I don’t get it
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You can’t effectively or accurately “think” yourself to be a particular weight and then base a weight control plan around eyeballing the portion sizes.
Get a scale and use it religiously , logging everything you eat .
You will have a better chance of success with real data, hard facts on which to base your thinking1 -
May I ask what your husband's qualifications are to be giving you this kind of dangerous advice? Your two weight management needs couldn't be more different if you tried.
You've been given a lot of really solid advice here, so I won't repeat it except for one:
Please check in with your doctor or treatment team. Don't wait until the red flags have run all the way up the pole. Huge hugs to you and please keep us posted!
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The scale is not the best way to gauge weight loss as it can be 2-5 lbs inaccurate and your weight fluctuates during the day due to many factors, water retention is one of them. Don't believe me? Try weighing yourself every 2 hours on the same scale. You'll be surprised how often it fluctuates.
You also have to keep in mind that "eyeballing" food for calorie content simply doesn't work. Unless you're tracking every single morsel you eat, your 1400 calories could be substantially more (or less) than you think. Also, unless you spend an hour or more each work out day on the elliptical, you aren't burning 600 calories per session.
And finally if you have reached a plateau in your weight loss, change the workout. Your body may simply be getting used to the form of exercise you are performing and it doesn't need to work hard at it anymore (we all experience this at some point). If you really want to lose weight and keep it off, start weight training/resistance and increase protein consumption over carbs. Cardio is great for overall health but if you want to trim down and look good, weights are the way to go. You may also want to try swimming. Swimming can use more muscle groups than you thought you ever had and is great exercise for toning.
Bear in mind this final note: if your scale is reporting a loss in weight you should be happy...god forbid how you should react if it reads a gain in weight!
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Just one more suggestion about weighing food. I have a low fat popcorn I eat alot as a snack and had started out by measuring it into a bowl and then always using that bowl. The package had the usual verbage saying that 50 grams or 7.25 cups was 260 calories. I thought wow that's great so I ate around 3 cups in a sitting. My weight had started sneaking up so I weighed it. My 3 cup bowl ended up being 42 grams which was not 130 calories as I thought but more like 200. So as a result I was over just on that one snack daily. 6 ounces of steak is very small and I would suggest you weigh it next time and you might be surprised.
I also agree that at 160 pounds trying to lose 2.5 pounds a week is way too aggressive. I understand believe me but take your time and lose a bit slower and you will accomplish a few things. 1. you will be more likely to keep it off as you learn to permanently change your habits. 2. You will protect your muscle - remember the heart is a muscle. 3. You will feel a heck of a lot better while you lose.
Good luck OP you can do this but cut yourself a little slack and enjoy the process.
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The scale is not the best way to gauge weight loss as it can be 2-5 lbs inaccurate and your weight fluctuates during the day due to many factors, water retention is one of them. Don't believe me? Try weighing yourself every 2 hours on the same scale. You'll be surprised how often it fluctuates.
You also have to keep in mind that "eyeballing" food for calorie content simply doesn't work. Unless you're tracking every single morsel you eat, your 1400 calories could be substantially more (or less) than you think. Also, unless you spend an hour or more each work out day on the elliptical, you aren't burning 600 calories per session.
And finally if you have reached a plateau in your weight loss, change the workout. Your body may simply be getting used to the form of exercise you are performing and it doesn't need to work hard at it anymore (we all experience this at some point). If you really want to lose weight and keep it off, start weight training/resistance and increase protein consumption over carbs. Cardio is great for overall health but if you want to trim down and look good, weights are the way to go. You may also want to try swimming. Swimming can use more muscle groups than you thought you ever had and is great exercise for toning.
Bear in mind this final note: if your scale is reporting a loss in weight you should be happy...god forbid how you should react if it reads a gain in weight!
