Terrified to ask, but getting frustrated

ok... I should also mention....

When I eat at home I do measure EVERYTHING!!! I count my chips out one by one and I measure EXACTLY one tbs of coconut oil, etc.

when i eat out i do estimate or use the same foods from other restaurants, but I do try to make sure the portion sizes are the same. So i will try to cut out eating out more (but it's hard with my husband who is a junk food addict) but that is no excuse. I CAN eat at home and I WILL make that a new focus....

when it comes to eating prepackaged meals.... this one is hard too. the funny thing is I LOVE to cook!!! It's what I went to school for.... BUT I have a hard time making my own food without crap tons of salt, butter, cream and all the things in the world that taste so darn good!!!! and I find it harder to keep track since i don't know how to measure as I go when I'm cooking meals... So i figured I'd be better off eating something already portioned and already calculated..... Also, the packaged salads come with dressing that is already included in the calorie count which is why i like them. they hold me accountable for not just dumping dressing on and saying "yeah...that looks like 2tbs"

I do have a HRM and that was what made me lower my exercise calories down to 100/session. My HRM and MPF were saying I burned 1000 or more calories, but when I did the math, my actual average bpm came to only burning 300, so i figured if i put 100, i would be under no matter what and I would be better off.....

If you love to cook, you must check out Skinnytaste.com. She has wonderful recipes with calories and macros counted for you. There are probably other sites as well, I think Allrecipes has a "low cal" section if you hunt around.

Good on you for the salads, just make sure (if you're not already) that the calorie count is for one serving only. That prepackaged stuff can be tricky.

I agree about the sodium tracking. I am a recovering salt junkie myself but I retained water like nobody's business until I made a concerted effort to cut down on the stuff and include sodium in my macros.

And not to sound like a broken record, but make sure you are weighing everything as well as measuring. It sounds like you have some good habits established, try for just one week without fast food or restaurant food and see if you get results. Your hubby can get take-out if he is really craving it.

Good luck!

I had a similar experience in that I lost a lot the first week, as expected, and then stopped. When I broke through the plateau the weight loss was still much lower than might be expected based on calories in vs out. Because I'd concentrated on upping my exercise before I even started to cut my calorie intake, and bought a scale that measures body fat percentage, I could see that I was losing body fat at a much higher rate than weight. Other measures of the benefits of the change in diet and activity levels (e.g., blood pressure) also showed progress faster than weight loss. So you might want to start looking at multiple measures rather than just weight. They could help keep you motivated.

Sounds like there is a pretty good chance you are both over-estimating your burn and under-estimating your intake just enough for you to feel the negatives (e.g., always feeling hungry) but not have any weight loss. What I do in that situation is take a week or two (or three...) to really concentrate on making sure I stick to my calorie goals. Measuring cups and a scale become my best friends. I avoid eating out, or if I still do so then it has to be things I can get good calorie counts for. I up my activity level too, and I'm conservative about much more that will let me eat.

Also, the hardest thing for me, and I suspect for you based on your binge comments, is dealing with cravings. I make sure to keep snacks around and allocate calories for them. Part of the fun for me has been finding and trying snacks in the 100-150 calorie range that really do address my cravings. Both mid-afternoon and mid to late evening I eat something. Sometimes mid-morning, but that is much less likely. And while often those are healthy low-calorie snacks like fruit, I have a cabinet full of things geared to meet my traditional craving needs without blowing my calorie goal. So start building your needs into your diet rather than trying to fight them!

Lastly, go get a Fitbit or similar device. Then use it to motivate you to push your activity level up. Not as a substitute for specific exercise activities like Zumba, but as a way to slowly and fairly painlessly make more progress. See how many steps per day you are doing. Try upping it by 500 or 1000. It's amazing how easy it is to add 1000 steps per day (ie, don't try going from 4000 a day to 10000 all at once, do it a bit at a time) even if you are way out of shape. It is also going to come in handy when you reach the point of trying to achieve your internal vision of yourself as a runner!

