Not Losing - Diary Open - Do your worst

muddynicola
muddynicola Posts: 41 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am not really losing any weight and before you tell me to up my calories I tried that for 5 months before starting this last month, I was on 1600 a day and did 30 minutes of exercise a day (Jillian) I did not lose any weight. I cut it to 1200 a month ago now and I have lost a few inches off my thighs at last but that's about it and I've stalled already.

I'm not looking to build any muscles and I am happy for some of my weight loss to be muscle as I bulk up quickly and have a naturally muscular physique which would be great if I was a man but I'm not.

I want to know if there is anything wrong with the composition of my diet. I usually try and meet my protein goal and let the carbs and fat fall where they may seem as I am on 1200 calories there's only so much harm they can do - or is that wrong? Am I eating too many refined carbs like potato, rice cakes, baked crisps and wraps? Should I just cut all carb out of my life?

I have been completely honest in my diary and I weigh and measure everything. If you see a particuarly bad day it's not a binge it's just life getting in the way...........
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Replies

  • ms_leanne
    ms_leanne Posts: 523 Member
    Looking at the past few days I would say you seems to eat a lot of sugar every day. I know you eat fruit and I'm not counting that but where you have the yoghurts and chocolate you are eating lots of refined sugar.

    Fructose in fruit is easily digested due to the fibre in the fruit skin and flesh. refined sugars or sugars that do not need digesting by the stomach I do believe are the bad sugars that could be hindering your progress.

    This is just my thought and I do not profess to being an expert by any means.
  • nationallazer
    nationallazer Posts: 24
    water plays a major part are you drinking at least 12 glasses of water a day as it helps the body flush also how much exercise are you doing? I`m doing about 60 mins a day give or take with a day off trying really hard to get all my water in and I`ve been losing about a pound a week which I`m happy with because the slower the long it stays off look at it as a journey to a new you which doesnt happen over night and try not to get down on yourself as you will not lose for a few weeks in a row, just keep at it an remember to log every day and try to eat back your exercise calories hope this helps
  • GPlatz
    GPlatz Posts: 2 Member
    I'm going to tend to agree with ms_leanne. Take a look at this article regarding sugar and how it affects fat burning. If you can reduce the amount of processed foods you are eating and stick with the sugar you are getting from produce and other unprocessed foods, I'm betting you'll see a difference. Just my thoughts. Good luck and don't give up!

    http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_sugar.php
  • rabies
    rabies Posts: 62
    People tend to underestimate how much they eat by 50% (yes, I can show you the trial reports), even when keeping a diary and knowing they're monitored. Either you need to go see a doctor to have your energy expenditure actually measured (since it MAY be low, even though it's a microscopic percentage of people who has that), or you'll need to be more thorough about weighing everything you eat instead of guessing at the weight, and also putting every single thing you eat down in your diary before you actually eat it. Don't wait until you get home, or out of a meeting, EVER.
  • m4ttcheek
    m4ttcheek Posts: 229 Member
    With protein that low i can imagine you'd lose muscle at a faster rate than fat.
  • rabies
    rabies Posts: 62
    I'm going to tend to agree with ms_leanne. Take a look at this article regarding sugar and how it affects fat burning. If you can reduce the amount of processed foods you are eating and stick with the sugar you are getting from produce and other unprocessed foods, I'm betting you'll see a difference. Just me thoughts. Good luck and don't give up!

    http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_sugar.php

    This article says you're likely to eat more when you eat sugar, not that it affects fat burning.
  • ms_leanne
    ms_leanne Posts: 523 Member
    I am not really losing any weight and before you tell me to up my calories I tried that for 5 months before starting this last month, I was on 1600 a day and did 30 minutes of exercise a day (Jillian) I did not lose any weight.

    In addition to this hun, I've just started doing Jillian and the cardio didn't get my heart rate up as much as my existing jogging and bootcamp sessions.

