I've logged in for 100 days straight but still not lost a pound!

open your diary.

Wow! Good for you for logging on for 100 days straight. That is totally impressive. I am such a newbie to my fitness pal. I have only logged on for 15 days. What has been helping me these last couple of weeks is to log all of my meals in the morning before putting any food in my mouth. I give myself permission to change or add a bit so long as all the numbers stay blue. For example, today I was going to have a homemade burger for lunch. This sounded delicious this morning. However, when it came time to eat, the burger sounded less fun. I added a bit of blue cheese to see what would happen to my totals, and they were still fine. I kept playing around adding this and deleting that, until it sounded really yummy. The result was that I spent time thinking about food rather than eating it. When I finally did eat lunch, I enjoyed it so much. And I feel really great right now.

I have been working out a bit recently and my trainer shared a couple of points that might help you. She pointed out that food that is lousy for your body usually excites you before eating it, but you feel lousy afterward. Conversely, food that is great for you doesn't usually excite you before you eat, but you feel great afterward. You just have to remember those before and after feelings. My trainer also set me a challenge of being mindful of what I eat for 21 days because that is how long it takes to create a habit. You have already established the important habit of logging your meals. You should be so proud of yourself. Maybe you could try staying within in your totals for just 21 days. I am only on day 15, as I said. But the time is flying by. I bet your 100 days did too.

I see the little one in your profile picture. It's hard when you are trying to feed your family as well. Good luck to you, and don't give up. You have come so far already. Give yourself a bit of credit.

Maybe try reducing calories for just one meal a day & eat your usual for the others. Over time this could add up to a lot. I know you can do this & want to or you wouldn't be here! Good Luck!

Em_runs_away wrote: »

I really need to lose 3 stone but I can't seem to eat less! I log my food honestly and it's depressing but I still can't motivate myself to change. What helps you?

Are you gaining weight or have you stayed the same?
Maybe change your goal if it is too restrictive to begin with. Try to reset it for 1 lb or .5lb loss per week and see what that gives you for calories.
How much do you typically go over your calorie goal usually? Maybe take the number of calories you are eating and try to go below it by 100-200 calories for a week or two. Gradually work on reducing your calories.

Pre-logging my food for the whole day helps me. I see how everything fits. I make better choices.
Eating food I like helps me. I haven't changed the type of food I eat much. I just eat smaller portions of higher calorie items. If I have pizza I might have 1 or 2 slices and a salad instead of half a pizza.
Drinking water and waiting an hour to see if I am really still hungry. I drink mostly water and unsweetened tea so I have more calories for food.
Exercising somehow about 30 minutes every day. Viewing it as something I do like brushing my teeth.

Em_runs_away wrote: »

Thank you for such a supportive reply. You're right, I need to make a choice. I'm ready to lose weight. I don't know how to dispel the negativity though.

Probably fear, low confidence, past experience, confusion. Maybe youve tried lots of times before and are bored with it going wrong? I have no idea. Understanding the negativity is your first step to dealing with it and making sure it doesnt drag you down.

To get rid of the negativity you need to identify what it is and then nail down how you will deal with each aspect by having the correct atitude and mindset to deal with it and preventing it from holding you back. Once you understand this and have the right mindset, then you just need a decent plan which you can slowly implement. the idea is that once you start to hit targets, then you will build some momentum and confidence that your actions will yield results. You have done great by logging your food and logging on for 100 days many people dont do that. Thats commitment.

Then you need a steady plan of how to control what you eat and moving a bit more.

Its just a case of rinse and repeat and watch the weight steadily fall off as long as you have done the math right and record your food accurately. The trend at least will be downwards.

You can lose 3 stone in about a year as a rough rule of thumb. The point is you also need to have in mind that it will take some time, but you will get there if you apply yourself. Progress will make it seem less like a chore.

Add me if youd like, ill give you some tips on how to eat healthy and stay eating healthy.

Em_runs_away wrote: »

Thank you for such a supportive reply. You're right, I need to make a choice. I'm ready to lose weight. I don't know how to dispel the negativity though.

I wonder if after a few days staying within your limits, the negativity will begin to dissipate. I often feel so stressed when I procrastinate. I really whip myself about it. Then once I get started on the project or whatever, the stress goes away. The getting started part is easier said than done, I know. Maybe you need to just take a short break from berating yourself for what you think you should have accomplished, congratulate yourself for what you have accomplished and take the next step. Then hopefully you will feel pleased enough about those next steps to continue. At that point berating yourself won't seem necessary.

Absolutely eating out is not good. I have had to stop, or just get veggies or a salad with balsamic.

Em_runs_away wrote: »

I really need to lose 3 stone but I can't seem to eat less! I log my food honestly and it's depressing but I still can't motivate myself to change. What helps you?

Wow. If it's hard to motivate yourself to change you will never see it. People now a days "want" and "wish" for everything but don't want to put in the work. When you are active in your fitness and nutrition the results come, not always right away and that's when most people give up

The key, for me, is keeping things out of sight, out of mind, but still accessible. I only allow myself a little chocolate if the craving arrives, and I keep it in the fridge - the cold helps me to eat it slower and most of the time I don't desire to go back in the kitchen for more. It's all mind over matter, too. No food is "banned" for me, but if I know I'm going out or I'm going to indulge, I log it ahead of time and work the rest of my day around it. If I know I'm going to go over, I workout extra that day, because it makes me feel less weighed down.

Only YOU can decide to do it, but we're all here to be there along the way.

I lost loads last year. Down from 103kg to 92, but then I fell off the wagon and was back up to 103 by new year! I'd lost all motivation, couldn't be arsed to log or even think about why my trousers were tight again.
In the end, I went for a routine asthma check up at the docs & they weighed me there saying "no change then".
I asked what support the surgery could find & they referred me to their "lifestyle coach", Darren. He's a top bloke, who knew I could lose weight. The motivation he gave me was "come back in 2 weeks and we'll see how you've got on." So far (admittedly only 1 week in) it's working. Having to share my weight with someone else means that I'm more likely to work to lose the weight. I can share it here, as I don't know anyone, but standing in front of someone reading out those number... I don't think I could cope if they weren't going down! I can't imagine Darren will be judgemental, or non-supportive, but that's not the point. He's not just about the numbers, he will help with my diet & actually suggested I used MFP so we can look at what I eat, but my motivation is the key factor here.
So the end result of all this splather is find someone to share this journey with if you can. Maybe a slimming group, or your local doctors surgery, or just a trusted friend. Someone who is there when you stand on those scales. That's my advice anyway!
Ben

Be patience, this site doesnt do magic, it is just a tool, if you cheat your the only one that knows, start the days like new days dont punish yourself for what you ate, start all over again and dont quit you have the chance to make good decisions every day.

Kisses and the best of luck