Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

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Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby hfleming » Fri Mar 06, 2015 7:44 am

Any suggestions?

I'm 5'2'', 21 years old, and weigh around 128 pounds. I run around 20 miles a week, do a few weight lifting sessions, and am still in college so I walk a lot.

I love being vegan, and have been for a little over a year. I started off weighing around 140, so i've definitely lost some weight, but I think I have definitely lost muscle along the way. I have always carried a lot of weight in muscle, but it's ALWAYS been covered in fat, even when I was in the best shape of my life in high-school.

I started consciously incorporating more carbs and really cutting out the avocado's, nuts, almond butter, fatty foods around a month ago. My energy has increased, and i'm sleeping a ton better, however I still seem to be gaining fat. My weight has been fluctuating between 127, all the way up to 131 a few days later (both weighed in the morning). I feel flabbier, even though I weigh significantly less.

I've always found it difficult to lose weight, thinking it was because of my height. I've become very frustrated because I exercise, and am eating fruit, veggies, potatoes, oatmeal, and brown rice.

Anyone out there with similar struggles? Suggestions?

Thanks!!
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby jhodge » Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:02 am

I feel you!!! I actually have the same stats as you! I am just a few years older, however. A couple of years ago I was 117lbs and was super active and then there was a death in my family and consequently I took that pretty hard and turned to food for comfort. I got up to 130lbs and was pretty much stopped being active at all. I am just now getting back to the swing of things but have been stuck in a rut for a while. I started being more conscientious of my food, really just a couple of weeks ago. I dropped to 126 and then POOF for no good reason I am 128.8lbs this morning. I do think a part of it is "that time of the month" (can I even blame it on the time of the month???? tell me yes! haha) and this morning I was perplexed until I realized I have been using soy sauce on my rice. DO you use any dressing on your rice?

What my current mode of attack will be (drawn up this morning) is going to, dare I say, cut the soy sauce and eat the rice plain. I have also been cutting out snacks all together, which has left me nice and HUNGRY HUNGRY by the next meal time. As of current I have been not eating a big breakfast, just a bagel. Lunch and Dinner I pile on the rice (jasmine white or short grain brown) with a SIDE of veggies. I am going to start adding in some black beans to the mix as well. I also make a killer chili potato soup type thing, but will be cutting out the salt and hope for the best. Phase two is keeping track of water! I have a gallon of water in the fridge and am going to aim to drink 3/4 of that and see if it is salt retention that is the issue. This might be the case for you too.

I will say, being short sucks haha I feel that I cannot indulge nearly as much as others. Anyway, don't know if this helps ya at all!


Best
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby Crider » Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:42 am

The answer is more vegetables and fewer starches. Check out Chef AJ's video where she explains her method of eating 2 lbs. of vegetables per day ahead of starches.
http://youtu.be/zmXWgBCzdxU
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby jhodge » Fri Mar 06, 2015 12:25 pm

2lbs of veggies seems like overload and a veggie diet, not starch based. In the past I have tried to push my plate to half veg and 1/2 starch and I was hungry in an hour, not to mention I could barely finish my starch. I can't live being hungry after only an hour after a meal, ya know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUPZP-oxTFQ
Last edited by jhodge on Fri Mar 06, 2015 12:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby Skvega » Fri Mar 06, 2015 12:28 pm

Girl!!!! I feel your pain. I am 5'1" and workout 6 days a week. I fluctuate between 127 and 132. I am trying to not weigh as much now so that I don't obsess. I KNOW with all my heart this is the healthy way to eat but I have not been very successful in losing.

I feel heavier and flabbier than ever. I have a belly that I NEVER had before. I feel like I have brick in my tummy all the time. I never have that light feeling. If this were me a year ago I would abort and try yet another diet but I am not going to do that. THIS is the best way. We just have to find how to tweak it for us - the shorties!

I have been keeping up with Chef AJ and Wendy on Healthy Girl's Kitchen. Check out her latest blog. It's WONDERFUL!!

Here is my plan. 1lb of veggies for breakfast followed by a starch when I get hungry. Lunch is going to be a huge salad with 1/2c beans and/or starch. Fruit for a snack. I'm wondering if I eliminate the starches at night if that will help. Maybe just not have too much starch and more veggies.