You didn't read the rest of the thread, did you? While your advice is generally sound, this OP doesn't need advice on how to keep her weight loss moving. She has a history of ED and is pursuing a dangerously aggressive weight loss plan 7 -
I'm just going to quote myself from your other thread:kshama2001 wrote: »I’m due for a doctor checkup in several weeks. The main reason is just to check in about how some new meds are working for me, but I know I will be weighed which causes me a lot of anxiety. I have made some pretty drastic changes this fall to my diet/exercise after this doctor let me know that it’s “time to get serious about hitting the gym and eating cleaner”. I have a history of an eating disorder, so weight has always been particularly sensitive for me - I usually do blind weights and we kind of tiptoe around it, but I’m tired of this anxiety and decided to take it into my hands. I knew I was in the slightly overweight category, so could stand to lose some weight by the way. So I’ve been working out 2-3 times a week and I’ve reduced my caloric intake to 1200-1400 a day. About a month ago I did get a scale that my husband agreed to do blind weights on me every 2 weeks. Since then I’ve lost 10 pounds (5 pounds each time) according to him. I don’t know how much weight I’ve lost before that from September when I started to late October. Anyway, I’m just nervous. I’m nervous she won’t think it’s enough or she’ll think it’s the greatest thing ever and think I should keep it up. I’ve been noticing some GI issues lately (cramping, diarrhea, nausea) that are not my norm that’s a bit concerning. It might be stress related, it also might be due to the high-fiber, bulky foods I’ve been eating. I’ve also noticed that I’ve been more irritable and feeling cold. Some of my hair has been falling out. Not a lot but more than normal. But if I bring that up to her, am I making excuses? This should be easy, right? If I’m seeing results and I have the weight to spare I should keep on doing what I’m doing. I just don’t know how the session is going to go and it’s causing me a lot of anxiety. Since I’m in weight loss mode, I now feel as if I have something to “prove”. I know this all might sound silly but this is where my mind is at right now.emmamcgarity wrote: »Given that you have had an eating disorder in the past, lost 10 lbs in two weeks, and your hair is falling out, I recommend you up your calories to maintainence and schedule an appointment right away. You can request not to be weighed until after talking to the doctor. Bring a list of concerns to show the doctor and ask for a strategy for the weight loss that is safe and reasonable. Be abosolutely positive to share the past eating disorder first. Once you’ve gone over your list of concerns, just get weighed so that you and your doctor can work as a team to address your concerns and come up with a good approach.
@ellioc2 I agree that you are losing weight too fast. With only 20-30 pounds to lose, there's no need to create such an aggressive deficit that is causing you to lose 2.5 pounds per week - that's for someone who has over 100 pounds to lose.
... Ask your doctor for a referral to an eating disorder specialist.5 -
Don't take this the wrong way, but you need to stop taking weight loss advice from your husband. Your rate is already WAY too aggressive and MFP is designed for you to eat back at least some of your exercise calories. A 600 calorie burn sounds too high, as most MFP database estimates are, but you should at least be eating back half of that, likely more. At your current weight, at the rate you are losing, you are costing yourself a lot of lean muscle mass which is not only unhealthy, but won't be very asthetically pleasing in the end. A woman needs to net at least 1200 to meet her body's basic requirements.
I was thinking the exact same thing. If you lose too quickly, end up skinny fat with loose skin, you might still look soft. Something I'm sure you or your husband won't appreciate. Not to make him look like a bad guy, I'm sure he has your goals in mind. But a rush to the finish line isn't in your best interest long term. Been there, heard how I need to eat once a day, eat only salad, juice and smoothie diet, etc. But what works long term for me is moderate, sustainable weight loss, which includes eating some of the exercise calories back.1 -
MHarper522 wrote: »I'm going to second the advice of stop listening to your husband about your weightloss. The things you said he told you will make you sick and to be very honest I'm afraid either they'll hurt your chances at long term success or could lead you down the road to disordered eating.
MyFitnessPal has your deficit build into the calorie goals it gives you. That means if you have it set to the max of 2lbs a week and it tells you to eat 1400 cal day, it's because it estimates you burn 2400 a day just going about your life. This banks you 1000 cal/day, 1000x7 days = 2 pounds. Exercise is mainly for health, not to lose faster. I lost my first 20 without hitting the gym.
Maximum healthy weightloss is 1% a week. For you, that's 1.6 pounds a week rn and will continue to go down as you get closer to your goal weight. Losing too fast exposes you to all kinds of problems, such as gallstones. A faster rate of loss means more loose skin and muscle loss.
I lost 50 pounds in 5 months eating at a 1000cal/deficit (meaning my mfp cals + exercise calories, I was 294 at the start). You will not gain if you eat your exercise calories. I would recommend a lower rate of loss, like 1lbs/week.
I strongly recommend that you get a digital food scale.
