Need some advice! Please help!

S

skyhigh45

0
Hey there!

So, 5 days ago, I joined a gym and cut my calories back to 1500/day. I do 60 minutes on the stationary bike every day. I just weighed myself and I havn't lost a pound! I weighed 143 on Monday and I'm still there on Friday. Is it too soon to see weight loss with the program I am doing, or should I change something?? I want to lose 20 pounds in 10 weeks....

Any advice is really appriciated!

Thanks!! :)
 
There are many problems here...

1. 60 mins cardio is too much. You will be doing more damage then good. 40mins is plenty. You should also be doing some strength training. Muscle burns more calories.

2. 20 pounds in 10 weeks is a hard thing to accomplish unless you are greatly overweight. So you should post your stats (height, weight, age). 1-2 pounds a week weight loss is the most you should be losing in a healthy manner.

3. 5 days is not enough time to see any real difference. Regardless leave the scale alone. Its just not good for you. I get wanting to lose weight for certain things, and motivation is a great thing to have, but you need to remember how long it took to put that weight on and allow a period of time to pass to take it off.
 
Hi,
How many calories were you eating before you cut down to 1500? Also, what you eat matters.

Doing the same exercise day after day may not be the most effective. Were you doing any exercise before this week? A variety of cardio types and intensities, along with strength training is the best plan.

Let me know if I can help. Good luck.

Sarah
 
Thanks for the replies...

I am 20 years old, 5'5", and 143lbs. I was doing no exercise before this week and eating a lot of calories...not sure how many. I will try the suggestions given, my only problem with weight training is I am a little uncomfortable trying to learn how to use all that stuff at the gym in front of all the weight trainers...I know it sounds stupid, but it's intimidating to me. It's much easier to just go to the bikes and do my thing.
 
Take it slow

I don't think 5 days is enough time to gauge results.

I think, depending on your level of fitness you would be better suited to doing interval style cardio, for example you would warm up for 10-15 minutes on the bike then sprint for 30 seconds, then pedal easy until you get your breath back, and repeat.

Take it slow with this approach at first though, don't sprint that long and give yourself more tim to recover.

Obviously as time passes you can do more sprints, but at first just do one sprint and then see how you feel the next day.

Also, to lose 20 pounds in ten weeks in a lot, I would rather see you lose 10 pounds of fat in 10 weeks than go crazy and get the 20 pounds in ten weeks but have half of it be muscle, as muscle burns the most calories, so the more of it you have the better.

This leads me to my next point, in order to really change your shape strength training with weights is the way to go.

Not only will it allow you to keep muscle as you are dieting, but it will allow you to gain muscle as well, which will only help to insure the weight you lose stays off.

Forget about being muscle bound or looking like a man, most woman don't have the ability to gain that much muscle, now this doesn't mean that after a break in period you shouldn't train like men.

Another thing to remember it is not so much the scale but how your clothes are fitting.

One last thing, don't fall into the trap that just because you are working out, you can eat junk food, no amount of work is going to get you in shape if you are eating too much.

Focus on eating many smal meals per day, with plenty of water.

Hope this helps.
 
Maybe you can get a workout partner to help you with weight training and then you won't feel so intimidated.

Also, like Sarah said, it's important for us to know WHAT you're eating. If you're eating 1500 calories a day of processed, junk foods then you won't see any changes in your body.
 
Try this...

skyhigh45 said:
Hey there!

So, 5 days ago, I joined a gym and cut my calories back to 1500/day. I do 60 minutes on the stationary bike every day. I just weighed myself and I havn't lost a pound! I weighed 143 on Monday and I'm still there on Friday. Is it too soon to see weight loss with the program I am doing, or should I change something?? I want to lose 20 pounds in 10 weeks....

Any advice is really appriciated!

Thanks!! :)
Click to expand...

1st thing you want to keep a fast metabolism, so plan to have 6 meals thru your day.

Try eating every 3 hours.

For example:

Morning: Veggie Eggwhite omelet.

Morning Snack: a few peanuts.

Lunch: salad with grilled chicken.

Afternoon snack:Cheese stick.

Dinner: Salad with Salmon.

Night Snack: Sugar free Jello

As far as your exercise, I think you should vary a liite.

For ex: 30 minutes on bike and 20 on elliptical or treadmill.
Also very important and very healthy: DO WEIGHT TRAINING! This will help boost your metabolism and you will burn calories long after you've stopped exercising.

Now the most important thing is not to stop eating because your body will notice and it will go into fat storing mode. So eat every 3 hours.
Attention! Eat small portions, don't go crazy.

