The Weight Loss Support Group - 2014

Tammat said:

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Did your nutritionist tell you to drop to 1000cal a day? If you drop below 1200cal a day your body is at risk of going into survival mode. It will hold onto fat in order to survive.

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I was wondering this too - they say even the smallest of adults should stay at or above 1200 calories. I'm a small person, and even if I'm running a calorie deficit, it doesn't go under 1200 or I really start to feel it in terms of weakness and crankiness too.

Okay..............so, I have just read through this entire thread, and am jumping in here.

I remember back in January I mentioned that I was interested but just not ready to commit.
Since then, of course I have gained yet more weight, and have suffered with depression for many years now. If anyone else out there can relate, please let me know I am not alone here.

I can't quite say rock bottom, as my cat rescuing is saving my life, it gives me purpose I suppose, a reason to get out of bed each day.
The one feel good in my life. Aside from my cats Krissy (avatar) and Simone.

Aside from that, I feel old and tired before my time, and some days spent wondering where I can find that dark cave to crawl up into and leave it all behind me.

Without further details, this all includes a total lack of caring, how I look anymore, 2 large closets full of beautiful clothes and shoes, and here I am, living in sweats.
I have continued to gain weight, and literally stay home, no more social butterfly, I don't want to go out and run into people who knew the other me, I was quite known around due to my large store I HAD....in town, for many years, so I can't go anywhere without somebody seeing me and stopping to hug me and ask how I am, etc.

I have unintentionally alienated old friends, that I don't mean to do that to at all, it's just me, it's where I'm at now, and can't pull my butt out of this deep hole.

Now I have needed badly to get on the ball and get some weight off, my first step to feeling better.
It has taken SOOOOO long my friends to get here, but something snapped in me when I could barely paint my toenails, and I began my diet days.

It's been close to a month, and I have done so great, but the weight is not coming off as I think it should be.
Granted, NO exercise at all, I am stuck to this computer the majority of my days, but still, I am not eating over 1200 cals a day, and the first week, maybe 2 lbs, 2nd week 4 lbs, third week, no I'm not figuring this right.
Okay so I've lost about 8 lbs in close to a month.
But the past week and a half, only 1 pound?

I found a chart to figure out cals burned doing nothing all day, and my body supposedly burns 2150 daily, so doing the math, this is making no sense to me, how I'm not losing faster.
I want fast now so I am able to get off my butt and start walking. I'm just too draggy otherwise, no energy. I've never been so heavy in my life.
I feel like a slug.

If I don't figure this out soon, I will fall off. I know myself. It's just so discouraging to stay off the scale all week, do perfectly and yes I do feel better, but it's not enough. I should easily see 3 lbs a week, and that is what will keep me motivated.

So weighed this am after 1 1/2 weeks just to be sure, and 1 pound...........so not cool. SO disappointing.

I am so wanting gooey pizza tonight. All it takes is one screw up like that, and I am headed right back downhill.

Talk about baring my soul here! haha! That's me, tell it like I see it....

Seriously though, what can I be doing wrong here?
Special K for breakfast, power protein bar for lunch, or cottage cheese and maybe grapes, salad with grilled chicken breast in it, and a skinny cow ice cream sandwich before bed. (150 cals) Every flipping day of my life, how is it that I'm not dropping more weight here??

Tammat said:

D
Did your nutritionist tell you to drop to 1000cal a day? If you drop below 1200cal a day your body is at risk of going into survival mode. It will hold onto fat in order to survive.

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No, I asked her to because I couldn't eat all 1200. It was a lot of meat and it is very hot here so I told her I would rather eat less but have some fruits. She said we could give it a try.

@catwoman707: I don't see my friends anymore because I don't want them to see me at this weight. I don't have photos of me taken and I would rather not see anyone who used to know me before this weight gain. However, I am a teaching lecturer so I am among people all day and that is exhausting.

Regarding your diet, the only thing that comes to mind is what my nutritionist told me - that if I'll ever crave an incecream so bad I can't stop myself, eat it before noon. Same goes for fruits. Grapes are very sugary, dependingbon the quantity they add a lot of sugar. I am not familiar with special k and I don't believe in protein bars (some are high carb), why eat a protein bar when I can eat chicken breast, or eggs? That's because I love food.

A big hug to you catwoman707 have you seen a Dr about your depression? I'm learning more and more about nutrition and diet these days but i don't feel like I should be giving advice to others. I do know however that your body adapts very quickly to changes so if you are eating the same every day it will adjust and this may be the reason you are not seeing a loss anymore. Like I said I'm no expert. It's just a thought?

IrinaSaK said:

No, I asked her to because I couldn't eat all 1200. It was a lot of meat and it is very hot here so I told her I would rather eat less but have some fruits. She said we could give it a try.

@catwoman707: I don't see my friends anymore because I don't want them to see me at this weight. I don't have photos of me taken and I would rather not see anyone who used to know me before this weight gain. However, I am a teaching lecturer so I am among people all day and that is exhausting.

Regarding your diet, the only thing that comes to mind is what my nutritionist told me - that if I'll ever crave an incecream so bad I can't stop myself, eat it before noon. Same goes for fruits. Grapes are very sugary, dependingbon the quantity they add a lot of sugar. I am not familiar with special k and I don't believe in protein bars (some are high carb), why eat a protein bar when I can eat chicken breast, or eggs? That's because I love food.

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Wow! I wish I could fill up on less calories :lol3: The thing is we are all different. I totally agree with what Pat always says and that is that you need to find what works for you and stick with it. ( I'm pretty sure that's what you say Pat?? Correct me if I'm wrong please). It's taken me 18 months to find what's right for me. I still may have longer to learn but I haven't given up. I'm not giving up.
keep with it everybody because you are worth it.

Tammat said:

Wow! I wish I could fill up on less calories :lol3: The thing is we are all different. I totally agree with what Pat always says and that is that you need to find what works for you and stick with it. ( I'm pretty sure that's what you say Pat?? Correct me if I'm wrong please). It's taken me 18 months to find what's right for me. I still may have longer to learn but I haven't given up. I'm not giving up.
keep with it everybody because you are worth it.

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Oh, I could eat pizza, pasta and weggies, some ice cream, all in one sitting and feel hungry in an hour... But lean meat and veggies... really, how much chicken breast and salad can you have? )

IrinaSaK said:

Oh, I could eat pizza, pasta and weggies, some ice cream, all in one sitting and feel hungry in an hour... But lean meat and veggies... really, how much chicken breast and salad can you have? )

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So true. So true. My secret weapon now is cheese. It satisfies me and I don't over eat it.
Confession time :anon: a couple of weeks ago I made a carrot cake. It was the best carrot cake I've every eaten. In one day I ate 8 pieces of that cake. I went to bed with my tummy so full, I could hardly sleep but you know all I wanted was more of that cake. I already knew I had an addiction to sugar but after that I really knew I had to change.

@catwoman707 I haven't chimed in in this thread before, but it's been such a long and slow road for me and of course, it's had its ups and downs. It's been probably 6 years now that I decided I needed to get all the extra weight I gained through university off, and since then I've slowly but surely lost close to 30lbs and even now, I'm only 5-10lbs from my goal weight. I've fallen off the wagon quite a few times. It's a painfully slow process, but what doesn't matter is the immediacy. It's super satisfying to see quick changes, but those are the ones that don't stick. There will be fluctuations, and there will be weeks, and even months, where you do everything right and the result is miniscule. BUT you need to keep in mind that these tiny results add up, and at the end of your journey, you'll be grateful even for those 1-2lb losses.

I used to work in a call centre, which meant butt-to-chair for 8-13 hours a day. I'd get two 15 minute breaks and a half hour lunch and regardless of the great Canadian weather, every break and the second half of my lunch after I'd eaten, I'd go outside and do laps around the entire building (at what I'm told is speed-walking pace. People would see me out the windows and I was dubbed "the walking girl" or "that little girl who walks super fast", and eventually I saw other people roaming the parking lots doing their own walks!). If it was snowy, I'd throw on my knee-high boots for work because damn it, I was going out there and frolicking in the snow banks for the whole time I could get outside. The worst part about having a desk job is that it's fatiguing for the little that you do, so get up and re-energize yourself whenever you can, even if it's just a casual walk to and from the bathroom. Don't tell my boss, but I used to take detours to extend the walk. I also found having a pedometer was a good inspiration because they say the average person should take 10,000 steps a day. I would always go out of my way to beat it, and if I had the time and the means, even double it.

Now that I'm away at school, I portion things to be lower carb (less rice/pastas, more vegetables) and when I have the time and the weather permits, I walk home from school (about 7km). Definitely not saying go out and walk or run 7km right now, but start squeezing in little changes where you can and build your way up - my 15 minute walking breaks evolved into an hour and a half walk from school. You'll surprise yourself when you look back on the little things you did to kick it all off.

You'll always want and crave things. You just never get over that, no matter how long you've been working and how much weight you've lost. I made a point to not eat past 7pm, so I'd usually brush my teeth shortly after dinner to prevent myself from rummaging through the fridge for dessert. Cutting desserts and replacing them with small snacks like fruit, yogurt, and crackers (no more than 5) + cheese throughout the morning and afternoon did wonders for me. I realize that I eat out of boredom too, and just being able to identify that helps. I keep water with me all the time, so I resort to sipping water before going and finding food. As a result, I drink like 4-6L of water a day - they do say most people tend to confuse hunger with thirst.

Keep your chin up!

I've maintained my waistline this week. I would still like it to be smaller but it's getting firmer so that's a good thing. I have gone 23 days sugar free now. I'm not eating as much cheese anymore as the sugar cravings are getting less. My energy levels are up too.

Good luck this week to you all. Keep at it. It's worth it. We are worth it .

I lost less than 2 pounds - 800g last week. My fault entirely - beer Friday and Saturday, icecream Sunday, some peanut butter cause I really HAD to finish the jar. I didn't meet my cardio target, either. This is what happens when you put 4 fat people together over the weekend and relax (me, my bf and his parents).

New week, new goals. I know this is a life long challenge but I think that if I would meet a goden fish right now or a ginny I would have one wish: eat whatever and not get fat.

Well, I'm not trying to lose weight so much as be healthier and be more fit. There are a number of health issues that run in my family and most of them can be prevented with diet and exercise. Of course, losing those 19 extra lbs would be a nice bonus too. I started Couch to 5k, will be starting the 30 day shred again, and logged back into MFP to track food. One of the problems I've noticed isn't necessarily that I eat too much--it's actually kind of the opposite. I don't eat enough during the day (lazy, so I don't cook much) so when I get home from work at night I'm hungry and overdose on carbs and sugar, which usually puts me over on fat too. =/ I'm tracking my macros (carbs / fat / protein) and I am always way over on carbs (as in, nearly double what I should) and way under on protein, which explains why I'm literally always hungry.

So it looks like my plan for next week or so will be to start doing some replacements. I usually end up with crap like Little Debbies, cookies, basically anything I can grab that doesn't take much effort. I'm not giving up my breakfast PB&J yet, but will definitely work on cutting back on carb-loaded snacks.

Monday morning in Australia. I've maintained. Yay!!! I've also been 1 whole month without sugar, 28 days. I feel wonderful. My energy levels are great.

Catwoman107 - yes I can relate to some degree.  My best suggestion would be to consider losing the weight a different way.  Each of us works a bit differently, I know for me, I damaged my metabolism enough by yo yo dieting, that I ended up with a body that can't handle a lot of carbohydrates.  It just can't.  I found a way of eating that I like, can do, and will do once in maintenance.  I've lost 172+ pounds to date.  So yeah..I really let go, and I did get depressed.  I was not doing things I loved anymore such as hiking, just walking in the park with husband, going on little photography trips etc.

I have a blog that shows what I ate a number of days, explains the plan I chose, links to articles etc.  I'll pm it to you..if you are interested go browse it.

I am not a motto person, but I chose one when I was just beginning - "I will only fail if I quit. And I refuse to quit."  You can figure out what will work best for you, but if you stop trying...you def. won't lose

Sorry I was mia last week.  I had that rarest of things for me (thankfully) - a gain.  Last week's average was 196.04 for a gain of .57 of a lb.

This past week I lost .58 of a pound so I'm officially at my lowest to date by one 100th of an ounce..LOL.  I'll take it   My new average  is 195.46.

Onward - I truly refuse to quit.  I'd love to be in the 180s by my birthday end of July.

I'm slinking back in here. :anon:

I had fallen off the wagon a bit and was embarrassed to post. :anon: I'm currently 8 pounds over my low, which was in November. I had been higher. I tried on some pants in February and they didn't fit. They did fit last week. I've been making an effort to eat better and have been walking. I'll try to keep posting in the thread. :anon:

Most if not all of us in this thread have dealt with stops and starts.  Glad you are posting again.

AbbysMom said:

I'm slinking back in here. :anon:

I had fallen off the wagon a bit and was embarrassed to post. :anon: I'm currently 8 pounds over my low, which was in November. I had been higher. I tried on some pants in February and they didn't fit. They did fit last week. I've been making an effort to eat better and have been walking. I'll try to keep posting in the thread. :anon:

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Welcome back

Good work to everyone else this week. We can do this.
We really can do this.

I've been not paying attention at all this week, way too much to deal with, my niece had her twins early (30 weeks) by emergency cesarean since she had gone into labor and was fully dilated, to family & visits to the NICU which is an hour away with no traffic and 3 hours WITH traffic.  A good friend's mother died and I'm helping her with all the stuff she has to do before next Sunday when the service is.  Also, I took in 2 new kittens (big ones, maybe 12-14 weeks old) and am getting them spayed tomorrow (2 trips to the spay van, in at 7:30 AM, our probably around 3 PM, and I have my mama and 2 kittens at Petco where I'm going right now in the pouring rain.  I'm not eating badly but I'm not eating on nay kind of schedule so I may go most of the day without eating instead of stopping for breakfast as one should do.  I'm off to Petco and then to my friend's house now.  Welcome back, @AbbysMom, 8 lbs. over your low is not impossible to deal with, especially at this time of year when there's only one holiday left to deal with before September!

I lost 2 kg this week! That's 4 pounds! I did all my nutritionist said from Tuesday to Monday, but then on Tuesday morning (yesterday) I had a mild breakdown, being "in that time of the month" and having a weird day, so I had an icecream, 250 kcal and 20 g of carbs. I went to the gym in the evening so it seemed I burned it. So today, at my dr's appointment there was a new low, with a total of 5.7 kg (12.57pounds) lost since I started seeing a nutritionist and going to the gym like crazy (mostly cardio). I'll take that. That leaves me with...27.7 kg (61 pounds) to go Still, I think I'm on the right path.

Good luck to all of us and I hope that those of us who are still searching will find a way to balance our cravings with a healthy life and weight!

IrinaSaK said:

I lost 2 kg this week! That's 4 pounds! I did all my nutritionist said from Tuesday to Monday, but then on Tuesday morning (yesterday) I had a mild breakdown, being "in that time of the month" and having a weird day, so I had an icecream, 250 kcal and 20 g of carbs. I went to the gym in the evening so it seemed I burned it. So today, at my dr's appointment there was a new low, with a total of 5.7 kg (12.57pounds) lost since I started seeing a nutritionist and going to the gym like crazy (mostly cardio). I'll take that. That leaves me with...27.7 kg (61 pounds) to go :lol3: Still, I think I'm on the right path.

Good luck to all of us and I hope that those of us who are still searching will find a way to balance our cravings with a healthy life and weight!

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way to go!!!!