HELP!! What am I doing wrong? 8, 10, ......12

As they say... you don't find the time, you make the time.

I am not sure what to tell you. I too work full time and am extremely busy but I make time to workout two or three times a day. Even a short workout is better than no workout.

The amount of food one eats (in calories) affects whether your weight goes up, goes down or stays the same. You need to determine the number of calories you need to eat based, to some extent on your activity level.

To get a whole lot of good information, read the postings pinned to the top of the "getting started" forum. You can also just put your info into the MFP calculator and let it tell you how many calories to eat a day.

To lose one pound, you basically need to burn 3500 more calories than you take in. It's not exact but it's close enough on average for most people. If you want to enter your own numbers, you can go to http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ and get estimates of your own TDEE and then subtract 500 calories a day for 1 pound per week.

You can either include your exercise in the calculations or figure out your sedentary TDEE and "eat your calorie back" or some portion thereof.

And remember, if you are within 1 stone or so of your goal weight, you are likely to find those last few pounds much harder to shake than someone like me who's 10 stone over.

Edited to add: If you wanted to burn those 2500 calories through just running about 6 mph, which is the speed my nieces your age ran the NY Marathon, you'd need to run about 3 hours and 20 minutes without increasing your food intake. Better to combine a healthy diet with controlled portions and exercise.

As they say... you don't find the time, you make the time.

I am not sure what to tell you. I too work full time and am extremely busy but I make time to workout two or three times a day. Even a short workout is better than no workout.

+1

Look for little ways to increase your activity level. If you have a gym at work, hop on the treadmilll and walk during your breaks and what's left of your lunch after eating. If you DON'T have a gym, walk around the building...or do stepups (up and down on the bottom step of the stairwell). Park farther from the door in the morning. Every little thing you can do to increase your activity level will help.

From the food end..the easiest thing to cut is liquid calories...if you drink full calorie soda, switch to 1/2 calorie or 10 calorie of full on diet (0 calorie) if you can. If you drink a lot of alcohol, cut back to only on weekends. An easy way to reduce some of your fat intake is to blot high-fat foods, like pizza, with a napkin before eating. You won't seriously affect the taste but if you drop 30 calories and 30 calories there it starts to add up over the course of a week.

Are you logging your food? I can't see your food log so I don't know.

Find out how much you should be eating on days you do and don't work out. Then find out how you can make your meals as filling as possible within that calorie range.

More protein and fiber rich foods, less processed and sugary foods.

Hello, I am 28. Two years ago with vigorous exercise and dieting, (with plenty of free time on my hands as I was a student) I was able to reach my goal weight of 9st 4lb. Shortly after this I damaged my ankle and had to seriously reduce the amount of cardio exercise I could do meaning I gained weight. I changed my exercise routine and included alot more weight training as I could not do impact sports. I have been now able to comfortably squat with 50kg and leg press 95kg - attending gym 3 times per week with lots of other cardio in everyday life, such as cycling and walking.
Since October I have been working full time in a stressful but rewarding job, which means I can only go to the gym at the weekends, I have equipment at home so I can do stuff at night but I find I am too tired from work. Since October I have gained a stone and no matter what diet I try I am unable to lose the weight. I have a stack of trousers that do not fit me anymore and the ones I am in are getting tighter. Since doing the squats etc I have noticed I am more toned, but all the muscle is under a layer of bumpy fat that I cannot shift. My other half recommended I eat more so I could exercise more but this didn't work. I tried eating less but I get headaches. I have tried to exercise more but get too tired. I want to get back to the size I was before but I am starting to feel hopeless.
How can I work full time but have enough energy left for exercise OR alternatively how can I eat well at work?
I want to work full time but lose weight!!

Instead of lecturing about finding time or what have you, I will post my current schedule (some weeks I cross train exclusively) I am training for my eighth marathon and I have two jobs:
5:20AM: rise and shine, feed and let out dogs. Pack breakfast and lunch. Out the door by 5:45am or latest 6.
6:15-6:45-- fight Los Angeles traffic and get to work.
Eat my breakfast at work with kids (I teach )
11:30-- lunch time
2:30--done with work, head to gym
4:15--head home to let dogs out quickly, head to first student (tutoring position)
5:15--teach for an hour
6:30--teach for another 1.5 hours
8:15--home, take dogs for 3 mile walk.
9:00--feed dogs, make dinner.
11:30--bedtime.
On weekends I do lesson planning for the week, do my 13-20 mile long run. I also have three students over the weekend I teach for eight hours total. I am not superwoman, I am no different than you. I just like the feeling of getting s%&$ done and accomplishing my goals. Sure I have the occasional day (like today) I get to go to the gym and then actually go home after-- no more work, but being busy keeps me from eating stuff I shouldn't as well. Now get up and do something. No more excuses.

Thanks for all the responses people. To give you an idea of Mon-Fri:
My average day consists of this:

Up at 7am: Drinking black coffee no sugar. Eat Burgen Soya and Linseed toast with marmite or Scottish porridge oats with a banana, (no sugar).

8.15: Walk to work - 1/2 a mile. Run groups, on my feet walking around the ward for 3 hours - I drink water from a bottle.

