Not loosing like I think I should

[Akmomx6]

I am a 40 year old gal who has been counting calories for what feels like years.  I kept a food journal and was very vigial in recording until I went on vacation in March of 2014, I stopped counting and have since gained all the weight back and then some!!!!!  I started attempting to use a food journal/My Fitness pal starting in Januray of 2015 again.  I eat anywhere between 900 to 1600 calories a day.  Started using my fit bit ChargeHR in May of 2015.  I am not loosing any weight I am contuning to gain.  I know I am not as active as I should be (stay at home mom who lives in AK where is rains A LOT).  I have even tried increasing my calorie more.  Please HELP!!!  Thanks 

[shimi91]

Do you have a workout regimine? Sounds like you are on the right track but are missing something.

[Akmomx6]

Not a regular workout routine.  I do ride my bike when I can 🙂

[shimi91]

Having a routine is a big part of it, especially when we get older. It
gets even harder to lose that weight.

[WendyB]

Its more about what you eat than exercise. But no one should eat under 1200 calories. You said you eat 900 sometimes. 

It also depends on what you eat. If you  eat a lot of processed food it contains a lot of sodium. 

Do you measure your portions?  Most of us don't know what  is a portion size is.

Make sure you get some healthy fat in as well. Oil, nuts avocado etc

What kinds of food are you eating?

[Akmomx6]

yesterdays food was : coffee with whole milk, 6oz slice of homemade ground turkey lasagna, glutino crackers (I am gluten free), popcorn, ground turkey taco meat (6oz), shredded cheese (1/4 cup), dole shredded lettuce. red taco sauce, Juanitas tortilla chips, and sweet tea.  

I do use a food scale when I can 🙂

[SunsetRunner]

When eating are you trying being in tune how your body is feeling  (not hungry, a little hungry, more hungry..).. sensing what your body is asking for, what  looks most appealing to have,  a cup of coffee, saying nah fancying for example a glass of water instead with salad, not really hungry not needing meat with the salad or your body can not want potatoes but more vegetables instead.

Trying letting your body guide you when it doesn't need more, feeling getting comfortably satisfied not stuffed and no desire to have more.

When eating don't eat to eat when not wanting a certain food if possible, when it's there allow your body to have what it's craving for, otherwise eating it anyway,  while having the other food not really needed to, eating less overall but getting the nutrients your body is asking for.

Try not eating if not hungry and when eating if not really hungry, check in with your body how it feels, more satisfied, stuffed means having eaten to much.. not so bad if this happens, cause of getting more in tune with your precious body to know it's natural signals..

[Trooper]

I can see some of your problems already. The Tortilla Chips are really bad. About 1 ounce and your already in for about 150 calories. The shredded cheese is going to cost you about 120 calories. Your almost at 300 with these two items. Add in 6 oz of Taco Meat,and your looking at around 180 calories or more, depending on the leanness of the meat. The tea has sugar, and so depends on how much you are drinking. You might be adding another 150 calories for an 8 ounce glass. My advice is to dump the tortilla chips, reduce your portion of taco meat to 4 oz, and cut down on your cheese, and switch to unsweetened tea and just add Stevia or drink something with no sugar. Doing this will save you a ton of calories.   The Ground Turkey Lasanga adds another 343 calories. I did not add the crackers because I don't know how many you ate. Total caloriesis 943 for this meal. 

[Akmomx6]

@Trooper my total calorie count for yesterday was 1162 with fat total being 49g.    I try to not eat a full serving of tortilla chips and I cut the serving size of the shredded cheese in half too.  thank you for the advise 

[WendyB]

You not getting in any Veggies and fruit either. I would replace the chips with them.

Did you have Breakfast and Lunch? I would also ditch the popcorn if you have it daily as its loaded with sodium

You seem to be earting a lot of snacky foods. You need more balance with other good food.

Drink lots of water as well.

I eat 3 meals and plan for 2 snacks. One is Fruit or veggie and the other is yogurt

[exerciser]

That would be so frustrating!  Raising your calories may help long-term.  I have heard that if calories get too low, our metabolism slows down.

You could Google Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Calculators.  That would give you an idea of how many calories you burn each day without exercise.  i have read not to go lower than the calories burned by BMR.  (I personally would not go below 1600 calories; I'm 5' 9" and 200 pounds, and female.)

I also recently read a book by Robert Lustig (Fat Chance).  he writes about how our body metabolizes sugar and refined carbs differently than other foods.  It helped me cut way back on sugar and refined carbs.  People can lose or gain weight by simply eating less or more sugar (and keeping their calories the same).  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxyxcTZccsE

Great film about sugar intake and weight gain.  (That Sugar Film)  He ate 'healthy' foods with hidden sugars (and kept his calories the same) and gained a lot of weight.

I also wonder if short periods of execise would help speed up your metabolism.  You mentioned rain and being a mom, but maybe 5 - 10 minutes of indoor exercise would help.  I have hand weights in my living room, so I can work out on the living room floor.  Or walk up and down the stairs?  Or find something heavy to lift safely a few times?  Run around the house with the kids?  Yoga or just plain stretching in the living room?

