frustrated with food (vent)

**perSue** · 12-01-2009, 01:28 PM

i gotta get this out... i'm upset... probably at myself mostly.

I'm trying to lose some weight. I'm not overweight, but would like to lose a few lbs.

I exercise daily... I do cardio, i do weights, i jog, i do yoga, i use fun dvd's of different types - keeps me interested (and from getting bored!). I increase my intensity when I feel like I'm ready for it and keep it up regularly. and each session is about an hour long... sometimes longer if I have extra time & energy (maybe once a week).

I eat like a chicken!
I pick all day... mostly at veggies, i eat a LOT of protein (beans/seeds/legumes - no dairy, meat) (my health requires a higher protein diet).
Eating a "square" meal makes me tired. So i have a few large "snacks" and a few smaller ones... and I'm content.

Based on a couple dieticians i know...
Apparently it's not enough!!

WHAT?!?
Okay, so I started keeping a journal. I've gotten good at figuring out "was that a half cup or 3/4 cup of veggies?" (sometimes I just assume a whole cup if i cant decide & use that calorie number to average out how much i may be eating in a day.)
I'm still barely getting 1500 cal's a day!!!
Based on all the things I should get about 1700 a day (to lose weight).

HOW???
I eat tons of grains, I eat tons of veggies, some soup, some fruit and lots of protein. The fats I get are from olive oil (if not on salad, then something sauteed in it).

What am I doing wrong?!

I'm frustrated.
The higher calorie foods are, well processed or junk foods.

*ARGH!!!!*

**Contrary Housewife** · 12-01-2009, 03:29 PM

Maybe it is time to see a doctor or a nutritional specialist.

**mabyn09** · 12-01-2009, 03:43 PM

Seems like all the foods you eat are very low in caloric content. Veggies, soup, beans, fruit etc. All very healthy mind you, but it would be hard to increase your calories by just eating more of these foods, 'cause you would have to eat alot more.

200 extra calories a day really shouldn't be too hard to add though. Do you eat nuts? How about adding in some almonds or something as a snack. If you ate dairy or meat it would be alot easier (add in a piece of cheese or some yogurt), but since you don't just look for other calorie dense healthy foods.

Avacado?

I dunno. Fats have the most calories per gram, so it would probably be easiest to add some more healthy fats into your diet.

Do you really NEED to eat more though? Numbers are just numbers, I would be more concerned with how you are feeling (tired, energetic, hungry, full etc.) than what anyone else tells you to eat. You don't want to go into starvation mode by not eating enough calories, but everyone is different, so do what feels right for you.

With the amount of exercise you do, I would think you would need to eat more calories too, but I'm no expert, and you may be right on track for what your body needs.

**sabrelvssammy** · 12-01-2009, 04:20 PM

hey sue....here's what dr oz says...

to find out your 'personal' calorie allottment per day...

take the number 8 x the amount of lbs that you weigh...(so if you weigh 150lbs --8 x 150 is 1200)

then add 200 to your number...(that is the amount of calories that the body needs to survive on a daily basis...to make your organs function)....

so in reality...a 150lb person needs only 1400 calories a day to 'maintain' their current weight.... now keep in mind that this is for an avg person doing no additional exercise, hard manual labor, etc... just someone going about a lazy normal day....if you are a marathoner, rock climber or construction worker you would need to add additional calories that would get burnt thruout the normal course of a day....

to lose weight you have to either eat less than or burn more calories than the number 1400...(taking into consideration any exercise) ...and dr oz says it takes much more intense exercise than we 'think' it does to burn any real calories....

lose 5 lbs and you have to adjust your number...145 x 8 = 1160 + 200= 1360 a day....and so on....

believe it or not i followed this advice this summer and those stupid last 10lbs just melted off....(and i was only allowed about 1100 cals day that got less and less as i lost the weight...)

and i did not die from a starvation diet...quite the contrary...i took everyone of those avbl calories and made sure that they were from good quality wholesome items.....and i never felt better.....and remember i am a vegan...so i too live on only fruits/veggies/soy/grains....

i have for the past few yrs beat the heck out of myself trying to get rid of this stupid weight and all the exercise in the world never did it.... when i cut the x-tra cals from my diet...it worked....

now that is of course just one more 'dr's' opinion....but it made sense to me...i tried it..it worked...and now i believe in him...

just a thought for you......

