PLEASE, I'm so upset and I have tried everything and I can't seem to lose weight

Oilers846507 · August 2020

Hi everyone my name is Hannah,

When I say I have tried everything to lose weight I mean literally everything (majority of weight is on my stomach upper body and inner thighs). I can't seem to see any results, please can someone advise me and help me out. I am so committed to this. I weigh about 165 pounds looking to go down to 135 pounds.

Firstly, I went to the doctor's office and got my thyroid, hormones, cortisol and insulin checked. Everything is normal except my insulin is a little high, hence she said I may be insulin resistant (I don't have diabetes or any problems with my blood sugar). She said it could be because in the past I used to eat a lot of high sugar and processed foods.

Secondly, in terms of working out I only used to strength train 3 times week. Then I added 2 days of Cardio. I personally do not feel that my workouts are effective, I have tried Fitness Blender, Youtube videos, Body-building.com, a few popsugar workouts made by celebrity trainers. Nothing has worked. I like to workout at home personally, I have some dumbbells, a treadmill (I'd rather do cardio using youtube lol), resistance bands, etc..

Thirdly, in terms of food, I usually have 2 pieces of gluten free toast with peanut butter, then a nut bar from Costco as a snack, for lunch i sometimes have a protein shake or some rice with meat or something with both carbs and protein, I sometimes have snack in between lunch and dinner which is usually a piece of fruit and for dinner I usually have something similar to lunch. I have been calorie counting and trying to eat between 100 to 150 grams of carbs.

I honestly don't know what else to do. Can someone please advise me in terms of working out, maybe its from that? or maybe its what I am eating

I have been at this for 4 months, I haven't seen any results at all, not on the scale, in my clothes or even measurements.

I am honestly so upset that I broke into tears today. I don't know what to do anymore, and I can't really afford to see a fitness trainer.

Thank you!

ALZ14 · August 2020

So how many calories are you actually eating in a day?

How old are you and how tall are you?

Dogmom1978 · August 2020

Are you weighing and measuring your food? That’s the first place to start.

If you are, are you checking the entries in MFP to verify they are correct??

CICO is all it is. If you eat in a deficit you will lose weight. For me, exercising is required to be in a deficit, but I could skip exercise and just eat less if I absolutely had to.

ChrissyChickie · August 2020

Hi Hannah, how many calories are you eating per day? I'm no expert in this, but I do have empathy for you. I am slow at taking weight off. There is often a very long period where nothing comes off the scale, but I do look better in my jeans. Just keep at it, you will get there!

applekandi · August 2020

I agree, make sure you are weighing your food with a food scale. You are probably underestimating your food intake. Maybe you think you are eating 2 tbsp of peanut butter, but are eating 3. If you did that each day that is almost 700 calories extra a week. If you did that with multiple foods per day then you can see how fast it adds up. I even weigh my fruit. The banana I ate this mornin was over 170 calories. If I didn’t know better I would have underestimated it by quite a bit.

AliNouveau · August 2020

I'd add more cardio workouts. I find lots of cardio is the only way I see a difference in my body.

If you want good cardio YouTube workouts check out Sydney Cummings or Raneir Pollard. Raneir's workouts are killer! But he's hilarious and has an amazing body so I don't swear at him as I would Sydney

Oilers846507 · August 2020

ALZ14 wrote: »

So how many calories are you actually eating in a day?

How old are you and how tall are you?

I am 23 and 5'2

Oilers846507 · August 2020

Dogmom1978 wrote: »

Are you weighing and measuring your food? That’s the first place to start.

If you are, are you checking the entries in MFP to verify they are correct??

CICO is all it is. If you eat in a deficit you will lose weight. For me, exercising is required to be in a deficit, but I could skip exercise and just eat less if I absolutely had to.

No I am not measuring my food, I just try to estimate. For the most part I log it in a journal and usually, snack bars for instance have the calories on the back. Do you think measuring will make a difference?

Oilers846507 · August 2020

ChrissyChickie wrote: »

Hi Hannah, how many calories are you eating per day? I'm no expert in this, but I do have empathy for you. I am slow at taking weight off. There is often a very long period where nothing comes off the scale, but I do look better in my jeans. Just keep at it, you will get there!

Hi thank you

I eat about 1300 calories per day is that good enough? or should it more/less?

Oilers846507 · August 2020

applekandi wrote: »

I agree, make sure you are weighing your food with a food scale. You are probably underestimating your food intake. Maybe you think you are eating 2 tbsp of peanut butter, but are eating 3. If you did that each day that is almost 700 calories extra a week. If you did that with multiple foods per day then you can see how fast it adds up. I even weigh my fruit. The banana I ate this mornin was over 170 calories. If I didn’t know better I would have underestimated it by quite a bit.

I did this in the past, and now I just estimate. Although I would hit my calorie goal, the amount of carbs I was eating was extremely high it was about 50-60% of my diet and when I got my insulin tested, the doctor recommended I have a lower carb diet.

Do you think if I weigh my food but make sure my carb intake is a lot lower it will help?

Oilers846507 · August 2020

AliNouveau wrote: »

I'd add more cardio workouts. I find lots of cardio is the only way I see a difference in my body.

If you want good cardio YouTube workouts check out Sydney Cummings or Raneir Pollard. Raneir's workouts are killer! But he's hilarious and has an amazing body so I don't swear at him as I would Sydney

Thanks so much! I will look into these!

collectingblues · August 2020

Oilers846507 wrote: »

Dogmom1978 wrote: »

Are you weighing and measuring your food? That’s the first place to start.

If you are, are you checking the entries in MFP to verify they are correct??

CICO is all it is. If you eat in a deficit you will lose weight. For me, exercising is required to be in a deficit, but I could skip exercise and just eat less if I absolutely had to.

No I am not measuring my food, I just try to estimate. For the most part I log it in a journal and usually, snack bars for instance have the calories on the back. Do you think measuring will make a difference?

You need to *weigh* your food -- not measure it, weigh it. If you're not even measuring it, that's your problem right there. You are overeating.

Portion creep is a real thing. Most people think they eat less than they actually are. You need to weigh *everything* that goes in your mouth.

ahoy_m8 · August 2020

It’s amazing the difference weighing vs. estimating makes. Truly eye opening. It really simplifies everything. Give it a try, OP.

xxzenabxx · August 2020

I would 100% recommend weighing your food and if your insulin is high then it doesn’t process carbs efficiently so I would lower them. Aim for a lower carb diet but don’t be keto unless you want to do that. But yeah, you’re basically eating at maintenance. You need to weigh your food. I guarantee you’re eating more than you think. Infact you’re probably eating an extra 500-700 calories without even realising. Some people can lose weight without a food scale- I’ve seen it with my own eyes, but some can’t. Use a food scale consistently for 4-6 weeks and I guarantee you’re going to see your weight drop. I’m F, 27 yrs old, 5’ 4” and I have PCOS and I’m losing weight on 1900-2000 calories a day. I only have 12-15 lbs left so it’s slow... about 0.5 lb a week. But I’ve tried the fast method and it didn’t work. I’ve been yo-yo dieting since I was 16! So yeah, in the beginning I didn’t want to weigh my food either but the people on MFP convinced me and here I am! I have gone from my highest weight last year of 168 lbs to 151 lbs. Basically start weighing your food!

Avidkeo · August 2020

What the others have said. Weigh EVERYTHING. Even prepackaged food.

Your nut bars could be 10% bigger than stated on the box. So therefore 10% more calories. That might only be 20 calories but extrapolate that over all your food and that can a lot more calories in a day than you think.

Start weighing all your food, don't use measuring cups, actually weigh it, and you will probably see a difference

Good luck!

Lolana1822 · August 2020

Oilers846507 wrote: »

Dogmom1978 wrote: »

Are you weighing and measuring your food? That’s the first place to start.

If you are, are you checking the entries in MFP to verify they are correct??

CICO is all it is. If you eat in a deficit you will lose weight. For me, exercising is required to be in a deficit, but I could skip exercise and just eat less if I absolutely had to.

No I am not measuring my food, I just try to estimate. For the most part I log it in a journal and usually, snack bars for instance have the calories on the back. Do you think measuring will make a difference?

