Why is this so hard and askew

Realized i was eating way too less, adjusted to the "right" calorie intake and i'm struggling to get ojt of the 250's (lbs). I'm 5'8, 30yo, and 255lbs. I am active all throughout the day, i try to get a walk or bike ride and i'm struggling. My stupid body... i eat under 1200 cal and i loose for months, my measurements came down, and i was about to hit my summer goal early and then i detoured for a month. Thanksgiving to xmas, and i gain back 10 lbs... this aint right. All this tells me is i'm supposed to go back to the 1200 cal limit a day and not the 1697 cal myfitnesspal calculates and give up any spec of comfort food to reach my goal and then struggle every day of my life to maintain. I hate my body so much, i'm so tierd of having to go to extremes to get anything to happen. I'm so tierd of being fat, i feel so gross and ugly all the time and i keep tfying but i fail so hard. Why couldn't i just be one of those girls who can eat what they want and fit into a size 2 their whole lives? :( freaken miserable...

Replies

  • GemmaM_x
    GemmaM_x Posts: 324 Member
    If you're gaining, you're consuming calories above your daily expenditure.

    • 1200 calories, for your weight and height is far too low
    • Do you always weigh your food, or are you eyeballing?


    Your daily base calorie use (your body simply existing, coma style) is around 2100 calories per day.

    When we add in being sedentary/little exercise, meaning all the other movements we make every day that aren't exercise, this goes up to 2500.

    ltv2hrjd4frn.jpeg

    Any exercise you do above this means extra food (although to allow for over estimations in the app, 50% eating back is cool).

    1lb of fat loss means a deficit of 3500 calories. So loskng 2lb a week, means a deficit og 7000 calories a week - meaning 1000 less per day.

    Your sedentary rate of 2500, minus 1000 deficit means you should be eating around 1500 calories every day.

    You need to be consistently weighing and logging all food. And you need to give the process time.


    For reference regarding the suggested calorie intake - my stats:
    Female
    32 years old
    5'1"
    Starting weight Jan 2022 - 242lbs
    Current weight Apr 2022 - 206lbs
    Net Average Calories - 1500 per day

  • kallen771991
    kallen771991 Posts: 54 Member
    GemmaM_x wrote: »
    If you're gaining, you're consuming calories above your daily expenditure.

    • 1200 calories, for your weight and height is far too low
    • Do you always weigh your food, or are you eyeballing?


    Your daily base calorie use (your body simply existing, coma style) is around 2100 calories per day.

    When we add in being sedentary/little exercise, meaning all the other movements we make every day that aren't exercise, this goes up to 2500.

    ltv2hrjd4frn.jpeg

    Any exercise you do above this means extra food (although to allow for over estimations in the app, 50% eating back is cool).

    1lb of fat loss means a deficit of 3500 calories. So loskng 2lb a week, means a deficit og 7000 calories a week - meaning 1000 less per day.

    Your sedentary rate of 2500, minus 1000 deficit means you should be eating around 1500 calories every day.

    You need to be consistently weighing and logging all food. And you need to give the process time.


    For reference regarding the suggested calorie intake - my stats:
    Female
    32 years old
    5'1"
    Starting weight Jan 2022 - 242lbs
    Current weight Apr 2022 - 206lbs
    Net Average Calories - 1500 per day

    I weigh my foods, i also avoid dairy and gluten duw to pcos. If i change my ststus on myfitnesspal to "lightly active" wanting to go for 2 lbs a week loss goal, i get a goal of 1697 cal and i have been doing so well with it this whole time but not a thing has changed in the last 3 dang months. Like i said i'm active, i barely watch tv, i love going outside , and before with th 1200 goal, before i knew i was under eating, i was loosing weight evenly, my measurements were coming down... i started at a 52 inch hip line, october last year i was at a 48 inch hip line then cristmas hit and i went back up to a 50 inch and i've been struggling sense. I'm so tierd of having to jump through hoops to do this. Pay 49 a month for my morning meal shake, 28 for my collegen peptides a month, my ovasitol was 100 for 3 months but then there is the subs in meals, zoodles instead of pasta, avoidingdairy so ibuse cocpnut milk, stevia instead of sugar. Its a lot to process every day on top of being home woth two young children and having a big house to clean... then i stress about getting some active time in so i can burn some calories.... i'm getting fed up
  • kallen771991
    kallen771991 Posts: 54 Member
    Yeah, you should not be gaining on 1200. It's either logging problems, a medical problem, or just regular weight fluctuations.
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

    I lost 80 pounds (from 220 to 140) on mostly 1500-1600 PLUS 300 more on days I exercised. I am 5'7"(ish) female too - AND I'm a lot older, so you should be able to eat more than I was since you're likely more active with a job or maybe a family or house with chores. I wasn't working at the time and the only exercise I got was walking, some swimming, and light resistance bands work.

