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  • I finished griping about how I can't loose weight..maybe you can tell me what I should be doing (or not be doing)

    BF: Kellogs smart start w skim milk

    lunch: salad with a little bit of dressing and a tiny piece of chicken or sometimes the amount of chicken you get in a wendys salad. ANd if I can get ranch dressing I will use about 3 tablespoons.

    snack: cup of yogury, low fat

    dinner: about 6oz meat or less and a steamed or boiled vegatable like brocoli or string beans. If its string beans I might put a little shed spread on it

    snack: skinny cow

    sometimes a second snack, bag of 110 pop corn or a bannana or a sugar free jello

    About 96 ounces of water

    I do best eating the same thing pretty much every day. WHat do I need to eliminate or add to make this work?

    I have to loose over 100 pounds... Haven't been able to loose one yet.

    I exercise too, not a ton and not as much as I would like to. I get so discouraged and quit.. usually because when I exercise every day I gain weight.. and not just 6 pounds the scale just keeps going up.

    IF this looks right and my body is just exteemly hesitant to let the pounds go, I will keep eating this.. but please tell me if I am doing something wrong. All this suffering should lead to something good. I would rather suffer more and actually loose something
  • Some good information, to get started, would be:

    How many calories you are eating per day?
    Height and weight?
    How active you are? (ie. what kind of work, how often/how long you exercise)

    This will give you/us a better idea of how many calories your body needs to maintain and how many to lose, and then we can compare that to how many calories you are actually consuming per day.
  • What CoolMom said. Seems to me that if you have 100 lbs to lose, and from that sample menu, my "first" guess would be that you're not eating enough calories and your body is holding onto them. But without all the info, that's just a guess. And you're very likely going to gain a bit when you exercise. If you quit and start because of the gain discouraging you, you'll really not be able to break the cycle. If you continue, that small gain will start decreasing eventually.
  • Quote: I finished griping about how I can't lose weight..maybe you can tell me what I should be doing (or not be doing)
    IMO - not enough 'healthy' food, too many refined foods w/sugar....


    Quote:
    BF: Kellogs smart start w skim milk
    You don't say what your portion size is (I know cold cereal is defnitely a 'red light' food for me because I can sit down and eat nearly an entire box if I wanted to - it goes down very easily). According to Kelloggs' website, there is a BUTTLOAD of sugar in that (not so) 'smart' cereal:

    Ingredients:
    Oat bran, sugar, oat clusters (sugar, toasted oat [rolled oats, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, molasses, honey], wheat flakes, crisp rice [rice, sugar, malt, salt], corn syrup, polydextrose, honey, cinnamon, BHT for freshness, artificial vanilla flavor), rice, high fructose corn syrup, malt flavoring, salt, potassium chloride, baking soda, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), niacinamide, zinc oxide, reduced iron, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin (vitamin B2), thiamin hydrochloride (vitamin B1), BHT (preservative), vitamin A palmitate, folic acid, vitamin B12, vitamin D.


    And just a CUP of this cereal contains 200 calories - BEFORE the milk. As far as protein - even the 'soy protein' doesn't have all that much protein in it - 10 grams of what I suspect is fairly low-grade soy concentrate. And how satisfied does a bowl of cold cereal get you?

    Here's some alternatives you might think about:

    If you *MUST* have cold cereal - there are plenty of other (healthier) options that actually taste pretty darn good-my favorite being Quaker Corn Bran (tastes great AND has lots of fiber).

    Of course IMO oatmeal is the king of healthy breakfast cereal - hot oatmeal out of the microwave. I usually add a few frozen blueberries before nuking. What I eat with it (for protein) is an omelette made with 1 whole egg and 4 or 5 eggwhites - I don't usually put anything in the middle though, sometimes a bit of low-fat or fat-free cheese if I have any (maybe a tablespoon just as a condiment). That keeps me going for awhile.

    Around 10:00 I'll have a piece of fruit (right now it's peaches as they are in season and at their peak at this point).


    Quote:
    lunch: salad with a little bit of dressing and a tiny piece of chicken or sometimes the amount of chicken you get in a wendys salad. ANd if I can get ranch dressing I will use about 3 tablespoons.
    What do you mean by 'a tiny piece of chicken'? It's been awhile since I've been to Wendy's so I really don't know how much chicken they put on their salads. Generally a 'woman's' serving should be around 3.5 oz, preferably of white breast meat. You don't mention if that dressing is regular or reduced calorie - if it's regular that can really pack a whallop. I have a salad almost every day - one I assemble myself at the salad bar. What's in your salad - I hope not just some iceberg lettuce with carrot shavings and a 'tiny piece of chicken'. A salad can be a great, filling, healthy meal but I'd reduce the amount of dressing (and use reduced-calorie type - also try a different type of dressing - rather than a thick creamy dressing, try one a little more liquidy - one that will cover a large amount of salad ingredients while using less. (I add my own dressing when I get home from the store - put the lid back on the container and Sh sh shake it until the dressing is well blended).

