Struggling

Coley0575
Coley0575 Posts: 6 Member
edited November 21 in Health and Weight Loss
hello everyone. I'm having a tough time!! I keep getting tempted to do these quick fixes like isagenix or 21 day fix...they're expensive though and I know the only real way to lose weight is through proper nutrition and exercise. Anyways I'm having a tough time. Only need to lose about 10 pounds but can't seem to even lose 1! Any help would be appreciated.

Replies

  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Buy a food scale instead. Weigh what you eat - log accurately - stick to your calorie goal - get some exercise - see results on the scale.
  • plaffo786
    plaffo786 Posts: 71 Member
    Stick to breakfast lunch and dinner make healthy tasty choices and plenty of water, water I find is hugely important in avoiding cravings. Plenty of protein to fill you up, stick to 1200 a day and it will work!!!
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    Use MFP as accurately as possible (log EVERYTHING and weigh it on a digital scale), and set your weight loss goal to 0.5 lbs per week.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Buy a food scale instead. Weigh what you eat - log accurately - stick to your calorie goal - get some exercise - see results on the scale.

    This^

    With only 10 pounds to lose, the weekly losses will be small. Your daily deficit can't be as large as it is for big people. Smaller people use fewer calories for everything.
  • julescba04
    julescba04 Posts: 40 Member
    You have to be strong. Try watching "The men who make us thin", journalist Jacques Peretti. Then you will realise why the quick fixes never work. Seriously everyone should watch this documentary.
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
    10 pounds is a month or two of sustained effort. Log.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Quit dieting and make a life change.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    Stop doing fad diets, learn how to measure with a food scale, realize that once you do lose the 10 lbs you just cant stop doing what you've done to lose the 10 lbs.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    plaffo786 wrote: »
    Stick to breakfast lunch and dinner make healthy tasty choices and plenty of water, water I find is hugely important in avoiding cravings. Plenty of protein to fill you up, stick to 1200 a day and it will work!!!

    Um no.........1200 is MFPs lowest minimum default and that number is before exercise. 1200 is inappropriate for many women.

    OP - find set your weekly goal to 1/2 pound a week....then eat back 50% of exercise calories. After a few weeks increase or decrease your exercise calorie percentage based on progress. Calorie burns tend to be inflated.
  • Coley0575
    Coley0575 Posts: 6 Member
    I don't really understand food scales.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Coley0575 wrote: »
    I don't really understand food scales.

    They are just a more accurate way of measuring portions. Liquids in a measure cup are ok, but solids can vary dramatically.

    www.hungry-girl.com/askhg/show/weighing-and-measuring-foods
  • kk_inprogress
    kk_inprogress Posts: 3,077 Member
    TeaBea wrote: »
    plaffo786 wrote: »
    Stick to breakfast lunch and dinner make healthy tasty choices and plenty of water, water I find is hugely important in avoiding cravings. Plenty of protein to fill you up, stick to 1200 a day and it will work!!!

    Um no.........1200 is MFPs lowest minimum default and that number is before exercise. 1200 is inappropriate for many women.

    OP - find set your weekly goal to 1/2 pound a week....then eat back 50% of exercise calories. After a few weeks increase or decrease your exercise calorie percentage based on progress. Calorie burns tend to be inflated.

    1200 is the RDA minimum recommendation, and it is safe to eat at this caloric count if you are meeting your nutritive needs. OP- the less you have to lose the harder it is! My last ten lbs took what felt like forever and it was slow going with a LOT of patience. It took a lot of very strict weighing of foods and reducing MFP/HRM calorie burns to see progress, but you can totally do this! Don't waste your money on those scammy products- save it for a treat when you lose ten lbs and need a new wardrobe :)
  • Coley0575
    Coley0575 Posts: 6 Member
    Thanks everyone. Any recommendations on a good good scale and also how do I know how much I should be eating with a food scale.
  • kk_inprogress
    kk_inprogress Posts: 3,077 Member
    Follow the calorie guideline that MFP sets for you- it will help you calculate based on stats and activity levels.

  • NikiChicken
    NikiChicken Posts: 576 Member
    Buy a food scale instead. Weigh what you eat - log accurately - stick to your calorie goal - get some exercise - see results on the scale.

    Pretty much this.
  • jenj1313
    jenj1313 Posts: 898 Member
    This is another option for a calorie counter that's a bit more accurate than FB (but only as accurate as the info you feed it)... but this is designed to account for your exercise calories, so unless you have a week where you exercise a lot more than normal, you shouldn't eat those back w this calculation.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
    My best diet and fitness purchases were a digital kitchen scale and a FitBit. My worst were those recommended by Dr. OZ.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    edited July 2015
    Coley0575 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone. Any recommendations on a good good scale and also how do I know how much I should be eating with a food scale.

    A scale doesn't tell you how much to eat - it tells you how much you are eating so you can accurately log how much you are eating. Think of a steak. How many calories is a "steak" or how do you measure a cup of steak? Steaks come in all sizes. You can't really stuff one in a cup too well. But put that baby on a food scale and bam you know you're eating so many grams of steak and you diary entries actually mean something. The calories finally match the food you eat instead of just being wild random guesses.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,689 Member
    Coley0575 wrote: »
    hello everyone. I'm having a tough time!! I keep getting tempted to do these quick fixes like isagenix or 21 day fix...they're expensive though and I know the only real way to lose weight is through proper nutrition and exercise. Anyways I'm having a tough time. Only need to lose about 10 pounds but can't seem to even lose 1! Any help would be appreciated.

    Enter your details into MFP.
    Set yourself as sedentary.
    Select a goal of 1 lb/week.
    MFP will give you the max number of calories to consume.

    Weigh and log everything to accurately record the number of calories you are consuming.
    At first, you may go over while you figure out how much you can eat ... but prelogging helps. Log before you eat to see if you can afford to eat whatever it is or not.

    Exercise will give you some room for extra food. Log your exercise on the Exercise tab, but remember to estimate low because MFP often over-estimates calories burned.
    Eat back some (but not all) of your exercise calories.

    Stick with it!

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,689 Member
    Coley0575 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone. Any recommendations on a good good scale and also how do I know how much I should be eating with a food scale.

    You can get a scale anywhere ... department store, grocery store ...

    Look for a small weigh scale in the kitchen appliances section. It's good if it has a Tare feature which allows you to set your bowl on the scale, then tap the button to cancel the weight of the bowl, then add your food.

    Use a scale to weigh food and then enter that weight into MFP's food log in order to calculate how many calories the food contains.

  • Coley0575
    Coley0575 Posts: 6 Member
    Thankyou! I ordered one from Amazon. A digital
    With the Tare function. Can't wait to get it.
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
    Great! Digital scales are a snap to use. Turn them on, zero them, choose the units of measure, and plop your food on there. Now you know how much you ate.

    The biggest benefit to weighing and logging food is you will learn very quickly how little you really should be eating portion-wise.

    When I look at what I get to eat vs. what I want to eat it's no wonder I'm fat.
  • cbelc2
    cbelc2 Posts: 762 Member
    I use a cheap scale to measure nuts, cheese, chocolate, anything that needs a weight measure and would be easy to overeat.
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