Not sure where to go from here...

NakeshiaBeard
NakeshiaBeard Posts: 83
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm having one of 'those' days. I want to stop, assess my life, throw out every piece of information and plan I have ever gathered about fitness and weight loss and start again on an absolutely clean slate. I even want to throw away all my lager clothes so I'm not tempted allow myself to wear stretchy pants and loose tops (all the more room for my expanding figure!).

MFP isn't really working for me lately. It's become all too easy to simply log whatever comes up first on my search, without even weighing food or checking the packet. It seems every food entry grossly underestimates the calories it contains and every exercise entry grossly overestimates calories burned, I simply don't have the willpower or mental energy to correct these defective entries.

I'm slowly but surely gaining weight and I feel like I need to wipe away everything I've been doing and start again from absolute scratch. I really don't know where to go from here.

Replies

  • peachyfuzzle
    peachyfuzzle Posts: 1,122 Member
    The tools you use to help your weight loss/gain/whatever like MFP are only meant as being an aid. The main footwork is supposed to be done by you. Sure, it isn't a perfect system, but if you know how many calories you're supposed to be eating, you're still going to have to know how many calories you actually ARE eating which would entail weighing, measuring, etc.

    If you're gaining weight, and you know something is wrong somewhere, even if it is in the calorie counting of MFP, then start taking foods off the plate gradually week by week until you start maintaining/losing.

    It wasn't easy to become overweight when you look at it, and it isn't easy dealing with being overweight, so it isn't, nor should it be, easy to lose weight.
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
    This is definitely one of the reasons I repeat meals all the time - I put my recipe in MFP and I wanna use it since it's about the only one I know is right!
    -
    Can you schedule yourself an hour to go in and clear out your 'recent' foods and replace them with more accurate ones? That way when you go in daily you'll be able them easily.

    And maybe some time for meal planning before you hit the store? I know that on the fly I am really lazy about logging, so I spent some time early on looking up brands/versions of packaged food and now I don't have to think about it too often anymore.

    Anyway - hugs to you, I feel what you're going through and I hope it gets better!!

  • NakeshiaBeard
    NakeshiaBeard Posts: 83
    peachyfuzzle wrote: »
    The tools you use to help your weight loss/gain/whatever like MFP are only meant as being an aid. The main footwork is supposed to be done by you. Sure, it isn't a perfect system, but if you know how many calories you're supposed to be eating, you're still going to have to know how many calories you actually ARE eating which would entail weighing, measuring, etc.

    If you're gaining weight, and you know something is wrong somewhere, even if it is in the calorie counting of MFP, then start taking foods off the plate gradually week by week until you start maintaining/losing.

    It wasn't easy to become overweight when you look at it, and it isn't easy dealing with being overweight, so it isn't, nor should it be, easy to lose weight.

    Thanks for your reply.

    I've been at this a while and I know I cannot possibly eat much less than I do right now (around 1500 calories, although this is probably more like 1600-1700 by real world calculations). Sure, I feel OK at first, and I might drop a couple of kgs... but then I start to become irritable, I can't concentrate, I start to get cravings, food starts to dominate my thoughts, my blood sugars go all over the place, I get headaches daily and I'm CONSTANTLY tired... I manage a workout but I'm so exhausted afterwards all I can do is sleep, I get constantly sick and take a long time to recover from strained muscles... this stays around all day every day for weeks, not just some of the time, but literally all day every day. What kind of way is that to live? What is my body telling me with these kinds of messages?

    I don't want an easy way out. I want to be able to eat enough good nutritious food to fuel my body for some kick *kitten* workouts that leave me sweaty and panting but energized... without having to worry about the kilos creeping on. I want to feel like eating is a joyful and nourishing process, not the constant battle for balance that it feels like now. I'm sick of playing numbers games that only leave me feeling confused and doubting my own judgements.

    Right now I feel like deleting everyone, kicking myself off the forums and maybe even signing up for a different calorie counting app... who knows, I'll probably feel better tomorrow, but right now this is how I feel and I need to get these feelings out.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    You're in a slump. They pass. But yes you have to recognize the slump and take action to resolve it. Sometimes the action could simply be a break. But hopefully with explicit plans to get back into fitness and proper nutrition at some point in the not so distant future. I know sometimes during my slumps I find it hard to believe I'll get back into it, but if you don't beat yourself up and truly enjoy at least some aspects of your journey, I do believe you'll get back into it!
  • shadowloss
    shadowloss Posts: 293 Member
    "I want to feel like eating is a joyful and nourishing process, not the constant battle for balance that it feels like now."

