help, please someone!

mikes99mail · August 2012

I've been here for nearly 100 days, have faithfully logged everything I've eaten and drunk, stayed below my target net calories and have not lost a damn pound!

please can someone take a look at my diary and tell me what's gone wrong?

as background, I'm a 6'2" guy, very athletic build (v. broad shouldered) but carrying about 30-40lb too much... I cut right down on wheat and that made me feel a lot better, but I havent lost much / any weight from it.

Apart from the alcohol (it's all logged!!!) the only things I can think of are that I dont sleep at all well as I have a very stressful job, I perhaps get 3 or 4 hours of good sleep a night, plus another couple of rubbish hours. I havent had a proper holiday in about 3 years, have a 2 hour each way commute to the office and am permanently tired. I know I need to, but it's hard to fix.

I guess the other thing I could change is my daily activity settings, I've put 'fairly active' because I walk a couple of miles a day between trains & the office, but once I'm there I'm sat on my *kitten* pretty much all day.

would love to hear any thoughts, as this is starting to piss me off!

deadbeatsummer · August 2012

Is your goal of 2,000 calories too high?

I know your a bloke and have a bigger frame, but perhaps that's your maintenance calories if you aren't losing weight with that?
I have a desk job and I put myself down as Sedentary. Any walking is logged as exercise. You don't get to say your active AND log exercise that makes up that lifestyle.

yarwell · August 2012

I would lose the concentrated sugar shot in the morning "Cherry Active - Concentrated Montmorency Cherry Juice,"

The "Hairy Dieters" show on BBC2 had the big guys on 1300 calories a day via professional advice, well under what you're eating. Try that for a month. It'll be on the iPlayer.

kittyconni · August 2012

I would say too many carbs. Your protein needs to REALLY outweigh your carbs.

MaudeBeige · August 2012

I find that the type of foods I eat affect weight loss more than just the calories.

High carbohydrate, low veg = slow/no loss

LOTS of veg - courgette, peppers, cauliflower, broccolli, carrot, mushroom (I know... NOT strictly veg!)... This is when I lose weight.

(When I say LOTS, I mean LOADS!!!)

Your profile made me chuckle! Thanks for that!!!

sdonovan4 · August 2012

Have you tried cutting drinking? I know that is my problem. I party once a week and that is my biggest problem. I do great all week with my workouts and cardio. I read that fasting 1 day a week works and I am trying it this month to see if will help shed my fat not muscle. check out this http://www.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt_700/703_intermittent-fasting.html

Duchess70 · August 2012

I would suspect that "fairly active" is aimed at someone with a physically active job, rather than walking a few miles each day. If you re-set yourself to "sedentary" then I suspect you would get a more accurate target.

Alcohol, well a little bit won't hurt you. I'm not sure the breakfast cherry juice will be helping much though. Fruit juice always "sounds" as though it's good for you, then you realise how much calories and sugar it contains. You could try bulking out your food consumption with lots of salad and vegetable stuff as well - it may make you feel fuller.

wilmanorris · August 2012

I suspect that your daily calorie goal is to high. You could try to reduce this a bit further. For example for a women the calorie intake should be 2000 per day but as I am trying to loss weight my intake has been reduced to 1200 calories.

You could also try and increase your protein intake and reduce your fat and carb intake which apparently makes you feel fuller for longer. Also noticed that a number of your entries for breakfast are take away - would you be able to have a home made breakfast? This will more then likely educe your salt and sugar intake.

kaybeau · August 2012

this is going to sound insane but your cal count is too high I am on my feet all shift and am still at a standstill. I recently bought a body fat analyser and discovered that to keep my weight stable (ie not lose I need only 1900 a day). I have recently dropped my calorie count to 1400 . Also I put myself as lightly active as I nurse but whenever I have annual leave I don't do as much so will be switching to sedentary. I am hoping I don't have to drop to 1200 but I reckon right now I am kidding myself on and this may happen soon.

Whatever you do, do not give up..

