Still eating right and exercising but gained it all back!

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Replies

  • wenrob
    wenrob Posts: 125 Member
    edited September 2017
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  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    OP just try weighing everything you eat and drink for at least a full month and see what happens.

    I know if i went by package weights and eyeballing portions I'd be eating quite a bit more than what it said in my diary, i 100% guarantee it!!
  • ss4vegeta48
    ss4vegeta48 Posts: 12 Member
    sympha01 wrote: »
    1. Once again agreeing with what many people have said: eating "right" is not nearly as important as eating LESS. Measure and control your portions, particularly of calorie-dense things like meat, starchy foods, and many condiments (e.g. sour cream, salad dressing, peanut butter). You have no idea of whether you are hitting a calorie surplus or deficit if you are measuring your portions using your eyeballs. Logging is not the same as tracking if you don't measure your portions. You lost weight tracking: great. Many people (including me) have to continue tracking AND DILIGENTLY MEASURING in order to maintain weight loss. It is very normal to like eating more food than you need. It is very easy to trick yourself about portion size if you are not measuring diligently. Some unicorns can pull it off. Don't assume you're one of them. Evidence is pointing to the contrary here. If you're not losing weight -- or you're gaining -- you just DON'T GET TO SAY you know you're hitting a specific calorie target when you're not measuring. If you're really sure your portions are right, you won't mind measuring for a few weeks to confirm the results.

    2. Your doctor has ruled out common medical problems via bloodwork, and that's good. FWIW, it's better to listen to doctors than us randos on the internet, IN GENERAL, but you should also be aware that to get a medical degree and a medical license requires next to no knowledge of weight loss or weight control. My doctor was very up front with me about what I should and could rely on him for on this topic: he told me that he only had to take like half a credit course in med school, and he doesn't have any continuing education credits needed on the topic. His point was that doctors are as likely to pass around annecdotal diet nonsense like we are, but the extra danger is the sense of complacency it can give patients about "metabolism" (eyeroll), not to mention some particularly bad advice some doctors give regarding rather dangerous VLC diets they are trained to prescribe for patients who need "emergency" fast weight loss prior to surgery. Get a referral from your doctor to a registered dietitian for meaningful advice.

    Bottom line: I see soooooo many people who are desperate to hear a solution to weight control that doesn't require them to be accountable for eating an appropriate amount of food. It's got to be their metabolism or else it's got to be that they're eating the "wrong" foods or that they haven't tried the latest miracle food that will "burn" their fat for them. BS. To control your weight, you just have to be accountable for how much you eat. It may be simple, but it's not easy, and that's why you don't want to do it.

    I have always measured my vegetables and things like peanut butter, dressings, And fruits. I just wasn't weighing my chicken/fish and my potato. Are you suggesting instead of measuring them by cups and teaspoons I should weigh those as well?

    I really don't eat meat that much so honestly I didn't think it would make this big a difference. I thought that possible the problem might lie in the balance of fats, carbs, proteins. I always have a low count on proteins and sometimes carbs so I find myself in the morning recalculating my meals so I avoid so much fats. It's so hard for me to get the proteins I need. I have noticed more gluten free items seem to have more fats. Do you suggest I stop focusing so much on those numbers? I do focus on calories but those numbers within my calories.
  • shaunshaikh
    shaunshaikh Posts: 616 Member
    The macro balance isn't going to make you gain or lose weight. Just be very methodical about accurately measuring calories in from weighing everything, even on "cheat days" or "cheat meals" or alcohol days. If you are eating back exercise calories and getting them from MFP database or gym equipment you may be overestimating your burn, maybe cut back to eating half your exercise caloross