I lost weight on here before... now I'm back again

yddraig318
yddraig318 Posts: 2 Member
edited November 16 in Introduce Yourself
I used this app about 2 years ago to lose weight for my wedding. 5 years prior I weighed about 127 at 5'3. I was prob at 137-139 in my wedding which I wasn't thrilled with but I had lost 15 pounds at least from this app. Flash forward 2 years into being married and comfortable, and I've tipped the scale at 160 which is horrifying. My heaviest weight ever was 168 but my husband has seen pictures of me much heavier and says I look completely different, not that it makes me feel better. He bought me a Garmin step tracker for Christmas and I've been trying to diligently do 10,000 steps/almost 5 miles every day but I'm stuck at 159. I used to be bulimic/anorexic and that's how I lost all the weight and maintained it for so long but I'm trying to lose weight the healthy way and it's so discouraging. I'm just SO HUNGRY all the time and 1200 calories goes so fast even when I'm eating healthy stuff like apples and mandarins. I had a miscarriage at 10 weeks back in November so I've been trying to lose the 6-8 pounds I gained plus a little more before we try again but it feels never-ending. It's like I've hit a point where I still eat to feel satisfied and walk a ton but that's not enough for my body. It's so hard not to get discouraged because I've struggled with my weight my whole life and my husband loves me either way and is very supportive but the flip side to that is it's easy to let my weight slide hence the 30 pounds I've put on since we met. Does anyone have any tips on low calorie food to eat that is filling (not raw veggies --I gag). I work in a place that heavily restricts my bathroom breaks so I can't drink water constantly like I did when I lost weight all those years ago. Just feels like a downward spiral of feeling fat :/

Replies

  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
    Set a reasonable goal. Why not 0.5-1 pound a week. 1200 is the minimum MFP will allow and most people choose 2 pounds a week because who wouldn't want to lose that much per week. Unfortunately for many this is a very aggressive goal. Have patience.
  • ashmeg84
    ashmeg84 Posts: 8 Member
    Feel free to add me, I'm always looking for other ladies who have similar goals! =)
  • gs1941
    gs1941 Posts: 41 Member
    Feel free to add me also. I am looking for friends to be accountable with. I am in a similar situation, I used this app about 2 years ago with much success then fell off the wagon entirely! However, I am back and I want to look and feel great!!
  • xsmilexforxmex
    xsmilexforxmex Posts: 1,216 Member
    I just joined again as well, after gaining the 15 I lost plus another 20 ish. Feel free to add me if you want some motivation! I would say if you're having trouble with 1200 calories, eat your exercise calories back - that'll at least give you a buffer. As for filling foods - spinach is a great filler in salad or cooked, 1oz of almonds with an apple, watermelon is super low calorie and you can pair it with a protein to help you stay full longer. Try boiled broccoli or yellow squash (sliced) if you like them.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    We all gain it back if we lose the awareness of food. You need protein, fat, carbs, fiber, and nutrients to feel best especially on a deficit, oh it certainly does not have to be raw veggies!! lol Focus on foods you LIKE as that is the only way it is sustainable. I'm not perfect with my diet but I've lost 85 pounds and maintained that for 6 years now, my diary is public and I can't add any more FR's unless I delete some which I do on occasion, but many of those inactive for months are TRUE FRIEND's so it's hard for me to delete them, but my diary is visible to anyone.

    Focus on mostly lean protein and veggies that you like, just enough carbs/fat, at your height that will be probably two servings of healthy complex carbs, and make sure you get some fat in foods or take a fish oil. If you focus on that it will fall into place naturally. I'm 5 foot nothing and I like at least 100g of protein to feel best. The leanest protein, or highest protein/calorie ratio foods are white fish, egg whites, protein powder isolate, bone broth, lean turkey/chicken/fish, then fat free greek yogurt/cottage cheese. The protein/calorie ratio drops off dramatically after that even with so called high protein foods of which many are more carbs/fat then protein.

    Don't eat too low or it will backfire with crashing and binging, eat up to your maintenance at least one day a week to help keep your hormones stable.

