Weight loss Fail

[Dalida89]

Hi All,

I am Female, 29 yrs, 5'5 current weight 165lbs. I have been trying to lose weight, get lean/toned but I have hit a wall for the past year. I started the weight loss process in June 2016 (175lbs) and by January 2017, I went to 163lbs. I continued the process but no more weight loss occurred.My problem isnt measuring food. I measure my food with a scale and document in MFP. My problem is never feeling full. I never get full on my current calories and need to eat more to get through the day. This causes me to go over my caloric deficit and not lose weight. TDEE calculators said my maintenance cals are 2000 so to lose 1lb a week I need to be on 1500cals. I have been trying to consume 1500 for the past year and a half but I can never do it. I always go over my limit because I am never full. Therefore all I have been doing is maintaining my weight, not losing. This leads me to believe that I am really consuming 1800-2000 cals a day not 1500. Otherwise I would lose weight right?

Another issue is hypoglycemic headaches. These have occured continuously thru the year. I want these to go away. I workout 3-5 days a week. On some good weeks I get 5 days in and on others 3-4. I do 30 mins of cardio and 30 mins of strength training with a split routine. Maybe I need to do like 7 days of 60min cardio no fun LoL.

Yesterday was made of:

10AM: Breakfast sandwich: 2 eggs on 2 slices wheat bread with tomatoes, cheese and cucumbers with Coffee and Milk 2 splendas.

12PM: snack: 5 Multigrain crackers and 3 oz. Turkey.

2:30PM: Lunch: Mixed veggies of asparagus, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower and carrots sauteed in avocado oil. I measured all of these. I didnt have any protein so I bought some Teriyaki chicken from the cafateria it must of been 3oz. Also bought a small serving of mashed potatoes, tiny serving of kale salad, one potato wedge, few green beans. I ate this and was hungry again in the next 2 hours.

4:30: Snack - 2 boiled eggs, string cheese and half a protein bar.

At 6:30-7:30 I worked out did 30 mins cardio and tackled chest and triceps.

10:15PM: Made a bowl of mixed items: red and green cabbage with mayo (type of coleslaw), cherry tomatoes, zucchini, cauliflower with some sauteed chicken tenders.

At 1AM i was hungry I had oatmeal with half cup of milk. Luckily in the morning I didnt have a headache maybe cuz of the oatmeal. I usually get headache in the morning since I go 8 hrs at night without eating while I sleep.

My fitness pal says I ate 1844Cals, 132 P, 178C, 69F.

Questions:
1. How can I feel full on 1500cal?

2. Is 1500cals really what I need to eat to lose weight?

2. How can I plan my meals in the day better? Should I just eat 3 big meals a day instead of 5-6 small meals? Cuz these 5-6 small meals are so small and dont do anything for my stomach LoL. By the time I finish the small meal I am hungry in the next 2 hours waiting for my next meal which is small also lol... i can send a photo of body in Private message.

[Natty1980]

In my opinion you are overestimating your TDEE and eating too much. Try to recalculate it with 110 lbs of lean body mass.
If you don't feel full with 1500 KCal and need more carbs in order not to have headaches, then introduce some brown rice in order to get to 1700-1800 KCal and increase cardio to 45-50 min.
You are a normal 5'5 girl and surely do not need 2000 KCal/day.

[jay283]

Leave out mayo and cheese. Use low fat butter. Keep trying you'll get there

[gcarey3678]

Maybe try adding in some more healthy fats to keep you feeling full longer. For instance Avocado or nut butters BUT you would need to be careful since these are of course more calorie dense. I agree with leaving out the mayo and cheese. Grass fed butter is good.
It does not seem like you had any carbs with dinner so adding in something like sweet potato may help. I would also stick in general to foods that will not cause an insulin spike so you dont crash and get hungry again right away.
Also if you are using a lot of condiments and sauces those can add up quickly, even the way you are preparing the food like cooking in olive oil like you mentioned can add up.
I know its tough but you can figure it out. You just have to experiment a bit and see what foods work best for your body.

