Feeling disheartened

deadgirl81
deadgirl81 Posts: 412 Member
edited November 7 in Health and Weight Loss
I've started back excercising in the past few weeks (after almost a month of being naughty) and trying to eat breakfast (only a breakfast bar, but at least its something!) and trying to eat as healthy as I can (whilst cooking for 2 others who arent watching their weight) but I've noticed that my weight seems to be stuck at the same, give or take 1/2 a pound either side of it - I can't seem to shift this at all and its starting to make me feel a bit "is it really worth it" - I've cut out sugar from my coffee's and I only have semi skimmed milk, drink diet lemonade if I want a fizzy drink and try not to eat chocolate (not a huge chocolate eater as it is, but I do have moments of having a segment of my chocolate orange left from christmas!) - I know its not going to happen overnight, and these things take time, but surely I should of lost at least a pound by now, just making me feel a bit down!

Replies

  • kateroot
    kateroot Posts: 435
    Keep at it! If you work hard, the results will come. And when you start seeing results, motivation pours in by the truckload. You just have to be dilligent. You got this!
  • Victoria2448
    Victoria2448 Posts: 559 Member
    I can sympathize!

    9 times out of 10 a plateau is a direct result of ones diet. Take a hard look at what you are eating...hidden sugars, sat. fats etc. Also look at things like the timing of foods. I find that most of the people on this site eat WAY too little. Doing this long term isn't good.
  • LesliePierceRN
    LesliePierceRN Posts: 860 Member
    a 'few weeks' simply isn't enough time, You're trying to effect change, and it's not a quick fix. Get up every day and do the right things (or the rightest things, given your choices) consistently. If the scale is bothering you, cut it out. Just make the healthy choices day in and day out, exercise and rest. It may not be till Spring that you see a difference, but it'll be all the more dramatic for the wait. It's not going to come off all at once, no matter what the infomercials promise. You can have a bikini body, but bikini season isn't for six months yet. Focus on the long haul. You've got the rest of your life.. and that's what this is all about, right?
  • bird922
    bird922 Posts: 28 Member
    Remember the month of naughtiness? Give yourself the same amount of time of being good and see if your body starts to respond. Patience is one of the most important things I have learned this time around. I'm not as young as I used to be and life has a way of screwing things up. But instead of getting frustrated, try to take it one day at a time and remember that this is not a diet but a change in they way we live our lives. A new year, a new approach.
  • kekl
    kekl Posts: 382 Member
    I took a look at your food diary and it looks like you have a HUGE deficit everyday. I'm not sure what your settings are but for example, if your calorie count is set to "lose 1lb a week" it already has a 500 calorie deficit built in, and then you are not eating up to 1000 in addition, you have a deficit of 1500 calories - that is HUGE and I'm thinking that's why you're having no results... your poor body is trying to hold on to everything it can get!

    Try eating your calories.... all of them. If this makes you feel uncomfortable, just tell yourself you will only do it for a few weeks. Then weigh yourself after a few weeks and see if that gave you results.

    Good luck!
  • bellaburch85
    bellaburch85 Posts: 55
    You sound just like me! So glad i am not the only one to feel this at the start! I didnt lose any weight in my first month of MFP!
    Now i lose about a pound a week sometimes more if i get to the gym! (not always easy to find the time more than once a week)
    Please keep at it... you will lose what you want! keep it going i promise you will lose.
    Ive been on MPF for nearly a year but didnt start using it everyday until September 2011 - I lost 16 pounds! (would have been more if i didnt over do it at Christmas and ate what i wanted all the time - but hey I enjoyed it)
    Good Luck x
  • deadgirl81
    deadgirl81 Posts: 412 Member
    I don't really want to eat all the calories though, it makes me feel as though the exercising I do is a bit pointless if I'm just eating it straight back on - I don't like to eat breakfast, but I have made myself do that - I don't really like to eat lunch either, but I've made myself have a cup a soup each day - so I only really have a main meal in the evening.

    I've lost 20lbs since I joined MFP so its a start, just seem to be stuck now - The month I had off, I just wasnt exercising, bar walking to work every day and the odd time I'd walk into town etc, but I wasnt eating unhealthy or too much (I don't think).

    Maybe I'm just having one of those days where nothing seems like its going right and I feel a bit down about it!

    Although, I've just had a thought of I'm on the Depo injection (instead of the pill) - maybe thats not helping either, water retention etc etc - Is anyone else on this or anything similar and having similar issues?
  • DQMD
    DQMD Posts: 193
    Hmmm...add me as a friend and I can look at your food diary. Sometimes it is not how much you are eating but what you are eating.

    I eat low calories but the pre-packaged meals I eat are full of vitaminds and minerals. Tonight I am going to a get together where there will be lots of wine. I will not partake because that is a slippery slope and I have to work tomorrow. :D
  • DQMD
    DQMD Posts: 193
    OK I just looked at your food diary.

    What caught my attention the most is that there is a lack of vegatables.

    You do quite a bit of processed food that is full of sodium. Yes the daily value is high that you can have but I know being a woman I will hold water like a sponge when I have to much.

    Up your water intake if you can.

