Struggling and need encouraging friends

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smaihlee
smaihlee Posts: 171 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Been on the site for ~ 2 months and now consider MFP an integral part of my life. I have never, ever, ever maintained a log to this degree in my life--so there's that :) I am doing this alone and feel like I could use some support from an online network.

41 years old, married, mom to a teenage son, employed full-time. I've been overweight pretty much my entire life. 5-20 lb. until I got pregnant (what I wouldn't GIVE to be just 20 lb overweight!!!). Since then I've been 50 lb. or more overweight. Shortly after having my son I did manage to get back down to within 5 lb. of my pre-pregnancy weight but that lasted maybe 24 hours.

Have tried several different things over the years to lose weight but none of them lasted more than a few days at best. This summer my family joined a gym after a several year hiatus and I started slowly working into a regular exercise routine. In November I joined MFP and started logging food.

Over the last couple years I have done a lot to change my eating habits. We eat balanced home-cooked meals every night, eating dinner out only 2-3 times a month. I have eliminated most traditional fast food (fried stuff) from my diet. Drastically cut back on sweets (chocolate is my weakness) and I drink lots of water every day. Cut sodas out of my life over 15 years ago. I avoid artificial sweeteners like the plague and have been trying to switch to a more natural-based lifestyle in the last couple months. Also added a regimen of supplements to my daily routine.

For the last 10 years I have been between 230 and 255. I'm 5'11" with what I think is a large frame. I have set my weight loss goal at 190, because I feel like that is a realistic place for me to be. When I started MFP I weighed 255.5. Within the first week I dropped 5 and was ecstatic, but over the last 6 weeks I've only lost another 5--but that has been painstakingly up and down. I set a goal of 1 lb. per week so technically I guess I've achieved that, but I'm used to weight coming off more quickly in the beginning and tapering off over months. I started with a calorie goal of 1860/day, sedentary activity, exercise 3x per week. Yesterday I decided to cut back even more and see if that made a difference. New goal is 1590/day.

So I feel like I'm doing most of what I "should", but just not seeing results. I am looking for MFP friends to share encouragement and ideas with, and would love to find some more knowledgeable peeps that can help me figure out why the stupid scale just doesn't seem to budge. Hope to "meet" some of you soon!

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  • mogzBH
    mogzBH Posts: 50
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    I'm having the same problem, weigfht fell off the first 10 days then nothing, uhoh! I've read on here that making sure you eat back your exercise calories can help otherwise your body might go in to starvation mode. And making sure that you are not just cutting back on calories but eating health food is a big part of it. No point chowing down on two burgers for your day's allowance and expecting to be skinny. Look arounf the forums for loads of great recipies and other motivation. Good luck!
  • EmilyWest1919
    EmilyWest1919 Posts: 25 Member
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    Feel free to friend me for support. I'm 34 years old and a mom of 3 kiddos under 6 years old. I started back in July 2012 and have lost 38lbs so far. Just 15 more to go!

    It sounds like you are on the right track. One thing that helped me plow through a recent plateau was to set a personal goal of 8 fruits and/or veggies per day. I did get Vitamix for Christmas, so blending them into drinks helps tremendously. But that many fruits and veggies really fills you up and makes you choose those foods over other things that may not be as filling, vitamin packed and low cal. No science behind any of this, btw, but it made sense and it's worked well for me. Good luck!
  • nczuczu
    nczuczu Posts: 611 Member
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    I'm no expert, just someone also trying to figure this out for rest of my life.

    What are you doing at the gym? Are you lifting weights or working on cardio?
    What does your diary look like?
    Have you taken your measurements? Has that changed?

    Just some thoughts...
  • licelot13
    licelot13 Posts: 4 Member
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    you are doing well, maybe you need to shock your diet a bit! change things around like your menu; also if you are lifting weight and doing intense workouts make sure to increase your protein intake which helps to develop muscles. the minute that you start developing muscle you will not lose too much "weight" because your body will exchange fat for muscles. so you will look toner, and better even though you still weight the same. do i make sense? best of luck!!!
  • smaihlee
    smaihlee Posts: 171 Member
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    Thanks to all for the positive messages and encouragement!

    nczuczu, my exercise has been slow to build. In December, I was doing 1-2 days per week of cardio + strength machines, plus 1 day yoga. This month I started a 3 day/week "boot camp" that does 55 minutes of interval-type training plus 1 day yoga (60 minutes). The boot camp will go through the first week in March, then I will have to develop a regular schedule with some high-intensity days. I do much better when in a class as opposed to on my own, so I'll probably try to pick up 2-3 classes per week. I'd also like to add another day of yoga each week though I do a 5-minute routine every morning to get myself going.

    I will open up my log because I sure would appreciate some feedback. It looks like I've been doing a horrible job staying on track, but I switched my calorie goal down to 1590 yesterday from 1860. Wish MFP would adjust for that! I do try to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables every day and most of the meats I eat are fairly lean. I know a lot of people have success going low- or no-carb, and I in fact had my biggest weight loss ever doing the "carbohydrate addict's diet" after I had my son. Just need to look into that again and see if I can find a low-carb plan that allows for healthy carbs like beans and fruit and oatmeal.

    Thanks again!

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