[alicat32]

Just a couple of questions. Have you been diagnosed with any sort of medical condition that causes low blood sugar? How much water are you consuming throughout the day?

I am back to dieting down as well, and am at 1750 calories a day (I am 5'10). I have my macros pretty nailed down. I also never feel full. It is probably natural when you are on calorie restriction to not feel full. It is just something I have learned to deal with. I also consume a lot water (like at least a gallon) a day, and this helps. As far as meal spacing, that may be something you have to play with a little to find what works best for you.

[mavd]

In my opinion you are overestimating your TDEE and eating too much. Try to recalculate it with 110 lbs of lean body mass.
If you don't feel full with 1500 KCal and need more carbs in order not to have headaches, then introduce some brown rice in order to get to 1700-1800 KCal and increase cardio to 45-50 min.
You are a normal 5'5 girl and surely do not need 2000 KCal/day.

Really? I mean if she's working out 2-3 times a week with decent intensity that seems about right. At the same weight and 4-5 good workouts plus hitting 7k+ steps on non-workout days I burn around 2400/day.

OP, there higher likelihood is that you're tracking poorly. Things like sauce laden chicken from a cafeteria are probably going to have more calories than you think, and packaging can be quite off. Also, being slightly off on your cooking oils and mayo in salads can add up quick. Are you weighing the pre-packaged stuff like the string cheese and protein bars? Those can be off by 40% or more too (they say a bar is about a serving or 100 g, but you weigh it and voila, it weights 150g!). How about your glasses of milk, are you weighing that? A "cup" of milk is a lot less than a glass of milk.

[Dalida89]

Thanks for your input guys. I will take some of this info and take it intl account moving forward.

Natty: I recalculated my TDEE and this time I put sedentary. Maybe I was using lightly active which gave me 2000 cals. I put my height, weight and put sedentary. It shows 1769 as my TDEE. To lose 1lb I have to reduce by 500 which means I need to eat 1269. There is no way I can function on 1269 and work out 3,4,5 days a week. I cant even function on 1500 LoL. I understand what your saying though - eat a little more to feel full but counter that with more exercise to make up for the extra cals. Perhaps I should just eat 1800 as you are recommending and rely on exercise to burn the fat and increase cardio minutes and cardio days. Its just tough to know how much youre really burning in the gym. But good idea, maybe I should try it.

Jay: Regarding Mayo and cheese, the mayo I use is weighed at 15g=30calories. Is that a problem? I dunno... The cheese is not needed, true. I mean its an extra necessity, but I am mediterrenean and cheese is part of our diet (feta, mozzerll. Etc.) It was a slice of thin provolone at 80 cals that I mentioned in the meal plan for that day. Maybe I should cook with light butter as you say. We use olive oil and avocado oil for cooking. I have never sauteed chicken in butter tho LoL and I dont see butter as a subsitute for cheese on a sandiwich, but I will look into this butter as an option.

Gcarey: True about the healthy fats, they have more calories and add up right away. Peanut butter is 200cals for like 2tblspoons and when u measure it out on the scale it barely looks like a gdod amount LOL. I guess I need to find foods that are low calorie but have volume-dense properties and filling.

Alicat: I have not been diagnos. with any sugar condition. Last physical I had 6 months ago showed normal glucose level and normal thyroid. But maybe should check again. I recently started to track my water and make sure I get whats needed. But i was definitely not having enough water in the past year. I am too embarassed to say how much water I was having LOL.


Mavd: I hear you about tracking properly. Even if I track properly and hit 1500cals I wont feel full and will end up eating more and Ill track those extra calories so at the end of the day my daily calories will be 1800 or 1900. Its not that I am not measuring - I am. But I can never get my calories to stay under 1500. There is a difference between not tracking properly and going over your limit and tracking properly and going over your limit because your not full. You have one person who doesnt track properly and doesnt know why hes not losing weight. The 2nd person tracks everything and can clearly see he is consuming more calories on his tracker. I am the 2nd person. I can clearly see on MFP that my calories every day are like 200-400 cals over my allowance.

