Never Consistent

[Patrice827]

Hello ladies.
I have a MAJOR problem with consistency when it comes to this whole dieting/exercising. Since the beginning of this year, I've changed my diet and exercise about 3-4 times each. And what end up happening is that I don't make any progress then get upset about it. I actually think it could be because I'm expecting fast results, I don't know. I notice that I'll even try to come up with every excuse in the book to make me feel better. But yet, when I look in the mirror, step on the scale, or get dressed, I'm disappointed because I didn't change.

I can be happy that maintained since I stopped the Optifast program in November. But I'd love to continue this weight loss journey on my own with the old fashion diet and exercise. I've also been out of work since then up until last week, so that caused a lot of stress and unneccessary snacking. So, now I'm working a normal 9-5 M-F (YYYAAAYYY!!!!). That means there's some sort of normalcy (is that even a word?) in my life. Now I'm working out 5x a week, and eating 6 meals a day. My workout is consisting of heavy weights and 20mins of cardio. I noticed that I don't lose doing cardio, only when I eat right. So I figured I focus on weights to gain muscle mass, and make sure I eat VERY clean.

As far as my eating:
8am 1 boiled egg/1 cup of wheaties with skim milk/ 1 orange
10am 1 apple
12pm 6oz of chicken/1cup of veggies/1/2 cup of starch (brown rice or 5 melba toast crackers
3pm 1 orange
6pm same as 12pm meal, just more veggies.
8pm yogurt to satisfy my after dinner sweet tooth

What do you all think? Do you go through these problems? What can I do to stick to this and not change again next week when I don't see a change? Would this even work? As you can see, I'm not being optimistic...HELP!!!

[sportyhp]

doesn't look like you are eating enough at all

[Raeka]

doesn't look like you are eating enough at all

I agree. And eating too little food will both make it harder for you to stick to and lower your metabolism.

[dragon*princess]

PM sent!

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[Patrice827]

I had a feeling that could have been it, but I noticed over the years, the only time I lost weight was when I ate less. What I listed above mimicks a diet I was on when I was going to Medical Weight Loss Clinic about 11 years ago. I started out at 330lbs and dropped down to 298lbs in 3months. I did it over the summer so when school started back up, it was hard to stay on it.

Now fast forward to the present, I lost 50lbs on Optifast between July-November. If some of you don't know, Optifast is based of shakes or nutrition bars. Similar to SlimFast. I had 3 Optifast suppliments, 2 pieces of fruit, and then one meal that was around 300cal. (about 900cals a day total) That was usually a Lean Cuisine. And I could also have all the salad, sugar free jello and popsicles I want. With salad, I use that spritzer dressing that is like 1cal per squirt. On this plan I was being monitored by a doctor so my insurance covered my visits and I just bought the supplements. Since I quit my job, I got off the plan but have been able to maintain since then.

So, it just seems that the only time I lost was when I was eating a lot less. I didn't workout, just ate differently. So now trying to do it with diet and exercise, I'm confused as to how much I should eat so that I can be consistent and not continue to switch all the time.

[dragon*princess]

Think about it like this - when you take a trip, go to school, or leave for work, sometimes you pack extra food because you know that later on "you're going to get hungry." Well, the body does the same exact thing! When you eat, the body breaks it down and uses it for energy. And, if you eat more than the body needs, it stores it away in a little ziplock baggie called a fat cell (just in case it gets hungry and you're unable to feed it). The more you have leftover, the more fat cells you accumulate.

Trust me "i know"....
I have about 2 dozen leftover Krispy Kreme stored on my ass right now! *lol*

Now, as you know - 330lbs is a lot of person to feed. When you don't eat enough, your body looks to the most available source of food....those Leftover ziplocks you have stored! :D Extremely Low calorie diets force your body to use up those fat storages for fuel and energy. That's why you lost so much weight.

The main objective of those low calorie diets is "to lose bodyfat"....they do that very well. BUT....The biggest problem with those low calorie diets is, you don't get enough protein to maintain and develop muscle.

At 5'10" 268lbs you have a frame that can put on some nice muscle if you eat right and lift smart. The things that you need to pay close attention to are your refined carbs and simple sugars! And whatever you do....please don't be afraid to eat more protein!

