What went wrong?

Hi.
First of all, well done for trying again. Welcome back.

I can only give you what worked for me. I am not an expert so bear that in mind.

For my first 2 weeks on MFP I set my weight loss goal to 1/2lb and I did not exercise. I weighed & measured my foods etc and ate my baseline calories that matched my activity level. I wanted my body and my stomach (and my eyes LOL) to get used to the serving sizes I should be eating. I spent my first two weeks looking at favourite foods in the data bank and looking at how much I should be eating to be a portion and healthy, and what I could eat instead. I input all the main family faves that I make into the recipe builder and looked at the calories and worked out what size my portion of this should be. It was an eye-opener. I then juggled a few things so that I reduced a serving size a bit, saved some for lunch and added salad to give me a fuller plate etc etc. I needed to rethink how my serving size was impacting me and how many calories were in some of those deceptively sized serves.

Over the following weeks I gradually added in exercise. Gradually. Again, I figured my body needed a gentle re-education, not hell bent for leather throw myself into it. As I added exercise, I evaluated how hungry it made me feel, then ate some of the calories earned back, depending on my hunger. I had to learn to listen to what my body was telling me, and learn to stay within my guidelines to ensure I hit my goals.

The other thing that happens when you add in exercise is that you start losing fat - yes...but you also build muscle which is why you need to back up your weighing in with measuring yourself - waist/hips/bum/thighs. Your scale might not budge for a few weeks but the centimetres may fall off. (inches to you guys LOL). At some point after your initial muscle party, the muscle bulking stops and hits and equilibrium and the weight loss continues (unless you up the exercise).

As for logging...
I logged daily, yes. I logged the night before (or first thing in the morning) and worked out what I was going to have for each meal.
I did this so that I could space out what I was eating. I could pick something I really wanted and work out the other meals in a healthy manner around it. I set up several personalized categories so my diary was tailored to me. Nothing was ever a forbidden food or drink. I pre-planned most things so that I could have a favourite food and still eat enough to be happy.


In the beginning it is like learning to drive a car - you are going to hit the kerb occasionally, and yes, you may break a road rule or two, or even have a bit of a crash. BUT, just like driving a car, you reset, you learn the rules, you dust yourself off and you try again. Eventually it becomes second nature. Eventually it doesn't consume your every waking thought and eventually you can do it. It just takes practice and perserverance and a little help from your friends.

Ok.. I resent that people think I have come for advice and I'm not being honest with you guys or myself. That's not very encouraging at all. I have a sneaky suspicion that my failure has something to do with the birth control I was taking at the time.. as it's notorious for helping women pack on the pounds. But just in case that wasn't the problem, I wanted to see others' ideas about what could have went wrong and what I can do differently this time. I didn't come here to be told I am a liar.

I think perhaps because you didn't give a lot of detailed information in your first post, people were left to speculate. I know you probably have read on the boards about people losing a whomp-load of weight their first month, but that often happens with very overweight people who have a lot to lose. Also it can be water weight.

I had 30 pounds to lose when I started my weight loss journey, and the first month I lost *maybe* 2 pounds. I was not using MFP then, but an online logging site my insurance provider gives me. Then I started using MFP and upping my exercise levels--changing from walking outside to aerobics DVDs, which gets my heart rate up faster. And it's more convenient. I'm a stay at home mom, I homeschool, and it's easier to pop a DVD in and work out when my youngest is down for a nap, than wait till the end of the day when my husband is home and I can go out for a walk.

I also had to be more rigorous in weighing my food. Yes, weighing--not measuring with cups. I dug out an old digital postal scale we had and I use that. I had to learn that butter counts for calories! I grew up just slathering it on stuff and adding it to vegetables without thinking about it.

MFP has my calorie goals at 1370 before I exercise (I'm 5'8" and currently weigh 170). My insurance provider program has me at 1500 a day. I usually hit between 1200-1500. I'm at a weeklong plateau right now and not worrying. As long as you eat at a deficit, you will lose weight.