Why I Have Generally Given Up in the Past

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  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,108 Member
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    1500 sounds low. Just saying.

    Are your goals set to "Lose 1 pound per week?" 1500 sounds like a Sedentary BMR. You have a job and you're working and you have stated you want to lose 40 pounds, so maybe try eating 1700-1800 a day plus exercise calories. Under eating isn't gong to serve you well.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,741 Member
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    If you gain weight.....you are eating too much.
    Weekend binges?
    Eyeballing your portions?
    Not counting extra bites?
    Or not giving it enough time to work?

    Overestimating how active you are? Or doing the same exercise that your body is used to?

    If you want to lose weight, it is time to take an honest look at what you are doing.

    (Unless there is a medical reason why you have trouble losing weight)

    Good luck

    I agree with this advice.

    Patience and dedication is all I can say. If it doesn't work, talk to your doctor. If that doesn't work, talk to a new/different doctor.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    For starters, your exercise calories look well over-estimated. I suggest you stop eating them back until you can sustain a higher level of exercise.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    Are the workouts new? A lot of us retain water due to that, sometimes for months.

    Sometimes you have to find a new motivator besides the scale because it really doesn't capture things well, especially the first few months.
  • HoverKitteh
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    I won't be giving up because even without the weight loss, I feel better not eating crap food.

    I do a circuit of 25 minutes of weights along with 20 minutes of 3.2 mph on the treadmill at a 7.0 incline. I vary the weight exercises, and do upper body alternated with lower body alternate days and abs every day,

    Again--not giving up. Just never had this much trouble dumping weight in my life--and I have 40 pounds to lose.

    It's been ten days. You haven't had any trouble.

    It's been 10 days HERE. I've actually been on this fun little ride for a little over two weeks.
  • delicious_cocktail
    delicious_cocktail Posts: 5,797 Member
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    I won't be giving up because even without the weight loss, I feel better not eating crap food.

    I do a circuit of 25 minutes of weights along with 20 minutes of 3.2 mph on the treadmill at a 7.0 incline. I vary the weight exercises, and do upper body alternated with lower body alternate days and abs every day,

    Again--not giving up. Just never had this much trouble dumping weight in my life--and I have 40 pounds to lose.

    It's been ten days. You haven't had any trouble.

    It's been 10 days HERE. I've actually been on this fun little ride for a little over two weeks.

    Then you should probably quit.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
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    Going to agree with the others who suggested you give it time. Try to have some patience. Weight fluctuates from day to day and a 2 lb fluctuation is far from unheard of. Be as accurate as you can be with both your logging (which it sounds like you generally are) and also be careful logging exercise calories, as some sources tend to overestimate those calories.

    It sounds like you're also diving in head-first, which can be good for some people... but not for everyone. I might try getting your diet in check first and get your weight loss started, and then look to introduce exercise into your routine. At the end of the day, you need to find a routine that you're happy with. Weight loss shouldn't be misery. If it is, odds are you will not stick with it and will quit before you hit your goal weight. You need to find a weight loss plan that you're happy on and stop fixating on the scale; progress will come if you have a good plan and stick to it.
  • shayemimi
    shayemimi Posts: 203 Member
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    I totally know where you are coming from, and I had this problem in the past too. I would start, work hard and eat right and when I didn't see the scale go down I'd slack off...then start over...wash , rinse, repeat...lol.

    The key is to keep at it. If you are eating less than you burn the weight eventually has to come off. The thing is, our bodies don't weigh the same all the time. We hold water, waste, etc. and all that stuff makes our weight fluctuate a lot. Keep going and as long as the general trend of your weight is down then your doing it right. If not, you might need to lower your calories a bit, or up the exercise... I finally figured that out, pushed past the same 20 lbs I was pro at losing , and got where I want to be. AND learning that it doesn't end there...it's a way of life. :)
  • Mellyajc
    Mellyajc Posts: 142 Member
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    Echoing the 'other variables' such as hormones and bloating and all that fun stuff. Be patient, keep at it, and maybe use other measures besides weight for your progress.

    MFP CLAIMS on my plan I'll lose 0.7 pounds a week. Sometimes I can go weeks without a budge on the scale. It's frustrating. I didn't lose until I was exercising twice a day 4 days a week (was already fairly active). Trying to lose it now? I got a good start from being sick, and then this week I gained a pound back even though I'm keeping the deficit.

