Yep, it's true about weighing and measuring too. When you're counting calories online it's easy to just choose a portion size that's there but often our portion sizes are much bigger and we're only counting calories for 1 portion.
It also depends on how much you go over 1500 calories on your cheat days. I find that I can't diet and have a cheat day, if I really want something I'll have it then and work it into my calories for that day. Otherwise I give it too much power. But if this way works for you I totally get that.
If I over eat for a day it can take several days to get back down to the weight again, so if I were to binge on a Tuesday say and then my weight is up a few pounds (water weight) and it takes until Saturday to get back to what I was and then maybe lose a little bit and then if I was to binge again it would go up again and totally screw with my weight loss. So they could be throwing you off completely.
I think you should track all of your foods daily. I also wonder how you can count calories without weighing or measuring because you could be grossly underestimating your calorie intake.
I know you have a "cheat day" once a week. That one day could be undoing all of the work you put in during the rest of the week. Maybe if you give yourself a higher calorie allowance - like Fridays you eat 2000 calories instead - then you will still feel like you can stay on track for the full week.
When I start a workout plan, I often retain water for a while before the weight starts coming back down. That could account for part of it.
1.5 lbs lost in 2-3 weeks may not seem like significant weight loss to you, but it is. In fact, it's extraordinary weight loss, because (if you maintain it) you're already doing better than most people who want to (regardless of their starting weight).
Weight loss can be difficult and "slow" (but we also tend to label even rapid weight loss as slow, because we really do not know what "normal" weight loss really looks like).
No matter where you start, you can't judge your success by only three weeks, even the first three weeks, and even if you have a lot of weight to lose.
And if you were to judge, 1.5 lbs in 3 weeks actually is actually decent weight loss. It doesn't break any records, but it's by far not below average. You're doing great, not terribly, despite what we've been taught to think.
There is no "should be losing" this or that per day/week/month. Every body is different. I've lost all of my 105 lbs at an excrutiatingly slow rate. I weighed nearly 400 lbs and I when I started I was losing less than one pound per month. In fact, only for the past 20 lbs or so have I been able to boost that average up a bit, but it still isn't at a rate that most people will telll you is "normal."
In a very real sense (because we're taught to see less than 2 lbs per week as failure, even though most people don't acheive that rate) I've "failed off" every one of my 105 lbs lost (now that's a kind of failure I can enjoy).
Some practical suggestions (that may or may not increase your weight of loss).
Calorie counting or an exchange plan (a form of shorthand calorie counting) even on your cheat days.
Personally, I can't do uncontrolled "cheat days," because I can easily eat enough calories in a cheat day to compensate for the rest of the week (people will tell you it's impossible to eat more than 15,000 calories in a day - and I can tell you they're wrong).
The only way to know if your cheat days are affecting your weight loss is to give them up, or count the calories, but do not limit them (at least you'll be able to see if they're keeping you from losing).
You might consider giving yourself a higher calorie alottment day on your "treat day" but still counting.
I'd also recommend a food scale (at first it seems like extra work, but in the end it's faster, more accurate, and dirties fewer dishes than measuring spoons).
Reducing carbs (I use a lower carb exchange plan) can also help. I have a hard time losing consistently on a high-carb diet. I'm hungrier and even if I stick closely to plan, I lose less than the same number of calories on lower-carb.
But ultimately, you can do absolutely everything "right" and still lose slowly or unreliably, and can fluctuate wildly on the scale. I can fluctuate up to 5 lbs for no reason at all, up to 10 lbs with high-carb eating, and even a little bit more with TOM (and I used to fluctuate up to 15 lbs at my highest weight.)
If eat less and move more, you will lose weight - but it can take two months to see it (yes, even when you have as much to lose as you have).
Most of what we've been taught to expect with weight loss just isn't true, at least not for everyone (and certainly not for the "average" person).
When I was losing only 1 lb or less per month, I complained to my doctor that I should be able to lose much more, at least 2 lbs a week "like a normal person," and my doctor lectured me on "normal." He said that 1 lb a month wasn't slow weight loss when compared to how many people actually accomplish it. It isn't normal to lose 1 lb a month, he pointed out. Normal is losing nothing. Normal is gaining. Normal is losing for a week or a month and then giving up.
You do not want to be normal. I lost most of my 105 lbs at the rate of 1 lb a month - only because of my doctor educating me on the fact that that 1 lb a month wasn't subpar weight loss - it was extraordinary weight loss, just by the fact that I maintained the loss and continuing to hang in there.
All you have to do is hang in there, and keep working. Count your calories in some way (even the cheat calories), keep moving, consider tweaking your calorie count and carb ratio, and just hang in there. Eventually the weight will be coming off.
Patience is the hardest part of weight loss, and probably why failure rates are so high - we're taught to quit when we don't acheive what we believe to be "normal" rates (that are actually unusually extraordinary rates).
We're taught to see failure when we're experiencing "normal" or even extraordinary results.
Believe it or not 1.5 lbs in 3 weeks is extraordinary even at a high starting rate, because most people don't acheive it (and those who do, usually don't maintain it). You become extraordinary, mainly by hanging in there.
#1 you HAVE lost weight, so keep at it! Even if it isn't at the rate you like, it's still a loss!
#2 if you aren't measuring the foods that don't come prepackaged (the meats for example), there is no way for you to record the calories accurately. Weighing or measuring everything that isn't specifically in prepacked portions is the only way you will know for sure that your calorie counts are accurate. I'm awful at eyeballing what a portion is. If I didn't weigh or measure everything, I'd be hundreds of calories off per day.
#3 I agree with Kaplods about giving yourself higher calorie allotment if the lower calorie allotment may be triggering your binges!
#4 your binge days may very well be cancelling out the deficit you are making most of the days you are on track.
You will find a balance. Try not to deprive yourself on your on plan days. That's the beauty of calorie counting. If you are meticulous in your counting to ensure you are indeed within your calorie budget, adding some treats into that allotment may really help you!
Three weeks = 1.5lbs lost. In truth you're doing better than me. I went 30 days with ZERO pounds lost! To be fair I had lost some fat and I suspect what happened to me has occured with you...
If you were previously fairly sedentary I would guess that you have lost at least double 1.5lbs in fat already but the exercise you're doing is causing some body recomp which is masking the fat loss. The scale is a dieters worst enemy especially at the beginning before you truly understand that the scale is and is not telling you.
May I suggest you lift weights instead of your current routine? Burning out muscle glycogen through weight lifting promotes full body fat oxidation. Cardio doesn't do this. 3x a week full body routine based around comound movements would probably help your cause a lot.
Regardless - I would stress you read Kaplod's post a couple times. A lot of meat in there.
1500 calories doesn't seem like nearly enough for someone in the 340s. Your binging may have been caused because 1500 is not enough on your regular days.
Have you used any of the online calculators to calculate how many calories you should be eating every day to lose weight? Not eating enough can seriously slow down weight loss.
I think you should have your thyroid and other hormones re-checked. My weight gain and inability to lose over a 10 year period was directly attributable to undiagnosed thyroid disease. Once I began treatment, I was able to start losing. I still have to make the effort at diet and exercise, but losing is now possible whereas before it simply was not possible.
Last edited by EagleRiverDee; 06-04-2012 at 05:35 PM.
I'm not sure if someone already mentioned this, but I noticed you said you were eating pizza and frozen foods. From my experience, those types of food contain a TON of sodium. (Especially Taco Bell, yikes!)) In reality, you may have lost a lot more than 1.5 lbs, but the sodium is causing you to bloat and hold onto water, therefore masking your weight loss. Sometimes it takes my body DAYS just to go back to normal from one high-sodium meal. If you are eating high sodium for a whole day, then it could really be messing you up for the week.
I support the idea of paying a visit to the doctor's office, just for a check up, to make sure everything is fine. Congrats on your weight loss, it may not seem much, but you're losing, so it's better than not losing at all.
Also, try and be more rigorous when it comes to calories and how much you're eating, perhaps measure your food? You could try and increase your daily calorie limit (1700?) and give up cheat days, or only have one every other week.
