HELP! I'm busting my butt and still gaining!
Showe53188
Posts: 32 Member
Hello, my name is Samantha and I am 26 years old. I have been walking 1-2 miles everyday. Oatmeal for breakfast salad for lunch and a meat and fresh vegetable for dinner. What am I doing wrong? What can I change?
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How long have you been doing this for? What's your starting weight, how much have you gained? How often do you weigh? Can you open your diary?0
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Open your diary so we can advise you better. Ensure you track every mouthful, don't forget drinks, and check portion sizes. What you burn through walking will vary enormously on your weight and speed. If you haven't already, consider changing your MFP settings to lightly active and not tracking walking separately.0
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Showe53188 wrote: »Hello, my name is Samantha and I am 26 years old. I have been walking 1-2 miles everyday. Oatmeal for breakfast salad for lunch and a meat and fresh vegetable for dinner. What am I doing wrong? What can I change?
- Are you weighing your foods ACCURATELY?
- Are you getting accurate calorie burns? E.g. are you using MFP's suggestions or a HRM?
- Are you actually eating in a deficit?
OP, your thread doesn't really tell us what you have and haven't done. Not the best for information, so I'm going to assume you aren't measuring things accurately and aren't getting accurate calorie burns.
Doesn't matter if you're eating oatmeal for breakfast, salad for lunch and meat for dinner - you need to be in a caloric deficit.
If you're using MFP's suggestions for calorie burns, I suggest you only eat 50% as they are known for over-estimating. If you're using your HRM for calorie burns, then I suggest you eat 50-75% as they aren't full-proof.
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IsaackGMOON wrote: »Showe53188 wrote: »Hello, my name is Samantha and I am 26 years old. I have been walking 1-2 miles everyday. Oatmeal for breakfast salad for lunch and a meat and fresh vegetable for dinner. What am I doing wrong? What can I change?
- Are you weighing your foods ACCURATELY?
- Are you getting accurate calorie burns? E.g. are you using MFP's suggestions or a HRM?
- Are you actually eating in a deficit?
OP, your thread doesn't really tell us what you have and haven't done. Not the best for information, so I'm going to assume you aren't measuring things accurately and aren't getting accurate calorie burns.
Doesn't matter if you're eating oatmeal for breakfast, salad for lunch and meat for dinner - you need to be in a caloric deficit.
If you're using MFP's suggestions for calorie burns, I suggest you only eat 50% as they are known for over-estimating. If you're using your HRM for calorie burns, then I suggest you eat 50-75% as they aren't full-proof.
Agree with this.
I've been at this for 11 months, been in maintenance for 4 months and this to a tee.
Weigh your food.
You could also be overestimating burn and eating too many back if you are accurately weighing.
Weigh your food, and give it a few weeks.
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It's not what you eat, but how much you are eating. Open your diary.0
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everybody is going to take a guess but there is only 1 correct answer.
here are the 11 most common reasons and I assure you that the answer you seek is listed
http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/0 -
I just want to take a second to thank everyone who's replied. I read it all and realized that I don't track as accurately as I could and i eat back my calories way more than I should. I looked at an even deeper issue. My food diary is closed. I asked myself why and I realized because I'm embarrassed because I guests mate way too much. A lot of my diary I have either exercised a lot more than it shows so it looks like a over ate hundreds of calories or I didnt input my dinner or somedays didn't put my food or exercise at all. What I reay need help with is making sure i track everything. Thank you everyone for calling me on my *kitten*. I needed a dose of reality!0
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Brilliant article!everybody is going to take a guess but there is only 1 correct answer.
here are the 11 most common reasons and I assure you that the answer you seek is listed
http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
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Showe53188 wrote: »I just want to take a second to thank everyone who's replied. I read it all and realized that I don't track as accurately as I could and i eat back my calories way more than I should. I looked at an even deeper issue. My food diary is closed. I asked myself why and I realized because I'm embarrassed because I guests mate way too much. A lot of my diary I have either exercised a lot more than it shows so it looks like a over ate hundreds of calories or I didnt input my dinner or somedays didn't put my food or exercise at all. What I reay need help with is making sure i track everything. Thank you everyone for calling me on my *kitten*. I needed a dose of reality!
Love your attitude! Keep it up, you will get there
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Showe53188 wrote: »I just want to take a second to thank everyone who's replied. I read it all and realized that I don't track as accurately as I could and i eat back my calories way more than I should. I looked at an even deeper issue. My food diary is closed. I asked myself why and I realized because I'm embarrassed because I guests mate way too much. A lot of my diary I have either exercised a lot more than it shows so it looks like a over ate hundreds of calories or I didnt input my dinner or somedays didn't put my food or exercise at all. What I reay need help with is making sure i track everything. Thank you everyone for calling me on my *kitten*. I needed a dose of reality!
