Frustrated - constructive input, please

I am frustrated. I am up four lbs. I have been exercising 6/7 days of the week and I eat pretty consistently the same things all week long that are within my WW points and aren't completely devoid of nutritional value (which I used to do - I'd eat all my points in crappy food and wonder why I was still hungry). I do use up all or nearly all of my flex points on the weekend, but I don't go over. I don't know why the scale won't move in the downward direction. I have added a new thyroid med after a blood draw on 4/12 - Cytomel (I am already on 50 mcg of Synthroid). I hope that will help. It's so disappointing to have a huge setback like this and not be able to pinpoint why. My log is public - it's under "pugged". I think I am too close to it to be objective about it, so I invite you to look it over and offer me suggestions.

I know that I could do with fewer packaged foods (such as the South Beach Diet lunches that I've been eating), but I have chosen to rely on some of those things in order to allow myself the time to focus on getting more exercise. It's a time trade-off for me.

I realize that I am building up some muscle mass by exercising more and adding weights to the mix, however, I have more than 100 lbs. to lose to get into the "healthy weight" as determined by my doctor, so I know that some of the weight should come off regardless of heavier muscle.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Sun. Apr 22, 2:51pm

You have been doing such a great job with a consistent eating and exercise routine, your body is adjusting to it. Your body doesn't really want to lose weight. You need variety:

Cardio intervals. Jog and walk, even if you can only jog for 20 seconds at a time. Lift heavier weights more often. Try a new sport or machine - boxing, stair climbing, add hills to your treadmill routine, go biking, play frisbee, whatever.

Eat DIFFERENT things. Life cereal one day, then oatmeal, then fruit and yogurt. Vary your calories daily - one day, eat 5 less points than your goal, then the next day, add 5 points over your goal. It balances out, but keeps your body guessing. Also looks like you a good deal of candy - try and limit to less than 2 points a day.

Keep it up! Don't be discouraged! Take measurments - you are probably losing inches too! Give it another two weeks and see where you are at. Good luck!

Sunday, April 22, 2007, 3:12 PM

It may sound counterintuative, but make sure you get at least one day a week of workout rest. Light stretches or a little walk if you must, but the body needs time to process all the great things you're doing for it and repair. I had to step back a bit myself and have felt the benefits. Don't wear yourself out mentally on the exercise front either. You have a journey ahead of you. It's hard work, but it doesn't have to be painful!

Also... make sure you get your eight hours a night. You'll be surprised how it shows up on the scales. All the best. I'l be looking out for your log.

Sunday, April 22, 2007, 4:20 PM

Going by looking at your last weeks worth of logs-i would say your problem may lie in too much sodium and too many calories. frozen pizza, mac and cheese, subway, fries, egg mcmuffins, fried chicken etc are all loaded with sodium and most of these items are high calorie and/or high fat. I know the processed/fast foods save us time and energy, but really in the long run they will set you back. Add more vegetables to your diet-salads, carrots and hummus, add extra veggies to sandwhiches and skip the fries etc. and you will see the scale moving.

I'm not sure if you eat like this every week, but if that is the case, it is probably what is hindering your progress. Keep up with the exercise, you are doing great! I would just try to add more "fresh" foods to your diet. To save time-when you buy your veggies, wash and cut them up and store in containers in the fridge right away, then no excuses when it comes to finding something healthy to eat!

Sunday, April 22, 2007, 5:28 PM

you're doing great!

I agree with the 5;28 poster, and I also think you should try eating a bigger breakfast, including a little protein. You could add a small banana with a little pb or some egg whites (hardboiled if you need to eat on the run). I like Life cereal, but it doesn't have very much fiber and protein, so it won't keep you full very long. You might also try to a higher-fiber cereal - like Fiber One or Kashi, or the weight control oatmeal. I read once to keep in mind the number 6 when picking a cereal - stick to 6 or more grams of fiber, and 6 or less grams of sugar.

Also, I totally agree with the poster who suggested intervals. This can be done on any cardio machine, not just a treadmill. Go as fast as humanly possible for 45-60 secs, and go moderately for 60 seconds. This strategy really worked for me, and was totally what got me losing the last 10 pounds.

Most of all, don't give up! You're doing great - never quit. You'll get there eventually.

