Frustrated...i wanna quit!

So I'm doing 1200 to 1300 calories a day.
Typical day:
Breakfast-2egg whites 1 while egg with 1 cup spinach and 1 oz cheddar cheese
Lunch- 1 cup cottage cheese/1tbs of holy crap Dragon blend cearal.
Snacks - 2 tbs hummus veggies
Dinner - 3/4 oz chicken breast
3 cup spinach goat cheese. Roasted sliced almond cranberry.

First 13 days I lost 11.5 pounds.
I've been doing for 23 days after the first 13 I've lost nothing!!!!
I walk about 1/2 km ever other day but do to back problems...that's about it.

Not seeing results is very discouraging.....what am I doing wrong??

Replies

queenliz99

You have done really well so far!! Keep going!!

YvetteK2015

You've done great so far, don't stop! I've been on MFP since the beginning of August, and I've only lost 6 lbs. But that's ok, I know it will come off. Just stick with it and you will start to lose again. Just don't give up so soon.

ncboiler89

But you didn't lose 11.5 pounds of fat in the first 13 days. Weight loss is as much about expectations as anything else. Not seeing results on the scales for 23 days is not a reason to sweat as weight loss is going to vary even if you are doing everything perfectly.

If you REALLY feel like you are not losing (although 23 days is not enough time to make that determination), then you are either eating more than you think, burning fewer calories than you think, or both. Outside of a medical condition it is that simple.

Managing your expectations will get you through the time periods where nothing is showing on the scales.

jolive7

23 days and you want to quit?! Try something sustainable then, 1200 calories is not sustainable. This is a marathon not a sprint. You can't expect to reach your goals in a month, it takes time.

Back problems are NOT an excuse to do no exercise, get a PT/physio and work on some things that you CAN do. I don't get how people can feel ok doing no exercise, I mean you don't have to be in the gym 7 days a week like some of us but do SOMETHING every day. I see people in wheelchairs in the gym!

If you already want to give up then you should learn to be happy with your body. Hate to give the tough love attitude but there's way to many people complaining and not being consistent!

maxit

I will echo that you are doing fine. Typically, the first couple of weeks weeks is a large loss due to water weight. Increases in water weight due to hormones can mask fat loss. Just keep doing what you are doing.

Seffell

Get a digital scale. Don't measure solids by volume as this is inaccurate.

ahoy_m8

Two thoughts:

1) Some women see a loss on the scale for only 1 week per month; all the other days water retention obfuscates actual fat loss that is happening. What you have described (loss 1 week out of 4) does not sound uncommon at all. As ncboiler said, try resetting your expectations. Maybe you are one of those who sees a month's worth of fat loss in one week. Nothing wrong with that.

2) Make sure your calorie goal is appropriate. Don't skip that step! Nothing sets someone up for failure like a goal that is too aggressive. A goal of 2 lb/week is generally recommended only for those with >70lb to lose. Otherwise it's too aggressive. Many success stories on MFP of people losing much more weight than 70 lb at a much slower rate. Setting an appropriate goal, slow and steady, is a formula for success.

Please don't quit. Just reframe your goals!

rileysowner

schmidt72 wrote: »

So I'm doing 1200 to 1300 calories a day.
Typical day:
Breakfast-2egg whites 1 while egg with 1 cup spinach and 1 oz cheddar cheese
Lunch- 1 cup cottage cheese/1tbs of holy crap Dragon blend cearal.
Snacks - 2 tbs hummus veggies
Dinner - 3/4 oz chicken breast
3 cup spinach goat cheese. Roasted sliced almond cranberry.

First 13 days I lost 11.5 pounds.
I've been doing for 23 days after the first 13 I've lost nothing!!!!
I walk about 1/2 km ever other day but do to back problems...that's about it.

Not seeing results is very discouraging.....what am I doing wrong??

36 days, lost 11.5 pounds, that is about 2 pounds a week, which is the maximum that a person should generally be shooting for. Just looking at your list, humus should be weighed with a kitchen scale, so should the veggies, the cheese, the chicken, the cottage cheese, and the cereal. All of those could result in calorie errors.

https://youtu.be/vjKPIcI51lU

sugaraddict4321

I see these threads often and think - what does quitting look like? You can visualize how you'll look after losing X pounds, so visualize what you'll look like (and how you feel) if you just quit and do nothing about your health. I've quit dozens of times before in my life prior to joining MFP and all I got was more fat and less happy.

Instead, maybe consider modifying your approach? There are lots of good suggestions here. Start with logging everything you put in your mouth - butter, oil, ketchup, mustard, salad dressing, etc. You haven't listed any drinks. Are you weighing out that "one ounce" of cheddar cheese? One ounce is about 111 kcal, but if you are just eyeballing and get 1.5 oz then it's 166 kcal. Is that chicken breast 3 ounces (92 kcal) or 4 ounces (123 kcal). Also, why not eat the whole egg? Yes the yolk has the bulk of the calories but it also has the bulk of the nutrition.