Gail3260 · August 2012

Are you weighing/measuring everything properly or just estimating? 30g of something is a lot less than people think it is.

I also agree on the drinking and it is easier than you might think......because mostly it's a habit. I used to drink wine 4 or 5 nights a week, usually only one or two glasses. When I started on here a year ago I cut back to once or twice a week. I thought I would miss it but I don't and if you'd told me that when I started I wouldn't have believed you. It won't help with the beer but instead of wine I now drink sparkling water ALWAYS out of a wine glass. It looks like a real drink and feels like it...it just doesn't taste like it!!

Anastasia0511 · August 2012

"Apart from the alcohol (it's all logged!!!) the only things I can think of are that I dont sleep at all well as I have a very stressful job, I perhaps get 3 or 4 hours of good sleep a night, plus another couple of rubbish hours. I havent had a proper holiday in about 3 years, have a 2 hour each way commute to the office and am permanently tired. I know I need to, but it's hard to fix."

This sounds like your problem to me. Stress and lack of sleep mixed together ruins everything including weight loss.

annemckee · August 2012

You don't log water. Are you drinking loads of water? It does help.

I'm with the others: go sedentary and log your walks as exercise.

Also I find a food scale and an HRM invaluable.

PaulieUK · August 2012

I can only speak for myself but I know that I cannot just reply on my walking to and from home to the train station as my daily exercise. Even though I do a great deal of walking every day, for me is not a weight loss exercise. I don't count house cleaning or any other household chore as exercise either; it might make me feel better to see the calorie burn listed but it doesn't help me to lose weight. When I add just 30 minutes of Jillian Michael's 30 day shred (or something similar) every other day I will lose weight steadily so long as I am eating a healthy well balanced diet.

I don't think your 1980 calories is too high I just think you need to pay more attention to exercising regularly (such as the cycling you've been doing) and keep watch that you continue to eat a well balanced diet. I also try to eat fewer calories in the evening because I know that after any workout (or not) I'll just be sat doing nothing and I won't be burning many calories. I also won't eat anything for a couple of hours before bedtime.

I also drink lots of water...just plain water...this often helps when my mind thinks I'm hungry! I too have a stressful job but I find that the exercise DVD's I mentioned earlier are great for getting rid of the stress and frustration.

PNJB796 · August 2012

Do I relate to this member! 60days on my diet and 11 lbs lost but plateauing for the last two weeks. I stay below the 1200 calories a day every day, I neither smoke or drink, have a knackered hip, high blood pressure and diabetes controlled with prescriptive drugs. Simon King (HairyBiker) was 16 stone and and is on 1300 cals a day. I started at 20 stone and am coping with 1200 cals a day - GP tells me "the only way to diet, is not to put it in your mouth in the first place!" so trying that for the next five weeks to see what happens. Watch this space!

lilyinlove · August 2012

You might be over estimating your activity level and probably under estimating your caloric intake. Do you use food scales to weigh your food? If not that would be a great addition for the kitchen. They go for around 5£ at asda.

MelanieAG05 · August 2012

Its not good news I'm afraid......cut down on the beer and wine....restrict your consumption by having it only with your weekend meals.

I am a big wine drinker and it significantly impacts my weight loss efforts. If I don't drink wine I consume less calories and my weight loss is easier. I often have gin and slimline tonic or vodka with diet coke instead - only about 50-60 cals instead of 200 cals.

Go to this website to see what you should be eating to lose weight safely.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Hope this helps!

mel x

DetroitDarin · August 2012

Google is awesome - using Google I found out about an entire race of people. They look like you and me but spend six years in college studying the human body - mind you, not like I studied bodies (particularly of the female of the species...course, there was that one time...but I digress). I think they're called. Doktors? Something like that?

Maybe run in and speak to one; get blood work. Get their advice too. Might be missing something you can't see or log.

Cheers!