    Health over weight loss, and my stomach is holding a bit smaller, so I'm sticking to it. This time I know it CAN be done.
  • HoverKitteh
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    I won't be giving up because even without the weight loss, I feel better not eating crap food.

    I do a circuit of 25 minutes of weights along with 20 minutes of 3.2 mph on the treadmill at a 7.0 incline. I vary the weight exercises, and do upper body alternated with lower body alternate days and abs every day,

    Again--not giving up. Just never had this much trouble dumping weight in my life--and I have 40 pounds to lose.

    It's been ten days. You haven't had any trouble.

    It's been 10 days HERE. I've actually been on this fun little ride for a little over two weeks.

    Then you should probably quit.

    You should probably back gracefully out of the thread if you can't contribute anything positive. The majority of people commenting here are giving me their experiences and advice--both of which are appreciated.

    I can, however, live without your snarky input.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    I won't be giving up because even without the weight loss, I feel better not eating crap food.

    I do a circuit of 25 minutes of weights along with 20 minutes of 3.2 mph on the treadmill at a 7.0 incline. I vary the weight exercises, and do upper body alternated with lower body alternate days and abs every day,

    Again--not giving up. Just never had this much trouble dumping weight in my life--and I have 40 pounds to lose.

    It's been ten days. You haven't had any trouble.

    It's been 10 days HERE. I've actually been on this fun little ride for a little over two weeks.

    Then you should probably quit.

    You should probably back gracefully out of the thread if you can't contribute anything positive. The majority of people commenting here are giving me their experiences and advice--both of which are appreciated.

    I can, however, live without your snarky input.

    Snark or not - I hope you get his point.

    An attitude that "2 weeks is trouble or hard" will lead you to failure.
    2 weeks, 2 months for 40 lbs is nothing.

    There are people here with a variety of very difficult situations and complex disease states that are chugging along and succeeding and while your struggle is yours (Petit Prince reference) and important to you - the best thing you can do to meet your challenge is to deflate it. You've got this only if you see it as surmountable.

    (I'll avoid the usual link to "gumption traps" - but google that term, if you like)

    day_306__le_petit_prince_by_shortpinay-d350us4.jpg

    You can see it as doable or "you should probably quit".

    See there are a lot of mean people here on MFP. Mean people with experience and who have seen this a thousand times.
    The two week struggle, the impatience, the "this is so hard". It is not. You plug it in, you do it. You get it done.

    You fake it till you make it.

    Oh, and see...
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1088600-dear-mean-people-of-mfp
  • speedy740
    speedy740 Posts: 141 Member
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    Yep u need more patients. Please stay with it, but try to be more patient. Weight will come off and the come back on a little then come off. It's how it works. DON'T GIVE UP. Your heart is in the right spot and that is half the battle. Just give it time once the results show up more you will be addicted and look back and realize that the key to this journey has been time. ???? Sometimes when we ask questions on here we get negative and positive answers, remember they are all opinions: and opinions are like butt holes-we all have em' read them all cause even the negative ones are helpful. Happy New Year to U.
  • delicious_cocktail
    delicious_cocktail Posts: 5,797 Member
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    You should probably back gracefully out of the thread if you can't contribute anything positive. The majority of people commenting here are giving me their experiences and advice--both of which are appreciated.

    I can, however, live without your snarky input.

    Nah.

    You've gotten lots of positive responses including from me. But you aren't hearing it. You keep insisting that it's somehow different for you, that you're not getting any results, and this is all just a big downer and it's too hard.

    Look upthread. shayemimi has lost 92 pounds. That's more than twice what you're trying to accomplish. You know what her advice is? "The key is to keep at it."

    Again and again you say "But I've been at this for so long! OVER TWO WEEKS!"

    Do you remember when you started this thread, you complained about why you keep quitting?

    You're doing it again.
  • HoverKitteh
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    You should probably back gracefully out of the thread if you can't contribute anything positive. The majority of people commenting here are giving me their experiences and advice--both of which are appreciated.

    I can, however, live without your snarky input.

    Nah.

    You've gotten lots of positive responses including from me. But you aren't hearing it. You keep insisting that it's somehow different for you, that you're not getting any results, and this is all just a big downer and it's too hard.

    Look upthread. shayemimi has lost 92 pounds. That's more than twice what you're trying to accomplish. You know what her advice is? "The key is to keep at it."

