any advice for me?

e1lindsay
e1lindsay Posts: 230
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Okay so i've been at this for a couple months...i've lost 6 pounds total, but i kind of feel like i've been at a standstill for the last 2-3 weeks...it's not as if i don't have plenty to lose, so i feel like it should be coming off easier than this. I eat mostly all healthy foods, always stay within my MFP calorie goals and exercise 3-5 times a week...i always eat back MOST of my exercise calories, leaving a few behind in case i underestimated my food calories or overestimated my exercise calories. could anyone offer any advice on what might be going on? I know i ate a ton of sodium that past weekend, but i don't think that should've slowed my progress so much...i typically stay under on everything but sugar (i eat a lot of fruit)...
i just ordered a HRM off ebay, so maybe that will make my calorie counting/exercising easier??

Replies

  • aimgirl
    aimgirl Posts: 50 Member
    How many calories do you eat in a day? (not including the exercise) The HRM will give you a better reading on your calories for sure.
  • e1lindsay
    e1lindsay Posts: 230
    MFP allows me 1360 calories a day...i have my weight loss goal as 2 pounds a week...do you think i'd have more luck if i switched it to 1 pound or 1.5 pounds and was allowed more calories?
  • ShellBelle76
    ShellBelle76 Posts: 36
    Sounds like you need to shake things up. Your body becomes complacent. Change up your workout routine. Maybe a little more or up the intensity or something.
  • kykykenna
    kykykenna Posts: 656 Member
    I dont know if your body is anything like mine (obviously...lol) BUT I can tell you, NOTHING affects my scale any worse than sodium. I was "stuck" for what seemed like forever until I started watching that. Less processed foods, etc, for me...made a HUGE difference. That and eating through the day. I kind of graze like a cow....lol....but it is what works for me.

    Also! I started loosing WHEN I finally swapped from a 2lb loss a week to a 1lb loss...I say YES....TRY IT!!!!:)
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    sodium WILL hurt your progress that much. After a sodium heavy day I am up 3 or 4 pounds for 3 or 4 days, and it takes a few days of a ton of water and eating really clean for me to kick it out again.
    Keep it at 2000 and you'll notice the difference.
    Get at LEAST 8 cups of water a day, and make sure you eat enough. Your NET should never be below 1200, and should really be equal to your goal number.
    You can try a week or 2 at the 1 lb per week setting (which will be 1860) to throw a curve ball at your body, then lower it again to the 1360, and give it a week to take hold, and it should start to fall off again. Mix it up every few weeks. Unless you eat more than 2360 you won't actually gain weight. (2360 must be your maintenance if 1360 is your 2 lb a week loss goal, since it subtracts 1000 a day for 2 lbs and 500 a day for 1 lb.)

    and yes, the HRM will make a big difference, as long as you got one with a chest strap, preferrably polar, since the ones that are JUST a watch are useless.
  • e1lindsay
    e1lindsay Posts: 230
    ok, i think i'll try swapping down to 1 or 1.5 pound loss for a bit to try and confuse things a little, calorie wise...
  • RajwaJ
    RajwaJ Posts: 191 Member
    I was set at 2lb a week and was losing about a 1lb. I changed it 2 weeks ago to 1lb and my level from active to lightly active.. got to eat 300 extra calories a day and the 1st week after this change I lost 4lb, this week about 2.5lb. I'm guessing I needed to eat more.

    Plus I also increased my water intake to 8 glasses a day. Guess it all helps.
  • mariarose88
    mariarose88 Posts: 37
    You may want to be careful about eating back so many of your exercise calories until you get your heart rate monitor. I know this is not the MFP way, but for the last three months that I've been at this I have not been eating back many of my excercise cals (200 at the most) and I have lost 27 pounds so far. I saw a lot of the warnings on MFP about eating your exercise cals but figured what I was doing was working for me at the moment so I wouldn't change it. I'm really glad I didn't! I just got a heart rate monitor and it turns out I have been burning WAY fewer cals than I thought I was, like hundreds. That may be why you're not losing as fast as you think you should be. MFP's exercise counts are really really inaccurate.
  • mbvenske
    mbvenske Posts: 239 Member
    without knowing what your diet is, I would suggest that you lower your carb intake a bit.
  • bluebird321
    bluebird321 Posts: 733 Member
    Lower the carb/sugar/processed (the body doesn't metabolize it that well) and eat more green veggies.
    Thats my opinion.
  • yes_i_can
    yes_i_can Posts: 419
    Sodium definitely makes a HUGE difference - up to 5 pounds with me. So, I would say lower your sodium as much as possible, up your water intake, and eat lots of low-sugar/starch veggies (i.e. no corn, peas, avocado, etc.) and things should get back on track.

    Good luck!!

    (Edited - don't ya hate typos?? ;)
  • kdao
    kdao Posts: 265
    Lower the carb/sugar/processed (the body doesn't metabolize it that well) and eat more green veggies.
    Thats my opinion.

    Agreed. You have received some great advice here already. I just took a quick look at your diary, and the sodium and sugars are on the high side. Try upping your cals and eating cleaner. Best of luck to you!
  • RNewton4269
    RNewton4269 Posts: 663 Member
    Shake up your workouts a bit...do the elliptical instead of just the treadmill...add in some Zumba...or even some weight training. Change what you are eating...drink a lot more water...you have to change everything up from time to time..Your body gets in a rut. Trust me it has happened to me every stretch of the 27 pounds I have lost since January. I had to change it up every few weeks to see the scale move..but it did move. And the HRM will help immensely. I just got one myself and found I was actually burning more calories..so more food intake for me..to counter balance everything. Good luck to you!!! You sound like you are on the right track..just need to change it up a bit!
  • e1lindsay
    e1lindsay Posts: 230
    thanks everybody for all the tips...i'm gonna try and put some of them to use. i stopped eating back ALL of my exercise calories last week, because i figured MFP wasn't completely accurate on food cals or exercise cals...also, my sugars are always super high because i can't seem to stop eating fruit. any suggestions on things i can supplement for fruit? i especially like to mash it up in my oatmeal in the morning...
  • bluebird321
    bluebird321 Posts: 733 Member
    thanks everybody for all the tips...i'm gonna try and put some of them to use. i stopped eating back ALL of my exercise calories last week, because i figured MFP wasn't completely accurate on food cals or exercise cals...also, my sugars are always super high because i can't seem to stop eating fruit. any suggestions on things i can supplement for fruit? i especially like to mash it up in my oatmeal in the morning...

    My own experience is that eating sugar first thing in the morning starts a vicious cycle. I focus on good protein instead (locally bought eggs or a lean meat). The protein promotes satiety and makes me feel full... and there isn't a "sugar crash" which has me craving even more sugar. I eat avocado -- it has fat, but my body can metabolize it much better than sugar and it is a better source of potassium than starchy, sugary bananas. Here is a listing of low sugar fruits.

    FreshFruit Totalsugars
    Lime 0.4
    AvocadoCalifornia 0.9
    AvocadoFlorida 0.9
    Lemon 2.5
    Tomato 2.8
    Casabamelon 4.7
    Strawberries 5.8
    Papaya 5.9
    Guavastrawberry 6
    Guava 6
    Grapefruitwhite 6.2
    Grapefruitpink 6.2
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