    The thing is you have to be consistent over Time. Time. Patience. Sticking with it (mostly.)

    I didn't always stay within calories - many days I was over by 500-1000 calories. Life happens, ya know? But I didn't give up. It took me about eight months to lose the first 65 pounds which put me firmly in a healthy BMI, then longer for that last pesky 15 to put me lower in the BMI range, where I've stayed for 15 years.

    Those eight months were not particularly easy but by being as disciplined as I could, I went down four sizes. It was worth it.

    Log food, be as accurate as you can - learn from your food diary. Study it like it's a college course. This is your life. You can do it.
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

    I started in nov 2019, 303.8lbs, struggled to understand the calorie intake so decided on 1200 because thats the bare minimum, i got really good at staying in that bracket and by nov 2021, before the holidays i was 246.8 lbs, i was so overjoyed... then the holidays, by new years i was 258 lbs, and my measureements were up by two inches. Mind you i didn't just eat cake all day i just at what we had, lots of dinners between families and i decided to cut myself some slack. Then after some time i posted here and found out i was under eating so i switched up and have been doing things right and i'm not loosing anything, i'm gaining and i hate my body so much for that. My goal is 190 but i would be happy to just get down to 240 right now... this sucks. I weigh everything, account for every calorie and i try hard... the only time i'm not consistant is when i get sick or... well "that time of month". Idk what to do different, i lost quite a bit before and now i'm just stuck
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,907 Member
    edited April 2022
    Yeah, you should not be gaining on 1200. It's either logging problems, a medical problem, or just regular weight fluctuations.
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

    I lost 80 pounds (from 220 to 140) on mostly 1500-1600 PLUS 300 more on days I exercised. I am 5'7"(ish) female too - AND I'm a lot older, so you should be able to eat more than I was since you're likely more active with a job or maybe a family or house with chores. I wasn't working at the time and the only exercise I got was walking, some swimming, and light resistance bands work.

    The thing is you have to be consistent over Time. Time. Patience. Sticking with it (mostly.)

    I didn't always stay within calories - many days I was over by 500-1000 calories. Life happens, ya know? But I didn't give up. It took me about eight months to lose the first 65 pounds which put me firmly in a healthy BMI, then longer for that last pesky 15 to put me lower in the BMI range, where I've stayed for 15 years.

    Those eight months were not particularly easy but by being as disciplined as I could, I went down four sizes. It was worth it.

    Log food, be as accurate as you can - learn from your food diary. Study it like it's a college course. This is your life. You can do it.
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

    I started in nov 2019, 303.8lbs, struggled to understand the calorie intake so decided on 1200 because thats the bare minimum, i got really good at staying in that bracket and by nov 2021, before the holidays i was 246.8 lbs, i was so overjoyed... then the holidays, by new years i was 258 lbs, and my measureements were up by two inches. Mind you i didn't just eat cake all day i just at what we had, lots of dinners between families and i decided to cut myself some slack. Then after some time i posted here and found out i was under eating so i switched up and have been doing things right and i'm not loosing anything, i'm gaining and i hate my body so much for that. My goal is 190 but i would be happy to just get down to 240 right now... this sucks. I weigh everything, account for every calorie and i try hard... the only time i'm not consistant is when i get sick or... well "that time of month". Idk what to do different, i lost quite a bit before and now i'm just stuck

    I always gain a couple pounds over the holidays. I've already lost it all again, so that's pretty common.

    1200 is really hard. I'm not surprised you gained when you went off it and (presumably) stopped logging.

    Stick with your 1600.

    How long did you stick to 1600 and not lose? Give it a good two months.

    Please open your FOOD diary for us to take a look and see where you may be having issues logging. Go to FOOD > Settings, scroll down, click "Public" and save.
  • kallen771991
    kallen771991 Posts: 54 Member
    Yeah, you should not be gaining on 1200. It's either logging problems, a medical problem, or just regular weight fluctuations.
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

    I lost 80 pounds (from 220 to 140) on mostly 1500-1600 PLUS 300 more on days I exercised. I am 5'7"(ish) female too - AND I'm a lot older, so you should be able to eat more than I was since you're likely more active with a job or maybe a family or house with chores. I wasn't working at the time and the only exercise I got was walking, some swimming, and light resistance bands work.

