Please help - I'm really trying and failing

Frankietb

Hi. I noticed that you were not counting your sodium intake and I see that you eat a lot of things that have extremely high sodium. I would suggest tracking that as well and see if you can get the numbers down.

This. It's something people often overlook. Whenever you get something that is pre-packed and processed its LOADED with sodium. Also, you don't log water.... are you drinking atleast 8 glasses? This is VERY important. you're probably holding onto lots of water weight.

I will work on lowering my sodium and I drink a minimum of 10 glasses a day. Thanks!

scarrletti_girl

you know maybe the fat is just slowly being replaced with muscle instead and that is why you arent seeing results i just say keep doing what ur doing and it will eventually happen this isnt a get skinny quickly thing it is a life time thing. so keep it up girl!!!

good luck and chin up

jenniejengin

bump

Frankietb

What do you do to workout? You say you burn 350 calories - how is this calculated? Can you up the intensity of your workouts, e.g. do interval training?

I use a heart rate monitor. I will try and bring up my intensity. Thanks for the suggestion!

Frankietb

I think this is one instance where no one's gonna tell you to eat more to lose more.

Seriously! That's all I've been reading about lately so I was actually thinking of increasing my calories because I saw some diaries of women the were in awesome shape and were successful at losing lots of weight and their calories were set at over 2000 a day! Not sure this is a good idea for me. Wish there was a one size fits all solution to losing weight.

Frankietb

Up the proteins (eggs, not cereal for breakfast, every day)

lower the carbs a little - don't go crazy.

Try to lessen the canned foods.

More real food - raw veggies - LOTS!
I know it's expensive in the some places, but if you can... do.

50 minutes 5 days a week is GREAT! Keep it up. I bet your body is healthy and happy.

It is!!! I feel stronger and have more energy so that's positive. Thanks for the suggestions!

Frankietb

I'm going to agree with some of the others and say that I think you might be eating more at maintenance. Some people just don't fit into those TDEE calculators (myself for example). I'm 5'7", 133 pounds, 44 years old, and maintain at what you are eating. If I want to lose, I have to drop my calories from there.

I also agree with what the others are saying about food choices. I find that if I eat a bunch of junkie foods, even if I stay within my calorie limits, I don't have the results I do if I'm eating healthy, whole foods.

I'm glad you're sticking with it! Keep at it, and you'll find that sweet spot that works for you!

Thanks! I'm beginning to see that I'm not going to be successful with TDEE-20% and will try to lower my calories and eat better foods.

Frankietb

This is what works for me.

I set my goal at around 2000 (maintenance assuming I am not active). I eat that. My active lifestyle / exercise creates my deficit - which I do not log.

My goal is body fat, which depends on how much I work out. If I cut calories, I wouldn't have the energy to spend 2-3 hours in the gym.

That's a good way to do it. Good luck!

Frankietb

ya-sorry to say your diary doesn't look very "healthy"
lots of junk and processed foods=high sodium.
your fat grams allowed are super high and your protein is low-remember 1g (per lb of your weight) is the norm.
weight training is great but I think you also need to add some cardio.

I know (hides head in shame). Will do better from here on. Thanks.

Frankietb

Join the group eat, train progress and fill out there online form. They are pretty helpful in troubleshooting things with you. My two guesses would be tdee - 20& coming out with 1800 is a 200 calorie deficit. That is small and can easily be messed up with inaccurate weighing or a couple of meals "off the books". The other option is that your actual TDEE is different than your estimated and you need to adjust downward slightly.

Thanks. I have actually read quite a bit from that group and that's why I thought I'd be good with 1800 calories a day because some of the women there are in such good shape and eat a lot more than me! Guess I'm not so lucky.

Frankietb

A lot of good advice here. Thank you for the question because I picked up some things I didn’t know from reading on some of the responses. Example would be TDEE and macros.

As someone else pointed out the food database isn’t always accurate so I was always scanning in items or manually entering in information in order to be as accurate as I could. I also just watched my diet and I did not do much in the way of Cardio – I found this was a little easier for me to concentrate on. After some weight loss – around 25 lbs – I started working on cardio and incorporating exercise into my weekly activity. I know you mentioned lifting but do you do any aerobic / cardio activity - fat burning vs putting on muscle?

Dropping the calories down may not be bad. I know that when I started out, my target goal was 1 lbs a week and my daily calorie goal was a little over 1500 net calories - according to MyFitenessPal. Surprised that you are at 1800 actually since that is my maintenance number although I am short - 5’5” and 38 - so that may play a factor.

Here is another way of looking at TDEE - its an online calculator:

website is : http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

Calulate your TDEE and the information below - also on the site - is what you can use to figure out macros

- Protein: 1 gram per pound of body weight
- Fat: .45 grams per pound of body weight
- Carbs: The remaining number of calories left will be filled with carbs


Keep trying - before you know it - you will be buying clothes every 2 - 3 months because of shrinking out of them

Those are great recommendations and I appreciate you taking the time to write. Thank you.

Frankietb

A lot of good advice here. Thank you for the question because I picked up some things I didn’t know from reading on some of the responses. Example would be TDEE and macros.

As someone else pointed out the food database isn’t always accurate so I was always scanning in items or manually entering in information in order to be as accurate as I could. I also just watched my diet and I did not do much in the way of Cardio – I found this was a little easier for me to concentrate on. After some weight loss – around 25 lbs – I started working on cardio and incorporating exercise into my weekly activity. I know you mentioned lifting but do you do any aerobic / cardio activity - fat burning vs putting on muscle?

Dropping the calories down may not be bad. I know that when I started out, my target goal was 1 lbs a week and my daily calorie goal was a little over 1500 net calories - according to MyFitenessPal. Surprised that you are at 1800 actually since that is my maintenance number although I am short - 5’5” and 38 - so that may play a factor.

Here is another way of looking at TDEE - its an online calculator:

website is : http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

Calulate your TDEE and the information below - also on the site - is what you can use to figure out macros

- Protein: 1 gram per pound of body weight
- Fat: .45 grams per pound of body weight
- Carbs: The remaining number of calories left will be filled with carbs


Keep trying - before you know it - you will be buying clothes every 2 - 3 months because of shrinking out of them

I do cardio 1 day a week (HIIT) and Vinyasa yoga 1 day a week and this gets my heart rate up! Now that the snow has melted around here (finally), I will start running and biking outdoors for cardio.

Frankietb

I would say like me you're already pretty fit, and that makes it tough to drop anymore even if we think it would be nice. I think you may need to do a true cut diet if you really want to lose it, lots of protein veggies and good fats and low carbs. If you really want, try dropping the bread and wheat completely and "eat clean", as they say.

Get the thyroid checked, too. That made a big difference for me. I ended up going to a naturopath to get the right amount since I was "within range" and my regular doctor wouldn't set my thyroid medication any higher.

Then add some HIIT training. You're already lifting, so try and get a bit heavier lifts if possible. You need to change it up and get your body to work even harder, surprise it.

Where do you carry your weight? For me it's all hips and thighs. I've lost everything on my waist I can and the rest is really stubborn....

I am a true endomorph. I have curves but a nice flat belly which I'm very thankful for. My upper arms and upper thighs are my problem areas....

Thanks for the suggestions. Looks like I need to make a change in my diet and will do just that.

Frankietb

you know maybe the fat is just slowly being replaced with muscle instead and that is why you arent seeing results i just say keep doing what ur doing and it will eventually happen this isnt a get skinny quickly thing it is a life time thing. so keep it up girl!!!

good luck and chin up

Thanks! My husband tells me that I'm nice and firm so that's working for me! Just need to reduce that top layer of fat now.

shar140

Your calories don't add up to your macros. I would try and ensure

1) You hit or exceed the protein every day
2) you stay under on the carbs and sugar
3) you make sure your food info is correct

I counted up the macros to several days and one was off by 700 calories! You thought you ate 1700 but you ate 2400!! That is a big difference...

Second this guy.

Also, you need to watch your sodium content and your fat/carbs as well as snacks. All those chips are going to add up as well as weekend binges with drinks and what not that are most likely keeping you at maintenance. You seem to divulge everyday in at least chips or popcorn or something of that nature as a "treat" - try eliminating that or at least taking it down to 1-2 times a week.

I do eat chips and other not so good foods often but I was under the impression that what was most important at the end of the day was that I didn't go over my calorie allowance limit. I will re-evaluate this. Thanks for your time!

That might be ok once you hit your goal, but to reach your goal, you might need to cut them, for now.

