So discouraged. I'm truly trying but failing. Please help.
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I get home late too and have busy week nights so what I do is batch cooking on the weekends, crock pots are amazing and I pre-measure servings into tupperwear that I can just heat up after work. Another thing to remember is that weight loss doesn't happen every week, some weeks you're down, some weeks the same and others you can even be up, but as long as in the long term you are slowly going down you are doing fine. Additionally take measurements, they sometimes tell the story the scale doesn't.0
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Also as far as protein I have bought some protein powder. I have been told that the MFP recommended totals for protein are a bit low. Is that correct? But broccoli an kale have tons of protein so I try to eat lots of kale. Broccoli have to smother in marinara sauce. I'm thinking of just getting the little ceasars marinara sauce took cook with instead of the pizzas bc it the sauce I mainly like anyways and I could pour it over some broccoli.0
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Far as sodium someone mentioned I went over every day last week? I looked. There was only two days I went over
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No, they don't. Vegetarian proteins include nuts, beans, eggs, and dairy. (No eggs & dairy if vegan.) So eat things like peanut butter, tofu, meatless chili, lentil soup, yogurt...Broccoli and kale have tons of protein so I try to eat lots of kale.0 -
Your right! I looked it up again and they don't have a lot of protein. I'm shocked. One website I visited had them listed as having high protein. Guess it goes to show not to trust just one website. I've only been vegetarian for 7 months so I'm still learning a lot.0
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I use MFP's protein & fiber goals as minimums, and ignore the rest. But if you ask 100 MFPers, you'll get 100 different opinions. Everybody's different, and weight loss takes a whole lot of trial & error to find what works for you.
Edited to add that healthy, high-protein vegetarian snacks include cheese, hard-boiled eggs, a handful of almonds, yogurt, peanut butter on celery or apples...0 -
Very few vegan things have much protein in.
Dairy stuff can have a fair bit, but you need to be careful with the fat/carbs, of course.
And yes, MFP is a good bit low.
Often people suggest 1g/lb of body weight, or more conservatively, either 1g/lb of lean body mass/target weight.
Lean body mass will give the lowest figure, of course.0 -
There are only a few days of entries in your food diary.0
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You're way over on sodium almost every day... That will affect your weight loss. If you're thinking of doing insanity I would suggest building up to it with something a bit more vigorous than yoga.
I don't understand this. With high sodium levels, my body might retain how much water... 5 lbs.? If you always eat higher sodium, you always carry around that 5 (or whatever) pounds, right? If you go low sodium for a while, you drop it. But if you have no desire to go low sodium the rest of your life, why not just keep that 5 pounds and instead lose 5 more lbs. of fat? I can see if you're a bikini model you'd need that water off. But how could high sodium affect weight loss, if you're consistently high on it? Or is the thinking that if you're high a few days and low on others, the high days screw up your scale readings due to water gain?
I love my salt and have lowish blood pressure and I believe it when I read that only around 1 in 7 people has to worry about it.0 -
A digital scale is the best way to measure food, but realistically, who is going to scoop peanut butter onto a scale to measure it?
Either
1) Weigh bread (or whatever you're putting the peanut butter on, tare (reset to zero) the scale, apply peanut butter, and reweigh the bread with peanut butter to determine weight of peanut butter; or
2) Weigh jar of peanut butter, tare the scale, remove the amount of peanut butter you're going to eat, and reweigh the jar.
If your scale doesn't have a zero/tare function, do the subtraction yourself.0 -
Ok somehow I let depression get the best of me fell off my exercise/nutrition regimen. Now sitting at an ugly 182lbs I'm trying my hardest to eat back on track. I am exercising three to four times a week to Jillian micahels yoga meltdown which is far more intense than regular yoga, and I am tracking my nutrition. I struggle with dinner. I can usually do good all day and then fall off the wagon at dinner. However this past week I have tracked everything. I had cheese pizza a few days but made sure I had the calories left to do so. I only went majorly over one day and I noticed it was on a day I was super sleep deprived. Forgive me if I sound stupid but I thought as long as you were within your limits you were allowed to have pizza. I am a vegetarian as well so getting enough vegetables is never an issue. I just haven't lost a single pound. I could use some guidance. I think my diary open to the public. I just am lost as to where to go from here. I want to order insanity and start it in February but I'm discouraged that I'm struggling with nutrition as much as I am now. I feel like a loser for not being able to figure this out. I feel like there must be something right in front of my face I'm missing.
