Scale isnt budging ? in body of post.
lessofkimberly
Posts: 98 Member
So the second person just told me after looking at my menus that I need to add more protein to my diet. That if I do so I should start losing more weight. I am so frustrated,that I am willing to try it. The only thing is, I will never be able to eat within my calories if I do. The suggestion was to add both a morning and afternoon snack that involves protein. Make sure I have protein at every meal. And after 2 weeks, see if the scale starts to go down again...I hear what they are saying, but dont want to see it go up in the other direction. Doing what I am doing isnt working, so any thoughts???
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So the second person just told me after looking at my menus that I need to add more protein to my diet. That if I do so I should start losing more weight. I am so frustrated,that I am willing to try it. The only thing is, I will never be able to eat within my calories if I do. The suggestion was to add both a morning and afternoon snack that involves protein. Make sure I have protein at every meal. And after 2 weeks, see if the scale starts to go down again...I hear what they are saying, but dont want to see it go up in the other direction. Doing what I am doing isnt working, so any thoughts???
Why will you never be able to eat within your calorie goal if you increase your protein?
Every food is either protein, carbs or fat (or alcohol), so if you need more protein within your calories, you just have less carbs/fat.
If you are following MFP's default of 15% protein, that is quite low, so don't worry about exceeding it. Treat it as a minimum, not a limit.0 -
Check out other people's diaries to see how they do it. I just upped my calories. But the past three weeks, I was doing 1200-1400 while eating a good range of protein. Ignore Thursdays, Fridays and Sometimes Saturdays, those tend to be the days I fall of the wagon because of planned events. Nothing planned this week though!!0
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Your diary isn't public, so it is hard to make concrete suggestions.0
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What is your calorie alotment? Since starting MFP, I have found ways to add low-cal protein snacks to my day and I rarely go over my 1200 calories for the day. One idea is I buy turkey ham and slice it into 2oz portions. It is about 60 calories and 8 grams of protein. Also, I get goat chese in 1 oz packages (from Costco) and that is only 68 calories and 5 grahams of protein. You can buy Kashi Go Lean cereal and get like 10 grams of protein out of that. Or, eat boiled eggs in the mornings or for a snack. If you only eat the egg whites, you would be in great shape.
I hope this is somehow helpful. I sure know how frustrating it is to not see the scale move!0 -
First - you've lost nearly 100 pounds, so saying that nothing is working is a bit dramatic.
Second - agree with 1st poster. No idea why adding protein would make you gain weight. Eat foods higher in protein as opposed tk whatever it is you are eating now. I havent seen your diary...but eating protein doesnt make you gain weight. Obviously the people who told you this didnt mean to add EXTRA food and go over your calorie limit. They meant to make better choicez.0 -
Thank you for the suggestions. I am at 1210 suggested calories from MFP. So these lo calorie ideas are very helpful.0
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I am using the defaults from MFP. Is there a way to change that setting? I will have to explore that.0
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Actually one of the ppl is a an health educator and tells me that i am eating too few calories...increasing protein is one thing, but calories scares me.0
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Not dramitic. I have been stuck within the same 10 pounds for months. Yes, I lost 96#, but I still have 40 to go and I dont want to be playing with the same 40 this time next year. So I am trying to find why I am stuck, and get back moving in the right direction. Thank you for your help.0
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We cant offer specific help without seeing your diary. With the amount of running your profile says you do I would guess you probably arent eating enough.0
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Not dramitic. I have been stuck within the same 10 pounds for months. Yes, I lost 96#, but I still have 40 to go and I dont want to be playing with the same 40 this time next year. So I am trying to find why I am stuck, and get back moving in the right direction. Thank you for your help.
You're stuck because your metabolism finally adapted to eating only 1200 calories. It's not going to give up any more excess weight unless you make some dramatic changes. And since you mention you're "scared" of extra calories... Well frankly, your options are limited. You can certainly keep trying to do what you're doing and expect different results. Good luck with your journey.0 -
Take what you are currently eating and half your grains to replace with proteins. Too make up more calories, add back in healthy fats.
