What am I doing wrong? I feel like giving up. =(

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Replies

  • jpartin475
    jpartin475 Posts: 11
    You HAVE to eat the bonus calories that MFP gives you when you exercise. You HAVE to. If you're only eating your food calories, then burning off so many and you don't replace them, your body will hold on to that weight. I learned this lesson the hard way and made no progress at all for 6 months. I wanted to quit too. But when I found out what I was doing wrong...well...I've lost 14 lbs in just a few weeks by adding those calories back in.
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
    Oh and on another note:

    Never would I have ever thought that my problem would be I'm not eating ENOUGH.
    It's such a reverse way of what we've been taught, right? Believe me, you're not alone. Say hello to my little friends cashew butter and full fat foods. Nom nom nom.
  • xRachTasticx
    xRachTasticx Posts: 65 Member
    Just by looking at your Diary....1) You are not drinking enough water....You should be drinking approximately 1/2 gal to 1 gal/day. 2) You need to cut your fat intake down (no whole milk or cheese) 3) No carbs at dinner or after, they just sit in your system, and don't get burned off. It's not just about calorie intake, it's about the types of calories and when..... Good luck and stay with it!!!!!

    I will try to cut the milk and cheese out of my diary. The milk I drink is usually nonfat or 1%, however I had a pesky whole milk cafe con leche the other day which I shouldn't have! The cheese I eat are usually cheese sticks as a snack when I'm a bit hungry. I will try to cut those out or at least lessen their frequency as much as possible.

    Question regarding carbs at dinner: I generally work out 1-2 hours post dinner, as I live in Florida it's far to hot to go out during the day. So seeing as my major exercise (walk/jog of 5 miles) is post dinner, are dinner carbs still bad? (I have no idea, not trying to be contrary to your statement!)
  • CatMcCheesey
    CatMcCheesey Posts: 143
    Get a trainer! They can be awesome! Also, measure yourself. I've lost about 10 pounds since January when I started... but I'm down 14 inches! Don't give up!

    I second this. Hiring a trainer has been money well spent for me. I'm consistently losing 2.5 pound per week, I'm learning a lot and I feel wonderful. Give working with a trainer a try - they're not as expensive as you might think.
  • xRachTasticx
    xRachTasticx Posts: 65 Member
    No unfortunately it's not odd to feel guilty about getting close to your caloric goal, lots of people get tweaked out when they get to being nearly 'out' of calories, but it's not the right way to feel. Think of it like body fueling, 100% caloric intake means the body is successfully fueled! Goal achieved! Dance dance, booty shake, more dance (log said dancing in exercise :D ).
    And yes, eat back those exercise calories! Your body needs that fuel! If you do the calculation of TDEE -20% (your total daily energy expenditure - 20% for weight loss), then eat those calories. OR if you calculate using MFP, include your exercise and eat those calories, one or the other, just remember to recalculate every 5pds.
    Definitely measure too, as you may not notice weight changes, but those inches may be flying off!

    LOL, thank you so much!
    I will be sure to log that dancin' ;)
  • geordie1alfie2
    geordie1alfie2 Posts: 6
    Wonder if you may look at rest days for your body to recover. Also perhaps increasing muscles - check protein levels and calorie counts. But please don't give in - keep going sure that goals will be reached. Ps I'm a 67 year old UK resident and am now workingto lose weight and get fit again after a bad injury and surgery. Understand where you are in motivation but keep the faith! Good luck.:smile::smile:
  • Derpes
    Derpes Posts: 2,033 Member
    Just by looking at your Diary....1) You are not drinking enough water....You should be drinking approximately 1/2 gal to 1 gal/day. 2) You need to cut your fat intake down (no whole milk or cheese) 3) No carbs at dinner or after, they just sit in your system, and don't get burned off. It's not just about calorie intake, it's about the types of calories and when..... Good luck and stay with it!!!!!

    I will try to cut the milk and cheese out of my diary. The milk I drink is usually nonfat or 1%, however I had a pesky whole milk cafe con leche the other day which I shouldn't have! The cheese I eat are usually cheese sticks as a snack when I'm a bit hungry. I will try to cut those out or at least lessen their frequency as much as possible.

    Question regarding carbs at dinner: I generally work out 1-2 hours post dinner, as I live in Florida it's far to hot to go out during the day. So seeing as my major exercise (walk/jog of 5 miles) is post dinner, are dinner carbs still bad? (I have no idea, not trying to be contrary to your statement!)

    Sometimes cheese is very satiating given the protein content.

    Be sure to have your body fat percentage measured every 4-6 weeks; the scale is often misleading.

    Other than that, slow and steady wins the race. Focus on the process when the results are not there.

    As others have suggested, do not be afraid to mix it up as far as diet or exercise. HIIT training helped break my plateau.........
  • bookyeti
    bookyeti Posts: 544 Member
    Suggestion: Get rid of your scale! Go by measurements, progress photos, and how you feel and fit into your clothing. Honestly, this is a much better gauge for fitness progress than a scale ever could be!