You are extremely lucky with all the positive comments you have on here, many positive people. I posted on here today and have been very overwhelmed by all the negativity that it brought.
As a depression sufferer myself & doing everything I can to get better, negativity only hurts & when you think you are doing the right thing and get beaten down makes it very hard to keep going.
Take onboard what all ;these supportive people are telling you and everything will work out for you.
You are already on the right track by posting on here, I won't be posting on here again, so keep up the good work and hope you have success.0 -
Ok to start of with try not to think of 182Ibs as ugly.
When you start to think negatively it will affected your perception on food and how/what you want to eat.
I am a big fan of the 1200-1500 diet for females. Made up of 3 meals aiming at 350 calories. And two snacks aiming at 150 calories. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner. This is, in my case, the best way to lose weight.
You won't be depriving yourself, so you won't be binging or eating things you shouldn't. You'll have energy throughout the day and if you eat the right things you'll feel great.
Someone did say you can eat whatever you want ... but I don't agree with that.
Your body will react differently to say a bag of chips instead of fruit as your snack. You did say you are vegetarian (and eating lots of vegetables) so I am inclined to think you are eating the right food at meals ... just make sure your snack are healthy also :P:D
Feel free to add me as a friend if you want motivation or snack ideas - my diary is always open to my friends
Good luck!!!0 -
Another quick note :P
Dont trust the scale telling you how much sodium, fat, carbohydrates etc
Not every meal in this app has their nutritional details in them...as a result when your looking at the graph at the end of the day you could be only looking at say 'your morning snack'0 -
Hello! I have had depression, severe stress and anxiety for 10 years, and at first I couldn't lose any weight either, but now I am doing great. I want to tell you a few things I have learned.
I did MFP last January, February, March, just like I am doing now. I did it for 8 weeks, ate my 1200 calories religiously (I am short so 1200 is actually correct for me - actually Scoobyworkshop.com has me at about 1100 calories, so I usually eat under 1200). I was measuring everything, even teapoons of mustard! And I was doing about 45 minutes of Samba dancing 5 times a week. I had been eating like 2500 cals a day before I started, so you would think I would lose weight.
I did not. Not a pound, not an inch, nothing.
Then I started reading and talking to friends, and it turns out that because I had been depressed and stressed and everything, it was virtually impossible for me to lose weight initially. People always quote "calories in, calories out," however this is not the case if you have some condition such as stress, diabetes, thyroid issues, etc. etc. I could list references here but all you have to do is google "stress" "cortisol" and "belly fat" to see that a person who is distressed is often UNABLE to lose weight, regardless of what they eat. That is why I did not lose weight.
Well, what helped?
This summer I started again. I was just so tired of being fat and out of shape! I have a 3 year old son, so fat and tired wasn't working for me.
So I started here again. And again, for the first 7 or 8 weeks, I did my 1200 cals religiously, AND started doing Jillian Michael's 30 day shred 4-5 times a week. And again, at first, I lost nothing. But the difference? Instead of quitting at 8 weeks, I KEPT GOING.
And a magical thing started to happen. I started to feel better. My stress levels were going down. I was sleeping better. I was feeling more energized, my skin started looking better. AND... one day, I realized "OH MY GOD I am not depressed anymore!"
The endorphins released by exercise are as effective as prozac on depression (I had read this many times in all the medical books I have been reading for the past 10 years to try to remedy my depression, but I didn't believe it until it happened to me). Exercise is also the #1 recommended stress reducer (depression has stress effects on the body and releases cortisol as much as anger or other "obvious" stressers).
