Pretty Close To Throwing In The Towel

13

Replies

  • annabellj
    annabellj Posts: 1,337 Member
    dont give up whatever you do! when I was in weight watchers, my leader always said, most people give up right when they need to be digging their teeth in! just keep doing what you were doing when you were losing. measure yourself, be honest in your diary, get some extra exercise if need be, there were months when I didnt see the scale move, but I knew I was doing the right thing, because I would take pics and that is where I saw a noticeable change. my clothes fit better also! you can do this! I know its hard sometimes, but so is being fat!
  • mandimuscles
    mandimuscles Posts: 107 Member
    So, I'm pretty much at the point where I'm going to give up. When I first started this whole lifestyle change (35 days ago) I was doing great, I generally lost about 2-3lbs every week; which obviously made me very happy. I ate under my calories and exercised 30 minutes a day, pretty much everyday.

    The past 2 1/2 weeks have been torture. I've been gaining weight back and I have no clue why or how even. I'm almost back to where I started and I'm beyond devastated. I've tried cutting my calories; hoping that would help me keep losing weight but it didn't work. Someone suggested where I was working out everyday, to increase my calories (just don't go over) so that what I did for the past week, and yet again, I didn't lose a pound; if anything I gained again. So if decreasing your calories don't work, and increasing your calories don't work, what the heck works??

    I have been doing everything right (In my opinion). I've cut out take-out, been eating healthy, cut out a lot of foods, drinking more water, not going over my calories or fat, or carbs etc., exercising and yet I keep gaining weight. I weigh myself everyday but only record every week; I weigh myself the same time everyday-in the morning, so the different time of day wouldn't contribute to gaining weight. No one is noticing a difference in my appearance, and I don't even think there is much difference.

    I honestly don't know what else to do. What's the point in changing your lifestyle, cutting out the foods you really enjoyed if your only going to stay at the same weight?

    Oh honey, DO NOT GIVE UP!!! It's not about the scale. It's about your health. If you don't continue, what's going to happen?? You'll start seeing the scale go up & you'll start to feel awful. I have to tell you, I've been doing this since Nov 1st and there have been MONTHS even trying, all I saw was the scale going back up or staying the same. After 1.5 months of that, (like recently, just last week!!) I just kicked my own *kitten* and started something different and went into it way motivated because I knew if I didn't I'd go backwards.
  • Princess_Sameen
    Princess_Sameen Posts: 284 Member
    35 days isn't really that long to give up now! It takes months to get into a routine and learning to change up your diet....what kind of foods are you eating? are you drinking loads of water? exercise do you do the same thing everyday?
    you have done great! if you throw in the towel you will gain back everything and have to start again! :flowerforyou:
  • Umeboshi
    Umeboshi Posts: 1,637 Member
    Give it 35 more days AT LEAST. 35 days is NOTHING in the grand scheme of things. If you quit you'll be kicking yourself later and thinking about how far you could have been if only you'd kept with it.
  • Jph6701
    Jph6701 Posts: 55 Member
    Best thing to do if you have not already is take pictures of your body and face once a week or once every 2 weeks (maybe each month) Depends on you.

    I have not broken the 19st mark YET!! keeps getting to 18.12 then backup again has done for 5 weeks after losing 11 lbs I have gained 1lb but my fitness levels have increased I have gained upper arm and thight muscle. It can be frustrating but as I have just stated I have gained muscle witch is heavier than fat. Also try to change up your routine mix it up a bit. I have doing a spinning class for the first time today if you have not done that yet try to see if your local gym does one I know for a fact I will break my STG and carry on with my new life.

    So don't throw towel in and keep at it you will regret it if you don't.

    I typed this up to motivate myself when I feel I cannot be bothered or having a moment like you are.

