Need Help With Ideas & Suggestions

Klevybrown
Klevybrown Posts: 12
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello MFP People!

I have a question for all those who can maybe help me out here and I hope that some of you can might understand what I'm asking here,so please bare with me.

I have been doing this MFP thing for about 2 or 3 months here and I was seeing a bit of progress here,but now it looks like I'm not seeing any progress. Can U please give me some ideas or suggestions knowing what to do? I am eating the number of calories that I have everyday and I am exercising for @ least 40 to 50 min. a day although @ 1point I did an hour of exercising . I also drink @ the most 9 cups of water. There has been times where I feel like giving up here and feel like this is not seem to work for me.

I also would like to know that when you eat how often should U eat throughout the day when eating or intaking the number of calories? I do eat breakfast in the morning everyday and I usually wait for about 30 min. before I start my morning or afternoon exercise. When I finish doing my exercise for the day I of course drink water plus I would make lunch and have something to snack on every hour then if I still have calories left I would wait until I have my dinner and I would later on have desert every hour until either the number of calories is used up or until I feel like I'm ready to complete my food diary for the day.

My question to some of U who can answer this is what are some ideas or suggestions that I need to do? When weighing myself everyday first thing N the morning my weight looks like it's N the 160's and hasn't drop down anywhere to the 150's. I do try to watch how much sugar in the foods that I eat and the carbs to only because I thought that could be what makes my weight staying in the 160's,so I do try to not only intake the number of calories,but also watch how much carbs I'm eating. CAN U PLEASE HELP ME HERE. I really need your help on giving ideas and suggestions knowing what I'm doing wrong and what do I need to do to change something here.


-Thanks
Klevybrown

Replies

  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    Plateaus can be frustrating. But congratulations on your progress and don't give up!

    In my experience a couple of things lead to plateaus.

    First - make sure you are measuring ACCURATELY and log EVERYTHING. I know it's tedious, but you've got to do it.

    It is easy to underestimate. Get a scale and a good cup measure and use it. There are also online portion estimate guides that help when you're out. It makes a huge difference: http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-portion-size-plate

    When I say log everything, I mean everything. Tasting the cake batter. The mayo on your sandwich. The ketchup or barbecue sauce. Everything. When I do that it adds a few hundred calories to my day. That's your weight loss.

    Second, have you recalculated your calories now that you've lost weight? When you lose weight, you need fewer calories. MFP isn't reliable at updating them. Go back to My Home, Click on Goals, and enter your current weight. It will probably lower your calories. When I don't do that my calorie goal is calculated wrong and I stop losing weight.

    Third, I find that when I lower my carbs to 35% of so I lose more easily than if I don't. If you've been overweight a while or you are older (I am 54), you are probably a bit insulin resistant (if not diabetic). Lowering your carbs moderately means your body will spend more time burning fat and less time storing calories as fat. It makes a difference for me.

    And just keep at it. You'll hit plateaus but you'll keep losing.
  • beckaanne52
    beckaanne52 Posts: 35
    Did you up your exercise after you set your goals? For example, say you said you want to lose 2lbs a week and you are sedentary (like me) The calculation for losing weight in my case is low 1210 because I need to lose 3500 calories each week per lb. If you did something like that and didn't include esercise and it put you to a very low cal diet like above you might not be eating enough to compensate for the additional working out. an extra 100 or so cals per day might be perfect for you.
  • EmilyMcD84
    EmilyMcD84 Posts: 46 Member
    Hey girl,
    Are you still doing the elliptical everyday? If so, try switching it up. I know you are doing it longer than when you started, but I would suggest some weight training as well.
    My Insanity (which I know you're not doing, but I think it has good advice for everyone) nutrition guide recommends you eat 5-6 times a day.
    I haven't looked at your food diary lately, but if you are eating a lot of processed foods I think cutting back on those would be beneficial.
    I think you are doing great! Just need to switch it up a bit.
  • Klevybrown
    Klevybrown Posts: 12
    Hello EmilyMcD84!

    If I need to switch it up a bit,what is it that I need to switch up? I still do the elliptical trainer everyday for 50 min. @ the max. & now not too long ago or maybe few days ago I started doing jump rope @ a slow pace for 10 min. @ the max. since I'm not really in a good shape to do more than 10 min. .

    I @ the most do try to have my food diary viewable for everyone to see once I have complete it,so whenever U have the chance and the opportunity U R more than welcome to have a look @ it. I don't think I am eating process foods,but U have a look & see and tell me what U think.

