[Phenomenal Woman]

Hello everybody!

I am still sorta new around here, and I have a question. How long does it usually take to start seeing some results, ANY results?

I took a trip to the states for a month, from the end of June to the end of July, and in that time, I was able to lose about 6 lbs.

I was all excited about this and thought it would be a great start for my new efforts at weight loss and fitness. And since I got back (after spending the first week dealing with an immediate visit of relatives on top of jet lag) I immediately got myself into a routine of exercising at least 1 hour a day. Since August 4th, I've only missed two days of doing some form of exercise for at least an hour every day, and most of it was aerobic exercise too.

I don't eat all that much in general. Though you could never tell by looking at me, I've never really been much of an over-eater. I eat moderate portions of usually healthy type foods and don't really go overboard on any sort of snacks or sweets at all. /shrug I'm just not really much of a food person.

So it's been a couple of weeks now, and I have yet to see any sort of weight loss. Is it too soon to even be able to see 2 lbs lost or anything that could give me some sort of hope?

[lottie63]

If you don't eat enough it will stall you. Can you post a few days worth of menus?

[Matilda08]

Of course everyone is different but the best thing to do it take measurements and pics at the very start and maybe each month take more pics trust me you will see a difference if you still with it. I had got down to 220 from 255 and once I had lost 15lbs lots of folks noticed that I was losing!

[Phenomenal Woman]

A friend of mine suggested that perhaps I wasn't eating enough, which sounds really weird to me, though I know she speaks the truth. So I just started documenting my eating last week.

This is what and when I've been eating:

8/9/2009, 12:29 PM
4 pieces of toast,
3 with thinly sliced cheese
2 tablespoons of Molasses
1 cup of coffee
with 1.5 tsps sugar
and a TBS of cream
8/9/2009, 6:53 PM
Caesar Salad
8 small sesame sticks
Water
8/9/2009, 7:29 PM
Baby carrots and peanut butter
Water
8/9/2009, 9:17 PM
3 or 4 handfuls of popcorn
Water
8/9/2009, 9:38 PM
3 oz of ice cream
Water


8/10/2009, 10:13 AM
5 Sesame roundies
with cream cheese
and a slice of turkey on each
1 small glass of Ruby
Breakfast juice.
8/10/2009, 1:38 PM
A small bowl of Del Monte
mixed fruit with about a cup
of cottage cheese
8/10/2009, 5:49 PM
Baby carrots
2 TBS of peanut butter
8 sesame sticks
Water
8/10/2009, 7:57 PM
Very small steak
1 1/2 cups fried new potatoes
Water
8/10/2009, 9:35 PM
4 oz ice cream
water


8/11/2009, 11:59 AM
2 eggs
2 pieces of toast
1 cup of diced fried potatoes
1 glass of Ruby Breakfast
8/11/2009, 5:27 PM
2 sesame sticks
15 almonds
8 crackers with cream cheese
Water
8/11/2009, 7:29 PM
1 ft long sub with Quorn (This is a foot long loaf of garlic bread with Quorn on it)
Water

12/2009, 1:52 PM
A handful of peanuts
1 pickle (medium)
6 spare ribs.
Water
8/12/2009, 7:01 PM
A small salad with
8 - 10 tortilinis (spinach &
Cheese
125g mixed berry yogurt
Water
8/12/2009, 9:10 PM
8 oz ice cream
1 cup cottage cheese
8 little sesame sticks
Water


8/13/2009, 11:06 AM
5 sesame roundies with
cream cheese and turkey
slices.
10 peanuts
Small glass of Ruby
Breakfast
8/13/2009, 4:53 PM
2 chicken patties
Spaghetti & sauce
Water
8/13/2009, 6:38 PM
5 sesame sticks
8/13/2009, 6:59 PM
3 oz ice cream
8/13/2009, 7:18 PM
1 glass of red wine


8/14/2009, 11:18 PM
1/2 cup of coffee that
Had 2tsps of sugar and
A TBs of cream
8/14/2009, 3:10 PM
7.5 sesame sticks
8/14/2009, 3:33 PM
1 cup cottage cheese
8/14/2009, 6:43 PM
Pasta with Quorn and sauce
5 bite size pieces of licorice candies
3 chocolate covered raisins
Water
8/14/2009, 10:34 PM
Celery and peanut butter


8/15/2009, 11:16 AM
4 pieces of bread
with butter on 2 and cream
cheese on 2 and turkey on 3
1 small glass of Ruby
Breakfast juice
8/15/2009, 4:07 PM
Turkey sandwich with mayo
And mustard
4 oz blueberry yogurt
water
8/15/2009, 7:35 PM
2 bread fish filets
1 cup of mashed potatoes
with butter and sour cream
Water
8/15/2009, 11:09 PM
3 oz ice cream


Any ideas?