Don't give up but do find what works for you. Be patient with yourself. You can do this, a step at a time.

kommodevaran

Don't eat in a way that you can do for just 23 days. Your diet sounds downright boring and restrictive, I would quit too, if I didn't see immidiate and dramatic results. And please don't expect immidiate and dramatic results. Weight loss is a slow process that takes time, patience, consistency, kindness and firmness. Set an appropriate goal, tell MFP that you want to lose 1% of your total body weight per week. MFP will then give you a good calorie goal to aim for. Be sure to hit it every day, by weighing everything and logging correctly. Eat what you like, adjust so that you feel satisfied, energetic and happy, and trust the process. You will lose weight doing this, if you have weight to lose.

GothamVeggie

ahoy_m8 wrote: »

...
2) Make sure your calorie goal is appropriate. Don't skip that step! Nothing sets someone up for failure like a goal that is too aggressive. A goal of 2 lb/week is generally recommended only for those with >70lb to lose. Otherwise it's too aggressive. Many success stories on MFP of people losing much more weight than 70 lb at a much slower rate. Setting an appropriate goal, slow and steady, is a formula for success.

Please don't quit. Just reframe your goals!

Cannot agree with this more. Also, a digital scale is key. I was only using measuring cups when I first tried this & thought I was accurate. And also used equivalents (e.g., 1 apple). Nope, I was waaay off in my calorie counts. Buy a scale & weigh everything.

RoxieDawn

OP you are not quitting are you? I hope not, there is some useful advice here...

DebSozo

schmidt72 wrote: »

So I'm doing 1200 to 1300 calories a day.
Typical day:
Breakfast-2egg whites 1 while egg with 1 cup spinach and 1 oz cheddar cheese
Lunch- 1 cup cottage cheese/1tbs of holy crap Dragon blend cearal.
Snacks - 2 tbs hummus veggies
Dinner - 3/4 oz chicken breast
3 cup spinach goat cheese. Roasted sliced almond cranberry.

First 13 days I lost 11.5 pounds.
I've been doing for 23 days after the first 13 I've lost nothing!!!!
I walk about 1/2 km ever other day but do to back problems...that's about it.

Not seeing results is very discouraging.....what am I doing wrong??

11 pounds in 23 days is excellent. Your initial first week loss included a woosh down in water weight. But it is amazing that you have kept it off! It is really common to stall after a woosh. You will likely see only a pound or so come off a week on average now, which is still great! You'll start losing again. Keep going!

ETA: you mean 3-4 oz chicken breast NOT 3/4 of one ounce, right?

Chilli7777

How much weight do you have to lose?

CattOfTheGarage

I have to admit that while I try to be patient and encouraging, these posts which say "hey, I've lost a huge amount of weight really fast and now I want to quit because I expected to lose it faster" are making me a little grumpy. They seem more like humblebrags than anything.

OP, if this is not a humblebrag, PLEASE take on board that a normal, healthy rate of weight loss is 1lb a week and that 2lb a week, which is your average rate of loss, is very fast and you cannot expect to lose any faster than that without having bad side effects. How fast did you expect to lose if this isn't good enough for you???

If you are disturbed by the 2 week stall, that's just normal cycles of water retention, if you have been carrying on as you were before, then you have still lost fat and you will see it when the water comes off. Search the forums for "water retention" and "weight loss is not linear" for more info on this.

If it WAS a humblebrag, cut it out. There are plenty of people on here being grateful for a half or quarter pound a week average loss and still managing not to quit, because what good would quitting do? Even maintaining at overweight or obese is a whole lot better than getting fatter, and that's what quitting means.

firef1y72

11lb in 23 days, you do know that's about 3.5lb/week don't you? Why don't you use a site like trendweight to record your weight, it gives an average over 20 days and as long as the graph is trending down then you're doing good.

Your diet also seems very restrictive, I eat 2000-2500 calories and am losing at around 1-2lb/week. Yes I'm very active, but I wasn't when I started out. I have a herediatory (?sp) joint condition (EDS type 3/hypermobility) that was exacerbated by my weight and could barely cross the room without crutches. By pushing myself to be a tiny bit more active each day and listening to my physio, I've steadily got to the point where I think nothing of taking 25000 steps in a day. Remember the more weight you lose the less stress there will be on you back, plus with many pain conditions, movement itself will ease the pain to a certain extent. I know that when I'm immobile my pain levels soar.

schmidt72

Chilli7777 wrote: »

How much weight do you have to lose?

55 pounds

wally2wiki

You've made great progress, I lost 8lbs in week one-then after that nothing!!!