    When U said something about eating 5-6 a day,does that includes all the meals that U R eating through out the day such as breakfast,lunch,snack,dinner and desert? If U eat 5-6 a day R U not completing your food diary and intaking the number if calories each day?

    -Klevybrown
  • EmilyMcD84
    EmilyMcD84 Posts: 46 Member
    The 5-6 meals include breakfast, lunch and dinner. So just eat a snack between the 3 and that makes 5. If you have room for desert then go for it. That would make 6.
    Seems like you're doing a lot of cardio so try adding some weight training.

    I read your diary for the day, it looks ok to me. I have heard upping calories has worked for some people breaking plateaus.
  • Klevybrown
    Klevybrown Posts: 12
    Hello EmilyMcD84!

    If U eat 5-6 time a day R U not completing your food diary and intaking the number of calories each day? If I were to eat breakfast,lunch and dinner and have snack in between those meals that would be five like U said and if I were to have desert then that would be six,so with me doing it that way am I not completing my food diary and intaking the number of calories each day?

    If I were to increase the number of calories each day would that have me to gained weight each day even though I am doing a total of an hour exercise each day?


    -Klevybrown
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    You are going for gimmicky details when you should be looking at basics.

    Set your settings to your current weight and at sedentary. Log all that exercise you're doing. Eat good food and your calories, including exercise.

    You AREN"T LOGGING EVERYTHING (I see skipped meals and skimpy logging elsewhere). It doesn't work if you don't log.

    And your diary says you are eating a LOT of carbs. Cut them down to under 40%. That's not extreme, but it really should help.
  • Klevybrown
    Klevybrown Posts: 12
    Hello NDX10!

    May I ask should I set it @ sedentary when knowing that I'm not sitting most of the day? I do exercise during the afternoons most of the time & I try to do that through out the week. I try to do an hour of exercise,10 min. of jump rope @ a slow pace and 50 min. on the elliptical trainer. I do log those N which I know it boost up my number of calories,so should I not log N the exercises that I do and not change the setting from sedentary to active or what?

    -Klevybrown
  • Klevybrown
    Klevybrown Posts: 12
    Hello NXD10!

    I got 1 question for U? When U had told me about how MFP isn't reliable on updating or recalculating the number of calories and when U told me where to go as far as putting N my current weight will it recalculate and decrease the number of calories do U know?

    I am 31 and I would like to get to 155 or 156,but as of right now I weigh 160 something. I forgot to get on the scale to see how I weigh,so I don't know right now,but what I do know is that I stay N the 160's and I haven't seen any changes as of yet. I usually go up or down N the 160's range. What do I do?


    -Klevybrown
  • EmilyMcD84
    EmilyMcD84 Posts: 46 Member
    I am not sure what you're asking. You would just log everything like normal.
    I have read on the forums here people saying that upping their calories actually helped them break their plateau.
    Google search "how to break weight loss plateau" you will get way more answers than you will get here!
    You can also search the MFP forums for breaking plateau topics.
    I am no weight lost specialist or nutritionist, I am just going by what I have read.
    Good luck to you!!!
  • lucybarnes9822
    lucybarnes9822 Posts: 10
    Hello NDX10!

    May I ask should I set it @ sedentary when knowing that I'm not sitting most of the day? I do exercise during the afternoons most of the time & I try to do that through out the week. I try to do an hour of exercise,10 min. of jump rope @ a slow pace and 50 min. on the elliptical trainer. I do log those N which I know it boost up my number of calories,so should I not log N the exercises that I do and not change the setting from sedentary to active or what?

    -Klevybrown

    I think you set your lifestyle for whatever it's like without the exercise then you add the exercise in. So if you are sitting most of the time you are not exercising them set it to sedentary. What are you doing when you are not exercising?
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    I would cut back on your sugars. And dont worry about having to eat every hour or so - give your digestive system a break now and then!
  • Klevybrown
    Klevybrown Posts: 12
    Hello Lucybarnes982!

    I'm not sitting most of the day not doing anything,so I don't think I should set it @ "Sedentary". I do exercise most of the time and I do @ least an hour,10 min. of jump rope @ a slow pace and 50 min. on the elliptical trainer,so therefore I set it as "ACTIVE". When I am not doing any of those things & no exercise then I'm not doing nothing.

    -Klevybrown

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