Ah, disordered eating. It’s hard... I actually had an eating disorder (like full blown anorexia) in high school. I’ve been recovered for 10 years. I’ve just gotten fat in the process. It’s especially difficult for me because I’m like is this disordered or is this just normal dieting? And I know it’s a slippery slope. But I want this weight loss so bad
Does your husband know about your past history with eating disorders? Is that why he’s managing your weight loss (telling you how much to eat/exercise and hiding the scale while you weigh in)? It sounds like he’s trying to be helpful, but really missing the mark.
It would be a good idea to read the stickies and learn some more about weight loss basics for yourself. If you can afford it, it might be worth a one-time meeting with a registered dietitian to develop a plan that works with your previous ED history.
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If the goal is to have a trim attractive body at this point I think you would get more out of a progressive lifting routine. Do it for a year.
Bouncy scales is normal, give or take five pounds. It’s not a reflection of your effort.0 -
I agree with the previous posters that your rate of loss is too aggressive and that you should definitely talk to your treatment team, or at least a mental health professional with solid ED experience.
It gets hard to not think about the way you eat to lose weight as a temporary thing and that when you've gotten to goal you can go back to eating the way you were before. It's meant to be changes in the way you live your life. I would hate to think of anyone having to live their life with an eating disorder, especially someone who made it into recovery for a decade. Your weight loss doesn't need to be aggressive, it doesn't need to cause you a burden of stress, and exercising should be something you enjoy. Although it may not be how we want it, if it took you 10 years to put on the weight, why would it be unreasonable to have it take a year or two to take the weight off?
Also, it's been said in this thread already but I feel like it bears repeating and highlighting because I don't feel like the connection is brought up enough:
Losing weight too quickly can cause you to lose muscle mass. Your heart is a muscle. If you lose too quickly, you can potentially damage your heart.
I genuinely hope it works out for you. And if you need moral support or want to rant, we're all here for you!5 -
If you sincerely want to understand how to be able to eat without guilt, eat foods you love without deprivation, squash the myths concerning metabolism and starvation mode, I cannot emphasize enough- READ THE STICKIES.
You will learn the “why” behind needing to weigh your food, choosing a healthy deficit, trending weight, consistency...
The only way to wrap your head around this whole weight loss thing is understanding the science and math, which provides incredible amounts of insight. With knowledge comes the confidence to reach your goal.2 -
The fact that you're calling yourself a "fat failure" at 160 lbs is a huge red flag. I suggest you talk all of this over with your doctor, pronto.8
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Such good insight and advice!!!!0
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MHarper522 wrote: »Yes, sodium can make a difference if it makes you retain water. It can also be because you pushed a bit harder in the gym (muscles retaining water as they repair themselves), or a lot of other reasons. With weighting yourself just once every 2 weeks all you know is your weight that day and weight fluctuates up and down. Maybe yesterday you were a pound more down. As long as you're achieving a downward trend, you're making progress.
5 pounds every 2 weeks is 2.5 lbs a week, that's a bit of an agressive rate. How much weight do you have to lose overall? How much still til goal? How much weight have you lost already? It's normal for weightloss to be quick when you start, and slow as you go.
Not sure if you weigh your food, but there's always the chance you are eating more than you think. Are you eating back your exercise calories? (You should).
I think I’m about 160 now, I’m 5’6”. My goal weight is 140, maybe even 130. I’ve probably lost 15 pounds or so already. Hard to tell, I don’t have a starting weight (I just have a really unflattering photo from last summer). My husband told me not to eat back my exercise calories, so the days where I’m burning the 600 and eating 1400 (I generally eat a bit more on my exercise days), I’m netting like 800. But he said if I eat back my exercise calories I’ll gain. I just don’t know what to do anymore. Maybe a food scale is good. I eat things that are easy to count - eggs, bell peppers, one protein shake. I do measure with cups. But some things I eyeball, like if I’m having steak I’ll say that’s about 6 oz.
If you use MFP to set your calorie goal, exercise, but don't eat back any exercise calories, you are not using MFP the way it was designed.
Unlike other sites which use TDEE calculators, MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others, however, are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
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You’re doing great!!! Don’t let one weigh-in get you down.
You still lost weight! As you mentioned, there’s a good chance it was just a little bloating from the salt and beer. Stay the course. You know from your previous weeks that what you’ve been doing is working!
Hugs! You got this!2 -
You’re doing great!!! Don’t let one weigh-in get you down.
You still lost weight! As you mentioned, there’s a good chance it was just a little bloating from the salt and beer. Stay the course. You know from your previous weeks that what you’ve been doing is working!
