Terrified to ask this...

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LindaLouLu
LindaLouLu Posts: 271 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Please be gentle, but I need some help figuring out what is WRONG!?

I've been on my journey to a smaller me for a year officially and on MFP for 160 of those days (as of this morning). My malfunction goes like this:

I started MfP at 177lbs
After the initial weight drop associated with keeping track of what I'm actually doing (tracking calories/exercise/water) I can't seem to drop but 1lb every 6th week?! :noway:

On average (minus a few gym bans thanks to my youngest) I spend 5 days a week at the gym for at LEAST an hour doing various activities. I use the treadmills, the elliptical, walk the track (I'm working on running, but I have a short leg, so I still fall down a LOT), I pick things up and put them down.... You get the idea.
I try to eat as best I can (minus some pizza here and there when there just really ISN'T any time to cook). I avoid soda most of the time (Root beer is my weakness and I KNOW I downed 2 mountain dews in one day, but it was hot and the water was only lukewarm vs. the ice cold soda). I've got a budget of only $160 a month to feed all 5 of us, so I make mostly everything I can from scratch. So, yeah. The foods not ALWAYS the best, but I try.
I track my water and I must admit, the first few times I saw how MUCH it was, I was afraid I might drown in my sleep, but I'm over that little scare :laugh:

How on EARTH am I only losing 1lb every 6th week?!?!

I'm 5'8.5"
CW: 156
Loss goal per week set at 1lb because I've got 20 some lbs left to drop.

I (think) I have opened my diary to MFP.
Please, if someone could just tell me what the heck is going on here???
Pretty please? :flowerforyou:
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Replies

  • lilpoindexter
    lilpoindexter Posts: 1,122 Member
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    I think you're going to have to tune up your diet a little to see some more weight loss. I also think the pizza here and there and the root beer here and there without planning are killing any progress you might make. I used to allow myself a "cheat day" where I pigged out every week, but I had to scale that back to a cheat meal a week, and now maybe every 10 days.
    I used to drink as much soda and beer as I wanted, but I just stopped that stuff because I realized I wanted to lose weight more than I wanted to enjoy that beer or soda. Getting rid of soda and beer made a big, immediate difference.
    Tracking your meals, every single thing you put in your mouth, right here on MFP is a real eye opener as to where you are going wrong in your diet.
    As far as drinks, I pretty much just drink coffee, OJ in the morning, and sparkling water with lime.
  • duhblond
    duhblond Posts: 138 Member
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    Hello :)
    Congrats on the weight you have lost :) Great job!
    Your food diary is not open, having it open should help.
    Are you taking your measurement to find out if you are losing inches even if the scale is moving slowly?
  • LindaLouLu
    LindaLouLu Posts: 271 Member
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    Hello :)
    Congrats on the weight you have lost :) Great job!
    Your food diary is not open, having it open should help.
    Are you taking your measurement to find out if you are losing inches even if the scale is moving slowly?

    Thank you. I thought I had opened it. Let me go try again.
    And I haven't measured lately, but the last round of no loss on the scale was also a no loss in inches.
    Let me go see if I can get that diary opened up
  • duhblond
    duhblond Posts: 138 Member
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    I know how frustrating that is.
    Just keep at it - you know you are doing this to be healthy too so don't give up hope.
    Have you tried backing off on your dairy consumption?
    And try and stop the soda's or limit it to a weekend treat
    Instead of processed meat try fish.
    I know being on a budget is hard but you can get things like eggs for really cheap.
    Also you might try doing things like lifting weights, dancing, swimming and pilates to get some more variety in your workout as your body can get accustomed to your workout.
    Wishing you all the best of luck on your continued weight loss journey,
    :)
  • japruzze
    japruzze Posts: 453 Member
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    Consider changing your macros (% breakdown of carbs, protien and fat). Your diary shows that you are drinking a lot of calories, and you seem to consume more fat than protien! Switch Non-fat milk for 2%, cut back on the cheese or switch to low fat. Also, don't assume ground turkey is a better option. I had a steak last night that had less fat than the ground turkey! I know shopping on a tight budget is tough. But your entire family will benefit from healthy choices. Good luck!
  • oranb
    oranb Posts: 20 Member
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    Maybe you are not eating enough? Some days you net below 1000 calories, so maybe your body isn't getting enough food?