Yup, much of the time we already know what we are doing wrong but don't want to admit it to ourselves, let alone to others. Go for a week of accurate logging (weighing all solid and semi solid food (peanut butter for example) and measuring all liquids except water), then open you diary and come back here. People are really good at giving suggestions to tweak your food to maximize the calories and macros.
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The usual suspect is: Eating too much.
I'd start the investigation there.0 -
Brilliant, that's the first step right there. I track everything, even when I've gone horrifically, embarrassingly over. Then when I wonder why I haven't lost after a couple of good days and I've forgotten the feasting, I can look back and see where I could do better.0
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Showe53188 wrote: »I just want to take a second to thank everyone who's replied. I read it all and realized that I don't track as accurately as I could and i eat back my calories way more than I should. I looked at an even deeper issue. My food diary is closed. I asked myself why and I realized because I'm embarrassed because I guests mate way too much. A lot of my diary I have either exercised a lot more than it shows so it looks like a over ate hundreds of calories or I didnt input my dinner or somedays didn't put my food or exercise at all. What I reay need help with is making sure i track everything. Thank you everyone for calling me on my *kitten*. I needed a dose of reality!
perfect !
success will follow
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sgthaggard wrote: »
Brilliant article!everybody is going to take a guess but there is only 1 correct answer.
here are the 11 most common reasons and I assure you that the answer you seek is listed
http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
Yes, everyone should ready this.0 -
4legsRbetterthan2 wrote: »Showe53188 wrote: »I just want to take a second to thank everyone who's replied. I read it all and realized that I don't track as accurately as I could and i eat back my calories way more than I should. I looked at an even deeper issue. My food diary is closed. I asked myself why and I realized because I'm embarrassed because I guests mate way too much. A lot of my diary I have either exercised a lot more than it shows so it looks like a over ate hundreds of calories or I didnt input my dinner or somedays didn't put my food or exercise at all. What I reay need help with is making sure i track everything. Thank you everyone for calling me on my *kitten*. I needed a dose of reality!
Love your attitude! Keep it up, you will get there
It's a learning process, so don't be hard on yourself! I look back on what I logged to start with and wince,quite frankly. What was I thinking??! Chuckle.
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Showe53188 wrote: »I just want to take a second to thank everyone who's replied. I read it all and realized that I don't track as accurately as I could and i eat back my calories way more than I should. I looked at an even deeper issue. My food diary is closed. I asked myself why and I realized because I'm embarrassed because I guests mate way too much. A lot of my diary I have either exercised a lot more than it shows so it looks like a over ate hundreds of calories or I didnt input my dinner or somedays didn't put my food or exercise at all. What I reay need help with is making sure i track everything. Thank you everyone for calling me on my *kitten*. I needed a dose of reality!
Samantha, I'm so proud of you! You have a wonderful attitude! You can do this!0 -
mulecanter wrote: »sgthaggard wrote: »
Brilliant article!everybody is going to take a guess but there is only 1 correct answer.
here are the 11 most common reasons and I assure you that the answer you seek is listed
http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
Yes, everyone should ready this.
That is a great article for sure.0 -
Also the descriptions of the food you ate are really vauge. I could make a bowl of oatmeal that could be as low as 110 cals (Quaker Reduced Sugar A&C) or I could make a huge, quantity unknown bowl of it full of dried fruits, nuts, maple syrup and brown sugar. It could easily go north of 500 cals a bowl.0
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Showe53188 wrote: »I just want to take a second to thank everyone who's replied. I read it all and realized that I don't track as accurately as I could and i eat back my calories way more than I should. I looked at an even deeper issue. My food diary is closed. I asked myself why and I realized because I'm embarrassed because I guests mate way too much. A lot of my diary I have either exercised a lot more than it shows so it looks like a over ate hundreds of calories or I didnt input my dinner or somedays didn't put my food or exercise at all. What I reay need help with is making sure i track everything. Thank you everyone for calling me on my *kitten*. I needed a dose of reality!
You just being you means you already have a bias to underestimation when it comes to food intake, and overestimation when it comes to calorie burn.
My suggestion....buy a food scale, weigh EVERYTHING. Get a Heart Rate Monitor. I use a Timex Zone Trainer, $70 on Amazon. I dont trust the machines (...never trust the machine hehe...)
I estimate a lot, but I am also educated in this way bc I have weighed everything I put on my plate. I literally put the empty plate on the food scale when dishing up a salad (and my salads are awesomely fatty!).
Lastly, actually calculate your bmr using the Mifflin St Jeor or Updated Harris Benedict Equation, times the result by your activity level, and use the lesser of the two resulting numbers (or the average of the two) as your calorie goal. I am using the former, and it seems to be working for me. Revisit the equation after 3-5 lbs of loss, to keep at a certain reduction level. I reevaluate after 2 lbs to keep at a 2 lbs per week loss rate, even though most days I dont really hit the zero mark and am usuallt in the green.
