Generally struggling

Cladf
Cladf Posts: 60 Member
edited November 17 in Motivation and Support
I feel like I've been at this weight loss thing for ages, with no success... but my real issue is that I'm struggling really hard to keep at it 100% every day. I have days where I track everything, and feel great - that continues for a couple of days then somehow I veer off again.

Then when I've lost nothing at all, I get disheartened because all I remember is the few days where I logged really accurately (and not the days I didn't).

Does anyone have any tips on how to remain consistent, and how to keep your head up when you're first starting (or well, starting again I should say...) - I just can't seem to get the weight loss started to give me the push I need to keep going.

Already trying to eat out less, drink less alcohol (going to try to cut it out completely for a bit just to help things) but any other tips or help would be really gratefully appreciated.

I use a FitBit and allow calorie adjustments from that (lifestyle set to sedentary so anything above that my FitBit recalculates on MFP what I should be eating for that day) - hoping this is the right way to do it, there's so much information everywhere on it.

Any exercise on top of that (not enough, for the moment) I don't eat those calories back or even log them.

I have over 70lbs to lose (I'm 201lbs just now) so was kinda hoping the initial weight loss would be better than just staying the same given how much I have to lose. Just to add to it, I'm only 5'1" so my calorie goals are generally pretty low given my height. I'm aiming for about 1600 cals per day according to MFP - should be about 1lb weight loss per week by my calculations.

Thanks for any help in advance x

Replies

  • CockneyLady2014
    CockneyLady2014 Posts: 199 Member
    Hello and your post is interesting. I started with Tesco eDiets in February 2010 and by Sept 2010 I had lost 2 stones (28lbs). Since then all I have managed to do is maintain. I accept congratulations for that but it is a much higher weight than I need to be. I should let you know I am 67yrs of age and that will play a much more important part of any regime than is you are much younger. I have done all the things you have written about. However I tend to think my poor body didn't know whether it was coming or going. I realised I need to give it some stability and let some of the weight go. I am back at the gym on a regular basis. I am planning on a regular basis and tracking every single day - good or bad. There is no easy way you have to find it within yourself to stick to it. You mention that you adjust your calories in line with FitBit. Perhaps it might be better if you chose, in your profile, something that most reflects you daily life. Then keep your calorie intake stable. I am 5'3" and I am on 1440 calories a day. So 1600 calories doesn't seem too far off beam. However how many are you having when FitBit calculates it for you? I hope all this helps.
  • ladyglamazon
    ladyglamazon Posts: 19 Member
    Do you have one day a week that you can set aside for meal prep? This has been really helpful in keeping me on track. On sundays, I make little containers of cut up veggies, hardboil some eggs, make containers of salad and a big pot of vegetarian chili or black bean soup that I divide up and put in the freezer. That way, my food is done and there is no opportunity for me to veer off track. I find this is really helpful for those days when I get home late and am too tired to cook (and therefore more likely to make poor choices).

    Good luck!
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    edited May 2015
    Hang in there, but the reason you arent losing is becaise the sum of your efforts means you arent in a sufficient calorie deficit. If you are struggling and you have lost no weight, then carry on the same path and you are likely to get the same result. Just how long have you been trying/ logging/ counting?

    Its probably you are eating more and burning less thna you think or you arent being paient enough. You talk anout veering off and that may be the reason.

    If you wnat a generic answer or dont understand what you ought to be doing then look at
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    As you mention progress can be a great motivator. Here are some of my tips off the top of my head on consistency that mean I have been prety good at sticking to my plan:

    1. understand why you are doing this= motivation= more likely to make things happen.
    2. understand what to do = knowledge to make better decisions and appreiate whats going on, even slowdowns or binges.
    3. Make a decent plan so its easy to follow what you have to do each day.
    4. Weigh and log all your food the most importnat aspects of controlling what you consume.
    5. Make sure the math is correct.
    • If you do the above correctly then over time you will lose. So you have to be patient enough to hang on.
    • If you are sabotaging yourself every few days, then you either fail to appreciate or face up to what you are doing at the time and the impact it has on your deficit.
    • A ways that works for many is to prelog your food, so you know in advance whats expected.
    • Also take it one day ata time and just focus on the next 24 hours.
    • Finally commit, make a serious effor to be honest and try to stick to the plan. It comes down to do you wnat to lose weight badly enough v having that drink or extra food?
    • DDont beat up on yourself so jus try and make more ood choices than bad and never give in. there are plenty of examples on these forums for people who have lost the amount of weight you have.
    • Its a long journey so be prepared for it to take time. Keep things in perspective.
    • Be your own biggest supporter and friend.

