I'm SO fed up and I need your help...

spottydoris

spottydoris

Determined to succeed!
Hi everyone,

I really need your help. I'm sorry to be so 'beggy', but I am so close to throwing up my arms and shouting *sod it!*

I have been keeping a food diary for a good few months now, actually remember to complete it every day for at least the last 4-5 weeks (before that I would miss the odd day, so it was hard to really judge progress etc.)

I have been using MFP to log the data - relying on it to tell me the calories if ever I wasn't sure (for veg mostly, and raw meats) - I would always make sure anything with the value stated on the packaging was in line with MFP. I am not 100% convinced that the 'calories burned' numbers in the exercise area are right - they seem very high compared to gym equipment - but the manager at my gym said that MFP would be better because it knows my height, my age, my weight etc - so who knows.

Anyway - I have attached a PDF of my last months calories (also a small pic in case the pdf doesn't work). This tells me that I should have lost about 8.5lbs... or 6.5lbs even if I ignore the exercise and go off calories only. The annoying this is I have actually lost ZERO!

Please help - if possible by telling me where I am going wrong :( I know you can't pick through my actual food diary, but purely on 'numbers' - could I be doing anything differently? Adjusting total calories etc? Working our more/less?

I appreciate everyone here is fighting there own weight battles - and you probs don't have the time to worry about little old me, but when I try to speak to anyone about this they just say 'you're obviously eating too much', 'you need to work out more' etc.

For a bit of background- when I first started calorie counting, I ate 1200 a day, then exercised on top. I lost no weight, and actually PUT ON about 5lbs. I went, head in hands, to manager of my gym armed with food diary and workout plan and she told me in no uncertain terms that I wasn't eating enough. She worked out that I should instead be eating about 2100 a day, taking into account the amount I work out. This didn't work either - weight kept going up, so I decided to look to minimins!

I saw Fattack's post (I think!) about working out best calorie total, and adopted the Harris Benedict method - this showed I needed 2519 to live with my current lifestyle, being moderately active.

But am I moderately active?! I go to the gym about 3/4 times a week and do about 45 mins of cycling (around 12-14km), followed by about 10 mins of sit ups and core strength exercises. I also do a 1hr Pilates class every Wednesday. I have just started going on bike rides too (*weather permitting)! I would consider this moderately active? I can't do much else in the gym (rowing, running and cross trainer have been ruled out by physios as I have a bad back), but I am open to suggestions!! (Cycling gets boring FAST!)

So - that's my story - if you can help I will give you a massive virtual hug and a gold star (not to mention reps!!)

Thank you -

Spotty xx
 

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Hi! I wonder whether any of this weight gain is due to muscle mass? Also another thing I noticed was that definitely 1200 would be too low for you but 2100 would be too high. Something inbetween maybe? Have you kept any record of your meaurements? Also how much water are you drinking? All these factors make a difference. I'm sorry if I don't have any real answers but I'm sure others will post with help and advice. Good luck.
 
Hiya Sarah -

I completely agree with you therefore I now aim at between 1500 and 1750 to lose between 1.5-2lbs per week (I should have made this clear!).

As you will see, I have been going over that quite a bit - however, I should still lose 1lb a week if I ate 2019 each day (according to the calculation) - so even if I end up at 1850 a day, I am still under.

As for measurements - I am not measuring myself... rather going on a pair of trousers that were very hard and uncomfortable to sit in for a day at work... they got looser and more comfortable, but are now getting tight again.

:( :( :(

xx
 
it could be one thing or many things, but we couldnt really say without seeing what you are eating! do you eat the same things often? as your body can get bord of the same foods, its your diet balanced, dairy and fibe both contribute to good weight loss, do you drink enough? water can work wonders for loosing weight (and water retention). maybe over the next few days post your food diary? xxx
 
Hi

I'm not an expert and have only looked at your diary for yesterday so far but could it be the fat and sugar content?

Nutrition charts say that the average woman should have no more than 90g sugar and 70g of fat a day, and this is to maintain not to lose weight.

I might be wrong as I'm now maintaining but I follow this rule to maintain and I don't gain weight. My maintenance calories are quite a bit lower than yours though as I am very small.
 
hi just has a look, i dont really do calorie counting, but going on a healthy balanced diet point of view, the only thing that stands out to me is that you dont seem to have much dairy. 28g cheese, or 250ml semi skimmed milk seems to be a good amout to have a day. fat free yogurt is a good aditional choice as a snack. I would prob swap one of your 'snacks' for a piece of fruit. maybe try and have at least one portion of fruit or veg with each meal (therefore slightly reducing the other foods you have on your plate).
Although 1-2 pounds a week is a really healthy weight loss so keep it up! xxx
 
Hi GTISP.. I completely understand that - the last few days have been very high due to birthdays at work etc- this isn't really representative of my daily diet. I try to avoid high sugar foods as far as I can! :) x
 
LornaGrace said:
hi just has a look, i dont really do calorie counting, but going on a healthy balanced diet point of view, the only thing that stands out to me is that you dont seem to have much dairy. 28g cheese, or 250ml semi skimmed milk seems to be a good amout to have a day. fat free yogurt is a good aditional choice as a snack. I would prob swap one of your 'snacks' for a piece of fruit. maybe try and have at least one portion of fruit or veg with each meal (therefore slightly reducing the other foods you have on your plate).
Although 1-2 pounds a week is a really healthy weight loss so keep it up! xxx
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for having a look through - yeah, I could probs up my dairy. I have cereal with milk at breakfast (or porridge made with milk), then milk in my tea/coffee through the day - but that's all really (unless I have cheese with my dinner).

I might grab some FF yogurt for sure. Good idea! Are they low cals?

I wish I was losing 1-2 a week... unfortuantely I have been going 4 weeks and am back to where I started and have therefore lost nothing!!!!! :(

x
 
A couple of weeks ago, I was in a similar situation as yourself. For the past 5 months before had I had steady loses. Maybe the odd week where the scales wouldn't budge, but nothing to write home about. Then I reached 8 and a half stone - 7lb away from my goal of eight stone. I ate VERY healthy, 5 portions of fruit and veg a day, not horribly fatty foods, just your basic run of the mill good quality healthy foods - all incorporated within my calorie allowance. On top of this I went to the gym. For a whole month I lost NOTHING. Not a gram. I was doing everything right, yet those scales where stubborn. I then went on holiday for two weeks where I would have no gym. To cut a long story short, I decided that because I was on holiday I would cut myself some slack with the food situation and I ate at a cafe for lunch everyday and dinner at a restaurant at night. I never ate like a piggy, just healthy choices (all be it a little more food than I was use to). I was perfectly happy to accept that I'd probably put on a little weight but I figured that I was on holiday and so that was ok with me. :D I came back from my holiday the other day to find that after a month of not budging I've lost 2lb :eek: And that was me being relaxed with my food and no gym. I admit I'm a bit stumped, but I'm going to ask at the gym tonight if they can shed any light on the reason and get back to you on it because it seem like we both had a similar problemo before!

Aslong as you don't give up - we will find a solution for you! Sometimes you need to be brave and do something drastic like ate your maintenance calories for a week or so to 'reset' your system before cutting back again. Put please don't give up! I'm going to put on my Inspector Cluedo glasses and do some thinking for you! x
 
I probs slightly biased, im on Slimming world, i have calorie counted for years and nothing significant came off, then joined SW. maybe you need a diet plan that keeps you on track, know your limits and all that. (i know its not for everyone though)
anyway, muller lights (toffee flavour are yum) and around 99cals for 190g, onken fat free strawberry is nice 80cals for 150g, on its own, or over the top of fruit salad is lush for breakfast or a snack.

Im half a pound off my target of 8stone! x
 
LornaGrace said:
Im half a pound off my target of 8stone! x
Click to expand...

I am jealous! I'm slightly concerned that I'm going to be too skinny at 8 stone. I'm 19 and quite toned, and I'm 98% happy with my body just now, but I've always been a prefectionist (too much for my own good) so I'm determined to get down to my 8 stone goal - only 4 lb to go! Well done on being so close to goal! :D You must feel great! xx
 
:) Thanks!

ooh well done, not far for you to go!
I feel great for it, surprisingly i still have a big bum lol, once i get to goal i just want to tone up. holiday in 3 weeks though and i dont intend to watch what i eat so may be back to where i started! :eek:
 
Hiya, I have a few suggestions - though I am no expert! :D

I would absolutely disagree with 1,200 calories per day, I know you have changed this - but is incredibly obvious your body thought it was starving and therefore retained your weight as a defense. I think your decision to stay between 1,500-1,700 calories is perfect for you to lose weight and not send your body into starvation mode.

I think the yogurt comment was spot on, but I would disagree with the fat free. Fat free products are very processed and the chemicals which are in them have been suggested to mess with your metabolism. I would suggest having real - natural (no added sugar, jam etc)bioactive yogurt which not only takes care of your tummy by promoting good bacteria but because it's a a protein food will stem your hunger better. I find yogurt is an excellent hunger killer, coupled with water. Not too much, maybe 4 to 6 tablespoons (70-90 g) but just enough. If you don't like natural set yogurt, add a teaspoon or so of honey or some fresh fruit to sweeten it.

I looked at your diary as well. I would agree that perhaps there is too much Sugar on average across your diary. I think you might be sacrificing many of your calories to high sugar high carbs. Have you thought about changing your sweeties ? Instead of a doughnut or cookie, perhaps have a square of dark chocolate (over 70%) with some (in season!) strawberries after lunch? For dessert perhaps a poached pear, with sugar and cinnamon, drizzled with dark chocolate ? You'll still get your sweet fix but with more anti oxidants, and including fruit is a brilliant way to even get more vitamins in your system. I do also notice a lack of dark leafy green veggies, I'm wondering if next to your lunches a wee dark leafy salad couldn't be possible ? By providing your body with the nutrients it craves it will work more efficiently for you. Finally from your food diary, I can't tell if the food is actually bought as a packaged unit from Tescos etc or if that is an option for the program your food diary runs on. My question kinda was along the lines of how much are you cooking your food from scratch? As I said before there is a debate whether pre packaged, and processed "diet" foods are actually very good for you as their chemical composition could perhaps not aide your weight loss. I would personally advocate as much "normal" fresh food as possible.

One thing missing from the diary is how much water you are drinking. Hopefully you are getting around 250ml a day... I say this because often our bodies can stimulate us to feed it something and we may actually just be a bit dehydrated.


I hope some of that helps ? Good luck!! The forum is here for you.
 
Is 250ml enough water? That's less than a can of pop isn't it? I'm confused ;)

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins
 
Legomom said:
Is 250ml enough water? That's less than a can of pop isn't it? I'm confused ;)

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins
Click to expand...


I missed a extra 0. :D which is 2500 ml.. as I understand it, it includes some of the water you get by food too.
 
Lol I'm disappointed now :( im so bad about my water intake!! I swear I only hit it when I'm trying to flush thru a naughty day!!!!

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins
 
I swear this is what could be happening to me - the whole body starvation thingy... I am hoping that all the advice that others are giving you work for you. Good luck.
 
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