Sunday, April 22, 2007, 5:39 PM

I agree with the other posters- you are doing great. Over time you will incorporate more veggies, fruit and better food, and less saturated fat. But that takes time. keep at it and you will do great.

Sunday, April 22, 2007, 7:28 PM

Check and make sure you are really working your cardio, not just 'moving'. Check your heart rate, if you aren't in your target zone you won't be burning the calories you think you're burning. And definately take a day or two off from the gym. When I go two or three weeks without many days off from the gym, I don't lose weight, but when I take a few days off it seems to melt right off me. Hope this helps ! :)

Sunday, April 22, 2007, 8:30 PM

Let me start by saying that I am someone who, in the past, was able to lose eating cereal for breakfast, Blimpie's half-sub with baked chips for lunch, and Lean Cuisine for dinner - all while on Weight Watchers. However, now that I'm 5 years older and 2 more yo-yo attempts at losing 80-100 lbs, it doesn't work anymore. I also tried to lose with 80% of my efforts geared towards working out and a half-hearted effort at changing my diet...works great for men, but not for us :(

The positive: those workouts you do are terrific - I remember being too intimidated to attempt that until I'd reached that "first 10%" with Weight Watchers. You are doing things that are sustainable in the long-term, burn mostly fat calories, and preserve your muscle (more important as you pass the age of 30). You've got that part of the equation licked!

The negative: It doesn't look like you're staying within your WW points range at all, and your food choices are laden with empty sugar and fat (donuts, fried chicken, shrimp scampi, cupcakes, egg mcmuffins, skittles, french fries). If you were having it once or twice a week instead of every day, I wouldn't even bring it up, but these things need to be cut back to "weekly treat" status rather than being daily menu items. That's something you could start taking steps toward, either by finding healthier substitutes that meet the taste need (e.g. chocolate graham crackers with fat-free Cool Whip in the middle as a satisfying replacement for ice cream) or only having one "treat" a day, then cutting back to every other day, and so on.

It looks like you have maybe 1 serving of fruit *or* vegetables per day. Again, I say this as someone who used to substitute a multivitamin for these food groups out of a long-standing hatred of bitter vegetables and a misclassification of fruit as sugar. I finally overcame that a few month ago and now the weight is coming off at twice the incredibly sluggish rate it used to. I'd suggest, as your first step in the right direction, an addition of a piece of fruit to your breakfast and another one right before or after your workout. You might also find that it helps curtail your appetite for candy.

Sunday, April 22, 2007, 11:02 PM

OP here - thanks for the suggestions

Thanks for all of your great suggestions! I have Irish Oats in the crockpot for breakfast along with some "egg muffins" I made up with eggbeaters and diced (97% lean) ham and lowfat cheese.

I am also all stocked up on my 100-cal packs so I can get away from the candy. I have a horrible sweet tooth, so I'll try to eat the 100-cal hostess cupcake packs instead of candy this week. It will be a 1-point instead of a 3 or 4-point treat.

I actually do stay within my points range - I get 36 points per day since my weight is so high and I have a job where I am on my feet and moving around all the time (cleaning houses 5 days a week, generally from 8am-2pm) I retook the quiz three times because I was sure it was wrong, but that's what it says I get. I also occasionally swap Activity Points as directed in the program materials.

This weekend was a bad one for foods - we had two special occasions - my sister's beauty college graduation on Friday (hence the Red Lobster) and a day trip to Des Moines for soccer, shopping and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Fortunately, I had all of my flex points ready for Friday and Saturday and didn't do too badly. I looked up the nutrition info for "Cuban sandwich" and fries on the WW site to get a general idea for how to count the points as CF doesn't publish their nutritionals. Then I added 7 points just for good measure. I did the same with Red Lobster as I couldn't find their nutrition info anywhere either.

Anyhow, thanks for the great suggestions - we'll see how the week goes.

Monday, April 23, 2007, 12:07 AM

I might also suggest cutting back on using your flex or activity points. WW says you can use them but they also say you will see results faster if you don't. On weeks where I use the extra flex and activity points, I don't see much of a change whereas when I stick to my daily points I lose about 1.5 to 2 lbs per week. Good luck and don't get discouraged. Just keep trying until you find what works. If you are willing to make sacrifices it will pay off.