    Do you use a heart rate monitor to check the calories you are burning with Jillian?
  • GPlatz
    GPlatz Posts: 2 Member
    I'm going to tend to agree with ms_leanne. Take a look at this article regarding sugar and how it affects fat burning. If you can reduce the amount of processed foods you are eating and stick with the sugar you are getting from produce and other unprocessed foods, I'm betting you'll see a difference. Just me thoughts. Good luck and don't give up!

    http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_sugar.php

    This article says you're likely to eat more when you eat sugar, not that it affects fat burning.

    "When we eat refined grains that have had most of their fiber stripped away, sugar, or other carbohydrate-rich foods that are quickly processed into blood sugar, the pancreas goes into overtime to produce the insulin necessary for all this blood sugar to be used for energy. This insulin surge tells our body that plenty of energy is readily available and that it should stop burning fat and start storing it."

    That is the point of the article I was trying to get at...I'm no nutitionist by any means, but have cut out all the processed foods from my diet I can and have been fairly successful over the past nine weeks. Just something you may want to try.
  • cgdalton79
    cgdalton79 Posts: 4
    I would suggest that you visit your primary care physician to determine whether you have any medical issues, such as an inactive thyroid. That will affect weight loss, or lack thereof. Best of luck and don't give up!!!
  • KimberlyDCZ
    KimberlyDCZ Posts: 525 Member
    It looks like your NET calories are below 1200, am I right? For example, if you consume 1400, then burn 300; that leaves your net at 1100... ?? Maybe you should try to have at least 1200 NET

    edit to say: I agree you should avoid refined sugar/carbs
  • onwarddownward
    onwarddownward Posts: 1,683 Member
    I am no expert, but maybe start tracking your sodium. Some of the things on your list like the olives are loaded. That might be part of it. Good luck!

    Jan
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
    You have 35 pounds left to lose.. and with that, I would suggest trying to lose a pound a week or less. I took a look at your diary and saw that you aren't tracking sodium. You may be retaining water, which would make the scale stay the same or even go up.

    I'd also suggest real weight training... Not Jillian's workouts. You want that muscle because it burns more calories at rest and ensures that you burn mostly fat instead of muscle and fat.
  • suz155
    suz155 Posts: 326 Member
    Maybe sodium levels? I know lowering my sodium helps me and changing my exercise routine, maybe 10 minutes longer to start?
  • doz83
    doz83 Posts: 3
    You state in you initial response that you cut down to a 1200 calorie limit a month ago. I have had a look at your food diary for the last month and I have noted that you are pretty consistently eating under 1200 calories. it looks as though you are not eating the additional calories that you are burning up through exercise. The body needs a MINIMUM of 1200 calories a day in order to properly function. That means that if you do excersise and burn 200 calories you MUST eat those 200 calories back, otherwise you are expecting your body to survive on just 1000 calories a day. If you do not eat a minimum of 1200 your body will go into starvation mode. It hangs on to all the calories you eat as it thinks you are starving. Consequently you do not loose ANY weight. You really must make sure the you calorie intake is as close to 1200, a day. 30 calories over or under a day is ok but don't be 200-300 calories under your daily goal or you just won't loose any weight. If you do this consistently you will loose weight. Please take my advice as I can see this is the problem. I have leant this myself through experiance.
  • flyzip
    flyzip Posts: 9 Member
    Some suggestions after looking at your diary......

    1. Use the appropriate MFP (and others on the web) calculators to determine an accurate daily calorie goal. I do not understand why you began with 1600 and are now down to 1200. Determine what you need to loose one pound per week. Then stick to it.

    2. All nutrients are important, particularly fat, sugar and sodium. Your numbers for sugar are in the red nearly every day without consuming much fruit. I'm guessing your sodium is high as well. Seems to me you are retaining fluids, I.e., pounds. Check out the MFP app for IPhone/IPad. That let's you easily see all the nutrients on a daily or weekly basis and you can then adjust your diet accordingly.

    3. I see a lot of prepared foods in your diary...... These all have tons of fats and refined sugars as well. You cannot just look at calories. Try to increase your intake of fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, salads, fish and chicken. These will fill you up for a lesser calorie count and eliminate the fats and sugars.