    The thing is you have to be consistent over Time. Time. Patience. Sticking with it (mostly.)

    I didn't always stay within calories - many days I was over by 500-1000 calories. Life happens, ya know? But I didn't give up. It took me about eight months to lose the first 65 pounds which put me firmly in a healthy BMI, then longer for that last pesky 15 to put me lower in the BMI range, where I've stayed for 15 years.

    Those eight months were not particularly easy but by being as disciplined as I could, I went down four sizes. It was worth it.

    Log food, be as accurate as you can - learn from your food diary. Study it like it's a college course. This is your life. You can do it.
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

    I started in nov 2019, 303.8lbs, struggled to understand the calorie intake so decided on 1200 because thats the bare minimum, i got really good at staying in that bracket and by nov 2021, before the holidays i was 246.8 lbs, i was so overjoyed... then the holidays, by new years i was 258 lbs, and my measureements were up by two inches. Mind you i didn't just eat cake all day i just at what we had, lots of dinners between families and i decided to cut myself some slack. Then after some time i posted here and found out i was under eating so i switched up and have been doing things right and i'm not loosing anything, i'm gaining and i hate my body so much for that. My goal is 190 but i would be happy to just get down to 240 right now... this sucks. I weigh everything, account for every calorie and i try hard... the only time i'm not consistant is when i get sick or... well "that time of month". Idk what to do different, i lost quite a bit before and now i'm just stuck

    I always gain a couple pounds over the holidays. I've already lost it all again, so that's pretty common.

    1200 is really hard. I'm not surprised you gained when you went off it and (presumably) stopped logging.

    Stick with your 1600.

    How long did you stick to 1600 and not lose? Give it a good two months.

    Please open your FOOD diary for us to take a look and see where you may be having issues logging. Go to FOOD > Settings, scroll down, click "Public" and save.

    I've been eating the calorie change sense mid january. As for my food logs, i log every little thing, in grams and in ounces because when i make up my recipies they are in ounces but i never skip out or not log something and if i forget i go back and fix it. Hoping getting outside more will help.
  • RockingWithLJ
    RockingWithLJ Posts: 243 Member
    That mindset about how you speak of yourself needs to go. Show yourself some compassion! The hoilday gain is nothing to beat yourself up over
    Sodium and sugar intake matters. Make sure you keep both of those low.
    Keep in mind this is a marathon not a sprint and non scale victories should be celebrated!
  • shadowclaw
    shadowclaw Posts: 3 Member
    One key thing you mentioned is PCOS. PCOS is pretty unforgiving and can seriously slow down and mess up your metabolism.

    Does avoiding dairy and gluten actually help your PCOS symptoms? For most people, it doesnt unless they have inflammation-based PCOS. What about the ovasitol? It's not a magic bullet, so if it's not doing anything, stop wasting your money. Reducing carbs tends to work best for most people with PCOS (but not necessarily keto... just lowering your intake a bit can help with your glucose and insulin imbalances).

    Metformin is also one of the more scientifically backed treatments for PCOS. I got a new doctor recently who prescribed it and it's really helped to get my weight moving when diet changes weren't working. It's worth a conversation with your doc to see if it's right for you.
  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 935 Member
    Hey I just wanted to give you a big hug! I completely understand your frustration because I also have PCOS. You most likely have some sort of insulin resistance so I would actually suggest a lower carb diet but NOT keto, just aim for 100-120g per day. Also pleeaaase don’t go down the 1200 calorie route. Been there done that. It ruined my life and it actually slowed my metabolism a lot because I restricted myself for so many years. A lot of women with PCOS suffer from binging and restricting which can actually make things worse. What you want is a lifestyle that you can stick to. I actually had to end up reverse dieting and now I can maintain on 2500 (on average) calories without gaining weight and I’m much smaller than you. You may be one of the few women with PCOS who has severe insulin resistance and in that case you may need to reduce carbs even more but just experiment and see what works. Another thing I wanted to add is that women with PCOS are really sensitive to stress so over exercising and under eating and going to make your cortisol levels skyrocket. And I tried giving up gluten and dairy but it just made me develop an eating disorder. In fact I still eat sugar and I still eat chocolate and I’m slowly losing weight. But try lowering your carbs and increasing your calories to 1600 per day and stop stressing cause that can also make the scale stay the same due to water retention.