PLEASE, I'm so upset and I have tried everything and I can't seem to lose weight
Options
Oilers846507
Posts: 15 Member
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!
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!
10
Replies
-
So how many calories are you actually eating in a day?
How old are you and how tall are you?13 -
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.7 -
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!
6 -
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.12
-
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 Sydney1 -
-
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?6 -
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? 0 -
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?0 -
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!0 -
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.25 -
It’s amazing the difference weighing vs. estimating makes. Truly eye opening. It really simplifies everything. Give it a try, OP.17
-
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!10
-
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!9 -
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!7 -
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.
6 -
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.5 -
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 1300.3 -
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.15
-
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.
11
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 389 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.2K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 918 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions