Ok, I'm getting mad

Looking over all these posts I keep noticing things like "I've given up soda" or "I never have fast food anymore, I used to have it every day."
My problem? I have never been that "into" pop, I will maybe have a Dr. Pepper once every other week, IF we're out or I'm on a long drive or something. I go to fast food maybe once a month, if that.  Also about once a month we'll get a pizza. I don't think that I eat too much at meals, when we go out to sit down dinners I NEVER finish my meal...or get even close to finishing. I feel that (before I started my "diet") I ate normally, even healthfully. Lean meats, poultry, lots of veggies and fruits, pasta etc... So what am I supposed to give up? I honestly can't think of any junk foods that are my "weaknesses". I work out too! Counting calories basically just paying attention to what I eat, not really changing anything. (After "dieting for two months I lost 5 lbs total, I fell off the wagon and I gained 5 back, no more, no less) Most of the times I have to work to get up to the amount I'm supposed to have each day. Am I doing something wrong or is my body just naturally fat?
I'm 5'2" 210 lbs. The goal weight that CC figured for me was 120 and said I could do this my eating 1900 cal a day.

What are you setting your activity level to? I am 5'4" and (now) 203 and it gives me 1200 with sedentary level.

maybe you aren't eating enough??

you said you fell off the wagon??  what did you do that made you do that exactly??  for example, pizza is my weekness so if i ate a massive pizza that would be me falling off the wagon.  what ever it was that you did is whats holding you back and is what you need to avoid.

you obviously know what to do as you lost 5lbs so all you have to do now is keep doing that!!

Even if you aren't eating junk food you still need to look at portion sizes.  Even eating too much of the right kinds of foods will cause you to gain weight.  Also are you exercising.  I am suprised that CC told you could get to 120 on 1900 cal per day.  I am 5'3 and have a goal of 130 (currently 150) and CC suggests I eat around 1400 cal per day.  And I am also extremely active.  Don't give up, just watch your portion sizes and if that doesn't help then maybe go see a doctor you could have a thyroid issue.  :-)  Good luck... remember it is tough for all of us!

By fell off the wagon I mean I stopped keeping track. The last time I logged on here was March 20th ( I think?) and that's the last time I paid any attention to what I was eating. Which makes it hard to see what I did in those two months to gain 5 lbs. Honestly though, when you're this big, 5lbs doesn't seem like much at all.

Mistymom- I'm setting it as moderate. I work out every day and I have a pretty active job where I do a lot of walking around my office and lifting boxes and stuff. Do you think I should switch it to sedentary and start eating fewer cals?

Well, I think it's impossible for someone to be nearly 100 pounds overweight if they have truly been eating within their calorie needs (unless you have some sort of medical condition).  You don't need to eat junk to be overweight. Restaurant portions are HUGE so it's not saying much if you don't finish them.  Are you measuring your portions?  Maybe you need to look at how much you're eating rather than what you are eating.

I don't know, I am by no means an expert in any way! I set mine as sedentary as suggested when I first joined. I now just add in my workout calories as I do work out 7 days a week.

I agree on portion sizes though. I continue to be surprised at what is considered a normal portion and what we (at least in my house) will put on our plates. I do use a food scale periodically to help me remember. For me, the big thing is making sure I drink enough water. My recommended daily intake is 124 oz. (Threw me for a loop when I got that number). But I do make sure I get that in and more if I have had a higher sodium day. I also like to snack/crunch/munch/what ever you want to call it, so I allow for extra fresh fruit and veggies (usually nice crispy grapes or baby carrots).

I am searching and looking daily for ways to improve my intake and get the most out of my calories. I have lost 57 pounds to date and haven't gotten "tired" of the changes. My husband and I have actually changed our lifestyle and views on eating rather than viewing it as a diet.

Good luck csc and don't give up!

I almost always eat 100% healthy foods and I ALWAYS exercise, yet I still manage to gain weight sometimes. My problem is I just eat too much at times. I never binge or gorge, yet I still manage to take in too many calories just from boredom eating or whatever. Too many calories of HEATHY foods -- yep! It's not like I'm even indulging in Ho Hos or chocolate shakes. So yeah, when you're doing it "right" it can be pretty frustrating ...

Obviously, the changes you made worked though. Just gotta stick with it I suppose.

Cscgrl04,  I coulda written your post last year!! I can understand your frustration completely! I have never been a soda drinker and have always eaten a healthy, nearly clean diet with fast food only about 3 times a year. I've always gotten at least 5 servings of veggies a day, and I don't drown my veggies in oil either!!

In retrospect, I now feel my problem was that I had been in starvation mode. To make a long story short (you can read the full version in my profile), I'd been having heartburn problems for about a year (2005-2006) that made it hard for me to eat. So for a year, I was eating just one big meal a day, rarely over 1200 calories, probably more like 700-800. Then when I went on a med that fixed the heartburn, I started eating normal three meals 1400-1700 calories (my maintenance level) and the pounds flew on to me ... literally, in only a month or two!!

From June 06 to Jan 07, despite watching my diet and exercising on a daily basis, I lost very little weight. Even when I joined cc in January the weight loss proceeded very slowly, until about two months ago, when it flew off of me. I think it took that long to fix my metabolism and get it back to working normal.

So if you have had a prior history of yo-yo dieting - periods of eating way too little - consider that may be a factor here.

Other things you should investigate:

1) Get a checkup at your doctor. Make sure your thyroid is in working order. (in my case, everything checked out normal)

2) As someone else suggested, make sure your portions are correct. Get a scale if necessary and weigh everything. It is easy to overestimate (although in my case I found out I was *under* estimating).

3) Do you drink alcohol? This was a biggie for me. Once I reduced my daily 2 glasses of wine to just 4 oz, the weight started flying off. Alcohol messes with your hormones, so it's not just the extra calories.

4) How are you sleeping? Crappy sleep can also mess with your hormones and affect your weight loss progress.

5) How is your stress level? Stress can also mess with your hormones and affect your weight loss progress.

I too was not a pop drinker and I ate healthy food.  I was not very active but I do keep a clean house. 

I was eating 1800 on a good day.  2200 on a bad day.  2600 on pms days.  for doing that I gained 2pounds every month for 2 solid years.

I didn't know what to do because I had a bout with low blood sugar and had to eat every 2 hours.  I would try to eat healthy but the calories would add up.

I started drinking water and I could go longer without eating. I was
happy about that. 

In my past I would do severe diets to lose weight because I couldn't get it off and would get impatient.

I found out here if I sat on a couch and did nothing and consumed 2k calories a day I would remain 217 pounds.  That explains why I gained 24 pounds in 2 years.  I was avg. 2234 calories a day
and gained 2 pounds each month.

So, I lost 7lbs my first month
zero so far for my 2nd

I'm just being patient no more severe diets for me.

Can you show me a regular daily meal plan for you? and the times of day you usually eat? how many hours of sleep do you get? and how often do you exercise/what kind of exercise do you do??

8 hours of sleep
2 water bottles upon arising
1 black coffee
Health food oatmeal made with water 200 calories.
Health food lunch typical is a bean and rice burrito 280 calories
W/ sour cream and hot sauce 40-80 calories
1 serv. of health food cheese puffs 150 calories
Hot green tea after lunch.

I drink water after that digests. 

exercise:  2 hours.  Elliptical machine or walking or a video or a combo of all of them.   This is new for me.  I was doing oh 45 min. a day.  I've increased it for a challenge I'm in. 

Dinner:  a well balanced dinner and it varies.  Tonight was chicken about a hand full.  Salad with cucumber with home made ginger dressing.  250 calories
A slice of Rye Bread high in protein from health food store 110 cal.
apple butter organic about 40 calories worth.
1/2 cup of organic choc. ice-cream 200 calories (special treat)

Yogurt 150 calories
Apple and almonds 100
Misc. calories from healthy sources 100-200

Water 202 ounces a day. Good water source.

Total Calories for this day:  1550-1750 a day.  yesterday was a high day for me at 2100.  I was hungry before bed and had some cheese (which I feel is a tad wrong but I wanted it--it was 100 calories and organic)

today for Breakfast I had oatmeal 200 calories
Today's lunch was higher in calories.  I had a tomato sandwich
which cost me 400 calories.  I also had a serv. of potato chips for 200 so my total was 600.
Dinner was healthy at 600
I'll eat something healthy later on tonight for a few hundred.
I'll probably top out today at 1600-1700 and I'm assuming my exercise was worth 600 so that puts me at about 1100 calories
which is a tad short so if I'm hungry I'll eat 150 calories (I'm sure I'll want it).  I'll be on target for today.

As you can see I'm doing the work.  I do think I look better. 
Just not seeing the scale drop yet.

Try only eating the recommended serving size of these foods for one week and see if you lose weight. Seriously, just give it a try:

Total Whole Grain cereal - 1 cup
skim milk - 3/4 cup
half a banana

apple and 2 tablespoons of hummus

salad with 8 shrimp,1/4 avocado, lots of veggies like cukes, peppers, and others with hardly any calories and a fat free dressing

1 cup Total cereal with a light and fit yogurt or 2 tablespoons of hummus in a Small pita

Weight Watchers frozen meal (6-7 points) and a salad with one tablespoon of dressing

1/2 cup of Breyer's no sugar added, low-fat, double churned ice cream

that sounds yummy.  I don't drink milk even organic because milk despite what you hear is not healthy but on occasion I would enjoy it.  I would actually go to the health food section and get a whole grain cereal there so that I avoid sprayed on synthetic vitamins.
I also can't drink soy milk.  soy milk is bad for a thyroid issue.

Hummus is good and I love it.

I don't eat shrimp anymore because their diet is poop off the bottom of the ocean floor.  No joke.

I do like frozen healthy meals and do get them from the health food section.  I haven't read Weight Watchers ingredients but they might be fine?

At anyrate I DO appreciate you taking time to share.  It does actually sound good.  I almost hesitated in picking it apart because I knew you shared that out of love and I also think it sounds pretty good better than what most people eat. 

I do think for something different I would look into cereal for fun.
Even though I know milk is not a healthy thing.  It's fine i was
just being nick picky.   i do cheese and I know that's bad for me too.  Even the organic.  I try to eat less of it knowing. 

I eat cottage cheese on occasion and I know that's not really healthy.  I eat meat on occasion and I know that's not super healthy. 

I try to eat beans and the advocados you mentioned. 

Just talking out loud.  I hope you like some of what I said.
I gotta go clean the upstairs so by for now

Are you doing any resistance training at all. Lean muscle tissue burns a lot of calories in a day. By doing some resistance training with 5-10 lbs weights you can start building lean muscle tissue and increase your metabolism.

Plus with resistance training you get the benifit of releasing fat burning hormones. You also get an after-burn that can last up to 48 hours. You don't get that same type of burn with cardio.

Get a book, video or look up excersises online to make sure you are doing them correctly. Focus on the largest muscle groups (Legs, Back, Chest and Shoulders). Do resistance exercises 3 times a week for about 20-30 minutes in sets. 10 reps, 3 sets for each. You body rebuilds muscle tissue over the next 48 hours burning calories and fat, even while you sleep.

wow, that's so weird... it's been a month for me and i've lost 14lb just counting calories and dancing or walking as exercise. i eat everything i used to, but in moderation... i felt i never ate too much either except when it came to chips, drinks, and alcohol.. empty calories. those are the only things i've changed really.. i drink more water, i have those low fat individual bags of chips, and i exercise more on the weekends, especially when i know i'll be drinking that night.

maybe you drink a lot of juice? i've noticed even vitamin water is even full of calories.. sux. haha but i still drink it ;]
same goes for juices & soda... i just count them as snacks!

I thought I was the only one with this problem!  I was so distraught about watching calories and walking from 2-6 miles per day and only loosing 6 lbs in 5 months, that I went to the dr and had a thyroid test done.  I'm over 50, been through menopause and am just points within the scale for trouble - they won't medicate me.  I feel like you do - you just have to keep being diligent and I can see that other suggestions are to watch other calories.  As one of my doctors told me, just keep up your intensity - for goodness sake, don't STOP doing the healthy things!!!!!!