Darin

PNJB796 · August 2012

I cannot understand this. My daily carbs goal is 204 per day. My protein goal is 56 per day! How can I increase my protein daily to exceen my carbs, without artificial or enhancing products and still remain below my calories a day target. Is this what I have been missing all this time?

mikes99mail · August 2012

thanks all!

to respond to a couple of points:
the cherry juice is to help prevent gout - I had a couple of attacks in the last 12 months and the doctor said either pills or cherry juice.. It's working too, with no issues since I started. It tastes disgusting so I'd rather be without it, but it's worth it to avoid the pain!

I do weigh pretty much everything, or at least I have done a couple of times so I know what 100g of chicken or 40g of almonds looks like.

I wear a heartrate monitor for most of my exercise, it normally gives me a calorie number about 2/3 the MFP number, so I go with the HRM figure every time.

I've cut back a bit on alcohol already, and mainly switched from beer to wine - I guess I need to try harder

& I'll definitely re-do my goal using 'sedentary'.

the stress thing is going to be harder to fix. My damn job pays to well to quit - even with a 2 hour commute it's still better than anything I can find locally, and we dont want to move any closer. Am trying to persuade my boss to let me work from home sometimes and he's not 100% happy but is OK with me doing it occasionally (like today! )

off on holiday tomorrow, with a suitcase full of walking shoes and camelbacks (going to the italian mountains) - should be awesome!

kimothy38 · August 2012

Stress and sleep play a huge part in weight loss. There's more to weight loss than the calories we eat - check out drlibby.com she's got some fab articles about the 9factors that affect our weight. If you can't change your job then you should build in some de-stressing activities like yoga etc. if your food and alcohol intake is ok you need to explore other possibilities ie hormones, cortisol and adrenaline (related to your job stress), seratonin (related to sleep). Those are my suggestions anyway. The thing I have to keep reminding myself is that eating well and exercising is for my health and well being - not weight is a side effect not the entire purpose. Good luck.

FlaxMilk · August 2012

Sleep definitely counts. I think you'll see a big change once you change your activity to sedentary and follow those guidelines. I walk as well but am still set to sedentary. I log the walk but don't eat the calories usually, and then I eat any calories I need or want from additional exercise.

lilyinlove · August 2012

thanks all!

to respond to a couple of points:
the cherry juice is to help prevent gout - I had a couple of attacks in the last 12 months and the doctor said either pills or cherry juice.. It's working too, with no issues since I started. It tastes disgusting so I'd rather be without it, but it's worth it to avoid the

I've cut back a bit on alcohol already, and mainly switched from beer to wine - I guess I need to try

Consuming coffee and tea is not a problem, but alcohol can raise uric acid levels and provoke an episode of gout. Drinking at least 10 to 12 eight-ounce glasses of non-alcoholic fluids every day is recommended, especially for people with kidney stones, to help flush the uric acid crystals from the body.

XXXMinnieXXX · August 2012

I have a fitbit and I have to walk a couple of miles per day to even meet the sedentary setting. if your sat all day I'd definitely log as sedentary. 2000 seems a lot for someone not working out too. I'd try 1500... if your staying the same now you should lose 1lb a week. drinks lots of water. I would look at your macros. I was eating 1500 but a lot of crabs. I changed to 40% crabs (mfp had me set at 55%) .and 30% protein and 30% fat. I have felt fuller, more energetic and the weight has fallen of steadily. I do exercise as well though. I have the same sleep problem. I'm sure it affects loss but it hasn't stopped mine. if you correct the rest you should be fine! :-)

impyimpyaj · August 2012

I would suspect that "fairly active" is aimed at someone with a physically active job, rather than walking a few miles each day. If you re-set yourself to "sedentary" then I suspect you would get a more accurate target.

I would say this is the best idea. "Fairly active" is for people like construction workers or fitness instructors. I would choose sedentary and then log the daily walk.

Helloitsdan · August 2012

Maybe you need a diet break and a different approach?

