Confused, Worried, and need some help

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dewdrops4life
dewdrops4life Posts: 17
in Food and Nutrition
Can anyone give me a few tips?

I started on MFP mainly to log what I'm eating and what exercise burns etc. The days I have logged so far, I've just eaten normally and logged it. It always ends up quite a bit below the calorie recommendation unless I slug a few Mtn Dews during the day.

Problem is, if this is how I always eat and it's way below, leaving a calorie deficit, shouldn't I have been losing weight before this? Is there some secret that I'm not in on?

I'm 224lbs and have been for about 2 years. Prior to this, my heaviest was 167 and that was when I was pregnant with my youngest. I've been eating about the same things as I always have...

An example of a normal day for me:

Wake up 6am: Grab a Dew (Hopelessly addicted) Not hungry for breakfast, so don't eat.
10-11am (ish): A little hungry, will normally eat some toast with peanut butter or a turkey sandwich, depending on how hungry I am.
5pm (ish): Make supper for the kids, and I might eat what they are eating, depending on what it is, or make a package of ramen. (They absolutely refuse to eat meat except chicken, mostly their meals are pasta or chicken)
9-10pm: Grab a snack like cottage cheese or toast or something
12-1am: Go to bed

Through the day, I average about 5 cans of Dew. (horrible, I know)

I work at home, mostly sitting at the computer for a good part of the day, but I also clean for about 3 hours/day (dishes, putting laundry away, vacuuming, mopping, take out trash, etc)

Any tips or insight would be greatly appreciated!
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Replies

  • Pandasarecool
    Pandasarecool Posts: 508 Member
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    Quit the Mountain Dew. I know its hard, but that is a TON of sugar. And your body converts sugar to fat if it is not being used as energy. Slowly reduce to only 1 can a day, than reduce to none. ONLY WATER. This should work! Good luck!:drinker:
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
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    Lets start with something realistic...

    Can you stomach diet Mtn. Dew?
  • daisiemae123
    daisiemae123 Posts: 277 Member
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    Lets start with something realistic...

    Can you stomach diet Mtn. Dew?

    ^ start with this. I know people say how horrible diet soda is for you but going cold turkey to water is probably just going to frustrate you at this point. My husband lost 10 lbs (that he didn't need to lose) just because I switched him to Coke Zero.
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
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    (avoids the swinging sabers of the all natural people)

    Coke Zero actually tastes better to me than regular coke anyway...
  • dewdrops4life
    dewdrops4life Posts: 17
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    Lets start with something realistic...

    Can you stomach diet Mtn. Dew?

    I like Diet Dew, but when I switched to it about a year ago for a few months, this may sound weird, but my stomach was constantly gurgling... loud. When I switched back to regular, it stopped.. Not sure what it was, but it was embarrassing. Sitting on the couch with my fiance watching a movie, it would just gurgle so bad...
  • abcmom03
    abcmom03 Posts: 89 Member
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    I think there are several changes that you can make...but don't do them all at once. Try to cut down on the Dew...maybe diet Dew? Also, eat something in the morning to get your metabolism going. Even a piece of fruit is better than nothing. I am not sure but I think there is probably ALOT of sodium in ramen noodles? Eat those calories! You aren't reaching your calore goal and what you are eating isn't very healthy :(


    GOOD LUCK!
  • jasonp_ritzert
    jasonp_ritzert Posts: 357 Member
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    You may actually be putting your body in starvation mode. If you eat a snack at 10 p.m. and don't eat until 10 a.m., you are depriving your body of nutrients for 12 hours (or half your day), which may not be good for keeping your metabolism up. Also, you may not be getting enough sleep. A recent study showed that people that got less than 7 hours of sleep per night weighed more, so shoot for 7-8 hours of sleep per night.

    I can understand the Mt. Dew addiction, it may be the caffeine you are craving. How about some coffee with a little cream and sugar (or artificial sweetener)? 5 cans of Mt. Dew at 5 cans/day = 850 calories and 200+ grams of sugar, not the best carbs to be eating.

