Born this way

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Rhozelyn
Rhozelyn Posts: 201 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok It's only the 16th day into a new year and I'm fed up of logging and not losing a single pound of weight. I have gained 2lb. I'm frustrated that I need to log in my food and I am sick to death of hearing about TDEE and BMR! How can some calculation be accurate about my body? Plus my body seems to do whatever it wants whatever I do. I can stick to the TDEE and workout and lose NOTHING. It simply wants to fulfil its potential and what I am attempting to do is not nature's plan. Nature wants me to be fatter…my mind even plays tricks on me…TBH sometimes I look in the mirror and I think I look ok…..then I see myself in photos and I cringe and feel worthless. I can eat the same as everyone around me and they won't put on weight and I will pile on 7lb!
In December I was on holiday for 2 weeks and ate anything and everything and gained 4lb….then in the last 2 weeks I have been trying to log my food and all I have done is to gain 2lb whilst trying to restrict.

I can't connect with my body. It has so much fat yet it can't use it as an energy source. I even still have hunger pangs when I'm carrying around 80lb of fat! (my body fat is apparently about 41%).
Is my life going to be about logging every morsel of food that passes my lips???? Really????!!!! If I'm not prepared to do this for life then why bother??? Is this sustainable???

In the last 3 years I don't know who my body is because it's definitely not me. Well it is but I can't lose weight or my body doesn't want to lose weight.
Maybe I'm not giving it 100%….ok I'm not. I have to make a decision now…because I sure as hell am not going to be logging every bloody morsel and finding myself still fat in 3 months' time!!!!! I CAN'T!!!!
So I AM going to stop logging in pretend calories(who know?? the numbers and and weights all vary!) I am the queen of guestimating!!

To top it off I have just seen some amazing success stories…"pic only success thread"….Am I jealous?? No! I keep wondering HOW DID THEY DO IT????


Add me if you are in the same boat….or a different speed boat! I have been on MFP for 1 year and I have gained 20lb…..ENOUGH!
Rant over and 100% effort begins NOW!
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Replies

  • lavaughan69
    lavaughan69 Posts: 459 Member
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    To top it off I have just seen some amazing success stories…"pic only success thread"….Am I jealous?? No! I keep wondering HOW DID THEY DO IT????

    Well they didn't quit after 16 days. They weighed and logged every single thing they ate. I've been doing it for 10 months now and yes sometimes it gets tedious, but for the most part I eat the same thing for lunch and I repeat a lot on dinner foods so it's rather quick. You've spent years creating bad eating habits that have resulted in your excess weight, so don't expect change to be easy. You need to form good habits and that takes time and energy. Trust me, after you do this for a couple of months it will seem so easy and you'll have a better understanding of what your body needs to fuel it.

    I struggled the first couple of weeks of the diet, it took time for my body to adjust to the changes I was making and perhaps for me to fully understand and log things correctly. Just focus on hitting your daily calorie goal and less on what the scale says for now.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
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    First of all you need to be willing to change long term. If you are frustrated after only 16 days maybe you aren't ready to put in the work it takes to lose the weight, you most likely are still eating too much.
  • twixlepennie
    twixlepennie Posts: 1,074 Member
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    Ok It's only the 16th day into a new year and I'm fed up of logging and not losing a single pound of weight. I have gained 2lb. I'm frustrated that I need to log in my food and I am sick to death of hearing about TDEE and BMR! How can some calculation be accurate about my body? Plus my body seems to do whatever it wants whatever I do. I can stick to the TDEE and workout and lose NOTHING. It simply wants to fulfil its potential and what I am attempting to do is not nature's plan. Nature wants me to be fatter…my mind even plays tricks on me…TBH sometimes I look in the mirror and I think I look ok…..then I see myself in photos and I cringe and feel worthless. I can eat the same as everyone around me and they won't put on weight and I will pile on 7lb!
    In December I was on holiday for 2 weeks and ate anything and everything and gained 4lb….then in the last 2 weeks I have been trying to log my food and all I have done is to gain 2lb whilst trying to restrict.

    I can't connect with my body. It has so much fat yet it can't use it as an energy source. I even still have hunger pangs when I'm carrying around 80lb of fat! (my body fat is apparently about 41%).
    Is my life going to be about logging every morsel of food that passes my lips???? Really????!!!! If I'm not prepared to do this for life then why bother??? Is this sustainable???

    In the last 3 years I don't know who my body is because it's definitely not me. Well it is but I can't lose weight or my body doesn't want to lose weight.
    Maybe I'm not giving it 100%….ok I'm not. I have to make a decision now…because I sure as hell am not going to be logging every bloody morsel and finding myself still fat in 3 months' time!!!!! I CAN'T!!!!
    So I AM going to stop logging in pretend calories(who know?? the numbers and and weights all vary!) I am the queen of guestimating!!

    To top it off I have just seen some amazing success stories…"pic only success thread"….Am I jealous?? No! I keep wondering HOW DID THEY DO IT????