    Again and again you say "But I've been at this for so long! OVER TWO WEEKS!"

    Do you remember when you started this thread, you complained about why you keep quitting?

    You're doing it again.

    I've been down this road before, otherwise I would not have posted looking for advice. Last summer, for 10 straight weeks, I stuck to a 1200 calorie diet, worked out at a minimum of five times a week for an hour. I gained and lost the same four pounds over and over again for 10 weeks. Six months before that, I did the same thing after a trip to the doctor determined that I didn't have a discernible thyroid problem, although some of my numbers were borderline. Why did I go to the doctor about my thyroid, other than obvious symptoms (disappearing eyebrows, weight gain, abnormally dry skin)? Because I had been watching my food intake, exercising five times a week, and I still couldn't shed more than a pound or two, which came and went numerous times during the process.

    I don't know about you, but I see a pattern here. And it's a disturbing problem for a person who was effortlessly thin for the first 50 years of her life.

    Am I giving up? No. Am I taking the information provided by those who responded and applying it to my situation in hopes of actually seeing the scale move this time? Yes, I am.

    So, it would behoove you to know a person's past before you start making asinine comments about their present.

    I came here with what I see as a real problem, because I've seen it before and I'd hoped to find someone here who had experienced the same thing and could tell me what they did to get out of this conundrum. THIS time, it's a couple of weeks. Every other time it was MONTHS of trying with no results. Several folks gave me good advice and I am considering it all. You, on the other hand, came in assuming what you didn't know, and then being a jerk to me when I objected.

    I should have been more clear in my original post, but there really is no reason to be ugly to a person who is just looking for assistance for a long running problem.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    You should probably back gracefully out of the thread if you can't contribute anything positive. The majority of people commenting here are giving me their experiences and advice--both of which are appreciated.

    I can, however, live without your snarky input.

    Nah.

    You've gotten lots of positive responses including from me. But you aren't hearing it. You keep insisting that it's somehow different for you, that you're not getting any results, and this is all just a big downer and it's too hard.

    Look upthread. shayemimi has lost 92 pounds. That's more than twice what you're trying to accomplish. You know what her advice is? "The key is to keep at it."

    Again and again you say "But I've been at this for so long! OVER TWO WEEKS!"

    Do you remember when you started this thread, you complained about why you keep quitting?

    You're doing it again.

    I love you.

    And Evgeni.

    OP, you would do well to listen to these two (and everyone else who echoed their sentiment). Your weight loss will follow the same rules that everyone else's has. It requires patience, accuracy, time and a little effort on your part. I'm sorry, but that's how it has worked for me and every other successful person on this site.

    If you want to keep insisting that you are somehow exempt from these rules that have benefited thousands of others, by all means go ahead. You will keep missing out on your results though. The choice is yours.
  • delicious_cocktail
    delicious_cocktail Posts: 5,797 Member
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    I should have been more clear in my original post, but there really is no reason to be ugly to a person who is just looking for assistance for a long running problem.

    :laugh: You can say that I'm a snarky, ugly, asinine jerk if you wish.

    Be angry with me for telling you what I see in your future. Be angry that I don't put it on a stick and dunk it in caramel and cover it with rainbow sprinkles. How many calories will that burn?

    Drop me a PM if you're still here by March. :laugh:
  • Tabbitha1968
    Tabbitha1968 Posts: 41 Member
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    Ok so heres the deal.
    Weight loss doesnt happen for a lot of us in a linear mode. I personally lose weight about every thirty or thirty five days and it is always always during my period. I will lose about 8- 10 lbs in about 10 days and then my body stabilizes out over the next thirty or so days. By weighing myself every day over a matter of months I was able to see my own personal weight loss pattern, had this been seen many many years ago I would not have given up when weeks went by without he scale moving. Please note, Im not telling you to weigh every day im just making the point that every one has a weight loss pattern, you have to figure out yours. I know it may seem unfair that we all dont lose weight the same way, and trying to lose the same weight over and over is VERY frustrating. But each body is unique and so is the way we lose weight. Dont give up yet, your answer maybe around the corner.
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
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    You should probably back gracefully out of the thread if you can't contribute anything positive. The majority of people commenting here are giving me their experiences and advice--both of which are appreciated.

    I can, however, live without your snarky input.

    Nah.

    You've gotten lots of positive responses including from me. But you aren't hearing it. You keep insisting that it's somehow different for you, that you're not getting any results, and this is all just a big downer and it's too hard.