12 noon: Eat lunch whilst writing notes at desk. Lunch normally consists of: Spinach leaves, tuna/mackerel OR Crustless vegetarian quiche OR peanut butter and marmite sandwich in soya and linseed bread. With snacks of banana, apple, actimel, nuts. Drink - Water or black coffee.

More work and notes. Can't eat between 12 and 5pm.

5pm Walk home.

5.30pm: Dinner - Quorn chilli and brown rice. Salmon fillet and salad. Baked sweet potatoe and tuna mayo. Scrambled egg on toast.

Three nights a week = walk to various clubs for my son. Average 2 miles walking.

7.30pm: Green tea and cashew nuts. Two nights per week cycling on bike in front of TV for 20 minutes.

10.30pm - Bed.

I try not to eat more than 2 slices of bread a day. I try to drink water all day at work. I am a vegetarian and make sure I get my protein from fish and nuts.

Advice on how I can not necessarily lose weight as I want to keep the muscle but I would like to be physically smaller...........

I appreciate your day and while I am not intending to upset or imply less busy...here is my schedule

Up at 4:30-drink apple cider vinegar and half apple and prepare for gym
5:00 leave for gym
5:30-6:30 gym (HIIT training)
6:30: home protein shake and prepare for work
7:15: leave for work (drink my coffee)
7:30: At work-Check in with staff (I am a boss)
8:00: eat breakfast (eggs or yogurt that I prepared the night before) during meetings
10:30: eat snack (other half of apple)
12:00 eat lunch
2:00: eat snack (depends how hungry I am-protein bar, almonds or veggies)
6:30: head home
7:00: dinner
8:00: pack breakfast and lunch for the next day
8:30: family time (random things)
9:30: prepare for next work day
10:00 go to bed

Additionally- In the fall and spring I teach 2 nights a week from 6-10pm. I do workout 5-6 days a week. I go with less sleep but I feel more rested now since I workout regularly.

I hope that helps in showing it can work, but it is a commitment. I am lucky that I have a supportive husband with my girls. I log everything and my diary is open.

Although I appreciate seeing your schedules, it doesn't help me identify a plan that I fit into my working week. My other half works shifts so I am parenting most evening's and weekends. When my son does go to his clubs 3x per week which are held in the gym I go to the gym or a class. I simply cannot do early mornings, they are my worst time to try and exercise.
Is what I am eating okay?
I have just done a 40hr fast as my son had a tummy bug and I felt like I had caught it. I also cycled 10k during this fast.
I am taking this opportunity to start a new diet:

Eggs
Fish
Fresh Veg
Fresh Fruit
Nuts
Olive oil
Coconut oil, milk and water
Flaxseed
Oats
Stevia
Natural Yogurt

No bread
No processed food
No refined sugar's

This all sounds great but it's not really the types of foods that you're eating, it's the quantity. Surely eating clean and green helps tremendously with overall health but for weight loss you need to make sure you're eating less than your burning. When you say you just can't get up early for a workout because it's your worst time... well, all I hear are excuses there. Sorry. I don't want to sound stingy but there are plenty of people who were not, or are not morning people (including myself) who just do what they have to do to get the physical aspect of their nutrition plan in. Personally, I get out of bed at 4:00 AM and sleepwalk down to the elliptical for a 20 minute burn every morning. Do I love it? hell no! Does it work into my overall plan to burn over a thousand calories per day? Yes!

Exercise is key as part of an overall healthy nutrition plan. If you start doing an early morning workout eventually you will make it a habit and it won't bother you anymore.

Like another poster suggested, find little things you can do like walking up and down stairs. Get up and move around for a few minutes every hour. When you go to a store park as far away as you can and get the steps in. When you walk... walk with intensity instead of just strolling. I am sure you could find time to do three minutes of jumping jacks at some point throughout the day, no?

If your current plan isn't working for you now you just have to make some changes to it. Being a vegetarian can be difficult for sure but if you do the research you can find a lot of good alternatives to meat. Do you have a juicer or mixer? I have a Nutribullet and use it to make one meal replacement per day, usually lunch. Protein, fat and healthy carbohydrates are awesome for your body but if you're not using the up fuel you're giving yourself you're not going to lose weight. Maybe add even more veggies to your plan and eat less of the other items? Do you eat a lot of fruit? Fruit is awesome and beneficial to your health but sugar is sugar and if you're eating more servings than you should that could be detrimental to weight loss too.

If you truly don't have time to workout due to work, just know that you can find a cal goal to lose weight without exercising.

It's not ideal but it's simple CI/CO logic.

If you had a regular 9-5 schedule you could workout both weekend days and just choose ONE day during the week to workout, whenever you think it would be least intrusive to your work schedule, probably friday night. It seems weird but it's concievable that you could workout Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and this would constitute your 3 days a week of workouts.

I used to do this for a bit back when I was finishing up college and had a full time 9-5 job.

I'd do work and school and mommy time all week. Then on Friday I'd get a family member to babysit while I cleaned my house and did a 30-60 minute workout late at the gym. Then on Saturday I'd do another workout with whomever I made plans with at the beach or biking or whatnot. Then on Sunday late, I'd do an in home video workout before making my food for the week. IT wasn't easy or ideal but it worked for me for awhile to keep my spirits up and my weight in check.

Hope this helps :flowerforyou: