The harder I try the worse it gets

natalie72065
natalie72065 Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
The more I try to eat right and workout the more weight I seem to gain. I don't know what to do. I am type 1 diabetic on an insulin pump. I also have low thyroid but both issues are controlled. Any hep or suggestions?

Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    How many calories are you eating, and how are you calculating said calories (do you weigh the food, measure, eyeball portions)? Also, what is your age, current weight, height and activity level?

    Can you open your food diary?

    There are no right or wrong foods in weight loss. I eat the foods that I enjoy (treats) as well as nutritious foods.... I haven't cut anything out unless I don't like that particular food. 85lbs down.
  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    cerise_noir wrote: »
    How many calories are you eating, and how are you calculating said calories (do you weigh the food, measure, eyeball portions)? Also, what is your age, current weight, height and activity level?

    Can you open your food diary?

    There are no right or wrong foods in weight loss. I eat the foods that I enjoy (treats) as well as nutritious foods.... I haven't cut anything out unless I don't like that particular food. 85lbs down.

    This. Weight loss is about eating the correct amount of calories for your goals. Are you accurately tracking, weighing food on a food scale, staying within your calorie parameters?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    That's the thing about weight loss, it's part numbers game, part mind game. It's a simple equation of calories in - calories out, but sticking to the right amount of calories is tricky, because food is amazing, and finding the right amount of calorie to eat can be a challenge in itself. Eating too little just makes you more hungry, and you can't do that for very long because... well because being hungry doesn't feel that good, and food is amazing.

    You have two medical issues that you need to make sure are taken care of, and that may or may not interfere with weight management. Your doctor should be able to guide you, possibly in tandem with a dietitian.
  • kirayng2
    kirayng2 Posts: 36 Member
    I second the advice for dietitian, I have pre-diabetes and Hashimoto's so I had to change some things in my diet. Weight loss is slow with these conditions. Also have your cortisol checked, you may have adrenal fatigue which messes up how exercise affects you; your body takes longer to recover from it.
  • natalie72065
    natalie72065 Posts: 6 Member
    I am 40. Weight the am was 284. I am trying 1400 cals a day. I do measure and weigh food but honestly I do not track well. I have talked to a dietitian my endocrinologist suggested but after spending 2 hours with her I didn't feel like I learned anything. I workout (treadmill and weights) at least 3 times a week and am on my feet at least 10 of the 12 hours I work on weekends
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    What do you mean by not track well? Anything specific you are struggling with?
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Start with your tracking and tighten that up. It's astonishingly easy to eat many more calories than you think you are.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited April 2016
    natalie72065 wrote: »
    I am 40. Weight the am was 284. I am trying 1400 cals a day. I do measure and weigh food but honestly I do not track well. I have talked to a dietitian my endocrinologist suggested but after spending 2 hours with her I didn't feel like I learned anything. I workout (treadmill and weights) at least 3 times a week and am on my feet at least 10 of the 12 hours I work on weekends

    Definitely weigh all your solid and semi food in grams on a digital food scale and start logging accurately. Measuring foods is highly inaccurate and can cause one to overeat by several hundred calories. This is very important. Accurate weighing and logging does equal weight loss. Losing weight is all about eating less calories than you burn. I believe your issue lies in not logging consistently or accurately.

    For example, my food scale was broken and I hadn't replaced in in a couple of months. I thought I was doing just fine estimating and measuring foods....turns out, I was wrong. The 1500 calories I thought I was eating was actually much higher, high enough for me to maintain my weight. As soon as I started weighing again, I was losing the pounds.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
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  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,535 Member
    OP, these are extremely informative:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1 (first post...the thread is insanely long, but really,just read the first post.)
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1235566/so-youre-new-here/p1
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,120 Member
    Hi! I'm another type 1 diabetic (pumping with the TSlim).

    How many lows are you having a week? As you lose weight (and even as you exercise more, particularly aerobic exercise like walking), your insulin sensitivity will improve, and you may begin to experience more lows. If you're constantly treating lows, you might destroy any calorie deficit that you may have (this is often why I personally experience weight stalls. I lose 5-10lbs, start having constant lows from the improved insulin sensitivity, and end up needing to eat much of my 250-500kcal deficit in low treatment and then see a plateau in my weight until I lower my insulin dose enough to prevent the lows). Remember that a calorie is a calorie, even when your BG is low and you absolutely must eat. In terms of adjusting insulin for weight loss/exercise, I really recommend reading Gary Scheiner's Think Like a Pancreas and John Walsh's Pumping Insulin. Personally, I see a 5-15% reduction in my TDD (particularly my basal insulin) for every 5-10lbs lost, but YDMV (even now, I'm at the point where certain basal segments are barely at the pump's minimal basal rate, so I'm now having fun trying to play with my bolus ratios as a way to account for the improved insulin sensitivity)

    I really recommend getting a food scale and trying to be as accurate as possible with your logging. My food scale and MFP are my best friends, both because they help me to maintain a calorie deficit and they prevent extreme highs/lows from occurring from being completely off in my carb counts (if I'm left to visually WAG a non low-carb meal, I often either go sky-high or tank epicly, which then destroys my calorie deficit because I'll eventually be treating lows.)
  • elaineamj
    elaineamj Posts: 347 Member
    Finding ways to tighten your logging is a big habit change. But it really, really does work. I like seeing the math...and TRUSTING the math. The other thing I have been learning is that weight loss takes endless patience. You've chosen MFP. Commit with yourself to give it a fair shot. Choose a specific calorie goal and STICK WITH IT for at least 3 weeks. Then re-evaluate from there if you need to increase it or decrease it.

    Also, think about what type of person you are. Do you want a challenge? Or are you more motivated by easy baby steps? If you want to go the baby steps route, don't start with too big of a calorie deficit. Maybe adjust your settings to lose a mere 0.5 lbs a week. I know that sounds super little, but this is where you are setting up your habits. You can increase it to 1 lbs a week loss after you succeed at this.

    What worked for me was to have a spot where I report everything I am dealing with - celebrating all successes, big and small, and confessing all struggles honestly. I also log faithfully on MFP. And I make room for life and treats. I discovered that restrictive diets and too few calories leave me resentful and feeling deprived. Adding some extra calories slowed loss, but made everything so much more sustainable. I can go out to eat (occasionally). I can have friends for dinner or attend that potluck, etc etc. When I learned to accommodate life, then the weight loss journey became much much easier for me.

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