Am I the only one who can't lose weight?!

bizgirl26 · April 2017

I am assuming you may have done weight watchers in the past as they said you could eat all the fruits and veggies you wanted and have zero points. Well although I am sure most of us didn't get overweight on fruits and veggies to begin with they certainly count calorie wise and if you eat any food in excess of your calorie deficit you will gain. Fruits and veggies are very nutritious - you should be eating them. AS everyone has said ensure you weigh and count everything that goes in your mouth . If you are 100 pounds overweight I cant see why you would only eat 1200 calories a day

WinoGelato · April 2017

JasmineDiver22 wrote: »

@JaydedMiss what do I measure besides chicken. You can't measure protein shakes or anything else I usually eat. I'll cut out fruit. I'll measure veggies. Other than that I don't eat anything else. Except eggs.

Why are you eating so few foods? I think you are missing the point that many here are trying to make. You don't have to cut out any foods, absent of a medical condition that requires you to limit them. You can eat anything you want, and still lose weight - if you are eating at a calorie deficit. Many people find the best way to ensure the accuracy of their logging in order to achieve that calorie deficit, is to use a food scale.

You don't need to cut out fruits, don't need to only eat vegetables, chicken and eggs... you can eat beef, pork, fish, pizza, burgers, mexican food, fast food, bread, dairy, butter, avocado, ice cream, protein shakes and wine.... if you eat within a calorie deficit, you will lose.

nicholerohrer · April 2017

There's nothing wrong with adding more variety in your diet. You don't have to cut everything out to lose weight. It seems like you're very focused on only eating certain foods, when in reality you should be focusing on how much of those food you're eating. Once you start to get a feel for weighing your food and accurately logging, you'll find you can actually eat a lot more foods than you think! Hang in there! You can do it!

WinoGelato · April 2017

OP have you taken any time to read the stickied, Most Helpful Forum Posts at the top of each section?

This one, in the Getting Started section, I think might be particularly helpful to you, along with the other links embedded within it.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1235566/so-youre-new-here/p1

CSARdiver · April 2017

You are missing the mark and focusing on a lot of things which have little to no impact on weight management.

First of all what does MFP recommend for your daily caloric intake?

Second - you are eating more than you think. As several posters have mentioned you have not established a caloric deficit. What you eat is irrelevant and fruit is not very calorie dense. If MFP gives you 1400 cals/day you need to ensure you are hitting that mark. Weigh everything that goes into your mouth at first until you get an understanding of what you should be eating daily.

Finally - don't tackle too much at one time. Write down 5 bad habits you want to change, cross off 4 and replace the one critical habit with a good habit. Once this becomes part of your routine repeat the exercise.

This is a marathon, not a sprint so ease into this with a long term mindset.

niabo · April 2017

I'm by no means an expert but I recently (as in 30 mins ago) bought this scale (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004164SRA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) on Amazon for $12 because it was suggested on one of the "get started" threads and I realized that I should probably do the most accurate logging that I can. If I'm already committed to using measuring cups and sitting here logging food, I may as well do it as accurately as possible. I lost 10 pounds in a little less than a month, eating a bit more than 1200 cals, and then felt that I wasn't eating enough because I gained back 3 eating 1700 the very next week. By paying attention to me, I tweaked to about 1350-1400 and feel good while losing. Good luck. (I also wish fruit had a magical zero calories!)

JasmineDiver22 · April 2017

Thanks guys for all the advice. And @bizgirl26 I've never done weight watchers. I've honestly just assumed that if you as healthy as possible that's the only way you can lose weight. So I figured fruits veggies, chicken, fish and eggs, with premade protein shakes(I use Atkins) thats how I could lose weight. But anything but that has happened. I'm not active very much at all. And yes 100+ pounds to lose is ALOT and a lot of stress. I'm just afraid if I eat anything besides what I already am, I'll gain. I've suffered from physiological binge eating disorder so I struggle with that while losing weight, not to mention, depression. (Which 100% more than likely is due to lack is self esteem issues for sure!) but that's besides the point. I guess I'm just trying to figure out something different. I'll give it more time and see. But I'll be happy to take advice for anyone who's reading this. I already order a good scale from amazon within the amount of time I've posted this. So thank you guys!

JLanziPhTech · April 2017

What kind of protein shake are you consuming. check out my last post and you will understand why I ask...

fitmom4lifemfp · April 2017

JasmineDiver22 wrote: »

@jessiferrrb I'm well over 100 pounds over weight. I'm 5'2. I cut out all carbs except fruits and veggies. I eat chicken eggs and protein shakes and that's literally all I eat. I usually weigh myself 1 time a week but lately I been weighing myself every chance I get while in the bathroom and it's literally the same every time. But I do it at work so I'm fully clothed with shoes and it's in the middle of the day mostly when I weigh myself. I also have a desk job and only average 3k steps a day if I'm lucky, so that could be part of it. I been wondering what I could do for exercise since I have so much to lose I can't do much.