Measuring makes SUCH a difference. You won't believe by how many calories you're guessing wrong. Try it, you'll be surprised how little 1300 calories are in terms of food. On days you're working out you can probably up your calories by about 200 (depending on lenght and intensity of your workout).
Keep on tracking and weighing EVERYTHING that goes into your mouth (especially things like cooking oil, which can add up quickly), stick to your calories and you'll start to see results very soon!

Talan79 · August 2020

I also say weigh everything. Weigh all solids by the gram. Measuring cups are ok for liquids. Like others mentioned, even prepackaged items should be weighed. I’ll give you an example.
I use Ezekiel bread, it says one slice is 34 grams. I’ve had slices that were up to 44 grams. Try to be as accurate as possible. I’m also 5”2, so I understand the struggle.

Did you select 1300 calories? Or MFP set that for you? That seems a bit low for your stats as your BMR is probably around 1500’s.

thelastnightingale · August 2020

Agreed, you need to weigh everything, and log everything. Unless you know exactly what you're consuming, you don't know if you're eating 1,300 calories or 900 calories or 2,000 calories. It's really easy to get it wrong by estimating. For many us, estimating is how we ended up overweight in the first place.

When you say you're aiming for 1,300 calories per day, is that net?

I'm a little taller and heavier than you and on 1,200 calories, but my activity level is nothing. You do workouts, so 1,300 calories is only going to sound right if you're eating back some of your exercise calories on top of that.

Oh, and you have my sympathy. Something isn't right (I suspect it's the estimating food), but you've clearly been trying, and I'm sorry that your efforts haven't been rewarded. Figuring out what works for you is always hard.

Dogmom1978 · August 2020

One other question. What did you set your activity level as in the app? I personally set mine to sedentary (desk job) and then add my weight and cardio exercises in. If you chose a higher activity level, make sure it’s accurate or MFP will estimate that you are burning more calories in a day than you are.

And OMG like ALL of us are saying: WEIGH and MEASURE EVERYTHING! Right now you don’t know if you are eating 1800 or 2500 calories a day. I HIGHLY doubt that by “guessing” you are anywhere near 1300.

NovusDies · August 2020

The other thing that jumps out at me is the number of things you have tried in the last 4 months. Exercise and weight reduction is built on very small incremental changes. These changes will take time to show up in the mirror and on the scale. It requires patience and consistency.

rheddmobile · August 2020

Because you are petite, your tracking has to be accurate, since you don’t need as many calories as a taller person.

There are some foods you can safely estimate because they are low in calories and a difference won’t matter much. Peanut butter is not one of those foods. An official “serving” of peanut butter is tiny compared to what a normal person puts on a sandwich, and a “tablespoon” of peanut butter measured using a measuring spoon is about twice as much as a proper tablespoon by weight. If you are eating peanut butter every day and not weighing it, you are probably getting two or three hundred extra calories right there, not even accounting for your other food! Weigh it, every time, until you see the results you would like.

Also don’t forget to count extras, such as whatever butter or sauce you have to cook and put on your rice and meat. Calorie dense foods such as butter and cooking oil are easy to forget about, and can easily have more calories than the rest of your meal combined.

cherys · August 2020

@Oilers846507
Hi Hannah,

I'm replying because I have exactly the same amount as you to lose, not because I am perfect and know all the answers. But reading your post a couple of things jumped out.

If you work out at home, you are far less likely to push yourself beyond your comfort zone. If you get a trainer or join a bootcamp or some circuits classes, you might find you should be exercising way beyond your current levels. It should feel hard - almost too hard - at some point in every session. If you're not cursing inside, it's not pushing you enough to burn the fat.

I also agree with everyone here: Measure your food! A portion of muesli looks like a sprinkle topping. A bowlful of muesli is about 5-8 portions! Peanut butter is incredibly high in calories. A teaspoonful of it scraped over wholewheat toast is very different from a generous smear of it. As in, about 300 calories difference. Your description of your food intake doesn't describe many veg. Why not try basing each meal around three unprocessed veg or low-sugar fruits (berries, melon).

Are you drinking loads of water? Water retention can keep you carrying an excess of 5lbs or more.