    Look upthread. shayemimi has lost 92 pounds. That's more than twice what you're trying to accomplish. You know what her advice is? "The key is to keep at it."

    Again and again you say "But I've been at this for so long! OVER TWO WEEKS!"

    Do you remember when you started this thread, you complained about why you keep quitting?

    You're doing it again.

    I've been down this road before, otherwise I would not have posted looking for advice. Last summer, for 10 straight weeks, I stuck to a 1200 calorie diet, worked out at a minimum of five times a week for an hour. I gained and lost the same four pounds over and over again for 10 weeks. Six months before that, I did the same thing after a trip to the doctor determined that I didn't have a discernible thyroid problem, although some of my numbers were borderline. Why did I go to the doctor about my thyroid, other than obvious symptoms (disappearing eyebrows, weight gain, abnormally dry skin)? Because I had been watching my food intake, exercising five times a week, and I still couldn't shed more than a pound or two, which came and went numerous times during the process.

    I don't know about you, but I see a pattern here. And it's a disturbing problem for a person who was effortlessly thin for the first 50 years of her life.

    Am I giving up? No. Am I taking the information provided by those who responded and applying it to my situation in hopes of actually seeing the scale move this time? Yes, I am.

    So, it would behoove you to know a person's past before you start making asinine comments about their present.

    I came here with what I see as a real problem, because I've seen it before and I'd hoped to find someone here who had experienced the same thing and could tell me what they did to get out of this conundrum. THIS time, it's a couple of weeks. Every other time it was MONTHS of trying with no results. Several folks gave me good advice and I am considering it all. You, on the other hand, came in assuming what you didn't know, and then being a jerk to me when I objected.

    I should have been more clear in my original post, but there really is no reason to be ugly to a person who is just looking for assistance for a long running problem.

    He's really not being ugly, he's just approaching advice in a way that apparently hits a nerve with you. He was positive, you came back with excuses, and he got hard. Hopefully you'd fight back the "You should quit" by not quitting.

    You *did* reveal parts of your past: you've been down this road before multiple times, and have given up. It's the title of the post!

    Someone already pointed out some flaws in your initial statement. "Tracking every day" was really not every day. "Been doing this for two weeks" was really ten days.

    These might not seem like a big deal, but the more you "round" things in your head, the more you'll be treading water. "Watching food" becomes not watching portions or calories, or "This seems about 1000 calories" becomes 2000 or more. It's all about consistency and patience, and it appears you've had trouble with that in the past.

    So, my advice is: your problem is consistency and accuracy with what you're actually doing. Cut the crap and be honest with yourself.

    THEN be patient.

    I'd love to know your thyroid levels, as well, if they're borderline.

    Good luck! :flowerforyou:
  • Sweetface421
    Sweetface421 Posts: 40 Member
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    I'm 46 and I'm having the same problem in my weight loss journey.
    I came to MFP back in 2012. I was gung-ho and ready to do the work! I was eating at a deficit, exercising like a mad woman ,trying to shed 30 lbs. I went to get a physical to have my blood levels checked, just to see if there were any issues with my thyroid, insulin levels, etc.
    Nope, I'm healthy!
    I lost maybe five pounds over three months. I was so frustrated. I quit logging.
    Interestingly enough, I've stayed at the same weight for about a year, so this is obviously where my body likes to be.
    But I don't like it. I still want to lose 30 lbs!
    So, I'm back here again. I've been tracking my calories, eating at a deficit everyday, exercising vigorously for 25 days now.
    No weight loss.
    About five days ago, I stopped the exercising to see if I would see any loss with just a calorie deficit. There has been no movement. I'm still at the same weight I was 25 days ago.
    I'm frustrated too. I don't really know what I'm doing wrong here. I'm going to start tracking my sodium intake because I know I have a tendency to eat high-sodium foods. I'm also going to try to change over to higher-protein, lower-carb food choices. That's hard for me because my husband is a carb man - he eats bread, pasta & sweets like nobody's business and stays slim. It boggles the mind!
    I cry when I step on the scale and see no progress after so many days of trying. Sometimes I really hate my body. But I move on and keep trying. I just wish I had a clearer path or plan to follow so I wouldn't get so frustrated.
    Try to not give up! I'm going to try too!
    .
  • DYELB
    DYELB Posts: 7,407 Member
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    You're not special, and excuses don't matter.