NEED HELP, DESPERATE TO KNOW WHATS WRONG!!!

I just realized I've been on this journey for about 25 days now, so LOST 2lbs only....I think I should change my settings and see whether or not I can change my goal from 2lbs-.5lb..to increase my calorie intake to 1400.Obviously I only lost 2lbs. what am I doing wrong? I really want to be patience, but its been a month now....I had a couple of days that I fell off the deep end...Plz help....Starting to lose HOPE!!


Diary is unlocked for advice...
(Saturday past, I went way over 3x times the amount my only excessive crazy day)

Getting Desperate, any advice is welcomed. I have stayed the same in measurments as well...
All feedback is welcomed.. I want to learn from my mistakes....
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Replies

  • fablevins
    fablevins Posts: 111 Member
    You may want to switch to another breakfast cereal. One that has more fiber and whole grains.
  • dwh77tx
    dwh77tx Posts: 513 Member
    More fresh fruits and veggies. Less chips ahoy cookies...
  • cherbapp
    cherbapp Posts: 322
    What is your loss set at?

    If its set at 1.5 a week...two pounds in three weeks is still almost half that....and that one Saturday...going over by 2000 calories negates a half pound loss right there.

    I would say to try to check your intake more accurately....a few hundred missed calories here and there really add up. For instance slicing cheese too thick or having slightly more salad dressing...these are easy mistakes.

    Hope you figure it out....but 2 pounds is still good! Better than zero or a gain for sure!
  • osualex
    osualex Posts: 409 Member
    What are you doing for exercise? What's your height/weight/BF%? It doesn't look too bad but you could use more fresh fruits and veggies and less processed stuff. Also, maybe up your protein to 25-30% and see how that works.
  • pelles
    pelles Posts: 32 Member
    You are not eating the right foods. You need real protein and veggies. Less breads, milk, cheese & sugar loaded snacks.

    Also, it does't look like you have much weight to lose. If you have ten pounds or less, than your 2 lbs per month may be right on target.
  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
    More protein, whole grains and veggies, less bread and cookies. Try to cut back on processed foods.

    You are hardly getting any calories. Make sure they are nutritous calories.

    I would be pretty unhappy eating what you're eating and my calorie goal is not much different than yours.

    Good luck.
  • vnakkar
    vnakkar Posts: 30
    You're miscounting some of your calories.

    200 cal - homemade cheese sandwich - wheat bread, tomatoe, onions, lettuce, and Kraft slice of cheese, 1 sandwich

    The bread alone was probably 200cal.

    I saw some salad entries that looked wrong as well....assuming there was any kind of dressing on there.
  • hope8311
    hope8311 Posts: 166
    What are you doing for exercise? What's your height/weight/BF%? It doesn't look too bad but you could use more fresh fruits and veggies and less processed stuff. Also, maybe up your protein to 25-30% and see how that works.

    5'7
    weight-168lbs
    bmi 26.3
  • hope8311
    hope8311 Posts: 166
    You're miscounting some of your calories.

    200 cal - homemade cheese sandwich - wheat bread, tomatoe, onions, lettuce, and Kraft slice of cheese, 1 sandwich

    The bread alone was probably 200cal.

    I saw some salad entries that looked wrong as well....assuming there was any kind of dressing on there.

    I had seperatly calculated the sandwich, putting each item individually and looking at the package of bread, cheese and came up to 200...j

    ANd the salad, Idon't add any dressing at all, or anything else plain salad...Pretty much just lettuce
  • hope8311
    hope8311 Posts: 166
    More protein, whole grains and veggies, less bread and cookies. Try to cut back on processed foods.

    You are hardly getting any calories. Make sure they are nutritous calories.

    I would be pretty unhappy eating what you're eating and my calorie goal is not much different than yours.

    Good luck.

    I cut out processed food significantly, going from consuming 2000-3000 calories a day to 1200....But as time goies by Irealized its starting to get a little easier to say no...a little baby steps
  • hope8311
    hope8311 Posts: 166
    on average I allow myself to eat 3 cookies a day if I've done well about less than 200 calories....But besides saturda (6-7cookies)

    Veggies, Ikind of get about a cup of it a day...

    Saute onions mixed the veggies in it, depending what it is califlower, carrots, etc.......
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    Set you account to 1 lb per week, eat back 50% of your exercise calories if MFP is calculating or 80% of it's a HRM (some room for error). Also, track sodium and fiber as they are good things to track. Eliminate the sweets and drinking calories and pick up some lean whole meats, fruits and veggies. Also adjust your macro's to 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats. Higher protein diets help with weight loss and muscle loss prevention.


    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.
  • I think you're on the right track, just keep gradually cutting out the processed foods and incorporating healthier, natural items. For some people that isnt as easy as others, and it takes a gradual approach. You've lost, and thats a step in the right direction for sure.
  • hope8311
    hope8311 Posts: 166
    You are not eating the right foods. You need real protein and veggies. Less breads, milk, cheese & sugar loaded snacks.