    Good luck
  • melduf
    melduf Posts: 468 Member
    I'm 5'1'' and started at 198 lbs so I totallly get you! It's all about making small choices everyday. It won't show at first but it will add up and you'll see results! I log everyday so feel free to add me :)
  • Cladf
    Cladf Posts: 60 Member
    CockneyLady2014 wrote: »
    Hello and your post is interesting. I started with Tesco eDiets in February 2010 and by Sept 2010 I had lost 2 stones (28lbs). Since then all I have managed to do is maintain. I accept congratulations for that but it is a much higher weight than I need to be. I should let you know I am 67yrs of age and that will play a much more important part of any regime than is you are much younger. I have done all the things you have written about. However I tend to think my poor body didn't know whether it was coming or going. I realised I need to give it some stability and let some of the weight go. I am back at the gym on a regular basis. I am planning on a regular basis and tracking every single day - good or bad. There is no easy way you have to find it within yourself to stick to it. You mention that you adjust your calories in line with FitBit. Perhaps it might be better if you chose, in your profile, something that most reflects you daily life. Then keep your calorie intake stable. I am 5'3" and I am on 1440 calories a day. So 1600 calories doesn't seem too far off beam. However how many are you having when FitBit calculates it for you? I hope all this helps.

    Thanks so much for your reply - good to know that I'm not alone. I've decided to remove the FitBit adjustment, just go with a set amount of calories per day so that I'm not making allowances for if I've walked/not walked a lot that day. Really helps, thanks :smile:

    ladyglamazon wrote: »
    Do you have one day a week that you can set aside for meal prep? This has been really helpful in keeping me on track. On sundays, I make little containers of cut up veggies, hardboil some eggs, make containers of salad and a big pot of vegetarian chili or black bean soup that I divide up and put in the freezer. That way, my food is done and there is no opportunity for me to veer off track. I find this is really helpful for those days when I get home late and am too tired to cook (and therefore more likely to make poor choices).

    Good luck!

    Also really great advice - I sometimes get the chance to do this on a small scale, but I have a pretty busy social life/work life (work shifts and a few weeknights where I might have events - major part of the problem as it involves a lot of eating out, hotel eating or just being away from home) - but I definitely could do with at least planning carefully the nights where I am at home and pre-logging those so I'm not risking making bad food choices at least - thanks :smile:
    999tigger wrote: »
    Hang in there, but the reason you arent losing is becaise the sum of your efforts means you arent in a sufficient calorie deficit. If you are struggling and you have lost no weight, then carry on the same path and you are likely to get the same result. Just how long have you been trying/ logging/ counting?

    Its probably you are eating more and burning less thna you think or you arent being paient enough. You talk anout veering off and that may be the reason.

    If you wnat a generic answer or dont understand what you ought to be doing then look at
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    As you mention progress can be a great motivator. Here are some of my tips off the top of my head on consistency that mean I have been prety good at sticking to my plan:

    1. understand why you are doing this= motivation= more likely to make things happen.
    2. understand what to do = knowledge to make better decisions and appreiate whats going on, even slowdowns or binges.
    3. Make a decent plan so its easy to follow what you have to do each day.
    4. Weigh and log all your food the most importnat aspects of controlling what you consume.
    5. Make sure the math is correct.
    • If you do the above correctly then over time you will lose. So you have to be patient enough to hang on.
    • If you are sabotaging yourself every few days, then you either fail to appreciate or face up to what you are doing at the time and the impact it has on your deficit.
    • A ways that works for many is to prelog your food, so you know in advance whats expected.
    • Also take it one day ata time and just focus on the next 24 hours.
    • Finally commit, make a serious effor to be honest and try to stick to the plan. It comes down to do you wnat to lose weight badly enough v having that drink or extra food?
    • DDont beat up on yourself so jus try and make more ood choices than bad and never give in. there are plenty of examples on these forums for people who have lost the amount of weight you have.
    • Its a long journey so be prepared for it to take time. Keep things in perspective.
    • Be your own biggest supporter and friend.

    Good luck

    This is an amazing reply - thanks so much for taking the time to put that all together. I've read the sexypants piece before but it's pretty obviously not sinking in lol so I'll read over it again. The consistency tips are great, I'm going to try to make the best effort I can to stick to so many of those. Thank you again :smiley:
    melduf wrote: »
    I'm 5'1'' and started at 198 lbs so I totallly get you! It's all about making small choices everyday. It won't show at first but it will add up and you'll see results! I log everyday so feel free to add me :)

    Added you as a friend - SO nice to see someone on here with similar stats to when I started :)

    (sorry all for the MEGA long post, just wanted to reply to everyone :blush:
This discussion has been closed.

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