    I used to net around 1000 a day and things stalled until I stumbled upon the eat more weigh less group on this site. I went to this site: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and calculated my BMR which I try not to eat under and most days eat my TDEE-20% and have been slowly losing about .5-1 pound a week.

    Also, more fresh fruits and vegetables couldn't hurt either :o)

    Hope this helps.
  • lelstar
    lelstar Posts: 374 Member
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    It might also be worth going to see a naturopath or doctor to find out if there are any underlying issues
  • shaynak112
    shaynak112 Posts: 751 Member
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    Cheese is expensive and unhealthy and it looks like you have a lot of that. Cut out some cheese.
    Also baked goods, breads, etc. Not really healthy. OK in moderation but it seems like sometimes you have a lot.

    Fruit! Veggies! So cheap and delicious.
    (Veggies are so much cheaper).
    You can do so much with veggies. Add tons of spices.

    SOUP is a really cheap and easy thing to make. Put some beans and veggies together and make some soup!

    Rice is cheap and filling as well, of course, don't have large quantities because it's higher calorie. But putting some veggies with rice is great.
  • cbevan1229
    cbevan1229 Posts: 326 Member
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    When I looked back through your last week, I noticed that you were significantly under your target calories on a lot of days. Could you have scared your body into storage mode?
  • sfmenkhaus
    sfmenkhaus Posts: 19
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    I think any change is going to make a difference whether it is diet or exercise,since most of the posts I saw were about diet I'll go the exercise route. It sounds like you've been doing the same routine at the gym for a while. You could try some strength training, most gyms tell you to ask if you don't know how to use a machine ask an employee so if you're not confident with free weights you can ask for advice about the machines. Or try checking out an exercise DVD at a local library (eBay is a good place to check for cheap second hand ones).

    To change up your cardio, on the treadmill try increasing the incline or do a run/jog using a power walk pace for the "run" setting if you can't run. Try a stair climber instead of a treadmill, the stair mill gets me sweating even at a seemingly slow pace.

    Good luck!
  • LindaLouLu
    LindaLouLu Posts: 271 Member
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    I know how frustrating that is.
    Just keep at it - you know you are doing this to be healthy too so don't give up hope.
    Have you tried backing off on your dairy consumption?
    And try and stop the soda's or limit it to a weekend treat
    Instead of processed meat try fish.
    I know being on a budget is hard but you can get things like eggs for really cheap.
    Also you might try doing things like lifting weights, dancing, swimming and pilates to get some more variety in your workout as your body can get accustomed to your workout.
    Wishing you all the best of luck on your continued weight loss journey,
    :)

    I can't even begin to afford fish. Where I'm at, one good sized piece (enough to feed 5 people) costs 3 times as much as any other meat. Even a can of Tuna costs as much as a gallon of gas.
    Dairy... Well, I'm out of everything except for milk for the baby, so I guess I can cut that for a few weeks and see what it does.
    Soda is gone (minus a single root beer on mowing day- about once a month)
    Thanks for the different workout ideas. I'll have to see if there are any classes during my regular cardio days.
    Thank you for your input and ideas! :flowerforyou:
  • LindaLouLu
    LindaLouLu Posts: 271 Member
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    Consider changing your macros (% breakdown of carbs, protien and fat). Your diary shows that you are drinking a lot of calories, and you seem to consume more fat than protien! Switch Non-fat milk for 2%, cut back on the cheese or switch to low fat. Also, don't assume ground turkey is a better option. I had a steak last night that had less fat than the ground turkey! I know shopping on a tight budget is tough. But your entire family will benefit from healthy choices. Good luck!

    You wouldn't happen to know how to walk me through that would you? Changing the Macro's I mean? When I started the journey, the Dr. recommended a 40/30/30, but I'm not sure how to set that on here?
    There was a sale on the turkey. That's the only thing it had going for it. It was either that or the 80/20 hamburger :ohwell:
  • LindaLouLu
    LindaLouLu Posts: 271 Member
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    Maybe you are not eating enough? Some days you net below 1000 calories, so maybe your body isn't getting enough food?

    I used to net around 1000 a day and things stalled until I stumbled upon the eat more weigh less group on this site. I went to this site: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and calculated my BMR which I try not to eat under and most days eat my TDEE-20% and have been slowly losing about .5-1 pound a week.

    Also, more fresh fruits and vegetables couldn't hurt either :o)

    Hope this helps.

    Eating way too few calories is what got me here trying to track my stuff in the first place. I will try and do more, but sometimes, honestly, there just isn't any more food to HAVE.
  • LindaLouLu
    LindaLouLu Posts: 271 Member
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    It might also be worth going to see a naturopath or doctor to find out if there are any underlying issues

    Seriously thinking on this idea. I've NEVER heard of someone actively trying to lose and stalling for 5 weeks, then losing a pound the next week only to stall for another 5 weeks!
  • LindaLouLu
    LindaLouLu Posts: 271 Member
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    When I looked back through your last week, I noticed that you were significantly under your target calories on a lot of days. Could you have scared your body into storage mode?

    Possibly? Maybe. Probably.
    I will have to figure out how to get more food.
    Though, I must admit. For a while, my biggest achievement was "breakfast". :laugh:
  • LindaLouLu
    LindaLouLu Posts: 271 Member
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    I think any change is going to make a difference whether it is diet or exercise,since most of the posts I saw were about diet I'll go the exercise route. It sounds like you've been doing the same routine at the gym for a while. You could try some strength training, most gyms tell you to ask if you don't know how to use a machine ask an employee so if you're not confident with free weights you can ask for advice about the machines. Or try checking out an exercise DVD at a local library (eBay is a good place to check for cheap second hand ones).

    To change up your cardio, on the treadmill try increasing the incline or do a run/jog using a power walk pace for the "run" setting if you can't run. Try a stair climber instead of a treadmill, the stair mill gets me sweating even at a seemingly slow pace.

    Good luck!

    I LOVE strength training. I lack a regular spotter at the moment, but that's about to get fixed this week. Also, starting up a Women ONLY weight lifting class tomorrow. I tried to do it a couple months ago, but my little guy got us booted from the gym so I only caught 4 days of an 8 week class.

    I'm beginning to wonder.... Is there maybe a body type that just DOESN'T do well with cardio training? Everyone else I know can shrink and burn like CRAZY with just cadrio activities.... but it just doesn't seem like it works for me.

    Thanks for the settings tip. And I never even CONSIDERED the stair machine thingy. I'll have to give that a try too.
    Thank you!! :flowerforyou:
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    If you've lost 21 lbs. in 160 days that's about a pound a week on average. That's not a bad loss level, especially for someone (now) at a healthy BMI.
  • LindaLouLu
    LindaLouLu Posts: 271 Member
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    If you've lost 21 lbs. in 160 days that's about a pound a week on average. That's not a bad loss level, especially for someone (now) at a healthy BMI.

    No no. 42lbs in 370 days. I've got 21 left to go.
  • megleo818
    megleo818 Posts: 595 Member
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    Forgive me if these have already been suggested, but I don't have a moment to read through the thread and I really want to help:

    1) NEVER drink soda. Just never. Don't. Ever.
    2) Cereal makes just as good (if not better) an"instant" dinner as pizza. Even better if it's old-fashioned oatmeal. Only takes 5 minutes, you control the sugar and there's NO fat or sodium in there. Do your kids and yourself a favor and NEVER bring home a pizza. Just never. Don't. Ever.
    3) Get yourself a 32-oz, refillable water bottle and keep it with you at all times. Drink. Refill. Drink. Refill. Drink. Refill. Try not to float away.
    4) Log EVERYTHING you put in your mouth. No cheating. Not even a bite! If you think it's too small to log, it's too small to bother putting in your mouth. No excuses.

    Honestly, you will see a difference if you do the above. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!
  • lostinureyes17
    lostinureyes17 Posts: 112 Member
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    I'm def. no expert and still trying to find the right balance for me but maybe you are underestimating the calories eaten (by not weighing) or overestimating calories burned with exercise. I know a lot of people go off what the machines say but those are usually set using male athletes ages 18-21 in peak physical condition so even if you enter your height and weight they can be inaccurate.

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