Why am I failing
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Abram86
Posts: 282 Member
So I started my journey 2 and half years ago and within 8 months I had gone from 260 or so to 199. Fast forward to today and I'm now back to 242. I am trying to stop the upward climb in my weight but no matter what I do I'm still not losing. Where am I going wrong and why is it so hard this time around? I really don't eat too much food and I do strength training at least 3 times a week. I average about 2000 calories a day give or take. I can't figure out if I need to cut back on fat, carbs etc. Help
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I'm not seeing much logging in your diary, and what is there isn't especially accurate. If you're estimating, that may have worked before, but clearly isn't working now.
Get a food scale and weigh everything you can. Log it so you know exactly how much you've eaten. Stick to your calories and you'll lose weight.0 -
your food diary is pretty sparse, start logging, measuring and ensure you are consuming LESS calories than you burn
No logging = no clear reason why you are not losing0 -
Your diary is empty/incomplete which shows a lack of discipline. If you are gaining weight at 2k then the obvious answer to lower your calories or exercise more. Since your logging is nonexistent I doubt you are eating 2k calories. Go back to the drawing boards, come up with a plan and stick to it.0
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Where do you log?0
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^^^All this
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If you aren't tracking your food, how do you know you're consuming 2000 calories per day? It's really easy to look back over the last week in your mind and feel like you were within your calories but it's impossible to know unless you're tracking everything accurately.
You don't need to cut out a macro or food group. you simply need to get back to the habits that helped you lose weight the first time around. That should include tracking everything and weighing as much of your food as possible so that you can be accurate.0 -
Just accpet without arguing that if you are gaining its because you are in surplus. As pointed out you have no effecive means of measuring, so you really dont know how much you are eating with any accuracy.0
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If you lost a lot of weight and then gained it back again, the method you used was unsustainable. You can't keep the weight off unless the changes you make are permanent. If you can't make them permanent you need examine why and try to find different ways of eating that are sustainable for you. If you try to lose the weight again don't be tempted to do it the same way you did the first time. Accept that the method doesn't work and try something else.
I started off losing weight eating nothing but junk food but still maintaining a calorie deficit. It worked great but It required a massive amount of personal restraint and I couldn't keep it up. I lost 50lb but within 2 years it came back plus more (leaving me at 235lb).
Second time around I worked on making small changes that I could happily live with forever. It's possible to find healthy foods that you love, you just have keep searching. I lost 65lb the second time and have kept it off 5 years. Im still eating the exact same food I did while losing weight. I've never stopped trying new foods and I am still always looking for changes I can make to my diet that taste awesome and are marginally better than what I am doing already. Every change no matter how small, make a difference.
If your diet doesn't taste good enough to keep you coming back for years to come, keep changing it until it does. Never stop! Pick yourself up, start again and continue the research :-)0 -
I have read up on every diet known. I've tried them all. Cabbage soup, low fat, weight watchers, nutrisystem, atkins, paleo, slim fast.....seriously a list that never ends. I lost 100 plus pounds eating low fat. That was when I was in my 20's. Weight comes off easier when we are younger. I also had a gallbladder issue that forced me on a very low fat diet. I walked two miles a day and ate no more than 20 grams of fat a day. Today, my Dr. wants me on low fat- not low carb. My husband eats low carb. I am not a huge meat fan. I will ingest chicken and fish but I prefer plants and sadly, sugar. Sugar is my downfall. My other downfall is my self abuse- beating myself up for being what I believe to be, a failure. Depression....gets the worst of us. Anyway, the point of my response is this- it does not matter what diet or way of eating you select. If we eat more calories than our body uses, we gain weight. What value of calorie matters- what sort of calories are you eating? Are they nutritious? Eating wholesome foods and getting exercise is supposed to work.
Log your food, how else can you really know what you are ingesting? Then after a certain amount of time, look at your diary and your weight stats and perhaps then you will see where your issue is, if you still have an issue.0 -
If you lost a lot of weight and then gained it back again, the method you used was unsustainable. You can't keep the weight off unless the changes you make are permanent. If you can't make them permanent you need examine why and try to find different ways of eating that are sustainable for you. If you try to lose the weight again don't be tempted to do it the same way you did the first time. Accept that the method doesn't work and try something else.
I started off losing weight eating nothing but junk food but still maintaining a calorie deficit. It worked great but It required a massive amount of personal restraint and I couldn't keep it up. I lost 50lb but within 2 years it came back plus more (leaving me at 235lb).
Second time around I worked on making small changes that I could happily live with forever. It's possible to find healthy foods that you love, you just have keep searching. I lost 65lb the second time and have kept it off 5 years. Im still eating the exact same food I did while losing weight. I've never stopped trying new foods and I am still always looking for changes I can make to my diet that taste awesome and are marginally better than what I am doing already. Every change no matter how small, make a difference.
If your diet doesn't taste good enough to keep you coming back for years to come, keep changing it until it does. Never stop! Pick yourself up, start again and continue the research :-)
Right here!!! This is one of the best comments I've ever read on this forum!