So, the cortisol levels in my body started to go down, and by the 3rd month, I STARTED TO LOSE WEIGHT. In fact, I am losing weight so fast, I have had to increase my calorie intake.
So please, just keep going. Sounds like you are doing great. Give it a couple of months, and you'll feel better and that will allow your body to start losing the weight it had held onto for protection.
Just keep going, believe!
Here are some articles from the mayo clinic if you would like to read about these topics some more:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/depression-and-exercise/art-20046495
http://www.mayoclinic.org/exercise-and-stress/art-20044469
"When your stress and cortisol levels are high, the body actually resists weight loss":
http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fit/lose-weight/belly-fat-and-cortisol-connection0 -
Hello! I have had depression, severe stress and anxiety for 10 years, and at first I couldn't lose any weight either, but now I am doing great. I want to tell you a few things I have learned.
I did MFP last January, February, March, just like I am doing now. I did it for 8 weeks, ate my 1200 calories religiously (I am short so 1200 is actually correct for me - actually Scoobyworkshop.com has me at about 1100 calories, so I usually eat under 1200). I was measuring everything, even teapoons of mustard! And I was doing about 45 minutes of Samba dancing 5 times a week. I had been eating like 2500 cals a day before I started, so you would think I would lose weight.
I did not. Not a pound, not an inch, nothing.
Then I started reading and talking to friends, and it turns out that because I had been depressed and stressed and everything, it was virtually impossible for me to lose weight initially. People always quote "calories in, calories out," however this is not the case if you have some condition such as stress, diabetes, thyroid issues, etc. etc. I could list references here but all you have to do is google "stress" "cortisol" and "belly fat" to see that a person who is distressed is often UNABLE to lose weight, regardless of what they eat. That is why I did not lose weight.
Well, what helped?
This summer I started again. I was just so tired of being fat and out of shape! I have a 3 year old son, so fat and tired wasn't working for me.
So I started here again. And again, for the first 7 or 8 weeks, I did my 1200 cals religiously, AND started doing Jillian Michael's 30 day shred 4-5 times a week. And again, at first, I lost nothing. But the difference? Instead of quitting at 8 weeks, I KEPT GOING.
And a magical thing started to happen. I started to feel better. My stress levels were going down. I was sleeping better. I was feeling more energized, my skin started looking better. AND... one day, I realized "OH MY GOD I am not depressed anymore!"
The endorphins released by exercise are as effective as prozac on depression (I had read this many times in all the medical books I have been reading for the past 10 years to try to remedy my depression, but I didn't believe it until it happened to me). Exercise is also the #1 recommended stress reducer (depression has stress effects on the body and releases cortisol as much as anger or other "obvious" stressers).
So, the cortisol levels in my body started to go down, and by the 3rd month, I STARTED TO LOSE WEIGHT. In fact, I am losing weight so fast, I have had to increase my calorie intake.
So please, just keep going. Sounds like you are doing great. Give it a couple of months, and you'll feel better and that will allow your body to start losing the weight it had held onto for protection.
Just keep going, believe!
Here are some articles from the mayo clinic if you would like to read about these topics some more:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/depression-and-exercise/art-20046495
http://www.mayoclinic.org/exercise-and-stress/art-20044469
"When your stress and cortisol levels are high, the body actually resists weight loss":
http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fit/lose-weight/belly-fat-and-cortisol-connection
What a great story, I will look at those links for my own benefit as I too have been diagnosed recently with mild depression and was told that exercise is the best thing to help get better.0 -
Thyroid issues are an excellent example of why it IS calories in vs calories out - they'll be low on energy, or depending on medication and so on, can be high on energy with their metabolism burning at a pretty quick rate. So it's just that the 'calories out' is different."calories in, calories out," however this is not the case if you have some condition such as stress, diabetes, thyroid issues, etc. etc. I could list references here but all you have to do is google "stress" "cortisol" and "belly fat
From your own 'results', the difference between the two was not what changed in 8 weeks, but that you kept going for longer than 8 weeks.0 -
Pizza has a lot of sodium, which will make you retain water. Doing intense exercise causes your muscles to retain water while they repair themselves. You're most likely hanging onto water weight, which isn't true weight. Increase your fluid intake, and that will help get rid of some of the retained fluid.
