No matter what the effort, I just keep ballooning!
I've had enough with this all. A year and a half of reasonably watching what I ate and excercising, and I lose a total amount of about 4.5 pounds.
Only to gain it ALL back in 5 days. 5 days?!
Okay, latley I've been excercising like a nut for the last couple of weeks, especially these last 5 days actually.
I admit, monday all I kept eating was this 400 g bag of chocolate covered almonds...sans the almond. I calculated that to about 4 chocolate bars. It didn't go above my daily caloric limitation but to make up for it, I went on my excercise bike for 2 hrs and a half and walked home from work which came up to 50 minutes.
I've also been sweating my butt off on the cardio machines every single day at the gym for an hour, watching what I ate in -again - a reasonable matter. I know my eating habits aren't the best, but I'm sure it's better than the average person (monday was er...an exception), not to mention, I excercise more than the AP as well. I try to have at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables and protien at every meal.
I stepped on the scale this morning. The verdict? A total weight GAIN of five pounds. I'm 5'2. I'm now 146. I've been 146 for SO long, no matter what I do.
WHAT is wrong with me? And yes, I'm sure it's not water weight, because I've actually been having regular check ups with my scale only to see the numbers slowly climbing. I thought it was water weight too, but it hasn't been fluctuating back to my 'lighter' side latley.
And it's not muscle. I actually feel more bloated. My clothes aren't any looser. It's not the TOM.
I'm at the brink of giving up. I really am.
I'm getting a physical done in about a week. I was hoping it would be some medical dysfunction like hypothyrodisme or something that's making this quest for weightloss a complete obstacle. At least, I'd have something to blame.
And if all is well in this little plump body of mine...well...I've done all I can. There's nothing more I can do. I will either sulk, give up, continue doing what I'm doing right now (all in stupid vain), or consider a path towards some sort of eating disorder. I mean, I'm already on the way anyway, by the way I obssess about this.
Thanks for hearing-- or rather reading this awful rant.
I'm so frustrated...to the point where I just want to gorge on a whole pan of brownies...and we all know that is not going to help the situation at all...
Last edited by Remember2Forget; 01-04-2007 at 08:12 PM.
You say you watch what you eat in a reasonable way and then say that you don't have the best eating habits - this could possibly be the issue. Post a typical day's menu if you want some helpful feedback to cleaning up your diet. Exercise is GREAT but for me, weight loss is all about eating a certain number of calories made up of whole foods (avoiding as much processed foods as possible).
My best friend is only 5 feet tall and she has a really hard time losing weight too, it does get really tough when you don't have much weight to lose.
Are you actually measuring and weighing your food or are you eyeing it? Are you logging your calories? If you're not, you may want to do it for a couple of weeks to see how many calories per day you are eating.
Thanks for replying Glory, I really do appreciate it.
While, I did say my eating habits aren't that great, they're also not that big of an issue, considering the great amount my family eats. But anyway. I highly doubt I've been eating 3, 500 calories everyday for my weight to constantly balloon higher and higher...
Anyway, here's a sample of yesterday:
Breakfast:
2 egg white omellette with chopped onions, red, green and yellow peppers
1 small ww tortilla
1 cup of v-8
Tea with sweetner
Snack:
Apple
Lunch:
Terriyaki at the foodcourt in the mall
-Chicken, veggies, white rice with lots of sauce I admite, but I barley finished the rice
Snack:
Cheese string
Dinner:
Lasagna...but only ate the cheese (part-skim) and meat (extra lean)
Excercise: I was walking around the shopping mall for...oh about 6 hours.
Today I had the same basic concept, portions in control, except I had a brownie instead of dinner. Bad, I know but the dinner my family had of burger and fries was no better anyway.
I also went to the gym. I went on the epileptical machine for 45 mins, stairs for 15 and weight lifing for 35 mins.
Oh well. Hope this helped in any way. I really thought I was doing good.
****WARNING! TOUGH LOVE POST! YOU MAY NOT WANT TO READ!****
Remember2Forget,
Studies show that most people significantly underestimate the number of calories that they are eating. I weigh out my food on a digital scale that shows the exact number of grams in each item, then I log the food by weight into FitDay. I am not saying you should do this, I'm just letting you know that it is possible to be accurate if you put the effort into it.
That being said, it sounds like you are going through a rough spell. We all have those. I certainly have had MANY really tough seasons when I felt like weight loss was an IMPOSSIBLE battle.
