I'm Sooo Discouraged Right Now!!

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heaven_511
heaven_511 Posts: 315 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok MFP, I need your help. I've been doing really well with my diet, weight loss and exercise since joining and the weight just seemed to be melting off. The past few days however, my scale has been doing a moonwalk. :-( I've never had a day where I went over my calories and only 2-3 where I haven't gotten in all of my water. I did start eating more as I've been trying to eat back some of my exercise calories. Maybe that's what I'm doing wrong.

Guys can you please take a look at my diary and tell me what I'm missing here?

Thanks in advance!
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Replies

  • deathstarclock
    deathstarclock Posts: 512 Member
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    why are you eating 1200? something tells me that 1200 was not recommended by MFP

    Edit: ah nvm, it's really early and my brain is slowly waking up ><
  • heaven_511
    heaven_511 Posts: 315 Member
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    Actually that's exactly what was recommened by MFP.
  • letonia_
    letonia_ Posts: 40 Member
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    What I see is that you are eating under your Daily Goals and not eating your exercise calories back. That might be one of the reasons of your plateau. You need to shake your metabolism. Change your exercises as well as your body gets used to them and manages the burning more efficiently ;)
  • heaven_511
    heaven_511 Posts: 315 Member
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    why are you eating 1200? something tells me that 1200 was not recommended by MFP

    Edit: ah nvm, it's really early and my brain is slowly waking up ><

    LOL!
  • Maryfullofgrace
    Maryfullofgrace Posts: 342 Member
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    Don't be discouraged. I see from your diary you are eating a lot of prepared foods and have a sweet tooth!

    Try going more raw.. example, instead of the pre-made peanut butter crackers, go with some celery and natural peanut butter. Or some dried apricots and a tablespoon of peanut butter... You will feel fuller and your body will be happier.
  • kykykenna
    kykykenna Posts: 656 Member
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    Im no pro at all, but looking back just a week or a little more you are almost always over in sugar.....maybe try to get that down as it is from processed sugars? I keep having to go back and look at my diary as well to notice trends I end up stalling with. :)
  • kateroot
    kateroot Posts: 435
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    Take a look at the foods you're eating and do an honest evaluation of your diet. I went through a week of your diary and I don't think I saw a single veggie. You're eating tons of sugar, hardly any protein, and very little fiber. What is it you're doing for exercise that's burning over 1000 calories a day?
  • RachelSRoach1
    RachelSRoach1 Posts: 435 Member
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    Plateau type thing?

    Well I have seen this work for several people.. increasing calorie intake for a week or so? Then again.. maybe you should go back to eating just 1200.

    Also.. have you been measuring too? It is likely that you have still been losing inches!
  • heaven_511
    heaven_511 Posts: 315 Member
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    Take a look at the foods you're eating and do an honest evaluation of your diet. I went through a week of your diary and I don't think I saw a single veggie. You're eating tons of sugar, hardly any protein, and very little fiber. What is it you're doing for exercise that's burning over 1000 calories a day?

    You're right I do have quite a sweet tooth and I never really look at what I eat (other than the caloric content). For cardio I do 60 mins Zumba and 30 day shred or I run on the treadmill (before or after Zumba). I track my calories burned with a strapped HRM.
  • Elleinnz
    Elleinnz Posts: 1,661 Member
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    How exactly are you measuring your workout calories - for someone that MFP is recommending 1200 calories - and you seem to be within 20 lbs of your goal weight your calorie burns for both zumba and 30D Shred seems very high....If you are not using a HRM to measure I suspect you are maybe overestimating your exercise calories...


    I also agree that your " diet" needs more vegetables etc.....
  • vzucco
    vzucco Posts: 229
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    I'm a big believer that it's not just the amount of calories you eat but what they are composed of. If you're only eating 1200 a day then you need to make sure you get nutrients from your food. Your diary shows a lot of sugar, white flour, and processed foods. Try eating clean, you'll be surprised at what a difference it makes.
  • heaven_511
    heaven_511 Posts: 315 Member
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    Im no pro at all, but looking back just a week or a little more you are almost always over in sugar.....maybe try to get that down as it is from processed sugars? I keep having to go back and look at my diary as well to notice trends I end up stalling with. :)

    Thanks. You're right I have a huge sweet tooth and it's been getting the best of me. I guess that's probably it...even though I still manage to stay under my calories...Thanks again!
  • srp2011
    srp2011 Posts: 1,829 Member
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    Your diet seems to be pretty much all garbage, so not surprising you stopped losing weight. You probably lost in the beginning because just a cut in calories was a shock to your system, but that won't work for most people for very long. Try eating a healthy balanced diet with lean protein, fresh fruit and veggies, and whole grains.

