Weight-loss struggles amongst so many success stories

cmriverside wrote: »

What the *puppy* is a 3000 calorie deficit anyway?

Just noticed this.

*puppy* is my schtick

If you ate 1,000 more calories than you your daily goal, that happened, whether you tracked it or not. It's way more beneficial to be honest with yourself and know where you stand than to pretend it didn't happen and live in denial. Try to think of it simply as feedback, and don't beat yourself up about high-calorie days. They happen to all of us!

Also, you mentioned having to choose the closest "preprepared" item on the app to estimate your calories. MFP has a recipe builder - you can set up recipes for anything you make. (Or you can always add individual ingredients.)

OP, I know what you mean. Most people here want to sound positive and upbeat, so we talk about our successes and things that have worked. All our glasses seem half-full, and all the eggs are sunny-side up.

Plus, as least as I see them through the lens of the internet, everyone on here but me has reached their goal weight and is maintaining with little or no trouble. (And they’re all good-looking, financially stable, and smell nice.)

In case you have the same tendencies, I can assure you that none of those things are true of me. (Well, sometimes I do smell kind of nice.)

I’ve lost forty pounds to reach goal, and gained it all back in a year. I’ve lost 70 pounds to reach goal, and gained it all back in four years. Six year ago, I lost forty pounds with MFP, which was less than 1/3 of the way to goal, and then gained 35 of it back. I’m here to try, try, again; for the reason that trying is so much better than not trying.

Flipping the egg back to sunny-side up, the thing that worked for me, when things have worked, is logging. Every last morsel, and every huge binge.

My diary is open: you can see that I have entries for 5 Calories or so for a dash of vinegar, and a couple thousand Calories for half a tub of ice cream and a tube of raw cookie dough.

I think the thing that makes logging work for me is that thinking and writing and calculating brings the food consumption the the forefront of my brain. Without logging, my food just tends to go hand to mouth to stomach to sensations of pleasant taste and satiety, and no higher logical or analytic functions ever get involved.

tl;dr - None of us are perfect, and I’m not even close. But when I have been successful at losing weight, it’s because I was logging everything I ate.

@svlofthouse - One more thought -- I have found that people respect it when I tell them I packed my food, that I can't do restaurant food because of working on weight loss and an athletic goal. If it doesn't work for you, it doesn't, but could be worth a try.

If for some reason you are unable to weigh the food that you are now consuming, opt to decreasing the portion size. Start the meal by getting rid of a part of your regular portion (maybe half of it) and then sitting down to eat the rest. If what you were eating was maintaining you at the same weight, getting rid of half of it is definitely going to put you in calorie deficit.

climberbry wrote: »

The first question should be: "Do you have an exercise routine that includes resistance training?"

I dunno. I've had to work hard to train myself to resist a bevy of things. From fritters to not logging to magical thinking. Must. Continue. Resistance.

svlofthouse wrote: »

I really applaud everyone who has been able to lose weight and keep it off. However, even when I’m carefully logging, I don’t lose weight. I eat fairly healthily but get downhearted when I can’t see results. This leads to a bread binge and I hate cheating in logging, but I can’t bring myself to log a thousand calorie deficit. What can I do?

Hi.

I have struggled all my life. If I have learned anything it can be frustrating. Yes, I am finally having success after nearly 30 years of obesity, but it's not without it's challenges. Here is what I have learned over the years, and what has helped.

First, what works for one person doesn't always work for you. I have friends who had success with one diet plan, but it failed for me.

Second, fad diets are just that... fads. We don't always know the long term affects of a fad diet. In fact, many people have severe "swingback" from fad diets.

Third, plateaus happen. I was doing a "biggest loser" competition at work, and decided to push the limits with a 1200-1300 calorie/day diet (minimum for an average male). I did good for about 6 weeks, then I lost 1 lb over the next 2 weeks. Not from lack of trying, but my body fought back from the extreme weight loss I was experiencing.

Now, to contradict my first note, I am going to tell you how I ultimately found a path to weight loss. Perhaps it will help you in your choices.

To begin, I made a promise I plan on keeping. I have a good reason, not just my health. I decided to start with cutting back. Over a year passed and some success. Ultimately, it was not enough. I started tracking in April and set a 1-1/2 lbs/week goal. It was a good starting point. After a couple months into this, our "biggest loser" competition started at work. I switched to 1200-1300/day goal for 3 months. As noted above, I plateaued in the middle of it, but still ended up over 30 lbs down in the end. I am just wrapping up a month of maintenance, and starting to lose weight again. Mind you, only 2 lbs in the last month. I still have less than 40 to go.

If I were to go back to the beginning, I would have started tracking earlier. I think starting small, going strict, then going back to a lighter loss is best. I find that I am not as hungry since I stopped the 1200/day. It makes what I eat seem like a lot more.

I'd also like to add, about 15 years ago I went to a diet and fitness program for 4 weeks. That helped immensely, but unfortunately I didn't stick to it. I do apply a lot of what I learned in my habits today. I also realize it's going to be a project for me for the rest of my life to maintain my good habits. I committed to never buying a larger size again, and have gotten rid of all of my larger clothes as I finished.

Have I gone over? Yes, and I log it. The only person not logging things hurts is you.

Also, don't beat yourself up for an occasional binge. In fact, some people set aside a binge day once and a while. However, just because you have a binge day, try not to get too crazy.

I'll admit, I have days I am still hungry, but after 30+ years of overeating, my stomach is enlarged, and it may never recover fully. It's the cost of my sin.

I will admit publicly for the first time, I was a 60" waist a few years back, and I am down to a 38". Because of my physical build I plan to go 2 more inches, but no more. Most of my progress was in the last year, and the last 10" in the last 8 months. I have another friend who had lost a lot, and put it back on. Recently had bariatric surgery. Many people end up overeating after that and re-streching, and I hope that it doesn't happen this time, but only time will tell in that case.

To wrap up, I did find one item that helped during my strict times. It is called "shiritake noodles". It's a low-calorie pasta substitute. I will admit it smells like fish (for the refrigerated/wet packs), but once cooked and mixed with some sauce there is no fishy taste or smell, and it is quite a good substitute. Some brands are better than others. As to wich ones that you would have to learn on your own. My tastes/texture feelings could be different than yours.

My next step will be keeping it off this time. As noted, a commitment to my wardrobe was step one. Also, a weekly or bi-weekly weigh in and a promise to myself to diet if I gain more than 10 lbs to get back to my final goal. Giving myself a range to weigh I think will help, rather than an exact weight to frustrate/obsess over.

Best of luck, and don't give up.

ADDITION: I should note that I also try to plan as much of my meal plans in advance. If you know what your dinner is for certain, you can change options for lunch if you need to, or know if it's OK to have a snack if you get hungry in the afternoon. Otherwise, I tend to eat lighter during the day to save calories for dinner.