Please look at my diary...

ashleylynn8888

I am hoping someone can give me some advice as to why I'm not seeing any weight loss.
From June to November 2012 I lost a total of 50lbs. I began attending Farrell's Extreme Bodyshaping in Sept. 2012 and have worked out 5-6 days/week since then. From November 2012 until now, I have actually GAINED 3+ pounds. I stopped using MFP from Nov-Feb. and my eating isn't as great as it used to be when I was losing weight but I have since upped my exercise to compensate. (We eat out a lot, as my hubby is a cop and he only gets 30mins to meet us somewhere for dinner.) I wear a Polar HRM during my workouts so I know my calories burned are fairly accurate and I even underestimate them when logging them in MFP.
Could someone please look at my diary and tell me what I am doing wrong and why I'm no longer losing?
THANK YOU!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/ashleylynn8888

tigermom12

I'm pretty new to this but could you possibly not be eating enough calories? Extreme Bodyshaping sounds like a tough workout to me. Also, have you taken your measurements lately? Keep it up!

txfatburn

I'm fairly new to this as well but agree with buglvr12. You don't want to eat too few calories or your body will store what you are eating as fat. I too lost weight a year ago then hit a stand still and got frustrated. The thing I changed this time around is no longer buying the processed "diet" foods and am eating more produce, fish and chicken. Since I quit doing the 100 calorie packets, breads and grains the weight has started coming off again. Also, I have been drinking alot more water. Keep your head up, litle tweaks here and there will help you to figure out what works for your body.

ashleylynn8888

It is a 10-week course made up of 3 days of kickboxing and 3 days of strength training with resistance bands each week for 45mins each. It's not too extreme. After completing the initial 10 weeks you can sign up for a year membership (of the same program)... which is what I'm in now.

jonnythan

my eating isn't as great as it used to be when I was losing weight but I have since upped my exercise to compensate. (We eat out a lot, as my hubby is a cop and he only gets 30mins to meet us somewhere for dinner.)

Knowing the calories you've burned is pretty irrelevant to weight loss when you have no clue how many you're consuming.

SnicciFit

It is a 10-week course made up of 3 days of kickboxing and 3 days of strength training with resistance bands each week for 45mins each. It's not too extreme. After completing the initial 10 weeks you can sign up for a year membership (of the same program)... which is what I'm in now.

That is pretty extreme! I agree with both comments above. Eat more and eat better quality foods. Also, take your measurements and pictures. There's a good chance that you are getting stronger & leaner, but not losing weight.

ashleylynn8888

my eating isn't as great as it used to be when I was losing weight but I have since upped my exercise to compensate. (We eat out a lot, as my hubby is a cop and he only gets 30mins to meet us somewhere for dinner.)

Knowing the calories you've burned is pretty irrelevant to weight loss when you have no clue how many you're consuming.

Since Feb. I have been tracking my calories burned and consumed.

stumblinthrulife

I just went back through your diary for March. You posted a lot of overages, and multiple blank days. The blank days make me not trust those days that did log a deficit.

The answer seems to be a pretty simple "you're eating too much".

Log better. Find restaurants you can eat at which have good nutrition information - that's pretty much anyplace that has more than one restaurant. Make better choices from the menus. And keep a consistent deficit. The consistency will help you better assess how your body is reacting to the changes you make.

jonnythan

my eating isn't as great as it used to be when I was losing weight but I have since upped my exercise to compensate. (We eat out a lot, as my hubby is a cop and he only gets 30mins to meet us somewhere for dinner.)

Knowing the calories you've burned is pretty irrelevant to weight loss when you have no clue how many you're consuming.

Since Feb. I have been tracking my calories burned and consumed.

Ahh OK. I see a few problems.

One, I think you're vastly overestimating your calorie burns. You're probably not burning 750 calories an hour doing kickboxing or 600 an hour circuit training.

Two, you blow past your calorie goal with some regularity. 700 there, 400 there.

Three, your logging is inconsistent. You have nothing logged for 3/16 and 3/17. Same for 3/9 and 3/10.