[Plateauplower]

Feeling full and dieting are pretty much mutually exclusive...You need to get used to being hungry and forget about being FULL (that's what gets people fat). I think people who get overweight need to kind of rewire their brains in terms of feeling actual hunger vs non-hunger or just "not being full". I like being full, but in order for me to keep a good body composition that's rare. Dialing in your macros correctly and using a sensible deficit you should generally feel "satiated" directly after a meal and pretty hungry before the next when dieting. You might try saving your carbs for later. Carbs tend to make me hungrier, so if I were to eat an egg sandwich with bread for example, I would be hungrier faster than if I just ate some eggs. I do well lowering my carbs and eating higher protein and moderate fat. I save most of my carbs (other than veg) for my evening meal because I sleep better and they don't make me hungry if I'm sleeping. Try to include fibrous veg in several meals. Steamed bro-collie is good, I eat a lot of riced cauliflower when dieting too. 14oz of riced cauliflower is 100 cals and makes for a great stir-fry "base". Avoid all sugary sauces, condiments etc, don't drink any calories, get the most out of your food intake with minimally processed foods. I used to eat 35 cal bread all the time, until one day I was out of it and just ate a burger without it. I stayed satiated way longer than I normally would with the bread despite the meal being 70 cals less...I experimented with keto which works well for me, but I don't recommend it or think its necessary if you choose your carb intake wisely and stick to primarily veg as carb sources in terms of satiation...at least while dieting. Veg soups can also be good source of "bulk food" with minimal calorie content. You need to find what works best for you in terms of satiation, but you can't go wrong with lean meats, veg, etc. Check out "SheSprints" Journal in the female journal section she lists her daily foods and it might give you some other ideas to try for satiating food choices that are rich in micro nutrients but low calorie overall...

[mavd]

Mavd: I hear you about tracking properly. Even if I track properly and hit 1500cals I wont feel full and will end up eating more and Ill track those extra calories so at the end of the day my daily calories will be 1800 or 1900. Its not that I am not measuring - I am. But I can never get my calories to stay under 1500. There is a difference between not tracking properly and going over your limit and tracking properly and going over your limit because your not full. You have one person who doesnt track properly and doesnt know why hes not losing weight. The 2nd person tracks everything and can clearly see he is consuming more calories on his tracker. I am the 2nd person. I can clearly see on MFP that my calories every day are like 200-400 cals over my allowance.

You could see slow but measurable progress at 1700. 1900 is probably just too close and a little label or measure mistake will wipe the full deficit out.

Honestly, you don't need to be full. You just need to be not hungry. Drink more water and zero calorie drinks. Have a glass of water before you eat anything. If that fails, eat a bunch of celery.

[PattyU]

Hi All,

I am Female, 29 yrs, 5'5 current weight 165lbs. I have been trying to lose weight, get lean/toned but I have hit a wall for the past year. I started the weight loss process in June 2016 (175lbs) and by January 2017, I went to 163lbs. I continued the process but no more weight loss occurred.My problem isnt measuring food. I measure my food with a scale and document in MFP. My problem is never feeling full. I never get full on my current calories and need to eat more to get through the day. This causes me to go over my caloric deficit and not lose weight. TDEE calculators said my maintenance cals are 2000 so to lose 1lb a week I need to be on 1500cals. I have been trying to consume 1500 for the past year and a half but I can never do it. I always go over my limit because I am never full. Therefore all I have been doing is maintaining my weight, not losing. This leads me to believe that I am really consuming 1800-2000 cals a day not 1500. Otherwise I would lose weight right?