Keep going and don't give up. I think you should incorporate weight training and more cardio into your routine; something like 5 days a week for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Dieting alone will eventually lead to stalling as the body will adapt in starvation mode.

Weight training boost your metabolism

If you already lost 11lbs , do you suddenly think that your weight loss randomly stalled because you weren't measuring properly?

Look up N.E.A.T(non-exercise activity thermogenesis)

https://breakingmuscle.com/health-medicine/its-not-your-metabolism-its-your-neat-thats-stopping-your-fat-loss

schmidt72

jolive7 wrote: »

23 days and you want to quit?! Try something sustainable then, 1200 calories is not sustainable. This is a marathon not a sprint. You can't expect to reach your goals in a month, it takes time.

Back problems are NOT an excuse to do no exercise, get a PT/physio and work on some things that you CAN do. I don't get how people can feel ok doing no exercise, I mean you don't have to be in the gym 7 days a week like some of us but do SOMETHING every day. I see people in wheelchairs in the gym!

If you already want to give up then you should learn to be happy with your body. Hate to give the tough love attitude but there's way to many people complaining and not being consistent!

So my back pain is past physio, been there done that thank you!
Last year being at the gym 4 days a week, stair master, treadmill, weight training with a certified coach, landed me in the hospital for 2 weeks. After home it was another 3 weeks till I could walk again.
So please don't lecture me about excise. I keep myself active everyday...

schmidt72

Chilli7777 wrote: »

How much weight do you have to lose?

55 pd

schmidt72

DebSozo wrote: »

schmidt72 wrote: »

So I'm doing 1200 to 1300 calories a day.
Typical day:
Breakfast-2egg whites 1 while egg with 1 cup spinach and 1 oz cheddar cheese
Lunch- 1 cup cottage cheese/1tbs of holy crap Dragon blend cearal.
Snacks - 2 tbs hummus veggies
Dinner - 3/4 oz chicken breast
3 cup spinach goat cheese. Roasted sliced almond cranberry.

First 13 days I lost 11.5 pounds.
I've been doing for 23 days after the first 13 I've lost nothing!!!!
I walk about 1/2 km ever other day but do to back problems...that's about it.

Not seeing results is very discouraging.....what am I doing wrong??

11 pounds in 23 days is excellent. Your initial first week loss included a woosh down in water weight. But it is amazing that you have kept it off! It is really common to stall after a woosh. You will likely see only a pound or so come off a week on average now, which is still great! You'll start losing again. Keep going!

ETA: you mean 3-4 oz chicken breast NOT 3/4 of one ounce, right?

3-4 oz

DebSozo

I have to keep changing things up. Weight loss isn't always linear. Some people lose every week and others lose and stall then lose more. Try not to compare yourself to others, and work with your own body.

Right now I do IF and eat in an 8 hour window, eat a low carb lunch, and a "normal" dinner. This works for me. I average out calories by the total week rather than day by day so I don't obsess about every daily weight fluctuation. It has taken me 5 months on MFP and experimenting to find my "happy place". Don't give up! Stay with it.

OP you don't want to go too low in calories for the long term. Calculate your calories for losing 1 pound a week if you have under 50 pounds to lose. Or if you have under 20 pounds to lose consider recalculating for a 0.5 pound weekly loss. When you want to maintain then recalculate and eat at TDEE for the weight goal you want to stay at.

schmidt72

I have 55 pd to lose. I'm 5'7
225 now
I based mine in 2 pd lose a week

daniip_la

jolive7 wrote: »

Back problems are NOT an excuse to do no exercise, get a PT/physio and work on some things that you CAN do. I don't get how people can feel ok doing no exercise, I mean you don't have to be in the gym 7 days a week like some of us but do SOMETHING every day. I see people in wheelchairs in the gym!

I don't see how you can possibly give this advice. Do you know what's wrong with OP's back, if they've exhausted all methods to work with it? I don't know if you've ever had serious back problems, but they're not something that can be brushed off with a "just do it anyway" attitude.

OP, I have a compromised spine (it's curved, my vertebrae are twisted, and my lower discs are compressed). I can't lift weights for long without landing myself in bed for several days. You said you're walking, keep that up when you can! The only exercise I can do right now is walk, and it has really helped me.

MommyMeggo

daniip_la wrote: »

jolive7 wrote: »

Back problems are NOT an excuse to do no exercise, get a PT/physio and work on some things that you CAN do. I don't get how people can feel ok doing no exercise, I mean you don't have to be in the gym 7 days a week like some of us but do SOMETHING every day. I see people in wheelchairs in the gym!

I don't see how you can possibly give this advice. Do you know what's wrong with OP's back, if they've exhausted all methods to work with it? I don't know if you've ever had serious back problems, but they're not something that can be brushed off with a "just do it anyway" attitude.

