Why am I not losing weight? 1600 calories
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I would try to lower your carbs a little and raise your protein. Also are you exercising at all? I personally do not lose weight if I don't exercise.0
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If you're under the supervision of your doctor, why aren't you asking him why the plan he has put you on isn't working?
Your diary also isn't open.
Oops! It should be open now.
I guess I'm embarrassed. I've seen her once a month for since I think March, and all I have to show for it is 8 lbs (which I lost in the first month after she put me on the appetite suppressant). I feel like a big louse going back twice now and trying to explain why I haven't lost any more weight.
Besides, I'm curious to glean the collective wisdom of the MFP community.
Take your food diary to your doctor, and show him/her. Your doctor will most likely be able to take that, plus run whatever tests, and be able to give you a very accurate answer.
I like this idea might do it myself0 -
Hi there
It looks to me like you're eating a LOT of carbs and very little fresh pure protein, fresh veggies and fruit. I am a Carb Queen, so I get it, in fact that used to be all I'd ever eat which is how I wound up at 345 lbs. I think if you try to eat a cleaner diet you'll find the weight falling off. Friend me if you want to take a look at my diary and how I eat on a daily basis, I'm currently losing 2.5 lbs a week on average, have lost 29 lbs in 10 and I don't feel like I deprive myself of anything. 0 -
From what I can see by looking at your diary there are a lot of sugars and processed foods in your diet. For example - frozen meals include additional sugars + a (TON) of sodium which is in no way beneficial for your body. What has really helped me is thinking food as FUEL for your body because that's what it is! I still enjoy everything that I am eating because I know it's beneficial to my body. You can make any type of food taste GREAT with the right recipes. Try hitting up foodgawker.com or pinterest. There are also some amazing recipes on http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com and http://www.health-bent.com. Best of luck!!0
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You don't track your sugar intake. Based on what I was reading from your log, your intake is far too high. When you consume too much sugar or carbs which break down into sugar once its processed, your body ends up storing the sugar in your fat cell instead of using it as energy. This makes it much more for difficult for you to shed pounds. Often times your brain won't process the levels properly and will signal that you are hungry when in reality you aren't which easily leads to over eating as well!
Bottom line. Start watching your sugar intake, I think you will be surprised to see a change in your body once you begin to consume a normal healthy dose.
I hope this helps! Best of luck!0 -
Just a question, what kind of doctor are you seeing? Nutrition isn't something that general practitioners are required to fully comprehend. Depending on the dr., you may be better seeing a nutritionist.0
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TBH I'm not surprised you're not losing weight your diet is terrible.
What has being in law school got to do with your diet? (20 years qualified lawyer here running a business and I can guarantee I have more stress than you!)
Simply too many carbs, not enough (good) fat, not enough protein and you are eating 1600 cals of crap everyday - eat some proper food and get some nutrition in your body.
In the last week you have eaten tortillas, ritz crackers, hersheys chocolate syrup, pizza, m&m's, jelly, bread, chicken nuggets, ice cream, bagels, 6 packs of sugar on several days, mini wheats, corn on the cob (probably the worst vegetable you can eat), potatoes, cheese, pop corn, pretzels, lemonade, french toast maple syrup.....and then you wonder why you aren't losing weight.
A calorie is not a calorie, it is not just about eating a calorie deficit, it is about making those reduced calories count healthily.
You obviously have a sweet tooth so instead of eating all that sugar, eat blueberries, plums, strawberries, raspberries, yoghurt, low cal instant hot chocolate, but only if you really have to. Sugar is an addiction and if you get off it for a couple of weeks you wont miss it.
If you want a healthy 1600 cal diet to follow try:
Breakfast: Porridge oats with almond milk (200 cals)
mid morning snack: Apple and blueberries (100 cals)
Lunch: Tuna/chicken salad (no dressings) + a 0 fat yoghurt + ice pop (400 cals)
mid afternoon snack: 25g almonds (150 cals)
Dinner: large salmon/steak/chicken breast/pork/turkey, low fat cottage cheese and 2 boiled veg (brocolli/asparagus/peas/green beans) (700 cals)
supper: hot choc (40 cals)
Drink all the green tea & coffee with skimmed milk you want, plenty of water throughout the day (cals in the milk 100)
total 1790 cals, low fat, low carb and lots of protein.
I also recommend supplementing with 6g fish oil capsules per day & 2g CLA oil. If you do manage to work out it would be a good idea to have at least 1 low carb low fat protein shake (100 cals). They are pretty cheap in the supermarket. Protein powder is cheap if you buy online.
You also need to do HIITS preferably running for 20 mins and lift heavy weights - do all this and the weight will drop off but don''t expect to see decent results for at least 4 weeks. I know I've done it !1 -
TBH I'm not surprised you're not losing weight your diet is terrible.
What has being in law school got to do with your diet? (20 years qualified lawyer here running a business and I can guarantee I have more stress than you!)
Simply too many carbs, not enough (good) fat, not enough protein and you are eating 1600 cals of crap everyday - eat some proper food and get some nutrition in your body.
In the last week you have eaten tortillas, ritz crackers, hersheys chocolate syrup, pizza, m&m's, jelly, bread, chicken nuggets, ice cream, bagels, 6 packs of sugar on several days, mini wheats, corn on the cob (probably the worst vegetable you can eat), potatoes, cheese, pop corn, pretzels, lemonade, french toast maple syrup.....and then you wonder why you aren't losing weight.
A calorie is not a calorie, it is not just about eating a calorie deficit, it is about making those reduced calories count healthily.
You obviously have a sweet tooth so instead of eating all that sugar, eat blueberries, plums, strawberries, raspberries, yoghurt, low cal instant hot chocolate, but only if you really have to. Sugar is an addiction and if you get off it for a couple of weeks you wont miss it.
If you want a healthy 1600 cal diet to follow try:
Breakfast: Porridge oats with almond milk (200 cals)
mid morning snack: Apple and blueberries (100 cals)
Lunch: Tuna/chicken salad (no dressings) + a 0 fat yoghurt + ice pop (400 cals)
mid afternoon snack: 25g almonds (150 cals)
Dinner: large salmon/steak/chicken breast/pork/turkey, low fat cottage cheese and 2 boiled veg (brocolli/asparagus/peas/green beans) (700 cals)
supper: hot choc (40 cals)
Drink all the green tea & coffee with skimmed milk you want, plenty of water throughout the day (cals in the milk 100)
total 1790 cals, low fat, low carb and lots of protein.
I also recommend supplementing with 6g fish oil capsules per day & 2g CLA oil. If you do manage to work out it would be a good idea to have at least 1 low carb low fat protein shake (100 cals). They are pretty cheap in the supermarket. Protein powder is cheap if you buy online.
You also need to do HIITS preferably running for 20 mins and lift heavy weights - do all this and the weight will drop off but don''t expect to see decent results for at least 4 weeks. I know I've done it !
He is right, the stress of law school doesn't get any better once you're out of law school...in fact it's worse. First will come the studying for the bar (which will make you miss the happy go lucky days of law school). Then when you're a lawyer there will be no more summer vacation/spring break/Christmas break and whatnot.
It's better to get a handle on things now than try to catch up later...life will not get any less stressful, I promise!
I do recommend buying a food scale and weighing everything. Most important advice is that. Food scale.
Rather than buying pre-made frozen meals, buy a mixture of frozen vegetables and raw chicken/other proteins. You can buy protein in bulk and freeze them individually so you don't have to shop as often. Canned tuna keeps for a long time as well. I also have fresh spinach and tomatoes on hand (for salads)--both will keep a week and are relatively cheap. I have a sweet tooth too, but I satisfy it with more nutrient rich things--strawberries and dark chocolate almond butter, raw macaroons, frozen choc bananas, a couple squares of dark chocolate. Your money on higher quality foods goes a lot farther when you're eating less.
In conclusion, food scale.0 -
Wow, great suggestions and pointers. I do confess I have a sweet tooth, I just figured if I stay within my 1,600 calories it wouldn't much matter, that a calorie is a calorie. I know there are many schools of thought on that, though.
I don't track sugar (like many of you have suggested) mainly because I'm not sure what kind of level I should be shooting for. I refuse to compromise with the sugar in my coffee, though. I can take coffee without cream, but without sugar, bleck. Maybe I could learn to live with less, though.
What kind of sugar "limit" should I be looking for?0 -
One of the best things about MFP is that it will tell you where your sugar intake should be, you just need to edit your diary to display sugar and remove something that you maybe don't care as much about. Watch the sodium too, a diet too high in sodium will cause you to retain water and therefore make you heavier than you actually are. If you try to keep the sodium down (this I have trouble with) and you drink lots of water it'll help flush your system out, but yeah I agree with every other poster about the sugar intake. A calorie is definitely not a calorie, they have to be the right kind of calories and if you can start to reduce your sugar you'll find you don't crave it as much. Honestly the best thing you could do for yourself is a 10 day sugar/carb cleanse, it'll be tough and you'll feel like a raging B*tch during that time but by the end of the 10 days you won't crave it nearly as much.0
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Wow, great suggestions and pointers. I do confess I have a sweet tooth, I just figured if I stay within my 1,600 calories it wouldn't much matter, that a calorie is a calorie. I know there are many schools of thought on that, though.
I don't track sugar (like many of you have suggested) mainly because I'm not sure what kind of level I should be shooting for. I refuse to compromise with the sugar in my coffee, though. I can take coffee without cream, but without sugar, bleck. Maybe I could learn to live with less, though.
What kind of sugar "limit" should I be looking for?
Honestly, you can eat all your calories in sugar and lose weight if you're eating at a deficit. (See, the twinkie diet). If you're not losing weight, the most likely culprit is simply eating more calories than you're burning, regardless of where those calories came from. For health and fitness and such, eating a lot of sugar is a terrible idea, but simply in terms of making the scale go down, it doesn't matter (if you don't have a medical condition). Especially in terms of satiety, cutting back on sugar and filing up on protein and healthy fats will get you much farther on 1600 calories instead of sugary things. As for all the sugar in your coffee--have you ever tried truvia or splenda? Think of what you can eat for those 90 calories of pure sugar...
It will really help to get a food scale. $20 investment worth its weight in gold. For example. how did you measure .75oz of cream cheese on your bagel this morning? How do you measure your 1tbp of peanut butter? How did you measure your cereal? An actual serving size of cereal and peanut butter are especially depressingly small when you use scale to measure one serving.0 -
Sugar does count! It's here for a reason.
People who say sugar isn't important are usually at goal and are very healthy and lift weights or do cardio and in that case don't have to worry about it. This is not the same for someone who has a lot of weight to lose.
I believe the max is 50 grams a day and your liver doesn't know natural from processed0 -
I DO have a food scale, and I measure by weight/grams/ounces. For things like the cream cheese (I was actually at Panera yesterday morning) they give you a tiny 2 oz thing and I used less than half by sight. I do measure things, though. I also use smaller bowls and smaller plates to give the illusion that I'm eating more.
I think what I'll do from here, as a first step, is try and incorporate more veggies into my diet. Yes, my husband and I so eat a fair amount of processed foods, but when you try to feed 2 people for $70/week, it's a bit rough to find 'cheap' fresh foods. Many times we only buy what we have coupons for, and that's it. We buy in season, and it helps. Even still, I need to find ways to eat healthier on a budget, because this obviously isn't working.
Does anyone think that if I just worked out harder this wouldn't be an issue?0 -
Question.