Instead of milk and cereal, have Greek yogurt and a half serving of cereal, or yogurt and fruit. Nuts will add healthy fats
Instead of 2 toast and on egg, have one toast and two eggs.
Instead of an oatmeal bar, find one with higher protein - we usually use Kashi.
For your spaghetti, use half as much pasta and twice as much meat.
Cut back on and/or change your low fat, but still high calorie dressing and add tuna fish or chicken or a hard boiled egg . That is, use a dressing with olive oil instead of this low fat creamy French with six grams of sugar!0 -
You're stuck because your metabolism finally adapted to eating only 1200 calories. It's not going to give up any more excess weight unless you make some dramatic changes. And since you mention you're "scared" of extra calories... Well frankly, your options are limited. You can certainly keep trying to do what you're doing and expect different results. Good luck with your journey.
So, are you saying she needs to eat a little more to continue to lose weight? I'm so confused on the whole metabolism thing <sigh>0 -
You're stuck because your metabolism finally adapted to eating only 1200 calories. It's not going to give up any more excess weight unless you make some dramatic changes. And since you mention you're "scared" of extra calories... Well frankly, your options are limited. You can certainly keep trying to do what you're doing and expect different results. Good luck with your journey.
So, are you saying she needs to eat a little more to continue to lose weight? I'm so confused on the whole metabolism thing <sigh>
Everyone needs to feed their body properly if they expect it to function properly!0 -
Thank you everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. I changed my food diary to public. I didnt realize that it was limited to my friends only. Also added morning and afternoon snacks and am going to follow advice and add the protein. Since I exercise 6 days a week, I am going to make sure that the extra calories I am eating are heavy in protein. And I appreciate the one or two friend adds.
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Eat more - at least eat your calories back that you exercise off since it appears you are using the MFP method (which already calculates your deficit in the 1200 cal/day). A better method IMO:
1. Find TDEE
2. Eat at 15% less than TDEE (eat that amount every day and don't eat back exercise calories)
3. Eat 1 g protein per 1 lb LBM
4. Eat 0.35 g fat per 1 lb body weight
5. Find something other than the scale to track progress (BF%, inches lost, clothing fitting, pictures, strength increases, endurance improvements, etc)0 -
Hi Kimberly--
TO CHANGE YOUR GOALS:
On the My Home tab, click Goals, then Custom to adjust your macros by hand. You can also try just giving yourself more calories by using the Guided method and changing your weekly loss goal to give yourself more wiggle room temporarily. You also might have underestimated your Normal Daily Activities level and shortchanged how much baseline nutrition you need.
I tried changing my macros manually a little while ago but it made life unpleasant so I went back to the default settings and just try to go over on protein whenever I can. I realized when I started MFP that I had been overzealous about avoiding fats for years and had not been eating nearly enough of them, so while I don't go out of my way to exceed on fat I don't mind if I go over a little. The only value I don't like seeing red at the end of the day is carbs.0 -
Hi Kimberly . I also have same problem . I was exercise 5 days a week doing a mixture of crossfit with weights earning at least an extra 600 to 800 extra cals a day , and did not use exercise points . And was only eating 1200 cals a day . In fact my weight was going up. My personal trainner was always trying to get me to eat more but I couldn't my stomach could take large portions. I. Have had to try and increase gradually . Healthy snacks in between will help you . Example hand full of nuts or eat natural bars they have good fats . Don't know what sort of trainning you do , but if its all cardio try changing to cardio and weights . High intensity trainning is better for weight loss . Hope this helps . Regards . 18352. Posted 25 feb.0
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Eat more - at least eat your calories back that you exercise off since it appears you are using the MFP method (which already calculates your deficit in the 1200 cal/day). A better method IMO:
1. Find TDEE
2. Eat at 15% less than TDEE (eat that amount every day and don't eat back exercise calories)
3. Eat 1 g protein per 1 lb LBM
4. Eat 0.35 g fat per 1 lb body weight
5. Find something other than the scale to track progress (BF%, inches lost, clothing fitting, pictures, strength increases, endurance improvements, etc)
Yup.
