I am getting a little frustrated

blueturquoise
blueturquoise Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am getting a little frustrated.

I am a 5'5, 32 year old female that started at 175 lbs. Since January (5 months) I have been on a restricted diet of 1500-1800 calories per day. Most of that is lean proteins, Fresh fruits and veg, some dairy and whole grains. My big trigger food is sugar and chocolate. I have cut That down a lot and no longer partake in the 3pm goodies and snacks at work. I keep a dark chocolate chunk in my desk for the days i can't control my cravings and then i let myself have 1-2 squares. My body is pretty low on B12 and D usually so i try to take supplements (as recommended by my doctor) but i will admit I am not good at taking them every day. My thyroid tests are normal.

I normally bellydance once a week for 90 min (twice a week every second week), do Yoga and zumba each once a week. For work I am a teacher so i stand usually at least 1/2 of the work day and I take public transit or walk everywhere i go. 2 months ago I also started running 2.5 K four mornings a week. 1-2 a week I have a glass of beer or wine.

The frustrating part is that I have noticed a little slimming of my tummy and ribcage area but my weight still remains at 172. What am I doing wrong?? :( I feel like I am following all the right steps but I don't really see the results. Am I eating too little or too much? Do i have enough protein? Do I need more exercise or wight training? I never by snacks or junk and have never drank pop but i feel like I am at a dead end.

Typical days meal:

Brekkie
2 eggs (soft boiled) +1 slice Silverhills little big bread (plain)
or Plain oatmeal with goji berries, hemp hearts, unsweetened raw coconut and chia seeds

coffee with skim milk
1 fruit

snack 1-
fruit or veggies and hummus

Lunch
1/2 cup plain yogurt with blackberries
2 types vegetables- steamed or baked
palm size of meat- (usually chicken, fish or tofu)
1/2 cup quinoa, rice or beans
1 apple

snack
almonds with fruit or veg
earl grey tea- with skim milk and tsp honey

Dinner
Similar to lunch but no yogurt or fruit usually

6-8 cups water

Replies

  • hlcook
    hlcook Posts: 92 Member
    I would up your water intake significantly.

    I drink 3.5L of water per day.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Oh wow, we have very similar stats but your activity throughout the day is much more than mine (I'm sedentary)

    Set your diary to public here at the bottom of the page:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    Do you log everything every single day using a food scale? Do you eat back exercise calories? If you're not losing weight at the rate you think you should, then you may not be eating at [enough of] a deficit

    Also how often do you weigh? Once I got my scale working correctly and started to weigh at the same time everyday, I could actually see a much clearer pattern that my weight was going down, or maybe that it was going up due to monthly water retention and then a big drop two to three weeks later... That sort of thing
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    If that's really what you're eating, you are doing great in terms of activity and food. So this must be really frustrating.

    Back to basics . . .

    Are you accurately measuring or weighing everything? It is easy for small things to add a few hundred extra calories, which would cancel out your deficit.

    Is your activity level set to sedentary so that when you log your exercise it gets added on top of that? I also teach at a university and walk to work and I would have sworn I was a heck of a lot more active than my fitbit shows me to be.

    When I first started I set myself to lightly active (which is true). I had to drop back to sedentary to lose, but did log all my exercise and eat it back.

    I'd try it. You may just need to drop back some more calories, but eat what you've earned through that exercise.
  • stevee290
    stevee290 Posts: 85 Member
    I'm just going to guess and say 1800 calories is over and 1500 is under and you are breaking even. Also a "palm size" may weigh more than you think.
  • blueturquoise
    blueturquoise Posts: 13 Member
    whew 3.5 litres of water a day? How do you manage that? I can only do that on my days when I am active all day. >_< And don't get me wrong, I love the taste of water.

    Janel, I usually log most things by cup size instead of weight. Days that I exercise as posted I still have that similar meal plan. On days that I exercise more (like if I went day hiking or something like that) I do eat more. Depending on the exercise day, if it was a hectic one I will be closer to 2000-2200 cal but on a normal day it is 1500-1800 cal. I have been bad at logging my diary on fitness pal the last few weeks but i keep it in a book instead. I will try to update it this week so that I can post it. I weigh about once a month but I think some times I might be retaining more water as you say from various monthly body cycles. That is a good idea to do it more often to see patterns.
  • sanj1956
    sanj1956 Posts: 4
    Just a thought......maybe not enough milk or dairy in your diet??? Seems like I do better when I try to have a cup or two of skim milk a day..... You are doing so well watching your intake at a young age! Hope you start to see better results! (Although the body changes sounded like positive results to me!!!)
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    Indeed, without a food scale, it really is impossible to know exactly how much you're eating. It can be very eye-opening when you measure out a "portion" of hummus or almonds. It's much smaller than you think.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Okay that's some pretty good info. Read these threads as you log more accurately on MFP for a few weeks at least. Definitely get and use a food scale. You've tried things for a minute using cups, etc. It's time to amp things up for more predictable results :)

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

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1296011-calorie-counting-101

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
  • blueturquoise
    blueturquoise Posts: 13 Member
    it is pretty much palm size. I don't buy those ginormous chicken breasts that you can get for cheapo but usually the more normal size ones. My meal will will usually incorporate half of one breast maybe with herbs, veggies, mushrooms or some kind of sauce made from chopped tomato, pepper, onion, garlic. (I eat a lot of korean or hungarian style foods like kimchi dubu, lecho or chicken paprikas)
  • blueturquoise
    blueturquoise Posts: 13 Member
    hummus I usually have 1/2 of those little tupperware widgets. Its about 2 tbsp's. Almonds are the whole widget.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Oh and be careful with exercise calories. Sometimes MFP gives you very large #'s to eat back. Some people do a percentage say 50 to 75% of exercise calories. I'd say with something like hiking, if you can find a way to log just the steps and eat those back, that might be better