I can relate to your post. I gained weight for years (maxing out at 199 pounds last year) and was always surprised. I ate healthfully (tofu, brown rice, tons of veggies, fruits, lean meats and fish), worked out vigourously almost every single day- including running and swimming and strength training classes at my gym.

I felt as if I could never lose weight and that I was just meant to be chunky. Feeling frustrated with the way I looked, I started calorie counting. The first thing that hit me was extreme surprise. All those extra bites here and there (albeit whole grain seeded crackers or something else similarly healthy) really add up. If I ate a bag of grapes (healthy- right??) it's not as if it "didn't count" as I had previously thought. And those peanut butter scoops on celery now and then throughout my day? Practically an entire meal that I wasn't even thinking of! (2 tbsp of PB=200 cals).

Paying attention like that allowed me to notice what was wrong. Now I know, and can't let it happen again.

As for the calorie allowance- mine is set at 1700 a day. But I did note that as my weight drops, so does my allowance. For example, when I hit 170, it drops to 1600, and as I near my goal weight, it will drop again to 1500. So make sure you check from time to time.

 It's all about knowing what the right portion is for you. Not what to cut out of your diet. OmG None of this none of that... You shouldn't be so stressed as in what not to eat, but in the amount you consume in proportion. Remember, everyone is going to slip up sometime. Be realistic. " Opps that cake looked so good. " So they had once small slice... That doesn't mean the deal is off and they should have the rest too. Lol Try to stay focused. It's possible.

Hey--I just wanted to send out some support to you--(original poster)  I had the same problem for a year of exercising and gaining weight even though I had NO junk (except christmas and bday) hated soda, measured all my portion sizes.

I makes me angry when people assume that overweight people just eat themselves there!

3 years ago I was really slim and extremely fit, playing water polo in college.  I had a baby and a lot of complications and just started to pile weight on out of the blue.  (over 200 now, could seriously lose 80 pounds) my doctor tried 'tough love and yelled at me to shut my trap and stop eating so I eventually switched to an understanding dr that sent me for bloodwork--PCOS and insulin resistance.  I haven't posted on here in forever since I finally found an answer but felt a need to tell you to get checked out--there are severall things that cause this and even though now following a special diet and some meds, the weight comes off extremely slow because of how the insulin resistance is and a few other hormone issues I have.  BUT I swim like 1 hour several days a week, walk, and bike--I am still an active FAT woman now, just makes me want to cry when I am labeled for my fatness as a lazy overeater.

HUGS!

I think it's far easier to overeat than we think it is. 1900 calories sounds like too much to me. It sounds like you're in a maintenance mode rather than a weight loss mode. Are you being realistic about the amount of calories you burn during exercise? I don't actually count my exercise into my calorie allowance, since it seems like this invites me to eat back the calories I spent being active.

I've lost 30 pounds since November. Here's what I've been doing. I'm not very good with staying on a rigid plan, so I've put my intake at between 1300 and 1500 calories.

I exercise at least three times  per week using cardio machines and weight training. I look to burn at least 350 cals on the cardio machines, which I write down in my journal, but DO NOT use this as an excuse to eat an extra 350 cals, which would defeat the purpose.

Also, the KIND of food makes a difference. I cut out sugar and refined carbs, because for whatever reason, I just pack on the weight when I eat those things- something to do with insulin it seems.
 
A typical breakfast for me might be a broiled trout or salmon fillet, some red or yellow pepper strips, and a few strawberries, and a cup of green tea.
A typical lunch might be a large salad of dark leafy greens, peppers, a few almonds, a few strips of grilled chicken, one teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, and some lemon and spices.
A typical dinner might be a variety of sushi rolls and a bowl of miso soup.

Snacks might be fresh fruits, celery, 1/2 cup of light yogurt, some hummus with raw veggies, or a cup of butternut squash with cinnamon and a tiny drizzle of olive oil. Some beverages for me are green tea, water, herbal tea, skim milk and diet soda.

There's just no room for anything else...