Someone please explain, 30+ pounds to lose.

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Alyssawinter1221
Alyssawinter1221 Posts: 118
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I know that when you get close to your goal weight the pounds come off slowly. But, I am 5'3.5" and 164 pounds, so I still have a lot of weight to lose (30-40 pounds). I just thought it would be coming off faster since I'm so far out from my goal :( I stay under my calories and exercise every single day. So whyyyy so slow??

Thanks for your time and anyone feel free to add me. :)
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Replies

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    because you are eating more than you think.

    I peeked at your diary and I see you don't use a kitchen scale...that is key in logging calories as that is the only way to really know how much you are eating

    Check out this post

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women

    and watch the video too...but to give you perspective

    At first I was "eating" 1380 calories + exercise a day and I should have been losing 1lb a week...I was only losing half a pound.

    read that post, watched the video, bought a digital scale that day...

    I started weighing all my solids and went from 1/2lb a week to 1lb a week and it continues to this day even eating on average 1700 calories a day.
  • Ktmax456
    Ktmax456 Posts: 26 Member
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    What do you consider slow?

    Youve lost 18 already. That's awesome!
  • 3P0X
    3P0X Posts: 302
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    Slow and steady wins the race =) At what pace have you been losing weight? 1 lb/week?
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    How slow is slow? With 30-40 pounds to lose you want to aim for 1 - 1 1/2 pounds per week maximum.

    You don't appear to be weighing your foods and you eat out a lot. That's not a problem and you can definitely still lose weight this way, but you may have to accept slower weight loss when you don't have as much control over what goes into your food.
  • 125KC
    125KC Posts: 71 Member
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    If your calories are in fact accurate, I notice you eat under 1200 a day, which may be too little. I was eating under 1200 and got no where until I upped my calories a bit, then i started to lose...might be worth looking into this too if your calorie count is not out as has been suggested above.
  • Alyssawinter1221
    Alyssawinter1221 Posts: 118
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    I realized after I posted this that people were going to tell me about getting a scale, I know I should! But being in college, I can't really afford one nor do I honestly think I'll use it /:
    As far as food goes, I consider it a win to not have pizza and beer every night with my friends. I'm working on the nutrition though!

    Thanks for the thoughts.
  • GLady1980
    GLady1980 Posts: 50 Member
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    Hello,

    I was looking at your food diary and i would say that it looks like you are not completly tracking all food but it also looks like you eat the most food later in the day and it is usually junk food maybe try having a larger breakfast with healthy fruits, veg and protein that might work better for you?
  • Alyssawinter1221
    Alyssawinter1221 Posts: 118
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    Also, I usually add twice the food I eat (for example if I have half a cup I log a cup) to be sure I didn't over eat, and I log half of my exercise (took an hour cardio class, I only log 30 min) so I don't ever estimate. How could I still be going over?

    Also I guess it's not as slow as I thought, I did the math and I've lost about 1.6 pounds a week.

    I guess I'm just getting impatient. :(
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    Also, I usually add twice the food I eat (for example if I have half a cup I log a cup) to be sure I didn't over eat, and I log half of my exercise (took an hour cardio class, I only log 30 min) so I don't ever estimate. How could I still be going over?

    So what you're saying is, let's say yesterday, you actually only ate half of what you logged (so a total of 571 calories total) and you exercised 446 calories? So you "netted" 125 calories for the day?

    My suggestion is to start logging accurately. Then after you're doing that consistently, you can start seeing where you can make changes.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    I realized after I posted this that people were going to tell me about getting a scale, I know I should! But being in college, I can't really afford one nor do I honestly think I'll use it /:
    As far as food goes, I consider it a win to not have pizza and beer every night with my friends. I'm working on the nutrition though!

    Thanks for the thoughts.

    But you can afford to go out eat all the time. Gotcha. :laugh:
  • Alyssawinter1221
    Alyssawinter1221 Posts: 118
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    I realized after I posted this that people were going to tell me about getting a scale, I know I should! But being in college, I can't really afford one nor do I honestly think I'll use it /:
    As far as food goes, I consider it a win to not have pizza and beer every night with my friends. I'm working on the nutrition though!

    Thanks for the thoughts.

    But you can afford to go out eat all the time. Gotcha. :laugh:

    Well I never thought of that until you so rudely brought it to my attention, so thank you I suppose. It doesn't change the fact that I'm the worst cook on the planet. But I'll try
  • KatyRu
    KatyRu Posts: 55 Member
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    Have you ever bought a pizza? Like $3.99 can buy you a medium Hot'N'Ready pizza at Little Caesar's. Have you ever made a healthy meal? Far more expensive from my experience, unless you like munching on lettuce and carrots all day. Just saying.

    Not to the OP, just forgot to quote. ;)
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I realized after I posted this that people were going to tell me about getting a scale, I know I should! But being in college, I can't really afford one nor do I honestly think I'll use it /:
    As far as food goes, I consider it a win to not have pizza and beer every night with my friends. I'm working on the nutrition though!

    Thanks for the thoughts.

    But you can afford to go out eat all the time. Gotcha. :laugh:

    Well I never thought of that until you so rudely brought it to my attention, so thank you I suppose. It doesn't change the fact that I'm the worst cook on the planet. But I'll try

    wasn't really rude just to the point..but I got mine for like 20$...trust me it's a great tool...and it takes all of 5mins max in a day to weigh your food...seriously...well for me now...
  • Sarah4fitness
    Sarah4fitness Posts: 437 Member
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    I realized after I posted this that people were going to tell me about getting a scale, I know I should! But being in college, I can't really afford one nor do I honestly think I'll use it /:
    As far as food goes, I consider it a win to not have pizza and beer every night with my friends. I'm working on the nutrition though!