    Add me if you are in the same boat….or a different speed boat! I have been on MFP for 1 year and I have gained 20lb…..ENOUGH!
    Rant over and 100% effort begins NOW!

    How did I do it? I kept it simple. Seriously. I did alternate day IF (an unconventional way of counting calories), and I focused on that and nothing else. I didn't try changing my diet to cut out foods I enjoyed and replacing them with stuff I didn't like. I never once ate a food that I didn't like. I also did NO exercise, because up to that point in my life I had never exercised and trying to add it in was too overwhelming. I counted calories. I stuck with it. I gave 100% to the plan I was following. I ignored everything else and stayed focused on the calories. I lost over 50lbs. I'm now maintaining effortlessly.

    I would start with the very basics and the only thing that actually matters for weight loss-calories.
  • lindsayvernon
    lindsayvernon Posts: 56 Member
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    just picking up a few points that you made in your post. You say that you are the queen of guesstimating, so you are admitting to not logging your food accurately and then you wonder why you are gaining weight. Invest in a food scale and weigh your food, it's really not that hard and not that time consuming. Tracking can be annoying sometimes, I go through times that I really can't be bothered but then I still do it because I know that it is what will make me successful.
  • farway
    farway Posts: 1,264 Member
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    "So I AM going to stop logging in pretend calories(who know?? the numbers and and weights all vary!) I am the queen of guestimating!!"

    Maybe this is the answer from your own keyboard?

    I think wilssoje has it, you are not ready to face facts and want some quick easy fix, there is not one

    The answer is in your hands & gob, weigh food, log food, come back in a month and then tell us it still does not work
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Open your diary.
  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
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    I can stick to the TDEE and workout and lose NOTHING.

    This really stuck out to me inparticular.

    If you decide to do the TDEE method, then you'll need to actually subtract calories from your TDEE to lose weight. Most people start with 20% less than TDEE.

    If you have been eating your TDEE this whole time, that is why you haven't lost any weight.

    Plus if you aren't logging correctly, then that could also explain any weight gain. I'm having trouble understanding why you are upset about why something isn't working and how much effort it takes, when you haven't been doing it right to begin with.

    Would you scream at a flashlight for not working if you refused to put batteries in it?:huh:
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Your negative attitude about yourself isn't helping you any. If you want to make long term changes you need to be just a bit kinder to yourself.

    I see you've been a member since 2012. Is that how long you've been on your weight loss journey and you haven't lost a pound? In fact, you've gained a few pounds?

    Have you been judiciously logging all food and exercise during this time? Do you weigh all solid food and measure all liquids? Do you log every single thing that goes into your mouth? Have you taken steps to ensure that you are accurately logging exercise calories burned? If you don't have a heart rate monitor with a chest strap and that is properly calibrated, are you refraining from eating all your exercise calories back?

    The only thing required to lose weight is to eat at a calorie deficit. If you are gaining weight then you are misestimating somewhere, or not logging everything you eat.

    Nobody is meant to be fat. I know, I was born fat. In fact, the doctor told my mother to put me on a diet as an infant. All through my childhood my parents tried to make me diet. My average weight during junior hight was 165 and 200 during school. My highest was 220. Around 10-12 years ago i lost a total of 75 pounds. I gained around 30 back over a 3 year period.

    Guess what. I've been doing this silly calorie counting thing since April and I am 35 pounds down. Today, I weigh WAY less than I did in high school and I'm probably the same weight I was in junior high (147). I am on a mission to lose a few more pounds but not much more. It's going to be sloooooowwww because that's the way I want it.

    Get off your pity pot (and I mean that with kindness :smile:}and make sure you are accurate in all your logging before you give up. If I can do it you can do.
  • Bis4Bri
    Bis4Bri Posts: 3
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    You CAN do this. I too am 16 days into tracking, 20 days into this "lifestyle change" and yesterday the little voice inside said to quit. I'm done detoxing, I'm not craving anything I just wanted to quit. For no real reason.... I got my up and completed a workout instead.

    The tools work. They are sustainable. However, you have to find what works for you. The nerd in me LOVES to calculate every calorie eaten and every calorie burned as closely as possible. Those are not guesses. I am guaranteed results as long as I track accurately (If you "cheat"- log it anyway)- you have to be honest with yourself.

    Don't quit now. It takes 21 days to START forming a habit. Let's form new habits together. I saved the picture that made me say ENOUGH as the wall paper on my phone. I don't like the girl in the pic, so everyday I work to become better.

    Also, get a measuring tape. Sometimes the scale doesn't move but the measurements do.
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
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    Pending any medical conditions that would make weight loss more difficult, a calorie deficit is all that is needed to lose weight. If you are not losing weight, you do not have a calorie deficit. If the logging, weighing and counting calories is too much for you right now, just eat less of what you do now until you are ready to make the logging commitment.
  • bumblebreezy91
    bumblebreezy91 Posts: 520 Member
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    To top it off I have just seen some amazing success stories…"pic only success thread"….Am I jealous?? No! I keep wondering HOW DID THEY DO IT????

