I've been doing the workouts from the book for about two months now. For the first couple of weeks, I wasn't losing any weight... just maintaining. So I took a look at my diet and started making substitutions: I gave up my favorite breakfast of Yogurt and Granola for Special K and fat free milk. I gave up NonFat Caramel Macchiatos for coffee with sugar free vanilla creamer. I gave up beer for vodka and restrict drinking to the weekend only.
I started losing a pound a week. Awesome! I only lost 3 pounds and have been stuck at the same weight for weeks.
I'm on the first series of workouts, the third level. I'm increasing the weight I lift with each level. I lift weights Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and run for 20 minutes after each lifting session. On Thursdays I just go run for 30 minutes.
I think I eat well, I don't drink soda, I don't use butter when I cook. I drink at least 64 or more ounces of water a day.
I'm getting frustrated and starting to feel defeated. I've been at this weightloss thing for a year and wish I had better results. I feel like I just bust my ass and I'm not getting anywhere. That little voice in the back of my head (the one we all should ignore) says "If this is how its going to be, why not eat granola and latte and be happy?"
I know weightloss and getting in shape is a gradual process, I'm just tired of being fat.
How are you tracking your food? Are you weighing everything? What are your macros like? If you aren't losing, then you aren't in a deficit. Weight loss happens in the kitchen, not the gym.
I generally eat:
coffee with sugar free vanilla creamer - 15 calories
cereal with milk - 150 calories
64 ounces of water
2-3 glasses of crystal light - 30 calories
lunch is a sandwich 350 calories - chicken, lots of veggies, no cheese, lots of mustard
a 100 calorie snack pack
maybe another bowl of cereal later on 150 calories
then dinner is protein and veggies...
I don't know where else I can cut stuff out. I find it hard to do the math sometimes as I make most of my food from scratch. I even make my own bread.
so, if you're not weighing your cereal, how do you KNOW how much you're eating?
If you don't weigh your chicken or veggies, how do you KNOW how many calories that is?
How do you know how many calories that "protein" dinner is?
There's sites like nutritiondata.com that will tell you the calories for your food. Get a scale and weigh away. If you make a loaf of bread, weigh all the ingredients, calculate total calories. When done, weigh your loaf, and you'll know how many calories per gram or ounce or however you want to slice it.
Weigh. Don't measure. Don't eyeball. Don't guestimate and think you're good.
If you don't weigh, you don't really know how much you're eating, what to cut out, and where to go from here. You're just guessing and hoping and spinning your wheels.
Macros means the components of the food - protein, fat and carbs. If you look on a nutrition label, it will show you grams of these macros in each item. Many people look for a percentage of calories from each macro (like Zone diet is 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat, for example). Others aim to hit a certain number of macros (like, I'm going to eat 50g of fat today)...
Sites like dailyplate.com or fitday.com can figure all this out for you if you just plug in your food.
The important basic to know: Carbs and Protein have 4 calories per gram. Fat has 9 calories per gram (so a serving of high-fat food is often calorie dense). You can calculate calories on ANY food if you know this. If a food has 10g of fat in it, it has 90 calories just from fat...
Just to throw a wrench in the works, alcohol is its own category. It doesn't fit in the 3 macros, and has 7 calories per gram. It is metabolized like a cross between fat and sugar (carb)...
Cereal was always one of my downfalls. A "serving" that corresponds to the calorie content on the box is very small. When I started measuring my cereal I found out I'd been eating at least 2, and probably 3, servings of cereal per sitting. Just a thought.
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where do I get a scale and how much does it cost, how much space does it take on my kitchen counter? I don't have a ton of spare cash and I for sure don't have hardly any kitchen counter space.
2) How am I supposed to do the math for something like bread starter?
3) I measure my cereal very very carefully. I find it hard to believe that just a tiny bit more is what's derailing me.
