I'm Getting Very Frustrated

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For the last 7 weeks I have been exercising regularly and staying at or slightly below 1200 calories a day as recommended. We have one reward day on Sundays to help manage the cravings and to help the body to not plateau. I started out losing around a pound or less each week. For the last three weeks I have stayed at the same weight and even my body fat percentage has stayed the same. Today I actually gained .3 pounds! It is so discouraging. Has anyone else had this happen lately?

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  • exfatboy21
    exfatboy21 Posts: 4 Member
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    how many grams of carbs are you taking in per day?
  • libbydoodle11
    libbydoodle11 Posts: 1,351 Member
    edited October 2014
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    How much weight are you trying to lose each week? A pound a week is fine. Have you looked into a TDEE calculator? You can google one and enter your stats and go from there.

    Edit: Watch the sodium content on your foods.
  • 4daluvof_candice
    4daluvof_candice Posts: 483 Member
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    Open your diary...
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    How do you keep track of your food? And do you log your Sundays to make sure you aren't completely wiping your deficit out?
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
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    Blah, a plateau! Is there any chance you are getting enough sodium to bloat you up lately?
  • Llamapants86
    Llamapants86 Posts: 1,221 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    How do you keep track of your food? And do you log your Sundays to make sure you aren't completely wiping your deficit out?

    This and just a reminder that weight loss is not linear and body fat measurements on scales or the hand held things are very inaccurate.
  • Ind3p3dent
    Ind3p3dent Posts: 11 Member
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    The Diary is open now.
    I have been logging my reward days mostly. Sometimes I forget.
    I have been eating below my carbs according to the charts I can pull up.
    I probably have an issue with sodium and I should eat more fresh veggies. I stick to mostly meat and fruit since I have not found a way to cook vegetables that is not disgusting in my opinion. The vegetables I do eat are potatoes and corn but I limit them since they are starches.

    I should take some measurements to see if I am getting smaller without weight loss. Maybe I have put on some muscle... I thought the body fat percentages were supposed to be accurate.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    So much fast food/eating out/frozen foods...yep, your sodium is probably skyhigh.

    There isn't anything wrong with those overall (I eat fast food at least once a week), but maybe limit how many times you go out? And find ways to start cooking at home.

    Lastly, you aren't going to gain muscle eating in a calorie deficit.
  • marlovs78
    marlovs78 Posts: 75 Member
    edited October 2014
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    I see some 300 days, some 900 days. Probably not accurate? You really have no idea about your real calories since you do not log consistently or accurately. Most here will tell you that is so important, more so than worrying about carbs. I was also doing a cheat meal and not logging it. I found out I was eating so much on the cheat day it offset my caloric loss on the other days and I lost no weight.
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
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    Its not what you are eating its how much you are eating. Also you will almost certainly not be gaining muscle.

    Looking at your diary, are you eating those exact makes of the foods you are logging or are you pulling generic entries off of the MFP site?
    Are you weighing everything you eat with a digital scale?
    Are you eating or drinking anything that you are not logging?

    When you do log your reward day, what sort of calorie levels are you eating?

    This wont be about too many carbs, not enough meals, meal timing etc it will be about too many calories
  • michaelachallis
    michaelachallis Posts: 137 Member
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    I should take some measurements to see if I am getting smaller without weight loss. Maybe I have put on some muscle... I thought the body fat percentages were supposed to be accurate.

    i doubt it. impossible to gain muscle eating at such a large deficit.


    few thoughts:

    stop eating out, or save it for once a week.

    watch sodium - water retention.

    weigh your food - if you are guessing you might be eating double what you think

    stop these "reward meals" sounds like it might be a mega calorie load and potentially offsetting your deficits during the week, why not incorporate treat foods into your calorie allowance, will make you feel less deprived.
  • 4daluvof_candice
    4daluvof_candice Posts: 483 Member
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    Seems as though you need to log more accurately...