What do you think?
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby hfleming » Fri Mar 06, 2015 1:08 pm

Skvega wrote:Girl!!!! I feel your pain. I am 5'1" and workout 6 days a week. I fluctuate between 127 and 132. I am trying to not weigh as much now so that I don't obsess. I KNOW with all my heart this is the healthy way to eat but I have not been very successful in losing.

I feel heavier and flabbier than ever. I have a belly that I NEVER had before. I feel like I have brick in my tummy all the time. I never have that light feeling. If this were me a year ago I would abort and try yet another diet but I am not going to do that. THIS is the best way. We just have to find how to tweak it for us - the shorties!

I have been keeping up with Chef AJ and Wendy on Healthy Girl's Kitchen. Check out her latest blog. It's WONDERFUL!!

Here is my plan. 1lb of veggies for breakfast followed by a starch when I get hungry. Lunch is going to be a huge salad with 1/2c beans and/or starch. Fruit for a snack. I'm wondering if I eliminate the starches at night if that will help. Maybe just not have too much starch and more veggies.

What do you think?


First of all, it makes me feel a lot better that I'm not the only one!
I love that I'm putting better things into my body, but I don't feel like myself at all. It's so hard when I want to be the "picture of good health", because I know being vegan is the best for us.

I normally do oatmeal or overnight oats with fruit for breakfast. But I'm definitely going to do a big salad for lunch or dinner, with a carb. For the other meal a carb with steamed veggies probably!

I just want to find something that's sustainable, and I don't have to worry anymore.
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby roundcoconut » Fri Mar 06, 2015 1:15 pm

I love all the posts in this thread!

hfleming, we've all been there, with the struggles to feed yourself, nourish yourself, find peace with food and a good relationship with your body!

Crider - you summed it up perfectly. If I could pick just one guiding nutritional principle to help these women steer toward the right methods, that would be it: more veg, less starch. (Ladies, use these principles with kindness and caring -- just give yourself an abundance of fruits and veg, and be sure that you're not overloading yourself with starch.)

jhodge and Skvega -- you both sound smart, and seem to be making your way towards the ways of eating that will support and sustain you well. It is a process! It is good to accept our responsibilities to care for our bodies as ongoing tasks that we enjoy doing for ourselves and are becoming better and smarter at, over time. Each person's path is a little different, and everyone's path is just an interpretation of some overall guiding principles.

My only thought to add from my own experience, is that there are mind-states that are useful for growth, and ones that aren't. So, if you notice yourself doing "panic", "desperation", "shaming", or "despair", find a better mind-state to switch to. It is hard to do the right thing when you're in a dark place.

The mind-states that seem to be helpful are to remember that your struggles to find your way with food are very normal struggles, and are shared by many. Also, know that many people have *found* peace with food, and discovered for themselves ways to take better care of their bodies, and love their physical forms more. You can be like thousands of others who practice, practice, practice, until you have arrived at a place of much greater happiness and peace with all these issues.
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby Skvega » Fri Mar 06, 2015 1:39 pm

Thank you RoundCoconut! Sound advice!
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby Katydid » Fri Mar 06, 2015 2:25 pm

I strongly suggest that you watch Dr. Lisle's video: How to Lose Weight without Losing your Mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAdqLB6 ... detailpage

Kate
This diet can save your life - it saved mine! Read my story at:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/stars/cathy_stewart.htm
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby sksamboots » Sun Mar 08, 2015 9:19 pm

Scales fluctuate though. I'm more concerned with how are you clothes fitting. You also stated you just started to cut out the nut butters and avocados and nuts. Give it more time. What if you tried it for 6 months and then came back and reported!!???
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby hfleming » Mon Mar 09, 2015 6:58 am

sksamboots wrote:Scales fluctuate though. I'm more concerned with how are you clothes fitting. You also stated you just started to cut out the nut butters and avocados and nuts. Give it more time. What if you tried it for 6 months and then came back and reported!!???


Thank you for your suggestion to give it more time, I definitely will. My concern is more that my clothes are already fitting more snug. the places I gain weight (stomach and butt) have seemed to gain fat very quickly within the past month...But I will give it time.
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby roundcoconut » Mon Mar 09, 2015 8:28 am

Oh! I'm not sure we mean that you should "give it time" in the sense of "keep doing what you're doing and expect different results".