OP, I have a compromised spine (it's curved, my vertebrae are twisted, and my lower discs are compressed). I can't lift weights for long without landing myself in bed for several days. You said you're walking, keep that up when you can! The only exercise I can do right now is walk, and it has really helped me.

I agree. Exercise isnt even necessary for weight loss. Everyone has different goals. I injured my knee 3 months ago. Were my *very* short daily walks followed by pain not good enough in the eyes of others? Geez....Cuz it sure as hell was GREAT for me! Course I kept going and am healing nicely with over 5mi/day now ... but still- this is harsh advice from one stranger to another. And walking is great!

Anyway, OP. Have realistic expectations regarding your calories and time frame to reach your goals. *You said you want to lose 55lbs* So 1lb per week is a good goal-so thats 55 weeks.... long. term.

If your new lifestyle is so restrictive that it becomes something tangible that you can "quit" then you are approaching it incorrectly. Slow and steady. You dont like the progress ok- you think you'd feel better "quitting"?..as in just eating all the things and being unhealthy? Heck no!!!
So reevaluate as to why there is no loss- taking into account water retention, hormones, sodium, etc.
I can almost guarantee you its going to be your intake. Digital food scale all the way.
You dont have to starve yourself to lose weight and you wont have long term success that way.

Make sure your logging is on point.
Set your deficit to be 500cals/day=1lb week loss.
In 4 weeks- see how you stack up. Reevaluate and adjust or keep effing going.

trigden1991

Weigh and track you food 100% accurately. Eat in a deficit. Medical conditions excluded, you will lose weight.

Science and maths is always right.

MsSGriff

Your number of calories you eat depends a lot on your size. Some people on here are saying a 1200 calorie diet is not maintainable. I disagree with this broad statement. I am 5'2", and I currently need to lose 30ish lbs. I eat no more than 1200 calories a day. I have 2 eggs for breakfast (generally hard boiled) and a meat and a veggie for lunch and dinner. If I eat a fatty meat like center cut pork loin or sirloin, I will eat a fibrous vegetable...like green beans or broccoli. If I eat a lean meat like tilapia or chicken breast, I indulge in carby veggies...like rice, pinto beans, red beans, lima beans. This weekend, I plan to do sloppy joes on a high fiber wrap with cheese and either white chicken chili or chicken fajitas on high fiber wraps. If I have a fatty meat for lunch, I will have a lean meat for dinner...and vise versa. It's all about planning.

I always eat publix sugar free popsicles as a dessert, and I generally have one or two 100 calorie fat free pop corn for a snack. Though, I am thinking about going to air popped pop corn.

I think you need more diversity in your diet and to stop stressing. Stress will make it harder to lose weight. You also need to drink plenty of water. I try to drink a gallon a day. I recently stopped eating frozen prepackaged lunches. I find that the home cooking is more nutritious and keeps me more satisfied.

My biggest weakness is that we'll have a work function (luncheon). After having one off meal, I find excuses to continue indulging instead of getting back on track. I am 5'2", 30 years old, no kids, and I weigh 164.9 lbs as of this morning. Granted, that is down overall from my original heaviest weight of 173. I am desperately wanting to get back down to 130 lbs. Though, I would be happy with 130 - 140. I don't know how long it's going to take me, but I'm not giving up. Losing weight and keeping it off requires a lifestyle change. It probably took me about 5 years to get this heavy, so realistically it may take me years to get back to where I was. Maintaining a healthy weight is 80% diet and only 20% exercise. Don't fret if you don't get the exercise in, but try to. Swimming laps may be an option for exercise. It's what I like to do. Focus more on your diet. Losing weight is not easy, but it's so worth the effort.

CattOfTheGarage

schmidt72 wrote: »

I have 55 pd to lose. I'm 5'7
225 now
I based mine in 2 pd lose a week

So you're achieving that. The 2lb a week will always be an average over several weeks, not week by week like clockwork. This is especially the case for women because of hormonal variations in how much water you are carrying. Once you get a handle on that it will be much easier not to get discouraged.

szkodzt

I am the same weight and height as you and am currently losing 2 lbs a week (average) eating at about 1500 calories. I have a desk job and have yet to get into a regular exercise routine. My guess is that you are being too restrictive (your menu doesn't sound that fun if you are eating it every day) which is why you are leaning towards giving up. Make room for foods you used to have and like - just plan for them. This will make your new lifestyle more sustainable.

bethannien

I was just stalled for two weeks myself. And I had stalled for two weeks before that too. It happens. Every time I'm like "ugh this sucks I just want to eat all the things" I remember that all that's going to do is make the scale go UP. Been there, done that, bought the XXL t shirt.

You didn't gain the weight in a month, it's definitely going to take longer than that to lose it. Do your best, take care of yourself, make sure your deficit is something you can sustain, eat things you like within your calorie goal and BUY A FOOD SCALE. Makes all the difference in the world on accuracy.

Best of luck to you.