    (sorry for the caps copy pasted it)

    TAKE THE ROUGH WITH THE SMOOTH AND MAKE SURE YOU REMEMBER YOU WILL HAVE THE ODD SLIP UP BUT WHEN YOU DO MAKE SURE YOU PUT IN EXTRA EFFORT AND REMEMBER YOUR DOING THIS FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY KEEP IT UP AND YOU WILL FEEL BETTER IN THE LONG RUN.
  • Noel1114
    Noel1114 Posts: 23 Member
    you need to stick with your calories and exercise .do not adjust just because you gained some weight. continue to eat healthily. your body is getting used to the changes at the mom and is fighting against it in every way it can, eventually it gets used to the new calorie level and adjusts accordingly. you will get the results but unfortunately it ain't easy.
  • k2charmed4u
    k2charmed4u Posts: 282
    First rule of thumb - dont give up. You've made a lifestyle change and it means just that a LIFE STYLE CHANGE (sorry if it looks like i'm shouting I just wanted to emphasis) all change takes time. 35 days is not enough you need to chose a diet ie more cals, less cals, less fat etc and stick to it. It took me a year to lose 56lbs but you have to keep going the more you lose the more exercise you have to do to keep your metabolism going.
    If you keep changing your diet your body will just say "Wait a minute I was just getting used to the last diet!" Remember your body has been used to the diet that made you gain weight and now you have to reprogram it. It has (however many) years of poor food choices to over come and needs time to adapt. If you have the motiviation and will power you will pull through.
    Make your diary public so your MFP friends can provide suggestions etc and go from there.

    If you want some help add me (i'll send you a request) and i'll help as much as I can :happy: :flowerforyou:
  • jerber160
    jerber160 Posts: 2,607 Member
    early on I started a power point with pics. I added a slide with comments on every weigh day....I added music...I targeted bad spots. it was a game.
    So I'd suggest you try the same. and if powerpoint doesn't work for you find something else. start a poster and add a picture on weigh day, either of yourself, or someone who looks the way you'd like to. or start a blog...you can keep it private....write something.....pump yourself up.. steal people's ideas here....
    you've been doing great. good luck
  • Spice_4_Life
    Spice_4_Life Posts: 225
    Without seeing your food log I can't be sure. Watch the sodium for sure, and make sure the sugars aren't too high. Usually if it says low sugar...it's high fat, if it's low fat...it's usually high sugar. And almost always it's high sodium to make up for lack of certain things. Most of your food should be from natures grocery store...If man makes it...don't eat it. Up your fiber to 25 grams a day and make sure you get extra protein. Try to drink at least 13 glasses of water a day. It will be hard at first but it's worth it. Try to drink nothing but water, because most diet sodas have sodium. Try doing some kind of different cardio.

    Trust me when I say sodium plays a big part. Example...me, I weighed 143.2 on thursday, then the holiday weekend came and I now weigh 148.2. That's because of sodium.

    Trust me. It's really hard. But DON"T give up!! You can do it. It just takes some tweaking and you be losing all the time. You can add me as a friend if you'd like :) Good luck to you in your healthy lifestyle adventure!!!!
  • REET420
    REET420 Posts: 160 Member
    If that's you on your profile picture, I see a noticeable difference around your belly. Don't give up
  • BobbieLee1959
    BobbieLee1959 Posts: 605 Member
    First step for help, open your food diary. You made strong statements in your profile when you started. You are down 6 pounds and that is good. I have lost at a rate of about 10 lbs per month since beginning and I am well pleased with my progress :) This is a change of lifestyle, not just a crash diet. Your goals can be reached and maintained, but don't rush things.

    BTW...I do see a definite difference in your two pics! Don't give up!!
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,222 Member
    I honestly don't know what else to do. What's the point in changing your lifestyle, cutting out the foods you really enjoyed if your only going to stay at the same weight?

    Be honest with yourself and your effort. It's true most people fail dieting, that's just the way it is, and a lot gain more weight than when they started, and that is the alternative if you give up with all the other baggage that goes with it.
  • StPeteAPB
    StPeteAPB Posts: 2 Member
    Be careful not to eat too little in your dieting. If you eat too few calories, your body will go into starvation mode and retain fat in fear it will not get energy from intake, otherwise.

    There is no one single site or method to lose weight and get into shape. There are other sites you can look into and use in combination with THIS site.

    I recommend you look at this program:
    http://www.beyonddiet.com/bd/landing?food=avocado

    It's a one-time $47 price for a lifetime and you have access to other tools and lots of recipes. Again, use MyFitnessPal in conjunction with a site like BeyondDiet.com and you should make progress.

