Finding this really hard

Dont get discouraged, I am in the same boat sort of.......5 days in and cannot seem to get under my calorie quota......only one pound down as well. Are you staying under your calorie quota? Are you being active daily? Sometimes you can just "maintain" weight if you arent adding excercise to your day. I would reccomend really looking at your food journal and seeing what kinds of food you are eating as well and determining if they are high in fat content and if they may be sabatoging your success! I sent you a friend request to help with support if you should need it! I too could use a little myself LOL! Good luck and god bless on your success! : )

Sent you a long rambling message in friend request, but in a nutshell, weight loss will come. Sometimes life just gets in the way! You're not putting on which is the main thing........!! Take your time and the results will start to show on the scales soon enough.
x

It also doesn't appear that you are drinking enough water. Try keeping good track of your water intake and try to get that up around 10 - 12 glasses a day. Also put the sodium macro into your diary so you can see your sodium intake. A lot of the foods that you are eating are really high in sodium and you might be retaining water weight due to high sodium content and low water intake. Hope that helps!

Trust me: It works....takes patience and a bit of knowledge.

If all else fails get your REE/resting metabolic rate measured and consult with a RD for a diet plan.

General guidelines for those in good health and no major issues.

Absolute numbers are more important than percentages.

Having said that decrease your:
Carbohydrate intake to 35-45 percent of your caloires and make them complex carbs when you can.
Cut the sugar (HFCS High Fructose Corn Syrup) especially.

Maintain FAT -
Generally do not cut large portions of fat from your diet, just make the fat you eat heart healthy fat (monounsaturated - canola, olive, almond, avocado - or polyunsaturated N-3/Omega-3).

Fat generally makes you feel full. It's true, that if you cut fat you cut calories at the rate of 9 cals per gram (compared to 4 cals per gram of carb and protein), but in the last 30 years America has cut 7 percent of fat from it's diet (40 percent down to 33 percent) and yet we as a people are fatter than ever from increasing the amount of simple carbs as replacement. Carbs in excess get converted to triglycerides and fat.

Reduce Carbs
To approximaely 45 percent of cals or less. Depends on your exercise. Taking in carbs when you need them for energy (exercise over 45 min) is the key..and only just enough to replentish.

In general avoid things that are not "ECONOMICAL" foods (ie that don't give you excellent nutrition for the calorie value - ie a tasty muffin 520 cals and all carbs and fat. Stick with items that are high protein, high fiber, and/or good fat.

Count everything! Anything that goes in your mouth for now.
Consider a HRM (if appropriate for you) to better determine calorie burns more accurately.

Most importantly, stick with it, change something up. Our bodies develop "adaptations" to the exercise we perform. As we lose weight - we are lighter and burn less calories for the same exercise. In addition, we become more effective runners, swimmers, etc. We expend less energy as we learn how to do it better.

Best wishes and hollar if you want advice.

Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Nutrition Facts For Foods

hey there
and congrats for starting this whole weight loss journey thing!

all the advice above seems sensible and i have little to add.
there are many debates on MFP so read around and find what works for you
there is the "a calorie is a calorie" argument vss clean eating,
there is lifting vs cardio , carbs are bad, carbs are good... etc. so you may have to experiment a bit and find out what works for you and what is sustainable for yo

for me - eating clean works - i eat lots of lean protein and fruits and veges and it fills me up
I also plan 3 meals and 2 healthy snacks every day so i have no excuse to reach for a chocolate bar

remember you are not a machine/ robot, your body will do weird and wonderful things in-terms of how it processed the fuel you give it, stores water, and so the numbers on the scale may also do unexpected things!

also
the body adapts well to changes in what you require in it so don't forget to keep shaking it up ( diet and exercise wise) every few months

good luck!
LW x

It didnt all come on in a day ...it isnt going to all fall off quickly either. This is a process of change over the long haul. Some weeks you will get an increase some the weight wont change and then for whatever reasons some weeks you will dump 3 or 4lbs.

