If anyone can offer some advice, I'd appreciate it.

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eericson51
eericson51 Posts: 57 Member
in Motivation and Support
I have made my diary public (this weekend was rough, but please look past that). I have been working out hard for almost three weeks and haven't lost a pound or an inch. I work out 6-7 days a week and keep track of 99% of things that goes into my mouth. I'm getting a little discouraged and really could use some advice.

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  • SueN113
    SueN113 Posts: 46
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    I would definately suggest watching your carbs-limit them to 130-145 max and up your protein. That was what helped me-and was recommended by my dietician.
  • Seajolly
    Seajolly Posts: 1,435 Member
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    I looked through your diary and nothing blatantly sticks out to me, but maybe it's because you're not tracking your sugar on there. That is the thing that could be keeping you at the same weight, since I saw quite a few days with cake on them. Even though your servings are typically pretty small with sweets the added sugar in desserts could be keeping you from losing. It's hard to tell since I can't see how much sugar you're having.

    Also, perhaps your daily calories are set too high or your activity level may not be set right for your lifestyle? What do you have your activity level set to and what is your typical day like?
  • sunshine__angel
    sunshine__angel Posts: 366 Member
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    I'm not really sure what is happening. Your diary looks great! I do notice a lot of fruits, which are high in sugar, and a lot of sodium. Are you drinking lots of water to make up for the sodium? If not you may just be retaining water. Also, if it is your time of month, or it is approaching, you will retain more water and you may see the scale stay or even go up 1-2 lbs during that time. Once your TOM (time of month) is over, you will drop the water weight pretty quickly.

    If you are eating properly and working out, you will see results. Hopefully someone else has some other advice but for now I would say to keep yourself hydrated and maybe try and spread your fruits out throughout the day if you aren't already, just so the sugars aren't all right before bed, for example.

    Good luck! :)
  • SarahofTwins
    SarahofTwins Posts: 1,169 Member
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    Sugar can really do the trick sometimes...make sure to drink plenty of water if your sodium intake is high. I usually go over my sodium but I drink 9-10 glasses of water a day. Also zig zagging your calories can help along with doing different workouts during the week.
  • eericson51
    eericson51 Posts: 57 Member
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    I have my level set at sedentary. I work in an office and sit at a computer all day. I try to get up and walk around about every 30-45 minutes and try to get out of the office at lunch everyday, even if its just to go pick up a salad. I work out 6-7 days a week (in the mornings before work) doing Insanity. I bought a HRM so I could carefully monitor my HR and calorie burn, and average 600-900 calories burned per day.

    Also, I used to keep track of sugars, but was noticing that I was keeping them below my goals consistantly, so I switched to monitoring sodium instead. That one is harder for me and seeing it everyday helps!
  • SueN113
    SueN113 Posts: 46
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    All carbs turn into sugar, which turn in to fat, if you eat too many. Even if they are healthy carbs. I think this will definately help you if you manage them better.
  • Seajolly
    Seajolly Posts: 1,435 Member
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    I have my level set at sedentary. I work in an office and sit at a computer all day. I try to get up and walk around about every 30-45 minutes and try to get out of the office at lunch everyday, even if its just to go pick up a salad. I work out 6-7 days a week (in the mornings before work) doing Insanity. I bought a HRM so I could carefully monitor my HR and calorie burn, and average 600-900 calories burned per day.

    Also, I used to keep track of sugars, but was noticing that I was keeping them below my goals consistantly, so I switched to monitoring sodium instead. That one is harder for me and seeing it everyday helps!

    I think it sounds like your level is set correctly. Are you eating back ALL of your exercise calories, typically? If so, maybe try eating half back?
  • jvkh127
    jvkh127 Posts: 261 Member
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    I looked at your diary and the only tips I have is:
    be careful using the quick add calories. I am not sure what you use it for but it doesn't give you all the nutrients so you are not counting any fats or sugars etc. that food might have had.
    also try including some weight training in your exercise routine. weight training helps you burn calories for up to 12 hours after you use weights.
    otherwise everyone else's advice seems right too.
    Good luck!!
  • The_Saint
    The_Saint Posts: 358 Member
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    I would definately suggest watching your carbs-limit them to 130-145 max and up your protein. That was what helped me-and was recommended by my dietician.

    This is sound advice.

    I work with 1-1.5g of protein per lb per day, .5g of fat per lb per day, then the remaining calories in carbohydrates.
    Works out to be 40% Protein, 30% Fat, 30% Carbohydrates.

    Is this since march?
  • mommamills
    mommamills Posts: 437
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    i agree with upping your protein and water intake. Several days are below your goal of 8 glasses. I always try to exceed my 8 b/c almost everything is high in sodium. Watch your sodium intake and on days that are higher make sure to drink more water! There are also several days you leave close to 500 cals. Try to work those in. Make sure you are eating something every 2 hrs to keep you metabolism boosted. I find that if I eat less carbs later in the day I tend to drop the weight faster. Eat more lean protein and salads at night. Choose the veggies for lunch or snacks. Good luck!!
  • mommamills
    mommamills Posts: 437
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    I looked at your diary and the only tips I have is:
    be careful using the quick add calories. I am not sure what you use it for but it doesn't give you all the nutrients so you are not counting any fats or sugars etc. that food might have had.
    also try including some weight training in your exercise routine. weight training helps you burn calories for up to 12 hours after you use weights.
    otherwise everyone else's advice seems right too.
    Good luck!!

    great advice! my thoughts exactly I just forgot that part in my post. lol!
  • aharmeson
    aharmeson Posts: 55
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    I was looking over your past entries and Was wondering why your daily calorie goals change. one day it was 1400 the next it is 2500. I would suggest setting a daily limit that is constant not fluctuating. 1500 calories a day seems to be working for me.
  • eericson51
    eericson51 Posts: 57 Member
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    I started in March, but fell off the wagon after I went on vacation back at the beginning of April. I started back up again a couple weeks back, determined to get this weight off.

