HELP I'm ready to give up!

I was worried with the composition of your meals. Well, I have some tips, but not necessarily you will like them:

- erase mayonaise from your vocabulary (I didn´t see butter at your diary, but it aplies to butter also)
- cheddar doesn´t help at all. Try cottage, low fat, white cheese or no cheese at all
- add fresh vegetacles and fruits, loads of them (specially vegetables)
- Eat grilled chicken breast every meal you can (the size of your hand (fingers together)
- try to limit you processed meal to 2 things a day (example: 1 atkins meal + 1 scoop of whey protein)
- exercise 1 hour a day, 1 day of weight lifting, another for cardio (5 to 6 days a week)

You can start with these, I believe it will help.

Good luck!

I've gone through your diary about three weeks back, and you very often seem to finish the day below 1200 net calories. Many experts say that's the absolute minimum that your body would need to function properly. If you eat less your metabolism will switch into starvation mode and do it's best to preserve energy. That's why you're gaining instead.

I'd suggest you try to average 1300-1500 for a week or two and see how that works.

And I also agree with everyone else that you need to eat more real food instead of shakes and supplements. This is a change for life - otherwise you will gain the weight again. Do you really want to live on those shakes for the rest of your life?

i agree with all of the above!!! i'm no expert but based on what my nutritionist talks to me about... you are eating way too much processed foods. although these items are marketed as diet, they contain chemicals that people react to differently. and also your dinners are extremely high in calories...you shouldn't be eating that heavy at night especially processed foods. your body doesn't break most foods at night so when we go to sleep it stores it instead. dinners should be light. TRY TO EAT A LOT EARLIER IN THE DAY THAN AT NIGHT.
i also noticed that although you work out. you are eating back about 90% of the calories you've burned. which makes the exercise useless.
might i suggest doing some sort of detox to get rid of those processed foods in your system before starting a new diet regimen.
YOU CAN DO IT..DON'T GIVE UP

Try a different exercise program. Switch it up. If you do jogging for cardio try swimming. If you like the bike, try the elliptical. Enroll in a class that is out of your regular routine. I just started a Dance to Fit class and it kicked my butt because it was out of my comfort zone and made me work twice as hard!

This is what I want you to try. I am going to post Daily Servings.

5 vegetables
4 fruits
3-6 whole grains
2-3 high-calcium foods
8 glasses of water

Weekly Servings
5+ beans
5 nuts
2 fish

One vegetable and fruit serving is equal to
1 medium piece of fruit
1/2 cup chopped fruit
1/2 cup cooked or raw veggie
1 c raw green leaves
3/4 c vegetable or fruit juice

Whole Grain Serving is equal to
1 slice whole wheat break
1/2 cup cooked brown rice or bulgur
1/2 cup cooked whole wheat pasta

High-Calcium Foods Serving is equal to
1 cup fat-free or 1% milk
1 cup fat-free or low-fat yogurt
1 cup calcium-fortified orange juice
1 oz reduced-fat cheese

Beans Serving is equal to 1/2 cup cooked beans/lentils

Nuts Serving is equal to 2 Tbsp chopped

Fish Serving is equal to 3 oz cooked

I hope this helps.

I don't want to sound harsh here, and I am certainly not an angel when it comes to trying to take the easy way, BUT (there it is, the BUT) ...looking over the diary from the 15th of April to present (21 days), I counted only 15 servings of vegetables TOTAL. I even included the partial servings to add up to a full serving. That's not even one full serving of vegetables each day. There was no end to the amount of processed items and meal replacement items.

The amounts of sodium in a lot of these items is pretty high. Can you say water retention?
Also, I'll bet your body would thank you if you let it process its own nutrients rather than handing it a bunch of already processed stuff. Part of what makes the human machine so amazing is the ability to take raw foods and turn them into energy and pull all the nutrients out. Give your body a chance to do its job.

Now I know it isn't always easy to deal with fresh veggies, they go bad in my fridge if they aren't already pretty bad off on the shelf at my store (Fresh produce is a joke in this town). But frozen vegetables are really good, almost as effective as fresh from the fields (and in some cases healthier because they haven't been sitting in transport on a truck somewhere) they have a lot of good nutrients and well, I don't think I need to go on, I think you get the point.

Maybe it's time to worry not only about how many calories you are putting into your system, but also invest in yourself enough to monitor the KIND of calories you are putting in there as well. You deserve the BEST!

If you have a performance vehicle, you give it premium gas and even if you are using regular, you aren't buying from the gas station that always has water in the fuel or other contaminants. You are asking your body to perform so...Treat yourself better than you do your car! You are so worth it!

Hi,
Congratulations on your success so far - You've lost and you've maintained that is no small victory.
I've had a quick look and I'm going to repeat a lot of what has already been said.
You seem to like the same foods I like, olives, cured meat, mayo, protein drinks, cheese, chocolate to name a few. Delicious but all high fat, and high salt.
I think you would need to come away from the idea that you can eat the foods you like so long as you keep below a certain number of calories - there comes a point when we can't fool our bodies anymore. Just try to slowly reduce it. Of the list above ditch at least 3 of the 6 from your diary for each day. Then the next day put them back in and ditch a different 3. Do this for a while, see what happens and if you get results push it more so that you only have 1 in your diary each day.
Good luck!

I agree with everyone..Lower your sodium..stay away from processed foods. if i can't buy it in the produce section or at the meat counter i try not to buy it.( except Tuna and Oatmeal) read all Labels..I do have teenage boys so there is always junk food in the house.

You might be stressing over it too much too which stress will make you add weight..Stck to a health diet 6 days a week have 1 splurge day but don't go overboard. Don't weigh yourself all the time..Weights before cardio and eat alot of protien. You need to fuel your body with good foods not Junk. keep your sugar under 40 grams a day. give up all Soda no alcohol ( except on your splurge day)..And remeber all Good things come to those who wait. I have been exercising and changing my eating habits since July 2010. only down 30 pounds..Slow and steady wins the race..Good Luck to you! Never give up :drinker:

OK somebody please help because I'm at the end of my rope! I've been trying to lose wt since July of last year and as you can see I'm down only 16lbs. It's really like 25lbs though becasue I lost about 10lbs before joining MFP. I did have a small wt gain of 6lbs back in March but lost that again in April. I do have hypothyroidism but have for 20 years and am well regulated with my meds. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I excercise, I document absolutely everything I eat, but I just CAN'T get it to come off! Although I don't log it I drink my 8-12 glasses of water daily........it is the only thing I drink except for the occasional diet soda. Would some of you PLEASE look at my stuff and offer suggestions? I just feel so awful, I feel like I'm trying so hard but with minimal results. What am I doing wrong? Does it seem that way to others or do I just need to suck it up!? :flowerforyou:

I checked out you Diary for a Week. OMG, where are the veggies and fruit and GOOD carbs. I suggest you check out LOW Glycemic (South Beach) not an Atkins type plan. Also, you are drinking wayyy to many Protein Drinks, Protein Bars...YOU are NOT eating real food.

I also took a quick look through your food diary and I agree, more real food and less shakes/supplements. I too noticed that you are usually under your calorie goal, but way above your fat intake. I would try eating more fruits/veggies and more complex carbs and watching your fat intake. As others recommended, watch your sodium as well. I am by no means a perfect eater, but my diary is public so feel free to take a peek (constructive critism from others is also appreciated.) Oh and ignore the food diary from yesterday, we were out of town and I ate out for lunch--which I rarely do--so yesterday was a splurge day Good luck and you can do this, I think that with a few modifications you will be back on track!