Not sure what to do next

Serendipityunt

So I joined MFP a couple of months ago, but I eventually started to back off from getting on every day because I was noticing that the more I tracked my food and exercise, the more I thought about food. I was thinking about food all of the time (the fat and calories), and it was causing me to eat more of it, because it was always on my mind, always making me feel hungry. After I stopped tracking my food every day and just tried to eat healthier, I started to lose a little weight. I'll admit that I started to get off track a little, but not a lot, and not as much as I had in the past, and I did notice that I was gaining weight again, little bit at a time. I tried to ignore it, but the more I did, the more it snowballed. I wasn't out eating pizza and cake every day, but my body started gaining weight as if I had been. And gradually my clothes were fitting tighter.

On Friday night, I made the choice to eat better this weekend and run both Saturday and Sunday, just to get myself to do it for the weekend, and perhaps let it fall back into place, start making it a habit. I didn't track it because I was afraid I would start obsessing over food again, but I had many more vegetables and far less meat. I weighed myself this morning, after a weekend of healthy-eating and exercise, and I gained 1.2 pounds. I was shocked. I didn't expect a weight loss because I know that takes time and dedication. But I really wasn't expecting that much of a gain. 1.2 pounds over two days? It's not that I want to give up on losing weight, but I can't get past how this is making me feel. I don't know what to do next and all of my motivation has fallen by the wayside. I know it;ll get better later, but for right now, at this moment, I can't even sit comfortably at my desk knowing that I feel like I'm failing myself, or that something has to be wrong with me to gain that much when I tried.

sunnyside1213

If I don't log, I get in trouble really fast.

itsmyvwbeetle

Dont let that get you down. You didnt really gain 1.2 pounds this weekend unless you ate some serious food. I am guessing its mostly water retention from running 2 days in a row.

As for what to do next, if you dont want to log your food then pre-plan your meals. Set up a weekly schedule of what you are going to eat and track those calories for the whole week only 1 day. Then stick to it. You can also concentrate on what you think your trouble foods may be and severely limit or eliminate them (pasta, bread, etc).

mlb567

Exactly what you said... it will get better. - but not in one week or two weeks or even a month.
To me, stop blaming what you do on tracking, not tracking, whatever external thing you think it is.

Tracking your food shouldn't make you hungrier, it should make you think about what you do eat when you eat it.
If you want to lose weight, you will do it. No excuses.

Have some fun while you do it. Sometimes I eat like a bird and lose no weight then I say screw it and go eat and eat a big meal and I am down 2 pounds, and I know it's because you put in WORK and it pays off. Give it a shot and don't think you are different than anyone else on here.

smurfette75

How often are you weighing yourself...I wouldn't suggest more than once a week. Preplanning your meals does help a lot.

Angie_1991

I have to log...even though I have "some idea" I still have to log..........could get ugly if I don't.

suttercm

First off you posted that you just started MFP a couple of months ago. All this change - obsessing over food, not logging but losing, not logging then gaining, etc - happened in just "a couple of months" . You need to take some time, make some positive changes and stick with them.

As for this past weekend's gain? You ran two days, which I am just assuming from the rest of your post (sorry if I'm wrong), you haven't done in a while. Probably water retention from your body trying to recuperate from the exercise! Doesn't take much water to make 1.2 lbs.

Again, you need to make positive changes, stick with them, and give them time to work. There are no fast fixes here.

quietcoral

i agree you didn't gain 1.2 pound over the weekend. I weighed myself last night and this morning and I weighed a full pound more this morning! Weird since I usually weigh less in the morning. It's just water fluctuations and other things. Weight can fluctuate a lot. Don't worry about it. Be consistent with eating healthy and exercise and weigh yourself once a week and look for the scale going in the right direction because once in a while it might not go down one week, but the next you might be a couple extra pounds down.

Hellbent_Heidi

When you workout your muscles retain water to repair themselves....you likely did not GAIN 1.2 lbs. Give it time to work, and try weighing only once a week for a while....

