*Deep breath* Please look at my food diary

Scoobies87
Scoobies87 Posts: 379
edited October 1 in Food and Nutrition
I have been on here for 3 months now and lost only 8 pounds. For the past month though, I have lost nothing.

I have one day off a week to have a meal or night out with friends/family, which I always exercise on and I always eat way less calories the day after to counter-act it. I don't seem to gain from these days :)

I have also been exercising 5-6 times a week, (swimming, zumba, cross trainer, treadmill) .

What baffles me is I looked back at my food diary the week that I last lost and I was eating far more unhealthily then I am now!!!!!

Please help, I am about ready to quit!

Ps: I live with my Mum who buys/makes the dinner.

Replies

  • londoneye
    londoneye Posts: 202 Member
    You're eating so few calories that your metabolism has probably slowed way down in order to protect your body. Eat all your calories, at LEAST 1200 per day (more if you're tall)
  • Frannswaz
    Frannswaz Posts: 172 Member
    Yep you need to eat more!:smile:
  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
    You're eating so few calories that your metabolism has probably slowed way down in order to protect your body. Eat all your calories, at LEAST 1200 per day (more if you're tall)


    YOU said "What baffles me is I looked back at my food diary the week that I last lost and I was eating far more unhealthily then I am now!!!!! " maybe you where just eating more!


    Are you eating to enough?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficit


    This is just a part of it! please read the link above


    Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
    With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
    With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
    With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
    and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle tone, and reducing fat. This means is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode)


    Also this might be helpful http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/00trayn/view/how-to-bust-a-3-month-plateau-87677

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat



    Good luck on your journey
  • Visser1971
    Visser1971 Posts: 131
    Hi there,

    I agree with Londoneye but as well if you are going to have a larger meal, make it for breakfast. 97 calories for breakfast will not set you up for a good day, your body will more likely store the next meal than burn it up during activity; and the same goes for skipping meals - don't :-).

    You will have more luck (IMHO) if you have three square meals a day, each about 300 to 400 calories each, and two snacks - one mid-morning and one mid-afternoon. I stick to fruit for the snacks, and make sure each meal has both carbs and protein. This is how people have been eating for hundreds of years, we just seem to have forgotten about it in the last 30 or so :-)

    Hope this helps and good luck! You look great by the way :-)

    Cheers, Christy
  • melanie3103
    melanie3103 Posts: 246 Member
    Try eating different things too, to "shake things up a bit".

    And make sure you eat plenty too, fill up on low calorie snacks, try "grazing" as oppose to large meals.

    Good luck x
  • U dont look like you have a lot to loose. At a centain point you will slow down loosing weight. Just keep up your routean and you will start loosing again.
  • ballgood
    ballgood Posts: 17 Member
    Hi
    Listen to the mfp peeps and brave eating more, also drink plenty of water, your body needs water to get rid of the fat. It will work!
    I am a very slow loser and judging by your pic, I have a lot more to lose then you!!? I had a gain and my mfp buddies told me to eat more and drink more.
    I did that last week, I also reduced my excersize, ( I really couldn't consume the number of calories I was adding by working out) This week I lost the 2lb gained + 2.2 lb more.
    Keep going, you can do it.

    Also, if you are working out, you are probably seeing inch results, lose clothes etc. Weight is not everything.

    Good luck and keep going !!!!
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    I'm going to go ahead and echo what others have said, mostly, but to put it as briefly as I can:

    1. Your largest meal should be lunch, followed by breakfast, and dinner should be little more than a snack.
    2. Try to stock up on lean protein; it releases energy slowly over time and helps you feel fuller longer, and helps rebuild the muscles you are breaking down with your workouts to keep your body from eating its own muscle.
    3. Fresh vegetables. Frozen vegetables. Eat them. Lots of them. Crazy low in calories, roughage is filling, and they contain a cornucopia of vitamins and minerals you want to get in your diet that you can fall short on by trying to cut down your intake.
    4. Twice a week, change your workout from aerobic to resistance. You don't need to pump heavy iron, but do things like squats, lunges, push-ups, dips, tricep extensions/pushdowns...basically anything that requires pushing weight. More and more research is indicating that a 45 minute resistance workout, done properly, has more overall benefit than an aerobic workout of similar length. The reason (briefly) is that you not only burn the "stage 1" calories that are actually consumed while performing the work; you also get the "afterburn" of your body's efforts to rebuild the muscle fibers strained during the workout. Think about your large muscles when you do this: legs, back, chest, glutes. Also, muscle cells require more caloric energy to maintain, which means that as you add more lean muscle, your BMR goes up.
  • Scoobies87
    Scoobies87 Posts: 379
    I forgot to add that I a a night owl. I go to bed around 3 am and wake up around 11-12pm, hence why I have my largest meal at night and a tiny breakfast. Hope this helps to make more sense of my diary :)

    Oh and thanks for your advice so far. I am going to London this week so I will most definitely be eating more! :P
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    eh, you don't have to eat any breakfast if you don't want to, it really makes no difference. remember weight loss isn't linear so you may see a big drop after plateauing for a while. depending on how long you've been dieting, maybe take a full week to eat at maintenance or have a big CHO refeed day and see if that jumpstarts things
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    You should up your intake, and where are the fresh fruits and veggies?
  • Scoobies87
    Scoobies87 Posts: 379
    You should up your intake, and where are the fresh fruits and veggies?

    I don't like fruit and veg so I have smoothies (pure fruit) and salad mostly.
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