Check here.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-120 -
I was just reading on the Livestrong web site that the most common reason for not losing weight is not enough muscle mass. It's muscle that burns calories. You might want to eat a maintenance for awhile and concentrate on building more muscle.0
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Awesome information in that link! The best move I made was using the information there to change my goals, and eat according to what's posted there. I've been on 1800+ calories for about a year, just actually raised my calories yesterday, and I've had the BEST success with this method.Eat more - at least eat your calories back that you exercise off since it appears you are using the MFP method (which already calculates your deficit in the 1200 cal/day). A better method IMO:
1. Find TDEE
2. Eat at 15% less than TDEE (eat that amount every day and don't eat back exercise calories)
3. Eat 1 g protein per 1 lb LBM
4. Eat 0.35 g fat per 1 lb body weight
5. Find something other than the scale to track progress (BF%, inches lost, clothing fitting, pictures, strength increases, endurance improvements, etc)
Yup.
Check here.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
Don't be afraid to eat more - you've lost a lot of weight - have you ever adjusted your calorie intake along the way?? Your body has changed, and it's needs have likely changed as well. Read that topic, go step by step through the information and enter your numbers in the tools at the links provided, and find out how much you should be eating for fat loss. it works - I only wish I had found that topic three years ago!0 -
Not dramitic. I have been stuck within the same 10 pounds for months. Yes, I lost 96#, but I still have 40 to go and I dont want to be playing with the same 40 this time next year. So I am trying to find why I am stuck, and get back moving in the right direction. Thank you for your help.
You're stuck because your metabolism finally adapted to eating only 1200 calories. It's not going to give up any more excess weight unless you make some dramatic changes. And since you mention you're "scared" of extra calories... Well frankly, your options are limited. You can certainly keep trying to do what you're doing and expect different results. Good luck with your journey.
^^ This is what happened to me - it wasn't as low as 1200, but now I'm eating 1900 at least, and burning between 400 and 500. I don't eat back my exercise calories because the 1900 is my TDEE -20% and already takes my exercise into consideration. I've lost xlose to the same amount as you. Once I upped my calories (NO PROCESSED FOODS!) my body started letting go of the fat again. Good luck!!0 -
Just had a look at your exercise diary as well - if you're running and doing weights/strength training, you DEFINITELY need to eat more, and up your protein. Fuel that body! You are asking it to work hard, but then barely fueling it - it's got reasons to hang onto fat, not burn it!0
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Some areas that may help... Less carbs at breakfast trade in the pancakes and cereal for egg white omelettes, breakfast tacos or flavored greek yogurt... My favorite breakfast when I have the time is three egg whites, slice of extra lean ham browned in strips like bacon, La Tortilla Factory low carb small tortilla 50 calories and 7 grams of fiber, pico de gallo salsa, tablespoon of plain greek yogurt, and slice of avocado. About two hundred calories! Lots of flavor and protein, veggie, and fiber! I will in a rush have a piece of Dave's Killer Bread with a Dannon Light Greek Yogurt. Good amount of fiber, protein and fast!0
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I can only provide you with my philosopy. I don't stress out too much about exceeding fats,carbs, sugars or protien. But I do make it a point to consume healthy forms of them.
I don't worry about vitamins but I eat total cereal to make sure I am getting most of what I need. That is my go to breakfast during the week with 1 piece of fruit.
Lunch is usually a sala with a dressing with as few calorioes as I can find that tastes good. I also have some form of protien with my lunch. Often times it is chicken but sometimes I have cabbage rolls, or stuffed shells or even pork lion. Low calorie portions of lean meats. with 1 piece of fruit for a snack in the afternoon.
I have been playing with dinners a lot. My wife has also been a lot of help. This is where I get variety in my diet. First I plugged in my recipes to find out if I could fill myself up and stay under my calorie goals. If not I don't eat it. We are always looking for new recipes. We have also been trying to eat fish two nights a week.
As a general rule I have been avoiding breads, spreads, dressing and sauces. That is where the calories hide. That is also where the saturated fats and trans fats are. I get most of my dairy from 1% milk. Haven't brought myself to try fat free milk yet. I try and avoid cheeses because they are really high in calories. I have also traded in traditinal pasta for whole wheat pasta.
