HELP! ON THE VERGE OF QUITTING!!!!
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I think what you're dealing with is a mental battle of whether or not you *want* to change your habits, not the actual results of that change. You don't have enough data to see if it is "working" (like others have said, weight fluctuates and, if taken daily, should be averaged on a weekly basis,) but you seem to be looking for reasons to stay the same. If you keep doing what you're doing, you will have the same results. If you change your habits for 2 months (not 2 weeks,) you will ABSOLUTELY get different results. Have some patience, some dedication or---if you think it's too hard to change---quit. Just don't yo-yo and then get frustrated when you don't get results.0
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Whatever you do, don't give up.
Okay, if you're working out, you may be gaining muscle. You may be retaining water weight. Look, don't pay attention to the scale. Pay attention to how you feel. If you are doing the elliptical, and you notice you can stay at a consistent rate at higher resistance, that's improvement. If you're noticing an ankle shape, instead of cankles, you're getting somewhere. If you noticed collarbones that never existed before, you're doing something right. The scale is only going to measure what you weight at that time. Weight changes throughout the day based on water composition, food consumed, etc. Stick to a calorie goal, work out almost everyday for at least 30-40 minutes, and don't give up. I have the same problem.
The scale isn't moving, but honestly I feel stronger, healthier and I need to lose 100 pounds! I think that when the body gets forced to start using some fat, fat will start melting away. In the meantime, keep your body, workouts and eating patterns in beast mode...but don't set your calorie goals too low. Anything under 1200 for someone who is significantly overweight is probably too low...and will cause the metabolism to slow down "thinking" it's in starvation mode. You have to taper down the calories slowly. If you used to eat 3000+ calories a day, go down to 2000. When you start a pattern of working out, eating right, and living a healthier lifestyle. drop it to 1800. Whatever you do , never overestimate exercise and when in doubt, overestimate calories. Sometimes the activity calculator calculates too high. I would suggest getting a heart rate monitor that will be more accurate as far as calories lost.0 -
Quit and then what? A guaranteed gain? Every time I think of quitting I think of the alternative and the fight to lose is more appealing than continuing gaining weight.....
I've never thought about it that way, but you're so right! I'm going to think of that whenever I'm having a bad day now!
On topic though, don't give up. Everybody has good weeks and bad weeks and you just have to ignore the numbers sometimes and just persevere. Like others have said, maybe weigh yourself less often and don't obsess about what the scales say and instead just aim to be healthy and feel good. Just take it one day at a time, don't despair! I had a bad day earlier this week and I just put it down to experience and drew a line under it and started again the next day!0 -
You were under at least 2 days (I only looked at about a week) and by under I mean not even 700 calories and not even 400 :noway: That won't help you lose weight. If you're over one day it's fine, don't eat nothing the next day to "make up for it" Seriously, look at the post I linked before (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12) and read the info there about how you'll lose weight by eating more0
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Cant help without knowing what you eat, how much you burn etc.
Tho word of advice.
Don't quit.
Don't even /diet/.
Diet is something you torment yourself with for few/teen weeks and then revert to bad habbits.
Diet like that fixes /nothing/.
If you want results, results that stay and no yoyoing I'd strongly suggest lifestyle change.
Requires less sacrifice, if you read why 1000-1200 kcal is bad you will soon discover how much you can eat while still being in HEALTHY calories range
Metabolism is a *****, i don't get how it works myself sometimes, but hey,practice , discipline,clean eating . And nothing trully worth having comes easy
Read, learn, try to understandyour body and don't give up. Giving up gives you /nothing/.