Be more realistic with your calorie burns, hit your calorie goals every day, and log more carefully.

jonnythan

It actually looks like you never log on the weekends at all.

majope

Okay, a few changes that might help:

--Eat a bigger breakfast. I noticed that the day you had a 90-calorie granola bar for breakfast, you went for two cheeseburgers and a large fry at lunch. Of course you did--you were probably ravenous. If you'd had, say, a 300-calorie breakfast sandwich (a bagel thin, a tablespoon of butter, one egg, a tablespoon of cheese), you might have been able to go with a single burger and a small fry.

--Decide what you're going to eat before you get to the fast food joint where you're meeting your husband, write it down to firm up your resolve, and stick to it. Your 1035-cal Popeye's meal doesn't look like a plan to me. I love Popeye's! But there are better choices you can make there without even going to the "healthier" options (bonus points, of course, if you do). A spicy breast with a side of red beans and rice would give you 40g of protein for 650 calories and is quite filling. Skip the biscuit, or at least split it with your husband. They have even lower-calorie options, too--a chicken wrap for 310 cals, 6-piece nuggets for 230, etc. And all the fast food nutrition info is online--make it a habit to plan before you go. Not sure which place you'll end up? Look up the most common fast food places you go to, and write down meals at each that fit your goals.

--Portion control. I'd be the last person to scold you for the Kit Kats--but they do make them in smaller-sized bars. If you know you're going to have one every day, or thereabouts, it's easier to switch to a smaller size. Yum, delicious! I know I'll have another tomorrow, so I can stop now! But, yeah. You know this: you probably didn't REALLY need two full cups of ice cream.

--Log the weekends. They count, too. Overeating then? It happens. Log it anyway, so you can have a truer picture of your calorie intake. And if you know you're going to log it and keep yourself accountable, you might find yourself making better choices.

Fast food happens. Treats are good. Keep them both under control, and I think you'll do much better.

Best of luck!

jonnythan

You've been logging for about 3 weeks.

You never log on Saturdays or Sundays.

You've gone way over your calorie goal a handful of days that you've logged.

Your exercise calorie logs are, IMO, wildly optimistic.


So you've had some good days. You've got the basics down, you just need to hammer down the details. Log every day, religiously. Everything that goes in your mouth goes into MFP. Be more realistic with your burns. Don't blow through your goals. Stick to them. This will work.

mrsappleblossom77

Looking at your diary, you may be eating at maintenance level. There are several days you went over your calories and you didn't log over the weekends. Since you eat out every day, I would go the the restaurant's website and look at the nutritional data so you know what you are going to eat in advance. For example, you went to Buffalo Wild Wings one day (our favorite!) and had chicken tenders. A better option would have been the Naked tenders. Or maybe you could meet your hubby and bring him a home cooked meal?

Kassadeedle

If I go out to eat I always look at the menu/nutritional info first. You can get meals at McDonalds for less than 500 calories rather than 1100.

olores

yep...portion control is essential on this life journey! Do u really have a cup of egg whites? Usually 3T or at the most 6T is filling. Give it a try and add veggies / cheese (1 Slice) to add to the fullness. Also noticed that u love dairy, me too just try to portion the treats! 1/2 cup is really the portion size, tops 1 cup. Good luck!

LBNOakland

^^^^ What they all said! :bigsmile:

Seriously, quit the fast food. Your kids need to learn that it is a special treat on RARE occasions, not the norm. LEt's break this obesity cycle in America. Cook dinner and take it to your hubby. Meet at the park and have a family picnic. When he leaves, you and the kids can play and have some fun exercise.

I know it's hard. I have 4 kids and a full time job. Luckily, my hubby helps with the cooking. One of our favorite things - he grills the meat and I make the veggies. Always at least 3 veggies. Never more than 1 piece of meat per person.

We also cook in bulk on the weekends together. Big pot of beans and green beans and potatoes. Whatever I am cooking, I make extra to use as sides during the week. The grilling doesn't usually take that long and sides are cooked so voila! Dinner! My whole family enjoys cooking. Many times, the kids are right there, helping. (My youngest is 11 now and wants to be a chef). I can leave instructions and stuff on counter and they can have dinner ready when I get home.

