Someone please educate me!

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Slimdownmb
Slimdownmb Posts: 130 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,
I'm having a real tough time loosing weight!
To maintain my weight apprently I need to eat 2640 cals a day. I obviously don't want to do this so mfp has given me a calorie goal of 1600 to loose 2 lbs a week,
I'm usually only hitting about 1200-1500
I've starting walking once/twice a week... and sometimes even using my cross trainer on the weekends (I'm extremely overweight so I can only do around 20-30 mins of this before feeling like I'm going to die)
This is a lot more than I've ever done before.
I'm drinking 1-2 litres of water a day.
Most mornings I'm having oatmeal ... lunches and dinners are usually chicken or fish with jacket potatoe and salad (only have the jp once a day)
I've cut down on tea and coffee and am drinking more mint and green tea...
if I do have a mini treat it's usually miller light yogurts, alpen bars or something like that..

I got so fed up last night as I've not lost anything in about 3 weeks I went on a mad binge! Obviously not the way forward I understand and now I'm beating myself up about it. But if anyone has any answers for this id be grateful I'm really struggling..
At 21st3lbs I really think I should be loosing weight on this diet.
Thank you in advance
Marianne

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    Have you lost any weight since starting?
  • spartantechie
    spartantechie Posts: 6 Member
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    Most of the time we misjudge the amount of food we consume. Are you sure the amount of food you are entering is correct?
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    What will beating your self up achieve?

    Just get back to logging your food and staying in a deficit.

    Are you weighing your food?

    In those 3 weeks was it TOM?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    You have set an aggressive rate of loss and are now even under cutting it. You may find that 1lb a week loss is far more sustainable and doesn't trigger binging.
    How about making gradual changes rather than turning everything upside down at once?

    Tortoise and hare..... It's better to get there slowly rather than burn out and never get there.

    But as a woman you really do need to give a new routine at least a month to see your weight trend which can be hidden by normal fluctuations.
  • HaleCry
    HaleCry Posts: 387 Member
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    How are you tracking your calorie intake? Are you using a food scale and weighing EVERYTHING? If not, that's the first thing you need to do. If you're just eyeballing portions you're probably estimating. Secondly, you need to eat more. 1200-1500 calories is not enough for you. You should eat at least what MFP gave you (1600) PLUS at least half of your exercise calories that you have burnt by walking or cross trainer. The less calories you eat, the more likely you are to binge. There is no way you're eating that little and NOT losing weight, so something is up with your logging. Be more accurate in this department and you should start seeing results!

    Good luck on your journey :smile:
  • goodasgoldilox165
    goodasgoldilox165 Posts: 333 Member
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    Don't worry about the lapse - just get back to your plan and don't look back.

    Weighing and measuring your food (all of it) will help.
    Little tastes/bites do count as well as meals/snacks. (It is amazing how tiny amounts of some things can really add to your calorie intake.)
    Otherwise you sound to be doing the right things to lose weight. Good luck for the weeks ahead.
  • eggdev
    eggdev Posts: 28 Member
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    Look at your numbers:
    Your body needs 2640
    MFP suggests 1600
    Your eating ~1200

    If your deficit is that low you're bound to crack and binge. Your body will force you to!
    You should eat more. This will allow you to be consistent. How about 2,000 calories, every single day, for two weeks and see how that works. Don't weigh yourself until the end of that 2-weeks. If you lose some - stick with it. Monitor and adjust slowly.
  • subcounter
    subcounter Posts: 2,382 Member
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    Slimdownmb wrote: »
    Hi all,
    I'm having a real tough time loosing weight!
    To maintain my weight apprently I need to eat 2640 cals a day. I obviously don't want to do this so mfp has given me a calorie goal of 1600 to loose 2 lbs a week,
    I'm usually only hitting about 1200-1500
    I've starting walking once/twice a week... and sometimes even using my cross trainer on the weekends (I'm extremely overweight so I can only do around 20-30 mins of this before feeling like I'm going to die)
    This is a lot more than I've ever done before.
    I'm drinking 1-2 litres of water a day.
    Most mornings I'm having oatmeal ... lunches and dinners are usually chicken or fish with jacket potatoe and salad (only have the jp once a day)
    I've cut down on tea and coffee and am drinking more mint and green tea...
    if I do have a mini treat it's usually miller light yogurts, alpen bars or something like that..