    Well they didn't quit after 16 days. They weighed and logged every single thing they ate. I've been doing it for 10 months now and yes sometimes it gets tedious, but for the most part I eat the same thing for lunch and I repeat a lot on dinner foods so it's rather quick. You've spent years creating bad eating habits that have resulted in your excess weight, so don't expect change to be easy. You need to form good habits and that takes time and energy. Trust me, after you do this for a couple of months it will seem so easy and you'll have a better understanding of what your body needs to fuel it.

    I struggled the first couple of weeks of the diet, it took time for my body to adjust to the changes I was making and perhaps for me to fully understand and log things correctly. Just focus on hitting your daily calorie goal and less on what the scale says for now.

    This x1000.
  • sunnyside1213
    sunnyside1213 Posts: 1,205 Member
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    Open your diary.

    This.
  • mamadon
    mamadon Posts: 1,422 Member
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    1. We never quit.
    2. We logged every single calorie
    3. We weighed and measured everything.
    4. We ate at a calorie deficit.
    5. We exercised.
  • kamakazeekim
    kamakazeekim Posts: 1,183 Member
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    You and me both! I went to the endocrinologist I see for my PCOS to check all my hormones. All the ones that should be down were up and the ones that should be up were down. She doesn't know the reason for this but says it definitely affects the way my metabolism works. So add that to the PCOS and I have a recipe for disaster. Maybe have your doctor check you out?
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    You and me both! I went to the endocrinologist I see for my PCOS to check all my hormones. All the ones that should be down were up and the ones that should be up were down. She doesn't know the reason for this but says it definitely affects the way my metabolism works. So add that to the PCOS and I have a recipe for disaster. Maybe have your doctor check you out?

    Not losing weight after two weeks with a closed diary doesn't quite call for professional intervention just yet.
  • NewMnky1
    NewMnky1 Posts: 264
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    Years ago when I tried losing weight, I would always say "I don't want to have count and record food for the rest of my life etc. when does it just become second nature" That quote/comment meant I was not ready to change and didn't want to change.
    I wasn't ready then. I realize now that I will forever have to weigh and record food and I am ok with that because doing what I was doing before didn't work.
    For me- I could and probably always will be able to slip back to my previous ways of eating and not exercising and that is not ok, I need to log and keep myself accountable in order to stay healthy.
    It is easy to eat whatever when you don't actually know how many calories are in it (we can justify anything to ourselves).
    You need to be willing to do whatever it takes to make this work and if you aren't there yet, then you aren't, but recognize that and come back when you are ready to really do what it takes.
    I don't mean to come of as cold or not caring, just stating what I found from my past experiences.
  • janeite1990
    janeite1990 Posts: 694 Member
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    If you are just ranting to build your own motivation, I get that. If you are posting in this board (a help board) for help, you'll need to give more information for anyone to give you advice that might work. Opening your diary would help, but also, what is your goal? How much do you weigh now? How old are you (it matters)?
  • jlcrph
    jlcrph Posts: 41 Member
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    How do you get it done?! Here is what I believe works:

    1. Accurately track, measure/weigh and log everything you eat and drink - and I emphasize the accurate and the everything….
    2. Stick to your calorie goal to ensure a calorie deficit
    3. Exercise routinely (5-6 days a week works for me) to feel MUCH better and assist with your calorie deficit

    Is the above always fun? NO! Do I want to do this every day? NO! However I do - as it works, and my desire to be healthy outweighs my desire to eat whatever I want and be lazy about tracking.

    This is a lifelong change that will require dedication and patience. Not every week will you have success, even if you do everything right. You just have to trust that if you eat healthy foods in the right quantities and exercise, you will ultimately reach your goals. It is a matter of what you want most - to lose weight…. or to keep your freedom to eat and do whatever you want.
  • marjoleina
    marjoleina Posts: 189 Member
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    Look, it takes time and consistency and you are being a little negative here. Get a food scale, and weigh your food. You will be surprised. It is easy to guess portions way to large. I did really well, had a major life style upset in my personal life and gained the weight I lost because I gave up.
    This does not make matter better, so I am back on the wagon. Give it an honest effort.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    Your negative attitude about yourself isn't helping you any. If you want to make long term changes you need to be just a bit kinder to yourself. ...

    Get off your pity pot (and I mean that with kindness :smile:}and make sure you are accurate in all your logging before you give up. If I can do it you can do.
    I agree that all the self-labeling is working against you. Your body is not your enemy, it does not hoard fat, etc. Those attitudes plague us all but start to look at how convenient they are. If I believe I CAN'T do this and it's genetic, I can quit trying. You have to spot that thinking and decide it's lazy and a cop-out. Anyone can lose weight. You have to pick a plan and keep doing it for hundreds of days in a row. It's simple but not easy.

    Someone probably mentioned this but you can't eat at your TDEE and lose weight, or maybe you typed that wrong.

    Good for you for recommitting to get the logging right.

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