**Karen1** · 12-01-2009, 04:27 PM

you must eat 500 less calories per day
3500 calories per week less equals 1 lb lost

nibbling thru the day, without knowing what and how much is being eaten can mean earily 100s or more calories over eaten.

take control yourself. no quess work.......we can't lose if we don't know what is going in...and the good healthy foods are key with tons of water to drink.

**Josephhgoins** · 12-01-2009, 05:08 PM

I think you should have your Doctor check your blood work. I had a similiar problem that turned out to be an underactive thyroid. I now take daily mediciation (1 pill a day that I get at Wal-mart for $10 per 90 days)

**perSue** · 12-01-2009, 08:32 PM

i keep a very strict record of what i eat... those "nibbles" are my meals - tho for a normal person would seem that i simply snack or graze all day. the homemade granola bar & handful of carrots is recorded & given as a 150 cal bar w/half cup of carrots - even if the bar is only 128 (or so a serving) & the literal handful is only a half cup... i measure upwards.

sabre... i don't know how else to increase my exercise... but i can try. i worked out twice today... so i'll try that a few days a week.

it just seems like some days i dont get enough calories (in number and sometimes by fatigue)... and i dont wanna get too few... but i can't eat anymore than i already do!

it's frustrating... also doesnt help in trying to eat out either.
but that's a different story LOL

thanks for replying

**sabrelvssammy** · 12-01-2009, 10:44 PM

Originally Posted by perSue

i keep a very strict record of what i eat... those "nibbles" are my meals - tho for a normal person would seem that i simply snack or graze all day. the homemade granola bar & handful of carrots is recorded & given as a 150 cal bar w/half cup of carrots - even if the bar is only 128 (or so a serving) & the literal handful is only a half cup... i measure upwards.

sabre... i don't know how else to increase my exercise... but i can try. i worked out twice today... so i'll try that a few days a week.

it just seems like some days i dont get enough calories (in number and sometimes by fatigue)... and i dont wanna get too few... but i can't eat anymore than i already do!

it's frustrating... also doesnt help in trying to eat out either.
but that's a different story LOL

thanks for replying

oh no....i didn't mean to imply you need to work out like a crazy woman....take it easy girl... i was just repeating what i had learned and then followed... i actually was not working out like crazy when i cut the amount of calories back to the 'mathematical equation'.... all i did was walk a few miles a day with my handweights... i wasn't doing crazy aerobics or anything....

**frugalfranny** · 12-02-2009, 12:29 AM

Like the other poster said - Think I would get some blood work done too.

Then go back to adjust the diet part again......

**perSue** · 12-02-2009, 11:00 AM

Y'know... something I forgot - and didnt think of for being frustrated when i posted this...
sometimes just taking a break from "strict diet" or lotsa exercise... helps.

i'm not big on avocado's, but i can eat 'em in a salad.
don't eat soy (very sensitive to it)... but maybe if I take a couple days off... slow down & see if that helps.

i dunno... i'm just frustrated at the lack of weightloss and feeling like i'm stuck in a proverbial "food" corner at times.

thanks for listening.

**savvy_sniper** · 12-02-2009, 11:39 AM

When is the last time you went to the doctor, had a physical, etc.? I agree with some of the others, you should go to the doctor, tell him what is going on, have some bloodwork done, ask the doctor for some tips/tricks, etc.

**monkeywrangler71** · 12-02-2009, 12:20 PM

How 'not overweight' are you. Are you in the high end of a healthy weight? Low end? Underweight?

**IntlMom** · 12-02-2009, 12:33 PM

perSue, I've heard you struggle with this for a while now, I just want to say "I'm sorry" this is such a struggle for you. Isn't it interesting, that some ppl struggle with too much weight and can't seem to get their weight under control (think biggest loser), and then there are ppl like you (and me, quite frankly) that struggle with those annoying 10-15 pounds.

You've gotten some great advice and input here......a call to the doctor/nutrionist really might be order

((hugs))