Gained weight on weightloss diet - Help Request.

GrayD

Hi,
Please help with my diet, I'm a little desperate. I've been strictly keeping to 1600 calories a day and trying to exercise when i can and I haven't been feeling great about myselkf the last few weeks, finally weighedmyself I'm UP over half a stone! On this diet as recommended to me to loose 2lbs a week, difficult to eat JUST 1600cals but I'm usually close to it.

My diet is something like this:

Breakfast -
Tiny bowl of raisin wheats (I know its not porridge but I tried buying it before, I usually end up skipping breakfast rather than eating it).
Vitalinia 0% yoghurt

Lunch -
Wrap, wholegrain, chicken, lettuce, maybe an egg.
Soup

Evening Meal -
Make my own spagetti bol, or chicken curry, loads of veg,
Or else maybe a chicken breast, a potato, vegetables.
Or a stir fry.

Evening -
After gym I'll be starved, maybe a similar wrap or sandwich as lunch,
or just toast.




I go to gym the nights I can doing weights and running. If I can't I do 7km walk or possibly go jogging. At the very least 4-5 nights a week.

I'm finding it hard to concentrate in work I feel so hungry and I just feel so weak when I get up to exercise but I'm piling on the pounds. I moved to an office job sitting all day but this is ridiculous.
Can anyone please help with diet? I thought this was an ok diet, followed it on Livestrong, plenty protein, not too much fat.

I only need to loose about 1-1.5 stone but I'm desperate to do it. How do I lose weight? If I eat any less or exercise any more I'm literally gonna make myself sick.

El_Dangeroso

I would march into your doctors office and demand your thyroid be checked.

Gaining weight while eating that little and exercising is not normal and something is up.

Other than that, your diet is a little low in protein but I really wouldn't think that is the main issue here.

implausible

I second Temple. A mate of mine was doing something similar, eating no junk and exercising like a lunatic at Curves. She could not shift the weight. Turned out it was her thyroid. Get yourself checked out.

GrayD

Hi,
I've analysed this and I think whats happening is I sometimes get disheartened and "cheat" at the weekend, maybe get something tasty for dinner or whatever after a good week and showing no signs of any improvement and its totally canceling out anything remotely good I did that week, it must be a fine line.


Can anyone point me in the right direction of someone who can help me make out an actual diet so i follow it strictly and know exactly what and how much to buy when shopping.


Right now I don't have a solid enough diet plan that I am confident will work so I'm buying not the right amounts of stuff and If I'm short I'll end up buying lunch from the shop, a sandwich, which must be awfully fatty I'm assuming now. I try to come up with a plan but I end up starving and I don;'t even know if its the rigth diet.

Can anyone out there point me to an actual diet or resources to know what to eat, what quantities of normal basic foods that I can stick to and loose a bit of weight.

I've read all the stickies on this page a million times over but I'm no lighter than I ever was.

Huggles

Hi Gray

Looks to me that as well as the weekend cheating you are also getting your portion sizes wrong.

In case of dinners, the general guideline I follow myself is as much salad as I want (really fills you up), a baked potato the size of my closed fist and some lean protein like chicken, roughly the size of my hand if I had no fingers.

A question, are you drinking much water? I aim for 3litres a day myself.

For links please see the stickys in the fitness forum, they are a huge help.

EDIT: meant to say it might be worth sticking up what diet cheating day looks like.

GrayD

I drink lots and lots of water... Easily drink 3 litres.

Cheat days would usually be me buying a burger if I was out with friends and they got food or if I'm on my own I might say to hell with it and buy frozen food, a pizza or just a microwavable dinner....


I didn't think it was doing huge damage just once a week, if that but I think sometimes I spend the week making a huge effort, am savagely hungry, feel nearly weak from eacting small bits all week and still see no results, usually feel bad and get right back on it. As bad as having a bad meal is though, I thought it would just slow down the priogress with an otherwise ok diet and lots of exercise, not totally obliterate it that I'm stacking on weight despite lets being in aggony from so much running and weights and eating relatively small portions at other times.

Vegeta

Are you weighing/measuring your portions and counting those calories or are you estimating them?

littletiger

Vegeta wrote: »

Are you weighing/measuring your portions and counting those calories or are you estimating them?

This is very important. Research has shown that 70% people who calorie count without measuring portions and writing every ingredient down underestimate there actual intake. 50% of which underestimate by up to 50%.

Weightwatchers. Only way to go. Lost 5.5 stone. Healthy food and walking (no gym).

shoegirl

GrayD wrote: »

Hi,
Please help with my diet, I'm a little desperate. I've been strictly keeping to 1600 calories a day and trying to exercise when i can and I haven't been feeling great about myselkf the last few weeks, finally weighedmyself I'm UP over half a stone! On this diet as recommended to me to loose 2lbs a week, difficult to eat JUST 1600cals but I'm usually close to it.

Check this out - http://www.hpathy.com/healthtools/calories-need.asp

If you are 5 foot tall like me then this is not much less than your recommended daily calorie intake to just maintain your current weight with that level of exercise. How tall are you?
I know if you are my height and active at a similar level to myself that level of calories will only lose a pound a week.

Looking at your diet, I think you've too many carbs in there - looking at breakfast in particular - would be inclined to drop the cereal, but keep a glass of skimmed milk for its protein value, and add in an egg, turkey rasher, ounce of baked beans or slice of low fat cheese instead. Breakfast cereals are often very sugary.

Would also drop the pasta out of the dinner, and reduce the size of a potato or rice if eating it. Watch out on bread and wraps - a single wrap can easily be 200 calories and 2 slices of bread even more.

3 litres of water might be a little too much maybe? I never drank more than 2 litres, even when spending an hour in the gym 6 days a week, and I still felt I was constantly running to the loo.

Just a few suggestions, they may or may not work. I know I hit a point like that in my diet and the answer was actually reducing the level of cardio, halving carbs (replacing with protein) and increasing weight lifting worked wonders. Would also be inclined to take a multivitamin and maybe flaxseed oils.