I'm not perfect. PLEASE RESPOND AND HELP ME
amincy96
Posts: 3 Member
Hey you all Ive been logging for about 2 weeks and im stuck at 150 pounds and i have NOT been perfect on my journey I excersize about 60 minutes a day 5 days a week burning on average 400 calories!!! My goal is for my NET calories to stay under 1200 but yesterday for example I had 1650 and the day before 1400 today i am under 1100 happily and unfortuanately i cheat maybe twice every seven days. Can i see still see results even tho I'm not perfect??? HELP!!!
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Replies
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Stop trying to be perfect. Just set a reasonable calorie goal and aim to stick to it, log accurately and don't cheat. You don't have to exhaust yourself to lose weight.10
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Read up on cognitive distortion and "all or nothing thinking". Even if I do everything right I might only see the scale move once a month. My weight loss is influenced by my hormone cycle.
Other influencers include salty foods and the day after extras vigorous exercise (swollen healing muscles).
You might try taking a rest day from exercise once a week and try evening out your daily calorie goal so you are less likely to "cheat".
How tall are you?
http://cogbtherapy.com/cbt-blog/cognitive-distortions-all-or-nothing-thinking4 -
cheating twice a week can wipe out a deficit
how are you calculating your calories (intake) and calories burned?
Are you weighing ALL your food on a SCALE?
and .......
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Consider upping your daily cals to 1500-1700 and eating your treats or cheats within that calorie goal. You will have a healthier overall diet because 1200 is the MINIMUM and not really appropriate for people doing intense exercises as you are. No need to be "perfect" but you do need well controlled moderation. You can't be "perfect" for the rest of your life, and that's what this is all about.4
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Try to look at your calorie goal as not just a daily goal but a weekly one also; ex: 1300 a day/9100 a week. So if you eat 100 calories more on one day and 100 less another day it still "fits" into your weekly target.3
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No one is perfect. But you have to find what is going to work for you.0
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Hey you all Ive been logging for about 2 weeks and im stuck at 150 pounds and i have NOT been perfect on my journey I excersize about 60 minutes a day 5 days a week burning on average 400 calories!!! My goal is for my NET calories to stay under 1200 but yesterday for example I had 1650 and the day before 1400 today i am under 1100 happily and unfortuanately i cheat maybe twice every seven days. Can i see still see results even tho I'm not perfect??? HELP!!!
What are your stats-age, gender, height, and I see you said 150 for weight.
How much are you trying to lose?
Do you weigh your food and log everything you eat? Do you eat cardio calories back and, if so, where do you get those burn numbers from?
Chances are you are eating more than you realize and your cheat days are killing your deficit.
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Consider upping your daily cals to 1500-1700 and eating your treats or cheats within that calorie goal. You will have a healthier overall diet because 1200 is the MINIMUM and not really appropriate for people doing intense exercises as you are. No need to be "perfect" but you do need well controlled moderation. You can't be "perfect" for the rest of your life, and that's what this is all about.
While I agree with eating a higher calorie goal and working treats in, I don't believe it applies in this situation. She is already eating too much (she said she's not losing weight), therefore she is eating at maintenance. Once she gets her logging under control and knows for certain how much she is eating, then she can up the calorie goal but will continue to lose at a slower rate.0 -
Totally agree about getting rid of all or nothing thinking. This is for the rest of your life. If it takes you time to get it right, then what does it matter?
When you hang out on here it's easy to get the impression that everyone loses 50lbs in six months by sticking to their calorie limit perfectly. It's not true. Those people are here, but there are lots of people like me as well.
I've been here for around two years. I've lost about 35lbs in that time. I have about 10lb to go until I'm at a healthy weight. I probably adhere to my weekly calorie target about 10% of the time. The rest of the time I go over by either a little (1,000 calories) or a lot (5,000 calories or more). My weight loss has been SLOW as a result of my sloppiness, but I just don't have it in me to be a perfect dieter. Every now and then I get super-strict, usually because a vacation or some other special event is coming up, but the rest of the time I'm quite relaxed.
Some weeks I gain, I don't count calories on vacation, I'm far from perfect. But I've gone from obese to just slightly overweight during this process and that's good enough for me.
If you want to be imperfect you can still lose weight, but you have to be patient and you have to be committed to the long haul. Otherwise, I don't see how it could work.
