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Haven't lost any weight :( Any one have any ideas where I'm going wrong?

15 replies

landwhale · 14/07/2015 13:32

Hi all,

Have changed my diet quite dramatically in the last month. Went from not worrying what I ate (lots of snacks, and high carb meals etc) to being extremely conscious. I was hoping to lose about 3-4lbs first 2 weeks then 0.5-1.5lb a week after that for the next year or so. Not under any strict time scale, but would like to lose approx 3 stone. I looked the best i can remember in my wedding when I was 10 stone, but could have looked better (Am currently 5'8 and 12 stone 9).

Here is what I eat in a standard day:

Granola with semi skimmed milk, handful of raisins / protein shake if exercised in morning / sometimes slice of wholemeal toast with peanut butter and some fruit. Tea

Apple

Salad, tuna, low fat dressing. Sometimes ainsley harriot cous cous if I'm particularly hungry. Diet coke.

Normally an alpen light bar (65 cals) if I'm hungry, but try not to, or a banana. Often have a treatsize mars ice cream (79 cals off the top of my head) on friday as its ice cream day in work so I have a stash in the freezer!

Tea, virtually always chicken or fish with salad or veg. Maybe bolognese with protein pasta, or fajitas (chicken) with salad instead of wraps. Maybe protein shake if exercised a lot and not very hungry.

One lager when I get in from work. I easily drink 8 pints of water while I'm in work. In fact, I may drink too much?

I exercise at least 20-30 minutes a day. (cross trainer, bike, weights bench, floor exercises, medicine ball etc) but haven't for the last couple of days as I haven't stopped due to work. (Literally eat tea, kids to bed, back on calls to the US, then bed). I do enough to work up a sweat but my no means marathon training.

I consume around 1300 calories a day, I allow myself 1700 if eating out. (We seem to have lots of 'celebrations' this week. Have pretty much just gone forr chicken breast and salad each time).

Work in an office job 9 hours a day 5 days a week so not much moving there unfortunately :(

I have lost a grand total of 1lb and 1" off my hips (nothing off my waist,arms or legs).

Can anyone see where I'm going wrong?
TIA

OP posts:
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TalkinPeace · 14/07/2015 15:14

I consume around 1300 calories a day, I allow myself 1700 if eating out.
No you don't - sorry.

If you are 5'8" and nearly 13st and staying the same, you are eating just under 2400 calories a day

(I used a TDEE calculator)

Your portions are far larger than you realise most likely.

Your breakfast is around 400 calories
The apple is around 100
Lunch is at least 500
Snacks are another 200
Tea is another 800
The booze is another 150
and the protein shakes are another 300 not sure why anybody needs them TBH

You need to log what you eat - weighing every portion - in MFP for a while and see where your calories are going

and then cut out the shakes and the snack and cut the portion sizes

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BitchPeas · 14/07/2015 15:17

Cut out the protein shakes, the raisins and the Alpen bar/banana/mars bar ice cream.

Snack on cherry tomato or melon, boiled eggs, lean cooked meat.

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BitchPeas · 14/07/2015 15:18

and definitely weigh the granola, cous cous, pasta etc.

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Bikegirl77 · 14/07/2015 17:39

Definitely check the actual calorie content and weigh your food. It's surprising! You won't have to weigh cereal/pasta etc all the tune but just to give you an idea of what the correct portion size looks like.

I would recommend My fitness Pal. It's great for helping you keep a tab on what you're eating and also a running calorie total for the day.

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lilacblossomtime · 14/07/2015 19:09

Its a great idea to weigh your food very accurately and be careful to log everything you eat. Don't forget little things like milk in tea or if you nibble a biscuit at work. I must admit I have always thought some things were lower in cals than they really are eg apples which I would have said were 50cals and most are 100cals. Once you have an accurate reading you can see where you are going wrong.

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MugsLife · 14/07/2015 20:12

How long have you been dieting for?
Do you have lattes or cappucinos etc - these can add a lot of calories.

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DownWithThisTypeOfThing · 15/07/2015 09:13

When you say 1300 calories do you mean that's your total after subtracting exercise calories "earned"? If so, I wouldn't factor in the exercise but track your calories eaten for a couple of weeks. I think exercise calories are often overstated.

