Trying to decide my next course of action.

theroadto100 · February 2012

I began losing weight almost exactly a year ago. I wasn't "fat" but I was a few pounds overweight. At 5'3, I was 156 pounds. I didn't count calories or anything. I just ate better and exercised and by doing that, lost 30 pounds. I was down to 123 when I began to realize I wasn't doing this the healthy way anymore. I didn't eat enough and worked out too much. So I for the past 6 months I've been up and down between eating a few hundred calories a day to eating 1400ish a day. Right now, I'm in a healthy place, but after all I've put my body through, I'm all the way back up to 150 pounds. And I can't stand it. I haven't lost ANY weight in months even though I eat with a deficit and work out often. I know it's because of the stress I've put my body though. But I did realize one thing. When I first lost the weight, I wasn't tracking any food. When I started to track food, that's when I put back in about 20 pounds. I know it's weight, but would it be crazy to say that maybe tracking calories DOESN'T work for me? I've seen absolutely no success with it, so I'm wondering if I should stop and go back to losing weight the way I did in the first place.

theroadto100 · February 2012

Anyoneeee. Suggestions. Ideas. Agree or disagree?

sjdoman · February 2012

I dont usually comment on peoples diaries but...
i would suggest that you need to eat more vegetables in particular. Try to eat fresh vegetables and fruits, lean meats and nuts, low fat dairy, and whole grains. Theres nothing wrong with eating crackers and granola bars sometimes but they shouldnt be the main source of your calories.
it does seem odd that you would gain weight since youve been calorie counting. Are you logging everything? Or are you on any meds that would cause weight gain?
I know its frustrating to not see the scale move and even more so when it moves in the wrong direction. Dont give up!

abby459 · February 2012

How long have you been tracking your calories?? I am 5'2" and started on MFP at around 156lbs...down to 137lbs now. I only ask because sometimes I go an entire month without losing anything, then I will drop 5lbs the next month. Its something that takes time and discipline. Are you being accurate with your counts?? And you said somedays only eating a few hundred calories?? That wont help at all....

qtiekiki · February 2012

If you know what you did to lose weight last time was unhealthy, why would you go back? Yes, you can lose weight by eating very little and working out a lot, but will you be able to do this in the long run? I think your body just needs some times to adjust. Eat your 1400 calories and your exercise calories. Do some strength training. It will work. Might not be as quick, but it will last longer.

theroadto100 · February 2012

I dont usually comment on peoples diaries but...
i would suggest that you need to eat more vegetables in particular. Try to eat fresh vegetables and fruits, lean meats and nuts, low fat dairy, and whole grains. Theres nothing wrong with eating crackers and granola bars sometimes but they shouldnt be the main source of your calories.
it does seem odd that you would gain weight since youve been calorie counting. Are you logging everything? Or are you on any meds that would cause weight gain?
I know its frustrating to not see the scale move and even more so when it moves in the wrong direction. Dont give up!

I gained weight because I had an eating disorder before. I dropped 30 pounds way too fast, starved myself, made myself throw up, lost my period, the whole 9 yards. When I upped my calories, I gained the weight back even though I've always eaten healthy.

theroadto100 · February 2012

How long have you been tracking your calories?? I am 5'2" and started on MFP at around 156lbs...down to 137lbs now. I only ask because sometimes I go an entire month without losing anything, then I will drop 5lbs the next month. Its something that takes time and discipline. Are you being accurate with your counts?? And you said somedays only eating a few hundred calories?? That wont help at all....

I've been counting for about 6 months. And I said that I used to only eat a few hundred a day. Back when I had an eating disorder. I've been eating 1200 at least for the past month or so.

theroadto100 · February 2012

If you know what you did to lose weight last time was unhealthy, why would you go back? Yes, you can lose weight by eating very little and working out a lot, but will you be able to do this in the long run? I think your body just needs some times to adjust. Eat your 1400 calories and your exercise calories. Do some strength training. It will work. Might not be as quick, but it will last longer.

At first, I did do it the healthy way. I just started watching what I eat/working out. It wasn't until about 6 months into my weight loss journey that I began doing it the unhealthy way. I got down to 123 pounds, and I was stuck (probably because it was a perfect weight for me, but by that time, I wanted to be scary skinny). That's when it became unhealthy.

MMarvelous · February 2012

What is your BMR? Start there. You need to eat that many calories as a minimum. Then you have your calories burned from exercising and you need to eat some of those back as well. A 500 calorie deficit per day is 1lb lose per week.

sjdoman · February 2012

I guess what im trying to say ,and i dont mean for this to sound negative im trying to help, is that i dont think you are eating as healthy as you think you are. It seems like you are still exercising excessively and not eating enough and not eating enough whole foods.

happyjoyousfree1 · February 2012

I'm worried about you too. As a mother of a daughter your age and based on yesterday's log in alone.
It looks as though you're starving yourself.
I'm no expert that's for sure.
You should talk to someone in your family as we can only help so much.
Best of luck.
Elle

ladyraven68 · February 2012

Reading your diary, you seem to be looking at Gross Calories, not Net (Calories in (eaten) - Calories Out (exercise)).

eg there is a day where you only ate about 900 calories, and also exercised and burned 900+.

I am no expert, but you do not seem to be eating enough to fuel your body.