Hugs! You got this!
Come on, people- read the thread! The OP should most definitely not be "staying the course" 14 -
There is a lot of great advice here re. Rate of weight loss, food scales etc which Is really good. What helps me keep perspective is using a weight trend tracker - I use Happy Scale because I have an iphone but there are android apps too. It helps me to see the trend weight staying steady when my daily weight jumps around.0
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Don't take this the wrong way, but you need to stop taking weight loss advice from your husband. Your rate is already WAY too aggressive and MFP is designed for you to eat back at least some of your exercise calories. A 600 calorie burn sounds too high, as most MFP database estimates are, but you should at least be eating back half of that, likely more. At your current weight, at the rate you are losing, you are costing yourself a lot of lean muscle mass which is not only unhealthy, but won't be very asthetically pleasing in the end. A woman needs to net at least 1200 to meet her body's basic requirements.
Yeah, he’s naturally skinny/slim and he actually has to work to put weight on! It’s very mathematical to him, the calories. I don’t think he understands the nuances of dieting and calorie counting at the low end and what it does to the metabolism. Not to mention my mood, I’ve been really hangry and just plain irritable lately.
I've been your current size (on my way down), and now am in year 3 of maintenance. 5 pounds every two weeks is too fast to lose at your current size, as others have said. It's a health risk.
Is something bad guaranteed to happen? No. But you're on the bad side of the odds.
Slowing down would have two advantages: (1) less health risk (including that risk of losing hard/slow-to-replace muscles that help with appearance and health), and (2) beginning to get you started tapering your eating slowly upward, so you can learn the habits and skills that will keep you at a healthy weight permanently once you reach goal.
I lost weight too fast by accident for a time (MFP underestimates my calorie needs), and corrected as soon as I realized, but it still took weeks to recover. Don't take the risk. It isn't worth it. You'll reach your goal, still, but will arrive there more smoothly (stalls are more likely when severely undereating), and will be healthier.
Your husband is a different person, different size, different hormones, different everything. His advice, now, is not helpful in this respect. It's time to become more independent, and take more control of your own progress (with the assistance of neutral professional expert(s) if/when needed, not someone who's invested). Your being "hangry" is a canary in the coal mine: It's a danger sign. Heed it.
Best wishes!4 -
I'm going to ask the same question I asked in your thread about being hungry - have you read all the responses in that thread and in your "fear of the doctor" thread? I'm thinking you haven't. My advice is - go back and read them.
You're aiming for too big a deficit. And your husband needs to stop encouraging it, especially with your history of ED.12 -
MHarper522 wrote: »I'm going to second the advice of stop listening to your husband about your weightloss. The things you said he told you will make you sick and to be very honest I'm afraid either they'll hurt your chances at long term success or could lead you down the road to disordered eating.
MyFitnessPal has your deficit build into the calorie goals it gives you. That means if you have it set to the max of 2lbs a week and it tells you to eat 1400 cal day, it's because it estimates you burn 2400 a day just going about your life. This banks you 1000 cal/day, 1000x7 days = 2 pounds. Exercise is mainly for health, not to lose faster. I lost my first 20 without hitting the gym.
Maximum healthy weightloss is 1% a week. For you, that's 1.6 pounds a week rn and will continue to go down as you get closer to your goal weight. Losing too fast exposes you to all kinds of problems, such as gallstones. A faster rate of loss means more loose skin and muscle loss.
I lost 50 pounds in 5 months eating at a 1000cal/deficit (meaning my mfp cals + exercise calories, I was 294 at the start). You will not gain if you eat your exercise calories. I would recommend a lower rate of loss, like 1lbs/week.
I strongly recommend that you get a digital food scale.
Ah, disordered eating. It’s hard... I actually had an eating disorder (like full blown anorexia) in high school. I’ve been recovered for 10 years. I’ve just gotten fat in the process. It’s especially difficult for me because I’m like is this disordered or is this just normal dieting? And I know it’s a slippery slope. But I want this weight loss so bad
Wanting to lose weight so quickly that you're only willing to net 800 calories a day is completely unhealthy and disordered.
Overshoot in recovery is a thing. It's a normal and common thing. You really need to meet with a dietitian to get personalized appropriate goals and guidance.
Does your husband know about your anorexia? Is he aware that he's just triggering you more? Because really, he needs to stop his mouth, *now* -- he's pushing you to unhealthy behaviors and goals.8
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