    You can do it again! But we don't get to revert back when we reach our goal, manage the calories like a checkbook, all bills will come due!!!
  • mantramoon
    mantramoon Posts: 31 Member
    edited February 2017
    Try making vegetable soups (we like using our crock pot) - they're filling and very low-calorie. You can always add beans, whole grains like barley or brown rice, whole grain pasta. I also love fruit salad with a little bit of nuts and soy yogurt. Don't beat yourself up mentally, either! Weight loss requires patience and steady effort, as I am discovering myself. I've lost 7lbs in about as many weeks, which I'm pretty happy about. Sympathies about your miscarriage - I had one once when I was first married and it was very hard physically and emotionally. Be kind to yourself!
  • muffle1969
    muffle1969 Posts: 96 Member
    I also have used this app a couple of times to lose weight. I have learned it works for me as long as I use it. :) I am significantly heavier than you, but the principles are still the same. Here is what I have learned works for me, and many others I know:

    - If you are at 1200 calories a day, and you are not eating back exercise calories, there is a good chance you are not fueling your body properly. If you net significantly under, say...1100ish, your body may think it is starving and hang on to every calorie you put into it.

    - In addition to the above, you need to eat enough protein. I have PCOS and insulin resistance (not diabetes), so I place the following importance on my macronutrients: meet or exceed protein, try to stay under carbs and sugar, meet or exceed fiber, try to stay under fat and sodium, meet or exceed water.

    - Most of my exercise is swimming. That can burn anywhere from 200-500+ calories, depending on how intensely and how long I do it. I have no issue eating back anywhere from half to all of those calories. My weight loss goal is 1 pound a week. I lose anywhere from .4 to 1.8 pounds per week. I'm good with that.

    - Protein, fiber and fat make me feel sated/full. Hard boiled eggs are awesome - not fibrous, but awesome nonetheless. Yoplait 100 greek yogurt is awesome the same way. Apples have fiber and are yummy. Reduced fat string cheese has 70 calories, and 8 grams of protein.

    - I eat something pretty much as soon as I feel hungry. It may only be 100 calories, but it has some nutritional value (protein, fiber, fat, etc...) and makes me not hungry. At the end of the day if I'm low on protein, those Yoplait Greek yogurts are awesome, as are 100-calorie packs of dry or raw nuts.

    I hope maybe some of this helps. I've lost 13 pounds since 1/5/2017 when I restarted my weight loss. Now that I'm in my late-ish 40s, I simply need to be healthier. I'm on 1400 calories a day, and I usually stay between 1250 and 1400, depending on the day. Once every other week or so I go over - like tonight I'll probably have 1600 or so due to dinner, but I look at a week at a time, so it evens out. I wish you the best! If you want to buddy up, please let me know. :)
  • yddraig318
    yddraig318 Posts: 2 Member
    Thank you everyone :) I try to eat a lot more veggies but there aren't a lot that I like (believe me I've tried) so I mostly stick to broccoli, green beans, and spinach. I can eat lettuce when there's dressing or chicken in it but I hate tomatoes in salads so I usually just eat lettuce or spinach with minimal dressing and fruit or butternet squash cubes or chicken. I want to go vegan because I've heard it's so much healthier and easier to lose weight but if I go too long without things like meat and sugar it's all I can think about. I definitely know I have a sugar addiction, it's the first thing I crave in the mornings and the last thing at night. I try not to eat after 7pm and cook most of my own food. I feel like my distaste for the majority of vegetables is my undoing I just can't sit there munching on carrots or celery or I'll just give up and eat like crap :/ so I try to eat plenty of fruit and spinach in my breakfast smoothies with green beans or broccoli at lunch and dinner. My complex carbs are always baked potatoes or brown rice and raaaarely whole wheat pasta but I usually substitute spaghetti squash when I make pasta. I was using the YMCA for their Zumba classes but the classrooms were always SO packed I hated going because I could barely move in there since the staff wouldn't enforce the fire code regulations. Once I had my miscarriage I was out of commission mentally for weeks and just cancelled my membership because it felt like a waste of money. We bought an elliptical on Craigslist but it wasn't a good one and every time I tried to use it I could only do 15 minutes whereas the ones at the Y I could use for an hour. So we sold that and now I'm pretty much limited to walking my neighborhood or youtube videos but I guess I never feel like I'm working up enough of a sweat. I'm sure if I counted my calories to the letter I could make something happen I just feel so frustrated because I've been trying off and on for a year and concentrating hard on increasing my exercise since December but the scale hasn't moved at all.
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