Help or guidance?

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Replies

  • rar0810
    rar0810 Posts: 18 Member
    Thanks so much for all the help and suggestions and all - so so helpful! I do appreciate it all greatly.

    Today went really good and felt good all day! Determined to work hard and get this weight down - for me to feel better, be good example for my kids... hoping this continues :)
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 978 Member
    edited September 2019
    Also, be aware that MFP is designed for you to eat your exercise calories. If you're under-eating, that may explain you feeling irritable.

    If you reduce your weight loss rate to 1lb a week (or even .75) and also eat at least some of your exercise calories, you may find it easier. It'll be slow going, but that's true for most of us who don't have much to lose now, and it'll be far easier to stay on track.

    Make sure you're weighing all solids too. Only use measuring cups for liquids.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,895 Member
    rar0810 wrote: »
    StaciMarie2020 wrote: »
    This is more for you to think about - you don't have to hash it all out here if you don't want to.

    When you start eating at a calorie goal - how consistent are you? Do you give it a week or two, then have a few bad days/weeks? Or are you eating at that level 6-7 days each week for weeks at a time? And on the odd days where you are not eating at that level, what is your food behavior like? Do you splurge/binge and not track the calories?

    The reason I ask is that it takes time and consistency to see results. But we are human and we don't have good luck with patience. So its really easy to have a 'good' week or two - then not see as much progress on the scale as we want - and then 'relapse' into old habits where we're over-eating and not tracking.

    Since you started in January - has there been a single 4 week period where you were on track totally? That is, where you logged everything everyday even if it was not ideal? In my opinion this is a good starting point. Weigh all solids, measure all liquids, and account for e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g that goes in. Try to have as much control over your food as possible for those 4 weeks. By that I mean making your own food and/or eating at places that are fairly routine in their food processes. Eating food cooked by someone else where you have to guess at the contents needs to be an exception rather than a rule. This is so you can KNOW as much as possible about what is truly being consumed. Then repeat the 4 week increments, choosing if & when to allow yourself a little more flexibility in what you eat and how much control you have over the food prep.

    Please forgive me if I'm making assumptions that are not true - I just think that with consistency and accuracy you can see gradual progress. Also make sure expectations are realistic. 4-6 pounds per month may not sound like anything major, but would be great progress.

    For my 'story' I went from about 175-180 (don't know my exact starting point) in late Dec 2013 to 128 in October 2014. Counting calories. Moving more. Eating 1500-1700 for most of that, adjusting up or down a little as needed to account for exceptions to activity level. Then stayed around 130 for a while, and was 135 this time last year. Now I'm working to get back to the 130ish area. Logging and being a bit OCD with a food scale, and making choices regarding food. For me that means no mindless eating. I may eat 'junk' but its by choice and in a limited portion!

    I appreciate the post. There was a several month period this year where I consistently tracked everything I ate or drank. I would give myself 1 day a week to not track, but would still watch what and how much I ate. I lost maybe 2-3 pounds in that couple month period - that was staying between 1300-1400 calories a day, and trying to exercise (aerobic type) every day.

    Today has been going great so far. Knew what was for supper and already had that in before I had a little breakfast.

    Those "not tracking" days can be more perilous than you think ;)

    If your goal was to lose a pound a week, and you ended up losing 2-3 pounds per month, those "not tracking" days are the likely culprit.

    If your goal was to lose 2 pounds a week, you were probably using some bad entries in your food diary. Moving forward, I recommend no non-tracking days. If you continue to not lose as expected over at least a month, please change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
  • rar0810
    rar0810 Posts: 18 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    rar0810 wrote: »
    StaciMarie2020 wrote: »
    This is more for you to think about - you don't have to hash it all out here if you don't want to.

    When you start eating at a calorie goal - how consistent are you? Do you give it a week or two, then have a few bad days/weeks? Or are you eating at that level 6-7 days each week for weeks at a time? And on the odd days where you are not eating at that level, what is your food behavior like? Do you splurge/binge and not track the calories?

    The reason I ask is that it takes time and consistency to see results. But we are human and we don't have good luck with patience. So its really easy to have a 'good' week or two - then not see as much progress on the scale as we want - and then 'relapse' into old habits where we're over-eating and not tracking.

    Since you started in January - has there been a single 4 week period where you were on track totally? That is, where you logged everything everyday even if it was not ideal? In my opinion this is a good starting point. Weigh all solids, measure all liquids, and account for e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g that goes in. Try to have as much control over your food as possible for those 4 weeks. By that I mean making your own food and/or eating at places that are fairly routine in their food processes. Eating food cooked by someone else where you have to guess at the contents needs to be an exception rather than a rule. This is so you can KNOW as much as possible about what is truly being consumed. Then repeat the 4 week increments, choosing if & when to allow yourself a little more flexibility in what you eat and how much control you have over the food prep.

    Please forgive me if I'm making assumptions that are not true - I just think that with consistency and accuracy you can see gradual progress. Also make sure expectations are realistic. 4-6 pounds per month may not sound like anything major, but would be great progress.

    For my 'story' I went from about 175-180 (don't know my exact starting point) in late Dec 2013 to 128 in October 2014. Counting calories. Moving more. Eating 1500-1700 for most of that, adjusting up or down a little as needed to account for exceptions to activity level. Then stayed around 130 for a while, and was 135 this time last year. Now I'm working to get back to the 130ish area. Logging and being a bit OCD with a food scale, and making choices regarding food. For me that means no mindless eating. I may eat 'junk' but its by choice and in a limited portion!

    I appreciate the post. There was a several month period this year where I consistently tracked everything I ate or drank. I would give myself 1 day a week to not track, but would still watch what and how much I ate. I lost maybe 2-3 pounds in that couple month period - that was staying between 1300-1400 calories a day, and trying to exercise (aerobic type) every day.

    Today has been going great so far. Knew what was for supper and already had that in before I had a little breakfast.

    Those "not tracking" days can be more perilous than you think ;)

    If your goal was to lose a pound a week, and you ended up losing 2-3 pounds per month, those "not tracking" days are the likely culprit.

    If your goal was to lose 2 pounds a week, you were probably using some bad entries in your food diary. Moving forward, I recommend no non-tracking days. If you continue to not lose as expected over at least a month, please change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    That makes sense. Always felt that one day of not tracking - but still watching - helped me not go crazy from tracking every day and usually on a busy day. It’s a good month if I ever lost 3 pounds in it. Last time I had a big weight loss, it took me 10-11 months to lose 20 or so pounds I believe. Then several years later and over the coarse of a year or two it all came back on and now doesn’t want to leave it seems.
  • alexandramyers
    alexandramyers Posts: 23 Member
    edited September 2019
    I drink water, so much water. .5-1 ounce per pound of body weight. Sometimes i go over 1 oz per body weight, but I try not to because I don't want to become too waterlogged. Drinking water helps me feeling full. Your mind doesn't like to be devoid of nutrients, that's true hunger. Focus on the quality of food, not just the quantity. The more quality we have, the better our bodies act on it.
    [edited by MFP mods]

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