STUCK!! Who has some good motivation tips?

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babycakeslove11
babycakeslove11 Posts: 12
in Motivation and Support
The first 10 pounds melted off, and I have been doing really good. In the past couple weeks, I finally got past the 40's and into the 30's, and I was so excited to continue going down. I got stuck and have been going back and forth from 38-42, and it's really frustrating. I am trying to stay motivated and focused, but it's really hard to not get discouraged when this gets difficult. I am really relying heavily on my wonderful support system to continue pushing me and helping me get past this stuck point and I am really trying to continuously tell myself that it's about having a healthier lifestyle, not just about the number on the scale. I am hoping that once I get into the 30's and get past my "lowest", I will have a new sense of motivation and will hopefully continue going, but I need to work really hard to get down the next 10 pounds. I just wish that it would happen already!!!

Who/what is your biggest motivator(s)?? Feel free to add me and/or message me if you have any tips to share or are looking for someone to share in this journey!

Replies

  • dangerousdumpling
    dangerousdumpling Posts: 1,109 Member
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    I'd suggest you offer more info. If people know your height, weight, goal weight, and more about your diet and exercise they could probably give you some pointers.
  • babycakeslove11
    babycakeslove11 Posts: 12
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    I am 5'5 and I started at 253 pounds back around New Years. My current goal weight is to get past my past "lowest" weight of 235. Ultimately, I want to be around 150-160, but that is a far off goal. I have to set smaller goals so that I continuously feel that I am reaching them, which is why I'm starting with my 235 goal. I am currently at 241.6 and have been going back and forth from about 238-242 for the past few weeks now. I hurt my back in high school (a couple falls and then a car accident), so I have not been able to get into a regular exercise routine since I was about 16 years old (I am currently 23). My mom and my sister have both been very successful using MFP and exercising, and I really want to be successful too. For the past month and a half, I have been treadmilling every day. I started at what I felt that I could handle (20 minutes at a 2.0-2.3 speed with a 0 incline). I continuously increase what I am doing as I feel that I can handle it and am currently alternating between 30 minutes and 45 minutes of interval training on the treadmill (depending on how much time I have in the morning) at a 2.0 incline with alternating between low intervals at 2.5 and high intervals at 3.0. This week, I have also started to use some of the workout DVD's that were collecting dust ;) so I started a yoga dvd to help stretch my muscles and help my back feel better so I can hopefully work out longer. A major goal was to be able to walk up the stairs at school to go to class without my back hurting or feeling like I was running and trying to catch my breath (and I succeeded at that!) I am trying to follow the South Beach diet principles of eating protein and veggies, and I am currently pushing myself to get my 8 glasses of water in every day (I'm at about 4-6 depending on the day)! I was doing well, so I started adding fruits and healthy carbs as long as it was earlier in the day, but I am trying to cut back on those again and go back to the "phase 1" foods. Hope this gives insight for any pointers anyone may have! :)
  • dangerousdumpling
    dangerousdumpling Posts: 1,109 Member
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    I think it's great that you're working towards becoming more active. I had surgery a few months ago so I know how hard it is to be limited on what you can do physically. I was pretty much bed bound for a couple of months there. I've started walking and am doing well with that, meaning I don't have any pain so I know I'm not doing too much. Anyway, are you counting calories? I know it's hard when you don't see the scale moving. I've been dealing with that for the past 10 days or so. It's so frustrating! So let us know how you're doing with your calories, OK? Maybe you're eating too much or too little. Could just be that your body is going through a temporary adjustment period.
  • AnnaMarieDinVa
    AnnaMarieDinVa Posts: 162 Member
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    If you are eating right about the number of calories MFP says to eat (i.e., not too much, not too little), with everything else you are doing, I think it is just a matter of waiting this out. Take it day by day. You can totally do this.