    Oh yeah, patience. You didn't put on the weight you want to lose overnight (or just 37 days), it's not coming off that quickly, either. "Rome wasn't built in a day."
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,222 Member
    Be careful not to eat too little in your dieting. If you eat too few calories, your body will go into starvation mode and retain fat in fear it will not get energy from intake, otherwise.

    Otherwise, you will continue to lose weight. The op put most of her weight back on.....that's eating as opposed to not.
  • osualex
    osualex Posts: 409 Member
    I didn't lose an ounce in February. I know it's not 35 days, but 29 isn't too far off. Was I frustrated? Obviously, but giving up would have only made me gain weight.

    Ask yourself this - would you rather stick to your diet and exercise and be the same in a year, or not stick to it and gain 50 pounds?
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    It's hard to say anything without particulars. Two to three pounds a weeks sounds like a good pace to me. People do experience plateaus. Guides for people who need to lose weight usually recommend 45 to 60 minutes of cardio five to six days a week, in addition to some strength training and stretching. You should be in your high target zone for most of the workout. I also assume that you are measuring and weighing your food.

    As you know, it's a lifestyle change. You have to change your whole life, or at least large parts of it. That's not necessarily easy or quick.
  • Shayrubine
    Shayrubine Posts: 6
    I haven't read every comment, but I see most people are talking about food. The kind of workout that you do is important too: if you only do cardio exercises for examples, or always the same routine, you body reaches a plateau and despite your efforts you won't be able to lose more weight.

    I'm NO expert here, just proposing something. I don't know what kind of exercise you do, but there are many workout programs on DVD that are more suited than just doing the same routine over and over again. For example, beachbody programs (I'm currently doing Brazil Butt Lift and I've lost 8 lbs in one month while eating much more healthy on the side => I especially cut out soda to drink almost only water).

    Don't give up! Be patient ;-)

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    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools
  • grrrlface
    grrrlface Posts: 1,204 Member
    Never give up, you'll only regret it later!

    I don't lose a single pound some months and I've lost only 33lbs in just under a year. People lose weight at different rates, you have to stick to it and find out yourself what rate your body is losing weight at and what works best for you.

    I've tried so many different things over the course of a year: low carb, high protein, loads of exercise, no exercise, no sugar, no dairy. I still haven't found anything that really increases my loss but I have stuck to it which means I have lost weight slowly.

    Slow and steady wins the race! :) (and you'll have a better chance of keeping it off when you reach your goal!)
  • mhoward685
    mhoward685 Posts: 129 Member
    Please don't give up. I understand your frustration as I have been where you are and gave up and now have even more weight to remove. It seems like you made a lot of changes all at once. I wouldn't be able to do that. Baby steps only. This web site has been amazing for me for example realizing that I was not taking in enough calories during the day which makes me tired and cranky during the day and then overeating in the evening.
    Please note that I am removing weight. For my brain this distinction is important. I read somewhere that if I lose my keys I want to find them again. I don't want to find this weight again.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    Don't give up. Revisit your settings and goals here just to make sure they are correctly set up and have a week where you weigh out everything and you may find it starts coming off again. Eating well isn't a quick fix we need to learn to do it all the time otherwise what we lose will only creep back on so ignore the cravings for what you used to eat before and buckle down for the long haul in the safe knowledge that it can't be doing you any harm to be reducing your fat, sugar etc even if the loss is going to be slow sometimes.
  • Perfectdiamonds1
    Perfectdiamonds1 Posts: 347 Member
    I'm feeling the same way. Sitting here in tears after getting on the scale this morning. Keep telling myself dont give up, it takes time. The sweat and pain and for what? Gaining 3 pounds back. But I'll keep trying. Dont give up, one thing for sure you are feeling better.
  • Melindabj
    Melindabj Posts: 5 Member
    Please don't give up on your health! You have clearly struck a chord with many people and you have the advice and support of all of us. We have ALL experienced the frustration of weight loss and I believe that's because we don't fully understand it. It's not simple. But one thing that I am sure of.....eating healthy natural foods and exercising regularly is in our best interest. Keep up the hard work, consider the great advice offered here and think about where you want to be in the next 10, 20, 30+ years. Good luck and good health!
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,785 Member
    Don't give up...something else may be going on...I don't agree that you may not be eating enough calories, but that's just me. But you may just need to change it up some. I stopped losing , changed it up some and now I'm back to losing. I will stick with what I'm doing now for another week or so then change it up again. Just so my body doesn't get used to the same thing all the time. Usually I'm adding or subtracting calories. And I change up my exercise. I'm hoping to avoid the stalling, not sure if it will work but I've got to try it. Good luck and come back often
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
    If quitting is an option you should probably do it.