    4. Get as much water as you can stand each day. Some say 8 glasses, some say 12. If I get 4 or 5 a day I"'m happy. Ah amount will help.

    Hope this helps you some. Just stick with it and do not get discouraged. MFP is a wonderful tool with a lot of interesting features. Use them all to your benefit.
  • ChangingAmanda
    ChangingAmanda Posts: 486 Member
    Most likely you're not eating enough. Too big of a calorie deficit can stall weight loss. A good post with resources to help calculate your calorie needs is http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13?hl=road+map#posts-14885708. From my experience, I tried just under 1300 like MFP suggested and felt so bad after just 4 days. I upped my calories to net 1600 (so 1600 base plus my exercise calories as determined by my heart rate monitor) and I average 1.6lbs loss a week. I've been able to sustain that for 6 months now.
  • muddynicola
    muddynicola Posts: 41 Member
    Fair point I have upped m y sugar in the past week (saturday aside).

    I do 30 minutes a day but I don't want to do anymore because I already have good muscle tone and I want to shed mass, I can't see the point of doing another 30 minutes, having to eat more calories and building more muscle which is more weight at the end of the day.
  • museumbabe
    museumbabe Posts: 1 Member
    I am new to this site, but have been a life -long struggler. In looking at your diary, I see a lot of sugar, carbs, and dairy. I would try to up low fat protein and eat more fiber, ie vegetables. My daughter and I try to have veggies everywhere we can. For instance, in the morning, we might make a spinach and non-fat feta egg white omelet; or pumpkin oatmeal pancakes; or mix equal parts of pumpkin and non-fat ricotta plus some pumpkin pie spice and stevia as a spread. Very impt to start your day with proteins rather than sugar. I have found if I start with sugar, I crave sugar all day. A balance of carb and protein, plus a veggie if you can squeeze it in will keep you fuller longer. Also, we bake kale sprayed with olive oil, salt and pepper as a snack. For the chocolate fix, we keep the little dark chocolate Dove squares or Hershey's Bliss and savor 1 when we crave it. It has taken us a while to get here - good luck on your journey!
  • dfonte
    dfonte Posts: 263 Member
    Keep it simple. Knock your meals down to basic items. Cereal, a serving of turkey, broccoli, etc. I'm a fan of Ms. Dash myself because there's nothing to count.

    I also eat the same amount of fat as you on a 2200 calorie goal.
  • ChangingAmanda
    ChangingAmanda Posts: 486 Member
    Fair point I have upped m y sugar in the past week (saturday aside).

    I do 30 minutes a day but I don't want to do anymore because I already have good muscle tone and I want to shed mass, I can't see the point of doing another 30 minutes, having to eat more calories and building more muscle which is more weight at the end of the day.

    It's very difficult for women to build muscle. We just don't have the hormones needed to do so. Also, you can't build muscle while eating on a deficit. Strength/resistance training is going to help you keep the muscle you have while shedding the fat. Think of it this way, If you have a set of identical twins who weigh 140 lbs but one has 22% body fat and the other 32% body fat, who do you think is going to look better?
  • muddynicola
    muddynicola Posts: 41 Member
    People tend to underestimate how much they eat by 50% (yes, I can show you the trial reports), even when keeping a diary and knowing they're monitored. Either you need to go see a doctor to have your energy expenditure actually measured (since it MAY be low, even though it's a microscopic percentage of people who has that), or you'll need to be more thorough about weighing everything you eat instead of guessing at the weight, and also putting every single thing you eat down in your diary before you actually eat it. Don't wait until you get home, or out of a meeting, EVER.

    I can assure you I am not underestimating what I eat, I am very aware of the calorific content in food and I check the packages correspond with MFP. I update as I go and I weigh everything precisely and I am NOT LYING to myself
  • muddynicola
    muddynicola Posts: 41 Member
    Fair point I have upped m y sugar in the past week (saturday aside).

