What am I doing wrong??

Hollycole
Hollycole Posts: 13
edited September 25 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone, I have been a member since 2/22/11.....I have lost 3.2 lbs. in that time. Now although I am happy about losing weight....I really thought I would have lost more by now. I am staying under my calories daily, exercising 3-4 times a week, and I have even cut way back on alcohol intake. Anyone have any helpful tips for me?

Thanks!

-Holly

Replies

  • Sara1978
    Sara1978 Posts: 213 Member
    You may want to open up your diary so that folks can see what you are eating.

    Also, 3.2 lbs in one month is very respectable progress!
  • hottamolly00
    hottamolly00 Posts: 334 Member
    Are you logging your workouts? I believe MFP will let you know that you're probably not eating ENOUGH calories. That could cause what they call "starvation mode" which is actually counter-productive. Make sure you're not starving yourself.
  • Charli666
    Charli666 Posts: 407
    are you logging your alcohol? drinking enough water to counteract the alcohol and sodium in your diet?
  • Hollycole
    Hollycole Posts: 13
    Yes, I log my alcohol......but I definitely struggle with my water intake. Thanks for the tip.
  • snookemz
    snookemz Posts: 82
    how much do you have to lose and what are you setting your goals at? If you have 20lbs to lose and have your goals set at 2lbs a week you're probably not being realistic and would need to change your goals to .5-1lb a week to actually lose your target
  • Hollycole
    Hollycole Posts: 13
    Thanks Sara....I made my diary open.
  • callipygianchronicle
    callipygianchronicle Posts: 811 Member
    .8 pounds per week is respectable progress, very close to 1 pound per week. And depending on how much you have to lose, you may not lose more than that a week. But if you look at that over the course of a year, that would mean a loss of 41 pounds. Nothing wrong with that.

    But, in order to truly help you’ll need to open up your diary so that the members can help you spot potential problem areas.

    Edit: Just saw that your diary is now open. Scratch that last line.
  • Charli666
    Charli666 Posts: 407
    water is soooo important, if your body is dehydrated, then it retains water! sometimes quite a bit of it, there are lots of tips out there, but it does depend partly on what works for you, good luck x
  • Charli666
    Charli666 Posts: 407
    you're diary isn't fully completed for the last few days, so its difficult to say for sure, make sure you are eating at least 1,200 cals a day unless a medical proffesional has advised you otherwise, and make sure you eat 3 regular meals a day, (and some snacks if you like) so your body never feels like its going to have to go without food x
  • callipygianchronicle
    callipygianchronicle Posts: 811 Member
    Just looked through the past two weeks. My first suggestion would be to change your diary settings to so that you are tracking sodium. Given the amount of bread, cheese, and processed foods that currently make up your diet, I suspect that number is pretty high. Also, you’re skipping out on logging. A lot. Unless you go days without eating, in which case, you will also have poor progress. If you aren’t logging it, it’s too easy to believe you’re eating one way when the numbers tell a different story. So, until you get religious about logging everything, every day for at least two weeks straight, it will be hard for you to know what’s working and what isn’t.

    Edit to Add:

    I also noticed a strong tendency toward white foods (biscuits, pizza, tater tots, dinner rolls) and caffeinated beverages. And very few fruits, vegetables, or high fiber items. This means your body is missing critical enzymes and can’t perform optimally. Working to increase these items in your diet is very important for your overall health, but will do wonders for your weight-loss goals.
  • gburkhart2
    gburkhart2 Posts: 72 Member
    I took a quick look at your diary. At first glance, you may want to track your sodium as well.

    There is probably more beer in your diary than should be there if you're really focused on losing weight. It is "low calorie" beer, but alcohol does wacky stuff to your body. Most studies show that your body will process the alcohol before it will process anything else. So while you're consuming less calories, your body isn't burning them because it's processing the alcohol. I would cut back even more. I think it would help quite a bit.

    http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/research/alcohol.htm
  • Hollycole
    Hollycole Posts: 13
    Thank you all very much! I have added sodium to my diary. And I just took a look at my diary.....and YES I need to log everyday.....I didn't realize how much I slacked last week! Again, thanks so much for the extremely helpful tips.
  • mara232
    mara232 Posts: 93 Member
    I checked your diary for the last three weeks. Some days you don't log (I know when I don't log I go over my calories) and I noticed that you're eating quite a bit of processed food as well. Try to add more fresh fruits and veggies, cut the carbs and processed meals and watch your sodium.

    Pop for breakfast? Yikes. I'd cut that out asap. I hate to be blunt but you're eating a lot of junk on a daily basis. Get Tosca Reno's Clean eating book and pick some recipes from there - I bet your lbs start flying off of you. Good Luck!
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