Advice on what i'm doing wrong please!!!

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bmsin
bmsin Posts: 2
in Getting Started
Hi there,
I was hoping someone could give me some advice (please).
I am trying to lose 10 kg. (this is my initial goal, I'd love to lose more)
I have been following a strict calorie intake of 1250 a day (I'll admit to going over a couple of times, but then made up for it by keeping below the following days). 12 months ago I took up exercising, so I go to a PT twice a week, and play netball once a week. I also try to walk (with the kids so not very fast) at least twice a week. I began watching my calories with my fitness pal on the 1 December, 2013. but here is my problem. I have actually gained 2 kilos. I'm told its probably muscle - but my exercise pattern has not changed in 12 months, so therefore I don't think it can be. I just don't understand with the excercise I'm doing and coupled with the better diet I'm now following, why aren't I losing weight?

does anyone have any suggestions/hints for me please?
thanks very much,
Berni
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Replies

  • Kenazwa
    Kenazwa Posts: 278 Member
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    You could start by visiting the website fat2fit and do some reading and calculating. You probably need to re-set your goals.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    That can be a multitude of reasons.
    Are you weighing your food on a food scale or just guessing?
    Do you know how many calories your body needs?
    Are you overestimating how much you burn by exercise?
    etc.
  • Livestrongalways
    Livestrongalways Posts: 24
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    From what I've been reading on other posts it may be that your not eating enough calories?
    Are you measuring everything?
    Someone will help u out soon I'm sure and possibly correct me :) but Ive noticed I'm loosing weight more easily when I upped my calories from 1200 to 1450 :)
  • __freckles__
    __freckles__ Posts: 1,238 Member
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    Can you please open your diary?
  • BreatheAshley
    BreatheAshley Posts: 130 Member
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    You do know that you are supposed to change your exercise routine every 4-6 weeks otherwise your body get's used to it and you will stop losing weight so I would try out some different exercises and I bet you will see yourself losing weight again. Good luck.
  • Roaringgael
    Roaringgael Posts: 339 Member
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    This is easier than a long type:

    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    You do know that you are supposed to change your exercise routine every 4-6 weeks otherwise your body get's used to it and you will stop losing weight so I would try out some different exercises and I bet you will see yourself losing weight again. Good luck.

    false.

    consistency will get results. muscle confusion on a broad scale is unnecessary. the only way you need to be changing your routine is by increasing weights, reps, distance, time, etc etc.

    you can and should throw in some new and different exercises every so often, but big broad changes are not necessary.
  • planetqueenie
    planetqueenie Posts: 5
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    wow that sounds kind of scary. My best suggestion is don't stress your body/self out. That can cause your body to store rather than burn. Like if you skip meals, workout too much, don't get enough sleep, eat too little, and go too long between meals, your body may lose at first and then it will slow and try to hold on to every calorie it possibly can. So eat regular meals breakfast/ lunch/ afternoon snack, and dinner. Eat enough at each meal time, get lots of sleep, and work out to put on some muscle so your metabolism goes up. and...last but not least if you are feeling great, dropping sizes, put the scale away:)
  • bmsin
    bmsin Posts: 2
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    Thank you everyone for your helpful replies. I do appreciate them.
    Although I see a PT every week she varies the exercises as well as the weight & reps etc.
    I'm not being so very fastidious to weigh every portion I eat, I am however conscious of the amounts and am trying to be truthful when entering them in the diary. But perhaps i should start weighing.. I will open my diary. Thx again.
  • changergirl
    changergirl Posts: 81
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    Just peeked at your diary and I noticed most of the items you enter are by weight, however you said you don't weigh your food. I would recommend buying a food scale, they're pretty cheap, because it's really easy to underestimate how much you're actually eating. Good luck!
  • SuperCrsa
    SuperCrsa Posts: 790 Member
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    ..
  • MaggieGiamalvo
    MaggieGiamalvo Posts: 397 Member
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    I just took a look at your food diary and see several areas that could use some improvement.

    1. Get specific and detailed. Log EVERY morsel of food and drop of liquid you consume, to get results. And, be sure that all the nutrition values are filled in. I saw several things that didn't have a sodium listing that I KNOW are high in sodium. Sodium will make you retain water, so I would recommend staying under 2300mg of sodium each day.

    2. Calories. It looks like recently (I only went back about a week) you haven't been eating at least 1200 calories. Your body may think you're trying to starve it and will hang onto every calorie and fat molecule it possibly can. Eat at least 1200 calories and when you workout, eat most of those calories, too.

    3. Where are the fruits and vegetables? Add these to boost your calorie intake.

    4. Water. How much water are you drinking in a day? A great guideline is to take your weight in pounds, divide by 2, and drink that many ounces of water each day.

    Whatever changes you decide to make... best wishes, to you!
  • Livestrongalways
    Livestrongalways Posts: 24
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    I would definitely say that your not eating enough calories and so you body is holding everything it can, best of luck :)
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
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    I would definitely say that your not eating enough calories and so you body is holding everything it can, best of luck :)

    I would go the opposite of this and say you are eating too much, yes your calorie totals show as being really low and you shouldn't eat below 1200 calories but if you are not weighing anything and guesstimating the weights for your diary you are probably under estimating by a considerable margin.

