Help! A little confused and frustrated!
Briacha
Posts: 160 Member
Hi everyone. I have been on this journey for approx. 130 days. I've lost 21 pounds so far. I am 5'2 and I weigh 186.6 currently. I'd like to lose an additional 56 pounds. I know slow and steady wins the race, but with that said here is my dilemma in a nutshell!!!
I did not gain over the holidays, stayed under my caloric intake (1200) and kept to exercising (walking atleast 30 min per day / 5-7 x week). Now, for the last 4 weeks, I've remained basically the same weight, up or down 1/2 ounces.
Is my body "used to" what I am doing? Should I be eating more? I have high blood pressure and my Dr really encourages walking, so I def do not want to change that. Besides exercising my body, the brisk outdoor walks really helps the mind as well!
I totally do not understand the macros and stuff. But, I do make sure I hit my protein goal and eat pretty good. A ton of veggies, chickpeas and chicken! I drink atleast 7-10 glasses of water per day and if I have a snack, it's a handful of chips or pepperoni/cheese (which I count out, etc.)
I would appreciate any tips/advise on what I should be doing to help myself along this journey!
thank you in advance
I did not gain over the holidays, stayed under my caloric intake (1200) and kept to exercising (walking atleast 30 min per day / 5-7 x week). Now, for the last 4 weeks, I've remained basically the same weight, up or down 1/2 ounces.
Is my body "used to" what I am doing? Should I be eating more? I have high blood pressure and my Dr really encourages walking, so I def do not want to change that. Besides exercising my body, the brisk outdoor walks really helps the mind as well!
I totally do not understand the macros and stuff. But, I do make sure I hit my protein goal and eat pretty good. A ton of veggies, chickpeas and chicken! I drink atleast 7-10 glasses of water per day and if I have a snack, it's a handful of chips or pepperoni/cheese (which I count out, etc.)
I would appreciate any tips/advise on what I should be doing to help myself along this journey!
thank you in advance
2
Replies
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Congrats on the weight loss. Great job so far.
Do you weigh your food? If not, the most likely explanation is that you are eating more than you think.
That said, it happens. You are doing everything right, so don't get discouraged. Weight loss is not linear. If you keep doing what you are doing, you will continue to lose weight. You got this!7 -
For the most part yes, I do weigh my food. I have 2 scales and I count things such as nuts, chips, pretzels, etc too!!!0
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I am about 10 months along and 42 pounds down. I plateaued for three months in the middle. I have no idea why, as I thought I was doing everything the same. I eventually increased my exercise (and eating to match) and decreased my stress and things started moving again. My take-away is that human biology is complicated and you just have to keep working at it.9
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Bria, have you also looked into macros? Macros or ratios are very important. Also, when you exercise, is your heart rate in fat burn range? Just some thoughts you may have already thought.
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For the most part yes, I do weigh my food. I have 2 scales and I count things such as nuts, chips, pretzels, etc too!!!
What do you mean by the bolded? Do you mean that you weigh those, too? Or do you mean you go by the serving size saying a serving is 13 nuts (or whatever) and you eat 13 nuts (or whatever)? If the latter, then I highly recommend weighing those items - not just counting them.11 -
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If the scale is not moving, then perhaps it is time to increase accuracy? "For the most part" means there are some things that you estimate or skip logging.
Ps-could you open your diary?2 -
My diary should be open, I will check my settings!0
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My diary should be open, I will check my settings!
Just looked at today's input.
Full Stop.
1.5 cup of Brussels Sprouts - weigh that. It's not particularly Calorie-dense, but those things add up - especially when there's a lot of it or the items do become Calorie-dense, like...
1 sausage link. Weigh it.
The olive oil? Yes, as a liquid, it's correct to use a tsp/tbsp. And the Strawberry Smoothie is most likely OK.1 -
I did weigh it. It was 1.5 cups Brussels uncooked!
The link I did not weigh.0 -
when she says weigh it - how many grams of BS was it? 1.5 cups could be a wide range of weights5
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If you've increased your workout, you may need to re-calculate your calorie intake to match the intensity of the work you're doing.
If you're doing the same workout day in and day out, try to switch it up a bit, try a different video, routine, or even different number of reps/sets. Anything you can do to keep your body from expecting the same thing on a schedule may help too.
Good luck and great job so far.1 -
deannalfisher wrote: »when she says weigh it - how many grams of BS was it? 1.5 cups could be a wide range of weights
She?
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deannalfisher wrote: »when she says weigh it - how many grams of BS was it? 1.5 cups could be a wide range of weights
Yikes, see now I am even more confused!0 -
Liquids for measuring cups, solid foods should be weighed in grams, not by the cup.0
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I used ounces on the scale...Oy vey!0
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I did weigh it. It was 1.5 cups Brussels uncooked!
The link I did not weigh.
If you're short and are only walking a half hour a few times a week and are a certain age, you need to weigh everything, not measure it in cups. Use a food scale.
I know. I'm 54 and 5'1"
Look for USDA entries in the data base for things, and use the gram entries. When you use things like sausage links, take the product information from the package. It will give you the serving size, and the information will tell you have much a serving is in grams. Weigh each serving. Servings can vary. I've had things like protein bars be 15 extra calories.
