cannot shift the weight

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DianePK
DianePK Posts: 122 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am having a hard time losing the weight. I am predominantly vegetarian, avoid sugar and fat, exercise regularly but the weight won't budge. I have tracked for 23 days with only 4 days of blowout, and am getting demoralised. I've also started taking Xenical to see if that helps me keep a lid on my weight gain. My thoughts are:
1. drinking alcohol - need to stop completely as this leads to snacking and the "odd" drink turns to more
2. planning my meals better
3. managing my comfort eating in the evening.
4. avoiding chocolate.

I can't up my exercise because I have arthritis in my knee and back so am limited to what I can do.

Any thoughts?
Di

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    How many calories are you eating per day? Are you weighing your solid foods on a food scale?

    Opening your diary may get you some more specific and helpful advice.
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,394 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Count your calories accurately and eat at a deficit. If by "blow out" you mean a cheat day where you over eat even your maintenance calories, then 4 in 23 days seems like a lot.
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
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    How about giving yourself a 30 day "no alcohol challenge" or "no nighttime snacking challenge" and see how you do with that. I find that I can face anything if it's for 30 days. And if you pick one behavior to focus on at a time, it might be a little less daunting than trying to fix everything at once.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Could you open your diary so that we can see how you're logging?
  • DianePK
    DianePK Posts: 122 Member
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    i've opened my diary, and the only thing I can think of is that I need scales as I might be under estimating portions. Yes 4 days is a lot I guess. It's mainly alcohol when I have a night out. I like the idea of not nighttime snacking. My blow out days are not tooooo bad. I'm off to the gym now, I just had to wait until my pain killer kicked in. Otherwise I can't workout. I used to be so fit and healthy before a skiing accident, and now the weight has crept on and I am borderline obese. I was a size six (Australian) and now even 14 is a struggle. I have a great wardrobe full of clothes I can't wear.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    DianePK wrote: »
    i've opened my diary, and the only thing I can think of is that I need scales as I might be under estimating portions. Yes 4 days is a lot I guess. It's mainly alcohol when I have a night out. I like the idea of not nighttime snacking. My blow out days are not tooooo bad. I'm off to the gym now, I just had to wait until my pain killer kicked in. Otherwise I can't workout. I used to be so fit and healthy before a skiing accident, and now the weight has crept on and I am borderline obese. I was a size six (Australian) and now even 14 is a struggle. I have a great wardrobe full of clothes I can't wear.

    Yes to the bold. Until you get your logging accurate (and I can guarantee you, looking through your diary, yours is not), nothing else will help
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    DianePK wrote: »
    i've opened my diary, and the only thing I can think of is that I need scales as I might be under estimating portions. Yes 4 days is a lot I guess. It's mainly alcohol when I have a night out. I like the idea of not nighttime snacking. My blow out days are not tooooo bad. I'm off to the gym now, I just had to wait until my pain killer kicked in. Otherwise I can't workout. I used to be so fit and healthy before a skiing accident, and now the weight has crept on and I am borderline obese. I was a size six (Australian) and now even 14 is a struggle. I have a great wardrobe full of clothes I can't wear.

    That you are logging so few calories and not losing weight makes me think that you may be underestimating portions. I also notice that you use a lot of generic entries for meals (things like "Jessica's Fettuchine Alfredo" or "Zucchini Fried Rice." If you aren't entering these recipes yourself, then they are little more than guesses.
  • Demimondance
    Demimondance Posts: 3 Member
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    Kichen scale is a very good plan, also I would recommend giving anything you aren't 100% sure about a quick google. I noticed you have 12 Oz vodka as 192 calories, when it is closer to 800. There are some very misleading entries on MFP that can be avoided with some double checking.

    Good luck!
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    There are also some secrets to using the MFP database that may be helpful:

    1. Never use any entry marked "homemade" unless you used the recipe builder and entered your own recipe. They're based on someone else's recipe and it won't match yours.
    2. It's always better to enter all the individual components of the food (for example, the bread, the peanut butter and the jelly) than to find one entry that fits ("one PB&J"). Same thing goes for something like scrambled eggs -- enter the eggs and the butter separately instead of finding an entry that says "scrambled eggs."
    3. Don't forget to log your cooking oil/butter.
    4. Avoid any entry that lists a "serving" as an option, because you have no idea if a serving is 1/2 cup or the whole pot of food.
  • DianePK
    DianePK Posts: 122 Member
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    Thank you all for your help. I am back on track, and have taken all of your comments into account and will hopefully be posting a loss next week!

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