What am I doing wrong? Advice needed!

I don't count calories (sorry! My view is that if it's all good for you, as long as the portions aren't huge-- its generally okay)


I'm 24, 5'8 and 225.

My mother eats the healthiest foods of anyone I know and she has been obese most of her life.

You need to count calories.

Whats great about MFP is you don't have to "count calories". The site does it for you. If you are really against calorie counting, at least log a few days of food, and you can get a general idea of where you stand calorically. You may find you are taking in more than you think. You can adjust accordingly.

The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

If you dont want to count but want to see results, kick up your work outs (i would say double the time and or intesity) - 6 days a week without fail. Drink plenty of water too. Also make sure that at least 50% of the work outs you do is focused on strength training. Muscle burns calories faster than the other tissues....FACT!

I just restarted in the middle of January- haha not from the previous September!

As for inches, I've lost 3 off my waist, and 1 off my hips and thighs... I'm really new to this, so I apologize if I don't know the "norms" for weight loss.

when you signed up for myfitnesspal, it made you create a profile and gave you a caloric goal. You put the information in. Actually, if you're logged in to the forums, just click "My Home" up there. It'll show you a number in green. Says Calories Remaining under it. The app/website told gave you the information you needed to get started. For whatever reason, you chose to just do it your way.

try actually using MFP.

here:
1. don't trust the initial setup that MFP provides. If you put in the wrong/inaccurate information, it'll tell you to eat an amount that may not be applicable.
2. Make sure you eat enough.
3. Figure out what works for you and is sustainable/healthy/long term.
4. avoid fads. don't buy in to any "Hey, try the twinkie and vodka diet"
5. Don't cut out anything now that you don't plan on literally giving up forever.
6. GET A FOOD SCALE. Weigh everything. No, seriously.
7. Get an HRM with a chest strap. You'll at least have a better idea of what you're burning. It'll be more accurate than the generic info in the exercise database.. and even more than the cardio machines. This is great for steady state cardio (run/walk/etc)
8. Don't go balls out. You'll burn out. I see 300 lb people show up here, instantly start working out and cutting their intake SEVERELY... trying to cut out all of their carbs at once.. whatever. Take it slow. Figure out how much you need to eat FIRST in order to lose.. then incorporate exercise.
9. Don't cardio yourself to death.
10. Take the information on the forums with a grain of salt. A lot of people that have been here for a while.. and have been successful, may seem jaded. They give out GREAT advice day after day, only to be met with people that refuse to listen.
11. Eat real food. Not diet food. Not "low fat, sugar free, now without X." It's easier to get/find/count.
12. don't set time restrictions.
13. measure yourself weekly. Don't just weigh. Measure and take pictures.
14 BE PATIENT.
15. Avoid forum topics that have "1200" in the title. It's just full of butthurt. Lots of it.
16. If you ask a question on the forum, give as much information as you can ("yes, I have a food scale and weigh my food" is worlds better than "I eat a palm full of miscellaneous boiled chicken parts..sometimes.")
17. Be honest with yourself and honest with us.
18. This isn't a game, it's about changing your lifestyle. Do that.

pretty much that.

...and don't fall into the "1200 calorie" vertigo of suck because of:

the typical MFP users does this:
1. I wanna lose weight, let's try MFP.
2. OH! Wow, it tells me I can lose 2 lbs a WEEK? AWESOME!
3. I just sit at a desk when I'm not working out, I guess I'm sedentary.
4. MFP tells them 1200 calories, and they don't even eat that.. then they work out on top of it.. creating an even bigger deficit.
5. Lose a lot, fast, brag about 1200 calorie success.
6. Come back in a few months trying to figure out why they're dizzy, tired, not losing weight.
7. Get on the forums, ask why they aren't losing.
8. Get two responses (I eat 1200 and lose) (I eat 2200 and lose)
9. Argument ensues about who is right.

Now. That being said. These threads happen hundreds of times per day. Most times, and I mean really.. seriously.. 95% of the time.. people get the 1200 number because they don't put the right information in when they set up the account. There are a great number of people that are trying to help. I'm one of 'em.

I'm a hardcore advocate of actually finding out what works for the individual.. by means of other calculators, averages, time, practice, and patience.

Blanket prescriptions of 1200 calories "because it worked for me" is more harmful to the generic new user than the "figure out what you need to eat." Unfortunately, one is a LOT easier to type.

Find out what you need: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

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

try actually using MFP.

^^This. :laugh:

The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

If you dont want to count but want to see results, kick up your work outs (i would say double the time and or intesity) - 6 days a week without fail. Drink plenty of water too. Also make sure that at least 50% of the work outs you do is focused on strength training. Muscle burns calories faster than the other tissues....FACT!

This is one of the times I am NOT going to say you can't build muscle at a deficet cause she isn't at a deficet...

and your first line is what I was thinking too...

OP if you don't want to count calories then don't but don't ask what you are doing wrong, because that's it.

Yes you said you would start..which is a good thing but in order to be accurate you have to weigh solids and measure liquids because I can guarantee you are not at 1300 calories a day..I weigh less and I am older and I lose on 1700 a day.

I may be clueless because I don't count calories, but I believe it IS still possible without doing so. My portions aren't big, and my exercise is consistent...Perhaps I'm looking for advice about exercise more so than food intake.

Then how did you gain weight?

If I made an educated guess, I'd say I eat approx.1300 calories a day. Is there such thing as an average calorie goal for generic weight loss? I guess I will have to start counting, and see what happens.

Thanks all, any other advice is welcomed!

If you aren't losing, you are eating more than 1300... Sorry
Exercise won't help much, weight loss happens in the kitchen

Did you know if you do not eat enough your body will go into something like survival mode and turn things into fat for later. A primitive thing from when food was not as plentiful. Also if you are menopausal (like me) it can stall your weight gain. Lastly if you are doing any type of muscle building exercise you may be losing inches but muscle weighs ore than fat so it will reflect an increase in pounds but a decrease in inches.

No.