Frustrated!!!

June2268

3 weeks finished today and I gained .6 lbs with a total of 2 lbs loss!!! Not sure if it is my age as I know I am starting to go through the change, but really only 2 lbs in 3 weeks. I work out on the average of 5 times a week and gain those calories and some times I do eat them. Should I be banking them and never touch them or use them? I was at 1200 calories and was told that was too low so I am now on 1370 calories a week, is that too high? Any help would be muchly appreciated and if you want to friend me to help me along the way that would be great too!!!!

CupcakeCrusoe

Took a peek at your diary, you seem to be doing fairly well.

1) 1370 calories is too low, in my opinion. Go to iifym.com and calculate what you should be eating or not eating.
2) Sodium intake affects water retention, which might be part of what you're seeing on the scale. Give it a couple of weeks at least before you go back to 1200 calories. Really. You will start to see some progress.

ETA: I said "not too low," I meant "too low." When I was eating only 1200 a day, I was constantly miserable and moody. Now that I am eating around 1500 a day and exercising more, my mood has stabilized, and my outlook has gone from "I can't eat that, no calories," to "I can eat THAT? I have so many calories!" It's much more empowering than even it sounds.

FriendsR4EverTreasures

Hello, always think of your weightloss as a long term activity with many many different results. You should always be greatful that you are not gaining and that any weightloss is that much closer to your goal. You didn't gain over night and you won't lose overnight either. Also, look at all your other accomplishments which I'm sure are many. For example, inches lost; now I can walk/run .5 mile more; I workout 5 days instead of none, etc. There is so much more about weightloss besides a number on the scale. The sooner you accept this, the more successful you will become. Whatever you do, don't get frustrated, stressed, pressured, etc, celebrate your victories regarless of how insignificant they may seem. What about challenging yourself to not getting on the scale for a while if it frustrates you this much. This will give you the time to focus and observe the other accomplishments you have achieved.

Let me tell you a story about me....two weekends ago, I ran my second half marathon, this made it 2 for my very first year of running (quite an accomplishment right?) well, my performance on the second half was worse than the first (2:02 to 2:07) and it frustrated me to the point that I was refusing to get back out and run. I pouted for about 1 week and a half and kept saying "I'm giving it up" because like you, I was very frustrated and disappointed at my performance. But honestly, was anyone else looking at me and judging me, NO, it was all internal, we are our own worst enemies. I was ready to give up on an entire year's worth of successful running (1-1st and 2-2nd place 5Ks and 2 half marathons with great time for a novice) simply because I was slower than what I wanted to be. Really? So I took time off, thought about my running accomplishments, and decided I was going to continue without putting stress or pressure on myself to perform at an specified manner. Guess what happened? I went out to just run for the joy of running, no pre established rules or speed/distance, and I had the best run I have had in a long time, speed was even better than it had been, and I found my love for running again.

The morale of the story....don't let "perceived" failures deviate you from your path of successes. Your path will not always be smoothe, there will be bumps along the way, you will not always be able to determine the outcomes, but your reaction to them can make a huge difference of how you will succeed. Let's do this, you can make it because the most difficult of all of this is making the decision to change and that my dear you have already conquered, otherwise you would not be on here. Use MFP as your support we are all in this together! Feel free to add me.

susiesweets

3 weeks finished today and I gained .6 lbs with a total of 2 lbs loss!!! Not sure if it is my age as I know I am starting to go through the change, but really only 2 lbs in 3 weeks. I work out on the average of 5 times a week and gain those calories and some times I do eat them. Should I be banking them and never touch them or use them? I was at 1200 calories and was told that was too low so I am now on 1370 calories a week, is that too high? Any help would be muchly appreciated and if you want to friend me to help me along the way that would be great too!!!!

I hope you mean 1370 calories per day not per week.
I started doing MFP last year and went 6 months doing everything I was supposed to with maybe a handful of cheat days though most of them were days where I was conscious of what I was eating (I have girls nights out sometimes and it would put me over my daily allowance with no time for my regular exercise). I lost a total of 25 lbs. In 6 months. I sat down one night and just cried because I was trying so hard to lose and all I had to show was 25 lbs after 6 months. I am a big girl and thought I should have been able to do much better considering my choices. I stopped, said "screw this", went back to having quality of life foods like homemade breads and biscuits and cookies and cheesecake and making amazing desserts in my kitchen (which is my passion in life). I put all but 9 lbs back on as of the end of January and have been struggling with coming back again because as much of a struggle as it was to follow my regiment it was progress none the less. For me it will be worth it to look in the mirror and love the woman looking back at me more so than having that divine heath bar cheesecake that taunts me when I dream.

Hang in there. Use those exercise calories as a buffer so you can eat them if you are hungry. Make good choices that become habits. Search the internet for healthy meal options and recipes (though I found most out there are not all that healthy and don't fit the restrictive calorie counting of My Fitness Pal- at least not my calorie allowance.

MariaHammer750

You have to do what is right for you; 1200 calories may not be too low for you. It depends on what your current weight is. If you are close to recommended weight for your age and height (close as in within 30-40 lbs of it) you may need to be at 1200 calories in order to lose... or you may have to exercise more. I currently weigh 298 lbs and I try to stay under 1400 calories, which is the amount MFP says I need to be at to lose 2 lbs a week, and I exercise 32-35 min a day (burning 450+ calories each time) and have only eaten back my exercise 2 or 3 times in the whole 2 months I have been using MFP and I am losing at a rate of about 1.5 -2 lbs a week. Many people on here have said that they suspect that MFP miscalculates calories burned (by exercise) and I agree (which is why I chose not to eat them back), so you may not be earning as many as you think. If you are eating back what you think is half of them, it could really be closer to all of them. Some people have suggested wearing a calorie burner type tracker when they work out so you can get a better sense of how many calories you are really burning. Hope this helps. Good luck to you!

June2268

Thanks everyone for the input and I am trying to stay positive and not throw the towel in so easily this time......I think I am going to stick to the 1370 calorie a week as I feel better being able to eat a tad moer and not so restricive......

blobby10

June, this may make you feel better. I've just checked and I've been logging all my food and exercise since 22nd Jan, going over only a couple of times. I gave up chocolate, sweets, biscuits etc, cut out alcohol (except for this weekend just gone!), working out 5/6 days per week.

I haven't lost an ounce. I'm trying upping my protein by having a mid morning and mid afternoon snack of cottage cheese or greek yoghurt and trying desperately to keep on with this plan as I'm getting very discouraged.

So well done for your loss in such a short time!

x