Discouraged
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cinaminy79
Posts: 18 Member
I started eating better on Christmas Eve (this time around) and I am not losing any weight. This is usually where I give up. I am really trying to stay on track this time despite what the scale says. What keeps you motivated?
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I stay motivated by thinking how miserable I felt 57 lbs heavier...I still have many pounds to lose but every day I measure, weigh and log is one day closer to my goal...no one said this journey is easy...you have to really dig down and want it....think of your lowest point and try to think how much better you will feel in three, six or twelve months from now!...don’t wait until you have both knees replaced like I did...don’t wait until you have missed out on so much of your life by being over weight...2020 can be your year!5
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Same for me, I don't want to go back to what i was, I've lost significant weight twice now and this time it's much harder as I'm 15 years older so I'm not doing it again.
I've accepted that this is part of the journey, some months I've lost well, others I've stalled and some I've gained. I've learned to manage my expectations so I'm not disappointed - when I haven't logged or I've had social events I dont expect to see a loss so if I do have a loss it's nice but if I don't I'm fine with it.
Also I've tracked my weight daily for over 12 months so know that it sometimes plays mind games
- on those occasions I just ignore it and carry on.
Overall I enjoy what I'm eating so I know I can do it when I focus, it really is all about the weighing and logging and getting that deficit. If you're confident in that what you're doing is right then just wait it out and the scale will catch up.5 -
cinaminy79 wrote: »I started eating better on Christmas Eve (this time around) and I am not losing any weight. This is usually where I give up. I am really trying to stay on track this time despite what the scale says. What keeps you motivated?
Patience, you're not going to see any massive changes in 10 days, you need to keep in mind it takes 4-6 weeks to establish a trend, so you can't really know that you're not losing any weight just yet.
Science motivates me - if I am sticking accurately to a calorie deficit then I know I am losing fat, whether I can see it or not. Everything else is just noise.
Emotionally it's the reminder of crying in pain from trying to put my socks on 4 years ago when my back was messed up by an injury that my weight was hampering me from recovering from. I never want to put myself in that position again!6 -
Do you count calories, use a food scale and keep a food diary? Have you used the MFP calculator to get the number for a modest calorie deficit?
I started my weight loss journey years ago a Christmas Eve because I was afraid I wasn’t going to make it to the New Year to start my resolution.
It’s OK to be discouraged and its OK to struggle. There is a significant learning curve in weight loss and calorie counting that doesn’t get much discussion. There’s a lot of little things that every person needs to work out for themselves. And a lot of people get tripped up, throw up their hands and go off looking for a totally new approach that will solve everything.
Weight loss is mostly about problem solving and persistence. Take heart. Calorie counting works but no one was born counting calories. We have to learn it.
Every once in a while I go on Amazon and search the best selling diet books. I’m always surprised by how many books are sold on the basis that they contain “the secret”. The key to successful weight loss is well known- a calorie deficit. It’s the laws of physics.
Last- I learned incrementalism in the gym lifting weights. For some reason, at a critical point in time I managed to stick around past the second week. I was just doing sets and reps 101. But about the third week I could feel it working. Just a bit. But working. I was getting stronger. I could feel it. I could see that I was increasing the amount of weigh I could lift.
Then came the light bulb moment. What was the difference between me and the gym regulars who looked to me to be so disciplined and fit? They knew that the program was going to work. It had to work, it was the way our bodies were designed. Eat enough protein, keep coming to the gym and doing the sets and reps with the right amount of weight and a healthy person will build muscle and get stronger. It can’t not happen.
The same thinking can be reverse engineered into weight loss. Do the process and the results will follow. You can do it. Really.7 -
@88olds I’m not sure what the MFP calculator is? I have used MFP on/off, but have not really explored all of its benefits. I did change my daily goal calories. It had me at over 2000 calories a day and I changed it to 1700, which I stay under. I do not have a food scale but I am planning on getting one.
Thank you everyone for sharing. I am starting PF Monday. I am thinking of getting MFP premium.. is it worth it?0 -
cinaminy79 wrote: »@88olds I’m not sure what the MFP calculator is? I have used MFP on/off, but have not really explored all of its benefits. I did change my daily goal calories. It had me at over 2000 calories a day and I changed it to 1700, which I stay under. I do not have a food scale but I am planning on getting one.
