4 WEEKS DIETING AND HAVEN'T LOST 1 POUND !!!

AnnaMarieDinVa

You sound like a smart and committed person, and I see you've received some good advice on this thread. I just wanted to wish you lots of luck. Especially with your busy life, you may find the changes overwhelming at first, but just stick with it and it will become easy in no time at all.

Mrsmorman

Yep, that's it. You are not eatting nearly enough and your body is holding on to the weight it has to keep from going into starvation mode. You also need to vary what you eat , more fruits, veggies, eat protein. Focusing on eatting real meals and snacks in between . Also make sure to drink plenty of water. When exercising, eat those calories back. Everyone is telling you the same thing because that is the problem so go ahead and try it and you should start losing. Good Luck.

ArturoGomezTagle

Don't consume calories and fail to report them. Are you currently drinking alcohol and not reporting it? If you consume less calories your body will burn the excess. It's biology. It can't falter. Starving yourself, regardless of what all of these "Doctors" and "Experts" say will make you lose weight. There must be a disconnect with your diary and reality.

mrsjones81

Eat lots of negative calorie foods. You can google a list of them. Your body burns more digesting them than than they contain. Also If you're not a breakfast person like me try Carnation Breakfast shake. It's low calorie and has lots of vitamins and minerals. I have found that pre-boxed diet foods leave me feeling unsatisfied but a huge fresh salad with a little cheese and some protein fills me up for a long time. Try mustard or salsa instead of dressing. I also see no exercise. That's super important.

hiyomi

Not eating anything does not mean a diet. You need to do it healthier. Up your calorie intake and exercise.

wease1204

I haven't read all the replies but my number one concern is that you are not eating enough. And I bet you are also not spacing your meals out to keep your metabolism in the fat burning zone. My recommendation for you is to:

1. Make sure you eat a good breakfast of whole grains and protein
2. Healthy snacks of fruit, nuts, cottage cheese, etc.
3. Good lunch with protein AND carbs (your body can't function without carbs!)
4. Dinner should be small with another healthy proportion of protein and carbs - a good example is 100g lean chicken, fish or meat of your choice, 1/4 plate of pasta or rice or sweet potatoes etc and 1/4 plate of salad/veggies.
5. Keep an eye on your macros, keep that in mind to help you decide which food will be best to reach your goals. i.e. too low on carbs, think of a carb rich low fat product (like brown rice!) and eat a portion of that; too low on protein? Cottage cheese is a great idea as is nuts etc.

You should be aiming for a minimum caloric intake of your BMR. Going below that and your body has trouble functioning and it goes into starvation mode - as such you wont lose anything! Have you ever heard the saying "Eat to lose weight"? you must EAT to keep your metabolism burning.

MFP is an education tool - it helps you learn what you can and can't eat to lose weight and helps you make the right choices based on this new knowledge! I really hope you take into consideration everyones comments - and please remember - this is a way of life NOT a diet. When you finally reach your weightloss goal, how do you expect to maintain? I have made this mistake the first time in 2010/2011- I lost 22kg in 10 months and then put 10 back on after reaching my goal because I was afraid of carbs. I have since grown wiser and realised that you need carbs to survive and it needs to be about 50% of what you eat. Keep this in mind and you will be successful in your goals and your maintenance!

Good luck and please feel free to add me for help and examples :-)

fatoadsgranny

look at your caloric intake and your age. For me (I'm 50) my intake should be 1200 cals a day. I'm finding it hard to consume that much food. Today's intake was 880 cals with 40 from fat. Look at the types of foods you are eating. Make sure that they are high protein, low carb, low fat. If you need to increase your calories, try a protein shake - one with low carbs and no refined sugar. Everything I have read suggests Stevia or another natural sweetner. I've tried several and so far my personal favorite is Jay Robb. It's really expensive, but it doesn't have the gritty taste and it dissolves nicely unlike many other powders. My dad uses it to increase his caloric and protein intake (he has MS and is trying to avoid being put on a feeding tube. An yw'ay, it's non-lactose (a bonus for me too). The hardest thing for me is giving up the refined sugar and flour. But, I have managed....Ezekiel bread instead of homemade white bread (I still make that for my family) pureed almonds (no oils) instead of peanut butter, avocado instead of mayo, and no fruit. Bananas are carb-filled enemies. Potatoes are death, too. Make omlets with only egg whites and then add things like spinach, onion, and lots of seasonings. Biggest thing...water. Drink lots of water (or plain tea). My new "sweet treat" is Good Earth's Sweet and Spicy". It kills the sweet tooth cravings for me.