It is tough but learning how to work around your circumstances and succeed is going to teach your kids so much!

Good luck! Friend me if you want! :flowerforyou:

jonnythan

Seriously, quit the fast food.

Allow me to strongly disagree with this.

Quitting fast food is not even remotely necessary.

MonicaT1972

Why is your diary closed now?

bostonwolf

Why is your diary closed now?

Clearly she wasn't looking for as much truth as she was getting.

As Jules said in Pulp Fiction, "If my answers frighten you then you should cease to ask scary questions."

CanGirl40

You've been logging for about 3 weeks.

You never log on Saturdays or Sundays.

You've gone way over your calorie goal a handful of days that you've logged.

Your exercise calorie logs are, IMO, wildly optimistic.


So you've had some good days. You've got the basics down, you just need to hammer down the details. Log every day, religiously. Everything that goes in your mouth goes into MFP. Be more realistic with your burns. Don't blow through your goals. Stick to them. This will work.

Sound advice. Hard to hear, but true...

Alohathin

Seriously, quit the fast food.

Allow me to strongly disagree with this.

Quitting fast food is not even remotely necessary.

This.

I still have fast food, occasionally...just not 4-5 times a week like I used to. I eat pizza, ice cream, cookies, Costco muffins...but it's all about moderation and compensating for it with the rest of your diet.

jonnythan

Seriously, quit the fast food.

Allow me to strongly disagree with this.

Quitting fast food is not even remotely necessary.

This.

I still have fast food, occasionally...just not 4-5 times a week like I used to. I eat pizza, ice cream, cookies, Costco muffins...but it's all about moderation and compensating for it with the rest of your diet.

You might want to take a look at my diary. I've had fast food, ice cream, donuts, or pizza pretty much every single day. On Tuesday I had McDonald's, Subway, and ice cream. Today I've got a donut, pizza, and Taco Bell.

Alohathin

Seriously, quit the fast food.

Allow me to strongly disagree with this.

Quitting fast food is not even remotely necessary.

This.

I still have fast food, occasionally...just not 4-5 times a week like I used to. I eat pizza, ice cream, cookies, Costco muffins...but it's all about moderation and compensating for it with the rest of your diet.

You might want to take a look at my diary. I've had fast food, ice cream, donuts, or pizza pretty much every single day. On Tuesday I had McDonald's, Subway, and ice cream. Today I've got a donut, pizza, and Taco Bell.

I'm all for it, if you can fit it into your daily calorie allowance. For me, I tend to binge if I do it too often. But I have it often enough to keep me satisfied...cause I love me some Wendy's Baconators.

Plus, I've had high blood pressure issues, so I try to keep the processed foods to a minimum, to keep my salt consumption down.

ashleylynn8888

Why is your diary closed now?

Clearly she wasn't looking for as much truth as she was getting.

As Jules said in Pulp Fiction, "If my answers frighten you then you should cease to ask scary questions."

Woah, no need to get nasty here. I would not have opened my diary OR posted the question knowing full well what was in it if I was afraid of hearing the truth. I only closed my diary for a little bit while I figured out how to stop all of the notifications of replies I was getting on my phone.

I really appreciate all of the helpful and encouraging replies. Thank you.

SlimSumday

my eating isn't as great as it used to be when I was losing weight but I have since upped my exercise to compensate. (We eat out a lot, as my hubby is a cop and he only gets 30mins to meet us somewhere for dinner.)

Knowing the calories you've burned is pretty irrelevant to weight loss when you have no clue how many you're consuming.

True. And you can't 'exercise away' calories. From what I understand, exercising will just tone, not take away.

castro8823

wow you guys are good, I dont think i lost any weight yet. im on week 4.

AJCoombs

I would definitely suggest not eating out every night. I like the idea of meeting your husband with a home cooked meal. Way less calories and better for you. Do you not log your water or do you really not drink any. That could be huge for you. I know it is for me. Also I would watch my sodium levels if I were you. That alone can make you retain a lot of water. There are healthy options though if you do need to eat out. Just plan ahead.