    I usually only use the quick add calories if I have gone out drinking with friends (to account for the calories I drank). Or if I go out to eat the nutritional info is not avaialbe. The other night, my husband and I had Friday's and I had a meal under the Right Portion Right Price (which all claim to be under 750 calories). So I logged 750 just to be safe.
  • jvkh127
    jvkh127 Posts: 261 Member
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    I was looking over your past entries and Was wondering why your daily calorie goals change. one day it was 1400 the next it is 2500. I would suggest setting a daily limit that is constant not fluctuating. 1500 calories a day seems to be working for me.

    I believe it is changing due to how much exercise she does for that day. It looks like her goal is 1400 plus whatever calories she burns during exercise. that is the difference you see.
  • cinico
    cinico Posts: 294 Member
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    I have my level set at sedentary. I work in an office and sit at a computer all day. I try to get up and walk around about every 30-45 minutes and try to get out of the office at lunch everyday, even if its just to go pick up a salad. I work out 6-7 days a week (in the mornings before work) doing Insanity. I bought a HRM so I could carefully monitor my HR and calorie burn, and average 600-900 calories burned per day.

    Also, I used to keep track of sugars, but was noticing that I was keeping them below my goals consistantly, so I switched to monitoring sodium instead. That one is harder for me and seeing it everyday helps!

    In my case Insanity didn't help me loose the weight!! I only dropped a few pounds like 3 if I remember correctly!! After I finished Insanity I learned of other problems that could have kept me from loosing weight!
    1. At how high of a HR are you training? Do you let your body recover, come back down to a safe HR? I found I was constantly training in the 170's which was in the high level for me so I felt that pushed me into an anebolic threshold!

    2. On your watch , does it show you your OWNZONE? My watch is a polar and it has that feature! When I went online to look at the manual it said if I wanted to loose weight I need to stay in the middle of my OWNZONE! Which if I would actually keep to that number is only around 150's! It is a very hard thing to do especially when you feel you can push harder, ect! :noway:

    3. What month are you doing of Insanity? Maybe you need more calories if you have gotten your metabolism up!

    4. Finally this is the approach I am going for this week! In the MFP settings we have the options to set up our calories in and calories out, percent, ect! So I am going to just leave those setting alone and follow them as close as possible! This is what I mean: it has me set at 1200 net calories and to burn 2360 calories! If i do that the settings say I will loose 1 pound per week!! Ok, so my goal this week is to burn around 400 calories per workout so that I can have a burn as close as possible to 2360 calories! I also plan on eating every last bite of my calories 1200 plus workout calories!! :smile: What I am learing about more and more is that we might simply be overtraining!! :sad: I have so much trouble loosing weight so I know how you feel when you don't see the scale move!!

    Cindy
  • jvkh127
    jvkh127 Posts: 261 Member
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    I started in March, but fell off the wagon after I went on vacation back at the beginning of April. I started back up again a couple weeks back, determined to get this weight off.

    I usually only use the quick add calories if I have gone out drinking with friends (to account for the calories I drank). Or if I go out to eat the nutritional info is not avaialbe. The other night, my husband and I had Friday's and I had a meal under the Right Portion Right Price (which all claim to be under 750 calories). So I logged 750 just to be safe.

    You need to definitely add calories correctly for alcohol. All alcohol contains ALOT of sugar and calories!!!
  • eericson51
    eericson51 Posts: 57 Member
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    This is from eating my exercise calories. I the only change really has been from when I started using my HRM to track my caloires burned. I realized that I was burning more than I thought and as a result, eating less than 1200 calories a day!. So now I have it set at 1400, so I can try to always eat over 1200.
  • lovecola06
    lovecola06 Posts: 180 Member
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    I am curious how far into Insanity you are. I am just starting Week 3 and today is the first time the scale has actually moved downward any. I think that when you start a new intense exercise routine, your muscles hold onto a bit of fluid as they try to repair themselves. I also try not to go more than 1.5hours without having a snack during the day so that I am constantly keeping my metabolism revved up. I use a HR monitor, and it says that I burn about 600 calories per workout. I do not eat my exercise calories back, but I do have a much higher daily calorie goal than you do.. mine is 2200 calories (custom setting) based on the recommendation in the Insanity guide that comes with the workout. What did the Insanity guide recommend your calories be set at. Maybe you are not taking in enough calories? Be sure that you are drinking plenty of water to flush out the bad stuff too. I don't drink alcohol very often b/c I think it makes you more bloated/ dehydrated/ retain more water. I know that's a lot of different things that I mentioned... The most important thing is that you do what will work for YOU and what you will be willing to stick with. Good luck! Try to stay motivated - it WILL work if you continue to keep at it. Change things up a little and see what happens ;-)

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