    I do 30 minutes a day but I don't want to do anymore because I already have good muscle tone and I want to shed mass, I can't see the point of doing another 30 minutes, having to eat more calories and building more muscle which is more weight at the end of the day.

    It's very difficult for women to build muscle. We just don't have the hormones needed to do so. Also, you can't build muscle while eating on a deficit. Strength/resistance training is going to help you keep the muscle you have while shedding the fat. Think of it this way, If you have a set of identical twins who weigh 140 lbs but one has 22% body fat and the other 32% body fat, who do you think is going to look better?

    I don't think 30 mins hard work out every single day is exactly slacking most people don't do anything let alone every day. I don't find it hard to build muscle....
  • muddynicola
    muddynicola Posts: 41 Member
    Keep it simple. Knock your meals down to basic items. Cereal, a serving of turkey, broccoli, etc. I'm a fan of Ms. Dash myself because there's nothing to count.

    I also eat the same amount of fat as you on a 2200 calorie goal.

    People on here always bang on about dietary fat not making you fat and I am always about 15 grams under my target every day.
  • katiethedetermined1
    katiethedetermined1 Posts: 68 Member
    WATER, YOU NEED WATER. PERIOD
  • seegrim
    seegrim Posts: 2
    You're brave to open up your diary like that. :)

    Here's what I've learned from the physician's assistant I've been working with - eat a LOT of lean protein. I currently weigh 216, and aim for 120 grams a day. I know that sounds like a lot, but protein is very filling and helps maintain muscle mass. Best of luck!

    AND water! Make sure you're getting at LEAST 8 glasses a day!
  • muddynicola
    muddynicola Posts: 41 Member
    Before I started this diet I didn't eat any dairy - now I am eating some half fat cheese to up my protein as I am a vegetarian. My milkshakes are from almond and soya milk.

    Someone said I eat really low protein but again I am pretty much bang on my target every day which is a struggle on 1200 calories and being vegetarian and why my fat intake has increased from not dieting.

    I eat tons of vegetables so I also don't understand this criticism.
  • lovemitch125
    lovemitch125 Posts: 257 Member
    Try This:
    I do it everytime to break a pleateu, called the zig zag method. Eat about an average of 1400 cals (or whatever you want) over the time period of a week, so eat a little over your goal one day, a few hundred under the next, at maintenance the next day, at your goal the next, a little under the next... etc.
    You see my point. You are doing great with what you are eating but your body may have become to used to a low calorie diet (since you say you have been doing it for several months) I enjoy eating at maintenance a few times a week because a few days a week I can stay pretty low and this has been helping a lot.

    I hope it works for you! :bigsmile:
  • jbfox123abc
    jbfox123abc Posts: 6 Member
    I'm not sure there is any answer to this quandary for I'm in it too. I'm trying the Fast 5/2 diet (its not as hard as you think) and plateaued after about 3 weeks into it. I don't have a lot of weight to lose but when you eat only 500 calories two days a week and you plateau, its pretty discouraging.

    I just bought a FitBit to track the calories I burn throughout the day and have realized I have a relatively sedentary lifestyle. I have bursts of activity - going to the gym or hiking 14 miles - but the rest of the time, I sit at my desk. My Fitbit is trying to get me to move more and I'm hoping this will help me to continue on.
  • dfonte
    dfonte Posts: 263 Member
    It's broscience. Too many people like to jump on bandwagons without having any direct experience - but anyways it's all about what works for you.

    You're currently eating 55% carbs, 30% fat, 15% protein. Obviously this isn't working, so take the carbs and fats down a little and up the protein - maybe 50/25/25.

    Keeping food simple makes it really easy as I said. Condiments can sometimes add more carbs then you already have in your meal. Use what you want, but just be vigilant in your tracking.

    75 grams of protein isn't too hard to get. A bag of broccoli has 10 grams. There's many meatless options as well with soy protein.
  • jbfox123abc
    jbfox123abc Posts: 6 Member
    You know lovemitch125 you just may be on to something here. AT the gym you need to mix up your workout routine - it s called muscle confusion - so maybe we need to "confuse" our diet.

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