JDearman143

What I've found helpful is that I plan a day ahead so that way I'm not having to log my foods all day (you can log for the next day using MFP). I decide what I want to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks right before bed time the night before and I STICK TO IT! Don't give up! I'm down 50lbs in 8 months, so it's not a quick process, but the end result is so rewarding! You got this and can even add me as a friend for some motivation! I keep my diary open so you can see my exercises and foods I eat on a daily basis.

californiagirl2012

So I joined MFP a couple of months ago, but I eventually started to back off from getting on every day because I was noticing that the more I tracked my food and exercise, the more I thought about food. I was thinking about food all of the time (the fat and calories), and it was causing me to eat more of it, because it was always on my mind, always making me feel hungry. After I stopped tracking my food every day and just tried to eat healthier, I started to lose a little weight. I'll admit that I started to get off track a little, but not a lot, and not as much as I had in the past, and I did notice that I was gaining weight again, little bit at a time. I tried to ignore it, but the more I did, the more it snowballed. I wasn't out eating pizza and cake every day, but my body started gaining weight as if I had been. And gradually my clothes were fitting tighter.

On Friday night, I made the choice to eat better this weekend and run both Saturday and Sunday, just to get myself to do it for the weekend, and perhaps let it fall back into place, start making it a habit. I didn't track it because I was afraid I would start obsessing over food again, but I had many more vegetables and far less meat. I weighed myself this morning, after a weekend of healthy-eating and exercise, and I gained 1.2 pounds. I was shocked. I didn't expect a weight loss because I know that takes time and dedication. But I really wasn't expecting that much of a gain. 1.2 pounds over two days? It's not that I want to give up on losing weight, but I can't get past how this is making me feel. I don't know what to do next and all of my motivation has fallen by the wayside. I know it;ll get better later, but for right now, at this moment, I can't even sit comfortably at my desk knowing that I feel like I'm failing myself, or that something has to be wrong with me to gain that much when I tried.

Oh my gosh I know this feeling. I think it's all about portions. I was really frustrated most of my life because I didn't feel like I was eating too much. I've always been a healthy eater, didn't binge or eat junk, yet I've always gained weight. It didn't seem fair. Now that I've lost the weight I realized it was about portions. I'm small and need less food and that is all there is to it. Even now, people want me to eat more, but they don't realize when you are small like me you can't eat more or you get fat. Portion sizes are designed for 6' men.

I actually lost weight not logging, I just ate small portions. But now that I need to eat more because I'm maintaining I need to because I'm walking a finer line, I can't eat too low because of starvation mode, and I can't eat too much or I'll gain the weight back. I don't mind logging here though. I think it's fun. I grew up when they didn't have computers so to me logging is easy, it's not like back in the day when we had to use pen, paper, calorie books, and calculators and do all the work for it.

There is no mystery to weight loss, everyone thinks something is wrong, their metabolism is broken, they have low thyroid, they have menopause or whatever issue, they are as unique as a snowflake, whatever. I thought a lot of these things once too but once the doctor helped resolve the health issues for me I learned there is still no magic pill. Most people eat more than they need to and are not at good at estimating calories as they think they are. Most people have a lower BMR than they think they do. The only way to know for sure is to go to a lab and have it tested. It doesn't seem fair to have to eat less and feel a little hunger. It's hard to face the truth of it, very hard. It's not fun. It's drudgery at times. But if you learn to enjoy your smaller amounts of food (necessary to lose weight, since the reason we got fat in the first place was eating too much whether we knew it or not), and rejoice in your victories it can be done.

As I got older and the weight piled on (and I didn't feel I was eating too much!) everyone kept telling me to give up, this is what happens when you get older. I'm small, and I didn't realize how small I was until I lost the weight. Everyone said I had big bones. I looked hefty because I worked out. Once I lost the weight I realized how small I really was and that small people don't need to eat as much as big people. HINT: If you are short you are probably small.

