Frustrated

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Ckwhitney88
Ckwhitney88 Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've never been on a fitness forum so pretty nervous. I've been a petite size 0-2 my whole life. I'm 27 and this past year my weight sky rocketed.. I went from a size 1 last April to a size 9 now. My thighs are big (saddle bags) and love handles. I just want to get back in a size 3 but I feel like no matter what I do I stay the same. Any suggestions about mixing it up or how you lost weight? I'm at a total loss how to get out of this plateau.
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  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
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    How long have you been in a plateau?

    Are you weighing you food? Logging all your food every day?

    Eating back all, some or none of your exercise calories?
  • Ckwhitney88
    Ckwhitney88 Posts: 13 Member
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    I keep track of calories with the lose it app. Some days are better than others. Weighing food? No, I never really heard of that.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    Ckwhitney88 wrote: »
    I keep track of calories with the lose it app. Some days are better than others. Weighing food? No, I never really heard of that.

    The key to losing weight is calorie counting so you are at a consistent calorific deficit, which will mean eating less ,moving more or both. Weighing food with a scale is the most reliable way to knowing how much you are actuallu eating. Have a look at these guides.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Ckwhitney88 wrote: »
    I keep track of calories with the lose it app. Some days are better than others. Weighing food? No, I never really heard of that.

    You're not in a deficit. Weigh your food and eat less
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
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    Ckwhitney88 wrote: »
    I keep track of calories with the lose it app. Some days are better than others. Weighing food? No, I never really heard of that.

    Say you eat a banana, how do you know how many calories you have eaten?

    Was it a small, medium or large banana? Did it have thick skin? Etc

    Weighing it gives the most accurate measurement.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    What happened in the past year for your weight to go up so much? Have you changed your eating habits at all?

    It seems like a huge change if you haven't eaten more/suddenly changed to a sedentary job/been ill etc. First I'd get checked by a doctor to rule out any thyroid issues.

    Then I'd work out how many calories you should eat, eat at a deficit, and do some exercise.
  • amr32r
    amr32r Posts: 245 Member
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    I agree with weighing everything..example: yesterday i looked at an apple and thought hey this is a medium apple but i weighed it and it was 160 g which is twice the calories i would of logged it as..youd be surprised .i picked up my scale for 15 bucks at walmart best thing i bought myself ever.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    A food scale will be your best friend in this. No need to be nervous. It is totally doable and not so hard really. Everyone here is here for the same reasons and the forums have lots of great information that can help you to have success. Just be reasonable about your expectations and honest with yourself and others about your goals and what you are eating.

    WElcome to MFP. :)
  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
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    First step is to calculate what your calorie requirement is at this age. It's a fact of life, as we age, the weight doesn't fly off and stay off anymore. It will take some getting used to, but you need to be at the right starting point of what your calories required are. Then you can start to say to yourself "I'd like to lose some weight". From there, you can calculate how much you want to lose and get a proper deficit. Getting the accurate calories you eat a day will help you to keep that deficit, thus, losing weight. Don't fret too much right now, just take steps towards the healthier you.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    A food scale is used to have a more accurate count of calories.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
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    Recently I was surprised by sustagen. The serving size is like 3 teaspoons I believe or 15g

    15g is a lot more than 3 teaspoons. Or at least a lot more than what I thought a teaspoon is
  • 123user456
    123user456 Posts: 68 Member
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    Ckwhitney88 wrote: »
    I keep track of calories with the lose it app. Some days are better than others. Weighing food? No, I never really heard of that.

    When I first started logging my food, I used both MFP and loseit. I found the assumed activity level in loseit much too high for me. My daily loseit calorie budget was 350 calories higher than MFP at sedentary. As others have suggested, I do recommend using a food scale. But, it is possible that loseit is assuming you're more active than you actually are. This can be further exaggerated if you are logging inflated exercise estimates on top of that.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    Ckwhitney88 wrote: »
    I've never been on a fitness forum so pretty nervous. I've been a petite size 0-2 my whole life. I'm 27 and this past year my weight sky rocketed.. I went from a size 1 last April to a size 9 now. My thighs are big (saddle bags) and love handles. I just want to get back in a size 3 but I feel like no matter what I do I stay the same. Any suggestions about mixing it up or how you lost weight? I'm at a total loss how to get out of this plateau.

    buy a digital food scale. Weigh all of your solid foods, and measure all liquids. Log them and stick you to your calorie deficit. This is how you lose weight.
    Also read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Start weighing your food, you will see a huge difference.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    Seriously, am I the only one wondering how someone can be small for 27 years then suddenly go up 8 sizes in one year?
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    123user456 wrote: »
    Ckwhitney88 wrote: »
    I keep track of calories with the lose it app. Some days are better than others. Weighing food? No, I never really heard of that.

    When I first started logging my food, I used both MFP and loseit. I found the assumed activity level in loseit much too high for me. My daily loseit calorie budget was 350 calories higher than MFP at sedentary. As others have suggested, I do recommend using a food scale. But, it is possible that loseit is assuming you're more active than you actually are. This can be further exaggerated if you are logging inflated exercise estimates on top of that.

    So it was 1550 with Lose It? I think that's a great target. IMO MFP's target for sedentary activity, which is the minimum amount doctors think a human should eat, is too aggressive for those who are not either extremely short or morbidly obese.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    Ckwhitney88 wrote: »
    I've never been on a fitness forum so pretty nervous. I've been a petite size 0-2 my whole life. I'm 27 and this past year my weight sky rocketed.. I went from a size 1 last April to a size 9 now. My thighs are big (saddle bags) and love handles. I just want to get back in a size 3 but I feel like no matter what I do I stay the same. Any suggestions about mixing it up or how you lost weight? I'm at a total loss how to get out of this plateau.

    MFP%20Flowchart%20lemonlionheart_zps3s3xqead.jpg
  • GetThatRunnersHigh
    GetThatRunnersHigh Posts: 112 Member
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    In addition to what others are saying here you might want to try even numbered clothing sizes. Odd numbered labels are usually Junior's, which means they are cut for teens with less pronounced waist/hip ratios. I need a 7 in Junior's, but a Women's 2/4. Same waist but different hip measurements.
  • 123user456
    123user456 Posts: 68 Member
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    tomatoey wrote: »
    123user456 wrote: »
    Ckwhitney88 wrote: »
    I keep track of calories with the lose it app. Some days are better than others. Weighing food? No, I never really heard of that.

    When I first started logging my food, I used both MFP and loseit. I found the assumed activity level in loseit much too high for me. My daily loseit calorie budget was 350 calories higher than MFP at sedentary. As others have suggested, I do recommend using a food scale. But, it is possible that loseit is assuming you're more active than you actually are. This can be further exaggerated if you are logging inflated exercise estimates on top of that.

    So it was 1550 with Lose It? I think that's a great target. IMO MFP's target for sedentary activity, which is the minimum amount doctors think a human should eat, is too aggressive for those who are not either extremely short or morbidly obese.

    It was about 1700 in loseit. Once I got a Fitbit, I discovered I needed about 8,000 steps daily to earn loseit's budget (which I was not getting). On top of that I was logging my purposeful exercise, so I was wiping out my deficit.
  • kk_inprogress
    kk_inprogress Posts: 3,077 Member
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    GetThatRunnersHigh wrote: »
    In addition to what others are saying here you might want to try even numbered clothing sizes. Odd numbered labels are usually Junior's, which means they are cut for teens with less pronounced waist/hip ratios. I need a 7 in Junior's, but a Women's 2/4. Same waist but different hip measurements.

    I was thinking the same...

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