    One more thing: trying new healthy foods, different veggies cooked differently helps me a lot. Not sure why, but it does. :) Good luck to you!!! Get past this and on to the next goal!!!
  • babycakeslove11
    babycakeslove11 Posts: 12
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    I am usually right around my calories. Sometimes I go over my calories, but if I do, I really try to at least eat the "right foods" (i.e. protein or veggies or something instead of going over by having a bag of chips or a candy bar). My jeans are fitting a little better, and I am feeling healthier, but it's still frustrating when the scale doesn't show that ;) I will have to try new veggies. My sister makes these frozen dinners (Kashi) and they are really healthy for you and she adds veggies to them as her dinner, so I am going to try some of those and see if they fill me up and work for me. They have worked for her, so we'll see :) Thanks for the support!!
  • Markwells01
    Markwells01 Posts: 11
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    Hi - With a back problem it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of your typical workouts against what you can actually do without risking further injury. For me MFP is working because I am burring more calories than I consume and so far at least this has worked. But there are times when your body refuses to lose weight which is normal and sometime unexplainable.

    My hint, would be to buy yourself a heart rate monitor which also counts the calories you burn during exercise. This is important because the readouts on the machines in the gym are not very accurate. You can set up a HRM tell you what you are actually burning when exercising which may reveal that actually you need to eat less or exercise more...?

    One other thing....aks an instructor in the gym to assess your exercise routine...maybe they could change it slightly which is also a good thing to do form time to time as it stops your body adjusting to easily.

    Good Luck -Mark
  • babycakeslove11
    babycakeslove11 Posts: 12
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    I appreciate your feedback. I actually have my own treadmill at home with the heart rate monitor and all the other fancy gadgets on it. I also enter my calories a tad lower than what the machine actually says I have burned to take into account any inaccuracies. I do interval training in order to prevent my body from "getting used to what I'm doing" for that exact reason. I have re-evaluated what I'm eating and am going back to just the basics in hopes that it will work. I lost my first 10 pounds that way, and hopefully it will continue that way. I also have started to look at other factors instead of just the scale... Like the fact that I can walk up the stairs at school without feeling out of breath :) I guess the best that I can do is continue doing what I'm doing in hopes that the scale will catch up soon (:
  • blue6680
    blue6680 Posts: 4
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    I am having the same problem. I have 3 pounds to go to be at my lowest in 10 years. I started out at 248 i got to 225 then got stuck. I found out about this site and started using it at the first of the year. I can not seem to get past the 220's. I keep hearing just keep making the right choices and it will show on the scale, and measure your self. If it is not showing on the scale you could still be losing inches. That is what is keeping me going I only lost 1/2 an inch in the last month. But i keep telling myself that atleast it is something. For motavation find something to use as your goal to work towards. Mine is VS Bootcut jeans. 3 inches to go! YOU can do this. :)
  • AmyMgetsfit
    AmyMgetsfit Posts: 636 Member
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    I have no tips because I have been stuck before and gave up. I am hoping to do things differently this time. Which is why I am here. I love my husband dearly, and he is a great guy, but he does lack in the motivating me category. I might as well be tying my shoes, I get the same kind of reaction from him, which is zip. I need a support system.

    I suffered a shoulder injury last July. After 3 months of PT, I stopped and am doing it on my own. It is still painful and don't have the full range of motion back yet. I'm working on it though. I have started adding more strength training to my routine as I get stronger. We do have a nice gym in our basement, so that helps me as I would never set foot in a gym. For one, I live too far away from one. My diary is open, but I warn you my eating habits are not the best. It is a work in progress.
  • Jennymcwb
    Jennymcwb Posts: 88 Member
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    You have the right attitude in focusing on the positive changes, increasing the time on the treadmill, feeling better after walking up stairs and seeing the difference in your jeans. Keep that focus along with the changes in your food choices and activity levels, and the weight loss will show up on the scale.
    Check out other food diaries to get ideas on what you can change for meals to keep it interesting. Hang in there!
    (you can friend me if you like!:smile: )
  • wendybird5
    wendybird5 Posts: 577 Member
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    Wow, you are almost my twin! I'm 5'5" and started at 243 and am now two pounds from my goal of 153. Just hang in there. It's all ups and downs, but you'll get there. For me what helped was changing things up now and then and just seeing how my body reacted.