    FYI playing with your numbers I got: 1630 calories to lose .5 lb per week and 1380 to lose 1 lb per week. If you're between 1500 to 1800 I'd put you more in the .5 lb per week range. With such a small loss per week, you have to either exercise a ton or be super accurate with your logging to see results. I did switch to the .5 lb per week myself and it's really quite nice to see consistent, steady results
  • RaggedyPond
    RaggedyPond Posts: 1,487 Member
    2 eggs (soft boiled) +1 slice Silverhills little big bread (plain)
    or Plain oatmeal with goji berries, hemp hearts, unsweetened raw coconut and chia seeds

    coffee with skim milk
    1 fruit

    snack 1-
    fruit or veggies and hummus

    Lunch
    1/2 cup plain yogurt with blackberries
    2 types vegetables- steamed or baked
    palm size of meat- (usually chicken, fish or tofu)
    1/2 cup quinoa, rice or beans
    1 apple

    snack
    almonds with fruit or veg
    earl grey tea- with skim milk and tsp honey

    Dinner
    Similar to lunch but no yogurt or fruit usually


    This is def not 1500-1800 calories.
  • blueturquoise
    blueturquoise Posts: 13 Member
    Thanks guys. I will try some more water, dairy and food scale stuff. Thanks Janel for the sites and I will weigh myself more steadily to see if I am noticing a trend.

    NXD- yes i have my activity level set to mostly sedentary for those days that I am at my desk more or don't get to run so MFP only recommends about 3x30 min workouts for me at 1500 caloric level.

    Steve I am not sure I can bring it to less than 1500. The days I do and I have been working out, I am starving if I do that and then have more tendency to snack on something not in my meal plan.
  • stevee290
    stevee290 Posts: 85 Member
    The food scale will solve your problems I'm sure of it. Good luck!
  • agent99oz
    agent99oz Posts: 185 Member
    Try for a week and lower your carbs so 30 or more less a day, and then eat slightly more fats for a week - like good fats avocado etc. This may kick start something for you....

    Just be weighing and measuring everything and don't step on the scales for a week and see how you go

    Thanks

    D
  • horn777
    horn777 Posts: 2 Member
    I suggest to weight everything you eat. Sometimes you can eat more calories than you think. Keep up the good work and the weight will fall off.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Blue,

    Please open your diary so that we can give more concrete evidence. It's not about what you eat but how much.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    2 eggs (soft boiled) +1 slice Silverhills little big bread (plain)
    or Plain oatmeal with goji berries, hemp hearts, unsweetened raw coconut and chia seeds

    coffee with skim milk
    1 fruit

    snack 1-
    fruit or veggies and hummus

    Lunch
    1/2 cup plain yogurt with blackberries
    2 types vegetables- steamed or baked
    palm size of meat- (usually chicken, fish or tofu)
    1/2 cup quinoa, rice or beans
    1 apple

    snack
    almonds with fruit or veg
    earl grey tea- with skim milk and tsp honey

    Dinner
    Similar to lunch but no yogurt or fruit usually


    This is def not 1500-1800 calories. You are either starving or lying.
    No. She's not starving or lying. Underestimating calorie intake is what's going on here.
  • blueturquoise
    blueturquoise Posts: 13 Member
    Janel I really liked your article about "logging accurately." It had some good information about which items to choose on the MFP list, ratings, and looking deeper into the item which i don't always do to make sure it is accurate. I will start using my scale more so I can log in weight instead of cups. The ones downside of MFP is that many things are in imperial instead of metric weights. >_< Oh well I will try to do conversions if there is not a metric option.

    Right now I have also been trying to keep good track of my measurements weekly as well since I feel that even if i don't notice as much weight change but more change there, that will still show progress. Right now it is about 3 inches down on ribcage and 3-4 inches down on waist even though the weight was only 3 lbs. All others have remained the same.

    I feel like I also need to get a bit more weight training in my exercise regime as I feel like I do mostly cardio. So I might add this a few times a week. I just read a really good article about exercising more like a man with less reps and more weight to get more muscle mass.

    Thanks everyone, I will update this post in a month or so to see if there is any change.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Hah, Ms. SezxyStef would be pleased (author of logging accurately post)

    SLLRunner, it seems the OP elected not to make her diary public at this time, but also mentioned there was not much in it - the last couple weeks anyway
  • smn76237
    smn76237 Posts: 318 Member
    Glad you're moving to a food scale, OP. Your oatmeal breakfast for example is likely a whooole lot more calories than you think because all those items you put in it are calorie dense (even though they are all healthy). And hummus, oh god hummus, an actual serving size of 28g/2 tblsp is waaay smaller than I ever imagined. It makes me so sad.
  • blueturquoise
    blueturquoise Posts: 13 Member
    Does anyone have any recommendations for logging weirdo foods? For example, today for lunch I made some pasta that was pretty odd. Spinach macaroni noodles, homemade pesto made from garlic, basil, kale, pea shoots, lemon juice, olive oil and feta. Then grilled mushrooms, peppers, onion in it. I really don't know how to log meals like this.....Do I for regular macaroni and a generic pesto but that is not accurate....
  • smn76237
    smn76237 Posts: 318 Member
    Use the recipe function to create your own recipe. You add all the ingredients to the recipe builder then enter the number of servings. U personally weigh each item as I add it to my recipe, then weigh the final product altogether and divide it into 100g portions.
  • blueturquoise
    blueturquoise Posts: 13 Member
    Great thanks.

Categories