    Thanks for the thoughts.

    But you can afford to go out eat all the time. Gotcha. :laugh:

    Well I never thought of that until you so rudely brought it to my attention, so thank you I suppose. It doesn't change the fact that I'm the worst cook on the planet. But I'll try

    Those scales are on amazon and cost about ten bucks or less. You can afford one. It's the excuse not to weigh that's holding you back. No one wants to limit their intake, no one wants to actually be accountable for the food they're eating having (gasp) and effect on how their body looks.
    Don't cheat yourself by fudging numbers, log accurately, eat according to what will create a deficit for you, and progress.
    1.6lbs a week is mighty respectable, btw.
  • errorist
    errorist Posts: 142 Member
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    Have you ever bought a pizza? Like $3.99 can buy you a medium Hot'N'Ready pizza at Little Caesar's. Have you ever made a healthy meal? Far more expensive from my experience, unless you like munching on lettuce and carrots all day. Just saying.

    Not to the OP, just forgot to quote. ;)
    I would encourage anyone to learn how to cook healthy food. It is a proper life skill. Like being able to put up a tent.
  • Julesoola
    Julesoola Posts: 51 Member
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    Also, I usually add twice the food I eat (for example if I have half a cup I log a cup) to be sure I didn't over eat, and I log half of my exercise (took an hour cardio class, I only log 30 min) so I don't ever estimate. How could I still be going over?

    Also I guess it's not as slow as I thought, I did the math and I've lost about 1.6 pounds a week.

    I guess I'm just getting impatient. :(

    A lot of your diary entries show you only logging (for examples) half or 2/3 a sandwich or 1/4 of a loaded baked potato or 3/4 a cup of cereal...does this really mean you're only eating 1/4 to 1/3 of a sandwich or 1/8 of a loaded potato or 3/8 (?!) of a cup of cereal?? How do you even measure that? If you find yourself stalling you're probably going to want to take an honest look at these estimations.

    As a side note, given that you are hoping to one day become a dietitian, you're going to have to have these same conversations with people coming to you for help and you're going to be the one calling shenanigans on their excuses. I think that's what people here are trying to do for you, help you eliminate the excuses so that you can see the progress you want.
  • Alyssawinter1221
    Alyssawinter1221 Posts: 118
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    Also, I usually add twice the food I eat (for example if I have half a cup I log a cup) to be sure I didn't over eat, and I log half of my exercise (took an hour cardio class, I only log 30 min) so I don't ever estimate. How could I still be going over?

    Also I guess it's not as slow as I thought, I did the math and I've lost about 1.6 pounds a week.

    I guess I'm just getting impatient. :(

    A lot of your diary entries show you only logging (for examples) half or 2/3 a sandwich or 1/4 of a loaded baked potato or 3/4 a cup of cereal...does this really mean you're only eating 1/4 to 1/3 of a sandwich or 1/8 of a loaded potato or 3/8 (?!) of a cup of cereal?? How do you even measure that? If you find yourself stalling you're probably going to want to take an honest look at these estimations.

    As a side note, given that you are hoping to one day become a dietitian, you're going to have to have these same conversations with people coming to you for help and you're going to be the one calling shenanigans on their excuses. I think that's what people here are trying to do for you, help you eliminate the excuses so that you can see the progress you want.

    If I log half a sandwich, I only ate a 1/3 or a 1/4. Sometimes I log a 1/4 if I took a bite if someone else's sandwich. How do I measure half a serving of cereal? 1/4 cup milk? With a measuring cup. Potato? Cut it into eighths.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    I looked at your diary and the only thing I wanted to bring up here that others haven't is when you go to restaurants and choose items from the database that are actually from other restaurants, that can be really tricky. By this I mean, even if a side dish at 2 restaurants looked and tasted identical, and you were logging exactly what ONE of their sites said nutrition-wise it doesn't mean the dish is really all that close in a different restaurant. I understand as a college student you may be going out to eat a lot because you're busy and what not...but this is one fast way to jack up your calories quite a bit (high or low). For example I have gone to a local burger place that posts their accurate nutritional info and a small double hamburger was 650 but at Steak N' Shake the "exact same thing" is 390 calories. Or with ice cream...a scoop from Braum's is around 170-230 calories, a large scoop from the custard shop could be close to 500 calories.
  • kmglennie
    kmglennie Posts: 40
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    Seriously, the food scale is a game changer: I got mine for about $15 and I am shocked at how much of a difference it makes. I think it's definitely worth the investment, and then you know exactly what you're taking in. Congrats on the progress so far!

    Edited to add:

    This video shows really clearly why measuring spoons and cups are not giving you accurate counts

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    I realized after I posted this that people were going to tell me about getting a scale, I know I should! But being in college, I can't really afford one nor do I honestly think I'll use it /:
    As far as food goes, I consider it a win to not have pizza and beer every night with my friends. I'm working on the nutrition though!

    Thanks for the thoughts.

    But you can afford to go out eat all the time. Gotcha. :laugh:

    I don't mean to sound like I am ganging up on the OP or anything but this is kind of what I thought too. I was truly a poor college student and if I was going to have a restaurant meal it was either a date with someone out of college already, or a birthday meal from my parents LOL. Not three times a day to various chains.

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