[Trooper]

Also, don't always trust the calories listed on the back of the foods you buy. I found some discrepancies after I weighed my food on my digital scale. Ground Turkey is also good. I use it a lot in my meals. But I always stay around 4 oz. I use cheese, but never more than about 1/2 tablespoon. I got rid of all chips, crackers, about a year ago. I can't trust myself with them. I'm a Chip and Junk Food Junkie!!!So I just stay away from them.

[MRose]

That is so incredibly frustrating! I've been where you are many times over! What was most helpful for me was switching to what I always referred to as the "yuppie diet." I'm also wheat-free, and the biggest hurdle with that always seemed to be the replacements. If I wanted bread or crackers, I'd grab the GF, rice-flour version, which is nearly always worse than the original! Taking those things out entirely proved to be majorly helpful. I am mostly on a meat-and-veggies diet, and even though my exercise has slacked in the summer time (it's hot down here in Texas!!), my weight loss has continued. When you introduce synthesized supplements, the body does not always know how to process it, and it sometimes makes your blood sugar spike anyway, even if it's a sugar "substitute." This often occurs because of other simple carbs, too, so I'm not saying that Splenda is of the devil or anything (that's a whole other post somewhere between the Legos vs. MegaBlocks people).

Point being, paleo pizza doesn't satisfy that craving like normal pizza would, so in most cases, it's better to just get rid of it entirely so you don't end up craving things to the point that we end up waking up in bed three days later surrounded by candy wrappers with an Easter bunny head under the blanket.

Back to actual tips: Be sure to get your balance of carbs, protein, and healthy fats.

Also, what do you generally drink on a weekly basis, and where do you hold weight? If it's visceral (abdominal), it is likely tied to what you are eating. If it's all-over, there might be underlying metabolic issues as well, etc...

Don't forget, cortisol plays a role in all of this, too! The stress hormone does not like skinny people, so it always seems to find Girl Scout cookies!

[jdmweightloser]

In Jan. of this year i weighed 215 lbs., this morning i weighed 191.4. My secret, no flour-no sugar-smaller portions. I'm never hungry because i stock up on seeds, nuts, celery or any kind of green veggie, and fish chicken, beef or pork. Don't get me wrong, i still cheat from time to time but i use to be a desert junkie. Now i eat raisins if i want sugar. This may not be an easy diet, but you don't go hungry, if you do, you will likely cheat eating the wrong foods.

[Raviv]

Are you increasing your calorie intake when your Fitbit says you should, and decreasing it when it says you haven't been all that active?

What is your calorie deficit set to (in the Food Plan area) and how much do you feel you should lose?

A lot of people have this idea that they should eat X number of calories and it doesn't change.  That's just not healthy or realistic.  You should be trying to eat as much or as little as your Fitbit calculates you need.  That's why it's such a great tool.

You say it rains a lot and that you have kids at home.  Can you get them involved in some really active play in the house?  The bonus would be that they'll be exhausted along with you, and you might not have a fight getting them to sleep at night.

[Trooper]

You are so right!!! I have been stuck at the 192 weight for days and days. At only 1000 calories a day my body would not let my weight go down. As soon as I bumped them up a bit, my weight moved down. Amazing!!!!I I also realize that when you diet and excercise and don't eat enough calories, the body does think it is starving. 

[jdmweightloser]

I don't count calories anymore. Not to say that you shouldn't, but I
concentrate on the no flour/no sugar diet. I also look at my portion size,
never eat when i'm satisfied that I've had enough, that way the stomach
shrinks little by little. Good luck.

[Annie-NH]

From your meal plan it sounds like breakfast was coffee with whole milk

morning snack- crackers

lunch -turkey lasagne

afternoon snack-popcorn

Dinner-turkey tacos with tortilla chips, cheese, turkey

I see no breakfast, just 2 meals and 2 snacks.

start eating breakfast, something with lean protein, an egg, some egg beaters, hot cereal with fruit

swap out the carb snacks for low fat yogurt and fruit.

Lunch should feature a veggie not just protien and carb

Dinner- ditch the chips,  make the taco filling and use Boston Lettuce leaves for the wraps

have a healthy after dinner snack or dessert, at least a couple hours before bed time

[shimi91]

Do you eat this way for every meal and snack? What kinds of nuts and seeds?

[jdmweightloser]

Sunflower and pumpkin. I cheat once in a while., but for the most part I
just stay away from sugar and flour. Only eat until you're satisfied, don't
clean your plate like your parents told you to. Smaller portions, and a lot
of small snacks all day long. I only have one real meal all day, usually
dinner with steak,pork,chicken or fish. Always a veggie and salad, that
usually fills me up. For my sweet tooth it's usually raisins or greek
yogurt that I add frozen fruit to. Add a little Stevia for sweetness.
Jerry Meahan