Firstly, stop doing that. Tomorrow morning, get out of bed, get naked, pee, and weigh at HOME. If you don't have a scale, get one. Do that EVERY morning. Same routine on the same scale. Log that weight every day

Secondly, I also have a desk job, and I normally get at least 10K steps every day, and also hit the gym at night.
Start walking at lunch, instead of going out to eat (or if you are eating at the office, go walk, and eat before or after).

fitmom4lifemfp · April 2017

bizgirl26 wrote: »

I am assuming you may have done weight watchers in the past as they said you could eat all the fruits and veggies you wanted and have zero points. Well although I am sure most of us didn't get overweight on fruits and veggies to begin with they certainly count calorie wise and if you eat any food in excess of your calorie deficit you will gain. Fruits and veggies are very nutritious - you should be eating them. AS everyone has said ensure you weigh and count everything that goes in your mouth . If you are 100 pounds overweight I cant see why you would only eat 1200 calories a day

I did WW years ago, and that was not a rule when I did it. That was a different version. Just wanted to comment that WW has had many different plans over the years.

VeryKatie · April 2017

JasmineDiver22 wrote: »

@gamerbabe14
Hmmm, then I'll just cut out all fruits. Literally eat just chicken and drink protein shakes and only drink water, because that's all I freaking eat. I barely eat now. I never eat my full 1200 calories when I log it (so I think) but apparently I'm eating more. I feel like I'm starving myself. So I really don't feel like I'm eating that much. I went from eating 3k+ calories a day and cut that in half. Soooo... there should still be enough difference for me to lose. It's pissing me off.

Hello nutrient deficiencies if you do this. Are you trying to make yourself sick? If you're eating nothing but chicken and protein drinks you'll find yourself at the doctor really quickly. With scurvy, kidney failure, low iron, low everything else that should be in your blood, hair loss, probably skin problems and organ problems..

If you have a scale, you weight the protein powder before you add water. If it comes premixed, you use a liquid measuring cup to validate the milliliters on the bottle. Make sure you're weighing your chicken (and hopefully other meat too like fish, turkey, red meat, etc) when raw and that you're choosing USDA RAW entries when you enter it into you diary. While you're at it, weigh your eggs too. Crack them into a bowl first.

Don't cut out fruits and veggies. Instead, weight them and COUNT them. It's very simple. You're going overboard with cutting everything out.

I mean this all as friendly advice - I genuinely worry you're cutting out too many types of food.

jessiferrrb · April 2017

JasmineDiver22 wrote: »

@jessiferrrb I'm well over 100 pounds over weight. I'm 5'2. I cut out all carbs except fruits and veggies. I eat chicken eggs and protein shakes and that's literally all I eat. I usually weigh myself 1 time a week but lately I been weighing myself every chance I get while in the bathroom and it's literally the same every time. But I do it at work so I'm fully clothed with shoes and it's in the middle of the day mostly when I weigh myself. I also have a desk job and only average 3k steps a day if I'm lucky, so that could be part of it. I been wondering what I could do for exercise since I have so much to lose I can't do much.

ok, so - guessed at your current weight by adding 100 pounds to the middle of the normal range of the bmi chart (if that's not totally accurate it's not a super big deal) then i inputted your stats into the lovely and very helpful scooby calculator.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

i listed you as desk job with very little exercise and gave you the most aggressive weight loss goal offered. it spit out 1,585 calories per day as your target.

my recommendation to you would be to try 1 month of accurately counting calories and trying to hit at least 1,500 per day. i would also recommend that in doing so you incorporate more of the foods that you like and that you ate before you began trying to lose weight. not eating more of them than you did prior to weight loss, but eating some of them now. it does you no good to be miserable in week 4 when you have a long road ahead of you and you can be happy on it. i would also continue to eat veg, fruit, eggs and chicken.

i wouldn't jump on the scale every chance you get. you can jump on it weekly or you can jump on it daily. be consistent with the time (i.e. before you eat, after you poo or whatever works for you) and as much as possible in similar clothing. if you decide to weigh every day then get a trending app like libra (android) or happy scale (ios) because it will track your actual gains or loss despite the every day fluctuations which we ALL go through.

snowflake954 · April 2017

JasmineDiver22 wrote: »

@JaydedMiss what do I measure besides chicken. You can't measure protein shakes or anything else I usually eat. I'll cut out fruit. I'll measure veggies. Other than that I don't eat anything else. Except eggs.