Thank you everyone for sharing. I am starting PF Monday. I am thinking of getting MFP premium.. is it worth it?
I've never used MFP premium, but I do know a few people who did and then dropped it. It's really not needed.
Next it is very easy to over eat without a food scale. I was at least 250 or more calories over my daily goal before I got my food scale. If you've set a low weight loss goal that's more than enough to cause little to no loss.
A week and a half is not enough time for some people to see a loss, especially women because of hormone fluxuations. I joke to my husband that I only lose weight two weeks out of the month. Even his weight will fluxate depending on his activity level, sodium, etc. My recommendation at this point, aside from the food scale, and logging your food, is to get a weight tracking app like Libra or Happy Scale so that you can see how your weight fluxates or reacts to high sodium days, low water days, things of that nature. It can really aid in honing your eating habits and at least for me helps keep me from getting too discouraged. Hang in there you can do this.
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The calculator is the function that tells you your calorie target based on the profile you enter. But it may be enlightening to mess around with it. Try changing you goal to maintenance and see what that calorie target would be. Try out different rates of loss.
And more anecdotal evidence for a food scale- I uncovered a 30% undercount that I’d built into my regular breakfast held over from just using meaning cups. I made that mistake regularly for years.
I’ve never used premium. Not really sure what it offers. I don’t count macros. I think that’s a whole separate lifestyle.
Wondering how you go about talking yourself into quitting? I think a fair test of how things are going when starting is 6 weeks. When losing I worked week to week. Don’t expect anything to happen in days. How aggressive is your deficit? I think evaluation your plan is always 2 parts: 1) are you in fact losing weight, 2) are you satisfied with how you are living. There’s a livable space in there somewhere where you lose weight and can live with the process long term. You just have to find it.
Don’t go to pieces over the ambiguity. The calculators aren’t all that exact. Calorie counting has a lot of gray areas. Keep your food diary going no matter what. Even if you are just making a good faith guess at something. Record everything with a number. It gets easier.6 -
I will have to mess around with some of the functions. I think one of the main reasons I give up so quickly is no support. It’s tough when everyone in the house brings home fast food and soda. It’s hard to stay on track. I finally put my foot down and said I need help. It’s been better the past week. I just need to stay on top of it. I need to do this for me. Posting on here and having friends on MFP has really helped me.
I did buy a food scale on amazon that should arrive tomorrow 😄. Now, I just need to learn to use it. Any tips? Do you weigh meat before or after it’s cooked?0 -
@ConfidentRaven I just got the happy scale app. Can’t wait to try it. Thanks for the suggestion!0
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cinaminy79 wrote: »I will have to mess around with some of the functions. I think one of the main reasons I give up so quickly is no support. It’s tough when everyone in the house brings home fast food and soda. It’s hard to stay on track. I finally put my foot down and said I need help. It’s been better the past week. I just need to stay on top of it. I need to do this for me. Posting on here and having friends on MFP has really helped me.
I did buy a food scale on amazon that should arrive tomorrow 😄. Now, I just need to learn to use it. Any tips? Do you weigh meat before or after it’s cooked?
Use the Tare function - that way you can add your plate/pot/container first and you zero it and just add stuff on/in a bit at a time and log as you go.
Ref meat - always uncooked, most nutrition info is for uncooked, and you have no way of knowing how much water weight is cooked off when cooking which makes zero difference to the calorie content. If you got it from a butchers/somewhere that has no nutritional info you can use the USDA entries/database - for example search "USDA Chicken Breast raw" or the entries from a large supermarket whose nutrition info you can check online for accuracy.