Forget everything else until you can come to terms with this. Most folks "yo-yo" diet because they go too extreme with the newest fad diet, calorie deficit or cardio program and it's just not sustainable for a happy life. You worrry about family functions, holiday parties or the occassional dinner out. Or just flat out binge at the first good stresser of life. Or best case you make your goal weight then try to eat "normally" and gain the weight back anyway. The worst part is if you don't emphasize strength training to preserve lean muscle you burn that with the fat, then whe you regain the weight, the majority of it is fat so know you have a higher body fat % and it's now harder the next time you commit to losing.
You have to find a regimine of healthy eating and exercise that preserves sanity and lean muscle.0 -
If you're gaining weight, you're eating more calories than you burn. Start logging accurately and diligently again, and the culprit will be there in black and white for you to see.0
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Log all of your food and make sure you are eating at a correct deficit. Your weight gain suggests you are eating more than you should - are you weighing your food? :]
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Thanks to everyone who responded. When I first began I cut out sugar and flour. I was drinking tea without sugar, gave up the stupid sodas. I was eating chicken breast, fish and pork chops and hamburgers cooked on the George foreman. If I did use oil to cook it was coconut. I rotated the above daily and I'd eat out once a week. I used to walk on the treadmill for 1 mile a day or until i burned between 100 t0 150 calories.
Now i drink 1 or 2 sodas a day especially when i feel stressed with my job. I don't get on the treadmill or elliptical like i used to because when i think about it after strength training i tell myself tommorow but it never happens. Idk why i hate the treadmill now. As for the elliptical i was told that was a feminine machine. As for logging I try to do that but some days I forget lol0 -
Tighten up your logging. Make it religious. I usually plan what I am going to eat the whole day the night before, and pre log. It lets me know where I am at through out the day if temptation sneaks in, I know what I can wiggle in. Soda's aren't a problem if you fit them in your deficit.
The elliptical is a feminine machine? What? WHO CARES! Exercise is for fitness, health, and fun. Do cardio you enjoy doing. That's the only way you will stick to it. If you hate the treadmill, go on walks outside. I got a couple high energy dogs. It doesn't matter what day I had, how I'm feeling, if they don't get walked, I don't sleep. If I don't want to take them on a leisurely 4 mile walk to tucker them out, we better run half that or I don't sleep. Find something that motivates you to move and do it!0 -
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Thanks to everyone who responded. When I first began I cut out sugar and flour. I was drinking tea without sugar, gave up the stupid sodas. I was eating chicken breast, fish and pork chops and hamburgers cooked on the George foreman. If I did use oil to cook it was coconut. I rotated the above daily and I'd eat out once a week. I used to walk on the treadmill for 1 mile a day or until i burned between 100 t0 150 calories.
Now i drink 1 or 2 sodas a day especially when i feel stressed with my job. I don't get on the treadmill or elliptical like i used to because when i think about it after strength training i tell myself tommorow but it never happens. Idk why i hate the treadmill now. As for the elliptical i was told that was a feminine machine. As for logging I try to do that but some days I forget lol
Lol! (not at you, at the person who told you this) I do see a lot of women on the elliptical, but I have seen guys on it too - trucking like beasts. My bf uses it too.
I wasn't aware they were girly machines. X)0 -
Thanks to everyone who responded. When I first began I cut out sugar and flour. I was drinking tea without sugar, gave up the stupid sodas. I was eating chicken breast, fish and pork chops and hamburgers cooked on the George foreman. If I did use oil to cook it was coconut. I rotated the above daily and I'd eat out once a week. I used to walk on the treadmill for 1 mile a day or until i burned between 100 t0 150 calories.
Now i drink 1 or 2 sodas a day especially when i feel stressed with my job. I don't get on the treadmill or elliptical like i used to because when i think about it after strength training i tell myself tommorow but it never happens. Idk why i hate the treadmill now. As for the elliptical i was told that was a feminine machine. As for logging I try to do that but some days I forget lol
It sounds like you probably do know what is causing the weight gain. At the very least, you're likely taking in a couple more hundred cals from the sodas alone and likely burning a few hundred less that you were before. Since you're not logging, you're probably eating a LOT more than you realize. Stress can really push those buttons.
So, before doing anything, as others have suggested, get a really good idea of what you actually are eating -- gotta log consistently and accurately for a while. I imagine once you start doing that, the answers will be readily apparent. If it's still not working, then come back and we can explore other options (shifting macros, other WOEs, potential medical conditions, etc.)
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Thanks to everyone who responded. When I first began I cut out sugar and flour. I was drinking tea without sugar, gave up the stupid sodas. I was eating chicken breast, fish and pork chops and hamburgers cooked on the George foreman. If I did use oil to cook it was coconut. I rotated the above daily and I'd eat out once a week. I used to walk on the treadmill for 1 mile a day or until i burned between 100 t0 150 calories.
Now i drink 1 or 2 sodas a day especially when i feel stressed with my job. I don't get on the treadmill or elliptical like i used to because when i think about it after strength training i tell myself tommorow but it never happens. Idk why i hate the treadmill now. As for the elliptical i was told that was a feminine machine. As for logging I try to do that but some days I forget lol
You could do cardio first or for a few minutes in between sets.
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i see men on the elliptical all the time.
stop making excuses.0
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