Begging for help-and I never do that!

I looked a few days of your diary - you do seem to go over on calories a bit. Plus your sodium intake is quite high. Mayeb those are areas you could tweak a little?

Good luck!

I am not a dietician, and am going to sound like your mom - but I know I would not lose anything eating what you are eating..... If it was me there would be lots more vegetables, and fruit and less Atkinks bars......

I think you should try and get back to some good healthy real food - in the end of the day it is not just about the calories - it is actually about a good balanced diet.... the USDA's Food Pyramid shows what a good healthy diet looks like....

I do eat the Atkins Bars as well - maybe once or at most twice a week when I skip a meal .... but they I dont believe they should be a big part of your daily food....

http://www.mypyramid.gov/guidelines/index.html

Just had a little look on your diary aswel and a lot of your food consumption is shakes and bars. You need to add more vegetables and fruit in your life and replace the bars for a fruit salad or raw veggies with a low cal dip.

Try to follow this rule, "If Grandma couldn't grow it,or kill it, then don't eat it" That being said, stay away from processed foods, and go with foods that you prepare yourself. Processed foods have a ton of sodium and a lot of empty calories. Fresh fruits and veggies, whole wheat , no white processed flour or sugars, oats, water, water, water. A good rule of thumb, it it has more than 6 ingredients then don't eat it. Lean red meat, a couple times a week, ground turkey is a good subsitute, chicken and fish.

I'm not an expert either, but I'm doing Turbo Fire and have lost 5 pounds this week and 40 since Dec. Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.

Beverly

LOVING the Grandma quote! My sentiments exactly!

In addition to everything else that has been said above, it looks like the bulk of your sodium intake is happening in one meal - mostly at lunch time. You can easily decrease your sodium intake by going with meats that you prepare instead of deli style meats. Deli meats are loaded with sodium as a preservative.

The best way to get your nutrition in sync with your goals is to be prepared. I usually make enough food at dinner time to bring leftovers for lunch the next day. I also only put healthy items into my lunch box to help me avoid junk food. Pack plenty of fruits and veggies, Greek yogurt (which is much higher in protein and lower in carbs than regular yogurt), almonds, etc.

I do believe that you will see a need to increase your calories to lose weight once you start eating more nutritionally balanced meals. Take a look at my diary - it's certainly not perfect, but it will hopefully guide you in what kind of foods to eat. I'll warn you that this week has been heavy on the red meats for me, which is unusual. I usually balance between poultry and red meats.

Mel

Sunshine.. enable the 'Sugar' row in your diary.

feel free to add me.

Thanks, I took it off because I eat 3 portions of fruit each day which always takes me over and it was annoying me. I try my best to stay away from processed sugar anyway apart from if I'm caught out for longer than expected and have to have a protein bar or granola bar

:happy: :happy: :happy:

You have given some great advice

It looks to me that you are routinely over calories! I would also make sure your exercise calories are estimated accurately. If you are not using a good HRM than I would cut those in half if you are not losing. I agree with adding more vegetables to the mix and cutting the high sodium processed junk.. But I absolutely disagree that the USDA food pyramid is healthy. It is a contrivence based on poltics and marketing, not science.

Quoted for truth on the Food Pyramid!!!!! :drinker: :flowerforyou:

You need to make better food choices, and do not go over you calories so much.

I saw burger king and chocolate bars in your food journal and you were over on like 5 days.

The days you exercise you log a lot of calories. I would make sure those are with a HRM so you know they are accurate. I would also make sure your goals are realistic. It didn't look like you had too much more to lose, so you should be set at .5lbs a week. That might make it easier for you to stick with it and eat within your calorie range.
Keep in mind the closer you get to your goal the slower you will lose it and the less room there is for error. That is why it is important to make sure your calories and exercise calories are correct.

Best wishes.

I took a look at your diary and I noticed something was missing from the last few days: VEGGIES and FRUITS...but more green leafy veggies will help you clean out your system and help you realease some of that water...

I also see a lot of processed foods...maybe foods from more natural sources would help...

Are you trying a low carb diet? I see a lot of Adkin's bars...Maybe you could replace those with Luna Bars...they have more carbs and fat and calories, but they are more natural (there's only 2 ingredients and you can even make them at home) and gives your body what it needs.

I hope all of this helps

*HUGS*

I busted my butt last year and stalled for months. Literally nothing worked.

But, so far, this year, I've lost 18 pounds.

What worked for me was this: I gave myself 2 months off from deficit eating. I relaxed my exercise and kept it to yoga and walking outdoors. Then, on the set date to start again -Jan 1, I began measuring my calorie burn with a FitBit (turns out I don't burn nearly what I thought during exercise) and weighing/measuring every single thing I eat. Not assuming that bowl of cereal is about 1 cup, not logging that chicken breast at 4 oz because it looks about right, not sloshing some oil in the pan and logging 1 tbsp. No, put it in a measuring cup, spoon, bowl and on a scale and be exact!! I began a form of exercise that was/is extremely difficult for me (running). At first, it was more like lurching...and gasping for air...but I improved and I kept at it and in between, I lift weights. Run/lift/run/lift/run/lift/rest is how my schedule looks. And finally, I do not cheat. No cheat days or meals or weekends. I allow myself to eat up to maintenance once a month and eat at maintenance for 1 week, every three months, but it's a very controlled event.

My thought was that I'm not special. My body cannot defy physics. So if I eat at a proper deficit and work hard enough, I WILL lose weight. Even this year, I went through 6 weeks of no loss, so I upped my protein, pushed harder on my runs, dropped calories 100 or so a day, and started losing again.

Basically, I had to decide that my weight was more important than eating/drinking stuff I don't need. And that an extra 5 minutes to weigh and measure is worth it if it helps me lose.

Good luck and don't give up!!

But I absolutely disagree that the USDA food pyramid is healthy. It is a contrivence based on poltics and marketing, not science.

Right on the button. A sad but true fact.

How about replacing Lunch with Shakeology? Healthiest meal of the day!

Replace a solid meal of REAL, filling, nutritious food with an over-priced liquid shake? Worst advice of the day! :grumble: