Frustrated..

[Eilean]

.. but I am not willing to give in. As you can see I have lots of weight to get rid off and I have tried many different diets. And counting calories did not work at all. I have lost 22lb so far but it's been nearly a year since I last lost any weight but this time I mean it and I hope I will make it to my goal of 165lb.

Maybe I can get some advice and ideas on what to do next, on the next step. I am eating healthy food like veg and salad but I do have my temptations such as greasy food and sweets.

I don't want to spend lots of money on a diet and I can't stand those shakes you can buy .

If you have any advice.. I mean apart from eating less.. it'd be very appreciated.

 

[judith55]

Tbh Eilean if you get an answer to this you'll have found the dieting Holy Grail. The only thing you didn't eliminate is exercise so I guess that would be my only suggestion - train to run a marathon in 3 months and you'll probably find that:

you'll lose weight without counting calories
You can occasionally eat greasy food and sweets
it won't be expensive (apart from buying good trainers)
you won't have to drink shakes.

From what I know JUDDD requires calorie counting and they suggest shakes for down days.

Good luck!

 

[Eilean]

Funny enough I am actually planning to participate in a marathon in the future and I have already started training . Are you running?

No idea whether JUDDD advices you on drinking shakes, I have not read into it a lot yet.

 

[bellefrogette]

I would look at what support structure you have in place, you probably already know enough about diets, calories and exercise to get started, so it could be something else you need to just get you past the inertia of starting and the first 10-20lbs

 

[Meltdown]

Hi Eilean. I've tried all sorts of diets in the past, but the only thing that is 100% certain is that if you eat less calories than you use, you will lose weight (but you obviously know this already). If you don't fancy calorie counting, how about Slimming World - at least you can eat what you like of loads of foods which fill you up, without having to calorie count.

 

[Eilean]

Hi Meltdown, yes I know a lot about diets but it seems like I have not yet figured out how many calories I should eat. I burn 2190 a day, and I eat between 1500 and 1800. I tried eating less, I tried eating more but nothing happened (when I ate more I gained weight). I cut out bad foods and have started a very strict food diary, including all nutrition information to make sure I don't eat too many or too little calories, fats, carbs etc. - I am not sure where the problems is but I am not willing to give up .

 

[judith55]

Funny enough I am actually planning to participate in a marathon in the future and I have already started training . Are you running?

No idea whether JUDDD advices you on drinking shakes, I have not read into it a lot yet.

No, I don't run as my joints already struggle due to my weight - I walk instead hence my sloooow weight loss. JUDDD suggests about 400-500 cals on the down days and says that uses shakes/meal replacements is a good way of ensuring you stick to this strictly (no "free" foods or anything). If you look on their website you'll find a self-assessment tool for how many cals you can have specifically - I looked and thought it wasn't for me.

Hi Meltdown, yes I know a lot about diets but it seems like I have not yet figured out how many calories I should eat. I burn 2190 a day, and I eat between 1500 and 1800. I tried eating less, I tried eating more but nothing happened (when I ate more I gained weight). I cut out bad foods and have started a very strict food diary, including all nutrition information to make sure I don't eat too many or too little calories, fats, carbs etc. - I am not sure where the problems is but I am not willing to give up .

You obviously know the maths for weight loss (comparing your BMR with intake and that there are 3600 cals in one pound of body fat) but remember that a BMR is an average for your type - its not a scientific assessment of you personally. So eating 1800 cals may be very close to your maintenance level such that 20 cals of skimmed milk in tea, 25 cals for a couple of crisps when someone offers you the bag or not walking as much as usual may just tip you into your BMR range. You could be losing at a rate of about 1lb a month and one "bad" day could undo that. I aim for about 1300 cals a day and every few days may go down to 1100 to give myself a little extra nudge. Also look up the cals burned for your marathon training - it might not be giving you as many spare cals as you think. You may have just reached a plateau that you have to work through and try to hang on. But I know it is soooo frustrating. When this happens to me, I just try to believe in the maths and hope my body is just having a delayed reaction. Let us know how you get on. xx

 

[Eilean]

No, I don't run as my joints already struggle due to my weight - I walk instead hence my sloooow weight loss. JUDDD suggests about 400-500 cals on the down days and says that uses shakes/meal replacements is a good way of ensuring you stick to this strictly (no "free" foods or anything). If you look on their website you'll find a self-assessment tool for how many cals you can have specifically - I looked and thought it wasn't for me.

I have just started running really and for the time being I do two minutes walking then one minute running and I will increase this. My plan is a marathon in 2015 because I have to be realistic enough to know that I won't make it through the marathon next year. I have done hardly any sport in the last 30 years so I should start slowly. I have found the website you mentioned but decided to not go for shakes and the like. I know lots of things to spend my 565 kcal on (that's what the self-assessment calculator says). I will read into it more before I start though. I like knowing the pros and cons of things in life before giving them a try you know .

You obviously know the maths for weight loss (comparing your BMR with intake and that there are 3600 cals in one pound of body fat) but remember that a BMR is an average for your type - its not a scientific assessment of you personally. So eating 1800 cals may be very close to your maintenance level such that 20 cals of skimmed milk in tea, 25 cals for a couple of crisps when someone offers you the bag or not walking as much as usual may just tip you into your BMR range. You could be losing at a rate of about 1lb a month and one "bad" day could undo that. I aim for about 1300 cals a day and every few days may go down to 1100 to give myself a little extra nudge. Also look up the cals burned for your marathon training - it might not be giving you as many spare cals as you think. You may have just reached a plateau that you have to work through and try to hang on. But I know it is soooo frustrating. When this happens to me, I just try to believe in the maths and hope my body is just having a delayed reaction. Let us know how you get on. xx

I ate 1400-1500 kcal the last couple of days and I lost some weight (3 lb) which I had gained in the last three weeks. So I am back where I inititally started. I know what you mean with the maths though. I had a look at many BMR calculators and 7 out of 10 give you a different number. That can be so confusing. I found out that around 1400 kcal works best for me but there are loads of people who told me off for eating so little calories .

I will certainly let you know how I get on and which way I am going to decide for. xx