Another issue is hypoglycemic headaches. These have occured continuously thru the year. I want these to go away. I workout 3-5 days a week. On some good weeks I get 5 days in and on others 3-4. I do 30 mins of cardio and 30 mins of strength training with a split routine. Maybe I need to do like 7 days of 60min cardio no fun LoL.

Yesterday was made of:

10AM: Breakfast sandwich: 2 eggs on 2 slices wheat bread with tomatoes, cheese and cucumbers with Coffee and Milk 2 splendas.

12PM: snack: 5 Multigrain crackers and 3 oz. Turkey.

2:30PM: Lunch: Mixed veggies of asparagus, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower and carrots sauteed in avocado oil. I measured all of these. I didnt have any protein so I bought some Teriyaki chicken from the cafateria it must of been 3oz. Also bought a small serving of mashed potatoes, tiny serving of kale salad, one potato wedge, few green beans. I ate this and was hungry again in the next 2 hours.

4:30: Snack - 2 boiled eggs, string cheese and half a protein bar.

At 6:30-7:30 I worked out did 30 mins cardio and tackled chest and triceps.

10:15PM: Made a bowl of mixed items: red and green cabbage with mayo (type of coleslaw), cherry tomatoes, zucchini, cauliflower with some sauteed chicken tenders.

At 1AM i was hungry I had oatmeal with half cup of milk. Luckily in the morning I didnt have a headache maybe cuz of the oatmeal. I usually get headache in the morning since I go 8 hrs at night without eating while I sleep.

My fitness pal says I ate 1844Cals, 132 P, 178C, 69F.

Questions:
1. How can I feel full on 1500cal?

2. Is 1500cals really what I need to eat to lose weight?

2. How can I plan my meals in the day better? Should I just eat 3 big meals a day instead of 5-6 small meals? Cuz these 5-6 small meals are so small and dont do anything for my stomach LoL. By the time I finish the small meal I am hungry in the next 2 hours waiting for my next meal which is small also lol... i can send a photo of body in Private message.

I don’t always track my food, but do for periods of time. I almost always eat between 1700-2000 calories per day. The food you list looked like it was definitely more than 1800 calories to me. It sounds like a lot of food. I would eat that much when trying to bulk. I’ve not used my fitness pal and haven’t heard anything bad about it, but maybe try a different app. I plugged in the numbers in the Lose it app, which what I use. Becuase you had such a low calorie amount from my fitness pal, I was conservative and listed skim milk instead of a higher fat version. I guessed at the Mayo in your Cole slaw as 1 tablespoon and didn’t even count some of your items like kale at all. I put in 3 ounces of boneless, skinLess chicken tenders and didn’t even add the oil. I chose the lowest calorie choice for teriyaki chicken. I came up with 2197 calories. I think you are under estimating the amount of food you eat.

Are you sure the headaches don’t have another cause? Have you been diagnosed with hypoglycemia? Although hunger can trigger a headache in anyone, it sounds like you may have more than what would be expected especially since it doesn’t sound like you are starving yourself. Perhaps you should see a Doctor about the headaches if you have not already. True hypoglycemia is rare for non-diabetics. Either way, it sounds like you should get the headaches checked out if you haven’t already.

[xsquid99]

Feeling full and dieting are pretty much mutually exclusive...You need to get used to being hungry and forget about being FULL (that's what gets people fat). I think people who get overweight need to kind of rewire their brains in terms of feeling actual hunger vs non-hunger or just "not being full".

This is it right here, you almost need to re-wire your brain to a certain degree; you've been over eating for a long time, and that got you to where you are.... I've been cutting for 5 weeks now, and I'm pretty hungry for at least 6 hours of the day (a couple hours after eating each of my 3 meals I'm hungry for about 2 hours until my next meal), after a while you just get used to it. You don't ever get to feel "full" when you're trying to cut weight, you just need to be slightly not hungry.

[taylerbabe]

I recommend eating higher protein foods (eggs, chicken, etc.) and tons of fruits and vegetables. Then I'd keep refined sugars to a minimum. That's what works for me at least!