You can definitely get a small scale for around $20. I'll also throw this out there - you may not be eating enough! I added up all the values you listed and assumed 500 cals for dinner just to put something in there, and all of that came to 1295. This sounds very low, even for someone on a deficit for this program. But the other concern with eating too few calories is that you are very likely not getting enough protein. I'd swap at least one of your snacks (the 100-cal pack, or the extra bowl of cereal) with something like cottage cheese or greek yogurt with fruit and nuts. And make sure you are getting protein after your lifting workouts.
That makes a ton of sense. I’ve been thinking a lot about my diet and I can see where I prolly need more protein. How nasty are these post-weighlifting protein shakes? I’ve never had one and they just sound… odd, and icky. My mind has them in the same boat as energy drinks. What are some of my other options? I know eggs are high in protein… how many should I eat when I get done at the gym? Do I need to have protein before I go to the gym?
Also, I’ve looked for Greek Yogurt in the Yogurt isle at the grocery and can’t seem to find it. I like the idea of it, especially since its called for in a lot of recipes I’d like to try. Do I need to go to a Specialty store (Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, etc?) to find it?
I don't think protein shakes are nasty at all. But you made need to try a few kinds of powder to see what you like best. I can blend it straight up with ice and water and drink it, though they are even better when blended with milk and if you had some fruit or peanut butter.
My grocery store carries Greek yogurt, though I get the best bargain on plain-nonfat Greek yogurt at Trader Joe's. I also shop at Sam's and BJ's wholesale clubs, and they carry a 12-pack of Chobani 6-oz cups of nonfat greek yogurt in peach, blueberry and strawberry, for just under $12. I also noticed at BJ's this weekend they started carrying a 2-lb tub of plain nonfat Chobani for < $5.
I thought I was doing good with my meals as well until I joined weight watchers and discovered how much I really was eating.
You have to weigh and measure your food - the point about the cereal is true, if you do not weigh and measure you are likely eating 2-3 portions of everything.
Also, read labels. Especially for sugar content. I was on a plateau for 6 weeks, quit sugar and dropped 8.5 pounds in 3 weeks.
First off, kudos to you for sticking to an exercise program through the frustration, many give up when they hit a roadblock! Depending upon the amount of weight you wish to lose, this may not be the best program for you. It is difficult (some say impossible) to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time. I've read that bodybuilders do it in stages...put on muscle and then lose fat to "cut up" more. My other thought is that you are possibly eating too few calories to power your workouts. Keep trying and you'll find what works for you, DON'T EVER QUIT! You're still getting lots of other benefits like cardio-vascular, reduced cancer risk, preventing osteoporosis (sp?), reduced PMS symptoms, and the huge boost to mental/emotional health exercise gives you. My doctor says it's like taking an upper!
The other thing to remember is that the scale lies.... if that's the only measure of fat loss you are using -- and I'm sure you're interested more in fat loss than weight loss. Have you had body fat measured? Get it done with calipers or a bod-pod (not electronically). Also, measurements are a better indicator of your body composition than the scale.
Are you clothes fitting the same? Are they more loose?
Janeymac, you might not actually be eating enough. I strongly urge you to log in to the Daily Plate (www.thedailyplate.com), where you can track your calories and keep an eye on your macros (I aim for 40% carbs, 40% protein and 20% fat, but getting your macros to 33%/33%/33% is a great place to start). You need to be eating tons of protein if you're seriously lifting, which you are if you're doing NROL. This might be a good place to start, along with weighing your portions.
Janeymac - I make my own bread as well, but tracking calories for it is easy. If you weigh/measure the ingredients as you go, then weigh the final product and get a per ounce calorie count. Then later when eating it, pop the sliced bread on the scale and multiply by the per ounce count.
It sounds daunting at first, but eventually it gets easier. The one thing I've found since I weigh my ingredients that my results for baking are more consistent as well.
are you following the calorie recommendations in the book? If so, they are maintenance level calories, not weight loss calories. Like others have said above, you need to be in a calorie deficit to lose and the only way to truly know what you are eating is to weigh everything.
Also looksl ike you have a lot of diet-y/procesesd foods on your menu. You woudl be better off ditching the processed cereal like Special K, 100 calorie snack packs etc and focusing on whole foods. did you read the nutrition section in the book?
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