struggle

GingerSnark

I was doing weight watchers since last August. I lost 20lbs by the holidays & fell off the wagon. I lost the holiday weight but since then its been almost impossible to have steady weight loss.

I was exercising & that's stopped. I was doing the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. I never made it past level one.

My cousin told me about this site so I thought Id try it. I did lose 2lbs in a week then gained it right back. This seems harder than the weight watchers. Im supposed to be at 1310 calories daily & feel like I'm hungry non stop. I am even more tired than usual & I get headaches frequently until I eat.

I have until July 17th to fit into a bridesmaid dress that I bought too small intentionally as motivation. I just cant seem to get back on track where I was when I first started last year.

Im so frustrated that I cant just pull it together. I'm not ready to give up but I guess this is more of a vent. Maybe I should go back to counting my points instead of calories. I don't know. I guess if it was easy, no one would be overweight.

kandyjo

One word: CONSITENCY. There is no "easy" way to do this... or I would have already done it :laugh:
This is a great website.... It helps me stay consistent... Great friends to motivate you and encourage you. Great advice!!! I have stayed with MFP longer than I have done anything else... And I have finally started changing my body... I have lost 40 + lbs (still more to go...) BUT the key ingredient is being consistent with healthy eating and exercise!!! No quick fix diets...
Good luck!!! :drinker:

hamiltonba

Yikes, how much do you have to lose to fit into the gown? Why don't you go back to Weight Watchers if that worked? It is hard to lose weight! Initially I was alway hungry as well and I figured out I had to change the way I was eating and my atitude to food. For example, now I eat 1/4C of eggbeates w/1/2 pc of cheese, whole wheat eng muffin w/spray butter and a small apple for bfst - only 215 calories and I am completely satisfied and full. Perhaps you need to change what you are eating. I also eat A LOT more fruit and vegetables - I realize that I can't eat the crap I used to and expect to be healthy. I don't know anyone who is fat who eats fruit and veggies. Good luck

GingerSnark

Most of my problem is when I am not at work. I bring healthy portioned options for breakfast, lunch & snacks. When I get home for dinner or on weekends is where the problem is.

I live w/ my fiance & his parents & grandmother. We pay rent which was to include them providing dinner. We pay for our own meals aside from that. Well, they don't want to buy the healthy foods. I cant afford to buy the healthy foods for their dinners daily as well as my own.

I cook the meals & don't want to make 2 separate dinners: mine & theirs. We've tried various options of them being on their own for dinner & me cooking for just my fiance & myself. After a short amount of time it always goes back to me cooking for everyone.

I haven't gone back to WW b/c I wanted to give this a chance to see if it worked better for me. Its been a couple of weeks.

As for the dress, I bought it in a size 18 which is still a plus size. I was wearing a size 24 or 26 prior. I am also very busty so at this point I can zip the dress up about half way. I think I need one more size to zip it all the way up. It doesn't need to be altered as far as length.

From what I gather a size is around 12-15lbs so If I can lose another 15 I think that should do it. My goal was to have fit into the dress by now & try to maintain my weight. If I lost more than great but it didn't work out as planned just yet.

dmags

I am a ww veteren. I have had success there. BUT... I have never stuck with it the way that I have here. I have lost 20 pounds. When I was on weight watchers and had that kind of success, i was not motivated to stay with it and would quit (find a milion reasons why I could not make the meetings) and put the weight right back on.... then Join WW lose some weight.... see the pattern! I am down 20 and have no desire to stop. To me, that is more exciting than the actual weight loss! Hang in there. How long have you been doing MFP?

GingerSnark

Barely 2 weeks. Which is why I didn't want to give up & go back to WW. I can follow the ww plan on my own w/out the meetings but the meeting did seem to help. I just cant afford ww anymore. The extra $ can go towards wedding planning or more of the healthy foods I need to be buying.

Chenoachem

As others said, a new lifestyle can be difficult and only works if you are consistant. That being said, 1310 calories seems really low for your body weight. I would suggest changing the goals to only 1lbs lost per week. I get headaches and hungry if I go too low on carbs. Although low carbing it will save you calories, it can give other problems. Also, it takes some time to get your body to adjust to the change in diet.

The fatigue can be the low amount of calories or I read in a Womens nutrition guide recently that fatigue can be from low iron consumption. If you are not already, try taking a daily multivitamin. My nutritionist suggested Centrum Complete. Having things like Vitamin C everyday will help your body use more of your food for fuel for your body, so things like oranges (or I use Emergen C packets in water) are really necessary.

Make sure you stay hydrated. Sometimes we feel hungry when we are thirsty since our bodies get confused. This will also help significantly with weight loss since your body won't feel like it has to retain moisture as much. Get a water bottle you like and carry it whereever you go. If you can't drink water, try cut up lemons, propel packets, or other flavoring.

