Frustrated!! Not Losing Weight!

I looked up your diagnosis and it looks like it has a serious impact on your metabolism. You need to talk to your doctor about this.

I was going to say the same thing about the sodium. Also, on your diary today for example, you've almost hit or surpassed all of your numbers and you haven't had dinner yet. I don't say any of that to be unkind, I struggle with the same things (I imagine we all do or we wouldn't be here) but I would try to eat less processed ready to go kind of food.

Also, what type of exercise are you doing to reach that 500 or so calories MFP says you're earning for the day?

Okay, but the calories are still pretty high a lot of days too. Again, I don't mean to come off as insensitive, but it seems like you're going over most of your numbers every day and I imagine that's slowing down your loss quite a bit.

Maybe try eating back just some of your exercise calories? I don't trust their calculations for calories burned and so don't ever eat back everything they say I can...personally I'd rather take the larger deficit. Either way, best of luck to you...God knows it's a struggle!

I'm sorry, but that kind of attitude is what frustrates me! You're frustrated that you never lose the weight and you've tried pills, etc. but how about just plain eating better and moving more? There is no magic cure! Hard work, commitment, a desire to change, those are the things that will get you to your goal, not some ridiculous plan that includes all the junk you love.

(OP-that was not directed towards you)

stop eating processed foods, move more..I have struggled with my weight for years too. I did the whole weight loss classes, pills ect...they don't work!! I know I am still learning about foods etc.. watch the movie " Food Inc " It's on netflex..trust me when I say you will never look at food the same again...

I peaked at your diary and whoa man whoa...you eat lots of unhealthy foods (sausage, bacon, real butter, bisque soup...). Keep an eye on your macros. Watch your sodium, calories, fat, etc. and try to stick with the MFP recommendations.

You might want to get your cholesterol checked...

Hang in there! I know its hard. I struggle with my weight as well. For me the key has been forcing myself (and it was hard!) to stop eating anything processed (with a few exceptions). I eliminated pasta, dairy, canned foods, eating out and pre-packaged freezer meals. I now eat chicken, fish, steak and lots and lots of steamed green veggies.I also eat protein bars and shakes my doctor recommended. (You can probably see them in my food diary if you want to know what kind) I also drink about 1gal of water a day. This has always helped me to push past the plateaus.

I know it sounds awful to make these changes. I've been there. If you can jump in full force though and motivate yourself to cut out all processed foods and eating out for just 90 days you'll feel sooo much better about this kind of eating as a lifestyle change and by this time you'll have gathered a whole list of recipes that will break up the monotony. You'll start feeling better and enjoying foods you didn't like before.

I'm not saying you have to be perfect all the time. Try to limit yourself to 1-2 cheat meals a week. Its worked well for me to keep me from going off the wagon too far for too long.

Also if you are under a lot of stress find things that help you unwind...at least for me stress contributes to weight gain and to eating things I shouldn't.

Yes...I use a food scale. I do low impact aerobics at home. I am still narrowing down the target pulse rate, but today's was 120. I know about the sodium, but have been focusing on the carbs and calories. I'm still narrowing down percentages.

While carbs and calories are no more or less important thant sodium (depending on your situation, some might have certain health restrictions), it's an overall balance to maintain.

I am not sure exactly what your normal schedule is like, but I would eat more home cooked food. For example, soup (especially Campbells) is jam packed with sodium and it's really not good for you.

In looking at your intake, you are taking in a lot of carbs. For example, one day you had one slice of white bread for breakfast and then 2 at lunch. From bread, that's a lot of carbs and starches which will turn to sugar in your body if you don't use the energy. Have you ever researched clean eating? I follow an 80/20 rule: 80% of my food comes in the form of clean eating while 20% does not; this is so I don't go nuts. But if an item of food got from it's original state (IE - field, tree, etc) to your mouth in 5 steps or less then it's good. The more refining and processing food has to go through, the more perservatives and (usually) sodium it will contain. And if it's completly man-made (say like Campbell's soup) then well, you know. I am not saying to cut carbs (I don't think cutting any specific macro or food group is especially helpful) but just to watch how many grams of carbs you consume because your body will use the carbs you consume daily for energy and if you run out of those carbs your body will essentially start to use fat stores for that energy, which is how you lose fat when doing a lot of cardio because you're burning energy like no body's business.

If you're watching your carbs, I can't imagine how many you consumed before starting this. Not to sound mean, but a package of Chef Boy R D (sp??) that you logged had 74 g of carbs in it and like 1,400 mg of sodium. I know they're cheap and easy but just because they are low in calories doesn't mean they're doing your body any good. That's a TON of stuff your body (or anyone's body) doesn't really need. Making home made pasta with low-sodium tomato sauce would be better (and you could probably have a slightly bigger serving). The point is: processed, ready to go food are not good and they're probably contributing greatly to your stall in weight loss. Carbs (energy) that aren't used will turn to sugar in your body and then your body is digesting sugar, basically.

I would say, from my experience (and this has nothing to do with your condition) one of two things is happening: a) you aren't burning as much from your exercise as you think you are [MFP grossly over estimates calorie burn] or b) you're consuming more than you think you are - and with the amount of ready-to-go, processed foods you log I think that's the more likely situation.

And (finally - I know this is long) there aren't really any fruits or veggies in your meals - most of your calories come from foods that are not so great for you; eat an apple or some cut up peppers with lite ranch dip with your sandwhich instead of Tostitos and Chili Cheese dip. If you were able to have one pop a week (start with every other day or something) I bet you'd see a different really quickly. And if you're doing low-impact exercises, how did you burn 1,000+ calories? I know some low impact exercises can burn that much like spin for example but if you're just starting out, I think this may be an over-estimate on caloric burn. And buy some whole grain bread if you're going to eat that much bread - at least you can get some fiber in it. Although if you can cut down on the amount of bread products you eat, it'll probably help a lot too.

Feel free to add me - I'd be more than happy to provide support, motivation, good receipes for meal prep, and so on.

Good Luck!

I really appreciate all the responses. I guess I eat more processed than I realize. I thought I was doing good with buying organic stuff and stuff that had fewer chemicals and ingredients. I have been focusing on the low carb and working towards 100 g per day, but noticed that I feel sick with less than 1500 cal per day. I'm trying to figure it all out. I was raised on processed and fast foods and it has taken a long time just to get to this point. I don't know how to cook very well (trying to make homemade pasta would def be a miracle right now haha). I had stopped the fruits cause of the carbs, but I will add those back in and go back to making my salads. Is the frozen chicken breasts highly processed? Any recommendations on resources for simple meals I can make from scratch? What about frozen veggies or fruits?

Incidentally, a lot of people mentioned the chef stuff. It's not part of normal diet, I tried it cause it had potassium and fiber. It doesn't taste good though. Neither did that kettle soup I tried...I could taste the salt in it. I haven't found a bread that I like that is low carb and/cal. However, I haven't been focusing on less processed kinds yet. I guess I have to sacrifice calories for less processed carbs??

You can eat processed/packaged foods and lose weight. You may have issues with water retention, but when it comes to losing actual fat...it's about the calories. Nothing wrong with frozen chicken breasts, fruits and veggies.