HeidiCooksSupper · August 2020

Oilers846507 wrote: »

No I am not measuring my food, I just try to estimate. For the most part I log it in a journal and usually, snack bars for instance have the calories on the back. Do you think measuring will make a difference?

For the vast majority of folks who "can't lose weight," this is THE problem. We are terrible at eyeballing. The most important tool for weight loss is a food scale which can be gotten in a big box store for less than $15. You can save that just by not buying protein bars and other special "diet" foods.

You can lose weight eating regular food in a regular way. All you need to do is figure out how many calories to eat. Then eat well while limiting calories.

You are correct about exercise. Exercise alone is a terrible way to try to lose weight. It does work to raise your calorie needs a bit, improves your health, and makes you feel better so it is a good thing. However, the ONLY way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories than one expends.

You don't need to eat special food. You don't need to eat a certain number of meals a day. You don't need to do intermittent fasting, OMAD, clean, paleo, keto, gluten free ... None of these is a magic bullet. Some folks do them because it helps them stay on track but none of them is necessary for weight loss.

You've gotten lots of good advice above. So stick around. Get a food scale as soon as you can. And we'll be here to share in the journey with you.

nanastaci2020 · August 2020

Another vote for weighing your food.

It seems like a lot of effort at first. But anything new has a learning phase and ultimately, its NOT a big deal.

Kitchen scales are cheap and easy to come by. Look for one that has a tare or zero button, and if possible holds up to 30 pounds or so. I just replaced my home/kitchen scale with one from Amazon. And brought my 'old' home scale to use at work. The tare/zero function makes life easy. Put plate or bowl on scale, zero it out. Put food on plate. Note weight. Zero. Repeat.

I also have a small dry erase board on the side of my fridge - makes it easy for taking notes about weights of foods. I prelog then go back and edit quantities to be more specific.

WIthout weighing your food, and only estimating: you think you're eating 1300 but it almost certainly is not so. The peanut butter you put on your toast? Could be 100 calories or 300 calories, or more. Precision is more important with calorie dense foods (like peanut butter). On the other hand, whether you put 30 grams or 60 grams of spinach in your salad, not a big difference in calories.

saltysparkle · August 2020

Here's what jumped out at me:

I'm not sure whether you're eating too many calories, or not getting enough. When we don't eat enough, our bodies go into conservation mode and hang onto whatever they can instead of letting us lose weight. Either way, I agree with everyone else that you should get a food scale and weigh your food. Use actual measuring spoons and cups so you know what you're really working with.
It doesn't look like you're getting a ton of fiber. Fiber cleans us out, so if you want to drop some weight, making sure you have plenty of fiber in your diet is helpful. It looks like you have virtually no vegetables in your diet. I'd try to up those.
While exercise is important, I have really come to believe that a lot more can be done just by changing diet than you think, and that's really the place to start.
If you're an emotional eater (like I am), see if you can make any progress dealing with the issues that caused you to gain the weight in the first place.

Best of luck!

Strudders67 · August 2020

Enter your details in to the Guided Setup screen.
Select to lose at a rate of 1lb a week to start with (as you only have 30lb to lose, anything faster is too aggressive).
See how many calories MFP gives you and eat that many.
Log any purposeful exercise and eat 50-75% of those calories too. (this is how MFP is designed)

Weigh everything you eat or cook with or add as a dressing and measure everything you drink. Log it all.
Make sure the entries you select match the info on the packaging / look reasonable. Some things may have changed since the entry was created and some are just very dodgy entries.

Give it 6 weeks of being consistently weighing and tracking everything then see how you're doing. This gives you a couple of weeks to settle in to it plus one full menstrual cycle.

NovusDies · August 2020

saltysparkle wrote: »

Here's what jumped out at me:
I'm not sure whether you're eating too many calories, or not getting enough. When we don't eat enough, our bodies go into conservation mode and hang onto whatever they can instead of letting us lose weight. Either way, I agree with everyone else that you should get a food scale and weigh your food. Use actual measuring spoons and cups so you know what you're really working with.

It doesn't look like you're getting a ton of fiber. Fiber cleans us out, so if you want to drop some weight, making sure you have plenty of fiber in your diet is helpful. It looks like you have virtually no vegetables in your diet. I'd try to up those.

