Hello all. I recently (a week ago) started dieting (calorie counting) and exercising. Ive read that some people have lost 5+ pounds in the first week. However, I got disappointed when I checked the scale today and it read the same as last week. I've been on a 1700 calorie diet, but dont always have to time to update my fitday. And when I do have the chance to, I have forgotten what I ate. I have been exercising 7 days a week, for atleast an hour a day. I am not an expert in calorie counting, but I have only been looking at the calories, not carbs, fat, protein, etc. Does this make a difference? According to fitday, majority of my foods come from carbs. Ive read that some people pre-make their foods for the next day, including snacks and meals. Its only 12pm here, and I am starving! How often should I eat and how many calories in a meal? Where should my calories be coming from? (carbs, protein, fat, etc) Also, Im not a big fan of raw veggies & fruits. (ok..so I gag when I eat lettuce). I'll gladly eat cooked veggies though. What type of foods should I make a list of for my next visit to the grocery store? Ive been eating the Lean Cuisine meals for lunch. I guess I really dont know what my question is. Im just sorta wandering around. If someone could point me in the right direction, I will be grateful for life! Thank you in advance.

Can you make a link to your fitday so I can have a look?

There you go. My fitday is now public.

I'll have a look. Be right back.

In the mean time .... what do you think of if I say ... "I want you to eat proteins and things that grow"?

Oh Hunie! I can't make that fitday link work.

ok.i redid it.try again?? ill cross my fingers

Have you ever had your blood sugar checked? I bet your insulin is high. Ask you GYN about PCOS disease. Cut your carbs in half and double your protien. I am a carb freak too...i know it sucks. But a good rule of thumb...probably the best advice i can give you...if you are going to eat a carb BE SURE to eat a protien with. Get a good book about weight loss and nutrition. Knowledge is power. From what you are saying...you should have lost a good bit this week. So i am guessing you are having a problem with your insulin. Just eat less carbs, more protien, and NEVER eat just a carb. You might be surprised to learn what carbs are too...not just breads and pasta...fruit, fruit juice...those are carbs as well. Feel free to private message me with any questions. High insulin will make it difficult for you to lose weight. Get some good books on nutrition.

Hunie - try going into the Home page of your Fitday account and select Make My Journal Public, if you haven't done that yet.

Ok that's better. Have you thought about my other question about the proteins and things that grow?

Things that grow...hmm...I can do that..does it matter if they're cooked? or steamed? I love steamed cabbage.

As far as my blood sugar being high, I had gestational diabetes while pregnant with my son. It was bad enough that I had to be on low to moderate doses of insulin. Since then I was advised to recheck my sugar levels, however, had not done so. I do check them randomly once every few months when I feel like I need to, however, I actually went to check it last night and the battery on my monitor had died. Im off to get another one in a few minutes.

Another thing, with the growing food, I know we're supposed to eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies, but does it matter if they're cooked with things? or does it have to be eaten like so?

Nope, it doesn't matter how you eat them ... raw or cooked ... just don't add any sauce A couple of fruits and all the vegetables you want cabbage, green beans, radishes, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, squash, carrots ...

Proteins? Your egg whites are excellent! low fat cottage cheese, fish, chicken, lean pork and beef ...

How are you doing? Is your grocery list coming together?

I just wanted to ask, do you usually excersize that much or has it increased? because gaining muscle can actually make you gain weight even though your body is slimming...muscle weighs MORE than fat...so good luck-but remeber when you work your butt off and dont lose-this could be why!
Angela

My guess (without investigating the fitday) is that you are underestimating how many calories you are consuming. It's surprisingly easy to go along in a day and forget a few things that can quickly add up to an extra 300 calories.

I don't use fitday. I find that it takes too much time and makes me a little obsessive. I bought some very small spiral notebooks with snaps from Target. The snaps keep it from getting smashed in the bottom of my purse.

In that notebook, I write down everything I eat when I eat it. If it's not a prepackaged food and I don't know the calorie count, I look it up at nutritiondata or some other nutritional information website.

Regarding the exercise, have you evaluated your exertion rate? Are you breathing heavily? Is your heart rate up for the entire time you are counting as that hour? What kind of exercise are you doing? While all physical activity provides some health benefits, they aren't all created equal for weight loss purposes (for example, WW counts housework as a countable activity, but I don't usually breath really hard and sweat profusely while doing laundry).

Before I worried about possible medical issues or eating too differently, I would spend a week getting a really good and accurate count of my caloric intake and I would bump up the exertion level on the exercise.

While I agree with Kateful about your calories probably being a littler higher than what you are thinking. I was bad to forget to add mayo, butter, a little cheese here and or there and before you know it i was off by 50%...rediculous. Make an effort to write it down when you eat it if you cant remember and dont cheat and tell yourself little white lies...it will only disappoint you in the long run.

But i do think it might be insulin related as well. A glucose monitor will not show if you have high insulin...it will only show high bs. If you are like me and have pcos, you dont have high bs *yet*...you have "pre" diabetes or high insulin or insulin resistence...however your doc may title it. ESPECIALLY since you already had gestational. Give the strict calorie counting a week, but if you see no improvement, I would get a blood test from your doc to test SPECIFICALLY for high insulin...not high sugar. Of course your sugar may be high, but be sure to understand the difference. You can have high insulin when you have a normal sugar count. All it means is that your insuiln isnt working *as well* against the sugar...long story, but you need to really put some effort into educating yourself about nutrition and your body, health wise. Go to your library and check out some books on nutrition, and given your history with diabetes, i would eat similar to a diabetic diet...get some books on that, so you can learn what your body needs and how you can avoid becoming diabetic in the future. Diabetes is not something to mess around with. No offense to Kateful, but looking at her starting weight of 180, she is really not in the same game as someone of our weight who has already had issues with gestational diabetes. I was gestational as well. I know she means well, but her advise about "not being too worried about the medical issues or eating differently" is not the best advice...especially for someone who has been recommended to check her blood sugar on a regular basis by her doc. Take control of your health, or it will take control of you.

I also agree with Kateful in that just because you do an hour of working out doesnt mean your body thinks that is a big deal. I do 30 minutes of elliptical a day...that is a big difference from a 30 minute stroll through the mall. I also do 30 minutes of weight training several times a week...big difference from vacuuming the rugs. What is your idea of your normal exericse routine?

Hope this helps.

Im glad that im not the only one who finds fitday a little hard to reach after every meal. I think I will buy a little notebook too. It'll probably be easier to tote around. I have noticed that i'll unconsciously drink some of my sons apple juice or something like that, and ive recently looked at the carbs on that thing and almost cried. But usually im pretty on it. Although I may probably be eating the wrong foods.

As far as exercise, I go to the gym 3 times a week, where I do cardio (treadmill, stationary bike, and illiptical) in rotation. I weight lift when I feel like I need it, but im mainly concentrating on cardio at the moment. The other 4 days of the week, I interchange between WATP (1 mile) and walking a local trail for an hour and a half. In addition to that, I am usually running around with my toddler who likes to climb and be outdoors, which I dont really count as a "workout" nor do I include it in my fitday.

As far as my new-founded grocery list, I guess I will have to find ways of preparing them. What counts as a serving and how much carbs should I be intaking? I seem to be addicted to carbs. My list is coming together. Thanks!!!