HELP!!!!!!!

So describe what you mean by "eating better"...

Are you tracking calories? Have you estimated how many calories you burn in a day?

Or just "subbing out pizza for salad" (as an example)?

Weight loss isn't as much about WHAT you eat as it is HOW MUCH you eat. You can eat salad til you're blue in the face, but if you eat more calories than you burn, you aren't going to lose weight.

Don't give up. It does take time for your body to adjust to every little change you are going through. If you're eating better, try clean eating recipes 3 days per week and see what that'll do for you.

Can you open your diary please?

This is from a friend on here, Trog. This and the link to "sexypants" he has in it were the most valuable pieces of advice I got when I joined MFP. Read up and try to implement and be honest with yourself.

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

...and here's another approach.

Block off 6 weeks. log EXACTLY what you eat for those six weeks, weigh at the beginning, weight at the end. If you've lost, you're eating under your TDEE. If you haven't lost, congrats.. you found your TDEE, if you've gained... then you're above TDEE.

From there, look at how much you lost or gained and you have a rough estimate of how to shift your intake to balance it out.

Online calculators are great, but they're just estimates. They give you decent ideas for starting points. From there, it's on you to fine tune it.

It's slower weight loss but a loss, nonetheless. That's a good thing!

Have you lost inches?? I've only lost two pounds since I've started using MFP, FitBit, and working out almost daily. Now, working out is not full blown at a gym. I run on a treadmill at work (between 1 and 2 miles, depending on my time), and do some exercises at home. On weekends I tend to do some mild hiking... So, clearly nothing major.

That being said, my body fat % has dropped quite a bit (over 6%), my thighs, waist, and hips have decreased by an inch, and my biceps increased mildly due to the exercises I do at home.

Am I thrilled that my weight number hasn't gone down as much as I would like? Not really. But muscle weighs more than fat, so my lost inches is proof for me that in the one month that I've been tracking things is working.

For an informed opinion on the problem, you need to open your diary, then we can know what is going on.

What is going on is that she is eating at a very small calorie deficit, about 250 cal per day.

If it says 1900 calories, eat them daily. Don't try to eat less.

It's fine to eat less than that amount, but most normal-sized adults shouldn't eat less than 1200 cal per day unless supervised by a doctor. (If you're very short, it's reasonable to eat less.)

if you starve yourself thinking you will lose sooner, your body clams up and holds onto the pounds.

:grumble:
Why does this lie keep getting trotted out?!
If you eat fewer calories than your body needs, you will lose weight.
You have to. It's physics - you need enegy to run on, fat is energy (carbs are the preferred source, glucose & then glycogen; fat is after that, and muscle a distant third because it's an inefficient source of energy), fat has mass & weight, so when it's converted into energy & used up you will lose weight.




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