Please Help!

I just started a few weeks ago by tracking my food..I weighed myself and i had gained 6oz which is understandable because of the 4th of July but then 3 days later i gain 2lbs?! I am about to lose hope I really want to lose at least 10-20lbs before school starts and i dont have much time
TIps please

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Replies

  • Posts: 1,720 Member
    If you open your diary we can see more.
  • Posts: 28 Member
    Sorry about that I'm new to this site first time being on it
  • Posts: 126
    Don't give up! Its not easy by any means and that scale can feel like an enemy. Have you tried going with measurements instead? A lot of times the measurements will show progress when the scale doesn't.

    Looking at your food diary (I only went about a week back), it looks like you're either not tracking some of your food or you're eating too few calories. Really try to hit that 1,200 mark! It will help. When I first started I was supposed to hit 1,800 calories (I weighed 308 lbs at the time). The first week I would eat maybe 1,000 calories a day. Lost NOTHING. The second week, I ate 1,800 calories a day and lost 7 lbs.

    Also, I am a huge proponent that you need to be eating the RIGHT foods to lose weight. Its pretty easy to find huge long debates on this site about clean vs. dirty eating, calories in/out vs. whole foods based diets, etc, and I really would rather not engage in any kind of debate. For those "quick add" calories, what kinds of foods are those? Nutritious? Fast food? I am a big believer in tracking macronutrients as they effect your body in different ways.
  • Posts: 28 Member
    I have a stationary bike so i've been riding that. But the reason why i do quick add is because its a estimate of the food like if its homemade ect
  • Posts: 28 Member
    I find it so hard to figure out the calories
  • Posts: 28 Member
    I also have TONS of food allergies and its hard to work around them to get protein and everything I need
  • Posts: 49 Member
    in order to get help you should try filling out your diary the quick calorie adds do not help for us to see what your eating and where you may be going wrong. Also just from looking your carb ratio to protein and fiber is way off just saying good luck
  • Posts: 179 Member
    There is a recipe builder on the site that is very useful for figuring out the calories of homemade dishes. It's a tab listed under the "food" tab. I build recipes all the time. Just remember to do your best and take care of your body and it will respond. Sometimes it just takes time but if you keep it up you will see progress. When I first started lifting weights I gained and it took a couple of months before I really started to lose, but I knew if I just kept doing the "right" things it would happen. Your body needs fuel, water, and rest to function. As females we have all these hormones that like to complicate things. My biggest enemy is water retention, especially around the TOM, but again, I don't freak out because I know I am doing the right things so it can't truly be weight gain. Sometimes the progress is much slower than I would like, but it is happening. Don't give up!
  • Posts: 5,922 Member
    I have a stationary bike so i've been riding that. But the reason why i do quick add is because its a estimate of the food like if its homemade ect
    Until you stop estimating, none of us can help you.
  • Posts: 182 Member
    It is most likely water weight. Maybe you were a bit high on sodium the previous day, or that time of the month is coming your way?

    Edit: I see that you say you "estimate" home made food. Start actively counting calories by weighing your food etc.
  • Posts: 2,616 Member
    I just started a few weeks ago by tracking my food..I weighed myself and i had gained 6oz which is understandable because of the 4th of July but then 3 days later i gain 2lbs?! I am about to lose hope I really want to lose at least 10-20lbs before school starts and i dont have much time
    TIps please

    It has only been a few weeks and weight fluctuation is normal for everybody, but especially females. Do you have a realistic goal set? Your ticker says you want to lose 34 pounds and when does school start?
  • Posts: 13 Member
    I can't say much about the weight gain as Its really hard to tell looking at your diary. Are you using the app on a phone or no? that helps me tremendously, I scan everything. I would suggest playing around with the program for a bit, at first I found it tedious to add everything, including every ingredient that was in something home made but once you play around with it the program becomes a lot easier to use. for home made things I will add in each item that I used and the amounts for the whole meal and then set my portion as 1/4. 1/2. 3/4 depending on how much of the whole meal I am eating. this way it lets me see everything that is going into my body. If I have time I go to the recipe section and add it all into there, then when I make the same thing in the future it is already programmed and I just change the portion size to suit.

    Don't get discouraged, its a long process but when you start to feel more comfortable and you see some changes it all becomes more worth it. I have had weeks where I gained weight and couldn't figure it out, in the end I got rid of my scale because it did me no good, try using body measurements instead I found them more accurate.
  • Posts: 13 Member
    also, Investing in a little home scale to weigh your food is always helpful.
  • Posts: 28 Member
    In august
  • Posts: 28 Member
    I really just look at calories I dont really look at anything else
  • Posts: 28 Member
    I do have a food scale but dont use it really which i suppose i should but how would i enter that in ugh its so difficult for me I lose interest very easily
  • Posts: 28 Member
    I'm going to list my allergies here so u can see why I'm really struggling
    Chicken, Turkey, sunflower seeds (and sunflower oil), Nuts, Almonds, fish, banana's, sesame seeds, green beans, eggs, and I'm pretty sure I am with berries too because i get sick after i eat kinds of berries. It's so much I cant remember right now
  • Posts: 329 Member
    Ok, here's your 'hug' and 'its ok'. so how do you lose 10-20 pounds before school starts - CUT OUT CARBOHYDRATES. Flour, Sugar, CornSyrup, Starch, Fruit Juice, Fruit, Rice, Corn, wheat, grains of ANY kind (whole or refined).