While exercise is important, I have really come to believe that a lot more can be done just by changing diet than you think, and that's really the place to start.

If you're an emotional eater (like I am), see if you can make any progress dealing with the issues that caused you to gain the weight in the first place.

Best of luck!

The conservation mode that you are referring to does not exist. Your body cannot create energy from air so if there is an energy shortage it MUST use stored energy or we die. There is a mild downshift in BMR after a person has been in a calorie deficit for long enough but it is not the same thing.

Removing food waste weight is not the goal. More fiber may be beneficial though.

Modifying food habits - specifically eating in a calorie deficit is the way to lose weight. Exercise is important for fitness.

We should all address the issues, mindset, and habits that lead to weight gain.

Mithridites · August 2020

You haven’t tried everything. You haven’t weighed all your food and counted your calories to put yourself into calorie deficit for even a day, let alone weeks and months that it can take to lose 30 pounds. I don’t know why, except maybe it seems tedious and not as glorified as working out every day and drinking fancy protein shakes that have god knows how many calories in them. Now you’re becoming frustrated at your body and that’s not a comfortable way to live. You’re in the right place to address this matter. I learned a lot from the people on this forum and now am @ 25 pounds lost. I wish you luck in your weight-loss journey.

janejellyroll · August 2020

Oilers846507 wrote: »

Dogmom1978 wrote: »

Are you weighing and measuring your food? That’s the first place to start.

If you are, are you checking the entries in MFP to verify they are correct??

CICO is all it is. If you eat in a deficit you will lose weight. For me, exercising is required to be in a deficit, but I could skip exercise and just eat less if I absolutely had to.

No I am not measuring my food, I just try to estimate. For the most part I log it in a journal and usually, snack bars for instance have the calories on the back. Do you think measuring will make a difference?

Good news! You haven't tried everything.

I understand why you said it, because several years ago I also would have told you that I had tried "everything" to manage my weight. But once I began logging with the aid of a food scale, I was finally able to achieve my goals. You've gotten some great advice in this thread.

bmattimore · August 2020

I'm not an expert but it seems to me you're getting too many carbs or too much sugar. You may want to try and go to all whole foods and see if that helps and stay away from the nutbars. Nutbars and Peanut Butter seems like that would be a lot. Also what kind of rice are you having and how much of it? If it's white rice, a half of a cup is about all you should have because it's high in carbs. Then there's bread on top of that which is high in carbs. I'm not saying don't have carbs but it should be limited. You get carbs from vegetables, fruits, grains, etc. Too many is not good so I'd stick to healthy carbs coming from vegetables and fruits and leave the others to having once in a while.

Dogmom1978 · August 2020

bmattimore wrote: »

I'm not an expert but it seems to me you're getting too many carbs or too much sugar. You may want to try and go to all whole foods and see if that helps and stay away from the nutbars. Nutbars and Peanut Butter seems like that would be a lot. Also what kind of rice are you having and how much of it? If it's white rice, a half of a cup is about all you should have because it's high in carbs. Then there's bread on top of that which is high in carbs. I'm not saying don't have carbs but it should be limited. You get carbs from vegetables, fruits, grains, etc. Too many is not good so I'd stick to healthy carbs coming from vegetables and fruits and leave the others to having once in a while.

Macros don’t really matter at this point since the OP isn’t eating in a deficit in the first point. Anyone who “guesses” how much they are eating (and is overweight) is guessing too low and eating more than they think; else we wouldn’t BE overweight in the first point.

While eating healthier will make people feel better, it isn’t NECESSARY to lose weight. The ONLY thing necessary to lose weight is to eat in a deficit. I COULD lose weight by eating cupcakes each and every day and nothing else, provided I ate fewer calories than I need to maintain. I would feel awful, have no energy, have migraines, be cranky, etc, BUT I would lose weight.

I am NOT advocating for ANYONE to do that. I’m just pointing out that you could. I personally have tried to change my eating habits and incorporate healthier items while still eating what I love in smaller portions.

The OP JUST needs to weigh and accurately account for her calories in order to lose weight (provided she can stay in a deficit while actually tracking).

PLEASE, I'm so upset and I have tried everything and I can't seem to lose weight

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