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

PM me if you have any questions.

smantha32 · August 2012

thanks all!

to respond to a couple of points:
the cherry juice is to help prevent gout - I had a couple of attacks in the last 12 months and the doctor said either pills or cherry juice.. It's working too, with no issues since I started. It tastes disgusting so I'd rather be without it, but it's worth it to avoid the pain!

I do weigh pretty much everything, or at least I have done a couple of times so I know what 100g of chicken or 40g of almonds looks like.

I wear a heartrate monitor for most of my exercise, it normally gives me a calorie number about 2/3 the MFP number, so I go with the HRM figure every time.

I've cut back a bit on alcohol already, and mainly switched from beer to wine - I guess I need to try harder

& I'll definitely re-do my goal using 'sedentary'.

the stress thing is going to be harder to fix. My damn job pays to well to quit - even with a 2 hour commute it's still better than anything I can find locally, and we dont want to move any closer. Am trying to persuade my boss to let me work from home sometimes and he's not 100% happy but is OK with me doing it occasionally (like today! )

off on holiday tomorrow, with a suitcase full of walking shoes and camelbacks (going to the italian mountains) - should be awesome!

My chiropractor has spells of gout and he swears by drinking ionized water. He believes a lot of diseases can be avoided by changing the alkalinity of the body. Not sure whether or not this is categorized as junk science, but he says he hasn't had a gout attack since.
The downside is, ionizers are expensive.

Ericgunner · August 2012

I think your problem is twofold, I've been on here a year and last 4 stone I am still just over 20 stone. My daily calorie goal is now just above 1600 cal a day, so I would say your calorie goal is too high and needs to be readjusted. I think your second problem is lifestyle you work and travel really hard by the sounds of it and not sleeping properly which is a big issue for dieting. You need to learn to unwind properly and relax if you can, even see your doctor and discuss it with him to maybe help you sleep better. I was wondering are you tired through the day do you doze off regularly, if so you could be suffering with sleep apnoea which can be treated very easily. I also think it might help you to look at other peoples food diaries so as you can make up a weekly menu and stick to it.
Good luck let me know how you get on.
Eric

XXXMinnieXXX · August 2012

food diary.. settings... goals... change goals... try changing to the 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat. Give it 2 months. First month I think my body freaked out! Your not losing so have nothing to lose trying it
Also 1500 calories. You won't regret it!

Any questions pm me... Enjoy your holiday!

zara :-)

thrudhammer · August 2012

Either the calories in or the calories out is wrong.

You're missing intake. I only looked at a few days but I saw no fluids listed, including water. Obviously, you're drinking something but not recording it, figure out what else you're missing and start entering it.

Are you also over-estimating calories burned? Most of us are less active in our normal routine than we think - you might need to reduce your activity level setting. If you count a daily walk as part of your normal activity level, you've already taken credit for the exercise. Logging it as exercise double counts it and that will throw off your calories burned number.

To thine own self be true - you can fool the diary but you can't fool your bum.

XXXMinnieXXX · August 2012

also weigh food every time. tedious but so easy to start overestimating. for every 100 calories extra a day you will lose 1lb less every 5 week's!

Zara :-)

dhakiyya · August 2012

Before you even ask the question about whether you should change your calorie goals, ask yourself how accurately you are weighing and measuring your food? Volume measurements are less accurate than weight ones (because it's so easy to overfill a cup or a tablespoon, but a gram is a gram) and if you're just guesstimating your portion sizes then that's almost certainly where the problem lies. People systematically under estimate their portion sizes when guesstimating.

I have a digital kitchen scale, I put my plate on it, zero it, put on the first piece of food, record it, zero it, put on the next piece of food,etc. Nearly all my food is measured in grams, I only use volume measurements when I can't get the calories etc per gram measurements (and admittedly sometimes I'm a little lazy with that, but it's not affected my results so far, but more accuracy would be better of course).

This is the usual mistake that people make and you need to fix this first, and if your measurements are accurate and you're still not losing, then recalculate your calorie goals.

help, please someone!

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