Getting frustrated with myself

I’ve been working since December with a personal trainer to get myself in better shape. I have about 30 pounds to loose. After training and working on my diet for months I actually gained weight, sigh. I will say I lost some size but for some reason that scale is killing my will power. I know it doesn’t always mean I’m doing bad. In this last week, I started logging food again and using my food scale. I’m trying to stick to a 1500 calorie diet which has been REALLY hard for me to do. I can see now I was overeating. I do personal training twice a week and spin 3-4 times per week. It feels like I’m killing myself and getting such diminished returns. I just needed to rant a bit, I’m frustrated.

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    OCDOD wrote: »
    I’ve been working since December with a personal trainer to get myself in better shape. I have about 30 pounds to loose. After training and working on my diet for months I actually gained weight, sigh. I will say I lost some size but for some reason that scale is killing my will power. I know it doesn’t always mean I’m doing bad. In this last week, I started logging food again and using my food scale. I’m trying to stick to a 1500 calorie diet which has been REALLY hard for me to do. I can see now I was overeating. I do personal training twice a week and spin 3-4 times per week. It feels like I’m killing myself and getting such diminished returns. I just needed to rant a bit, I’m frustrated.

    what has 'working on your diet' entailed? you can still over eat 'healthy' foods?

    your post suggests you haven't been weighing or logging your food? so you may not have been eating in a deficit?
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
    Last time I lost weight, I was doing lots of cardio and lifting. I was hungry all the time. I definitely stalled out if I wasn't meticulous with weighing and logging all my foods.
  • OCDOD
    OCDOD Posts: 21 Member
    I definitely was overeating on “good food”. I have a food scale and now I’m living by it which is why I realized I was over eating. I’ve been weighing out everything. Unfortunately I love cooking and of course eating it. The 1500 calorie goal was one my Personal Trainer gave me to go by. I’m trying to lose weight so I get why she wants lower calories. I just didn’t think it would be so hard. I now realize my meals really need to be about 350-450 calories to allow for a couple of snacks through the day. Coffee is pretty much my favorite thing so I’ve cut down to two cups per day so that’s less calories. I guess for me “killing myself” is PT and my spin classes. While this is time consuming it’s not something I don’t enjoy. I actually am an outdoor cyclist and I’m training for a very long ride this July. I really wanted to get my weight down not just for that ride but just for health’s sake. I am assuming when I start training outside and doing long training rides I’m NOT going to be able to survive on 1500 calories. Someone mentioned eating back half the calories of work outs, I suspect I do that, sometime all the calories. I’ve discovered that double workout days are rather counter productive. I just eat twice as much, sigh.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
    Exercise will do that. Instead of eating half back, why not eat them all back? The hungries is an indication of not eating enough. Fuel your workouts.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    With your level of activity, I'm guessing that 1500 is awfully low for you, and it sounds like your trainer arbitrarily picked that number. Set your rate of weight loss on MFP for 1 pound per week, and eat that number plus your exercise calories assuming they are calculated accurately.
  • OCDOD
    OCDOD Posts: 21 Member
    I really appreciate all the advice and suggestions.
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 652 Member
    I see calorie counting as the most important part of losing weight. Then I add in exercise as more of a "bonus". I don't go crazy with it, 20-30 minute workout video or a 3-5 mile fast-paced walk. But I try to do this everyday. Basically, the workout could allow me about 200 extra calories a day which would make it easier to squeeze in that glass of wine or two. ;)

    Your workouts will give you beautiful strength and muscles, but if losing weight is your goal you're going to really have to crack down on your food intake.
  • lin_be
    lin_be Posts: 393 Member
    OCDOD wrote: »
    I am noticing that after you measure and weigh things for a while it does get easier to do. It’s interesting to see how eating 1500 calories is actually possible even though at first I thought I was going to starve to death. Maybe the body and/or mind adjust over time. I have lost about 4 pounds. I see things are going to be very slow and deliberate. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, God why does a glass of wine have to have so many calories, gah!

    I love hearing this! You’ll learn how to move things around to have that glass on wine. Were there any foods that particularly surprised you when you actually weighed them?
  • OCDOD
    OCDOD Posts: 21 Member
    Cheese was the biggest surprise on calories. I LOVE cheese and if I drink wine too then well... it’s over. Even cottage cheese though, it’s not as much of a serving as you think. I think it’s learning to substitute in the fruits and vegetables instead of heavy calorie foods. Another thing I’ve done is not use any artificial sweeteners aside of Stevia sparingly. I figure at least Stevia comes from a plant I have actually grown so it doesn’t seem as chemically processed. Quitting the Splenda, aspartame and Sweet and Low has really made my tastebuds more sensitive to subtle sweetness that I couldn’t even detect before.
  • DevilsFan1
    DevilsFan1 Posts: 342 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    If you are ramping up your cycling then you will probably hit a point pretty quickly where not fuelling your rides properly will seriously impact your performance and recovery.
    When training for a long distance event I can typically go for about 6 weeks in a moderate deficit of 1lb/week (a deficit that includes eating back all my exercise calories) before I have to choose between deficit and performance.

    Both Strava and Garmin estimates for cycling have proved entirely reasonable for estimates over many thousands of miles. The estimates on MyFitnessPal are pretty inflated for me as a road cyclist even though I have the aerodynamics of a garden shed - I wouldn't suggest using them.

    The "eat back exercise calories" method really does work well for endurance sports - but you may have to explain it to your trainer as it's atypical.

    I'm also a cyclist and I use the 35 calories per mile rule of thumb for anything under 18 mph and 40 cal/mi for 18 mph and over. That has worked out to a pretty reasonable estimate in my experience. I do agree that MFP numbers are way too optimistic.
  • jesspen91
    jesspen91 Posts: 1,383 Member
    Woop I love being the 5th person to flag spam! Goodbye by unhelpful confusing spam!
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
    Way to go!