I'm in the final stretch and it's getting TOUGH now.
melimomTARDIS
Posts: 1,941 Member
First, the good news, I went from a women's 16 to a women's 8. I was, 175 when I started, and I am 135 now. Success! I walk for excersize most days, and improved my health to the point where I could discontinue medications for pcos.
I have 5 more lbs to lose, to be 5 lbs under goal, and I just can't seem to do it. 1400 calories per day is what MFp has me down for to lose a pound per week.
I'm hungry, and a little light headed.(dizzy when I stand) and it's very hard to stick to, like tonight, I'm invited to a child's birthday party with cake. I can't fit cake into my cals. So now what? Skip dinner?
Yesterday I was treated to a fancy dinner out, I had a delicious cheesy mushroom risotto, which I split, and ate a small amount, but sure enough I'm heavier today.
This weekend is my wedding anniversary, and I'm dreading eating out. Sit down restaurants are just calorie bombs.
Not to mention my binge earlier this week, where I ate a large amount of butter horns dinner rolls.
Why am I binging? Why am I hungry? Why isn't this working anymore? Ugh, I'm so close to maintenance and I'm f-ing up like a total newbie.
Plz help.
I have 5 more lbs to lose, to be 5 lbs under goal, and I just can't seem to do it. 1400 calories per day is what MFp has me down for to lose a pound per week.
I'm hungry, and a little light headed.(dizzy when I stand) and it's very hard to stick to, like tonight, I'm invited to a child's birthday party with cake. I can't fit cake into my cals. So now what? Skip dinner?
Yesterday I was treated to a fancy dinner out, I had a delicious cheesy mushroom risotto, which I split, and ate a small amount, but sure enough I'm heavier today.
This weekend is my wedding anniversary, and I'm dreading eating out. Sit down restaurants are just calorie bombs.
Not to mention my binge earlier this week, where I ate a large amount of butter horns dinner rolls.
Why am I binging? Why am I hungry? Why isn't this working anymore? Ugh, I'm so close to maintenance and I'm f-ing up like a total newbie.
Plz help.
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Replies
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I have eaten 2 cups of sugar free jello to quell hunger today. I'm like FIGHTING with my self to wait till dinner to eat more. I think if I go to the party I'll just go ape**** and eat a hunk of cake the size of my face.
Also I am getting jealous of people who can eat more food than me. Yucky emotion. But I actually feel envy.0 -
If you have 5 pounds left, 1 pound per week is too aggressive. Go to .5 pounds which will increase calories by 250 per day.
As to the other - take some days 'off' and eat at maintenance. Which sounds like 1900 for you. (1400 + 500 deficit now = 1900.)
In that respect, you could eat some days @ 1400 and some @ 1900 and have the same impact as 1650 per day.0 -
Congrats on your success so far!
Are you eating your exercise calories from walking back (or a portion of them)? If you do that, you could do some extra cardio to earn yourself some more calories on days when you are feeling really hungry too!0 -
You should have a deficit of 250 calories. You should aim for 0.5 pounds loss a week.
Since you are at your goal weight, if you start eating maintenance or even an extra 250 calories a day, you WILL GAIN WEIGHT... but water weight, where the body uses that water to aid processing the extra foods.
So, if your goal weight is 135, then getting to 130 is a wise idea as when you increase food intake, you'll retain more water, upping the scale some.
Grats on the success.0 -
Nope, I don't always eat back my excersize calories.
Thanks for the advice Dana, and the congrats. I really do feel like I have succeeded, it's just this end game bull**** is throwing me.
Any thoughts on the light headed ness? I felt like I was gonna pass out this morning. My diary is open if anyone cares.0 -
I'm hungry, and a little light headed.(dizzy when I stand) and it's very hard to stick to, like tonight, I'm invited to a child's birthday party with cake. I can't fit cake into my cals. So now what? Skip dinner?...
This weekend is my wedding anniversary, and I'm dreading eating out. Sit down restaurants are just calorie bombs.
Are you getting sick? I'm hungrier than usual when I'm sick.
I'll second the advice to reduce your weekly goal. I'm down to the last 5 lb. and I have reduced my goal to 0.5 lb./week. It requires paying more attention to not going over, and to being accurate, but it makes me less hungry.