I dont buy my food (I live at home with my parents at the moment) and those are the only foods I have access to. I am looking for a job but with the way the economy is right now.. No one wants to hire me.
I also dont have health insurance it's to expensive.. So no Dr for me.
Thanks for all your advice.. I'll try to implement some. I cant really measure foods because I don't have the proper stuff for that.. I try to eat foods where I dont have to measure them and yet are still healthy.
And binging... I am not hungry when I binge.. It's totally in my head. (I know this.. but it's a struggle.. I know that if I binge.. then I wont lose weight.. But I still do it.)
I don't eat Taco Bell a lot once a month if that.. And If I do have pizza I make it myself so I know what goes in it.. My pizza is a LOT less calories and other stuff then that at the pizza joints.
I don't feel like I should cut everything out.. How is that fair.. I'm pretty sure other people (who don't struggle with weight) is able to go out and eat a freaking piece of pizza when they want. So as long as I dont go overboard. It's not like I eat the stuff everyday.. Once a week(friday nights).. for dinner should be fine. I dont see the problem. If I cut it out.. I'm more likely to go out and go overboard.
@johnP I do lift weights.. I'm trying to do an 'everything' workout. I do treadmill, bike, thigh buster, and arm buster.. Then I go on and do a bit of weight lifting..
I know I said 'cheat days' but it's not like that... really it's cheat dinner. It's literally just going and having a piece of pizza for dinner rather then eating what I would eat for dinner the other days.. I don't go overboard.. I dont eat crazy all day..
Last edited by imnotperfect24; 06-04-2012 at 10:16 PM.
If the doctor says that you don't have a problem and yet you're not loosing weight, it maybe because you don't have proper diet and exercise. We can say that you’re exercising and eating food with low calories but maybe its not in a proper way.
I suggest you give yourself two weeks of sticking to 1,500 calories per day, no exceptions, and then see how you do. Two weeks is not that long to go without a cheat day, and it may give you surprising feedback. Be sure to calculate your calories as precisely as possible for those two weeks. Just a suggestion to consider...
First of all (and most importantly): Don't. give. up. We've all been there: frustrated with weight loss (or lack thereof) with feelings of "well other people are doing this, why can't I?" Those feelings are normal, but this is probably the most valuable part of your journey. Right now is the time where it gets tough. But, as the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Sticking with your plan of diet and exercise as you have will prove to yourself that you can do it.
If your parents are doing the grocery shopping, maybe you could try going with them to the store, and suggesting a few things to incorporate into your diet to make it easier? It's definitely hard to stay on plan when other people around you are eating as they please.
The binging problem is something many people at 3FC have struggled with, myself included. I've found that stressful situations brought them on for me. Next time you're feeling like you're about to overindulge like that, I suggest taking a step back and evaluating your feelings at the moment. Identifying what triggers those desires might help you to overcome them without using food.
ALSO: When I first started losing weight, I didn't weigh myself everyday. I know a lot of people say it keeps them accountable, but I found it super discouraging to see those daily fluctuations at first. Maybe try weighing yourself only one a week for a month. You'll hopefully be able to see a downward trend that way, without the discouragement.
Best of luck, though. It sounds like you know what you need to do to succeed, but you just need a bit of support. That's what we at 3FC are here for.
@johnP I do lift weights.. I'm trying to do an 'everything' workout. I do treadmill, bike, thigh buster, and arm buster.. Then I go on and do a bit of weight lifting..
This is not lifting weights. In my opinion (and also that of many others) weight lifting should be the main reason you go to the gym. If you have time to do both cardio and weights do both but if you can only do one ... lift weights.
3x full body routine with all compound exercises. Shouldn't take more than 30-45 minutes.
Also in my opinion having a cheat meal or two a week is not a big deal so long as cheat meal doesn't mean binge meal. Again, it always comes down to calories.
Also in my opinion having a cheat meal or two a week is not a big deal so long as cheat meal doesn't mean binge meal. Again, it always comes down to calories.
Every time I think of having a cheat meal, all I can think of is how long it's going to take me to lose those extra calories considering how long it takes me to lose a single, solitary pound. I usually talk myself out of it and eat some broccoli or something.