    The abbreviated version of what I went through is this:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/857137-for-the-newbies-here-is-what-losing-80-pounds-is-like

    Feel free to add me if you like. An outline of what I did to lose weight is in my profile. Good luck!
  • samanthachen
    samanthachen Posts: 360 Member
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    I am 5'5 and I started at 253 pounds back around New Years. My current goal weight is to get past my past "lowest" weight of 235. Ultimately, I want to be around 150-160, but that is a far off goal. I have to set smaller goals so that I continuously feel that I am reaching them, which is why I'm starting with my 235 goal. I am currently at 241.6 and have been going back and forth from about 238-242 for the past few weeks now. I hurt my back in high school (a couple falls and then a car accident), so I have not been able to get into a regular exercise routine since I was about 16 years old (I am currently 23). My mom and my sister have both been very successful using MFP and exercising, and I really want to be successful too. For the past month and a half, I have been treadmilling every day. I started at what I felt that I could handle (20 minutes at a 2.0-2.3 speed with a 0 incline). I continuously increase what I am doing as I feel that I can handle it and am currently alternating between 30 minutes and 45 minutes of interval training on the treadmill (depending on how much time I have in the morning) at a 2.0 incline with alternating between low intervals at 2.5 and high intervals at 3.0. This week, I have also started to use some of the workout DVD's that were collecting dust ;) so I started a yoga dvd to help stretch my muscles and help my back feel better so I can hopefully work out longer. A major goal was to be able to walk up the stairs at school to go to class without my back hurting or feeling like I was running and trying to catch my breath (and I succeeded at that!) I am trying to follow the South Beach diet principles of eating protein and veggies, and I am currently pushing myself to get my 8 glasses of water in every day (I'm at about 4-6 depending on the day)! I was doing well, so I started adding fruits and healthy carbs as long as it was earlier in the day, but I am trying to cut back on those again and go back to the "phase 1" foods. Hope this gives insight for any pointers anyone may have! :)

    I must say that setting smaller goals are my motivation! I know that there is little comfort in that though when you are stuck. You might need to recalibrate your BMR and TDEE with your current weight. You might find that you need to eat a bit less or even more because you body was tired of eating too little. You can google : "how do I calculate my BMR?" "how do I calculate my TDEE?" and you will find many sites that help you do that. It may be that you need to eat more to fuel your workouts. I know that recommending Google will probably set someone on me, but it is just a tool to find an estimate. I set my daily activity to sedentary and just eat back my exercise calories. For example: I was eating 1200cal to begin with and I felt ok, not too hungry. After reading all about TDEE and BMR, I realized that is too little for my BMR (basal metabolic rate: the amount you burn doing nothing but being in a coma). You want to eat a number below you TDEE (what you burn in a normal day doing your job, living, shopping, digesting, etc) and over your BMR. Many people have had success eating 1200 cal/day or the 1lb/week setting of 1500ish cals/day, but it doesn't work for everyone. You plateau early on because it isn't enough food for your body to function off of. It sounds like this is that case. You may have been burning lean muscle mass for quick energy, but since I don't know your intake, this is a guess.

    I now eat slightly over my BMR, just getting used to the increase in calories, and the pounds are still coming off! If you eat below your BMR, you lose fast, then plateau. I hope this is helpful!

    It sounds like you are doing everything right though, and you seem to be really paying attention to what you are taking in! Sounds like you are staying positive. I know this must have been frustrating, but hopefully things change for you again.

    Good luck!
  • babycakeslove11
    babycakeslove11 Posts: 12
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    Thanks everyone who has posted on here. I am not past this yet, but have taken the time to refocus myself and stick with it. I love to hear that others have been successful after getting past the same points that I have been struggling with. You can all feel free to add me if you would like because I have found that a larger support system is really what it takes to continue going forward! :)
  • dangerousdumpling
    dangerousdumpling Posts: 1,109 Member
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    Here we are again. :happy: I have not lost any weight in the past three weeks so it's a good thing I took my measurements. I've lost 5 inches in just the past two weeks! The scale should not be the only way to monitor "weight loss".
    Three weeks ago I increased my calories and that has helped this to be so doable this time. I don't feel hungry or deprived so I'm not tempted to give in just because the scale isn't doing what I want it to do.

    So my question for you is have you taken your measurements? And also do you feel like you're eating enough? Eating too few calories can backfire and you won't lose any weight.
  • healthy_jessx3
    healthy_jessx3 Posts: 41 Member
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    I am totally in the same position! I have lost 10 pounds the first month & a half, now im stuck. I started at 169, now im at 159. My goal is to be 145-150 by the time i go on vacation April 25th.

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