Monday, April 23, 2007, 9:44 AM

Changing up your exercise can be very helpful. I was stuck at a weight for several weeks despite good food choices and exercise. But Irecently changed up my exercise routine and I was able to drop two pounds this past week and get in a 1-2 pound range of my goal weight.

I think the change up was the key.

Monday, April 23, 2007, 12:05 PM

TAKE YOUR MEASURMENTS

I only lost 5 lbs in the past month working out 3-4 times a week and sticking to my points. BUT I lost one inch around my chest, 2 off my waist, 3 off my hips and 3 off my thighs.
I see you are weight training it makes a big difference in reshaping your body. Muscle weighs more than fat and takes up less room than fat, which is why the scale didnt go down too much but my body measures smaller. Measurements help you to keep track.

I'm working at losing 50lbs myself, but I'm not hawk-eyeing the scale anymore. You cant get set on a number because you will be let down.

I follow weight watchers too and disagree with their charts, theirs said I need to lose 100lbs and even the meeting leader said wow you wouldnt be here if you lost 100lbs! I'm Russian, short and stocky, 5'5 wearing a size 10 shoe since I was 15. Very fit for a fat girl, I will never be small and I'm ok with that. the leader agreed with me that 50-70 lbs would be sufficient. So,please dont forget to take into consideration your body type, are you tall, legitematley big boned? Just dont get stuck on a number because some chart says its what you should be.

Monday, April 23, 2007, 4:42 PM

OP here - I am tall - 5'10" and of large build. The smallest I've ever been was a size 10 and that was when I was 18 years old - I'll never be a size 6 or 8 and I am OK with that.

I am going to take your suggestion and have someone measure me at the gym (our trainers will help us do that once a month so we can monitor change).

Monday, April 23, 2007, 4:48 PM

Don't quit! quiters never win and winners never quit! Try drinking more water. Ear 6 small meals. eat more protien and Fiber. try the core!

Thursday, April 26, 2007, 8:35 PM

i agree with 1102. i looked over your log for a few days and noticed that you ate a lot of carbs and hardly no vegtables. try to change your meal planning.fill up on vegtables, alot of them are 0pts. you can munch on red pepper strips. celery etc. to replace some of your sweets and if needed , treat yourself to something small 1x day. but watch the point value. if you are not sure what to eat, speak with your ww leader who can go over your log with you. hope this helps. your are doing alot of exercise, good for you! watch the thyroid meds too they can put weight on you

Friday, April 27, 2007, 6:36 PM

I am going to assume the people who looked at your log must know who you are since they know what you've been eating. My suggestion is pretty much what everyone else is saying, cut back on all the processed foods and eat more veggies and fruit. I also do WW and as a rule I never eat my 35 weekly points. I do use my activity points but the few times I ate the 35 weekly points I always gained. I treat those points like they don't even exist and I lose now. Also if you are exercising and strength training really make sure you are stretching afterwards, if you don't and continue to workout you could have a build up of lactic acid in your muscles, which could also be affecting the scale. I notice when I don't take the time to stretch I get the same thing going on and then when I get my weekly deep tissue massage and she really works my muscles I am always lighter after. But I think you will see a huge difference if you cut back on the processed foods, eat more fruit and veggies, stretch after workouts and not use those weekly allowance points.

Friday, April 27, 2007, 7:46 PM

to 746...her log is public anyone can see what she eats..they dont need to know her

Friday, April 27, 2007, 10:46 PM

A lot of people's logs are public, how do you know which one is hers? I don't see a link anywhere and her pt name isn't on her post. So please do share where and how I can see her log.

Friday, April 27, 2007, 11:40 PM

Note original post:

"My log is public - it's under "pugged"."

Saturday, April 28, 2007, 12:46 AM

I agree with the above posters. I go to meetings weekly. My leader suggested I eat different things, because your body gets used to routine and then doesn't budge. Also, I try not to tap into my additional 35 points weekly. Even though they're there, I find, my body can't handle the extra points. Eating fruits also has helped me for some reason.

Sunday, April 29, 2007, 7:43 AM

It seems like you eat way too much fried and breaded foods with very little in the way of veggies. I bet if you just stopped eating fried and did grilled or baked instead and added more veggies and fruit you would see a difference.

Sunday, April 29, 2007, 12:36 PM

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