    Quote:
    snack: cup of yogury, low fat
    There are a lot of "lowfat" yogurts on the market that are pretty high in calories - good national brands to use are Dannon Light & Fit and Yoplait Light. The thing about yogurt (at least for me) is that by itself it is JUST not that satisfying - it runs in and out of the stomach in no time flat - plus it's pretty low in protein (I keep harping about protein - not that I'm an Atkins or low-carb advocate but if you're trying to lose weight, protein is really great at filling you up and keeping you satisfied for a longer period of time). The solution to that? Add COTTAGE CHEESE to your yogurt - just mix them together and chill (better yet - get a hand blender (like a Braun) and blend it into a smooth mixture - then put it in the fridge (you might want to add a drop or two of vanilla and maybe a little Splenda). It is SO filling and tasty!

    Quote:
    dinner: about 6oz meat or less and a steamed or boiled vegatable like brocoli or string beans. If its string beans I might put a little shed spread on it

    snack: skinny cow

    sometimes a second snack, bag of 110 pop corn or a bannana or a sugar free jello
    First off - ace the skinny cow. Instead - have a healthy complex carb with your dinner. Not just meat and veg. (I know a lot of people trying to lose weight will tell you to cut out all carbs except for green veggies at night but that's not me). A bit of sweet potato (like 1/2 cup mashed) would be perfect IMO. Or have a piece of fruit after your meal. (Watermelon sounds good right now!). The SF Jello isn't a big deal, what is it, five calories?


    Quote:
    I have to loose over 100 pounds... Haven't been able to loose one yet.

    I exercise too, not a ton and not as much as I would like to. I get so discouraged and quit.. usually because when I exercise every day I gain weight.. and not just 6 pounds the scale just keeps going up.
    Exactly WHAT kind of exercise are you doing? What is your intensity level - is your heartbeat increased, are you breaking a sweat? I'm sure that most of the regular exercisers would agree with me in this - you have to be dedicated and CONTINUE on to see results, while exercising effectively.

    Quote:
    IF this looks right and my body is just exteemly hesitant to let the pounds go, I will keep eating this.. but please tell me if I am doing something wrong. All this suffering should lead to something good. I would rather suffer more and actually loose something
    The thing is...even with whatever I (or anyone else) says here - we aren't THERE with you. We can't gauge by watching you eat or exercise what you're doing wrong, all we can do is guess by what you've written.

    My best guess for areas that you might need to work on are:

    Motivational - getting your motivation up
    Portion control - not knowing 'exactly how much' you are eating (even a 'healthy' (or so-called 'healthy') food can make you fat if you eat too much of it).
    Lack of essential nutrients (too many simple carbs, not enough protein or complex carbs)
    Exercise - consistency and quality (find something YOU enjoy doing and KEEP doing it - adding in new stuff as you go along).

    Whew...someone else can add their two cents.
  • My first thought was also that you weren't eating quite enough. I think the 2 previous posters know way more about this than I do, considering how much further along they are in their weight loss efforts, but that was my first thought. I've also seen it suggested here to switch up what you eat so that you don't get the same # of calories every day. Your body can "get used" to having a certain amount of calories and will start merrily storing calories as fat, because it has the same amount of calories to work with every day. So although you mentioned that it's easier to eat the same thing every day, you may want to switch it up a little bit - have an extra snack one day, an extra glass of milk another day, skip a snack the next day. Just to keep your body guessing a little.
  • Followup...
    Okay - after I posted the above I did a search and found this post from you which was posted a few days ago (14 June):

    Quote: BF: Kellogs smart start cereal and skim milk
    Lunch: That awful mediteranan salad at wendys with just a little bit of the vinegette dressing.
    Snack: To kill the taste of the salad... Popcorn 110 calorie pack SOuth Beach bar
    Dinner: Baked Salmon, angel hair pasta with a sauce, broccoli, Crystal light Peach ice tea
    Snack: bannana, skinny cow, a second popcorn 110 cal pack
    I also rode a mile and a half on my exercise bike.
    Okay...since you said 'you eat the same thing every day' I can assume this is par for the course...yes?

    I just added all that up on Fitday - comes to over 1700 calories - all you really need to do is get rid of the pastas and most of the evening snacks (keep the fruit - but I'd have a lower-sugar fruit like a peach, personally) and ramp up the exercise and you will most likely start to lose weight.

