Weight loss suggestions wanted

guitargirl104
guitargirl104 Posts: 3 Member
edited November 18 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm at my wits end and looking for suggestions on how to get out of this weight loss rut. I'm a 26 year old female who is 5'2, weighs 145 lbs, and looking to lose 40 lbs. I gained weight in nursing school but was able lose weight after graduation and maintain my weight at 105 lbs for 3 years. I work three 13 hour shifts as a nurse and started graduate school 2 years ago. My weight started to creep back up 9 months ago and I'm back to where I started. I have a crazy schedule which wont be less than 100 hours a week until 2018. I started using myfitnesspal 5 months ago and have strictly adhered to the 1200 calorie intake and macros. I lost 2 lbs in the first month and then steadily returned to my baseline weight. If anything, I think that I've only been preventing more weight gain. I have little energy and feel hungry all the time. It was easy to lose weight years ago by just making healthier decisions and decreasing my portion sizes. Now I'm eating oatmeal, salads, and grilled chicken without seeing any progress. What's a girl to do?

Replies

  • cidplady
    cidplady Posts: 10 Member
    maybe you would benefit from advice from a dietician (maybe from your hospital) who could recommend a course of nutritional supplements for you as maybe your diet lacks all the right nutrients for your work schedule?
  • Hoshiko
    Hoshiko Posts: 179 Member
    How do you measure your food? Measuring cups, food scale, eyeballing portions?

    I think most people here will tell you that you have to be going over your deficit if you're not seeing a loss over time. I will say that if you're eating the same things every day it might help you to mix up your food choices a little. For someone as busy as you, it would be super easy to get into a routine with food and gradually add in a bit more than you think. Try switching things up and see if that helps.

    I know you can't necessarily do anything about this but stress and a lack of sleep can definitely make things more difficult. Just something to keep in mind.

    And finally, preventing further gain is not nothing! I know it's got to be incredibly frustrating to not see progress, but I just want to give you props for making your health a priority even with all of the craziness.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    Have you tried using a food scale to weigh everything that isn't a liquid? Weigh foods like mayo, butter and peanut butter.

    Weight loss is all about calories, not the food you eat/don't eat. Tighten up on your logging (choosing correct database entries, USDA entries for produce/meats, entries that reflect packaging info, logging everything that you eat/drink/season/cook with), eat the calories and do that every day for at least 6 weeks.
  • guitargirl104
    guitargirl104 Posts: 3 Member
    I've been purchasing single serve portions of the meals that I've been eating (i.e. oatmeal, yogurt cups, salads, hummus with pretzels, microwaveable meals). I've never thought to purchase a scale to weigh these foods but I'm not sure if I would be able to use it consistently. I eat maybe one or two meals at home per week. The meals I eat at work and clinical are all pre-packaged or a meal from a fastfood restaurant that provides nutrition info. Do you think that these meals can be that far off from their listed calories? If so, it would suck to feel this hungry all the time for nothing.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    edited May 2017
    I keep a digital scale in my desk at work. If you have any kind of private space at work, you can do it, too. Those meals are statutorily allowed to be 20% off from their nutrition labels.

    My other idea was to take about 600 grams of carrots, broccoli, bok choy, cauliflower, jicama and a dill pickle to work in 2 or 3 zipper bags and consume those in intervals of 4 to 6 hours.
    I know it looks hard core but you'd thrive on it.
  • emar831
    emar831 Posts: 16 Member
    Find time in your week to prepackage your own single serving foods. I know this can be time consuming and you dont have much time to yourself between school and work but if u truly want to lose weight, you must make your health a priority. 1200 calories isnt much in a day. I generally eat at this level and if I eat mostly whole foods, I feel great. If I start adding in processed and fast food, I feel like poo and am hungry.
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
    I pack a lunch for work and weigh stuff as I put it in a cooler.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    guitargirl104 wrote: »
    I've been purchasing single serve portions of the meals that I've been eating (i.e. oatmeal, yogurt cups, salads, hummus with pretzels, microwaveable meals). I've never thought to purchase a scale to weigh these foods but I'm not sure if I would be able to use it consistently. I eat maybe one or two meals at home per week. The meals I eat at work and clinical are all pre-packaged or a meal from a fastfood restaurant that provides nutrition info. Do you think that these meals can be that far off from their listed calories? If so, it would suck to feel this hungry all the time for nothing.

    prepackaged foods can be off by up to 20% so yeah they can be calorie bombs sometimes. even restaurants that provide nutrition info can be off. if you cant weigh while at work and eat these foods I would go with 1.25 or 1.50 servings just to over compensate a little.its better to estimate high than low. but when you are home weigh everything.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    I keep a digital scale in my desk at work. If you have any kind of private space at work, you can do it, too. Those meals are statutorily allowed to be 20% off from their nutrition labels.