Establish a program and stick with it. if weight is coming off - no matter how slowly. If after a month weight is not coming off then modify until you find a program that works FOR YOU.

It is not an exact science everyone is a little bit different and what works for one may not work for you.

a couple of constants apply though ..... drink more water. ...... exercise ....and eat less than your body needs so that it burns existing fat.

I suspect you're finding this hard because you eat so little. Change your MFP settings to lose 1lb a week, and eat back around 80% of your exercise calories and it'll work. Double-check your portion sizes - it's very easy to over-eat if you don't weight and measure stuff, at least at first.

People work differently - many people have a huge loss at first then level out, others take a little longer to start dropping, but then it happens steadily and reliably.

If you're working out for the first time or more than before, you may have a little more water weight in your muscles as they repair. this will rapidly go away.

Sustainable weight loss is slow and steady, but it's well worth sticking with :flowerforyou:

When I first started on here, I decided I needed to make changes slowly so I didn't get overwhelmed. I didn't bother with exercise at first (other than walking at least five minutes a day). I didn't have energy. I cut all soda from my diet and replaced it with water. That was it. The next week, I switched my white grains for whole grains. After about a month, I had more energy, so I started gentle exercises. Once I was comfortable enough, I started a regular exercise program. So far so good.

I still get discouraged sometimes, but now I have progress pictures to remind me how far I have come, and since I took my measurements at my waist and hips, I can look at the charts in the tools section and I am amazed at my inches lost. In fact, my saving grace is being able to take my measurements again on weeks the scale is being stubborn and either gaining or staying the same. I had a whole six weeks where my body weight was the same and I nearly quit because I thought I was never going to lose any weight. (Then I got mad at my fat roll and really pushed. Extra effort and a two pound weight added to my workout. Plateau was over by that weekend.)

So, I promise you it does move and shrink. It is just stubborn. You have to be more stubborn.

Mabohlale - That is a big help Thank you!! I dont drink enough water at all and am going to start with that change right away, I will also cut out bread (after my lunch, as Iv brought a sandwich to work already) and I will also fit in alot more veg :drinker:

Pleasure! Please feel free to add me as a friend, if you'd like! :flowerforyou:

Hi from South Africa! I just did a quick scan through your diary from the past week and a few things I noticed that you might want to change ...

1) There is quite a bit of white bread, muffins, bread rolls, etc. I would cut way back on the breads ... especially white bread. Substitute rice cakes, wholewheat crackers or a nice seedy wholegrain brown bread or sprouted bread IF you have to eat bread. Mostly I just try to avoid the breads and pastries all together.

2) Many of the meats that you are eating are fatty ... sausages, bacon, etc. Try to eat leaner proteins e.g. chicken, fish, lentils/beans

3) I see very few fresh fruits and veg. Try loading up on the fruits and veg ... and especially veggies.

4) Try to eat a bit "cleaner" ... steering away from highly processed foods and stick with things that are more in their natural state ... or as close to that as possible.

You can do this! It's not "just math" though ... like some people say. WHAT you eat (and drink) does make a difference as your body metabolizes different types of food differently.

Try making adjustments until you get into a groove that works for you!

^^^ right on there. I have always avoided pastas and breads because it only takes a short time to start gaining weight when eating a lot of them, even when working out regularly.

Two suggestions to help a bit more:

One, invest in an inexpensive food scale. You will be amazed how much you underestimate what you think you are eating. Once I got one I was finding I was sometimes eating two servings instead of what I thought was one. It helps keep you on track by keeping you honest, even though you were never lying to yourself in the first place just misjudging. After a short period you start making much better estimates. I even go so far as to pull out the TB measuring spoon when I am adding salad dressing.

Second, invest in a decent weight scale that also measure body fat percentage. This helps more if you are working out, but you can see other things. I am in the recovery week of Insanity and I have only dropped 10 lbs, but my body fat has dropped nearly 5% and the scale also let me know that my muscle mass went up as well. Those two numbers are much more important than the weight measurement. Body measurements help too in this regard.