And really, I would suggest not weighing yourself very often. Your weight is going to fluctuate during the day and from day to day, and it can be discouraging to see it bounce around. I would go by measurements.
As sodium stuff bloats it must be remembered that within a few days or so the bloating will be over and you'll have dropped back down (sometimes more if you are deficit). Because of this consistent weighing isn't so bad because you see it dropping down after that bloat but can also make you depressed.
But it is normal and chances are you are losing and will if you are keeping to exercise and deficit. You are doing nothing wrong, you are doing something right.0 -
However this past week I have tracked everything. I had cheese pizza a few days but made sure I had the calories left to do so. I only went majorly over one day and I noticed it was on a day I was super sleep deprived. Forgive me if I sound stupid but I thought as long as you were within your limits you were allowed to have pizza. I am a vegetarian as well so getting enough vegetables is never an issue.
You had pizza four days out of seven, and Taco Bell one day. You're not getting as many vegetables as you think, compared to the amount of starch: Cereal/granola, bread, pizza crust, potato chips, taco chips. A low-fat, high-starch diet, with fast food every day, may not be working for you. I see eggs, milk, yogurt, and even tuna patties in your diary. Drop some of the grains, which aren't very nutritious anyway, in favor of more protein and fat from those sources.0 -
GREAT ADVICE: THANKS FOR POSTING THIS!!!!0
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It may.. be a carry over effect from your Thursday and Friday with high sodium intake, which would lead to water retention. I remember eating my regular dinner two nights in a row, the second night i added a bunch of salt, the day after i ballooned up about 4-5lbs lol
Try your best to be as consistent as possible, I know that it's net calories over the week that matter more than daily calories, but if you go from 1700 one day, 1100 another day and continually fluctuate, you are going to have a bit harder time tracking your progress more accurately. Also there are lots of foods that seem to be takeaway? Nutritional figures from takeaway are guestimates, really just depends how generous the person serving the food is lol.
I would encourage you to try a full week of your own home cooking only, track as accurately as you can, including oil used etc. You never know how much hidden calories are in those foods that you just randomly search / not to mention that they could be input wrong as well
I would of assumed 1400 calorie target is pretty low at 182lbs, perhaps try recalculating the figures, females who are like 150lbs or less are the ones consuming 1400 calories, it may be too low for you.
You are correct that if you have the calories to fit in the foods you like, you could still lose weight, but like I said, unless you made it yourself and input the ingredients yourself (assuming you didn't) you may be eating more calories than you think.
I don't have the exact answer to your problem, then again I don't know in full detail of what you are doing , not doing , havent mentioned. The best advice i can offer is to be the one in control of everything you do. Everything you eat, is everything you make. Do you think if you keep this up for a month you will still be the same? hell no! , just keep it together, one short goal at a time. 2 weeks, then 3 weeks, then a month, once you have the momentum, you will go for 5 months like it's second nature.
I know you are feeling demotivated from the lack of results, but don't give up hope so soon, you are only beginning again and if you let just the first couple weeks get in your way, you won't be any happier by not dong anything about it. Don't allow little moments in your journey to get the best of you, no matter what weight you are, be happy of who you are as a person and just be proud of yourself that you have taken the first step to becoming a healthier stronger version of you.
The number on the scale doesn't prove that you are more or less of an individual than anyone else, you are showing yourself that you are capable of achieving something great by accepting a difficult task, it is by means no easy feat to do what you are setting out to do, but that you have readily tried to do something about it, is more courageous than you know. MFP is only a tiny percentage of the world of people who are willing to take the dive into changing their lives and you are a part of it.
GREAT ADVICE! Thanks for posting this0
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