.

I'm sure others will have some great advice to add when it comes to diet, but this should get you started.

ANewLucia

I'll start with a little info on myself. Over the past 2 years I have done all kinds of diets which I did lose only to regain it all back plus. I believe I should do the rest. I went to scoobys and here is the numbers I got:
Age - 56
Female
SW - 159
BMR - 1373
TDEE - 2129
TDEE 15% CUT - 1809
Moderately Active - 3-5 days/wk

Also, I found out about a year and half ago that I have hypothyroidism plus I'm going through menopause.

Now, why I'm getting discouraged. I started last Thurs. at my TDEE calories. I am having so much trouble trying to reach the calories and the marcos which I have set at Carb - 40%, Portein - 30%, Fat - 30%, Fiber - 30 and sodium - 2500. It seems I'm having to eat constantly all day. Can someone please look at my food diary and let me know what changes I can do or what I can add. I know this can be much easier then I'm making it. I don't have a Trader Joes or a Whole Foods near me. I live in a small town in the country. And because of the hypothyroidism I do not eat any soy. Thanks in advance.

Hey there, please feel free to friend me and check out my diary...I have some good ideas on there...I have to eat 6 times a day and stick to my schedule...trying to eat 2420 a day is a planned event...lol!

Lucia:flowerforyou:

ANewLucia

to make it easier to reach your calorie goal, start choosing full fat foods instead of low fat or diet versions you used to buy. Eventually you may go back to those things a little (when your appetite speeds up with your metabolism) but for now, you need lots of cals in smaller portions so that you don't feel so stuffed and eating all the time. Choose high protein foods like full fat greek yogurt, steak, chicken, tuna etc. And you can add in things like block cheese etc to a meal to bring up the fat and cals in good ways. I don't have a Trader Joes either (I live in Canada) but there are all kinds of normal foods you can get at any store that will work just as well. Part of the process is learning to get out of 'diet food' mode and into natural/normal food mode...foods that you want to be able to incorporate while losing weight once you've started your cut!

Check your labels, plan your day out in advance so you can tweak the numbers to fit your macros. And plan to eat every 2 hours or so...set a timer if you need to until you get used to it.

I'm sure others will have some great advice to add when it comes to diet, but this should get you started.

Yup all of the above!

CamyLoo

Thank you for the suggestions.

I have tried using the full fat foods but then I use up my fat calories way before everything else. I forgot to mention that also because of the hypothyroidism I don't eat tuna and I love tuna.

Maybe I need to focus more on the other proteins and not so much of the dairy. I really want this to work, I just don't want to spend my whole day eating and figuring out what to eat. I know it will get better I just have to keep working on it.

belladonnablue

I'm making changes slowly because I can't hit my macros consistently either.

Right now I'm eating my TDEE cut consistently for 2 weeks. I'm just concentrating on hitting my calories without going over and sticking to my exercise routine. Not worrying about the macros.

Once I'm able to do that consistently (so hitting my TDEE cut daily at least 85-90% of the time), then I'm going to focus on getting my Protein macro where it should be every day for two weeks while continuing to maintain my calories. Not going to worry about Carbs or Fat while I'm doing that, just protein and calories.

After two weeks of doing that, then I'll start working on Fat. Once I'm consistent for at least two weeks there, then I'll do Carbs.

After that, I can focus on anything else I want to monitor, but still one thing at a time.

This is much easier than trying to juggle everything at the same time. I'm teaching myself how to eat in small steps and with small changes. Once I'm familiar with what my calorie intake is supposed to look and feel like, it's easier to start monitoring something else and get that down.

It's tempting to do everything "right" from the get-go, but better to take it easy on yourself. My first priority is to hit my calorie goal without overshooting and to do my planned workouts. Everything else can come as I'm ready.

I hope that helps a little!

CamyLoo

Thank you belladonnablue. That sounds like a good idea. You said you are concentrating on hitting your TDEE cut first, so I guess you are not doing a reset? I think I need to do a reset because of all the crazy diets and all the junk food I have been eating the past few years.

belladonnablue

I skipped the reset since I've never been a yo-yo dieter, and I've never lasted more than a week on <1400 calories. I do not cope with deprivation well, which is good and bad. Plus I spent April doing 2000/day to see if I gained or lost, since I didn't really trust the calculators, and it ends up that's really not far from my TDEE. So I kind of did a 4-week reset without meaning to!

If I'd eaten at really low calories for a while, or if I'd ever lost significant weight and gained it back several times, I think I would have done a full reset for sure.

CamyLoo

If I'd eaten at really low calories for a while, or if I'd ever lost significant weight and gained it back several times, I think I would have done a full reset for sure.

This is why I feel I need to do a reset. Thanks for your imput.