    Eating can be a joyful and nourishing process, but it's ALWAYS going to be about balance. It takes work to be successful at anything, whether it is your weight, your financial status, your friendships, your marriage, what ever the hell it is, it takes work and balance. If it weren't we would all be rocking hard bodies and diving off the back of our yauhts in the carribean.

    Sounds like you had a bad day, or even week. We all do, but those that fight through it, will be the ones with the success stories that we all strive for. Good luck.
  • NakeshiaBeard
    NakeshiaBeard Posts: 83
    shadowloss wrote: »
    "I want to feel like eating is a joyful and nourishing process, not the constant battle for balance that it feels like now."

    Eating can be a joyful and nourishing process, but it's ALWAYS going to be about balance. It takes work to be successful at anything, whether it is your weight, your financial status, your friendships, your marriage, what ever the hell it is, it takes work and balance. If it weren't we would all be rocking hard bodies and diving off the back of our yauhts in the carribean.

    Sounds like you had a bad day, or even week. We all do, but those that fight through it, will be the ones with the success stories that we all strive for. Good luck.

    Maybe balance was a bad word... I should have said constant mental battle... for example I feel guilty if I eat something with high calories, but then I feel guilty if I don't eat enough because then I'm not giving my body what it needs.

    Sometimes I think I just don't have the mental and emotional capacity to deal with all that comes with weight loss. I'll build myself up for a while, then come crashing down big time (there are tears, days spent in bed trying to avoid the world, then working myself into exhaustion because I never feel like I'm doing good enough to meet my own standards).

    For today I quit.

  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    Quitting will not get you to your health goal so that should not even be an option. You have to push yourself through those periods. If you don't have one, get and use a food scale, log your food, and save your meals for future use. Do the same for recipes.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Maybe a two week diet break is in order. They don't mean go hog wild, them mean you eat in moderation, but you aren't weighing, measuring and logging everything.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Maybe a two week diet break is in order. They don't mean go hog wild, them mean you eat in moderation, but you aren't weighing, measuring and logging everything.

    Good idea - that, or maybe a couple of weeks in maintenance mode? That way you aren't quitting and undoing all the good work you've already done. You sound like you need a break. <3
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    I track on nutritiondata.com. (All my recipes are in it. Major investment to switch.) Maybe you'd like it for a change of pace. Much more detailed nutrient information. Maybe you're deficient in a mineral impacting metabolism? Best of luck!
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Lager clothes. It gave me pause. I re-read it. Still "Lager clothes." I thought maybe they were clothes people wore to make beer when they do those brewing things. Then I kept reading and it said baggy shirt and I was like, "Why do you need a baggy shirt to make beer? Wouldn't a closer fitting shirt be more ideal, so it doesn't get in the way?"

    Then I realized it was a typo. You're getting rid of larger clothes! That made much more sense! :grinning:

    I don't know if you know, but you can create your own entries for food you eat a lot. Then you don't have to search through the database.

    You can lose weight without logging. Millions of people do! Just eat a little healthier and maybe little less and exercise.

    If you need a break from the logging, take it!!! I do that, too. It gets to be too big a chore.

    One time I found myself reaching for the peanuts to grab a small handful. Then I realized I'd have to weigh them. Methought about the work involved and though, "Screw it." I didn't eat the peanuts because I didn't want to bother logging. That's when I knew I should take a logging break, lol.

    Hang in there. The weight loss journey is a long one and there are bound to be a few bumps along the way!
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
    OP, I looked back through about a week of your food diary. IMHO, you are lacking sugar and fats. Protein is just okay. You are mentally ready for a break, so eat with purpose, and eat well. Stay within a few hundred calories of your daily goal, eat purposefully and enjoy eating. My own weight loss journey was that for every ten pounds lost, I gave myself a few days to a week to eat at maintenance. But I never took my eye off the ball. Even while pigging out on pizza and banana splits, I had a plan and never forgot that plan. I went right back to that plan when I felt ready. Good luck, it will happen if you stick with it long term.
  • lemonlionheart
    lemonlionheart Posts: 580 Member
    Aw, she deleted her account :( hope she figures it all out.
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