MinnieInMaine

1) You need to start logging your weekends. It would be one thing if you were REALLY good Mon-Fri and then didn't worry about your weekends much but, as you know, your eating is less than perfect so right now it's vital that you keep a more consistent record in order to be able to look back at the full history of your intake. You have some over days and under days which probably just about even out but without the weekends in there, you could be going way over on average. Hard to tell without that record there.

2) I'm a firm believer in eating what you like...but in moderation. Before you go back to McD's or Popeye's or whever else it is that you usually eat (I didn't look at the details too much, just the totals), go to their websites for the nutritional information and pick a few things that still sound good but are lower in calories, fat, etc. Try to stick with leaner grilled meats and instead of fries, have some fruit or a salad.

I get wanting to go somewhere to meet up with Hubby for meals but how about packing sandwiches instead and just eating in the car or finding a nice picnic spot, especially now that it's spring and getting nice out. The thing with restaurant/fast food is that it super high in sodium even if you pick healthier choices. Water retention alone will make that number on the scale go up. Make sure you're drinking TONS of water.

It's good that you're still being consistent with exercise but you really can't out exercise a bad diet. I tried this a few years ago...stopped tracking and just "tried" to be good with my eating and kept exercising regularly but about 5 pounds crept on in a few months time and that's when I decided I needed to get serious again (this is when I joined MFP).

Good luck to you!

elyelyse

3 days of kickboxing and 3 days of strength training with resistance bands each week for 45mins each.

unless there is a lot of additional activity in addition to this, then I have to agree that the burns you are logging are not just slightly above accurate but extremely so. many days you log burns of over 1000 calories, and that is just not happening in a 45 minute class.

It's true that in order to really *kitten* what you are doing right or wrong you must log every single thing every day (ok taking a day off for a birthday, or thanksgiving is no big deal to me). Even weekends, 2 days is 28% of the week.
Many people will tell you that you can lose weight even if you eat fast food every day, and I think that is true IF you have the room in your caloric budget to do so, which I don't think you do. You will be more satisfied, and even be able to enjoy more food with the same calories if you change that fast food for lean protein, veggies, and some complex carbs.

sportyredhead01

Hey, I know it's going to sound counterproductive or whatever but I've personally noticed that I have lost inches from eating full fat regular food. Like instead of Light N Fit, do a full fat Greek Yogurt. It worked for me, will it work for you? I dunno. Experiment and change it up.

Can you do some freezer meals or throw stuff in the crockpot? My smart-pot is worth every cent. Eating better/ losing weight for me has been about pre-planning. It totally blows spending 4-5 hours in the kitchen on my day off but it's a commitment. Also I've found since I've quit eating fast food (except for rare occasions) I no longer crave it.

Also I didn't realize how important protein was for a long time. Make sure you're getting enough.

Feel free to add me, my diary is open and I log every single day, even when it's awful.

Good luck to you! :happy:

ashleylynn8888

Seriously, quit the fast food.

Allow me to strongly disagree with this.

Quitting fast food is not even remotely necessary.

This.

I still have fast food, occasionally...just not 4-5 times a week like I used to. I eat pizza, ice cream, cookies, Costco muffins...but it's all about moderation and compensating for it with the rest of your diet.

You might want to take a look at my diary. I've had fast food, ice cream, donuts, or pizza pretty much every single day. On Tuesday I had McDonald's, Subway, and ice cream. Today I've got a donut, pizza, and Taco Bell.

That was one of my biggest questions. If you have the calories left to use for the day (I still have 1180 for the day, and have eaten a very healthy 600) is fast food so bad? I thought you were supposed to eat back a portion of the exercise calories.

*Side notes- I have been logging for longer than 3 weeks. As I stated in my OP I just took a break from mid Nov-feb. I also used another application for logging at times before that.
As part of my Farrell's classes we do not log for one day of the week (Sat. For me). As for Sundays, well that's just laziness because it is also our "rest" day from class.