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

DebbieLyn63

I stayed on this exact cycle of thinking for years. I have never 'accidentally' lost weight, but I 'felt' like I was always on a diet because I watched what I ate and was always thinking about what I was eating. I could maintain fairly easily just watching my diet, but then there would be special occasions and times I said. 'forget it' and a pound or two would creep up on me. I would hit it hard for a couple of days and really diet and exercise and then be pissed because I didn't lose any weight. So I told myself, 'why starve myself to maintain when I can maintain eating normally'.
If I got really serious for longer than a week, then I could manage to lose 10 -20 pounds and keep it off for awhile, but within a year or so it would creep back on with an added 5-10 pounds. And the cycle continued.

I knew how to eat healthy. I knew I needed to exercise.

What I needed to do was get completely honest with myself. I convinced myself I ate less than I really did and I ate healthier than I really did. Because for one thing I was comparing myself to people who were severely obese and ate huge amounts of food and never exercised. Compared to them, I looked pretty good.

I also convinced myself that I ate right 90% of the time, so the times I overindulged shouldn't hurt me that bad. WRONG!

After finally making the decision to commit 100% and starting to log everything I ate, every day, and every exercise I did, then and only then did I get an accurate picture of how much I ate and exercised.

I found out quickly that even tho I was eating less and eating much better, I was still not losing like I wanted to. Since I am 49 now, I thought that I was simply too old to be able to lose weight. I missed my window of opportunity. So I went looking for women around my age that had 50 or more pounds to lose and were being successful. I wanted to see how they were doing it. I posted a thread looking for them, and they came out in droves! I think the thread is still going, 2 months later.
I have surrounded myself with women that are succeeding in losing weight and keeping it off. How are they doing it? They are eating less, eating healthier, and moving more. They are logging in EVERY DAY. They are logging EVERYTHING they eat. And they have done it for months, and months without stopping, while they watch the pounds drop every month, while they get stronger and stronger.

There is no magic quick fix. It takes a desire and willingness to make permanent changes in your life. It takes putting your health at the top of your priority list. It takes being completely honest with yourself. It takes commitment. You do it until...

Am I obsessed with what I eat and logging my food? Yes, you could probably say that. Do I still have a life outside the MFP site? Yes, I do. I am social. I go out to eat on occasion. I plan what I will eat before I get there. I don't eat anything that I don't know what the calories are. I go to the movies and have popcorn. But I log it and work it into my goals.

I have a life. But what I put in my mouth is always on my mind. Mindless eating is what got me to obese over 15-20 years. MindFUL eating is how I am losing the weight. Once I get to goal, I will be able to eat at maintenance level and have a little more leeway, but I will ALWAYS have to keep track of what I am eating. Perhaps after a year or so at maintenance I will be able to not have to log EVERY day, but I am prepared to do that as long as I need to. I will weigh myself every week and cut back on calories again if I gain.

After 2+ months, logging has become second nature to me. It is no longer a chore. It is like brushing my teeth. I just do it.
After awhile, you will be able to be aware of your food intake, without feeling obsessed over it.

It all comes down to how badly you want to change.

I had to stop looking for excuses why it wasn't working and look for solutions to make it work. The answers are out there.

12jflow

DebbieLyn - so glad you wrote this!! I also thought I ate very healthy. I knew what to do - bronw rice, lean protein, lots of fruits and vegetables. Then I started logging and realised I was eating around 2000 cals a day with no exercise! (For maintenance of a healthy BMI I'm supposed to be eating more like 1500 a day- I'm only 5' 1). So that information was invaluable - I was eating way more than I realised. The only way to get a handle on it was to log, log, log. Yeah, it was tedious at first - but now it's second nature and I feel much more in control. Good luck to the OP and try to stick out logging if you can - it's really difficult to be congnisant of exactly what you're eating without it.

Serendipityunt

Thanks everyone for their input, I really appreciate it. I do have some paranoia with logging my food, it does make me obsess over it. This isn't the first time I've lost weight, I used to be 30 pounds heavier and I know that this isn't easy, and I know I shouldn't expect immediate results (or anything much for months). But the logging in of food has usually been a reason I stop. I find myself eating more when I stress about logging it in. It was the same situation on Weight Watchers when I had to log in food and points values. The more I think about it, the more I think about what I'm going to eat, and the more I want to eat it, thus making me hungrier than if I wasn't tracking it. And I've gained weight because of it, in the past, I'm not saying now.