You can measure shakes and almost everything. That's why there are labels and the data base. "I'll just cut out this and that" because it's too hard to weigh and measure isn't going to get you losing weight. Buy a nice digital food scale and learn how to use it. Log everything you eat and drink. Try to be as accurate as possible. Hunger depends on how you're mixing up your foods. Everyone needs to learn how to eat as much as possible and still lose. You can do this, so many of us have.

CSARdiver · April 2017

JasmineDiver22 wrote: »

Thanks guys for all the advice. And @bizgirl26 I've never done weight watchers. I've honestly just assumed that if you as healthy as possible that's the only way you can lose weight. So I figured fruits veggies, chicken, fish and eggs, with premade protein shakes(I use Atkins) thats how I could lose weight. But anything but that has happened. I'm not active very much at all. And yes 100+ pounds to lose is ALOT and a lot of stress. I'm just afraid if I eat anything besides what I already am, I'll gain. I've suffered from physiological binge eating disorder so I struggle with that while losing weight, not to mention, depression. (Which 100% more than likely is due to lack is self esteem issues for sure!) but that's besides the point. I guess I'm just trying to figure out something different. I'll give it more time and see. But I'll be happy to take advice for anyone who's reading this. I already order a good scale from amazon within the amount of time I've posted this. So thank you guys!

Just about everyone here started where you are now, so don't take any comments personally or negatively. Especially as a newcomer - listen to the advice of those who have lost and been in maintenance now for years.

MFP utilizes the Caloric Intake < Caloric Output (CICO) principle - actually all diets use this in some manner, but hide this under layers of marketing and advertising. Quite simply it works like this:

Calorie In < Calorie Out = Weight loss
Calorie In = Calorie Out = Weight maintenance
Calorie In > Calorie Out = Weight gain

This is the something different. Welcome aboard!

jessiferrrb · April 2017

JasmineDiver22 wrote: »

Thanks guys for all the advice. And @bizgirl26 I've never done weight watchers. I've honestly just assumed that if you as healthy as possible that's the only way you can lose weight. So I figured fruits veggies, chicken, fish and eggs, with premade protein shakes(I use Atkins) thats how I could lose weight. But anything but that has happened. I'm not active very much at all. And yes 100+ pounds to lose is ALOT and a lot of stress. I'm just afraid if I eat anything besides what I already am, I'll gain. I've suffered from physiological binge eating disorder so I struggle with that while losing weight, not to mention, depression. (Which 100% more than likely is due to lack is self esteem issues for sure!) but that's besides the point. I guess I'm just trying to figure out something different. I'll give it more time and see. But I'll be happy to take advice for anyone who's reading this. I already order a good scale from amazon within the amount of time I've posted this. So thank you guys!

i can relate to a lot of this. depression and self worth issues are familiar territory. the stress can't be eliminated altogether but it can be managed. set for yourself reasonable expectations. take things slowly and try as much as is possible to enjoy the journey. if you can add in activity as you go, do so. if you can't do it right away then let it go. if you can keep some foods in the house which you enjoy but don't trigger binges, then do that too. sometimes individually portioned out snacks are my best friend, even if they put me over my daily calories. it's better to eat 150 extra calories of cheese and crackers and not feel starving than it is to deprive yourself until you cave and eat the entire packages of both. some nights i want a glass of wine more and other times i want the calorie deficit more. most times i can have both. 100 pounds is a lot to lose. but 10 pounds is pretty manageable. set up mini goals.

AnvilHead · April 2017

JasmineDiver22 wrote: »

Thanks guys for all the advice. And @bizgirl26 I've never done weight watchers. I've honestly just assumed that if you as healthy as possible that's the only way you can lose weight. So I figured fruits veggies, chicken, fish and eggs, with premade protein shakes(I use Atkins) thats how I could lose weight. But anything but that has happened. I'm not active very much at all. And yes 100+ pounds to lose is ALOT and a lot of stress. I'm just afraid if I eat anything besides what I already am, I'll gain. I've suffered from physiological binge eating disorder so I struggle with that while losing weight, not to mention, depression. (Which 100% more than likely is due to lack is self esteem issues for sure!) but that's besides the point. I guess I'm just trying to figure out something different. I'll give it more time and see. But I'll be happy to take advice for anyone who's reading this. I already order a good scale from amazon within the amount of time I've posted this. So thank you guys!

Many people view the "white knuckle" approach as a necessary method of weight loss. Ridiculously large deficits, extremely restrictive diets, cutting out foods/entire food groups, obsessive exercise, etc. This strategy rarely works because you set yourself up for a flaming crash and burn when you can't sustain it. Then you binge, gain it all back and end up in worse shape than you were before, and are completely convinced that losing weight is impossible.