However... I am not sure you WANT to really address this issue. I don't know, of course, but just reading what you write it sounds like you are wanting someone to tell you that either 1) the problem IS NOT how much you are eating or 2) the problem MUST be something that is not your fault (like your thyroid). I think you will feel much better when you accept that you (probably) are eating too much for how much you are burning and you CAN CHANGE THIS! It is not enough to think, "Hey, I'm eating less than my family... or ... It was a big fattening piece of lasagna but I picked out these parts." To count calories and make sure they are less than how much you burn per day, you are going to have to get a better grip on how much you are eating. And, also, the teriyaki at the food court could easily be more than 1,500 calories by itself.
You CAN do it. It is hard, but being overweight is hard too, right?
Hey, you have the right intentions--but something you're doing, probably eating, is messing things up.
If I eat 1500 calories a day, I do not lose anything at all. I think my metabolism just doesn't work as well as the "normal" one they have on FitDay. I have to eat closer to 1200 if I want to lose.
Also, if I eat something like a lot of chocolate, even if it doesn't go much over the calories I'm allowed, it stalls my weight loss. If I eat over 1500 cals, say, closer to 2000 cals, for even 1 day, it stalls my weight loss. Now I'm not saying you're like me--it's just that I had to find these things out so I could figure out what *I* had to do to lose weight.
I walk every morning for 30-40 minutes at 3 mph and work out at the YMCA six out of seven days a week. Cardio and weights. I burn an average of 250 cals a day on exercise.
So, all I can suggest is that like SlimLindy says, get really precise about recording what you eat (and drink, if you drink alcohol). You may find that you go over without knowing it.
accurately log and count calories for 2 weeks. Weigh, measure, research, lookup, whatever it takes to be as accurate as possible. be absolutely **** about it for 2 weeks to get an accurate picture
There was a dish I often got at a restaurant that I estimated at 500-600 calories. Its 820 (and that is IF their reporting is accurate). PLUS the soup is 120 so the whole meal without bread is 940. And I used to have "just one slice" of bread...with butter...well that made it about 1100. But it FELT like a light meal. Knowledge is power. I went to that same restaurant today and got out of there for a still high but liveable 750 calories. I knew I was going and borrowed calories from breakfast, morning snack and afternoon snack.
and for goodness sake, if you are going to binge on chocolate covered almonds...eat the almonds, thats the healthy filling part
I went through the same thing as you until just about 3 months ago. It took me a long frustrating four months to lose 5 pounds, but since finally getting serious 3 months ago I've lost another 10 pounds. Better still, I've gone down almost 3 sizes and several inches (probably from weight lifting). Like you, I believed I was eating "pretty well" and certainly far less than when I was prego and gained most of it and definitely better than most Americans. I must admit my workout schedule was a bit haphazard, maybe 2 times per week weights and one day walking 4 miles. Some weeks nothing though or just 2 times per week.
What was I doing wrong? Like ennay said, its so easy to underestimate the calorie content of things you're eating. I've counted for years but usually I was making an educated guess, rounding things off, and keeping count in my head. Well that was good enough to maintain my weight at 128 lbs, but obviously not good enough to LOSE weight. I thought if I could maintain that way, then I could just eat the way I did at the weight I want to be and the weight would sort of adjust accordingly to my old weight. LOL!!
Anyway, I got religious about logging everything I eat and drink into fitday.com and noticed my average weekly calories (which fitday calculates) was just way to high to lose more than a quarter pound (gotcha: you thought of mickey d's) per week. Now I'm doing an average of about 1750, and I guess that has been the magic number for steady, though still SLOW, weightloss. But as long as the numbers are moving downwards, I'm cool!
I was just as frustrated and hopeless as you, but coming to 3FC and thus being constantly reminded about what I must do has really helped keep me disciplined. The people here are extremely helpful, as you can see.
You've gotten a lot of good advice, and I want to echo what the others have said. Besides, if you are maintaining with these activities and food choices, "giving up" sounds like a fast track to major weight gain.