So far, I've lost 4 lbs of the 25 I need to loose. It's not an easy road. Make sure that you get plenty of exercise even if it's just walking 2 miles a day. And most of all....keep going! It's better to loose slow and easy than to see a big sudden weight loss. Remember, if you're "over-weight" like I am (yep! I had a grandbaby 5 years ago and I ate through our daughter's pregnancy) you don't want to loose weight fast, because there is no where for your extra skin to go. And most of all....DON'T GIVE UP!! We're all in this together. :-)

Nikky43

This was such sound advice! Im so glad you shared this!

Rather than just tell you that you aren’t eating enough I am going to offer you some advice and you can choose to use it or not but I felt it would be helpful. I think you can easily reach your goal of 145 by April 15th if you can do what I suggest or even use it and modify it you fit you.

Your metabolism is probably in the dumps from your low caloric intake. The only way to get it up is increase your caloric intake with complex carbohydrates, lean proteins and healthy fats.

Are you exercising at all? If not that could also provide a metabolic boost especially if you incorporate some type of weight training whether it be free weights or machines. If you don't have access to it I would recommend doing body resistance stuff at home. You would be surprises how 20-30 minutes a day of push-ups, lunges, squats, sit-ups will do for you.

Try and focus on complex carbohydrates, lean proteins and healthy fats. It’s better to have eggs (or egg whites) and oatmeal for breakfast at around 300 cals rather than an instant "breakfast" bar, which in reality is basically a candy bar.

I would recommend this:

Breakfast: (250-300 Cals)
3-Egg whites (cooked with non-stick spray, not butter)
1-whole egg
1/2 cup oatmeal( or a whole pack of instant oatmeal if you need convenience)
--- You could use liquid eggs for convenience, I do

Morning snack: (160 - 200 cals)
Piece of Fruit
1/2 serving of almonds

Lunch: 300-450 Cals
4-6oz Lean meat (chicken breast/lean beef/Fish/Shrimp)
1/2 Sweet potato
1-.5cups or 1 serving of Broccoli/green beans/ asparagus/ cauliflower

Or Grilled Chicken Salad with low calorie dressing and be very cautious of the amounts of the extras on the salad (croutons/cheese/bacon, etc) they add up very fast

Afternoon snack: (~200 cals)
Greek Yogurt or
1/2 serving of almonds or mozzarella Cheese stick

Dinner: 300-500 Cals
5-8oz Lean meat (chicken breast/lean beef/Fish/Shrimp)
1/2 cup cooked brown rice or sweet potato
1-.5cups or 1 serving of Broccoli/green beans/ asparagus/ cauliflower

PM Snack Ideas: (100-200)
Sugar Free Fudgesicles
Light Microwave Popcorn
Piece of fruit

On the low end it would be 1,300 Cals and on the high end it would be 1,750 and that would assume you at every meal at max Cals.

I promise you if you eat this way consistently you will lose weight faster than you have ever lost weight in your life. It will only magnify if you can find a way to consistently incorporate exercise. Even if you can only fit in 3 days a week of 30 minutes. All I can say is we need to get out and move. No matter what type of exercise you choose we need to do some.

There are only two certainties I can guarantee.
It will happen if you do it
It won't happen if you don't

I will say this I am not offering a short cut. If you are looking for easy and a silver bullet that is not what I offered. What I offer is sound advice that takes hard work, planning/preparation and dedication.
You have to remember if it was easy we would all be walking around with 6-packs.
Best of luck.

If this was helpful to you and you have any further questions let me know.

denise032

Move more! Exercise at least 30 min a day w/ 1-2 rest day(s)/week. Preferably do a mix of cardio/strength and at the same time and aim for 85% max HR = (220-AGE) * 0.85. Aim to burn 200-300 calories in a 30 min session (or more if you're more fit and able to workout longer)

Eat b/t 1200-1400 calories / day and as cleanly as possible. Aim for 40% (~140g) net carbs (subtract fiber from total carbs), 30% (~105g) protein, 30% (~47g) fat.

Drink 64-80oz water a day (and nothing else except 1 cup tea/coffee)

pearljam1997

Most posters have covered everything already but I just wanted to chime in about planning meals. I just started back on here again recently and I have a really hard time with meals but someone introduced me to this site and its awesome. The food is amazing and covers what you'll need in a meal. Its also low calorie and most of these meals are already in the database here. So definitely check it out. Hope it helps

http://skinnyms.com/recipes-menu/

aepdx

If you feel like you don't have time to cook healthy food for yourself, try making low-sodium stew in bulk and freeze in portions, it really helps for me. I am vegetarian and anemic so I eat a lot of lentil soup! Well, try to. It is low-cal, nutritious and super cheap to make. Just a suggestion. Also, I try to have nutritious mid-day snacks once in a while like a cup of quinoa or an apple with a tbsp or peanut butter. I usually dedicate a couple hours on Sunday to cooking and I am set for the week!

I understand your logic, it is nice that it doesn't work that way though! Being hungry all the time really blows.