When you're on 1200 calories, 15 calories here and 20 calories there adds up.
Saying that, up the intensity of your walks. Try adding 5 minutes.
And now I'll share a story.
I was doing everything perfectly, logging meticulously, and ... I stalled. No weight loss for three weeks. No explanation at all. The scale just stopped moving. This was back when I first started.
I still don't know what happened. One day... whoosh. Three pounds came off.
Tighten up your tracking, then trust the math.7 -
deannalfisher wrote: »when she says weigh it - how many grams of BS was it? 1.5 cups could be a wide range of weights
Yikes, see now I am even more confused!
Weight is measured in units like grams and (avoirdupois) ounces/pounds.
Cups are a measurement of volume. The amount of solid foods you can fit in a cup varies widely depending on how small or large the pieces of the food are (whole brussels sprouts? are they large or small sprouts? halved? shredded?) and much you pack them down, etc.
Weight does not change based on the size of the pieces or how much you pack them down.
People are saying you weigh your food, on a scale, not measure them by volume in a cup.7 -
I scan most things that can scan when adding to my diary and I bought a digital scale, but had it on ounces! I upped the walk to 60 minutes, but on snowy, really cold days (like yesterday) I only walked 35 minutes.1
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I did weigh it. It was 1.5 cups Brussels uncooked!
The link I did not weigh.
so you weighed it on the scale in grams and not in measuring cups? and you arent supposed to eat under 1200 calories. you are supposed to eat 1200 calories net(after exercise,which means eating back some of your calories you burned off through exercise), if you are weighing all solids and semi solids in grams on a scale,and all liquids in measuring cups(you can weigh on a scale if it has fl oz or ml also). then you should be losing weight.1 -
I did weigh it. It was 1.5 cups Brussels uncooked!
That's not weighed. It's measured. That's fine for baking, not (usually) fine for accurate food logging.
There's a variance in size and shape of foods - including Brussels Sprouts. Especially if halved or shredded. As such, you can end up with more or less air between individual Sprouts. As such, you can often end up with more (sometimes less) Sprouts than anticipated. That means you end up with a different Calorie and nutrient count.
As I mentioned previously - Brussels Sprouts may not be a huge deal-breaker as far as Calorie counts go. But, other things that are more Calorie-dense can easily blow your Caloric deficit for the day, if measured instead of weighed.3 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »deannalfisher wrote: »when she says weigh it - how many grams of BS was it? 1.5 cups could be a wide range of weights
Yikes, see now I am even more confused!
Weight is measured in units like grams and (avoirdupois) ounces/pounds.
Cups are a measurement of volume. The amount of solid foods you can fit in a cup varies widely depending on how small or large the pieces of the food are (whole brussels sprouts? are they large or small sprouts? halved? shredded?) and much you pack them down, etc.
Weight does not change based on the size of the pieces or how much you pack them down.
People are saying you weigh your food, on a scale, not measure them by volume in a cup.
I do, but had the scale set to ounces. It's a digital scale that I bought at Target!0 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »deannalfisher wrote: »when she says weigh it - how many grams of BS was it? 1.5 cups could be a wide range of weights
Yikes, see now I am even more confused!
Weight is measured in units like grams and (avoirdupois) ounces/pounds.
Cups are a measurement of volume. The amount of solid foods you can fit in a cup varies widely depending on how small or large the pieces of the food are (whole brussels sprouts? are they large or small sprouts? halved? shredded?) and much you pack them down, etc.
Weight does not change based on the size of the pieces or how much you pack them down.
People are saying you weigh your food, on a scale, not measure them by volume in a cup.
I do, but had the scale set to ounces. It's a digital scale that I bought at Target!
it should have a way to set it to grams. it should have a few different ways to set weight. even my cheap $10 scale does oz,grams and lbs.grams is more accurate than oz for most things.
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No, I'm confused. More or less out of curiosity, what weight did the scale say, in oz?
Because 1.5 oz is only ~43 g. So that probably would only be about 1/2 cup, if that entry was reasonably accurate (1.5 c ~ 100 g). Conversely, 100 oz is ~2800 g, which would be a lot more than 1.5 c.2 -
Also worth noting, if you are consistently eating under your goal and getting a reasonable amount of walking in, cortisol could be masking losses at this point. The body will be stressed from the undereating.
But also to add, I mostly lose in whooshes. Stall. Whoosh. Stall. Whoosh.10 -
I'm sure ounces are OK to use to measure? Sorry, I forget most on here use imperial measurements.1
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Grams are more accurate, smaller increments.4
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One thing that many people don't realize: 4 liquid ounces which is 1/2 cup is not the same thing as 4 ounces by weight. You can weigh in ounces but would want to log it as 4 ounces by weight. Grams are more precise because there are 28 grams in an ounce. You might round something off as .5 ounces, and it could be 10 grams or 14 grams or 18 grams.I scan most things that can scan when adding to my diary and I bought a digital scale, but had it on ounces! I upped the walk to 60 minutes, but on snowy, really cold days (like yesterday) I only walked 35 minutes.
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OP are you perhaps confusing fluid ounces and ounces? If you weighed it on the scale and it weighed 8 ounces that doesn't necessarily equal one cup/8 fluid ounces (and in most cases it won't). Is that what's going on here?9
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