    My other idea was to take about 600 grams of carrots, broccoli, bok choy, cauliflower, jicama and a dill pickle to work in 2 or 3 zipper bags and consume those in intervals of 4 to 6 hours.
    I know it looks hard core but you'd thrive on it.

    not trying to be rude but can I ask why you also recommend jicama? you do know not everyone can get it in their area, for me its only seasonal.just curious
  • Xymheia
    Xymheia Posts: 65 Member
    edited May 2017
    1200 is probably too little if you're on your feet all day (it's close to your BMR), and with an irregular, stressful schedule superimposed, it's particularly tough. Try reverse dieting (upping caloric intake with 100 kcal per day for a week and then another 100 extra per day for a week, etc, until you're at close to normal maintenance level of someone of your stature and activity level, you may gain weight for a while as you do this) and then maintain your weight. When your body has gotten used to this intake, you should lose weight if you eat at a moderate deficit of, say, 15 % off your TDEE. When you're at your goal weight, reverse diet again to a normal intake calculated for your new weight. I am convinced until proven otherwise that your body does reduce its metabolism if you eat too little for a long time and that reverse dieting can help get it back up to speed, but it takes a while. Don't restrict your calories too much: this is an additional stressor for your body and with your schedule adds to the risk of burnout, and make sure you get all the nutrients you need, which is more difficult at lower intake levels. If your schedule allows you can also do a bodyweight circuit or weight lifting routine 2-3 times a week to help you build muscle, improving body composition and strength. It doesn't have to take much time, you can do a bodyweight circuit or (home) weight routine in just 15-20 minutes.

    Maintain similar hours everyday as much as possible. You probably know this with your background, but I'll mention it for completeness: shift work (switching between 'on' and 'off' days) gives you a jet lag which in turn makes you feel hungrier than usual and tired because your body is out of sync with its preferred routine (hormone levels rise and fall according to your circadian rhythm which is disturbed by jet lag). For example if you start a shift at 6 am and get up at 5 am 3 days a week, you're better off getting up at 5 am all days of the week than 3 on 5 am and 4 on 7 am. 100 hours a week doesn't leave a lot of time, but do try to sleep for at least 7 hours per day and make a little time for stress relief too, e.g. meditating for a just few minutes per day can help with this.
  • guitargirl104
    guitargirl104 Posts: 3 Member
    Thanks for all of your advice! The meals that I eat are for the most part 'clean' (i.e. no pastas, breads, fried foods, baked goods, sweets, soda) but I had no idea that the meals could be off on calories by as much as 20%. I try to keep each meal between 300 to 500 calories.

    As far as having a consistent schedule, my clinicals hours are arranged by our instructors. On clinical days, most of my days are spent at a desk and I'm lucky to walk 3,000 steps while there. The hours on clinical days vary from 7a-5p, 11a-9p, 3p-1a, and 7p-3a. It's not atypical for me to be at clinical until one in the am and then wake up at five for work... I have somewhat of a normal schedule for work where I work three 12 hour shifts in a row. I'm able to walk between 10,000 to 20,000 steps on these days.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    I keep a digital scale in my desk at work. If you have any kind of private space at work, you can do it, too. Those meals are statutorily allowed to be 20% off from their nutrition labels.

    My other idea was to take about 600 grams of carrots, broccoli, bok choy, cauliflower, jicama and a dill pickle to work in 2 or 3 zipper bags and consume those in intervals of 4 to 6 hours.
    I know it looks hard core but you'd thrive on it.

    not trying to be rude but can I ask why you also recommend jicama? you do know not everyone can get it in their area, for me its only seasonal.just curious

    The flavor is sweet. The fiber is high. It is very low calorie. I was suggesting things I understand to be highly nutritious with some very low calorie density items and some flavor variety. I have no idea of the global distribution of jicama availability.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    My daughter, a Nurse Practitioner with additional certifications to participate in surgical procedures, discovered that her work schedule and her attempts to lose weight with a calorie deficit caused her to lose consciousness, which could have disastrous consequences if it happens during a surgical procedure. Her choice for weight loss was to have a gastric sleeve surgery and her rate of weight loss is very slow because she's terrified of having enough of a calorie deficit to cause loss of consciousness.

    This is way off your topic, but since you were asking for suggestions I was thinking of her.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    I keep a digital scale in my desk at work. If you have any kind of private space at work, you can do it, too. Those meals are statutorily allowed to be 20% off from their nutrition labels.

    My other idea was to take about 600 grams of carrots, broccoli, bok choy, cauliflower, jicama and a dill pickle to work in 2 or 3 zipper bags and consume those in intervals of 4 to 6 hours.
    I know it looks hard core but you'd thrive on it.

    not trying to be rude but can I ask why you also recommend jicama? you do know not everyone can get it in their area, for me its only seasonal.just curious

    The flavor is sweet. The fiber is high. It is very low calorie. I was suggesting things I understand to be highly nutritious with some very low calorie density items and some flavor variety. I have no idea of the global distribution of jicama availability.

    yeah the fiber isnt real high though 4.9g per 100g. I have had it before its just hard finding a good one too,I do like them though.I was just curious as to why you are always promoting them lol, But I get it though
  • RAinWA
    RAinWA Posts: 1,980 Member
    edited May 2017
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    I keep a digital scale in my desk at work. If you have any kind of private space at work, you can do it, too. Those meals are statutorily allowed to be 20% off from their nutrition labels.

    My other idea was to take about 600 grams of carrots, broccoli, bok choy, cauliflower, jicama and a dill pickle to work in 2 or 3 zipper bags and consume those in intervals of 4 to 6 hours.
    I know it looks hard core but you'd thrive on it.

    not trying to be rude but can I ask why you also recommend jicama? you do know not everyone can get it in their area, for me its only seasonal.just curious

    The flavor is sweet. The fiber is high. It is very low calorie. I was suggesting things I understand to be highly nutritious with some very low calorie density items and some flavor variety. I have no idea of the global distribution of jicama availability.

    yeah the fiber isnt real high though 4.9g per 100g. I have had it before its just hard finding a good one too,I do like them though.I was just curious as to why you are always promoting them lol, But I get it though

    I love jicama but I always have the produce people cut it open before I buy it because I have never figured out how to pick a good one!
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