Weight just won't budge!!

I started a program at work, it is a 12-week program and we are almost completng week 4. The program guidelines say on the plan we should be able to lose 1-2lbs a week. So far, I have lost only 1.2 lbs. I have changed my diet, to include healthier snacks and increased my workouts!

My clothes are still tight, the weight is not going down . . . . I'm really disheartened and not sure what more to change/do.

Open to suggestions.

Replies

  • lattarulol
    lattarulol Posts: 123 Member
    I looked back through a little over a week of your diary. You aren't eating much. Are you weighing your food? What are your stats? (height, weight, etc)

    When you are eating only 800-1200 calories most days (not recommended, you should be eating more) you can't be getting 200 of those calories from dessert type items like lemon bars. Your body needs energy and fuel, vitamins and minerals. It is hard enough to get all you need with a 1200 cal diet, let alone when you are filling some of those with "treat" foods.

    You need more veggies and lean meats in your diet. 1200 calories is possible (stats are needed before we can say recommended) with a lot of food but only if you choose those foods wisely.

    In a couple weeks time you will feel the effects - irritability, decreased energy, etc
  • kill3rtofu
    kill3rtofu Posts: 169 Member
    I looked back through a little over a week of your diary. You aren't eating much. Are you weighing your food? What are your stats? (height, weight, etc)

    When you are eating only 800-1200 calories most days (not recommended, you should be eating more) you can't be getting 200 of those calories from dessert type items like lemon bars. Your body needs energy and fuel, vitamins and minerals. It is hard enough to get all you need with a 1200 cal diet, let alone when you are filling some of those with "treat" foods.

    You need more veggies and lean meats in your diet. 1200 calories is possible (stats are needed before we can say recommended) with a lot of food but only if you choose those foods wisely.

    In a couple weeks time you will feel the effects - irritability, decreased energy, etc

    this
  • septembergrrl
    septembergrrl Posts: 168 Member
    Looked through your diary and I agree with what the people above me said. You need to either eat more to get out of starvation mode, or log more honestly. Some of your calorie counts look really low for what you're eating. It also seems like you're doing a lot of extreme eating -- either it's greens with a couple seeds, or it's pizza and cake. You might do better if you found a more sustainable middle ground.
  • MelRC117
    MelRC117 Posts: 911 Member
    How the heck do you have no sugar in an apple turnover is what I want to know?
  • Thanks everyone for your feedback. I try to give myself either a Saturday or Sunday off day, so during the week, I stick to a stricter plan and then on weekends I allow myself a treat or two becuase I believe I still should be able to eat pizza/cake once in a while.

    So my green shakes, although it seems like it;s just greens and seeds, the nutritionist I am working with is saying these are good, because they hold alot of nutrition.

    I also am Hypothyroid, which means it's low and slows everything down.

    I am 5' 4" and weigh approx 159lbs - the program guidelines are to eat 1,250 calories a day. I am logging honestly.
  • How the heck do you have no sugar in an apple turnover is what I want to know?

    I just searched for that in the listing and chose one, I didn't even realize that it showed zero sugar!

    :-(
  • myst036
    myst036 Posts: 19 Member
    Hi there. I am also hypothyroid and used to tell myself the same thing. The truth is that erratic eating habits and giving you those days off, can undo most of what you have accomplished during the rest of the week.
    I have lost almost 155 pounds and I did it by being completely honest with myself I knew the foods I should not eat, but ate them anyway. Be stricter with yourself, don't touch commercial pizza and make your own with turkey pepperoni and low fat cheese on pita bread. There are ways around the foods you love that will allow you to indulge more safely.

    Exercise is key as well. I started doing recumbent bike because I couldn't walk because feet were a mess, but the point is I did something everyday. I now do body pump three times a week. I have twelve pounds to go and then my life changes will remain the same only up the calories to full allotment.

    I will ask you this... when you eat bad things do you actually enjoy it? Some of us never really tasted, enjoyed or even remember it tomorrow but our bodies do. Hold fast and know that in the end, the happiness you have in yourself will far outweigh any "sacrifices".
  • emirror
    emirror Posts: 842 Member
    I'm guessing your food log isn't entirely accurate. Unless you are writing down all the ingredients to everything homemade, and then calculating the calories from that, then you are probably under-estimating your intake.

    There are a lot of choices for different foods on MFP, but unless you know for sure how many calories are in the food you are eating, you shouldn't choose someone else's homemade item as an accurate representation of what you are eating. They may have calculated that homemade carrot cake with all the ingredients being low-fat, and substituting out items, or perhaps theirs is nut-free while yours is loaded with walnuts... Just as an example.
  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,923 Member
    These "special" weekend days are ruining your progress. Consistancy is the key to this. Telling yourself you can't have it M-F and you can have it either Saturday or Sunday you are setting yourself up for sabatoge.

    I'm 5'11, eat just under 1600 to lose weight. I plan EVERY day a day ahead and stick to that plan. The moment I verge off plan, I can't get back on. In the past 6 weeks I've lost 6 pounds, which for only having to need to lose 8, 1 lb a week is pretty fast. I have been consistant with in 50 calories EVERY day, even weekends. I want pie, I plan for it. I want a few glasses of wine, I eat less that day. Nothing is off limits, I just need to plan so I don't go over my alloted calories. If I work out, I eat back 3/4 of the calories burned, IF I WANT. Sometimes I'm quite satisfied with what I planned to eat and stick to the 1600, give or take 50.

    This is how I lost my last 15 in 2012 and this is how I plan on losing weight into the future. It's pretty fool proof and logical.

    You can't exercise away a bad diet.

    Oh, and PS. Maintanance sucks if you haven't learned and stuck with new good habits. That weight you take off will come right back on. The moment I loosened the "reighs", BAM +15lbs right back on.
  • Thank you all for your feedback. I guess, I am fooling myself into thinking I can have one day off. I am going to try harder. I've been able to get back into working out consistently, 4-5 times a week and I even do different things at lunch time like QiGong.

    The part of the plan I am on, which I do not understand is that the Nutritionist says, I need to take in 1,400 calories to just support myself based on height, weight etc. - then in the same breath says I need to stick to 1,250 calories a day - which should I be following?

    I am 44 and I also think hormones are starting to have some effect, since I am noticing some changes. Also, oer the last little while, the stress levels have gone through the roof and I can actually safely see that as soon as the stress started, so did the weight gain . . .I am going to try harder and make some more changes.

    Honestly, I no longer enjoy the sweets and junk like I used to. The lemon square I ate, I took one little bite out of it and found it sickeningly sweet, but I logged it anyway. The carrot cake was part of a work celebration and I know I should have said no, but I didn't.

    Thanks again