If you are only counting calories eaten and not making an adjustment for exercise then I'd question whether your calorie counting/ portion size is accurate because my first thought reading your post was "no way is that under 1300 cals".

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AnyoneForTennis · 15/07/2015 09:17

to me it seems a bit high in sugar!

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GladysTheGolem · 15/07/2015 09:23

You don't need a protein shake after 20-30mins of exercise.
Get rid of the stuff you don't need (coke, lager every day) and move around more, how do you get to work? How long do you get for lunch?

Do you sweat and breathe heavily when you workout?

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Joey8 · 15/07/2015 10:00

Hey!

Heres my advice but just going on what worked for me, so feel free to ignore!

Breakfast: For breakfast try porridge or weetabix with unsweetened almond milk. Really filling and tasty if you add a smudgen of honey or raisins.

Snacks: For snacks if you are hungry I think what you are having, an apple is absolutely fine but remember not to go too crazy on fruit, even though they are full of natural sugars, it's still sugars at the end of the day. Every thing in moderation :-) Maybe mix your snacks up, some carrot sticks etc.

*I would forget about cereal bars - they won't satisfy your hunger and are actually quite high in calories and not good nutritionally. Have some plum tomatoes instead - you can eat a lot more of those in comparison and they are fewer in calories.

Lunch: What you are having for lunch is fine I think. Except the diet coke, I reckon swap that for some water. Keep your body well hydrated - you'll see a difference.


Dinner: Sounds fine to me! But if you are in a hurry to really see a difference in weight, I would cut out the lager. Every little helps. Again I would just drink water.

Excercise: Again, sounds good to me! Have you ever tried a group exercise class? They are really fun, and it helps having an instructor tell you what to do. Sometimes exercising by yourself, it's hard to really push yourself to the next limit. I find an instructor helps with this! And it's such a good atmosphere and enjoyable. If you went to a class you enjoyed once or twice a week I really think you would see a difference. I really recommend Body Combat - it worked for me!

Final message: It's good to keep an eye on the calories you are easting but I think if you eat well, exercise well and try to put all thoughts of losing weight to the back of your mind then instead of 'dieting' it becomes more of a lifestyle choice. And you'll be feeling so invigorated and having fun that you won't even realise the weight falling off you :-)

x

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lemonstartree · 22/07/2015 14:19

You are eating WAY over 1300kcals. My guess is 2000 on average

lose the protein shakes, the raisins and the peanut better. weigh the granola and stick to a small portion

lose the treat bars/ ice cream - v high in sugar

lose the beer

weigh everything else including carby vegetable - peas/ carrots/ sweetcorn until you know what 100 kcal chicken looks like .....

Most people vastly underestimate the calories they are consuming .... a lot s about portion size and recognisinsg that fruit (inc raisins) is very high in sugar ( and thus calories)

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IvanOsokin · 22/07/2015 14:46

I'd say there's a lot of sugar in your diet, as well as refined carbohydrates, which your body processes as sugar. This gives you a quick energy burst but you're likely to crave more of it soon after you've eaten it. As others have said, lose the lager and the sugary stuff, including the granola and dried fruit.

Low fat often means high sugar (or sweeteners), which isn't good for you either. Oil and vinegar works well as a salad dressing (as long as it's not balsamic, which is higher in sugar).

My suggestion would be to eat foods that are as natural and unprocessed as possible. Chicken or fish with salad and veg as you've listed for your dinner is great. Eggs are good for breakfast (and fill you up for hours), and chopped veg, fruit (berries are lower sugar than most), a handful of nuts or a small portion of cheese are good for snacks if you feel the need. If you reduce your sugar intake, including processed carbs, you might not feel the need to snack as much anyway.

As others have said, My Fitness Pal is great for getting to know what your calorie intake is so you can be realistic about portion sizes and how much you're actually having in a day.

Good luck!

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TalkinPeace · 22/07/2015 14:48

Hi landwhale,
Its been a week since you posted.
I know we've not replied as you hoped, but hopefully its made sense.
How are you doing?

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PatriciaJohanon · 22/07/2015 15:20

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cuntycowfacemonkey · 22/07/2015 15:25

Agree that is a lot more than 1300 calories. If you are going for low fat "diet" options I would say there is too much sugar in your diet. 7 lagers a week is a lot if you are trying to lose weight

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