The go to items are fresh vegetables and fruits. You can eat vegetables to your hearts content. They are really low in calories and full of good healthy nutrients. The first weight loss trick I learned was to fill up on salad and have a little bit of the other stuff. Leaves me feeling full and satisfied. It also helps to spread out my calories through the day.
Exercise has also been a valuable tool. Not only does it make me straonger and the ability to enjoy life more. I also use it as a crutch to be able to eat a bit more sometimes.
I hope this helps.0 -
Eat more - at least eat your calories back that you exercise off since it appears you are using the MFP method (which already calculates your deficit in the 1200 cal/day). A better method IMO:
1. Find TDEE
2. Eat at 15% less than TDEE (eat that amount every day and don't eat back exercise calories)
3. Eat 1 g protein per 1 lb LBM
4. Eat 0.35 g fat per 1 lb body weight
5. Find something other than the scale to track progress (BF%, inches lost, clothing fitting, pictures, strength increases, endurance improvements, etc)
Do that ! It is a SOLID advice. The #5. is especially important. The number on the scale means NOTHING. Measure your bodyfat %, your waist and hips, take pictures every month, etc. etc.
As for proteins, if you want to stay low on calories but consume a lot of proteins, here are the top 10 foods with the BEST protein to calorie ratio :
#1: Turkey Breast (and Chicken Breast) : 1g protein per 4.5 calories
#2: Fish (Tuna, Salmon, Halibut) : 1g protein per 4.5 calories
#3: Cheese (Low-fat Mozzarella and Cottage Cheese) : 1g protein per 4.7 calories
#4: Pork Loin (Chops) : 1g protein per 5.2 calories
#5: Lean Beef and Veal (Low Fat) : 1g protein per 5.3 calories
#6: Tofu : 1g protein per 7.4 calories
#7: Beans (Mature Soy Beans) : 1g protein per 10.4 calories
#8: Eggs (Especially Egg Whites) : 1g protein per 12 calories
#9: Yogurt, Milk, and Soymilk : 1g protein per 18 calories
#10: Nuts and Seeds (Pumpkin, Squash, and Watermelon Seeds, Peanuts, Almonds) : 1g protein per 15.8 calories
Protein shakes are also a good option. Good brands typically have 24 grams of protein for 120 calories which gives a very good ratio of 1g protein per 5 calories and it's cheap, quick and easy !0 -
Eat more - at least eat your calories back that you exercise off since it appears you are using the MFP method (which already calculates your deficit in the 1200 cal/day). A better method IMO:
1. Find TDEE
2. Eat at 15% less than TDEE (eat that amount every day and don't eat back exercise calories)
3. Eat 1 g protein per 1 lb LBM
4. Eat 0.35 g fat per 1 lb body weight
5. Find something other than the scale to track progress (BF%, inches lost, clothing fitting, pictures, strength increases, endurance improvements, etc)
I'm in achronym hell...what is TDEE? How does one figure LBM and TDEE - and any other achronym's out there : -)0 -
Google is your friend.
TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (what you burn doing basic body functions, normal day to day living, and exercise)
LBM = lean body mass (everything except fat). Measure your body fat % and LBM = (1 -BF%) * weight0 -
Google is your friend.
TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (what you burn doing basic body functions, normal day to day living, and exercise)
LBM = lean body mass (everything except fat). Measure your body fat % and LBM = (1 -BF%) * weight
At the risk of derailing the topic, how have you and other members gotten your body fat percentage measured? I know there are body composition scans, but do you have to get your doctor to order them? I am dubious of scales that claim to measure BF%.0 -
Google is your friend.
TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (what you burn doing basic body functions, normal day to day living, and exercise)
LBM = lean body mass (everything except fat). Measure your body fat % and LBM = (1 -BF%) * weight
At the risk of derailing the topic, how have you and other members gotten your body fat percentage measured? I know there are body composition scans, but do you have to get your doctor to order them? I am dubious of scales that claim to measure BF%.
measure and add what you find into any of a number of online calculators. I use http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/0
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