In need of help please

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I am either just slow with this whole concept or I am just doing it wrong. I need some help from someone that has had success with the EM2WL. I've opened my diary for now so that I may get some help. I do cook most meals at home and try to vary my veggies/fruits. There was a few weeks where I didn't log anything, but it was mostly the same as what's logged. I log everything I eat, but not always the water, I do drink a lot of it.

My stats are: age 30, female, 170lbs, 5' even. Haven't weighed or measured in awhile because nothing seemed to be changing. Light exercise. When inputting my info in the schooby calculator I get the following: BMR: 1530 TDEE: 2104 Daily: 1683. That's with "lose fat - 20% reduction" and macros of 40% protein 40% carb and 20% fat. I gave my info in case it should be changed.

I have managed to get myself to be able to eat that many calories (without it being all junk) but when I look at the daily macros, my carbs are always a lot more than they should be and my protein is no where near where it should be. Generally my fat is right at or less than daily allowance. Is there a list that I can print out to show the carb count in veggies and such. I eat wheat bread including the bread I make and I don't usually make rice but when I do it's either a specialty or brown. My oatmeal is not instant and I don't add sugar, I add fruit or sometimes honey.

Please someone that has had success help me! I'm stuck and getting quite frustrated. I feel horrible about myself and I want to set a better example for my kids. I didn't have a good example growing up so I'm trying to change that, but as I've said I'm either just slow with this or I'm doing it wrong. It'll help tremendously to have someone tell (or show) me what to do here. Thanks.

Replies

  • dianefisher47
    dianefisher47 Posts: 234 Member
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    Hi I am not an expert but I just looked at your diary...

    first question...why if scooby says to eat 1600 are you eating below 1200....what I have defenitely learned here is that you should never never below 1200 or your BMR and yours is 1530....read some of the posts some experts here explain much better than I do. It is said 1200 calories per is what your body needs to just function and that is not your specific body but an example..that is just to be alive.

    Second you said your BMR is 1530...this means for your specific body you need to eat 1530 calories to have your body function and thats even before you get out of bed...so WHY are you eating 1131 for your day...you are doing yourself harm and your body will turn whatever you eat in fat..its thinking she won't feed me so it keeps whatever you eat in stored fat......EM2WL means eat more 2 weigh less...not eat less...good luck but please eat more...I know cause I have damaged my weight loss by doing below 1200 and I have been on MFP for 1 year and I have not lost weight ..so this is why I joined this group and since Dec 19 I am eating TDEE -15% that is 1693 calories per day and hoping to lose ....THINK about it OK good luck
  • CanGirl40
    CanGirl40 Posts: 379 Member
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    Hi! Let me also qualify that I am *not* an expert but I took a peek at your diary from around October - November and a few things jumped out at me:

    * you need to eat more...most of your daily totals were below your BMR
    * you need to eat more often...you seem to only eat three times a day - your metabolism is out of whack?
    * you need to eat way more protein and few carbs - the macros are set for a reason...
    * I noticed a fair bit of Mexican/takeout dishes...? Full of carbs and sodium...I didn't notice any salads, fresh veggies or much fruit...?
    * are you lifting weights? Doing NROL?

    Perhaps you need to go on a full reset and then cut??? Not sure...

    Like I said, no expert here. Take a peek at some of the other EM2WL group members' diaries to give you some good ideas...
  • Gapwedge01
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    Now you re-closed your diary? Huh.....
  • grkathena82
    grkathena82 Posts: 42 Member
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    You and I must be twins or something! Our stats are almost identical. I did a 12 week reset and then did the 15% cut with absolutely no luck. Then I decided to take a break because the holidays were around the corner and I was so frustrated. Now I'm back and hoping that this will work for me. Maybe you should add me as a friend and we can encourage each other!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    My stats are: age 30, female, 170lbs, 5' even. Haven't weighed or measured in awhile because nothing seemed to be changing. Light exercise. When inputting my info in the schooby calculator I get the following: BMR: 1530 TDEE: 2104 Daily: 1683. That's with "lose fat - 20% reduction" and macros of 40% protein 40% carb and 20% fat. I gave my info in case it should be changed.

    Ok, going to trust the food intake is reaching what it should. Work on the protein, that assists in retaining muscle mass, and you'll need it when moving to deficit.

    You either need to measure, or have just barely snug clothing which is like an all-over measurement to compare to. You'll visually look at the areas that may not be changing enough to see. You cannot spot reduce. Just as you can't spot measure 1 or 2 spots and hope to always see movement. You may lose big ankles first.

    First - Light exercise.
    Is that really accurate for you, 1-3 hrs a week? You are sedentary desk job besides that 1-3 hrs?

    BMR.
    Did you use the Katch BMR stat that requires knowing decent estimate of BF%, or the Harris which is worse inflated when overweight, or the Mifflin which is 5% more accurate and not as badly inflated when overweight?

    Were you using some other method before switching to this, had you plateau'd in weight loss previously?
    How long did you have no weight or measurement changes before moving to this method?
  • letsgethealthy
    letsgethealthy Posts: 47 Member
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    My diary is still open, not sure why you were unable to see it gapwedge.

    Harris, Mifflin, Katch? I have no clue as to what those are or where to get stats from them.

    Before joining MFP I was going to the gym daily for at least an hr, usually more. I would do the classes (kickboxing, yoga, strength, etc) and two days a week I would train with a trainer. I watched what I ate, though I'm sure I wasn't eating enough. But I never saw a change. I did that twice for a year each time, different trainer each time. I do lift weights at home, but have taken a break because somehow I've managed to injure my shoulder.

    I do eat many veggies and fruits, usually I put the fruits in my shake as I tend to buy them dried or frozen. (No farmers markets and a lot of the time the fruits have gone bad in the store where I live.) When you see stews, soups, etc in my diary the veggies are included in the recipe. I try to make sure that I eat at least 1.5 servings of fruit and 2.5 of veggies. No it doesn't always happen. I'm having trouble reaching the amount of cals I am required as I've grown to not eating over the years. I'm trying to find higher cal (healthy) foods, but less carbs. Could the carbs be my problem? Too many maybe? What veggies is suggested to eat at dinner to avoid carbs?

    Thanks for all the answers thus far and for taking the time to read this.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Harris, Mifflin, Katch? I have no clue as to what those are or where to get stats from them.

    Before joining MFP I was going to the gym daily for at least an hr, usually more. I would do the classes (kickboxing, yoga, strength, etc) and two days a week I would train with a trainer. I watched what I ate, though I'm sure I wasn't eating enough. But I never saw a change. I did that twice for a year each time, different trainer each time. I do lift weights at home, but have taken a break because somehow I've managed to injure my shoulder.

    As I mentioned, those are BMR estimates, and if you didn't input a bodyfat % estimate since you didn't say you did, that means you did not use the more accurate Katch.

    Get a BF% estimate, go back to Scooby and find link for Most Accurate calculator, and confirm you select Katch BMR method.

    http://www.gymgoal.com/dtools.html

    Or just use this for all in one place, and tracking your progress. And also to answer the question you didn't answer about real level of exercise, if Lightly Active was you trying to play it safe you think, but really shooting your body in the metabolism in the long run. So an Activity Calculator.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/750920-spreadsheet-for-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones