Would like feedback from people who work out and eat well.

[Big Cuddly Bear]

Just so you have my backstory...

I started out at 321 pounds. In the last year I dropped down to 296, but I wasn't doing ANYTHING to lose weight. It just happened.

On October 28th I joined sparkpeople.com

Since then I have been eating incredibly healthy. And every day I am at 1800 - 2100 calories. I also workout 5x a week for at least 40 minutes a day. And I think I work out really hard, IMO.

I think this page can be seen by anybody without having to join sparkpeople.

If you workout and are eating well, and are in good health, I would love some feedback on my "dilemma".

Remember, I have been doing this for 7 weeks, now.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=3834230

 

[NHdisneylover]

Just so you have my backstory...

I started out at 321 pounds. In the last year I dropped down to 296, but I wasn't doing ANYTHING to lose weight. It just happened.

On October 28th I joined sparkpeople.com

Since then I have been eating incredibly healthy. And every day I am at 1800 - 2100 calories. I also workout 5x a week for at least 40 minutes a day. And I think I work out really hard, IMO.

I think this page can be seen by anybody without having to join sparkpeople.

If you workout and are eating well, and are in good health, I would love some feedback on my "dilemma".

Remember, I have been doing this for 7 weeks, now.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=3834230

Yes, muscle is denser than fat. You are probably both losing fat and gaining muscle right now but the weight gain from the muscles is overtaking the loss from fat. Once your muscles get built up you will see a total weight loss begin and continue. In the mean time, the tape measure is a much better tool to measure progress than the scale.

Congrats for getting into the routine of taking care of yourself

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

You seem like a very upbeat person, and that bodes well for your chances.

First - lose the scale. Put it away or throw it away. Scales hurt more than help when we are trying to change our lifestyle. You don't see what you expect to see and you lose faith. Stop doing this to yourself.

Second - you are not on a dieter's caloric intake. 2,000 calories is enough food to make me gain weight on most days. Not sure what your dietitian might have suggested, but I limit myself to 1,600 calories/day, even when training for a marathon (running 40-70 miles per week).

Third - you know that you are doing the right thing, so stop being so "result" oriented and just keep doing the right thing.

Finally - There are many reasons that the scale could show weight gain from day to day, none of which includes increased body fat. You have to convert 3,500 calories into fat to add one pound of fat. At 2,000 calories per day, you can see that this weight clearly was not fat. So why are you letting it stress you out? Something as simple as a stressful morning can produce hormones that cause us to retain water, resulting in short term weight gain.

Ease up and stop focusing on the results. Stay focused on the process.

Good luck!

 

[castleview]

Yes, muscle is denser than fat. You are probably both losing fat and gaining muscle right now but the weight gain from the muscles is overtaking the loss from fat. Once your muscles get built up you will see a total weight loss begin and continue. In the mean time, the tape measure is a much better tool to measure progress than the tape measure.

Congrats for getting into the routine of taking care of yourself

Seconding!

 

[Iott Family]

I think your daily calories are too high.....

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

You seem like a very upbeat person, and that bodes well for your chances.

First - lose the scale. Put it away or throw it away. Scales hurt more than help when we are trying to change our lifestyle. You don't see what you expect to see and you lose faith. Stop doing this to yourself.

Second - you are not on a dieter's caloric intake. 2,000 calories is enough food to make me gain weight on most days. Not sure what your dietitian might have suggested, but I limit myself to 1,600 calories/day, even when training for a marathon (running 40-70 miles per week).

Third - you know that you are doing the right thing, so stop being so "result" oriented and just keep doing the right thing.

Finally - There are many reasons that the scale could show weight gain from day to day, none of which includes increased body fat. You have to convert 3,500 calories into fat to add one pound of fat. At 2,000 calories per day, you can see that this weight clearly was not fat. So why are you letting it stress you out? Something as simple as a stressful morning can produce hormones that cause us to retain water, resulting in short term weight gain.

Ease up and stop focusing on the results. Stay focused on the process.

Good luck!

Thank you.

My doctor AND sparkpeople both have me eating about 1900 - 2200 calories a day. My doctor says there is a general formula about caloric intake....

A 200 pound person requires 2000 calories a day to maintain their weight without exercise. So at 290, I should be at 2900.... this, of course is assuming you have a properly working thyroid, and a good metabolism.

I'm at about 1900 calories a day + or - , and like I said, 40 minutes of exercise, 4 - 5x a week....

So, I am just confused. I know a body takes time to adapt, but I would think that 7 weeks should be plenty of time to make the adaptation.

Thank you.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

I think your daily calories are too high.....

How so?

If you look on nutrition labels, they base it on a 2000 calorie a day diet.

 

[Wishing on a star]

My husband has done a lot of research and a lot of diet/lifestyle change over the past two years, with incredible results....

1. 2000 calories may not be enough for real weight loss, especially if you are gaining a lot of muscle. And, truth be told, I think most anybody might really underestimate their true calorie count.

2. To be blunt, and I will defend this, no matter what anybody else says... My husband's experience and millions of other successful bodybuilders and dieters will confirm... it is not necessarily how many calories you are eating, it is WHAT you eat.... if one is eating processed carbs, 'bad' fats, low quality foods, etc... this is going to affect your body, and your dieting and bodybuilding efforts negatively. My husband will swear by no/low processed carbs, limit the fats, you don't want the 'bad' or hydrogenated fats... (C'mon, fried foods and saturated fats are what they are), and also very important HIGH protein.

Like I said, his research and his efforts have paid off with dramatic results.

Not only has this affected his weight, etc...
This has affected his very health.

The difference in his numbers on everything, including blood pressure, all became within healthy levels, right away.

NO other changes were made, except for the dietary changes I just mentioned.

OP, check out bodybuilding.com
Okay, there are some really extreme bodybuilding freaks out there.
But, there is also good information on these web-sites online.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Thank you.

My doctor AND sparkpeople both have me eating about 1900 - 2200 calories a day. My doctor says there is a general formula about caloric intake....

A 200 pound person requires 2000 calories a day to maintain their weight without exercise. So at 290, I should be at 2900.... this, of course is assuming you have a properly working thyroid, and a good metabolism.

I'm at about 1900 calories a day + or - , and like I said, 40 minutes of exercise, 4 - 5x a week....

So, I am just confused. I know a body takes time to adapt, but I would think that 7 weeks should be plenty of time to make the adaptation.

Thank you.

I think your body HAS adapted; that is why you are seeing inches being lost. Seriously, I like Bama's advice to throw the scale away.

 

[FireDancer]

Ease up and stop focusing on the results. Stay focused on the process.

Good luck!

^^Very very true!



The mirror and you clothing is a much better indication of losing fat than the scale. Like a PP mentioned, adding muscle at the expense of fat will probably not show up on the scale because muscle is denser than fat. Adding muscle causes a positive reinforcement circle for a couple of reasons.

First, muscle requires more calories per day just to maintain than fat so for every pound of fat you replace with muscle you are burning more calories just existing. Second, the added muscle allows you to do more work in the same amount of time which burns more calories.

Spending time in the gym is also beneficial for weight loss. A lot of people think that cardio is the only necessary exercise for losing weight but that isn't true. It is true that running and swimming will burn the most calories in the least amount of time in most cases, but weight training is an important part of losing weight too. As mentioned above, building muscle by lifting weights will increase the number of calories you burn just living. In addition to that there is the mechanism that your body uses to build muscle. You are not only burning calories while you are lifting the weight, but you are causing small micro tears in the muscle which the body has to repair. That repair uses a lot of calories so while you might burn more calories running for an hour than you will lifting weights for an hour you will continue burning calories much longer after the weight days.

You are making good changes and seeing good results, they just aren't on the scale. Don't concentrate on the scale so much and concentrate on the positive changes you do notice.

I also want to warn you that you will lose a lot of fat at the beginning of a new workout regiment but you will plateau. Work through it and the fat and weight will start to drop again. Our bodies strive for efficiency which is exactly what you don't want when trying to lose weight. It is that battle that causes a lot of plateaus and it is also the reason why you want to not do the same workout at the same intensity in the same order. Changing those things up will counter the muscle memory and efficiency the body is striving for.

Good luck.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Thank you.

My doctor AND sparkpeople both have me eating about 1900 - 2200 calories a day. My doctor says there is a general formula about caloric intake....

A 200 pound person requires 2000 calories a day to maintain their weight without exercise. So at 290, I should be at 2900.... this, of course is assuming you have a properly working thyroid, and a good metabolism.

I'm at about 1900 calories a day + or - , and like I said, 40 minutes of exercise, 4 - 5x a week....

So, I am just confused. I know a body takes time to adapt, but I would think that 7 weeks should be plenty of time to make the adaptation.

Thank you.

This may be true, but you can be sure that the contestants on the biggest loser are not taking in 2,000+ calories per day, and they are working out for hours each day. I would rethink the total calories. When I am training for a marathon, I burn 5,000-7,000 calories per week just running, and I would still gain weight eating that much.

Also, you appear to be breaking up your workout too much. To achieve a good burn rate, you need to get your heart rate up and keep it up for longer than 20 minutes without breaks. You reach peak caloric burn at 40 minutes, so any time after 40 minutes adds even more value. Rather than jumping around so much every day, pick one thing and stay with it for 60 minutes. The next day, rotate to something else, but for 60 minutes. Your calorie burn during the exercise period will more than double.

 

[mjkacmom]

Be very careful with portion size - most people eat more calories a day than they think. Also, a little bite here, a little bite there - i was watching a segment on the Today show, on how easy it is to eat several hundred extra calories a day picking (speaking as someone who finished up the rest of the kraft mac and cheese on the kids' plates at lunch today - as usual).

 

[Wishing on a star]

Remember, I have been doing this for 7 weeks, now.

I just looked at more your link more closely...

If you are talking a 2 or 3XL shirt.....
I think it might be more than 7 weeks before you start seeing real tangibly encouraging results...

Hang in there!!!

I think when it all kicks in the results will look and seem much more real and really show more, etc....

 

[goodeats]

I just looked at a few days worth, but I don't think you are eating 'incredibly healthy'. I see a lot of processed food, meat, and not a lot of fruits and veggies. I would limit meat portions and add in a lot more fruit and vegetables. Maybe meeting with a nutritionist would be helpful. In general, your body will respond better to 'whole', real foods then the processed stuff. Coffeemate is just chemicals, it's not food.

Also, unless you are using measuring cups and a scale your portions could be way off and that would account for excess calories and not losing weight.

I couldn't find your exercise journal, but unless you are lifting weights most likely you haven't built a lot of muscle. Exercise does cause your muscles to store excess water while you recuperate though.

Good luck!

 

[Wishing on a star]

My doctor says there is a general formula about caloric intake.... A 200 pound person requires 2000 calories a day to maintain their weight without exercise.[/B] So at 290, I should be at 2900.... this, of course is assuming you have a properly working thyroid, and a good metabolism.

So, I am just confused. I know a body takes time to adapt, but I would think that 7 weeks should be plenty of time to make the adaptation.

First, I would take ANY kind of formula like that with a huge grain of sale.
Also, note comments about true intake-vs-estimated/perceived intake.

Secondly, I agree... get off the scale, put on the clothes, and look in the mirror.

PS: I am thinking that you are a real no-nonsense, number/science oriented type of person...

 

[Wishing on a star]

I just looked at a few days worth, but I don't think you are eating 'incredibly healthy'. I see a lot of processed food, meat, and not a lot of fruits and veggies. I would limit meat portions and add in a lot more fruit and vegetables. Maybe meeting with a nutritionist would be helpful. In general, your body will respond better to 'whole', real foods then the processed stuff. Coffeemate is just chemicals, it's not food.

I have not looked at the foods the OP is eating.... but, if this is true, then I can whole heartedly agree!!!
EXCEPT for the limit-meat comments.

As mentioned, my husband has been on this journey for two years now.
He eats a HIGH protein diet.

Unless we are talking fried chicken or half pound of bacon.. there is absolutely no problem with fresh, well prepared, mostly lean, meats.

OP: I know that the pre-prepared and processed stuff is hard to get rid of unless you spend time and effort in the kitchen preparing food. I don't know if you are much of a cook... but most women and men who are foodies or chef's know the effort and time it takes to make a healthy, well prepared, meal.....

My husband is NOT any kind of a cook.
He is cooking challenged...
I know all about opening the can of sweet potatoes and/or green beans.
But, for foods other than simple canned/frozen veggies...
If one is eating processed pre-prepared meats, soups, entrees, etc...
(hey, they ARE 'convenient')
And if one is using things like non-dairy creamer... (processed chemicals and modified high fructose corn syrup... )

This probably won't be the way to health and weight loss.

Okay, as a disclaimer, the creamer is actually one of my husbands FEW weaknesses... But, I think everyone here knows what I am saying.

 

[dairyou]

Hi OP

I am with you as far as the scale. I am a short 5'2" but weigh 160lbs. I started Chalean Extreme 60 days ago (mini version of P90) and was a size 12. Now, I am a size 8 but still weigh 160. I totally hate it. I want to be at least 135. I jump on the scale everyday, and get discouraged. It is short lasting because I remember I can fit into small clothes now, but discouraging either way. I obsessed with my weight because I want to weigh a lot less than my teenage boys

I just wonder if I will ever drop any weight and have I plateaued already?

Good luck, I agree with others that we BOTH need to get rid of our scales!

Deb

 

[NewCrew42]

I just looked at your Dec 4th day.

A condiment is a treat. You should limit yourself to just one condiment a day (at least that is what I do.)

So if you have 1 serving of coffemate in the morning, that would mean no mayo, BBQ sauce, salsa (unless homemade and fresh, consisting of fresh tomatoes, onion, peppers) or ketchup the rest of the day.

Choosing 1 condiment a day will cut out a lot of processed foods for you.

I would cut out crackers. Instead have celery or fresh carrot chips.

Choose all natural peanut butter that is sugar free.

Instead of Planter's Mixed Nuts, choose unroasted almonds.

The more natural the food you eat, the better it is for you. So, the closer it is to it's natural state, the better it is for you.

Hope this helps. And best wishes to you on your journey.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

First of all, I want you know that I think you are very brave to be so open.

I skimmed your food choices. Here's my story, use as you please.

I was diagnosed with diabetes in August. I started a diabetes plan - low carb, eating every three hours. Yes, sometimes I do feel like an infant.

I use a strategy called rate your plate. Every meal is 1/2 plate non-starchy vegetables, 1/4 lean protein (one serving), 1/4 starch (one serving). Snacks are one carb serving (about 15 carbs). I have cut out all real sugar and rarely use substitutes. All meals and snacks must have protein, fat, and carbs.

Since August I have lost 40 pounds and my numbers - cholesterol, A1C, liver - that were all elevated are now all normal. I walk/jog 3 miles every other day using the Couch 2 5K method.

Anyway, I tried to lose weight before and couldn't do it. It turns out that I needed to control my carbs. Like a PP said, WHAT you eat matters, not just the calorie count.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

Be very careful with portion size - most people eat more calories a day than they think. Also, a little bite here, a little bite there - i was watching a segment on the Today show, on how easy it is to eat several hundred extra calories a day picking (speaking as someone who finished up the rest of the kraft mac and cheese on the kids' plates at lunch today - as usual).

Well, in my case, I measure and log EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING. It all goes on my journal on sparkpeople. It takes me 20 minutes a day to make sure that I log everything as well as I can. And if I don't know how much I ate - let's say I was at a restaurant - I err on the side off counting more than I ate.