    Oh and DON'T weigh yourself more than once a week!
  • I'm so glad one of the "holy trinity" of maintainers posted here (Mel, Meg and Mrs Jim) that's my nickname for the three of you. I may not reply to your posts often, but I read them all. You three really know what you are talking about!!!

    I wouldn't have said it as well as Mrs Jim, but they were my thoughts. I know I am still just starting out, well a third of the way there, and I have over 100 lbs to lose as well.

    I eat quite a lot of complex carbs, I no longer eat bread (well once a month - as a special treat when I buy the best bread in the world at our farmers market) and very rarely eat pasta. I also no longer eat snack food. When I started out I ate mini rice cakes or other "low fat" 100 calorie snacks, but decided in the end it was 100 calories wasted, when I could be eating fruit, cheese (often cottage cheese after exercise - I thought I hated it, but after reading the Ladies who Lift threads decided it better get into my diet) or meat protein rather than cardboard.

    For breakfast it is always oatmeal, with a teaspoon of honey and berries. I have three lunches!!! For my first lunch at 12 ish I have protein, either a portion of lean chicken or salmon, for my next lunch at 4 I have salad (usually with either couscous, burghul wheat or bean salad for the complex carbs) and then at 5.30 have a bit more salad and some fruit. I have started weight training and am really hungry all the time, so though splitting the lunch was the best way to go. For dinner it's fish, chicken or lean red meat, plenty of veg, and a modest serving of brown rice, quinoa or other complex carb.

    I eat tiny amounts of good cheese every now and then. I was eating skinny cow, but decided it was too high in mysterious additives and I would be better off having a controlled portion of good cheese instead. I cut out all cheese for 5 months, so that when I re introduced it, a tiny portion was enough. Dairy was my great downfall before starting this eating plan.

    I keep playing with my diet and exercise, and change things up every 8 weeks. It's working for me so far. The thing about losing a lot of weight, is that it has to be slow. I get frustrated, especially now that I feel so much fitter, that some exercises are hard because of the fat roll on my stomach, and I just want it gone......yesterday, but life and weight loss isn't like that. Slow and steady, don't panic, and enjoy your food, your exercise and your life, don't put everything on hold until you are slim. And stay positive!

    You'll do it, just hang in there.
  • Geez MeL , MeG and MrsJim, I think all your informative posts are finally sinking in YAY .... So way to go Kykaree for being a lurker who learns....
  • On one note of the calorie content, there are two kinds of South Beach bars, the meal replacement ones that are around 220, and the cereal bars that are around 140 each.
    There are also no portion sizes listed for the angel hair pasta, cereal, and so forth-so you could be eating 100 calories of those things, or 400. It is really hard for us to estimate when we don't have all of the information.
  • I agree with MrsJim...basically what I would do if I were you- ditch the cereal, instead have an egg white omlet with some veggies and a few slices of lean turkey bacon or oatmeal. The only cereal I ever eat is Cheerios (110 cals a cup) or raisin bran (which I ONLY eat if Im in dire need of fiber, if ya know what I mean.) The only reason I nit pick about your cereal is that breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day, after a long fast your body needs complex carbs and protein.

    then I would start measuring everything out according to serving size. I didnt see "well I have a cup of this, or a tblspoon of that" you didnt list any measurements and that's dangerous. I used to think a cup of cereal was the whole bowl- a cup of cereal is less than half the bowl!! I was taking in twice the calories because I never bothered to measure things out!!

    I would also suggest looking at food as healthy versus junk...for example strawberries versus a skinny cow. Even though a skinny cow is low cal/ low fat it really doesnt provide a lot of tangible nutrition, they should be reserved for every once in awhile or occasional treats...if you had a bowl of strawberries with a little ff cool whip on them I think you'd get that same sweet tooth satisfied and have given your body a satisfying antioxidant rich treat.

    You also shouldnt be eating the same thing every day. Your body (and tastebuds!!) need variety!

    Other than that I think you're on the right track and working hard! Good for you, I think with a few tweeks (mainly counting every calorie out and recording it) you will see the results you deserve! Good luck!!
  • MrsJim - excellent, excellent, excellent.

    Lookingforlean - for one week, weigh and measure everything you eat and enter it into fitday and determine exactly how many calories you are consuming and expending and if you're getting adequate protein/fat/carbohydrates in your daily diet. What we think we are eating and what we are really eating can often be 2 very very different things. "a slice of bread" means nothing. A 1 oz slice of high fibre bread varies greatly from a 3oz slice of regular bread.

    http://www.thecolumn.org/how-many-ca...-do-i-need.asp
    That site will help you determine how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. subtract 500 calories per day and you'll lose 1lb each week.

    Eating too little is as detrimental as eating too much. Our bodies know when they are not being nourished and they will hold on to every single calorie in reserve to prevent starvation. You need to teach your body that it is getting what it needs, so it can burn fuel efficiently and steadily.