As a start, I'd suggest that you have a good read of all the stickied posts at the top of the page.

Hope you find the answer you are looking for.

theroadto100 · February 2012

I'm worried about you too. As a mother of a daughter your age and based on yesterday's log in alone.
It looks as though you're starving yourself.
I'm no expert that's for sure.
You should talk to someone in your family as we can only help so much.
Best of luck.
Elle

Oh, I actually didn't log yesterday, my sister in law went into labor so we were at the hospital most of the day, and I didn't really have time to put anything in, haha.

theroadto100 · February 2012

Reading your diary, you seem to be looking at Gross Calories, not Net (Calories in (eaten) - Calories Out (exercise)).

eg there is a day where you only ate about 900 calories, and also exercised and burned 900+.

I am no expert, but you do not seem to be eating enough to fuel your body.

As a start, I'd suggest that you have a good read of all the stickied posts at the top of the page.

Hope you find the answer you are looking for.

I'm wondering if logging is what's causing me to eat so little. I think that I get so caught up with making sure I stay under that I go too far. That's why I feel like maybe if I didn't log, I wouldn't be as paranoid about staying under, and maybe I'd eat more.

jadedone · February 2012

Your metabolism is probably completely our of whack at the moment. Try eating more. As in 1800 calories. You probably need that much for "daily life." Your body probably still thinks you are starving yourself, and is in famine mode -- holding on to every calorie you consume.

The second thing is you should work on boosting your metabolism with exercise: weights and intervals.

Good luck!

Looking over your diary it doesn't look like you are eating enough or eating the right foods. Definitely increase your produce intake. Also, try to space out our calories a little better. It looks like you eat 500 calories until 4pm, and then eat more at dinner. How about trying to eat 300 cals at breakfast, 450 at lunch and 500 at dinner. Then have 100-200 calorie snacks throughout the day.

theroadto100 · February 2012

Your metabolism is probably completely our of whack at the moment. Try eating more. As in 1800 calories. You probably need that much for "daily life." Your body probably still thinks you are starving yourself, and is in famine mode -- holding on to every calorie you consume.

The second thing is you should work on boosting your metabolism with exercise: weights and intervals.

Good luck!

Looking over your diary it doesn't look like you are eating enough or eating the right foods. Definitely increase your produce intake. Also, try to space out our calories a little better. It looks like you eat 500 calories until 4pm, and then eat more at dinner. How about trying to eat 300 cals at breakfast, 450 at lunch and 500 at dinner. Then have 100-200 calorie snacks throughout the day.

The only thing is that I work part time, and some nights I'm at work until midnight. So I get home, shower, go to bed, wake up late, and automatically my whole day is out of whack. Then once again, I'm up extremely late. Sometimes I don't get a proper "dinner" until 10 at night. But I'll definitely try spacing it out more!

jadedone · February 2012

Your metabolism is probably completely our of whack at the moment. Try eating more. As in 1800 calories. You probably need that much for "daily life." Your body probably still thinks you are starving yourself, and is in famine mode -- holding on to every calorie you consume.

The second thing is you should work on boosting your metabolism with exercise: weights and intervals.

Good luck!

Looking over your diary it doesn't look like you are eating enough or eating the right foods. Definitely increase your produce intake. Also, try to space out our calories a little better. It looks like you eat 500 calories until 4pm, and then eat more at dinner. How about trying to eat 300 cals at breakfast, 450 at lunch and 500 at dinner. Then have 100-200 calorie snacks throughout the day.

The only thing is that I work part time, and some nights I'm at work until midnight. So I get home, shower, go to bed, wake up late, and automatically my whole day is out of whack. Then once again, I'm up extremely late. Sometimes I don't get a proper "dinner" until 10 at night. But I'll definitely try spacing it out more!

I am a late dinner person! I just space it out for 2 hours before bed. Try to have a big snack or even a meal before leaving for lunch, and grab something on your break too!

Do you wake up the same every day or is it variable?

theroadto100 · February 2012

Your metabolism is probably completely our of whack at the moment. Try eating more. As in 1800 calories. You probably need that much for "daily life." Your body probably still thinks you are starving yourself, and is in famine mode -- holding on to every calorie you consume.

The second thing is you should work on boosting your metabolism with exercise: weights and intervals.

Good luck!

Looking over your diary it doesn't look like you are eating enough or eating the right foods. Definitely increase your produce intake. Also, try to space out our calories a little better. It looks like you eat 500 calories until 4pm, and then eat more at dinner. How about trying to eat 300 cals at breakfast, 450 at lunch and 500 at dinner. Then have 100-200 calorie snacks throughout the day.

The only thing is that I work part time, and some nights I'm at work until midnight. So I get home, shower, go to bed, wake up late, and automatically my whole day is out of whack. Then once again, I'm up extremely late. Sometimes I don't get a proper "dinner" until 10 at night. But I'll definitely try spacing it out more!

I am a late dinner person! I just space it out for 2 hours before bed. Try to have a big snack or even a meal before leaving for lunch, and grab something on your break too!

Do you wake up the same every day or is it variable?

We don't even get a break! I mean, it all depends on the day. Sometimes work is really dead and I have time for food, but somedays I don't even get a moment to pee. It varies. Sometimes I'm up at 10 am, other days not til 2 in the afternoon.

Trying to decide my next course of action.

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