Finally, a few indulgences are OK, even in one week, as long as they don't become a habit. Much of the weight you gain from eating out is water and solid waste, and it will be gone again in a few days. But even if you eat 500 over maintenance, you'll add only a couple ounces of fat, which you can make up by eating 100 fewer calories over the next five days (or walking an extra mile or so each of those days).
I would recommend that you take a look at the chapter on "Perfect Weight Forever" in John Walker's free ebook The Hacker's Diet (http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/e4/), then look at the chapter on "Signal and Noise." Once you're at maintenance, regular weigh-ins combined with some simple math can give you an early warning system for any weight gain.
Good luck!0 -
I have eaten 2 cups of sugar free jello to quell hunger today. I'm like FIGHTING with my self to wait till dinner to eat more. I think if I go to the party I'll just go ape**** and eat a hunk of cake the size of my face.
Also I am getting jealous of people who can eat more food than me. Yucky emotion. But I actually feel envy.
I would have written this post~0 -
Congrats on your success so far...
...however...
...what do you think happens when you reach your goal? Do you think you're done once you reach goal and it's all easy from here until eternity? I'd suggest that you not fixate on the goal so much because it's almost predictable what happens next if you declare "mission accomplished" and go back to what is easy.
That said, are you certain your calorie deficit is appropriate? Too large of a calorie deficit can make this more difficult than it needs to be...especially when you're dealing with those last few pounds. Also, weighing and measuring everything? Because with these last few pounds, you're hopefully dealing with a small deficit that can easily be wiped out with a few bad guesstimates.0 -
Agreed. Switch to 250/day deficit.
I looked at a few days in your diary. It looks like you average around 50-60g of protein. Eat more protein - it helps a ton in satiety. Check out this link:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants0 -
Lol albayin, I almost didn't include that I'm jealous. Went out to dinner with a 6 ft tall man and was feeling jealous at his "weight loss calories". I'm like if I had that many cals to work with I'd eat all the things!0
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I am with you. I have the last two pounds to lose. I started to do more exercise and this adds to my daily calorie allowance. Also something strange happened: I have been watching my diet for over six months until a couple of weeks ago when I had to go on a trip to Europe. I was not strict on my diet at all during that time as I had plateaued. In fact I over-ate on most days...when I got back home and weighed myself I had LOST half a kilo!
Since then, while I am watching to stay under my daily MFP allowance, I exercise more and eat more and I am losing weight!
So not sure whether this helps, but for me upping my calories helped me to get off my plateau.
Stef.0 -
Don't go to a party or anniversary dinner on an empty stomach. Fill up on green veggies or celery before you go. The more variety you have in your fridge the better. Have them cooked up and ready to heat.. Jello is basically water so you really aren't adding any nutrients to your diet which your body is craving. You probably interpret your need for nutrients as cravings for your sabotage foods. Artificial sweeteners can trigger cravings. Bring your own low cal appetizer of veggies to the party to share and a separate serving for you.
Another idea is to have a low carb/protein shake (whey or pea protein) that you make with a lot of ice and water and a couple of strawberries(low carb fruit) and a teaspoon of flaxseed. They fill you up for hours. Once you are full, you don't think of the goodies laying around.
Join a gym and fill your downtime with working out. Try out a new workout class like Body Pump or Body Combat or Yoga. Buy some workout clothes to get yourself psyched for it. If you eat the cake, commit to working out an hour more that day.
You might choose an alternate anniversary celebration like going to the movies(on a full stomach) or a walk at the park or beach, skating rink, bike ride, fishing, etc. rather than a food oriented celebration.
This is a good idea for maintenance, too.
Also, you may want to try a cleansing tea, which can restart a stall in losing weight. Hope this helps. Congratulations on all you have accomplished so far!0 -
I definitely plan on keeping on with mfp, tracking calories, using what I have learned here. Counting calories is a forever thing for me.0
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I changed my calories to 1630 and I will aim to eat below that when I can, but eat up to it if I can't. Thanks for the advice everyone. I will not give up! I can do this!0
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If the dreaded hunger episodes happen at the same time of day schedule an activity to distract you from it.First, the good news, I went from a women's 16 to a women's 8. I was, 175 when I started, and I am 135 now. Success! I walk for excersize most days, and improved my health to the point where I could discontinue medications for pcos.