Pasta,cheesecakes and general junk food is what usualy brought us to this website in first place.0 -
I don't have the answer for you, but I hope you find the personal strength to power through this plateau with a smile and a fist pump! Good luck.0
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Worry not, we were blessed with being women and our job is to retain water, and this makes our body weight be like a yo-yo. It depends on the day of the month and how much water were drinking or not. Do not be afraid of failure, becuase that is how we learn, be afraid of not trying.0
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You ate under 700 calories!!x
Your body was starving!0 -
A good day of eating is not 800 calories! I had a quick look at your journal - not enough calories, not enough protein, good carbs and veggies. 5-6 meals per day, proper hydration, adequate sleep, good fats, stay away from high processed foods and then practice patience. You need to get in for the looooooooooong haul0
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That has happened to me too. Try upping your calories a bit and drink more water.0
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I looked at your diary, and you are either inconsistently logging or you're inconsistently eating. Some days you have 200 calories left, some you have over 1,000 left. Also, how are you measuring your food, and is it accurate?
Also, you will not see results overnight. A lot of people, myself included, weigh in on a weekly basis at the same time, every time. Your body's weight can fluctuate so much during the day, it's crazy. And sometimes you will gain, and sometimes you will lose.
Water weight is another big thing. If you eat a lot of sodium, you will hold onto water. If you workout harder than you normally do, your muscles will hold onto water to help repair themselves.
Just be consistent and honest and you will start to see results.0 -
Platue!
This happened to me last year after I lost 30 pounds, I stoped loising then after I ate like THREE PEASES of PIZZA's, that was it I was tottally discourged! and I stopped counting at let my self go
BUT this may cheer you up, IT TOOK me sooo long to gain back all the pounds I lost so fast
serously I was off the wegon and it took months before I started to see the gain.
SO DON't dispare you had fun, now time to strettle that hource and keep on ridding you got this just ride out this PLATUE
(BUt you should be eating more then 1,200, and more if you excersizce 0 -
Give it 6 weeks with counting and working out and I bet you will have seen results. Don't step on that ledge before you give it an all out chance. I have had the same weight for 4 weeks straight! But I am losing inches which is a good thing even if the scale isn't changing. I am sitting here in pants that felt super tight 6 weeks ago and now can pull it off my hips by 2.5 inches or so.
Don't give up! Keep trying and over time you will find a groove that works.0 -
Need a much longer time to establish a trend. Remember that weight can make quite a difference day to day. So if the day you weighed yourself the first week was a big down day and the day the second week was a large up day you may see this rise. If you are going to weigh weekly you need to have a lot of patience, more then me. This is one reason that I end up weighing myself daily and not getting bent out of shape if I happen to go up or stay flat for several days. What I try and focus on is what was my lowest point for the week, this takes some of the fluctuations out of the picture.
In addition to the scale, what is said on here quite often, is to focus on other things then just weight. One of the ways I can tell a difference is on how my wedding ring fits. I can actually get it off now..0 -
Ok, I don't know if you've been losing for a while or not, but it sounds like a plateau, although I'd have to know a little more to be sure. I would highly suggest the Curves Complete program. It is great, and completely turned MY life around. Curves has circuit training. It's a 30 minute workout. After a couple weeks, I progressed to zumba in the circuit, which is 2 back to back 30min. classes. You don't have to stay for both, and at first, I couldn't. When you do the curves workout, you are building muscle, and speeding up your metabolism, which is the best part. Higher metabolism, more calories burned, more calories in. They have a meal plan with the curves complete that you follow. It's great! Lots of good recipes, and tons of possibilities. You also burn ridiculous amount of calories both with the circuit alone, and even more with zumba in the circuit. It is rather expensive, if you're already not going to a gym, though, so here is the basic philosophy. Build some muscle to boost metabolism. High protein, moderate fat, low-ish carbs. Basically these are the 3 things all foods consist of to make up their calorie content. So each meal will likely be high in one of the 3; choose the higher protein, when possible. Try sneaking in veggies whenever possible, to all your meals. Be creative! Or you can eat them on the side. Fruits and veggies whenever possible, try and change it up frequently so you don't get bored. I never used to count calories before, just follow their plan, however, the one by me closed down, so now we are at a regular gym, and do zumba classes there, without machines. I do machines separately, either before or after zumba, once or twice a week, when possible, for about 30min's, each. I have found for myself, that typically after the initial 30lb's lost, I tend to hit a plateau, and before Curves, never knew what to do once that happened, so I would just cut calories, until I was eating the same boring crap daily, and finding myself hungry, until I eventually gave up. The trick with a plateau, is to quit cutting calories for a while, and actually increase them, while still trying to eat healthy, but this is also a good time to get in some of your fave foods. Increase your calories til you gain 1-2lb's, then decrease to lose them. Repeat this again, and you will once again be a fat burning machine! Later, I woul find that after about 10lb's or so lost, I would hit another plateau. Either you could just be retaining water, and your weight is fluctuating, or you could be hitting a plateau. If you're weighing daily, your weight won't be accurate based on what you ate the day before. It takes time for the fat burning process to occur, so if you ate too much a few days, then ate healthy a few days and jumped on the scale, it will look like a weight gain, due to eating healthy. When you weighed later, after eating too much, you could see a loss, due to the previous time when you were eating healthier. Sorry this is so long, btw. Just trying to give you all the info I can squeeze in. If you have any other questions, message me. I'll add you.