Eating "healthy" doesn't make you lose weight if you're taking in too many calories, nor does excluding carbs, fats, fruits, meat or anything else. What matters, speaking in terms of weight loss, is consistently taking in less calories than you expend. Period. And if you're not losing weight and not measuring your intake accurately, chances are very good that you're eating much more than you think you are - hence the numerous recommendations to get a food scale and use it.

Set a reasonable deficit and stick to it, eat a balanced diet that's sustainable for you (and optimally, mix in a reasonable amount of exercise that is sustainable for you) and trust the process. It won't happen overnight, nor will it happen in a linear fashion - you won't lose x pounds every day/week like clockwork, there will be fluctuations. But it will happen. It can't not happen if you're doing those things correctly.

Lizzypb88 · April 2017

JasmineDiver22 wrote: »

I've seriously been dieting for almost 4 weeks now and either I stay the same or I gain. I started out @ 1400 calories and I saw that I gained, so then I went down to 1200 and now I'm maintaining that same weight. I've gained 35 pounds since my last weight loss experience last year, and I feel hopeless like I can't lose weight no matter how hard I try. I haven't started exercising yet because I figured like last year when I lost 30 pounds I only ate healthy and didn't even exercise so I thought this experience could be the same. I don't know what to do at this point. I'm doing all veggies fruits and high protein low carb. I average like 50g of carbs a day.. that's low. So I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'm frustrated and feel hopeless. Anyone else?

This same thing happened to me too.. I thought, well my calories are less and years ago I lost it without working out...
For me, I wasn't eating the best food choices compared to doing this years ago, plus I have to work out at least twice a week to lose...
Are you sure you're measuring accurately? I agree get a scale and make sure you document every bite of whatever you take! You may not be logging accurately, take a look at your macros and see how you're doing, also check your sodium and sugar?
Other than that, I love that chart that someone posted above!

Lizzypb88 · April 2017

And I agree- don't cut out fruits! Just watch your daily sugar intake and don't go overboard... you can have what you want in moderation!

stealthq · April 2017

JasmineDiver22 wrote: »

@jessiferrrb I'm well over 100 pounds over weight. I'm 5'2. I cut out all carbs except fruits and veggies. I eat chicken eggs and protein shakes and that's literally all I eat. I usually weigh myself 1 time a week but lately I been weighing myself every chance I get while in the bathroom and it's literally the same every time. But I do it at work so I'm fully clothed with shoes and it's in the middle of the day mostly when I weigh myself. I also have a desk job and only average 3k steps a day if I'm lucky, so that could be part of it. I been wondering what I could do for exercise since I have so much to lose I can't do much.

I'll also add that your weight fluctuates a lot during the day. Weighing yourself multiple times per day, or at different times and under different conditions is going to make tracking your weight more difficult. It's usually recommended to weigh yourself in the morning after using the restroom either naked or with similar weight clothing every time. Weigh every day if you want to be familiar with your typical weight fluctuations, or do it less frequently if things like seeing your weight jump up after a higher sodium day (water retention) is going to discourage you.

On exercise, I'm assuming you have no physical disabilities, you're just concerned about the impact of the extra weight. Given that, walking, cycling, elliptical, rowing are all safe bets and low impact.

AliceDark · April 2017

JasmineDiver22 wrote: »

Thanks guys for all the advice. And @bizgirl26 I've never done weight watchers. I've honestly just assumed that if you as healthy as possible that's the only way you can lose weight. So I figured fruits veggies, chicken, fish and eggs, with premade protein shakes(I use Atkins) thats how I could lose weight. But anything but that has happened. I'm not active very much at all. And yes 100+ pounds to lose is ALOT and a lot of stress. I'm just afraid if I eat anything besides what I already am, I'll gain. I've suffered from physiological binge eating disorder so I struggle with that while losing weight, not to mention, depression. (Which 100% more than likely is due to lack is self esteem issues for sure!) but that's besides the point. I guess I'm just trying to figure out something different. I'll give it more time and see. But I'll be happy to take advice for anyone who's reading this. I already order a good scale from amazon within the amount of time I've posted this. So thank you guys!

This part really sucks, but it's going to take you a year or more to lose the weight. That's okay, because that year is going to pass whether you're losing or not, but it is going to take some time. You can't live on chicken, eggs and protein shakes for a year, because A. you're not a robot, and B. you'll get scurvy. You have to find a sustainable way to eat that fits your taste preferences and your lifestyle, or you won't make it.

PLUS, if you have a history of BED, the last thing you want to do is to be overly restrictive in your diet. That's a huge trigger for binges.

Before you do anything else, take 4 weeks and use your food scale for everything you can. Eat whatever you want, but focus on weighing all solids, using measuring cups for all liquids, and stick to your calorie goal.

Am I the only one who can't lose weight?!

Replies

Categories