[Lori Bell]

Interesting. Just doing a little calculating and you and I both started at the same BMI of 52. That put us in the super-morbidly obese category, (don't ya just LOVE that phrase...ugh). It took me a good 50 pounds lost before anyone besides my husband and kids noticed. They probably only noticed because I talked about it A LOT... However, I could tell a difference almost immediately. My edema and GERD (heartburn) began going away within the first few days and I was so much more comfortable.

As far as not eating all that much...well, MAYBE you have some funky metabolic disorder that makes you gain weight, although those type of diseases are pretty rare. I'd discuss it with your Doc for sure.

I never thought I ate all that much, but when I actually started adding up calories of a standard day I was flabbergasted. I would eat almost 1000calories A DAY in butter and cream, probably another 500 in salad dressings and other salad toppings. 1500 calories worth of butter, cream and salad dressing is very little volume....but packs a BIG punch. Add a 6 pack of beer and a few chips here and there and I was consuming well over 3000 calories a day with very little actual "food" consumption. How many calories a day do you eat?

EDITED: I see you posted your menu as I was posting. You don't have any measurements for your butter, cream and cream cheese, peanut butter, etc. Hummm. do you weigh and measure that too? They are all very high calorie foods.

[TJFitnessDiva]

I think it isn't really the amount of food you are eating but the calorie content. I too used to not think I ate a lot but after I wrote it down all that stuff really added up!

[lottie63]

It seems like you have a decent sized breakfast but that you arent' eating much during the day on some of those days. I was going to try calculating to figure out how many cals you're eating but I couldn't really with measurements like "Very small steak", etc.

do you count calories on a site? Try www.sparkpeople.com or one of the other sites it might help you get a handle on exactly what you're eating. I also have a calorie deficit chart I can email you if you pm me your email. (don't post it here unless you want spam) and you put in your age, height, weight, activity level and it tells you how many cals you should be eating to lose from 1-2 lbs per week.

you might be suprised at either how much or little you are eating when you count your cals.

[Phenomenal Woman]

I don't usually measure the amount of cream and butter I use, but with cream cheese, I usually only use the thinnest layer I can spread on the bread. Cream, I usually use about a tablespoon worth in my coffee and butter...Hmmm... well, on mash potatoes, I probably use about 2 tablespoons, but all else I would use a thin spreading on the bread or whatever. Maybe a couple tablespoons worth on an entire batch of popcorn. ... And peanut butter... I would say I probably ate about 2 tablespoons of that with my celery and carrots maybe a little more. (Hehe, I only added the peanut butter to give me more calories because I didn't think I was eating enough calories. )

[Lori Bell]

Originally Posted by Phenomenal Woman

I don't usually measure the amount of cream and butter I use, but with cream cheese, I usually only use the thinnest layer I can spread on the bread. Cream, I usually use about a tablespoon worth in my coffee and butter...Hmmm... well, on mash potatoes, I probably use about 2 tablespoons, but all else I would use a thin spreading on the bread or whatever. Maybe a couple tablespoons worth on an entire batch of popcorn. ... And peanut butter... I would say I probably ate about 2 tablespoons of that with my celery and carrots maybe a little more. (Hehe, I only added the peanut butter to give me more calories because I didn't think I was eating enough calories. )

Mystery solved!

Do you realize how many calories 2 Tablespoons of butter has? 200 Calories! That is more than 2 large eggs. A tablespoon of cream is 50 calories, 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter is 190 calories. It adds up very quickly...and if you are not actually measuring it, I'd venture to say that you are having way more than you think. A Tablespoon is very little.

[Lizzyg]

I agree with Lottie, it seems like you eat a bigger breakfast on some days, and then not much else in the way of actual meals the rest of the days.

First, I would start actually measuring out, and not guessing, exactly how much butter, cream, sugar, mayo and PB that you are using. A lot of the stuff you are eating are good things. To me it looks like you're not eating enough food, but are using a lot of high calorie "non food" things like butter, cream cheese etc, which can add up quickly if you aren't careful about measuring and counting it. And a lot of the things you are eating are good things.

If it were me, I'd cut down the amount of sugar you put in your coffee (a serving is a teaspoon! and its 15 cals), cut out things like mayo and excess butter and cream cheese (but then thats easy for me, since I dont like dressings!) eat breakfast more often (with the times you posted, it doesn't look like you're eating breakfast everyday), and cut other things down to just one portion (like one chicken patty instead of 2, and 1 fish fillet instead of 2, one serving of pasta, one serving of potatoes etc), and then add more fruits and veggies.

[Judy Lynn]

The only way to really get a handle on how many calories you are eating is to track them. It is the calories that you are consuming that make a difference in whether you gain or lose weight. If I may be honest, like Lori Bell said, unless you have some kind of medical disorder, the only way one becomes overweight is by consuming too many calories.

There are many methods of counting calories. Many people use Fitday, The Daily Plate or Spark People. You can also use a good old fashioned pen and paper. I use a spreadsheet and look up the calorie contents here on the 3FC site. http://www.3fatchicks.com/food-calorie-counts/

As far as the exercise. that is excellent!. But exercise is only one part of the weight loss equasion. Food intake is a much bigger part.

Keep at it. You are off to a good start. Read this site and ask lots of questions. It is a wealth of knowledge and inspiration.

[cfmama]

Measure measure measure. JUST IN SPREADS (butter/pbutter etc) it seems some days you are consuming over 600 calories!!! They add up. I would think this is what is hindering your weight loss.

[ubergirl]

I have to agree with everyone here.

I swear I have a bloodhound's nose for high calorie foods. I think that fully blindfolded, I could easily choose the highest calorie food on any menu. Even the stuff I think is "healthy" often has more calories than the stuff I shun.

Counting calories has really helped me. For example, the other day, my SIL offered me a slice of homemade berry pie. In the old days I would have thought-- ok, berry pie is light and healthy. I can have a piece.

I was shocked when I looked it up in my calorie counter and found out thtat it had 445 calories a slice.

In the old days, I wouldn't have understood why I didn't lose on a day when I ate healthy and just had one slice of healthy pie.

If you like those calorie dense foods like cream and peanut butter, then you really have to measure.

[beerab]

Looking at your diet things like ribs, cesar salads, garlic bread, fried potatoes, and so on are very high calorie content. I have a friend who is over 300 lbs and says she does not eat a lot, but when I look at her menu's it's filled with things like chinese food and pastas and other high calorie foods.

Fruits and veggies are definitely missing from your diet. I eat fruit with at least one meal a day plus snacks, dinner is usually filled with vegetables (and so is lunch). My breakfast is where I get most of my carbs from.

Definitely check out sparkpeople.com and track your calories for a few days eating normally, I'd wager you are eating over 2000 calories a day. You could probably eat like 1900 calories a day and lose weight. I wouldn't go over 1900 if I were you.

I currently aim for 1300-1550 calories a day.

Here is a sample menu from one of my days last week:

Breakfast:
Laughing Cow Light Creamy French Onion 1 wedge, 1 serving
Thomas' Hearty Grains Whole Wheat English Muffin, 1 serving

Lunch:
El Pollo Loco, FlameBroiled Chicken Leg, 2 serving
El Pollo Loco, Cesar Pollo Salad without Dressing, 1 serving
El Pollo Loco, Avocado Salsa, 1 serving

Snack:
Nectarines, 1 fruit (2-1/2" dia)

Dinner:
Couscous Near East Original Plain, 1 serving
Ground Beef and Zucchini, 1 serving
If you want the recipe here it is: Zucchini recipe

Snack
Fudgsicle (1 pop), 1 serving

All in all that was about 1300 calories for the day. I had forgotten my lunch that day if I remember correctly so I got the salad with chicken from el pollo loco- the dressing alone would have added a few hundred calories but instead I put salsa in my salad making it closer to 250 calories. The fudgsicle was definitely a treat but at only 60 calories it was worth it. I also usually eat a light breakfast but that's just me.

Definitely up the veggies and fruit and I bet you will see a huge difference.