Whether you like it or not, its about numbers. You HAVE to play the numbers game if you want to lose weight. And just remember...60% of the people in this country dont, and they are obese because of it.
Good luck!0 -
Keep at it. I would suggest being careful on any chips and breads. Chips can really add up. Once I looked at some of the things I was eating, even though I was eating very small amounts, I stopped. We work too hard at this to take in almost a full meal of calories with comfort junk food and sweets.0
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donjtomasco wrote: »Keep at it. I would suggest being careful on any chips and breads. Chips can really add up. Once I looked at some of the things I was eating, even though I was eating very small amounts, I stopped. We work too hard at this to take in almost a full meal of calories with comfort junk food and sweets.
Is there anything in the OP to suggest that chips and bread are part of the problem?
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I did not say they were jelly. Just a simple suggestion and I don't think I was rude. Geeeese. If I was then I apologize. A little hesty today?0
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donjtomasco wrote: »I did not say they were jelly. Just a simple suggestion and I don't think I was rude. Geeeese. If I was then I apologize. A little hesty today?
I didn't say you were rude. I didn't say anything about you. I just asked you a question.0 -
Sorry Showe. You are doing a great job. Keep up the great work. I won't comment anymore here.0
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good for you for opening up your diary,you are eating way to much processed & fast food, if you change the kind of calories you consume, your body will reflect that . if you need help with your food choices just ask one of us , most of us are happy to help beginners on this journey , goodluck0
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supermodelchic wrote: »good for you for opening up your diary,you are eating way to much processed & fast food, if you change the kind of calories you consume, your body will reflect that . if you need help with your food choices just ask one of us , most of us are happy to help beginners on this journey , goodluck
If she is truly gaining weight, then it is because she is eating excess calories -- not because she is eating processed food or fast food.
Weight loss is caused by a calorie deficit. Changing the kind of calories that she consumes will not generate weight loss unless she also creates a deficit.
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Thank you all and I don't believe anyone was being rude. The supporters in my life although love me very much and show it they tend to beat around the bush when I ask for criticism. I need people to just be honest with me. Telling me I'm doing something wrong or I should try not eating something is what were all here for. Helping and suggesting ideas to help each other lose weight. I appreciate everyone's input. Unfortunately I did not plan my meals well today so I should have planned way healthier meals but I have a good one planned for dinner and am going to set aside some time tonight to plan my meals for tomorrow. Thanks everyone!0
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Jelly, I may be wrong, but I think if the wrong foods are eaten while even at a deficit a person can gain weight. I have read on here too many times from women that there are many factors that can contribute to women adding weight temporarily just due to the gender. Add to that a day or two of breads, sweets and chips and you have a formula for "potential" weight gain. The OP did not (or else I missed it) mention how long she has been gaining, or if she has had up and down weight days, or how long she has been at this. Just a few days of flat scale results or an uptick can wreak havoc on the psychie and motivation.
I was doing pretty well, then went to eat some "healthy fish" at a mexican food restaurant and ate a bunch of the tortilla chips. The sodium that I downed caused me to retain water and my weight went up. Add to that the fact that I was making sandwiches (using whole wheat bread) but thought I was fine since they were smoked salmon sandwiches. Then people on MFP told me that even wheat bread can have a negative effect. So......I went to a health food type grocery store and bought some bread that was so much healthier (yes I looked at the lable to check the ingredients).
Until people get their bearings on how all of this works it is a minefield. I think we can all agree on that.
It took days for my weight gain (scale weight) to recover from my tortilla chip festival. I would bet that the OP will see the same thing happen with her since she is on the right track and is exercising. This is a bumpy road but there are rewards to continuing to fine tune here and there what she and all of us are doing.0 -
Showe53188 wrote: »Thank you all and I don't believe anyone was being rude. The supporters in my life although love me very much and show it they tend to beat around the bush when I ask for criticism. I need people to just be honest with me. Telling me I'm doing something wrong or I should try not eating something is what were all here for. Helping and suggesting ideas to help each other lose weight. I appreciate everyone's input. Unfortunately I did not plan my meals well today so I should have planned way healthier meals but I have a good one planned for dinner and am going to set aside some time tonight to plan my meals for tomorrow. Thanks everyone!
I just wanted to say that you have a great attitude and that you shouldn’t beat yourself up. Instead, start doing things the way people recommend it: weight your food, track everything, be cautious of overestimating exercise calories.
Speaking from experience, it’s almost a relief to track accurately and with honesty. If a day doesn’t work out relative to my goals, for whatever reason, I call it a maintenance day and move on - start fresh the next day. You can’t gain 10 pounds in a day, after all (that would be 35,000 calories!): weight loss and maintenance is about consistency and patience. Best of luck 0
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