    All the best! Keep coming back for support!
  • I want to note that you may want to use a different calorie guide if you are in the US, this one goes by kilos instead of pounds.
  • Just to add one thing . . . the same diet doesn't work for everyone. A lot of people have said to ditch the cold cereal and eat eggs or oatmeal or both, but I find that for me at least, eating cold cereal in the morning (I eat smart start too) is one of the things that keeps me going. I usually have 1C cereal, about 3/4C skim milk, and a handful of blueberries or strawberry slices in it, and it has worked perfectly well for me (as you can see by the fact that I'm still losing). Some people are still hungry after eating that breakfast (like my bf, who can eat a whole box of cereal and still be hungry), but I think if it is enough for you, it's fine. I think it totals somewhere around 350 calories or a little more, but I'm not positive. Cold cereal works better for me than oatmeal, because the only way I can stomach oatmeal is with a ton of brown sugar on top, which kind of defeats the purpose.

    I also use Lean Cuisine to help me with portion control, so I know my lunches are low-cal, and I always eat Dannon fruit at the bottom yogurt, which isn't as low-cal as Lite and Fit or some of the others, but IMO tastes way better (and is still only like 140 cals).

    As for carbs . . . I think everyone knows that whole grains are the best, but it's not like you're going to suddenly gain 50 lbs or die or something if you eat some white rice or regular pasta or a piece of white bread. It is possible to lose weight while eating white rice and regular pasta, which I know because I am doing it. I have switched to wheat bread though, but I could never cut bread out entirely. Some people can, and for them, great, but you have to find what works for YOU.

    The key, IMO, is to pick a plan that you can follow for the rest of your life. If cutting carbs is going to make you obsess about how much you want them, then cutting carbs is not the plan for you. Same for a low-fat diet, or any diet that cuts a particular thing. Maybe eating the same stuff you always have, but modifying the portion sizes is what is right for you. Everyone is different and different things work for different people. Hang in there, and I'm sure you will find what works for you. I'd suggest using fitday.com to find out how many calories you're actually eating, and like the above people said, find out how many calories you should be eating to lose weight. Stick with the exercise too, because IMO it's even more important than eating right.

    Good luck!
  • I understand how frustrating it is to loose weight. I've tried so many times before. I am NOT an expert at all, and everyone has given you such great advice.

    One thing, as others have suggested, measure out EVERYTHING! Its a HUGE surprise when you start measuring out your food. I was so shocked when I realized how much food I was eating before. And keep track and write down what you are eating every day. I just made a quick MS word document and type in each day and what I ate.

    I'm doing WW, so I'm still able to eat foods that on other diets aren't allowed, and for me that helps. At this point, for me, it would be too difficult to completely give up certain foods, and I know I'd end up failing.

    I also still eat cold cereal for breakfast. Right now, its Special K (mainly because that was one of the 'healthy' brands on sale last week). Its getting to the point where 1 cup IS satisfying and filling for me, where as before I was measuring it out, I'd eat a huge bowl of cereal. I also add fresh strawberries sometimes. Today instead of milk, I put the cereal on one cup of Dannon Light and Fit strawberry yogurt.

    Like Paperclippy, I haven't cut out bread either, but for my sandwiches for lunch, I use a whole grain wheat bread now, instead of white bread. I still eat rice and pasta, but not as much as I was before. I measure it out, and have a serving size.

    I was getting into the habit of eating pretty much the same thing everyday for breakfast and lunch, but I'm trying to switch it up. And that helps me to not get bored with what I'm eating.

    As everyone has said, you have to do what works for you, and stick with it.

    ~Liz
  • Wow, What a response! I am 5'4 and have to loose about 120 pounds. You guys are being really great and I am being really stupid. Denial I guess. I just wish I could lay this out into something I can do every day.... because I can eat the same foods everyday. I can't start thinking about all my meals because that throws me off and I start obsessing about every little thing... and get nothing done and loose no weight.

    Ok... I can eat the same thing everyday.. I stopped eating the carb with dinner, it was a small amount (about 3 tablespoons).

    I started eating the Kellogs because I saw so many of you eating it here. I prefer eggs, but egg whites only... eech! What a waste of a good yolk! I like oatmeal but I understand the instant microwave type I prefer gets my blood sugar going for the day.

    When I say tiny piece of chicken I am talking one small bite of chicken. A tiny piece abut an inch long. But on occassion I go to Wendys and get one of their salads, if I use their dressing I put a few drops on.. if I bring it home and use mine I use about 3 to 4 tablespoons.

    By the way, my exercise has not been much to speak of. Like posted earlier, a mile on my bike. I want to increase that but I need to know I have the diet down first.