I have 5 more lbs to lose, to be 5 lbs under goal, and I just can't seem to do it. 1400 calories per day is what MFp has me down for to lose a pound per week.
I'm hungry, and a little light headed.(dizzy when I stand) and it's very hard to stick to, like tonight, I'm invited to a child's birthday party with cake. I can't fit cake into my cals. So now what? Skip dinner?
Yesterday I was treated to a fancy dinner out, I had a delicious cheesy mushroom risotto, which I split, and ate a small amount, but sure enough I'm heavier today.
This weekend is my wedding anniversary, and I'm dreading eating out. Sit down restaurants are just calorie bombs.
Not to mention my binge earlier this week, where I ate a large amount of butter horns dinner rolls.
Why am I binging? Why am I hungry? Why isn't this working anymore? Ugh, I'm so close to maintenance and I'm f-ing up like a total newbie.
Plz help.
Since you already walk maybe schedule your walks for when you feel hunger.
re-evaluate your eating could you maybe be lacking something
How is your protein?
I mean real meat protein non of those powder/liquid gizmos
especially not whey...causes massive cravings.
I have since learnt that our body is not inert - Just like any person it behaves differently from day to day.
One of the great things that really helps keep me sane, when the devil hunger pang hits, is walking, loads of it.
Sundays were my undoing. I would do splendidly all week and come Sunday it will all go down the drain. I am talking ravenous mind destroying hunger pangs. It was so until I started planning loads of activity for Sundays.
Walking has saved me. I walk and walk until my bleddy appetite begs for mercy and I walk some more.
It seems to work....thus far.
I am so happy that I am nearly at goal..The hunger issue would sure have been a wrecking ball.0 -
I changed my calories to 1630 and I will aim to eat below that when I can, but eat up to it if I can't. Thanks for the advice everyone. I will not give up! I can do this!
I'm probably in the minority with this opinion, but I believe this is counter to your goals. It could be part of the the reason it's "tough now"...because it's tough to work around actual hunger because of too great of a calorie deficit...and one of the ways you end up in too great of a calorie deficit is falling short of your calorie target. (The other way is having too low of a calorie target.)0 -
About the dizziness: have your B12 levels checked. I was having similar problems, doctor tested and found mine was quite low. Now I take B12 and folic acid every day and the faintness/dizziness has all but stopped.
No guarantee that's your issue too, but it's probably worth checking! Good luck!0 -
Lol albayin, I almost didn't include that I'm jealous. Went out to dinner with a 6 ft tall man and was feeling jealous at his "weight loss calories". I'm like if I had that many cals to work with I'd eat all the things!
oh my god....I could have written this one, too...except mine is 6'2 tall...LOL0 -
Yep, switch to half a pound.
I'm in the same boat though... 133 pounds now, trying to get to 130, and it's taking forever because I keep going over :laugh: And I exercise way more than I used to so I can eat more (my goal is 1800 now though).
But I should probably get down to 125 to look as good as most women here, but frankly, f it.0 -
Oh yeah, getting to 125 would kill me, and be a case of diminishing returns.0
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I changed my calories to 1630 and I will aim to eat below that when I can, but eat up to it if I can't. Thanks for the advice everyone. I will not give up! I can do this!
I'm probably in the minority with this opinion, but I believe this is counter to your goals. It could be part of the the reason it's "tough now"...because it's tough to work around actual hunger because of too great of a calorie deficit...and one of the ways you end up in too great of a calorie deficit is falling short of your calorie target. (The other way is having too low of a calorie target.)
I'm killing myself for 1400 cals, but with the binge I had, the scale went up, not down this week. And I like seeing it go down, dammit.0 -
And finally...
(...and this may be a gender thing...)
...but I do not understand the quest to reach an arbitrary number that is just 2-5 pounds less than someone is now...especially if it's particularly elusive. Wouldn't it make more sense to focus that energy on increasing strength? Or some other metric of health? Or even some positive lifestyle change/habit not even related to weight/fitness/health? Sure, I understand not being satisfied with where someone is at a particular time and setting a goal accordingly, but there seems to be a lot of effort/energy/focus being spent on some very specific goal weights to the exclusion of other more meaningful metrics.