A couple things I noticed about your diary....

You have a lot of prepackaged salads, but there is never any dressing. Do you eat it without? If you use dressing, make sure to add that because most salad dressings are filled with calories, sodium & fat.

My other question, are you measuring your foods or just guessing? I see mostly pre-packaged or restaraunt type foods that appear to not always go with everything else, so it almost looks like you are just picking something that may be close to what you are eating. Often times we think that we are estimating over the calories we are eating, but in reality, we are not estimating enough calories. It looks to me as if it is possible that you need to weigh and measure your food and stop estimating.

And where are the fruits and veggies Add more fresh fruits and veggies to your diet, that will help as well (from my experience).

Best of luck :drinker:

This was my exact response. Popcorn for lunch is not a great way to go either. If your going to be working out, you need that protien. Def add the fruits and veggies, watch your sodium, add that counter back onto your diary. Good luck to you!! Feel free to friend me.

I should also note that the meal times don't necessarily reflect when I'm actually eating it. sometimes when I eat a cookie or something I'll trow it in dinner because it's the first thing I clicked.....

This shouldn't matter

I notice that nobody has asked you whether you are finding it easy or difficult to stick with your caloric goals. Why do you think you go over on some days? Is it frustration from being hungry and always feeling deprived?

If so, I agree with those who suggest you eat more filling foods, getting more satiety "bang" for your caloric "buck". AFAIC, it really doesn't matter one fig whether that's a hamburger from McDonalds or a nutritious homemade dinner, either of those things will make you feel full compared to, say, popcorn or coffee drinks.

OTOH, perhaps you are not feeling deprived and hungry, in which case I would not change your caloric goals. Obviously there is a measurement issue here and since it sounds like you've got your Zumba estimates well within control then it must be an underestimate of what you are eating. I hear that you are measuring everything and I'm going to agree with you against others that actually eating pre-packaged foods can make tracking calories and macros much easier.

Whether it is having a big fat latte every day or eating frozen dinners, do whatever you need to do to make this as easy on yourself as possible. Don't be hungry and don't feel deprived. Do stick to your goals.

While I feel pretty strongly not to look at macros when you are first beginning your journey, I will agree that very high sodium intake can cause water retention, but if you are eating at a true deficit your weight should still go down over time, even if the estimate of weight is a bit high due to water weight.

My final piece of advice: if you have been tracking your weight, exercise, and intake daily you can analyze your own data to see how much weight you have actually lost and compare it to the amount you *should* have lost based on your daily caloric deficit. You may need to tweak your TDEE or NEAT estimates, but more likely it is an error in tracking intake/outake.

Consistency.

A binge for a day may not seem like a big deal but those extra calories don't just disappear.

When I eat at home I do measure EVERYTHING!!! I count my chips out one by one and I measure EXACTLY one tbs of coconut oil, etc.

Measure with a kitchen scale. Don't count each chip, weigh them on your kitchen scale. Con't measure your oil,in a Tablespoon, weight it on the scale.

(For things like oils and peanut utter, I put my bread or salad on the scale, zero it out, then drizzle the oil or mayo or PB until the scale shows the correct weight)

(For things like oils and peanut utter, I put my bread or salad on the scale, zero it out, then drizzle the oil or mayo or PB until the scale shows the correct weight)

Awesome idea! I would never have thought of that!

I am guilty of eating the lean cuisines too. Working a full day I just don't want to cook when I get home. Recently I have been making a roast chicken on an off day and using that for several dinners. Also I do use breakfast sandwhichs but on off days I make my own omelet. Also now that fall is here apples are my new sweet. I was where you were a year ago and just made substitutions here and there to make things healthier. But I still don't eat completely clean and suspect I never will. Love to be friends if you would like too.

I am just peeking below 300 lbs. My dietician suggested weighing in a maximum of once per week. Daily weight fluctuations can be as high as 2% That means 6lbs. If you see an overall loss over a couple of months, you are doing fine despite variations. Be in it for the long haul: this is for life and it takes a long time.