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Weight loss isn't linear and the best advice is to eat enough but not too much, move a lot and lift heavy and most importantly keep at it. Do it day in and day out. Good days, not so good days just be persistent. This is what it takes.0
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Don't expect the scale to move in a straight line.
^^Yes, this. Two weeks? No, you are not at a plateau. No, you do not need to cleanse, detox, take pills, or find the next fad diet. Just keep doing what you're doing. My scale changes every day by a pound or two, up, and down. Then up. Then down. Get used to it. If you stick with your calorie limitations you will lose weight over time.
This is why so many people quit. They want it to happen yesterday and it just doesn't happen that fast. Trust those of us who have been there. You CAN do this!0 -
:drinker:Quit and then what? A guaranteed gain? Every time I think of quitting I think of the alternative and the fight to lose is more appealing than continuing gaining weight.....
I just noticed......Your ticker says you've lost NINE lbs, and you just joined here in January??? If that's the case, I don't understand how you can possibly be so frustrated!
Try adjusting your diary settings to track your sodium intake thought (processed and restaurant foods are LOADED and it can sneak up on you)...the "gain" is probably water retentional/hormonal. Make sure you're drinking the of water and above all...give it some time!!0 -
I looked at your diary, and you are either inconsistently logging or you're inconsistently eating. Some days you have 200 calories left, some you have over 1,000 left. Also, how are you measuring your food, and is it accurate?
Also, you will not see results overnight. A lot of people, myself included, weigh in on a weekly basis at the same time, every time. Your body's weight can fluctuate so much during the day, it's crazy. And sometimes you will gain, and sometimes you will lose.
Water weight is another big thing. If you eat a lot of sodium, you will hold onto water. If you workout harder than you normally do, your muscles will hold onto water to help repair themselves.
Just be consistent and honest and you will start to see results.
Yes, I see lots of frozen and processed foods that are probably very high in sodium, which will make you retain water and cause the scale to go up.
And are you not completely logging on days? If so, your diet is all over the place and has no consistancy. Go look at Helloitsdan's roadmap, figure out how many calories you should be eating, and stick to that. 400 calories a day is not enough, not even if you're severly obese.
Keep in mind that any change in diet an exercise will take about 6 - 8 weeks to notice results. Put away the scale and take measurements. Only weigh yourself once a month.0 -
It takes time. One thing I notice is just because you drop calories today, doesn't mean you will wake up losing. It still takes the body time to burn off the fat. What I mean by this, a calorie deficit today and tomorrow doesn't mean the third day it is gone, takes a few days for the fat burning process. So many things can play into the fluctuation, water intake will add pounds till it runs thru the body, which I believe a half gallon is about 4lbs, extra sodium will get the body to retain water longer, etc. all play into it. If you stick to what you calories are per your goal, and make sure to track it correctly, it works but over time.
I hope you don't quit but become more determined because it can work for you!!! 0 -
Try a 21 day elimination diet. Find out what you are intollerant to.
Google JJ VIrgin Diet.
Don't quit just find out what makes you gain vs lose.