    Also, it does't look like you have much weight to lose. If you have ten pounds or less, than your 2 lbs per month may be right on target.

    I want to personally lose 30 lbs, however my dr said just 12-15 lbs is perfect to get in the healthy bmi ......
  • castlerobber
    castlerobber Posts: 528 Member
    Looked at your diary.

    Even on the days you didn't fall off the deep end, you were eating a lot of bread, cookies, rice, fruit juice...basically a high amount of quickly-digested simple carbohydrate that has little nutrition and spikes your blood sugar. You were getting very little protein or fat. I'm guessing you used the default MFP settings for amounts of carb (55%), protein (15%), and fat (30%).

    Since this isn't working for you, I'd suggest switching up the percentages, as well as changing the type of carbohydrate. More protein (say 20% or 25%) and fat, fewer carbs (40% or less). Go for healthier, slower-digested carbs such as leafy green and other non-starchy vegetables (not potatoes or corn) and lower-sugar fruit such as berries and cherries. Greatly reduce the amount of bread, cereal, sweets, fruit juices and sodas--these should be occasional treats, not significant parts of what you eat daily. Eat full-fat Greek yogurt with no added sugar, full-fat salad dressings and cheeses. Real meat/fish/fowl, with fat (saturated fat is not harmful, and makes you feel full longer), less fast food. Worry less about calories and more about quality of food.

    Try it for a month and see how that works.
  • hope8311
    hope8311 Posts: 166
    Set you account to 1 lb per week, eat back 50% of your exercise calories if MFP is calculating or 80% of it's a HRM (some room for error). Also, track sodium and fiber as they are good things to track. Eliminate the sweets and drinking calories and pick up some lean whole meats, fruits and veggies. Also adjust your macro's to 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats. Higher protein diets help with weight loss and muscle loss prevention.


    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

    I set it to 1 lb now I hope this works...What are other ways of incorporating protein, a shake?
  • osualex
    osualex Posts: 409 Member
    Set you account to 1 lb per week, eat back 50% of your exercise calories if MFP is calculating or 80% of it's a HRM (some room for error). Also, track sodium and fiber as they are good things to track. Eliminate the sweets and drinking calories and pick up some lean whole meats, fruits and veggies. Also adjust your macro's to 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats. Higher protein diets help with weight loss and muscle loss prevention.


    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

    ^^ this. He said it all. Since you have less to lose, it could take some time...a LOT of time. Be patient and hang in there! And what do you do for exercise?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    You are not eating the right foods. You need real protein and veggies. Less breads, milk, cheese & sugar loaded snacks.

    Also, it does't look like you have much weight to lose. If you have ten pounds or less, than your 2 lbs per month may be right on target.

    I want to personally lose 30 lbs, however my dr said just 12-15 lbs is perfect to get in the healthy bmi ......

    You shouldn't concentrate on weight but concentrate on body fat. Cutting fat and maintain lean body mass will make your body tight. Would you rather lose 30 lbs and still be flabby or lose 10 lbs and have a defined body? Also, what is your workout routine?


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat
  • hope8311
    hope8311 Posts: 166
    Looked at your diary.

    Even on the days you didn't fall off the deep end, you were eating a lot of bread, cookies, rice, fruit juice...basically a high amount of quickly-digested simple carbohydrate that has little nutrition and spikes your blood sugar. You were getting very little protein or fat. I'm guessing you used the default MFP settings for amounts of carb (55%), protein (15%), and fat (30%).

    Since this isn't working for you, I'd suggest switching up the percentages, as well as changing the type of carbohydrate. More protein (say 20% or 25%) and fat, fewer carbs (40% or less). Go for healthier, slower-digested carbs such as leafy green and other non-starchy vegetables (not potatoes or corn) and lower-sugar fruit such as berries and cherries. Greatly reduce the amount of bread, cereal, sweets, fruit juices and sodas--these should be occasional treats, not significant parts of what you eat daily. Eat full-fat Greek yogurt with no added sugar, full-fat salad dressings and cheeses. Real meat/fish/fowl, with fat (saturated fat is not harmful, and makes you feel full longer), less fast food. Worry less about calories and more about quality of food.

    Try it for a month and see how that works.

    OKay, I have to admit I was one of those people that could and would drink 4-5 cans of soda a day and in the past 1 month drank it this past saturday... ANd Ialways hated the orange juice but I decided it was healthy so started drinking it, Idon't like it, however gives me something other than water to drink...I;ll cut that out as well
  • sarafil
    sarafil Posts: 506 Member
    You don't eat very many calories, and the calories you are eating could be spent on better quality food...more lean meats, fruits, veggies. Complex carbs only, no simple carbs. Try upping your protein intake, it is pretty low. Eggs, lean meats, greek yogurt, nuts, etc are all good sources of protein.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    Set you account to 1 lb per week, eat back 50% of your exercise calories if MFP is calculating or 80% of it's a HRM (some room for error). Also, track sodium and fiber as they are good things to track. Eliminate the sweets and drinking calories and pick up some lean whole meats, fruits and veggies. Also adjust your macro's to 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats. Higher protein diets help with weight loss and muscle loss prevention.