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[Patrice827]

Its great to hear the motivation and encouragement, and also that I'm not eating ENOUGH. I've been eating a lot more over the past few days, and I do feel a lot different..in a good way. I'm going to give it a shot for a full month instead of a few days and see how it goes. I will definitely let you all know. I ate so little because I was scared of gaining my weight back. But I see that I have to eat more of the RIGHT things to keep losing and get the body that I want.

[HappySnowBunny]

Think about it like this - when you take a trip, go to school, or leave for work, sometimes you pack extra food because you know that later on "you're going to get hungry." Well, the body does the same exact thing! When you eat, the body breaks it down and uses it for energy. And, if you eat more than the body needs, it stores it away in a little ziplock baggie called a fat cell (just in case it gets hungry and you're unable to feed it). The more you have leftover, the more fat cells you accumulate.

Trust me "i know"....
I have about 2 dozen leftover Krispy Kreme stored on my ass right now! *lol*

Now, as you know - 330lbs is a lot of person to feed. When you don't eat enough, your body looks to the most available source of food....those Leftover ziplocks you have stored! :D Extremely Low calorie diets force your body to use up those fat storages for fuel and energy. That's why you lost so much weight.

The main objective of those low calorie diets is "to lose bodyfat"....they do that very well. BUT....The biggest problem with those low calorie diets is, you don't get enough protein to maintain and develop muscle.

At 5'10" 268lbs you have a frame that can put on some nice muscle if you eat right and lift smart. The things that you need to pay close attention to are your refined carbs and simple sugars! And whatever you do....please don't be afraid to eat more protein!

.


Extremely well said! Specially the baggie/fat cell comparison.

I can add that I'm struggling with undereating/overweighing myself and the consistant advice is to eat more. It's hard having been a hardcore restrictor for so long but I'm really trying.

Also, the motivation thing? I keep this in my gym where I'll see it always:

"They say motivation doesn't last. Neither does bathing. That's why it's recommended daily."

For me that means you have to renew that desire each and every day, without fail...or yes, it will die off. It makes me laugh a little, too. :)

[dragon*princess]

Thank you Happy Snow Bunny.
Yes, under eating can have the same effect.

I should have added that the body will "also" store fat cells (ziplocks) if you're in the habit of not eating enough. The body will slow down its metabolism on purpose so that it doesn't use up 'or' waste too much of the nutrients that its being fed. ~ So when it's not being fed properly....rather than storing those ziplocks on your butt as simple leftovers - the body goes into Y2K mode and begins hording food as if it were expecting the end of the world. :D

Its just your body's way of protecting itself when it senses hard times ahead!
"Self Preservation"....and that means one thing to it - getting sustained nutrients to the vital parts of the body (brain, heart, organs, cells, etc.) from its fat storages for as long as it can.

So, when people say that you need to eat more to crank up your metabolism - They are absolutely right! Simply put, you have to teach your body that it doesn't need to horde food, it will be fed a balanced diet on a regular basis, and whatever it doesn't use can be disposed of daily (through healthy digestion).

BUT you have to eat right for your body (yes, it takes a little trial and error) just keep in mind when creating your balanced diet - The Body NEEDS Protein and Healthy Fats, and it only needs "some" Carbs (so don't go crazy with the bread, pasta, potatoes, etc. just because you were told to eat more.) :)

.

[nutron]

I have the same problem.

[girlygirl]

question--a serious one--

how did you end up overweight to start with? is it that when you eat closer to maintainence cals you tend to overeat (eat a bit more than you should at every meal, or eat more meals than you should?) or binge?

i know with compulsive overeaters and binge eating disorder sufferers there's often a real fear of eating close to a maintainence amount of calories because it can trigger *over* eating, where as undereating kills the appetite as it kills the metabolism which makes it seem "easier" to diet by undereating. but it truly is less effective.

yes, there's a certain amount of weight you can lose restricting your cals way below maintainence, but you WILL hit a wall doing it. i've seen many, many gals with bmis over 25 maintaining on <1000 cals or <1500 cals or <2500 cals depending on their weights.

a good clean 2500 cal diet (if not more) would do you good.