    Maybe if you tried eating more small meals throughout the day that have lean protein, complex carbs, and good fats it would rev up your metabolism and you wouldn't need the Mt. Dew.
  • RougeIllusion
    RougeIllusion Posts: 59 Member
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    The Mountain Dew is a problem..that's a lot of sugar. I would try to cut down on that. Also it seems that you're eating mostly carbs all day with the toast and the ramen and the sandwiches. Maybe try to incorporate some fruits and veggies in there. Since you work at home maybe you could stop every couple hours and do some kinda quick 10 to 20 minute workout to get moving a little bit.
  • CottonCandyKisses
    CottonCandyKisses Posts: 246 Member
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    5 cans of Dew= 850 extra calories a day. I would much rather use those towards food! 850 calories a day is alot though, esp of empty sugar. I would try and cut back, drink some more water and eat some better foods.
  • TheLittleVoice91
    TheLittleVoice91 Posts: 80
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    1-stop mountain dewing
    2-eat breakfast
  • morgansmom02
    morgansmom02 Posts: 1,139 Member
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    I am pretty sure you need to eat more foods with nutrients and switch to diet dew.
  • dawnp1833
    dawnp1833 Posts: 264 Member
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    I started in a similar position - what I was eating wasn't that many calories, so why wasn't I skinny. But making healthier food choices would make a huge difference for you. It did for me. Watch the "macros" when you log - like how much sodium you're getting. Sodium makes you hold water and gain weight. The ramen has lots of sodium and very little nutritional value.

    Can you make some small changes? Like having fewer Mt. Dew's and more water? Even swapping 1 or 2 Dews for a bottle of water will make a difference. Maybe adding some fruit and vegetables into your diet. Make sure that your turkey sandwich is not on white bread and is low sodium or non-processed meat?

    These small steps will help you lose weight but will make you feel better too and give you lots of energy.

    By the way - my sister went to a seminar on nutrition for children and they said that some artificial sweeteners cause acid reflux and other issues in some people. So that could be why the diet dew makes you gurgle.
  • babygrant1981
    babygrant1981 Posts: 2
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    Don't you feel ill or sick?? If my diet was like that I'd feel like crap to be honest.

    Where's the veggies and fruit?

    I'd go to diet mt dew.

    Drink a protein shake in the morning.
  • dickies002
    dickies002 Posts: 3
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    The way I got off sugar soda was to start doing half regular and half diet in the same cup, and then eventually just started doing all diet. It helped with the transition and may help your stomach ease into Diet Dew.
  • cartrat
    cartrat Posts: 120 Member
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    The Mountain Dew is a problem..that's a lot of sugar. I would try to cut down on that. Also it seems that you're eating mostly carbs all day with the toast and the ramen and the sandwiches. Maybe try to incorporate some fruits and veggies in there. Since you work at home maybe you could stop every couple hours and do some kinda quick 10 to 20 minute workout to get moving a little bit.

    this.

    carbs = sugar too. so that's a buttload of sugar you're consuming in a day.
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
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    I used to drink 4-5 32oz mt Dews a day. I was addicted too. Once I switched to 1-2 cans of diet coke and water instead, my first 30lbs FELL off.

    It's possible, do it!
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
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    I'm going to go against the grain of some of the more strict members on this forums, and say that one or two diet sodas if you want them, really isn't something you HAVE to cut out.

    That's perfectly fine IMO.
  • arellolson
    arellolson Posts: 129 Member
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    I don't see many veggies on your daily list. I would suggest that you add those. Your body is probably starving for nutrients. And maybe you could switch from Mountain Dew to just plain soda water and add a little lemon/lime and stevia for sweetener. Best of luck to you!! :happy:
  • KaseyQT
    KaseyQT Posts: 4 Member
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    I would definitely say you’re in starvation mode. The things you’re taking in have virtually no useful nutrients for your body and so your body is most likely clinging to the fat like a life raft because it’s convinced you have no access to food! The reason you’re probably addicted to Mt. Dew is because the caffeine gives you energy that you need because you’re not getting it anywhere else. Start eating a more balanced diet with proteins, fruits, and veggies (and less sodium) and you’ll not only have more energy but you can convince your body you’re taking care of it and it can let go of the fat!
  • kimpossible471
    kimpossible471 Posts: 268 Member
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    Also - are you measuring or weighing your food? Make sure your calorie intake is accurate. 1Tbsp of peanut butter is shockingly small when you actually measure. It's possible you are taking in a lot more calories than you realise....on top of the Mt. Dew.

    (I say this as I drink a diet Mt. Dew myself....had mostly stopped - but once in a while....it can't be helped :))

    A lot of salt will make you retain water as well - you'll be shocked at what you drop initially if you can consistantly cut that back.


    Good luck.

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