HELP - Dieting, exercising, and ONE lb lost in 6 weeks

try this little experiment weigh yourself after a rest day.

the cooked or raw question. I struggled with this one for a good while!! but just stick to what is easiest for you and keep it consistent. weigh raw... always weigh raw.. if you weigh cooked then always weigh it cooked...

also, i don't want to get into the whole CALORIE drama here. My 2 cents.. stay with your current caloric goal, but really start to weigh EVERYTHING.. and see if anything changes. and tweak from there. if you are not losing weight at 1600, i just don't see how adding calories will now put you at a deficit.

overestimate calories consumed, underestimate calories burned (and only track calories from actual focused exercise and not just random stuff you do).

other than that, you could try cutting your carbs a lot also. you're at 400 grams of carbs on some days. try to stay under 200 every day for a few weeks and see if that speeds up your weight loss.

i do measure, tho i do not weight, i eye it out... i do have a scale... i will def pull it out and leave it on the counter and start weighing my protein!

Weigh more than your protein. Weigh *everything*.

This!!!

When I first got a food scale, I was SHOCKED at how wrong my eyeballing estimates were! Even measuring things out using a measuring cup rather than weighing them was off.

Don't cut your calories, but weigh your food. Eyeballing it doesn't work.

Oh, a question for you about your diary. Not about food but about exercise cals this time. I saw one day you entered 1400 calories for the day--it seems really high to me. Not impossible, but really, really high. Are you wearing the heart rate monitor all day long, or just during your exercise sessions? The reason I ask is this: MFP figures your regular sedentary expenditure into your goal, so you shouldn't log calories that are part of that number as exercise. If you ran a half marathon that day, then sure, log it. Otherwise, your exercise calories are probably inaccurate.

Someone also mentioned that you shouldn't go by MFP for calories burned. Just a reminder - I have to change mine always as they are off 100+ every time.

Oh, a question for you about your diary. Not about food but about exercise cals this time. I saw one day you entered 1400 calories for the day--it seems really high to me. Not impossible, but really, really high. Are you wearing the heart rate monitor all day long, or just during your exercise sessions? The reason I ask is this: MFP figures your regular sedentary expenditure into your goal, so you shouldn't log calories that are part of that number as exercise. If you ran a half marathon that day, then sure, log it. Otherwise, your exercise calories are probably inaccurate.

This and also, things like Roller Derby - Are you constantly skating for 90 mins or is that the length of the session? If you've got a HRM you should be able to start/stop when you're actually skating.
Don't log day to day activities like cleaning or whatever, that's already taken care of by MFP's initial calculations. Anything over and above the norm of daily activities - go for it!

With your food you should probably cut back on processed and reduce/cut out things like dressings. Try some new flavours that are lower in fat. Here in the UK there's a nice Thai style one that Waitrose does (Love Life range) which is tasty but not cream based, so it's low fat. I've been to the states a fair few times, spent 5 months there in one go in 2009, and i've always found that it's a very American thing to smother everything in a dressing or cheese. Let those natural flavours come out (OMG just noticed from your food diary you're in Canada! FORGIVE ME!!! )

If you're just trying to burn fat at the moment, do you need the protein supplement right now? I've only really ever known people who are bulking up and lifting once they've lost the weight to start adding powders to their diet. Forgive me if i'm wrong, it's just an observation from people I know! Surely cooking from fresh things like chicken or turkey will provide all you need at this time?

And +1 for digital scales to weigh food. You could be surprised!

i do cook most meals... but i read that i should be eating g protien for my LEAN WEIGHT. So for me about 160g protein. I do weights as part of my weight training... and my muscles get extrememly sore... i do notice when i manage to bring in a high protien amount i am much less sore next day.

Protein intake is important if you want to maintain lean body mass and exercise a lot. A lot of people eat what I would consider to be way too little (under 40 g a day). And it is hard to get from dietary sources only. I do not take protein supplements myself, but there isn't necessarily anything wrong with them.

Btw, about weighing yourself: it is important not to be obsessed, but you should figure out if you can trust your scale and how much your weight fluctuates on a daily basis. Household scales have a big margin of error, and your weight can vary by as many as 7 lb or more THROUGHOUT THE DAY. So I would recommend weighing yourself every morning for a month, no clothes on and before breakfast, and tracking how your weight fluctuates. You might be surprised by the result.

OK... ANOTHER question.. and i have a feelng i may get 100 different answers... BUT what should my cal- Fat-Cal-Prot ranges b at?

I have mine set at 1600 cals, 30%carbs, 45%prot and 25% fat. Im pretty sure protein is right as its at 160g my lean mass weight, not sure about the crabs 107g and fat 40 g

You will get wildly different answers on this, so be prepared. I like Lyle McDonald's take on it: don't set percentages, set a protein goal in grams based on your lean body mass.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-fundamentals-of-fat-loss-diets-part-1.html

What you have there looks good to me, though I am no nutritionist obviously. The reason you'll see such different recommendations for macronutrient intake has to do with the research being all over the place. We've gone from "carbs are great, fat is evil" to "it depends on what fat" to "fat is great, carbs are evil" to "carbs are great as long as it's not wheat/fructose/cardboard", etc.

Then there is also conventional wisdom and research on how you should eat for overall health. There, the recommendation is often to eat less meat and more fruits and vegetables, nuts, etc. People like to vilify eggs, dairy, meat, and grains. Since the first three of these are sources of good digestible protein (open the floodgates of dairy hate now please), you'll see contradictory advice.

Anyway, I think eating a variety of foods is important, and it's great that you cook for yourself. You'll be okay, just be patient and don't get obsessed with the details

Oh thought of something are you sleeping enough?? I gain weight when i get less sleep