    I got so fed up last night as I've not lost anything in about 3 weeks I went on a mad binge! Obviously not the way forward I understand and now I'm beating myself up about it. But if anyone has any answers for this id be grateful I'm really struggling..
    At 21st3lbs I really think I should be loosing weight on this diet.
    Thank you in advance
    Marianne

    Well first off, do not rush into weight-loss journey. If you aim too low of a deficit, well, lets say, aim something you can not sustain, you will quit it. Set up a realistic goal you can handle.

    Another thing is, simply finding food that fills you up. If you eat a PB&J Sandwich you can hit 1000 cals easily but might feel hungry an hour or two later. However, with same calories, you could eat something like a pound of chicken breast and a pound of cabbage in a stew or something. Trust me, that will keep you full for a long time.

    I mean you can have tea and coffee, I don't see any problem with them in terms of weight-loss.

    Another bit is, don't over-estimate your exercise calories and eat back them all if you find that you are not losing the amount of weight you are supposed to. Adjust accordingly, say eat back 80%, and check back at the end of the week to see if you are closer to your goal that way. You can get your golden spot at some point.
  • SarahFromWalthamForest
    SarahFromWalthamForest Posts: 101 Member
    edited March 2017
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    You should try to include a source of protein and a non-starchy vegetable or a low-sugar fruit with each meal, these will help keep you full for longer and provide you with essential nutrients. Also this not cause your insulin levels to rise too much, so you won't get mega cravings​ for sugary​ treats. Also avoid artificial sweeteners.
    Hope this helps.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    I think you've got some really good pointers in the above posts (the theme being - you need to take it slower and eat a little more) but I'd add...

    Do you really like the foods you're eating?

    You seem to be eating typical "diet" foods. If that is what you enjoy, then great - go for it, but it is a misconception that you must eat a certain type of food to lose weight - it is the calories that are critical to success and, within sensible boundaries (like not exclude whole food groups), you can eat what you want as long as you get the calories right.

    Case in point - tonight's supper for me is a nuttella sandwich (2 slices of thick white bread and 30g nutella).

    Eat the foods you enjoy and binges are less likely.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,107 Member
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    Slimdownmb wrote: »
    I got so fed up last night as I've not lost anything in about 3 weeks I went on a mad binge! Obviously not the way forward I understand and now I'm beating myself up about it. But if anyone has any answers for this id be grateful I'm really struggling..
    At 21st3lbs I really think I should be loosing weight on this diet.
    Thank you in advance
    Marianne

    You're slightly heavier than me and I'm losing eating around 1800-2100 calories on the days that I'm exercising. You are barely netting 1000 calories (due to exercise burns) looking at some of this week's diary, it's no wonder you ended up binging, you need to fuel your body adequately. Given that it only looks like you've been logging properly since the beginning of March, I wouldn't be panicking just yet, hormones can mess with your water retention and mask any loss.

    Eat at a sustainable deficit, you should be able to lose at a decent rate at around 1800 net calories per day (net meaning you should be eating some of your calories burned through exercise back also), stop thinking of this as a diet and think of it as a lifestyle change, small sustainable changes that you can manage long term are the way forward.
  • pupntot
    pupntot Posts: 25 Member
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    Everyone here is right and speaking sense.

    The harsh reality is if you are calorie counting and getting the 1000 cal deficit needed for 2 pounds a week loss, then there is no way you will not lose weight. The only explanation is that your calories IN are not accurate, or your calories OUT are not accurate...or both.

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