I need some help.

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ohhman10
ohhman10 Posts: 40
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys! My name is Kayla I'm a 20 year old female... weighing 170 pounds but only 4"10. I'm obviously over weight and would love to get to 140. (130 is my goal weight!)

I've been trying to diet and exercise all month. I did really good for a week and lost 3 pounds... only to gain it all back around Christmas. I feel I have no self control. I'm supposed to eat 1200-1400 calories a day... and I'm trying to eat 50-100g of carbs a day... I also workout for an hour (most days) I do Zumba, Just Dance or our elliptical machine. I do have a HRM watch but with no chest strap so I don't know how accurate it really is.

I guess what I'm trying to say with this post is I'm trying so hard to diet I'm just hungry and tired all the time. All I can think about is food. Alllll day. I used to eat tons and tons of carbs so now that I'm cutting carbs I'm exhausted and that makes me not want to workout. I give in so easy. If its around ill almost always give in. I even ate McDonalds for breakfast this morning. -.- I know I'm horrible. I just don't know how to keep to a diet and feel satisfied and not exhausted. I really want to loose the weight and I'm almost in tears cause I feel so guilty and I know I'm better than that!

Tips? Stories? Motivation? I'm looking for anything really.
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Replies

  • Molly_Maguire
    Molly_Maguire Posts: 1,103 Member
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    What are you eating? Certain foods will spike you blood sugar and then crash, making you hungrier and more tired than before you ate. Open your diary, so we can look at what you're eating, and make suggestions.

    ETA: Second of all, three pounds in a week is either just water weight, or very unhealthy. And you say you've only been at this for a month? Well, there's half your problem, if you're expecting to see results already. 1-2 lbs a week is all the more you should be losing, to avoid the chance of developing loose saggy skin. Remember, you didn't put the weight on in just a few weeks, you can't hope to lose it all that fast.
  • ohhman10
    ohhman10 Posts: 40
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    What are you eating? Certain foods will spike you blood sugar and then crash, making you hungrier and more tired than before you ate. Open your diary, so we can look at what you're eating, and make suggestions.

    How do I do that? I'm new to this APP and website.
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
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    Don't think you are eating enough, thus the hunger. I calculate your BMR over 1400 calories, so you should be eating more than that even with no exercise. You should also eat your exercise calories back, or at least some of them. If you stick with the lower carbs, you will adjust, promise, but unless you have health issues that require that, it's really only a personal choice. True, carbs make you retain some water, but if you are bingeing because you are starving, you won't lose any weight. Try upping your calories to a NET every day of about 1450 or even 1500 and see if that helps.

    Good luck!
  • ohhman10
    ohhman10 Posts: 40
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    What are you eating? Certain foods will spike you blood sugar and then crash, making you hungrier and more tired than before you ate. Open your diary, so we can look at what you're eating, and make suggestions.

    I think I just did it... I changed it to public. Ignore today's... I've been bad -.-
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
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    If you are hungry all the time, you might need to increase your calorie goal for the day. Have you calculated your BMR and TDEE? Check out this link:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717565-in-place-of-a-road-map
  • yallcallmedeb
    yallcallmedeb Posts: 294
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    I would not worry about losing weight at the beginning. Maybe even get rid of the scale. How many calories a day do you think that you were eating before? Decrease it by 10-20%. Just get used to logging EVERYTHING that you eat and make sure that what you eat is healthy. Once that becomes comfortable, then start decreasing the carbs. When that is comfortable, then decrease the calories some more. Set yourself up for success. Make your "success" be sticking to your new lifestyle. Make the weight loss secondary. Once you get used to the new lifestyle, the weight WILL come off.
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
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    Yeah, you are starving yourself per your diary. Eat the 1470 MFP gives you, and eat back most if not all of your exercise calories. They give you that amount as a goal to reach, not a goal to eat under, even tho it appears to be a good thing to eat under.
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
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    I would not worry about losing weight at the beginning. Maybe even get rid of the scale. How many calories a day do you think that you were eating before? Decrease it by 10-20%. Just get used to logging EVERYTHING that you eat and make sure that what you eat is healthy. Once that becomes comfortable, then start decreasing the carbs. When that is comfortable, then decrease the calories some more. Set yourself up for success. Make your "success" be sticking to your new lifestyle. Make the weight loss secondary. Once you get used to the new lifestyle, the weight WILL come off.
    Please read her diary before you tell her to eat less--she's eating below 1000 many days.
  • NanzyBoek
    NanzyBoek Posts: 151 Member
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    Watch portion sizes but eat 5-6 times a day, a complex carb with protien, than you wont be hungry or "crash'.
    Tosca Reno books are awesome examples of eating clean but not being hungry.
  • ohhman10
    ohhman10 Posts: 40
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    What are you eating? Certain foods will spike you blood sugar and then crash, making you hungrier and more tired than before you ate. Open your diary, so we can look at what you're eating, and make suggestions.

    ETA: Second of all, three pounds in a week is either just water weight, or very unhealthy. And you say you've only been at this for a month? Well, there's half your problem, if you're expecting to see results already. 1-2 lbs a week is all the more you should be losing, to avoid the chance of developing loose saggy skin. Remember, you didn't put the weight on in just a few weeks, you can't hope to lose it all that fast.

    Average day:
    Breakfast: 1 slice of wheat toast, one egg and two turkey sausages.

    Snack: 80 calorie French vanilla coffee and a Carbmaster Yogurt.

    Lunch: Usually a salad of some sort.. Mostly chicken and fruit salad on the side.
    Spaghetti squash and chicken breast is another I eat.

