Having a hard day

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AshleyWLose
AshleyWLose Posts: 17 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So, I am having a really rough day. I have successfully eaten and worked out for 7 days. I have lost nothing. My pants fit the same. And I feel so defeated.
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Replies

  • AshleyWLose
    AshleyWLose Posts: 17 Member
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    How do you all handle cravings??
  • Kathryn247
    Kathryn247 Posts: 570 Member
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    Do you mean cravings for something specific, or the craving to eat everything all the time that got a lot of us overweight in the first place?
    If it's something specific, I might have a little and count it, if I think I can stop at a little.
    For the "I just want to eat all the time" cravings, I remember that I always wanted to eat all the time, whether I was gaining weight or losing weight, and I decided I'd rather be losing weight.

    Hang in there, be determined to stick to your goal!
  • clarkeje1
    clarkeje1 Posts: 1,626 Member
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    that's so frustrating! keep at it!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    A week is not long enough for any kind of meaningful analysis. Also, if you're just starting exercise, you are going to hold onto water to protect and repair your muscles. This can often mask any fat loss.

    Expecting clothes to fit differently in a weeks time is just unrealistic. Losing weight is a long and slow process.
  • brightresolve
    brightresolve Posts: 1,024 Member
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    Kathryn247 wrote: »
    ...
    For the "I just want to eat all the time" cravings, I remember that I always wanted to eat all the time, whether I was gaining weight or losing weight, and I decided I'd rather be losing weight.
    ...

    ^^ This is awesome.

    And I agree with all above - a week is just getting started.

    If you continue seeing no measurable results, you could look at the way your are measuring and logging your food - honestly, it takes a while to get that figured out, especially when we really want that portion size to be bigger than it is, or that sauce to have less calories than it does ... A food scale really can help!!

    I try to leave calories for a little treat every day. I like my treat in the evening. Knowing I can have that, helps me stay on plan.

    How are you estimating your exercise calorie burn? In my experience most cardio machines (treadmill, elliptical etc) overestimate the burn and so do the estimates built in here on MFP. Stength training calorie burns are notoriously hard to estimate. If you are eating back all of your exercise calories and the calorie burn you log for exercise is too high, you may not be losing; if you are eating back NONE of your exercise calories, that can cause hunger and cravings.

    Good luck and congrats on getting started - that's the hardest part!!!
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    AshleyWLose wrote: »
    So, I am having a really rough day. I have successfully eaten and worked out for 7 days. I have lost nothing. My pants fit the same. And I feel so defeated.

    If the bolded is new for you, then some extra water weight is fairly likely.
    Even if not, normal water weight fluctuations can easily hide weight loss in a short time span like a week.
  • AshleyWLose
    AshleyWLose Posts: 17 Member
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    Kathryn247 wrote: »
    Do you mean cravings for something specific, or the craving to eat everything all the time that got a lot of us overweight in the first place?
    If it's something specific, I might have a little and count it, if I think I can stop at a little.
    For the "I just want to eat all the time" cravings, I remember that I always wanted to eat all the time, whether I was gaining weight or losing weight, and I decided I'd rather be losing weight.

    Hang in there, be determined to stick to your goal!

    I just want to eat. I want to put food in my mouth.
  • rosiorama
    rosiorama Posts: 300 Member
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    AshleyWLose wrote: »
    Kathryn247 wrote: »
    Do you mean cravings for something specific, or the craving to eat everything all the time that got a lot of us overweight in the first place?
    If it's something specific, I might have a little and count it, if I think I can stop at a little.
    For the "I just want to eat all the time" cravings, I remember that I always wanted to eat all the time, whether I was gaining weight or losing weight, and I decided I'd rather be losing weight.

    Hang in there, be determined to stick to your goal!

    I just want to eat. I want to put food in my mouth.

    I have a sweet tooth and I also always want to eat. I have hard candies in the house that I’d break my teeth on if I chewed them. If I’m feeling antsy for sugar, I will have one of those. Hardly any calories, and they last long enough to distract me from higher calorie stuff.
  • Sunshine_And_Sand
    Sunshine_And_Sand Posts: 1,320 Member
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    Do you have a weight trend app? I like Happy Scale. It's free. You weigh daily and it smooths out your trend lines so that you can see your overall downward trend despite the fluctuations. You do have to give it time though. You really need about a months worth of numbers to look at before saying something is or isn't working. Good luck!
  • Salixiana
    Salixiana Posts: 37 Member
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    For those "just want to put food in my mouth" moments, I eat a few raw carrots or raw radishes, very slowly. Or kimchi. With a glass of water and maybe a half-ounce of cheese, it's surprising how these chewy vegies can calm down that unsettled feeling. I also use perfume. Having a strong fragrance around me seems to substitute for having something in my mouth sometimes.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,154 Member
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    Sunshine_And_Sand wrote: »
    Do you have a weight trend app? I like Happy Scale. It's free. You weigh daily and it smooths out your trend lines so that you can see your overall downward trend despite the fluctuations. You do have to give it time though. You really need about a months worth of numbers to look at before saying something is or isn't working. Good luck!

    Happy Scale is iOS only. There's also Libra for Android, Trendweight with a Fitbit account (free), Weightgrapher, others. They work best with more than a week of data, too.

    OP: Patience! Bet you didn't gain a huge amount of weight in a week; don't expect to lose it in a week, either.

    For cravings: Don't try to lose crazy fast. Recognize whether your cravings are hunger (physical), appetite (psychological), lack of sleep, stress, boredom, emotion, habit, social triggers, or something else. If the problem isn't physical hunger, the answer isn't eating.

    If it's physical hunger, figure out what satiates you, personally. It's very individual. For some it's protein, others fats, some need complex carbs (potatoes, oatmeal, rice, etc.), some need fats (avocados, nuts in reasonable portions, etc.), some high volume (often high fiber veggies). Sometimes timing makes a difference: Anything from 6-8 tiny snack-y meals daily (or even all-day light grazing) to OMAD (one meal a day) intermittent fasting (or anything in between). Think about (near-)zero calorie satisfiers like herb tea, diet soda, celery, or even water (still or sparkling).

    Treat it as a personal science fair experiment, and figure out your personal formula.

    You can do this!

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