    Why can't you cook healthy meals for even those not watching their weight? Good food doesn't always have to be diet. Cook up chicken breasts and make a side for them that is carby if they want it. Also make some frozen veggies, it is good for everyone to eat veggies.
  • deadgirl81
    deadgirl81 Posts: 412 Member
    The only thing is with them is that they're fussy with food - and I'm not going to start cooking 3 different meals just to please them! If I do them vegetables they complain, if I do them health in general they complain and seeing as I'm the only to cook in the house, after I get in from work and do my exercises, I don't really feel like cooking to be honest, I'd happily go without the food, but obviously they can't!

    As for the water, I try and drink at least a 500ml bottle a day if I can - which I know only works out to about 3-4 cups (the small water cooler cups that is) and I normally have a pint of water with my tea but still isnt quite enough.

    I know I do chips, but I have one of those "Actrifry" machines, which means I don't have to use any oil to cook them, which in some ways is a good thing, but not if there's chips involved.

    I do try and use recipes from the BBC Good Food website and Good to Know website, but I was only logging those up until I had my month off, so I should start doing those again - they normally involve plenty of veg, which I do really like!

    But thank you for your help on this :)
  • DQMD
    DQMD Posts: 193
    OH your in England right?

    That stinks that they are fussy like that. My momma was like you don't like what I serve, eat peanut butter.

    I am kind of picky about my food. I don't like things to spicey or overly salty.

    I eat quite a bit of salad when I am feeling lazy and not wanting to cook veggies.
  • deadgirl81
    deadgirl81 Posts: 412 Member
    yep I'm in England :)

    I know, just easier to give them what they want - anything for a quiet life really! Should really threaten them with making their own food if they don't like or eat what I cook - should just be grateful I do cook for them!

    I'm not too fussy with food - as long as I can't taste any ginger, coconut or pineapple in it, I'm happy :)

    I havent had salad for a while, maybe I should serve that tonight to them - they'd love that :D
  • annrum
    annrum Posts: 144
    I totally understand where you're coming from - it's really disheartening to hit a plateau - I've been at one for about 6 weeks & I seem to gain/loss the same couple of pounds.

    What I'm trying is to increase the exercise I and, and vary the calorie intake until I hit the right amount to lose without feeling faint, and accepting that this is not a quick fix, I didn't put on all this weight overnight, it's not going to come off the same way.

    For the water, I find it's easiest at work to have a 500ml bottle and make sure I refill it at least twice in the morning and the afternoon, I know I'll have drunk 2 litres at least that way. It's difficult though if you're not used to drinking water.

    If your family is fussy about veggies, can you "hide" them in casseroles or soups? If it's not overly obvious that there's veggies, maybe they'll eat it? Also - how old are they? Are they old enough to help out with the cooking? If you're having to do it all after work and exercise, I'm not surprised you don't want to cook 3 different sets of meals!! :smile:
  • deadgirl81
    deadgirl81 Posts: 412 Member
    Its actually quite bad, coz the other 2 I live with arent children - they're my fiancé and our housemate - so 35 and 37 - and for them to whinge about vegetables at their age is kind of irritating - especially listening to them eating and saying "I don't like this" and then i get moaned at for telling them if they don't like it, make your own food, so can't seem to win either way!!

    If I do a casserole I do put plenty of veg in there and they eat it, mainly because its normally covered in a sauce which almost disguises it!

    I quite like fish and think I could happily have several meat free days during the week, but then its a case of what to have with it - they won't eat cous-cous, bit iffy on rice, they eat pasta - so normally I do like new potatoes with them and some veg which I know they'll eat and not moan so much about
  • DQMD
    DQMD Posts: 193
    OH my..You cook dinner for two grown adults. You are WAY better than me. I would have told them don't like it...make your own.
  • deadgirl81
    deadgirl81 Posts: 412 Member
    Yeah, I stupidly do! And do the housework, washing (although housemate does his own washing thankfully) and the cooking - it's almost like living with children with them though
  • annrum
    annrum Posts: 144
    Yeah, I stupidly do! And do the housework, washing (although housemate does his own washing thankfully) and the cooking - it's almost like living with children with them though

    It does sound like living with children!! I think you're very tolerant not to have lost your temper with them already! I think I'd be tempted to cook the healthy food & if they started to moan, point them in the direction of the cooker!! However, that's glib & easy for me to say :) What about doing soups? You can put bunch of veggies in those & they probably won't notice. Not to mention they're nice & easy on you for cooking.
    The other thought, given it's winter - have you got a slow cooker? You can put a cheap joint of meat in there & leave it cooking all day, if you add assorted veggies, you've got a ready-cooked casserole when you get home from work.
  • deadgirl81
    deadgirl81 Posts: 412 Member
    No I don't have a slow cooker, it may be time to invest in one though, sounds like a good idea to leave it cooking during the day so all I have to do is veg and a side dish to go with it maybe - although, they both get in from work before me, so even if one of them just switched the oven on to warm up before I get in, at least I can stick something in straight away and do exercise whilst its cooking.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    You're eating too little. Eat more. Hit your target.
  • deadgirl81
    deadgirl81 Posts: 412 Member
    Its strange - I like food, but I don't like eating, I feel guilty if I eat too much on my monitor - feels like I'm not making any progress if I eat what i do, then do exercise and STILL have to eat a few hundred calories extra
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    Switch around your thinking so that you feel guilty when you undereat and feel good when you hit your target.
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