Maybe more along the lines of "stay patient, give yourself to get this down and make tweaks before you start expecting to see things going in the right direction".

It really does come down to routines with food, routines with activity, routines of comfort and self-care that don't involve food, and routines of doing stuff that you like so that you're mostly using food for nourishment. All those things are processes, and you can get better at them over time -- just take steps in the right direction, and make some small bits of improvement each day -- even making one good choice each day is enough. You'll feel better just to know you're on the right path.

Hope you stay encouraged and stay with the process. It's a happy process, and I think you will enjoy it once things start rolling in the right direction for you, even if it's just a little bit!
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby StarchMe » Wed Mar 11, 2015 10:47 am

This post bothers me a bit I must say :( . It seems like most of the replies are saying to eat more vegetables and cut down on starches. I thought this was the starch solution not the vegetable solution. In fact, what people are recommending here sounds more like Dr. Fuhrman's diet.

It's interesting that I actually came over here after reading some bad reviews on Amazon for one of Dr. McDougall's books. The reviewer was basically saying the same things "they couldn't lose weight and were actually gaining." Other reviewers pointed out the forums here and said that the people who are successful are the ones who "limited starches, and increased their vegetables, or who did a Mary's mini only." I for one don't want to eat only one starch at all meals every day for who knows how long to get the weight off. I also know that like someone else commented above, if I eat mostly vegetables and a little starch I am hungry again an hour later. Might have to rethink this whole thing as I can't afford to gain any more weight on my already obese 5'2" frame.

I wonder what Dr. McDougall would say to everyone?
"Pretty words are not always true, and true words are not always pretty."~ unknown
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby Wild4Stars » Wed Mar 11, 2015 11:35 am

I can't speak for anyone except myself and my husband but we eat LOTS of starch. I never had a lot of weight to lose but did go from about 125 to 108 with McDougall after losing about 10 pounds and being constantly hungry on Eat To Live. My husband lost 45 pounds in 4 months and I can tell you he ate potatoes every single day. When he started this way of eating I promised him I would not let him go hungry. He will tell you he eats more food now than he did when he was heavier. Our diet is definitely starch oriented. Potatoes, brown rice, whole wheat English muffins, whole wheat pasta and oatmeal are consumed in our house every single day. In addition to the 45 pound weight loss the husband unit has gotten off of a long list of prescription drugs.

I know there is a big push recently by many people to eat TONS of greens. "A pound of greens for breakfast, 2 pounds of greens a day, no starch until dinner, if you're not hungry enough to eat kale you're not hungry." In our house we go strictly by the Starch Solution. Yes we eat veggies every day but I can tell you the bulk of our calories come straight from starches. And honestly there are some days that probably 80% of our calories are from starch. If I tried to feed my husband a vegetable based diet he would have been back to being a hard core omnivore in short order. He has been eating 100% McDougall going on 16 months now.

Starch is the way to go. If you have weight to lose and it's not coming off look at the other foods you are eating. High fat? You HAVE to be 100% oil free. Moderation kills. And moderation will certainly stall weight loss.
"If your lifestyle doesn't control your body, your body will eventually control your lifestyle." Ern Baxter
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Re: Female Fat Loss-Frustrated!

Postby roundcoconut » Wed Mar 11, 2015 11:43 am

Oh! StarchMe, no need to take advice to heart that was intended for someone else! :) I think you are smart enough to look and decide how you might like to eat, and what kinds of foods (and ratios of foods) might be best for you.

The recent Jeff Novick thread points to the fact that people who go low on calorie density sometimes have to adjust upwards. I've had to do this recently, too. People say, "Eat the vegetables first", but I've found myself playing "Get the starch in first, and *then* fill in with the veg" because that seems to work better for me at times.

So we are all somewhere on our own paths, doing some version of WFPB eating, but *ideally* we're tailoring it to what we need as people (our emotional needs, what feels good, what we like, what we struggle with).

Eating starches is part of nearly everyone's meal, and I think you can find a WFPB way of eating that's good for you (and helps you be a little smaller, if that is what you want to do), and I'm really sorry if we freaked you out. You can do well with this, and we can help you find a starting place, if you need. Maybe pose a q'n or two on the "Ask a Star McDougaller" board, too?
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