She could probably try a 21 day MFP calorie count before jumping to alarmist assumptions about intolerances.0 -
Wait?! You LOST 2 lbs so you want to quit?! How does that make any sense?! Bodies are weird - sometimes they do what they want. Celebrate the 2 lbs and know if you DON'T quit you'll see many more losses on the scale.0
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Quitters never win, you need to keep your diary 100%
Looks like you have only logged a full days food on 1 day.
No one can make you do this but you.0 -
It takes 3500 extra calories to gain a pound. If you're maintaining a deficit and you gain weight it's water.0
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It's water.0
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Hi Friend!
By looking at your diary, I would recommend eating a wider variety of foods. Find things you like that fit your budget and are realistic for you to prepare and plan for. We have chicken breasts frozen or in the fridge all the time, baby carrots (no prep easy to take places), string cheese, baby bell cheese, Greek yogurt, oranges...that way you can skip the fast food and have more control over what you're eating and plan ahead.
Second, if MFP says you need to eat 1,600 calories in a day, you need to get as close to that as possible. If you workout, eat your calories back. As you lose, your calorie recommendation will decrease. The whole process encourages you to eat more sensibly, exercise more and it works. If you want some help with exercise so you can have more of a routine, C25K and Stronglifts 5x5 are great programs that you only need to do 3 days a week and show great results. Both have groups on here.
Happy losing!0 -
Quitting wont achieve anything, sticking with us will in the long term. It's a long road but we can do it together. Try to look furthe rahead than 2 weeks. Hope you get on ok x0
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Please don't give up. Don't let yourself be manipulated by that scale. Just because you didn't see what you wanted to see don't let it turn into a bad day, which can turn into a bad week, which can turn into a month and it's all downhill from there. It's hard, it's very hard.
Last month on my birthday I ate a lot of things I shouldn't and then continued that way into the weekend, and it was all downhill from there. I gained back the nearly 60 pounds that I had lost. From April last year to January of this year I was UP 60 pounds!
This year will be different, this year I know about moderation and sodium and that I personally really have to stay away from regular pop sincerely my beloved mountain dew LOL.
My story might not match to your's, but don't throw in the towel. Give it time. Get some good friends on here who can give you advice and support 0 -
First things first- eat healthy and exercise and weight comes off. Remember that when exercising, your body will hold onto water to repair your muscles, which means your scale will tell you you haven't lost weight. Second, muscle weighs more than fat, so there will be fluctuations as your body gains muscle.
I worked out for a week and only saw 0.4 pounds lost. I was frustrated needless to say. I injured my shoulder, and had two very sick children so I took a week off from working out and BOOM, lost 11 pounds. Can you say water retention and muscle gain? Also, if its your TOM, you will likely gain between 2-7 pounds and then lose after.
I was weighing myself everyday, and getting very frustrated. Just last night I put the scale away. I measured my arms, hips, wrists, upper and lower thighs, and neck. Recorded the measurements and will not take them again for a month. Your body is going to change a lot, and weight is not always an indicator of how those changes are taking effect. Keep a log of everything you put in your mouth. Make sure your getting enough calories everyday and make sure those calories are foods that are rich in nutrients, not just empty calories.
Don't give up! I have only lost 12 pounds, But that means I am 12 pounds lighter than I was during Christmas! I have a practice I do. For every good choice I make, be it food choice, exercise, cleaning, whatever, I stop and tell myself, "That's a drop of awesome for today!" It helps keep me focused on the positives and not the negatives. So, working out, even just a little, half a cup of awesome right there. Every moment I decide to keep exercising instead of giving up, drop of awesome. 38 minutes of working out= full glass of awesome! Salad with my chicken and cheese sprinkled over it (better than the kids donuts sitting on the counter!) drop of awesome for the healthy choice and drop of awesome for avoiding the donuts! See how this works.
You can make anything happen if you just focus on the positive.0 -
I don't know if this applies to you. exercising when one is carrying extra weight can sometimes cause swelling if you plunge into it. Adding more water weight...Scales are so evil..Try weighting every week or two...best of luck!0
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