I also found it really helpful to pre-portion snacks (nuts/dry fruit/sweets/etc) and write on the lid in dry wipe marker what the weight is.3 -
I have a scale obsession and it causes me to do crazy things. As such, I only weigh once a month (I started out weighing twice a month). I found this is much easier for me. As long as you are doing what you are supposed to be doing (eating right-food and portions and moderately exercising) you should be losing weight sans outstanding health issue. I log daily. I find this helps from obsessing about the scale yet still allows you to check in on your progress. This method may not be for everyone but it helps me.2
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I’m in a pretty similar situation, started on New Year’s Day and said I was going to give 100% and I have.. 4+ miles a day, joined the gym, sticking to thre deficit. But a week in and I’ve only lost 1lb (considering the deficit it should be more 3/4 minus waterweight)
The one thing I keep telling myself is, giving up isn’t going to make it any better, so just trying different things to see what makes a change (I’ve been eating about 6 slices of 50/50 bread a day so I’ll probably start there)
In short, just need to stick to it and if in time it isn’t working, mix it up a little bit. I have next to no idea what I’m doing wrong but I guess you don’t know if you don’t try2 -
I’m in a pretty similar situation, started on New Year’s Day and said I was going to give 100% and I have.. 4+ miles a day, joined the gym, sticking to thre deficit. But a week in and I’ve only lost 1lb (considering the deficit it should be more 3/4 minus waterweight)
The one thing I keep telling myself is, giving up isn’t going to make it any better, so just trying different things to see what makes a change (I’ve been eating about 6 slices of 50/50 bread a day so I’ll probably start there)
In short, just need to stick to it and if in time it isn’t working, mix it up a little bit. I have next to no idea what I’m doing wrong but I guess you don’t know if you don’t try
If you’re losing weight, anything, you aren’t doing it wrong.
So start from the place where you’re doing it right, but you want to do better. Good. Keep tinkering and adjusting.
I was listening to Churchill’s memoirs audiobook when I started tracking. With respect to something in the war effort he said- Perfect is the enemy of the good.
I found that helped me to keep trying.
And btw, do you use a food scale? It can make a big difference. And keep in mind, weight loss is mostly about intake. Good luck.
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I’m in a pretty similar situation, started on New Year’s Day and said I was going to give 100% and I have.. 4+ miles a day, joined the gym, sticking to thre deficit. But a week in and I’ve only lost 1lb (considering the deficit it should be more 3/4 minus waterweight)
The one thing I keep telling myself is, giving up isn’t going to make it any better, so just trying different things to see what makes a change (I’ve been eating about 6 slices of 50/50 bread a day so I’ll probably start there)
In short, just need to stick to it and if in time it isn’t working, mix it up a little bit. I have next to no idea what I’m doing wrong but I guess you don’t know if you don’t try
If you’re losing weight, anything, you aren’t doing it wrong.
So start from the place where you’re doing it right, but you want to do better. Good. Keep tinkering and adjusting.
I was listening to Churchill’s memoirs audiobook when I started tracking. With respect to something in the war effort he said- Perfect is the enemy of the good.
I found that helped me to keep trying.
And btw, do you use a food scale? It can make a big difference. And keep in mind, weight loss is mostly about intake. Good luck.
I must admit that’s one way of seeing it. I do tend to use food scales when preparing, I’ll often use prepared meals (slimming world do some great meals) due to hectic schedules but when I’m making food myself then a food scale is a must as I’ve made guestimating mistakes before
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I’m in a pretty similar situation, started on New Year’s Day and said I was going to give 100% and I have.. 4+ miles a day, joined the gym, sticking to thre deficit. But a week in and I’ve only lost 1lb (considering the deficit it should be more 3/4 minus waterweight)
The one thing I keep telling myself is, giving up isn’t going to make it any better, so just trying different things to see what makes a change (I’ve been eating about 6 slices of 50/50 bread a day so I’ll probably start there)
In short, just need to stick to it and if in time it isn’t working, mix it up a little bit. I have next to no idea what I’m doing wrong but I guess you don’t know if you don’t try
What you are doing wrong is using a week of data to decide you are doing something wrong. On the bathroom scale weight loss is not linear. It often takes me 3 weeks to see a new low weight. I would have gone batkitten crazy a long time ago if I was tinkering each time the scale didn't move enough for a week.
The only thing to look for is any major holes in your logging. If you have a good system you should just trust that if you are in the deficit you believe yourself to be that it will show up. If it does not happen you need to tighten up your logging further or reassess how much you are eating compared to how much you are burning. Individual food items are never going to be the culprit as long as you log them correctly and they fit in your budget.
All the new exercise may be causing you to retain water and mask your results. You may even see an uptick in the coming days that lasts for a bit. This is perfectly natural. Focus on the deficit and remind yourself that the loss is happening just just do not always get to see it when you want.5 -
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