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kommodevaran wrote: »Stop trying to be perfect. Just set a reasonable calorie goal and aim to stick to it, log accurately and don't cheat. You don't have to exhaust yourself to lose weight.Read up on cognitive distortion and "all or nothing thinking". Even if I do everything right I might only see the scale move once a month. My weight loss is influenced by my hormone cycle.
Other influencers include salty foods and the day after extras vigorous exercise (swollen healing muscles).
You might try taking a rest day from exercise once a week and try evening out your daily calorie goal so you are less likely to "cheat".
How tall are you?
http://cogbtherapy.com/cbt-blog/cognitive-distortions-all-or-nothing-thinkingcallsitlikeiseeit wrote: »cheating twice a week can wipe out a deficit
how are you calculating your calories (intake) and calories burned?
Are you weighing ALL your food on a SCALE?
and .......Consider upping your daily cals to 1500-1700 and eating your treats or cheats within that calorie goal. You will have a healthier overall diet because 1200 is the MINIMUM and not really appropriate for people doing intense exercises as you are. No need to be "perfect" but you do need well controlled moderation. You can't be "perfect" for the rest of your life, and that's what this is all about.
Great advice from everyone. Calm down, analyse what you are doing.
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If your cheating twice a week that's probably why the scales not moving.1
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Just to add, no need to be perfect. You're using MFP (right?), you're in the community, and you're working out. That's a great plan for losing weight! I think you're being a little hard on yourself, wouldn't you agree? If you don't agree, then we can discuss what a realistic, healthy goal is in terms of weight loss.0
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Consider upping your daily cals to 1500-1700 and eating your treats or cheats within that calorie goal. You will have a healthier overall diet because 1200 is the MINIMUM and not really appropriate for people doing intense exercises as you are. No need to be "perfect" but you do need well controlled moderation. You can't be "perfect" for the rest of your life, and that's what this is all about.
While I agree with eating a higher calorie goal and working treats in, I don't believe it applies in this situation. She is already eating too much (she said she's not losing weight), therefore she is eating at maintenance. Once she gets her logging under control and knows for certain how much she is eating, then she can up the calorie goal but will continue to lose at a slower rate.
Given other things OP told us, it's likely that the way she's eating too much is via those "cheat days". She says she weighs 150, and eats <1100 to around 1650 net . . . except for the "cheating". That's very likely what's putting her at maintenance calories rather than at a deficit.
We know she's 20 y/o. Let's pretend she's around average height, say 5'6". Her sedentary TDEE would then be around 1600, but she's doing (she says) 400 calories of exercise 5 days, so around 1885 with the exercise. So, she theoretically should be losing weight on the calorie levels she's eating . . . therefore it's probably the over-goal days ("cheats") wiping out her deficit.
So, IMO, @lorrpb's advice to eat at 1500-1700. and fit treats into that, is perfectly sensible.
At the very least, OP has no way of knowing what the over-goal days are doing to her deficit (or what her actual TDEE might be) unless she logs those days. Consistently eating at a deficit, as lorrpb suggested, is a logical thing to do while she sorts that out.1 -
Also, it's been two weeks. Often that's not long enough to see weight loss even if you're doing everything right. I have to be in a consistent deficit for around five weeks before weight loss begins. It sucks but sometimes we have to be patient.1
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I am on 1200Cal and it helped me to look up what my maintenance calories actually are (1680 for me), which made me not sweat it when I do happen to go over on some days. If I am under that maintenance number, I am still heading in the right direction, just a little slower than I might have been!
And averaging out over a week can help too - if I've been out for a big meal I am often less hungry for the day or two afterwards so it can balance out.
For me, feeling it's okay to not be "perfect" is so important. I went out with a friend last week and we ordered dessert - she really wanted to, but didn't want to "fail" her diet and actually felt guilty afterwards. I do not want that at all.0 -
Increase your calories to lose one half pound a week.
If you cheat, log it so you know exactly how many calories you are eating.0 -
Try to relax and forget about being perfect. Give yourself a break. Think about weight loss and maintenance as a life long thing with lots of ups and downs. You're only at two weeks! There will be many weeks along this journey where you won't lose weight, or even gain a few pounds - you need to accept that and focus on the bigger picture. As long as there is a deficit, even of only 100 calories, you will lose weight eventually. Don't panic, keep learning, trust the process and don't give up!
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