    Your motivation isn't where it needs to be; your chance of losing and sustaining that loss is very low.

    Permanant lifestyle change isn't something you can quit. If you can you aren't committed to permanent lifestyle change.
  • lulu386
    lulu386 Posts: 20
    Why not focus on sustainable changes to your lifestyle. Start making small changes that you can keep up without hating it. If you are planning to lose for life - the changes you make have to be as well. The changes you make to your lifestyle, have to last. Even once the weight is off, you may not have to be as strict, but you have to continue a lifestyle that perpetuates a healthy fit body.

    If you are going to throw in the towel after a month and because of small obstacles.. you may not be ready to make a transformation. Not everyone is. Change is a challenge and you have to be ready mentally to endure.

    I hope you find your mojo and can make the lifestyle changes that will bring you closer to the body you want.

    The scale is an awful tool to use by itself. Have you taken pictures and measurements? Tried on old clothes? You have to decide if you are willing to make sacrifices for what you want.

    If change was easy... not of us would be using a website such as this.

    Good Luck.

    Stacey

    THIS ^ says it best. A month is not long enough to see drastic changes. Remember your body needs to adjust to the changes that you are making. Besides don't count solely on the scale because you may be gaining muscles and muscles weighs more than fat. Record your measurements and try to figure out your body fat %. Please don't give up!
  • abragg19
    abragg19 Posts: 13 Member
    The key is exercise. Try to get that heart rate up. Keep up the good work with eating better. Don't give up. It takes a little while to figure out where our fat burning levels are.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    Why not focus on sustainable changes to your lifestyle. Start making small changes that you can keep up without hating it. If you are planning to lose for life - the changes you make have to be as well. The changes you make to your lifestyle, have to last. Even once the weight is off, you may not have to be as strict, but you have to continue a lifestyle that perpetuates a healthy fit body.

    If you are going to throw in the towel after a month and because of small obstacles.. you may not be ready to make a transformation. Not everyone is. Change is a challenge and you have to be ready mentally to endure.

    I hope you find your mojo and can make the lifestyle changes that will bring you closer to the body you want.

    The scale is an awful tool to use by itself. Have you taken pictures and measurements? Tried on old clothes? You have to decide if you are willing to make sacrifices for what you want.

    If change was easy... not of us would be using a website such as this.

    Good Luck.

    Stacey



    This^^^^^ Well said!! 35 days does not equal a lifestyle change. Best to settle in for the long haul with realistic expectations and sustainable goals. You are doing this to be healthy and improve the quality of life... not to be a super model. A few suggestions -

    open up your diary - you will get more productive feedback. otherwise we're just guessing.

    do you have a food scale? are you sure of your portions? are you logging every single bite? you could be eating more OR less than what you think are you. that can play havoc on the metabolism.

    do you have a HRM? If not.. MFP calories burned through exercise is just a guestimate. You could be over estimating or under estimating.

    In the end it just takes patience....it didn't take you 35 days to gain all the weight it's not going to take 35 days to lose it.
  • ashleygx26
    ashleygx26 Posts: 140
    Don't throw in the towel girl... I am now down almost 70 pounds and I'll tell you one thing it has NOT been easy. It's been a *****. I can't lie to you. There were weeks I gained, weeks I lost.. it's a process. It won't happen over night. Just stay focused. That is all I can say to you. Watch what you eat. You may cut calories BUT are the calories you are eating healthy?? What's the fat content like? You just have to always watch what you eat and always keep up on exercising. That is the pathway to a healthy life style and with hard work and determination, you will get there... no one said this was easy.
  • spikefoot
    spikefoot Posts: 419
    If you stop trying you will always be thinking "what if" and that is something that can really haunt you.
  • gayle4882
    gayle4882 Posts: 10 Member
    We need to see your diary if you want help. There are sooooo many things that come into play with wieght loss. Please don't give up!!!! You can do this!!!