/soapbox0 -
bump0
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I changed my calories to 1630 and I will aim to eat below that when I can, but eat up to it if I can't. Thanks for the advice everyone. I will not give up! I can do this!
I'm probably in the minority with this opinion, but I believe this is counter to your goals. It could be part of the the reason it's "tough now"...because it's tough to work around actual hunger because of too great of a calorie deficit...and one of the ways you end up in too great of a calorie deficit is falling short of your calorie target. (The other way is having too low of a calorie target.)
I'm killing myself for 1400 cals, but with the binge I had, the scale went up, not down this week. And I like seeing it go down, dammit.
Then I propose you make sure you reach your calorie target every day for the next 2-3 weeks...and if the scale still isn't moving in the right direction, then reconsider your calorie target. You can't blame your calorie target if you aren't hitting it (in either direction) and you're more likely to binge if you're falling short of it too often. Also, against contrary to popular opinion, I recommend daily weigh-ins *but only if you can resist the urge to undereat on days where the fluctuation is in the "wrong" direction*. Scale weight is ridiculously volatile...so if your weekly weigh-in says you're +2, you may not actually be +2. You may be -1 for the week, but the timing of the scale volatility led you to believe you were +2 (which led you to conclude that what you were doing wasn't working when in actuality it was). (I have daily weigh-in records for several years...and if I take a one week interval, there are many times where the answer would have been inconsistent with the "true/smoothed average" weight.)0 -
And finally...
(...and this may be a gender thing...)
...but I do not understand the quest to reach an arbitrary number that is just 2-5 pounds less than someone is now...especially if it's particularly elusive. Wouldn't it make more sense to focus that energy on increasing strength? Or some other metric of health? Or even some positive lifestyle change/habit not even related to weight/fitness/health? Sure, I understand not being satisfied with where someone is at a particular time and setting a goal accordingly, but there seems to be a lot of effort/energy/focus being spent on some very specific goal weights to the exclusion of other more meaningful metrics.
/soapbox
I think you are correct...it's a gender thing. Not all females but lots are the same way...ran into one today...she is at goal but wants to lose another 2-3lbs...:huh:
It blows my mind as well. I hit goal today..bam done...I've been reverse dieting for almost a month now. Couldn't wait to hit that number...Yah food...0 -
Honestly, if you ate out and usually don't, your scale probably went up due to water retention. Lots more sodium in restaurant foods as a general rule. I did the same Mother's Day weekend. Took mom out to dinner, ate plenty, and added 3 lbs overnight. By the end of the week, my weight was back down to where it was when I took her out (not a good thing for me since I am bulking, but oh well).0
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First of all.. YOU ARE DOING GREAT and congratulations on your success. I know it is hard with those last five.. I am fighting right there with you right now. I just keep telling myself that slow and steady is PROGRESS it just isnt the pace I want. Also I take a cheat here and there. Like yesterday, I had one serving of my mom's (to die for) carmel cup custard. IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT.0
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Hmmm. I don't know why the last 5 lbs matter. But I'd like fluctuation room. And 140 feels too high for a lady who is 5'5....0
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Hmmm. I don't know why the last 5 lbs matter. But I'd like fluctuation room. And 140 feels too high for a lady who is 5'5....
Seriously...we are not lost twins?
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I second whoever blamed your recent wight gain on sodium. I gain 5lbs over night if I eat pizza. It's gone a couple days later.
As for dizziness, I would say that you need to eat more complex carbs and protein. There's a good possibility that your blood sugar is getting too low because of the foods you are eating. Here are some symptoms of hypoglycemia: hunger, shakiness, nervousness, sweating, dizziness or light-headedness, sleepiness, confusion, difficulty speaking, anxiety, weakness
Here's a quick read on hypoglycemia: http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/hypoglycemia/#what
I get hypoglycemic and I am not diabetic. If I eat something like pancakes, an hour later I will have the shakes and need to eat more (even if I've just eaten 1000 calories in pancakes). It's all about how my body reacts to the simple carbohydrates.
Definitely switch up your calories. I'm almost at my goal weight too and I think I've discovered that I actually lose weight after I've had a weekend of eating way above my MFP calorie goal. That tells me I'm doing something wrong and that it's time to start increasing calories (but I will do so with whole foods, veggies and protein).0
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