    Snack: 15 Special K chips and a clementine.

    Dinner: Salmon, Veggies, Wheat pasta, Chicken.

    I eat very close to that on my good days... But like I said I give in easy!
  • tjk71
    tjk71 Posts: 167
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    Watch portion sizes but eat 5-6 times a day, a complex carb with protien, than you wont be hungry or "crash'.
    Tosca Reno books are awesome examples of eating clean but not being hungry.


    Agreed......Read Tosca Reno's books. eat small meals every 2 1/2 - 3 hours with a complex carb & protein!
  • ohhman10
    ohhman10 Posts: 40
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    Yeah, you are starving yourself per your diary. Eat the 1470 MFP gives you, and eat back most if not all of your exercise calories. They give you that amount as a goal to reach, not a goal to eat under, even tho it appears to be a good thing to eat under.

    As my diary is not 100% accurate cause I'm new and trying to log everything it says I'm under my calorie goal a lot due to working out.
  • chunkydunk714
    chunkydunk714 Posts: 784 Member
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    I would not worry about losing weight at the beginning. Maybe even get rid of the scale. How many calories a day do you think that you were eating before? Decrease it by 10-20%. Just get used to logging EVERYTHING that you eat and make sure that what you eat is healthy. Once that becomes comfortable, then start decreasing the carbs. When that is comfortable, then decrease the calories some more. Set yourself up for success. Make your "success" be sticking to your new lifestyle. Make the weight loss secondary. Once you get used to the new lifestyle, the weight WILL come off.

    ^^^ LOVE this and totally going to apply this to my own struggles!
  • wtw0n
    wtw0n Posts: 1,083 Member
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    As it's been said, you should increase your calorie intake. Remember to eat regularly so that your blood sugar won't drop like a rock.

    Also, exercising is great, but do remember to have at least one rest day a week.

    Do you take body measurements or/and pics? If not, you should really try them. They tell you more than what your scale shows, and I personally find them very motivating. It's pretty normal to lose little to nothing (weight) the second and third week after you start working out so don't think too much about that.

    Good luck :)
  • BluthLover
    BluthLover Posts: 301 Member
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    You're eating way too little. Try checking out the group "eat more to weigh less". Also keep your carbs at like 100 grams and try to increase protein. You're setting yourself up to fail if you're eating so little that you are starving all the time. I eat 1700-1800 a day and weigh 135 at 5'3. The littlest amount I've ever had is 1600 calories. These are gross calories which means I don't eat back workout calories.
  • tekwriter
    tekwriter Posts: 923 Member
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    Make sure you are eating enough calories and making wise choices. If you are still hungry then have your Dr. check your thyroid. That is how I felt when mine was bad.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    At a glance at your diary, it looks like you're not eating enough. The fact that you're tired and hungry suggests that you might not be eating enough. Why not try eating more for a few weeks and see if the situation improves? I was hungry and tired when I ate 1200 calories for quite a while, and I was "netting" 1200 calories, which means that I ate my exercise calories back, so was technically eating more most days. It just wasn't enough for me though, so might not be for you either (not to mention the fact that it doesn't look like you're even reaching 1200 most days).

    Also, don't worry about Christmas weight gain. For most people, a lot of their gain will be mostly water weight and will come off quickly.

    Also, eating McDonalds does not make you "bad". :flowerforyou:
  • ohhman10
    ohhman10 Posts: 40
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    Should you eat back what you excerise? That seems a little unproductive but hey I'm a newbie and trying to learn!
  • ohhman10
    ohhman10 Posts: 40
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    At a glance at your diary, it looks like you're not eating enough. The fact that you're tired and hungry suggests that you might not be eating enough. Why not try eating more for a few weeks and see if the situation improves? I was hungry and tired when I ate 1200 calories for quite a while, and I was "netting" 1200 calories, which means that I ate my exercise calories back, so was technically eating more most days. It just wasn't enough for me though, so might not be for you either (not to mention the fact that it doesn't look like you're even reaching 1200 most days).

    Also, don't worry about Christmas weight gain. For most people, a lot of their gain will be mostly water weight and will come off quickly.

    Also, eating McDonalds does not make you "bad". :flowerforyou:

    Thank you very much. My husband was being nice and brought it home for me and I couldn't say no... but still feel guilty. I guess I should try 1400 everyday. I just want to loose the weight fast but I know that's not how it should be.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    The answer kind of depends on how you use MFP. If you use it how it was designed to work (ie you just follow the instructions w hen you set up at the beginning) yes you are supposed to eat them back. This is not unproductive, because the calorie goal that MFP gives you has a built in calorie deficit, so that you can lose weight even if you never do any additional exercise. The goal is based on all of your other daily activity. If you then exercise on top of that and do not eat any more, you may have too large of a calorie deficit which may be counter-productive, especially long-term. Other websites work differently and would calculate a calorie goal for you based on your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) which would include all planned exercise.

    Some people choose to customise MFP to create a calorie goal based on their TDEE. This would be a higher goal and if you do this, you would not eat exercise calories back.

    Some people are wary of eating back all their exercise calories if they use the MFP database to calculate calorie burn. The database can be inaccurate, so a lot of people prefer to only eat a proportion of those calories back. I have always eaten my exercise calories back and had no problem losing at the expected rate. I eventually got a heart rate monitor, which should be more accurate than MFP's estimations, and it seems that for me, MFP was actually underestimating my calorie burn. Either way though, if you're hungry and tired, chances are that you're not eating enough.

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