    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

    I set it to 1 lb now I hope this works...What are other ways of incorporating protein, a shake?

    My personal favorite is steak! Protein shakes can work but they don't have the same satiety value as lean meat. Whey protein absorbs quickly. For breakfast, eliminate cereal and go with eggs (high protein and fat).
  • pelles
    pelles Posts: 32 Member
    Then don't worry and keep chugging along at 2 lbs per month. Maybe mark a calendar of what you should weigh (-2 lbs) at the end of each month. I do this and my monthly weigh in is two days after my TOM. I don't expect more, but I'm thrilled if it is less. Have your long term six month goal of 12 lbs lost rather than thinking of the immediate future.

    Also, I wanted to say that I think it's brave to open your food diary for everyone to see and provide feedback.

    You can do this!
  • i'm still new to this too.. and didn't read other posts... but you prob wanna add more fruits/veg/protein
    depending on what kinda exercise you're doing... you may not be eating enough. good luck
  • hope8311
    hope8311 Posts: 166
    Set you account to 1 lb per week, eat back 50% of your exercise calories if MFP is calculating or 80% of it's a HRM (some room for error). Also, track sodium and fiber as they are good things to track. Eliminate the sweets and drinking calories and pick up some lean whole meats, fruits and veggies. Also adjust your macro's to 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats. Higher protein diets help with weight loss and muscle loss prevention.


    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

    ^^ this. He said it all. Since you have less to lose, it could take some time...a LOT of time. Be patient and hang in there! And what do you do for exercise?

    Exercise, walking/running, or p90x, or just started 30 day shred....
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    I'm 5'7" and maintaining at 160lbs now. To lose I ate about net 1600 calories - 1600 plus all my exercise calories; I lost 34 lbs in about 8 months. If you try and be too restrictive, you're more likely to binge... at least that's what I've found. Many others will agree with me. So if you change your goal to .5 lbs/week or 1lb/week if you must, you'll get to eat more and you may be more likely to stick exactly to your goals. The worst that can happen is you continue to lose 2 lbs/month, which let's face it, is okay...
  • TDBrims
    TDBrims Posts: 138
    protein bars are good...chicken, fish, turkey....I'm on high protein and I use all those x
  • rwhawkes
    rwhawkes Posts: 117 Member
    Just a thought here - I think that the calorie counts for exercise (if you're using MFP's) are inflated and need to be adjusted if you're counting on them to balance your eating and lose weight. For example, last week I did a bike ride, and MFP suggested that I burned off around 1800 calories, whereas my shiny new Garmin device determined I burned a bit under 1100.
  • hope8311
    hope8311 Posts: 166
    Then don't worry and keep chugging along at 2 lbs per month. Maybe mark a calendar of what you should weigh (-2 lbs) at the end of each month. I do this and my monthly weigh in is two days after my TOM. I don't expect more, but I'm thrilled if it is less. Have your long term six month goal of 12 lbs lost rather than thinking of the immediate future.

    Also, I wanted to say that I think it's brave to open your food diary for everyone to see and provide feedback.

    You can do this!

    Thanks Iwas skeptical at first then realized its only hurting me and I need to know the truth...
  • SocWkrBee
    SocWkrBee Posts: 374
    Set you account to 1 lb per week, eat back 50% of your exercise calories if MFP is calculating or 80% of it's a HRM (some room for error). Also, track sodium and fiber as they are good things to track. Eliminate the sweets and drinking calories and pick up some lean whole meats, fruits and veggies. Also adjust your macro's to 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats. Higher protein diets help with weight loss and muscle loss prevention.


    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

    This may be a silly question, but I am going to ask anyway. When you say "if you have ___ to lose..." Is that by the amount a person is overweight or by how much they want to lose. According to most reports I am normal weight and OP is pretty much in that range too, but I want to lose about 20lbs. Should people like us do .5 to 1lb or just stick to .5?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    Set you account to 1 lb per week, eat back 50% of your exercise calories if MFP is calculating or 80% of it's a HRM (some room for error). Also, track sodium and fiber as they are good things to track. Eliminate the sweets and drinking calories and pick up some lean whole meats, fruits and veggies. Also adjust your macro's to 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats. Higher protein diets help with weight loss and muscle loss prevention.


    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

    ^^ this. He said it all. Since you have less to lose, it could take some time...a LOT of time. Be patient and hang in there! And what do you do for exercise?

    Exercise, walking/running, or p90x, or just started 30 day shred....

    If you do just P90X, then 1800 calories is probably where you will want to be. If you want to do a hybrid between P90X and 30DS (replacing X cardio with 30DS), then 1700's a day will be good. But P90X + properly fueling your body (not with junk like cookies) = great results.