Losing the will- but no weight!!

kgj66

I have been using MFP since January. Although my diet has been far from perfect it is pretty healthy/clean(my diary is open). I tend not to log every single weekend- not because I pig out at weekends, just because I am not always near a computer/ have 3G to log. I prob have an extra 100-200 calories at weekends, but that's it and am pretty active(walking/horse riding) both days.

I started off trying to stick to 1200, and after reading a lot about that I have upped to 1500(TDEE -20%). *My diary is set at 1275 because I found that when I set it to a target, I usually get there and then have some extras at night. So this gives me 300 extra calories of wiggle room.*

I went to the gym 4 times a week in Jan, but my membership ran out, so after that I started running( only 15-20 minutes at approx 5mph) and am now on L1D4 of the 30DS.

Last time I lost weight it was due to undereating (basically cereal twice a day and fruit and veg) and so of course I put all of the weight back on so want to do it properly this time, but I have only lost a total of 2lbs on and off over the last 2 months. Very frustrating!!

I have chocolatey snacks in the evenings- bad I know but is it reallly bad if they fit in my calorie goal? I know if I go without something for a while I will pig out, so I allow myself 120cal of choc, or some strawberry fizzy laces in the evening if it fits in.

Please help - do I need to cut out the chocolate and yummy things? I work in an office, but am very active in evenings as I have a horse( i don't log this as exercise though as I do it daily) so plenty of walking, especially at weekends. Do I need to do cardio as well as 30DS to see any results??

This is a life style change for me, but I would really like to know how to get more results as the urge to just go back to less calories is getting stronger!!

nbrueggeman

I am having the same exact issue. I've been only able to loose 9 lbs in the last 10 months. It helps very little that on these forums people tend to be real jerks and act as if they have a degree in nutrition. Ugh.
I feel like giving up and leaving mfp. I've had a terrible experience here with the people and haven't been able to loose enough weight.

Lizzy622

How do you feel? Are you feeling any stronger? Are your clothes fitting any differently? You should also log your weekends. You may be underestimating the damage. Don't get too discouraged. I haven't budged in a while either but my pants are telling a different story. They fit much better.

vcancel

Stick with the food logging. You can never know exactly what you eat unless you log. I also find the boards nasty and full of misinformation more than helpful however, I do like to be here to encourage others. Good luck to you!

concordancia

Are you eating the same things on weekends? It sounds like you're schedule is really different. Even if you not have a connection, you should at least write down what you eat for a few weekends to make sure you are eating what you think you are.

bizco

No, you don't have to skip your treats as long as they fit into your calorie limit. Depending on how long you were undereating, and how messed up your metabolism became, it takes time to get back to a healthy state. Be patient, log consistently, eat healthy whole foods to get the proper nutrition, log your dedicated exercise (you mentioned running) and eat back your extra earned calories so you maintain the same daily calorie deficit.

Best of luck!

Koldnomore

Your diary looks like you are hitting the goal more often than not although it tends to be a little confusing with all the red. Since you lost weight before by under eating did you do any type of metabolism re-set? What will happen very frequently when you have been on any sort of VLCD (where you are eating under your BMR for an extended period) your metabolism slows down in order to try to conserve any calories that it can. Depending on how long you managed to keep up the low calorie eating you may have done some serious damage to your metabolism to the point where your TDEE has now been artificially lowered so much that you are cutting into your normal deficit.

Now, having said this, you say that you have lost about 2 lbs over 2 months. That's about .25/week..BUT YOU ONLY HAVE 13 lbs (6kg) to lose in total (according to your ticker) So really you aren't that far off of what you should be seeing. When you are that close to your goal weight you are going to be seeing very small losses. Somewhere around .5/week is normal for your situation.

This is something that people seem to have difficulty understanding. It is not healthy or sustainable for someone with less than about 50 lbs to lose to be expecting to see 2lb/week loss. Sure you can do it, but as you already found out, the deficit is so steep that you will end up gaining it back and possibly doing damage to your metabolism in the process.

I see from your diary that you are not actually weighing things.. I would wager that this is where a good part of the other .25lb/week deficit is going. Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY This will show you what using measuring cups/spoons vs weighing is doing to your deficit. When you are so close you need to be that much more accurate.

Hope this helps.

Koldnomore

I am having the same exact issue. I've been only able to loose 9 lbs in the last 10 months. It helps very little that on these forums people tend to be real jerks and act as if they have a degree in nutrition. Ugh.
I feel like giving up and leaving mfp. I've had a terrible experience here with the people and haven't been able to loose enough weight.

Same problem for you.. 14 lbs to goal weight and you don't weigh food.

ryry_

Are you weighing your food or just going off of the eyeball test?

Taking a quick peak at your diary it looks like there is a lot of inconsistency with going over days, days partially completed or missing, etc. Consistency is the name of the weight loss game.

I've been able to lose 22 pounds since January after struggling with futility over the past 3 years by following some basic tenets. Calorie numbers will be different for you as I am a 6'4 male.

1. Eating 2000 calories a day every day (recently upped to 2,100 as I was averaging more than 2 lbs a week).
2. Preparing all my food at home and weighing my food on a digital scale to make sure I'm eating what I think I am...I tried this experiment. Took out some peanut butter and estimated how much it was. Then measured and it was 3 times what I guessed. Those mistakes add up. I've only eaten out maybe 4 or 5 times as I can only guess how many calories are in things
3. Excercising 6 days a week for an hour a day. Combination of weight lifting and cardio.

That's it. I try to make most of my meals healthy but make a conscience effort the eat stuff I typically avoided. Foods I've eaten include Oreos, Cheetos, Rainbow Sherbert, Captain Crunch, Popcorn. But I measure and log it as part of my daily calories.

Good Luck and don't give up. Just focus on consistency doing the few things that are going to get you results.

kgj66

Thanks for replies! No I don't weigh as my scales are rubbish!! Guess I should invest in some new ones!

I will start trying to log weekends-I suppose it can all add up. Though if I know I haven't been great il make an effort to remember what I've eaten-ie last weekend and log it to show how bad it is!

Thanks again

ryry_

Then my first advice would be to buy a $20 digital scale at target. Devote the effort to weigh and log all the food for the next two weeks.

You are right. THe dinner and drinks and the overreating on weekends is enough to sabotage your hard work during the week.