    Buy yourself a set of digital food scales, weigh measure and accurately log everything you eat and drink and it has to be everything and once you have established your real calorie intake you can look at this again
  • texasfarmer
    texasfarmer Posts: 483 Member
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    I think clearly the problem is your diet and the logged information. Looking over your diary for the past week, I see skipped meals, candy, ice cream, cake....... If you are serious about losing weight then you have got to revamp your diet. Instead of sweets eat fruit or make smoothies. Where are all your veggies??? This is not to say you cannot ever have the foods you like, but everyday of your diary for the past week has some sort of junk type food.

    You content of what is in your food is not correct either. For example, your tea in the morning states with sugar, but it is not recording how many grams of sugar. I noticed this in several places, so you may be going over your allowed amount more often than you think. Same with sodium content. One day you had Chinese food and it did not record any sodium. We all know there is sodium in that kind of food. To much salt will hold on to water in your body. You really need to have a more balance diet.

    I bought a digital scale and weigh, measure or count out everything. If the almond can says one serving is 28 almonds, you can bet I count out every single one. I get out my measuring spoons and if a salad dressing serving is 2 table spoons then that's what I measure out. Without this process, you will intake more that you realize.

    As for your exercise, great job. That is where I have to work to improve.

    And drink plenty of water. I hate water, but since starting this journey almost three weeks ago that is all I have allowed myself with the exceptions of one or two cups of coffee in the morning.

    Make these changes and I'll bet you see some results.
  • Camera_BagintheUK
    Camera_BagintheUK Posts: 707 Member
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    Measure yourself as well - the needle might not move on the scales, but the waistband still gets sloppy! Other things affect your weight, not just fat, like water, which will vary according to all sorts of things, what you've been eating, the weather, exercise, time of the month (for women). Do you weigh yourself at a set time regularly? I only ever weigh myself first thing in the morning after the loo, and always naked. And not every day - every week or two.

    Are you weighing your food as you log it? Or just guessing? You can slip massive amounts of calories past your diary if you don't weigh everything! I keep the scales on the worktop, and every slice of bread goes on it! I peel bananas and weigh the fruit and try to log everything in mg. You need to weigh, measure and log everything that's not water! It sounds a real faff, but you quickly get used to it! And you start to recognise where the calories are, you know if you have mayonnaise or potatoes you'll be using up your calories quickly!

    But don't despair! It's only been a few weeks, keep at it, you'll do it!

    PS If you eat particular dishes regularly, you can save the recipe or the meal in your diary - as long as you make sure every time you make it you use exactly the same quantities of all the ingredients.
  • Camera_BagintheUK
    Camera_BagintheUK Posts: 707 Member
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    Also, as everyone else has pointed out, you need to measure and log each ingredient really carefully!

    for example, toast and butter - do you weigh the bread before you toast it? A slice of bread can be anything from 40g to 60g! And how much butter? you can put anything from 3g to 12g of butter onto one slice!

    I often have toast, butter and jam for breakfast. I slice the bread, weigh the bread, then pop it into the toaster.

    I put the butter dish on the scales, zero reading, then butter my toast and re-weigh the butter, the weight is shown as a negative number.

    Then I put the jar of jam on the scales, zero the reading, put jam on my toast, re-weigh the jar of jam, the negative number shows how much jam I've used.

    Because the scales sit on the worktop, it's so easy for me to pop ingredients on before putting them in the pan.

    When I cook something like rice or pasta I put the pan on the scales, pour in the dry food to the weight I want then put the pan on the cooker add water and boil. This allows me to control - so if I know I've had a high cal day, I can have less pasta/rice, and add more veg to the sauce or use Quorn instead of meat to keep the calorie count down.

    If I use a new ingredient, and can't find it in the database, I add it myself rather than guessing an equivalent.

    If I have a slice of something I weigh it and log it by weight - a slice could be a sliver, or it could be a doorstep and twice the cals!

    If I have an apple, I weigh it and log it! Apples are good for you - but they still have calories!

    I've trained my husband to weigh things for me when he cooks.
  • dunnodunno
    dunnodunno Posts: 2,290 Member
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    To me it seems that you're not eating enough. You're definitely not eating enough if you don't eat back some of your exercise calories & net below 1,200.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    If I were you I would invest in a digital scale if you don't have one to accurately measure food intake. There are a lot of foods that say you can have 12 chips or so by the package, but sometimes it's less. If you have money to spare I would also invest in a heart rate monitor so you would know how much you're burning in calories.
  • jeffpettis
    jeffpettis Posts: 865 Member
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    I know I will get flack for this but I can assure you that if you are not losing fat it's not because you need to eat more. :huh:

    If you are not weighing your food it's a pretty good bet that you are eating more than you think. If you are in fact gaining weight It would be a safe assumption that you are eating a lot more than you think.

    Your body WILL NOT hold onto fat when you don't eat enough. I am not encouraging low calories by any means, lower than 1200 is not healthy. But if MFP or any other calorie calculator says you should lose a pound or even a half a pound a week eating at 1200 calories and you are not losing then you are simply eating more than 1200 calories.

    Don't make this harder than what it is, it's simple math, but you must have accurate numbers (a food scale) to be able to make the math correct.

    Good luck! :drinker:
  • yolifoli
    yolifoli Posts: 20 Member
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    I like your post on going to FIT2FAT! Great idea!

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