Ready to GIVE UP!

carla8270

Hi all,

I started MFP back in October and had a lot of success losing 20 pounds with just dieting. I started out at 1420 calories and as I lost MFP readjusted to 1370.

In February, I decided to pick up exercising. I first started by doing a Leslie Sansone 2 mile walk and then invested in Chalean Extreme. I haven't lost anything since I started exercising. When I started Chalean, I bumped up my calories to 1500 as it is pretty intense. Still nothing. I have maybe lost .5 inches, if that, from my waist.

I have lost and gained the same two pounds for SIX WEEKS. I am really ready to give up!!! I don't know what to do. Any advice?

Thanks,
Carla

jfan175

Well, >80% of fat loss is diet, and you don't have your diary open. No one can help if they don't know what you're eating.

carla8270

I thought it was open. It is open now.

carla8270

Also, this last week I have been slipping as I am getting discouraged.

cmriverside

Also, this last week I have been slipping as I am getting discouraged.

Are you slipping because you're discouraged, or discouraged because you're slipping.

You do have control over what you eat. You just have to seize it.

lilpoindexter

I bought a little scale for the kitchen, and little measuring cups and spoons so that I could accurately measure out portion sizes. I'm not saying that's an issue for you, but it was for me, and when I started being as accurate as possible BAM, I started hitting my weight loss goals pretty damn consistenly.

carla8270

I am slipping because I am discouraged. I feel like why even bother? I am not losing weight anyway so if I want to eat pringles what difference does it make?

I KNOW it does. And I know if I keep at it, I will see the scale sky rocket, but I am not able to deal with this rationally lately.

schnarfo

Don't just look at the numbers on the scale! Sometimes ur body takes time to readjust and although you don't see numbers move on the scale you do see changes in your body so try taking measurements of ur waist and hips etc especially if your exercising! Don't give up you will reach your goals!

cmriverside

Okay. So I looked at the entire last week of your food.

You say you raised your calories to allow for the added exercise.....but then you don't eat the calories burned by the exercise.

For the entire last week you added the exercise calories but then didn't eat them. THAT will cause a stall.

On the days you exercise, try eating the 1700 calories as recommended. It will make a difference.

Your food choices aren't bad. Just you need to eat them.

Give it time. No one has a straight downward line of weight loss. It takes constant tweaking and experimenting. You'll get there if you don't quit. If you turn around now, you'll always turn around.

JJordon

Most of the Beachbody diets for advanced programs all have the same theme for their intake macros. It's usually high protein, next by carbs, and then the lowest macro is fat. (P90X, Insanity/Aslyum, etc. Even CX)

Your highest macro is CARBS. That needs to go ASAP. It needs to be PROTEIN.

My sister does CX, and they do pretty heavy lifts.

You need to manually set your macros (my home, goals, custom) to something more along the lines of 40/20/40 for carbs, fats, protein.

Without knowing your height and weight, I can't say what your intake should be. What do these calculators tell you? Your intake seems kinda low for someone who wishes to lose nearly 100 lbs.

http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Chuck the pringles. Eat a protein bar or have a shake!
Take a gander at my diary, too.
And if you are not using the MFP phone app, to get a running macro for your day/week, its going to be kinda hard (it has features the website does not, surprisingly!)

schnarfo

Definitely eating the net food allowance will help!! Loads of people think they shouldn't eat back their exercise cals but not doing this actually makes it harder to lose weight!

sharonb100

are you logging your exercise calories and are you eating most of them? I don't think you're eating anywhere near enough.

on days when I exercise hard (most days) I eat about 1800-2000 calories

JesterMFP

You say you're slipping, but I only saw maybe 3 days where you went over your goal, and probably not by enough to exceed your TDEE. Most days you are leaving behind a few hundred calories. Not only can that lead to overeating, but it can also make some people stall with their weightloss. You're more active now, so your body needs more fuel going in.

As far as motivation - whenever I've wanted to give up, I've just asked myself where that would get me. Yes I could give up in frustration, but then I would either stay the same or (more likely) gain the weight back that I had lost. People plateau sometimes, and yes it is discouraging, but if you give up now, then what was the point in starting? You've lost 21 bs, which is fantastic, and I'm willing to bet that you are fitter and healthier now than you were.

You've been restricting calories for a while now. Have you considered a diet break? Eat at maintenance for a few weeks (keep logging) and then cut the calories again. It can help both physically and mentally. Check this out: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

This is a blog post that I've found helpful regarding plateaus: http://fitnesswithnatalie.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/most-dreaded-word-in-weight-loss.html

Also, if you want someone to check your numbers, Sara and Sidesteel created a really great group here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress-

robot_potato

Keep trying. I promise you it is worth the effort. I know it gets frustrating, but nobody loses every week. Also, I strongly encourage you to look here

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013?hl=In+place+of+a+road+map+3

This guy really knows what's up, and many people here have found great success with this information, myself included. I had stopped losing and gained back 22 pounds(because I gave up) before I found this in February, and now I have lost 10 of those pounds and on my way back to my goal.

Best of luck to you.

etremoi53

I have had a really tough time losing any weight after the initial start but I am still coming back to log in and read what people are saying. I think the post before mine was good. It sounds counter intuitive to eat back your calories but I think it is true. I also had to bump up my calories to be able to lose. I initially started with 1200 and then bumped it up to 1500. I just started to see some progress recently with changing the milk I use in the morning in my cereal to almond milk which is much lower in calories but still has a good amount of calcium and protein.

CyberEd312

Well in my opinion the mental part of weight loss is the most important place to start... First and foremost you have to want it, until then you will continue to spin your wheels, you have to commit to this as a lifetsyle, there will come a day when you hit maintenance and let me tell you it will not get any easy then. At that point your goals will change but then you are striving to hit new goals. Once you have a grasp of the mental side then and only then will you be able to make the physical side a reality. Weight loss is not linear, you will have weeks where you will do everything correct and might see a gain and then the next week not so much and you lose. You just have to focus on it one day at a time and continue the journey. Baby steps but even those steps are always moving forward and they will eventually lead you to your goals... Best of Luck

cmriverside

In rereading your initial post I see you think you raised your calories - so you are purposely not eating back the exercise cals?

I think you've set your numbers too aggressively altogether.

Here: read these:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

Ed98043

Just browsing your diary for the past couple of weeks...seems like a lot of carbs and a lot of sodium (which I notice you don't count). Maybe tweak your macros a bit? And as for your current state of mind - if you completely give up and go back to old eating ways, you're going to gain that 20 lbs right back. It might not be a bad thing to take a break from losing to get your head straight, but don't go all the way back to the starting line.

KenosFeoh

You know what will happen if you give up, right?

I have the same issues, but I realize that part of my problem is that not every bite that goes into my mouth goes onto my log. I can't figure out how to log one bite of the macaroni and cheese that I'm cooking, for example. I do try to minimize these little slips, but they happen, and in the end my exact calorie count is impossible to determine.

I think that the best thing to do is keep pushing forward. At least we're not progressively gaining; that's a positive.

carla8270

Honestly, just getting feedback has already helped. It is so hard to feel stuck in this journey with no resources. I was eating my exercise calories back and had stalled. I spoke to some girls who advised not to. I think I didn't give it enough time. I will try eating them back. I also am going to try to cut back on the carbs a bit!

So many have already posted some great information. Thank you