Other things that worked for me were, stay away from sweets for the first 2 weeks. This kept my body from craving them and now and have them in moderation. If you have a sweet craving, I chew gum. This will help keep me from eating out of boredom and according to Prevention Magazine chewing gum can increase your metabolism.

Don't try to cut fat out to much. It is important for us to have fat to adsorb vitamins into our systems. But eat healthy fats from things like yogurt.

Good Luck. I am sure there are other things but try to adjust things to find a way you can maintain this as a lifestyle and not a fad diet, because it is not.

amelia_atlantic

Don't be so hard on yourself! Dieting is REALLY hard. Changing your life is really hard. You have to think of it as a lifestyle change! Change the types/quantity of things you eat...start there and you won't feel so hungry. Increase the amount of veggies (think GREEN: spinach, broccoli, kale) and fiber (100% whole wheat , granolas) you eat to feel full.

I personally think this is a great website because it holds you accountable for everything you eat. I've learned a lot about hidden calories through this site.

I just wanted to ask if you're exercising as well? What kind of exercising/how long are you doing it?
Weight loss doesn't come from dieting alone!

Don't give up, you can do it! :flowerforyou:

llarosa

Ang,

When I first started this I was STARVING. I went from approx 2200 calories/day to 1200. It sucked so bad but I had to push through it. I had some bad days at first but I also realize that I don't drink enough water. Most of the time when I think I'm hungry it's because I drink about a bottle of water per day which is pretty much awful. After a while of doing this I realized I can still eat what I want and stay within my 1200 calories (more if I work out). So it really does suck for a while but once you get the hang of it it gets really addicting and helps!

GingerSnark

Currently, there is no exercise. I was doing 20mins a day of the 30 day shred but it stopped after 2 weeks.

When I get home from work, I have to start dinner. The after dinner I had to wait 30 mins before I worked out then finally got to work out. I forced it b/c I was tired & did not want to but figured it was only 20 mins even if it was hardcore.

I was doing it in the basement b/c there's not enough room in the bedroom plus jumping around upstairs vibrated the walls & made alot of noise. Well my father in law would go down there to watch tv knowing I would go down half an hour after dinner. Why he couldn't watch upstairs till I was done down there is beyond me.

It just turned into excuses for me I suppose. I didn't want to keep asking if I could use the basement to workout when he already went down there.

I know its a lifestyle change. I don't say I'm on a diet. I know a lifetime of poor habits isn't going to change in a year. It's just I wish my will was stronger & I wish my in laws would see how hard Ive been trying & be more flexible with dinner.

When I go on strike & say everyone is on there own they get pissy. I only worry about me & not even my fiance. Then I'm the bad guy for looking out for my own health first when though they know I have a deadline to get into that dress.

It will be easier once were married & we move into our own place. We just cant do it right now. My fiance was laid off.

GingerSnark

Thanks Lizard . Awe, I was your 1st post

Chenoachem

I was doing it in the basement b/c there's not enough room in the bedroom plus jumping around upstairs vibrated the walls & made alot of noise. Well my father in law would go down there to watch tv knowing I would go down half an hour after dinner. Why he couldn't watch upstairs till I was done down there is beyond me.

I would recommend goin out for a walk after dinner then. Take your fiance with you if you can and make it some you time. That way you don't have to worry about what others are doing. If you get bored with just walking, do a little job here and there. If you don't take the fiance, take some music or just enjoy looking around. It will aid with digestion, reduce stress, and burn calories.

You can do this.

kalmf

Everyone has shared great information. It also sounds to me like your calories are way too low. 15 pounds are totally doable, but I can't imagine that anyone can live in a state of deprivation for March, April, May...October. And I can't help but think that if you do make it, you will experience a huge let down and gain the weight back after your wedding - because why would you want to live your life that way. Sorry if I'm psycho-babbling, but it's interesting that your external circumstances mirror your inner feelings of hopelessness and failure - your family, financial situation, time constraints are very real obstacles.

I think most people who have all that working against them would have thrown in the towel - but you haven't. You found this site. You posted about your struggle. You're reading the responses. This all shows how committed you are and what a fighter you are for your self. Even when you talk about quitting, you're talking about going back to WW, not the couch and oreos.

You can do this, but maybe you can let go of the panic - you don't have to do it all at once or right away. You can start with one thing, and you will gain momentum. And you don't have to suffer to accomplish the weight loss.

You'll get loads of ideas from the message boards but whatever changes you make, think baby steps and record everything. EVERYTHING! Especially the exercise. If you run in place for five minutes, three times a day - while the pasta boils, while the computer is loading, whatever - it adds up. If you can start walking - even just once on the weekends - it counts. You don't have to change your family's way of eating. You just want to increase your own intake of fibre- rich vegetables and decrease the other stuff slowly.

And find or start a group here for others who share your goals. I think I've seen one for women who have the "fit in the dress" goal.

YOU CAN DO THIS!:drinker:

Karin