I would also add to the More Protein and Veggies crowd. I did see that some days you had a good amount of protein, but some not nearly as much. I'm guessing the higher protein days are after your heavy lift workouts (I know I craved protein like mad then). But even when I'm not lifting as heavy, I still aim for at least 100g protein/day, as it helps me feel more satiated.

I also noticed that sometimes your lunches look pretty small - try adding more protein and more food overall, and maybe you won't need as many snacks? I saw 200 calorie lunches, but 700 calories' worth of snacks that could be used for more quality fuel for your workouts. Sometimes I do eat smaller lunches - only half of my lunch, then finish it later in the afternoon for my snack. "snack" food doesn't have to be chips or popcorn, it can be eggs, chicken, turkey, veggies, etc, too.

I hope you find what works for you!

jbfox123abc

Speaking for myself only, I keep my calories to around 1200 even though I work out 4 times a week and hike or snowshoe almost every weekend.

Frankietb

Your calories don't add up to your macros. I would try and ensure

1) You hit or exceed the protein every day
2) you stay under on the carbs and sugar
3) you make sure your food info is correct

I counted up the macros to several days and one was off by 700 calories! You thought you ate 1700 but you ate 2400!! That is a big difference...

Second this guy.

Also, you need to watch your sodium content and your fat/carbs as well as snacks. All those chips are going to add up as well as weekend binges with drinks and what not that are most likely keeping you at maintenance. You seem to divulge everyday in at least chips or popcorn or something of that nature as a "treat" - try eliminating that or at least taking it down to 1-2 times a week.

I do eat chips and other not so good foods often but I was under the impression that what was most important at the end of the day was that I didn't go over my calorie allowance limit. I will re-evaluate this. Thanks for your time!

That might be ok once you hit your goal, but to reach your goal, you might need to cut them, for now.

I would also add to the More Protein and Veggies crowd. I did see that some days you had a good amount of protein, but some not nearly as much. I'm guessing the higher protein days are after your heavy lift workouts (I know I craved protein like mad then). But even when I'm not lifting as heavy, I still aim for at least 100g protein/day, as it helps me feel more satiated.

I also noticed that sometimes your lunches look pretty small - try adding more protein and more food overall, and maybe you won't need as many snacks? I saw 200 calorie lunches, but 700 calories' worth of snacks that could be used for more quality fuel for your workouts. Sometimes I do eat smaller lunches - only half of my lunch, then finish it later in the afternoon for my snack. "snack" food doesn't have to be chips or popcorn, it can be eggs, chicken, turkey, veggies, etc, too.

I hope you find what works for you!

Thank you! My lunches are small because I eat at the office before going to the gym (I go at lunch 4 days a week) and I don't have time to eat anything big and that 's why I have bigger snacks than lunches in my diary. I do eat more protein on lifting days but I will try and add more. Thanks!

FitAddictAmanda

Up the proteins (eggs, not cereal for breakfast, every day)

lower the carbs a little - don't go crazy.

Try to lessen the canned foods.

More real food - raw veggies - LOTS!
I know it's expensive in the some places, but if you can... do.

50 minutes 5 days a week is GREAT! Keep it up. I bet your body is healthy and happy.

I second this wholeheartedly. You don't have to cut a ton of carbs but look at where they are coming from. Eating less snacky foods and more whole foods will get you better results!

TheApocalypse

Your calories don't add up to your macros. I would try and ensure

1) You hit or exceed the protein every day
2) you stay under on the carbs and sugar
3) you make sure your food info is correct

I counted up the macros to several days and one was off by 700 calories! You thought you ate 1700 but you ate 2400!! That is a big difference...

OMG. This is something I have never checked in my own diary before . . . it never even occurred to me that it was a possibility! On the two sites I used to use before MFP, they would both correct erroneous data by upping the calories in the food to match the entered macros.

I'm going to be going through my diary for the last month and adding everything up.

I still (embarrassingly enough) don't understand what is meant by this. Could someone explain it to me. Thanks!

Sorry, I was out of the office. Like somone else said, every gram of a macro nutrient contains a set number of calories...
Carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram.
Fats have 9 calories per gram.
Proteins have 4 calories per gram.
So when you add up your day, if you had
200 Carbs
120 Protein
80 Fats
That would equal out to 2000 calories... so if your macros are that (as above) and your calories say something like 1500.... then something is off.

eep223

I've been following the posts on this thread... thank you for everyone for the wonderful advice and for keeping it positive. I think this post has been really helpful to a lot of us!