Help! 3 Weeks and feel like I am going nowhere!

Your diary is full of fast food and cake eating.. You wonder why you are going no where.. Your working out is doing nothing but working off the crap you are eating...


You really need to change your eating habits up to more lean meats and veggies.

Change your metrics in MFP to more protein and less carbs lower your fat to ..

SO change it to something like 40% protein 40% carbs and 20% fat
Or 50% protein, 30% carbs 20% fat..


You know eating cake isn't going to lose your weight especially if you have weight to lose.. Your body is using all those carbs you are eating to burn for energy instead of excess fat...


You need to rethink your strategy here, and do some research..

Your quite welcome for the advice.. My intention is to not sound like a jerk, and for that I will apologize, but I don't coddle.. For me when I see posts like "OMG I gained a pound what am I doing wrong " and then you go look at their diary and they haven't worked out in a week and the night before they ate 5 slices of pizza you go "Geeeeeee Really?"

This isn't rocket science, and I am sure you are a smart person, you know when you put that pop eyes in your mouth it isn't the best source nutrients your body needs..

You are three weeks into your life change ( there is no such thing as a diet ) and you are already taking a foot out and hurting your self in the long run....

EVERY ONE wants to lose the weight that they have gained as soon as possible and I bet you are no exception, and the only way to lose it and maintain is to do it safely and correct with eating right and exercise..

If you maintain your current eating habits you are going to continue to yo yo and quit, I know these things because I speak from experience..

SO I will ask you the question you need to ask yourself ?

How bad do you want it ?

If you want it bad then you need to spend some time researching and learning and most important changing your mindset from the old.. Because the old has gotten you here.. Time for the new.. The New Ruth is in you trapped in side your years of self neglect.. It think its time to let the New Ruth out.. Don't you ?

All the eating out is definittly not a good thing, even if your getting in under your daily goals, those are all highly processed foods, loaded with sodium. I'm not saying cut it out completly, but limit it to a meal or two total for the week, not per day. I would start there, and see where it goes. 4lbs in 3 weeks is good, especially with the less than stellar diet. But I believe if you start focusing on healthier choices you will see more of an improvement.

Thank you Kaxfenix! Apology accepted and that is more like it! Now you are talking! I agree the Popeyes isnt good for me, lunch is particularly hard. I have tried like a Lean Cuisine or something for lunch and that is just not enough food for anyone! I do work full time so I need something good to take with me to work and can either be eaten cold or warmed up in the microwave! Calories can be deceiving to me, because even though I don't always eat the healthiest food my calories are not just off the chart ya know!

I take chichen and rice with sime kind of veggie everyday. Throw ina yogurt, and that's a little over 500 cals, lots of protein, and low on fat, sodium and sugars. Salads of couse are great, just load it up with chicken or tuna, and your set. Lunch meat, although not the best, isn't a bad choice, but I wouldn't take it everyday. You could make your own chicken sandwhich, or just make bigger dinners, and talke the leftovers from the night before. How often are you eating, maybe allowing a morning and afternoon snack will allow you to not get so hungrey. Say 3 hours prior to lunch and three hours after. That's wha I do, and it works great.

once again............"you can't out train a bad diet". Commit 100% to eating healthy as possible and staying within your calorie goal and you will see results!

And you have done well. Weight goes up and down all the time. If it changes up fast (or down fast even), it's probably water. Look to your sodium.

I disagree about 50% protein - I have no idea how I'd eat that without just eating meat and vegetables. Sorry, I like a bit of yoghurt and muesli and fruit.

But eating less processed food - way to go.

Try soup for a filling lunch. Apparently, because the liquid is mixed thoroughly with the other constituents it stays in your stomach longer and keeps you feeling full. Homemade gives you the opportunity to really monitor what goes in it, but the 'fresh' (i.e. not tinned) ones you can get in supermarkets can be pretty good too.

Like others have said, too many fast and processed foods...Those foods are laced with sodium which can cause you to retain water and make your weight fluctuate a lot and drive you nuts. Try to focus on real whole foods. Planning is essential, taking an extra 10 minutes in the morning to pack yourself a sandwich with a lean protein and on whole wheat bread with some sort of fruit on the side.

It seems conterintuitive to me to go to a fast food place and order a burger or chicken patty without the bun but get French fries. I would nix the Fries and leave the bun and also ixnay the fried chicken patties and go for a grilled one. Also, when you do go out avoid the "fillers" such as chips and salsa. Just stick to your main meal.

I would also reduce the freqency in which you eat fast/processed foods and special treats like chocolate and icecream.

Three weeks is good! Good job with sticking with MFP. Now it is time to start fine tuning your plan. Take a look at your macros and try to get your protein intake up to about 80-90 grams per day. Also, I noticed that MFP has your fiber intake set at 14 grams per day, but it is recommended by dieticians everywhere that we need 25 grams a day minimum.

1. Boost your protein to a minimum of 80 grams (I try to get at least half my protein from vegetable sources like whole grains, beans, tofu etc)

2. Eat more fiber from natural food sources. Beans are amazing for weight loss. High in fiber, low in fat, high in protein. You just have to watch your sodium with the canned variety.

Thank you! Someone else mentioned adjusting my settings earlier and I am about to try and figure that out! Thanks for the tips!

You have go into the "goals" tab and select "Custom" and then you can change your macros around. It isn't obvious from how the page is set up how to get in there and change things from the links in the page. That kind of irks me about MFP and is a sign of poor design.

Also, you can't change those goals settings on the mobile app.