Are you changing measurements? Far too many people get hung up on WEIGHT when it is BODY COMPOSITION that matters.
What are your measurements last month and now?0 -
Question.
Are you changing measurements? Far too many people get hung up on WEIGHT when it is BODY COMPOSITION that matters.
What are your measurements last month and now?
qft
If you haven't taken measurements, do so asap! Measurements are a way better comparison tool than scale weights IMO. The scale can fluctuate several pounds just over the course of the day but your measurements are going to be much more consistent.0 -
I DO have a food scale, and I measure by weight/grams/ounces. For things like the cream cheese (I was actually at Panera yesterday morning) they give you a tiny 2 oz thing and I used less than half by sight. I do measure things, though. I also use smaller bowls and smaller plates to give the illusion that I'm eating more.
I think what I'll do from here, as a first step, is try and incorporate more veggies into my diet. Yes, my husband and I so eat a fair amount of processed foods, but when you try to feed 2 people for $70/week, it's a bit rough to find 'cheap' fresh foods. Many times we only buy what we have coupons for, and that's it. We buy in season, and it helps. Even still, I need to find ways to eat healthier on a budget, because this obviously isn't working.
Does anyone think that if I just worked out harder this wouldn't be an issue?
Use your scale to measure cream cheese too. Even if they give the serving size in tbsp, it's also in grams.
If you really need so much sugar in your coffee though, I'd just cut out coffee altogether... or gradually get used to one packet of sugar instead of 6. Forget the flavored yogurts too, just buy plain and add your own fruit (you can find cheap strawberries right now I believe). Forget the kool aid.. stop drinking your calories. Buy a lot of frozen veggies. Stop buying chicken nuggets etc... just buy chicken and bake/grill it. Catfish is pretty cheap too and is really good for you.
Your diet is very unhealthy honestly.0 -
Start cooking fresh instead of junk and frozen foods.I use a lot of low fat and low calories and low carbs but sometimes when I am cooking I will use instead of low fat just regular stuff.It's what you are eating and the amount maybe.I will eat my lasagna and all and pop corn but portions and tons of water and most of all you do need to workout and do a cardio at least 3 times a week to get your heart rate up and sweat to lose weight.0
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I would really work on gradually lowering the amount of sugar in your coffee.
My father always drank coffee in the "would you like some coffee with your sugar?" fashion. After he was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, he was able to get used to drinking it with less. The diabetes also explained the sugar cravings he'd had for years and years. It was a running joke at the office, that he couldn't walk past the vending machine without buying a candy bar.0 -
I DO have a food scale, and I measure by weight/grams/ounces. For things like the cream cheese (I was actually at Panera yesterday morning) they give you a tiny 2 oz thing and I used less than half by sight. I do measure things, though. I also use smaller bowls and smaller plates to give the illusion that I'm eating more.
I think what I'll do from here, as a first step, is try and incorporate more veggies into my diet. Yes, my husband and I so eat a fair amount of processed foods, but when you try to feed 2 people for $70/week, it's a bit rough to find 'cheap' fresh foods. Many times we only buy what we have coupons for, and that's it. We buy in season, and it helps. Even still, I need to find ways to eat healthier on a budget, because this obviously isn't working.
Does anyone think that if I just worked out harder this wouldn't be an issue?
I am also on a very tight budget.
For veggies, I check the frozen veggies aisle every time I go in. I also subscribe to all the weekly supermarket fliers and see when they have veggies on sale. When they do, I buy as many as I can fit into the freezer. I can usually find broccoli (my favourite) and peas at an affordable price. I also check the canned vegetable aisle for sales -- the other week I found a huge amount of large cans of green beans at 40c/can.0 -
Maybe you can try and add some weight training to your normal exercise when you have the time.. sometimes youll find its not the number on the scale but when you start adding muscle youll loose inches because muscle is smaller then fat and also muscle is more metabolically active so youll burn more calories at rest
hope all goes well and improves soon.. 0
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