    Load up on MEAT (protein) and FAT (that's right). DON"T COUNT CALORIES AT ALL, JUST COUNTGRAMS OF CARBOHYDRATES AND TAKE YOURSELF TO UNDER 50 GRAMS A DAY QUICK. you can program MFP to count grams of carbohydrates. Only eat if you're hungry! if you're not hungry, don't eat. if you're hungry, then eat. that's what 'only eat when you're hungry means. but don't count calories. let your body regulate your calories while you're off carbs.

    When the carbs flush out you'll lose ten pounds of water fast (week 2 or so). then the work begins. Stick to it.

    Exercise doesn't matter. it's chemistry. exercise to get in shape but not to lose weight. it's nonsense. MFP is set up to get you to think you can 'count' or 'burn' calories but you actually cannot. body is way smarter than that.

    for the science 'Good Calories Bad Calories' Gary Taubes. good luck. it works.
  • Posts: 1,680 Member
    I really just look at calories I dont really look at anything else

    If you track sodium, you may find that to be a factor in your weight fluctuating. It's that way for a lot of women.
  • Posts: 126
    You hear this all the time: it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change. And a lifestyle change takes lots of effort. If you're not willing to put the work in, it's probably not going to happen for you. Not trying to sound mean at all, but that's just the reality of it.

    Looking at your quick add calories it looks like an estimate of what you ate. I mean very rarely are you going to eat a meal that is exactly 500 calories. You really do need to add each ingredient to get an accurate total for calories, not to mention knowing how many carbs, protein, and fats you're eating, which is very valuable.

    As was stated by another poster earlier, it might be easier to add recipes especially if they're things you eat a lot. Also mfp remembers the foods you use frequently so the more you log the quicker the process.

    For the food scale, lets do an example. Typically one serving of pasta is 200 calories. One serving is 2 oz so it's important to use your food scale to measure out 2 oz. If you just drop in however much you want to eat into the pot you could easily eat many more servings and therefore more calories while still thinking its just 200 calories. Hope that makes sense.
  • Posts: 28 Member
    How do i program that? on MFP
  • Posts: 126
    The recipes? On the phone app Go to "add food" then the recipes tab, then create recipes. It should be right by where you've been going to quick add your calories.
  • Posts: 28 Member
    When i estimate my food i usually just do it for the rest of the night if i forget to add it thats why
  • Posts: 126
    Online, just go to the food tab, the the recipes tab.

    In regards to your food allergies, I'm sorry you have found you're allergic to so much, but I promise you're not too bad off, there are plenty of things you can still eat :)
  • Posts: 28 Member
    And thank you everyone ive been eating healthy for almost a year so I am willing for it to be a life change..I dont really call it a diet i just call it eating healthy
  • Posts: 28 Member
    Can i do it on my app? or is it only for online?
  • Posts: 28 Member
    Oh i thought u were talking about changing it to carbs like the guy had said
  • Posts: 126
    Posted directions for the app already :):)
  • Posts: 2,616 Member
    Ok, here's your 'hug' and 'its ok'. so how do you lose 10-20 pounds before school starts - CUT OUT CARBOHYDRATES. Flour, Sugar, CornSyrup, Starch, Fruit Juice, Fruit, Rice, Corn, wheat, grains of ANY kind (whole or refined).

    Load up on MEAT (protein) and FAT (that's right). DON"T COUNT CALORIES AT ALL, JUST COUNTGRAMS OF CARBOHYDRATES AND TAKE YOURSELF TO UNDER 50 GRAMS A DAY QUICK. you can program MFP to count grams of carbohydrates. Only eat if you're hungry! if you're not hungry, don't eat. if you're hungry, then eat. that's what 'only eat when you're hungry means. but don't count calories. let your body regulate your calories while you're off carbs.

    When the carbs flush out you'll lose ten pounds of water fast (week 2 or so). then the work begins. Stick to it.

    Exercise doesn't matter. it's chemistry. exercise to get in shape but not to lose weight. it's nonsense. MFP is set up to get you to think you can 'count' or 'burn' calories but you actually cannot. body is way smarter than that.

    for the science 'Good Calories Bad Calories' Gary Taubes. good luck. it works.

    NO.
  • Posts: 126

    NO.

    I'll second this... Please don't do an extreme diet to lose a few lbs, it will likely work in the short term and certainly you don't want to be eating too many carbs, but your body needs carbs for energy and for the dietary fiber. You've got to know how many calories you're eating. And exercise plays a big part in weight loss. It's not as important as nutrition, but definitely important!

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