Hey Ready2Forget, alot of us (ME) have come here to 3FC at some sort of breaking point, totally frustrated, ready to give up...sound familiar? Well, check out some of these ladies trackers, there are some serious losers around here! Whats different this time, EDUCATION! Immerse yourself in education about nutrition, be realilistic, set realilistic goals and commit to the things you can control, such as your fruit/veggie per day allowance, or 5x exercise per week, or maybe quitting fast food. Whatever steps you can take. You don't have to change everything right now, but pick a few significant changes that will help you on your way. And read lots of the threads in this forum, they are sooooo helpful! Good luck, we are all here to support you.
and for goodness sake, if you are going to binge on chocolate covered almonds...eat the almonds, thats the healthy filling part
This made laugh out loud!
On a more serious note, a couple of weeks ago, I felt the same as you Remember2forget! I could have posted the exact same post (minus chocolate covered almonds, because I'm a purist when it comes to chocolate and nuts have no place there ) Still, my point is you and I were in the same spot.
I gained 9 lbs (almost all of what I had worked so hard to lose) in two months due to eyeballing amounts. Now I have to go back and relearn all those lessons I learned over the summer. Watch portions, eat more fruits and veggies and keep them in their natural state as much as possible. This means no cream sauces or extra oil/butter than necessary to get them cooked. I usually use a tablespoon of oil to make a bag of stirfry for my sis and myself. I know in the past I would have doused those poor veggies in oil. Anyhoo, my point is I've become a real watchdog and I'm seeing the difference (on the scale, not on my body which irritates me but whatever). I've only been at this for two weeks. So obviously, it can work. Give it time and be patient. You can make it work.
and for goodness sake, if you are going to binge on chocolate covered almonds...eat the almonds, thats the healthy filling part
LOL!
Ennay, almonds were not what I was craving. And if I did have the actual 4 chocolate bars, I would have gobbled them up in half an hour. To actually chew the chocolate off the almonds took me a lot longer, and lasted me the whole day...don't ask I'm odd.
JayEll, so I guess the bottom line isn't HOW much you eat but also WHAT you eat? To stall a weightloss by eating something unhealthy, I understand...but to gain weight??
And the restaurant claimed the terriyaki to contain 500 calories by displaying it in a HUGE banner. I thought it would be the healithiest choice among all the A & W and frank supremes surrounding them. But I guess, you can't always trust them.
And I have been logging my food in fitday for a while. When I'm at home, I control everything I eat. I look at the serving portions and everything.
I've been raised on olive oil, thus I don't crave the taste of butter (well, that's ONE thing off the list of foods to avoid...) and even still, I barely use olive oil for anything. I use the spray can...maybe those contain hidden calories I suppose?
ANYWAY...I remember reading an article somewhere that when someone starts excercising, they don't see weightloss results immediatley. But that's because your body's trying to fix everything on the inside, that I you can't actually see. It's making your heart and lungs stronger, strengthening your immune system and whatnot. I guess that's my case...(but a year and half??)
Either way, I'm going to continue excercising...I'll get my psyical done...I'm going to keep logging in my food...I'LL GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS.
I'm going to definely stick around on this site, if not for posting then reading these many helpful tips and threads.
ANYWAY...I remember reading an article somewhere that when someone starts excercising, they don't see weightloss results immediatley. But that's because your body's trying to fix everything on the inside, that I you can't actually see. It's making your heart and lungs stronger, strengthening your immune system and whatnot. I guess that's my case...(but a year and half??)
I was going to say it might have something to do with your sudden increase in activity. Either that or the salt in your fast food teriyaki lunch. Of course, the chocolate has something to do with it.
Stay in there. I'm sure that 5 pounds will not last forever. Keep measuring and logging and exercising and things are bound to turn around. And ask your doctor when you're having your physical. Perhaps he can run a few extra tests to make sure your body is working correctly.
Just so you don't feel alone, I, too, have gained a few pounds lately. I attribute it to giving up on Fitday and trying to eyeball my portions. 8 pounds in 1 month is what I have to show for it. I'm now exercising 6 days per week and logging in Fitday again and as of this morning, I'm down 2 pounds. Don't give up--you're doing fine!
And the restaurant claimed the terriyaki to contain 500 calories by displaying it in a HUGE banner.
Was that the entire dish or just the teriyaki by itself? I've eaten Teriyaki at Teriyaki Boy and they served a huge portion of chicken with rice and a salad with dressing. I can't believe that the whole thing would have been 500 cals. Maybe 1/2 of the dish.
Anyway, I'm glad to see you're taking this in stride and making a conscious effort to figure out the issue(s). GOOD LUCK!!!
No matter what the effort, I just keep ballooning!
) Still, my point is you and I were in the same spot.