    Eat healthy nutritious foods and stick to your calorie goal that MFP provides (not under!), and continue to exercise. Trust in the method. It works.

    Most importantly: Remember WHY you're doing this - to look good and improve your health - you're not doing it for a number on the scale. That way you won't even think of throwing in the towel. If you're doing it for your health, everything else will fall into place.
  • Pixi_Rex
    Pixi_Rex Posts: 1,676 Member
    It's a week, give it time. Seriously *kitten* doesn't change over night, you just introduced working out into your routine your body is going to rebel and hold water like crazy. Do not give up... or give up and come back when you hit over 300 pounds and complain that you should have never given up in the first place.

    Stay off the scale for a while - it may be tough in the beginning but it is a lot easier and less emotionally draining on you, use a measuring tape, use your speed/distance/strength changes to be a gauge. The number on the scale is really not the most important thing in the world.

    Weightloss is seldom linear it more wibbley wobbly and does its own thing, strap in, go for the ride on the other end its completely worth it.
  • AggieLu
    AggieLu Posts: 873 Member
    Eat more to weigh less (with the amount of exercise you do). Don't skip your lunch frequently. If you don't feed your body, all the carbs are transformed into fat and stored in your body. Read: IT STARTS WITH FOOD.
  • luckyjuls
    luckyjuls Posts: 505 Member
    My advice is to figure out if you are really "lightly active" since you work 12 hour days on your feet and also work out? It seems to me that a person of around your weight and activity level would have a higher TDEE. It could be that you really are burning more calories in a day than you think and the 1650 you were eating was enough for your body with your level of activity but the 1100 or so you are giving it is not enough for it to fuel the furnace.
  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,708 Member
    First off, any and all assistance is greatly appreciated. A little background on me if you don't know it already:
    Age: nearly 25
    Height: 5'7"
    SW 271
    CW 249
    GW 190

    I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. I'm exercising at least 4 out of the 7 days in the week, I'm under my caloric goal almost each day and under for the week by about 5k. I walk/jog 5 miles three times a week, and do strength training/weight training once a week.

    Prior to introducing any exercise whatsoever I dropped to 248 fairly quickly. Two weeks ago I added in the walking/jogging and weight training. After week one I gained and went back up to 250, and now on week two I'm 249. Am I doing something wrong? I don't feel like I'm losing inches anywhere, but at the same time I have so much to lose that maybe I'm just not noticing? I'm ready to give up, I feel stuck! =(

    From checking your food diary I not only wonder why you eat so few calories with all that exercise, plus I also wonder why you don't eat more fruit, and most of all more protein. The days I have checked, I saw no vegetables at all and very little protein. I don't think it's a good idea to live of half a banana, a spoon full of PB and a yogurt.. I also would encourage you to really check your calories. I just can't imagine that on the days you eat rice and broccoli that you eat only 10 grams ( that would be less than half a teaspoon full ).
    I think in order to lose you need to eat more, eat more variety of foods ( especially veggies and protein ) and you might just see those pounds coming off.
  • xRachTasticx
    xRachTasticx Posts: 65 Member
    To the last several people who replied, Thank you.

    I know it doesn't happen overnight, I just need to break my mental block about this. After this morning, and all the help you ALL have given me, I feel as though I'm ready to ignore that scale for a bit.

    A measuring tape will be added in, as well as progress photos every now and again.

    I will be sure to take into account those calories and start eating quite a bit more.

    @ang108 I do eat a TON of veggies. I actually have taken to oven roasting veggies quite frequently.
    If you looked at last week it is an AWFUL representation of my average eating. Again as I was busy photographing a wedding and ate wedding food and rehearsal dinner food (bad girl, i know!)

    I LOVE veggies. I eat yogurt nearly once a day, and love fruit as well. I could probably increase my fruit intake with no issues there, it's just a lot of sugar so I have been cautious.

    Oh! also, I ate SO FEW calories because I didn't know I was supposed to eat back most of what I was burning off. Something that will be happening starting today!
  • CatMcCheesey
    CatMcCheesey Posts: 143
    Get a trainer! They can be awesome! Also, measure yourself. I've lost about 10 pounds since January when I started... but I'm down 14 inches! Don't give up!

    Thank you, I started mulling the idea of a trainer around last week. Perhaps it's time to give it more thought.

    If you do decide to hire one, you might want to spend some time in the gym watching them before you choose one. The trainers at my gym run the gamut from awesome to total suck. I picked one who was always very focused on his clients and appeared to really love what he does - and I've been very happy with my choice. Good luck!
  • momo9128706
    momo9128706 Posts: 45
    Keep going girl! Quitting with make you gain everything back, plus more. You've come this far, don't stop now! I started at 208, currently 163. Still need to loose 33 lbs, but the first 45 took 13 months of good eating/exercising. I exercise 5-6 days a week. I'd look into more calorie burning exercises like Glider/Elliptical on top of weight lifting/running. You are doing great, keep it up!

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