    Also, your profile isn't visible so we don't know anything about you, like age, height, and if you are a man or woman. Based on your calorie target of 1200, I'm guessing you are probably a woman of smaller stature, and if so you really have less room to play around with junk food (and the older you are the less and less you can get away with it). Also, MFP tends to overestimate exercise calories, so you may be eating back too many, and depending on your metabolism and extent of exercise, you may not need to eat any back at all.
  • kristijoanderson
    kristijoanderson Posts: 23
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    So, just a quick glance at your diary and I see very little fiber and lean protein. Mostly I see processed foods. Try eating 400 calories 4 times a day and make most of them lean protein and fibrous fruits and vegetables. Here is an example:
    Breakfast: 1 cup Corn flakes, 2 TBSP raisins, 2 TBSP sunflower seeds, 1 c Fat Free milk
    Lunch: 4 oz. Lean turkey, 1 C raw spinach leaves with 1 TBSP Fat free Annies Goddess dressing, 10 olives sliced, 1/2 Baked potato w/ nonfat yogurt
    Dinner: 4 oz salmon steak, 1 c couscous prepared from box , 1 cup steamed carrots, 1 cup spinach salad
    snack: Fruit smoothie with 1 cup frozen fruit, 1 c fat free milk, 1 Splenda packet, 2 TBSP flax seed oil

    this should be about 1600 calories a day and have enough protein, fiber and healthy fats that you will kick start your metabolism again.
    PS: Get help with your carb and processed food addiction!!! :-}
  • Sridenbaugh
    Sridenbaugh Posts: 13
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    If you haven't already done so. I'd suggest looking up your BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) to see how many calories you burn just doing nothing. You subtract 500 calories from that number as long as it under 1200. If you eat to few calories your body will lose weight slower than if it gets all the nutrients you need. Obviously if you eat too many than you'll put on weight.

    When you add in your exercise to MFP. I don't suggest eating the calories you work off. In order to lose weight you have to go into a deficit. Hope this helped.
  • Articeluvsmemphis
    Articeluvsmemphis Posts: 1,987 Member
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    more raw fruits/veggies. with that being said, I need to take my own advice :) It's easy to lose that weight in the beginning, but diet is way ore crucial after that initial chunk of weight comes off. good luck. and p.s. i think that like getting good rest and taking a vitamin and reducing stress helps in weight loss as well.
  • heaven_511
    heaven_511 Posts: 315 Member
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    So, just a quick glance at your diary and I see very little fiber and lean protein. Mostly I see processed foods. Try eating 400 calories 4 times a day and make most of them lean protein and fibrous fruits and vegetables. Here is an example:
    Breakfast: 1 cup Corn flakes, 2 TBSP raisins, 2 TBSP sunflower seeds, 1 c Fat Free milk
    Lunch: 4 oz. Lean turkey, 1 C raw spinach leaves with 1 TBSP Fat free Annies Goddess dressing, 10 olives sliced, 1/2 Baked potato w/ nonfat yogurt
    Dinner: 4 oz salmon steak, 1 c couscous prepared from box , 1 cup steamed carrots, 1 cup spinach salad
    snack: Fruit smoothie with 1 cup frozen fruit, 1 c fat free milk, 1 Splenda packet, 2 TBSP flax seed oil

    this should be about 1600 calories a day and have enough protein, fiber and healthy fats that you will kick start your metabolism again.
    PS: Get help with your carb and processed food addiction!!! :-}

    Thanks! This is sooo very helpful. I really appreciate you taking the time to give me some example meals. As you can see I'm not very good with preparing my own meals.
  • AdAstra47
    AdAstra47 Posts: 823 Member
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    OK, you joined in October 2011, right? So you can't have been doing this for more than, let's say, 7 weeks?
    13 lb in 7 weeks is approximately 1.8 lb per week. Which is really, really good! A healthy, sustainable weight loss is 1-2 lb per week. Personally, I average 1.3 lb per week.

    Losing any more than 2 lb per week probably means you're losing muscle as well as fat, and you don't want that. I agree with the people who have suggested cutting down on the sugar and increasing the protein in your diet; this will keep you from losing muscle mass. From what I can tell, you're doing just fine. Remember that this is a long, gradual process. Losing a pound or more a week is great progress, even if it's slower than you'd like.

    Good luck to you!
  • LuciaLongIsland
    LuciaLongIsland Posts: 815 Member
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    That sounds good. I also was not eating healthy. Thank you.
  • kristarablue
    kristarablue Posts: 707
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    Have you thought of raising your protein, yours is awfully low and lowering your carbs. I am not talking low carbs, but just lower. You may want to change your macros in MFP for percentages the one pre-set for MFP is very low protein. Also I noticed that you tend to eat processed foods which often contain a lot of sodium, so you may want to look at that as well. It is not only calories but the quality of the calories...Good luck and don't get too worried about fluxuations here and there

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