All I wrote to you here I have tried and my results prove that this works.
I have lost 40 lbs in just about 2 months.
I feel great and feel a lot stronger.
I weighted 285 and now am down to 245.
I exercise 5 days a week. 50 min. cardio and 20 min. weights.

Hope this helps you.

Good Luck!!!

Galosat.
 
Hi!
I'm Bhabani Sankar from INDIA. I'm aguy of 18+. now my feight is only 5'4". I want to get my height increased to 5'10" to 6'.can i achieve it. now adays i am regularly skipping in morning and also do parallel bar exercise and pull ups. is there any other exersise to get taller.simultaniously i make body building in the morning.may it cause harm to my height or will have a good result. PLEASE HELP ME. THANK U.
 
Hi again...

Thank you everyone for the replies, I was close to giving up...but not anymore. I was eating 1500 calories of fairly good food...

Toast and apple for breakfast.
Salad for lunch.
Sandwich (w/healthy stuff, no mayo/cheese) for dinner.

I wasn't eating very many snacks so I was getting really hungry/unhappy. I will take all of the advice given. I guess I will just buck up and lift some weights. Maybe I will buy some free-weights and do that part at home. I think being patient is the hardest part!
 
skyhigh,
Sounds like you need more protein also. Start with 6 small meals of about 200-300 calories each and see how that goes. Each meal should contain a protein and a carb. For your breakfast you should add egg whites, for your salad you should have a chicken breast and some healthy carbs (brown rice, maybe?), etc...

Bhabani,
No, there are no exercises that will increase your height permanently. Sorry.
 
Hello, skyhigh45.

You need not worry about those guys :) They would love to have another girl in the weight area. If you are uncomfortable being there WHILE learning everything, ask your gym to have a trainer walk you through everything.

This way you can get some advice for free and learn all of the machines. That's what trainers are there for! Use them :)

Next, eat more throughout the day. Here are some tips to get you started...

1) Eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day. Each meal should be 2-3 hours apart. Each meal should contain one protein and one carb. The first meal should be eaten within an hour after waking.


2) Drink a cup of water at each meal.


3) Rest properly. This means taking at least 48 hours between strength training the same muscles, and it also means getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Lastly, it means taking 1-2 days off from exercising per week.


4) Cardio. This should be done at different intensity levels and different session lengths. Consider doing a low intensity/long session, a high intensity/short session and a few medium intensity/medium length sessions.


5) Strength Training. Strength train each muscle 1-3 times per week. You should lift a proper weight and perform the proper amount of sets/reps for your strength training method. If you need more guidance or exercise ideas you can head over


All of the above things combined will result in fat loss.
 
Galosat said:
Morning: Veggie Eggwhite omelet.

Morning Snack: a few peanuts.

Lunch: salad with grilled chicken.

Afternoon snack:Cheese stick.

Dinner: Salad with Salmon.

Night Snack: Sugar free Jello
Click to expand...

Don't pay attention to this.
 
Well I am not tony but i would have said the same thing.

To maximize your metobolism its best to eat 5-6 MEALS a day. A handful of peanut or a cheese stick is not a meal. Honestly if you do your meals right you wont need a "snack" at all. However if you do then veggies, a few almonds, a fruit would be fine.

You should be getting somewhere around 1400 to 1500 calories a day (since weight loss is your goal) So you should break that up 5-6 times and you get around 300 calories for 5 meals a day. Each meal should have that, that would be alot of peanuts and cheese sticks to equal that. Not to mention every meal should have One protien and One carb. Of course night carbs should be veggies but still they are important. That diet also has no Starchy carbs and while you shouldn't go overboard with those some good oatmeal, 100% whole wheat grains, sweet potatoes, beans...all are very good for you and provide great energy for working out. I eat them only early in the day as to burn off with energy through evening, but i wouldn't feel right without them.

Thats just my two cents on the diet plan.

Here is what one of my days looks like...

Meal 1-Oatmeal with Peanut Butter and Protein Shake
Meal 2-Whole Wheat turkey Sandwhich (lettuce tomato)
Meal 3-Orange Chicken with fruit salad
Meal 4--Meatloaf with cooked carrots and spinach
Meal 5--Almond chicken salad
Snack--small tuna lettuce wrap

All this is under 1500 calories...thats alot of food, and the right kind of food.
 
I would have agreed with Tony too. That diet is VERY low carb. It's also looks very low calorie. Carbs are so essential for our health for so many reasons. It may have worked for that person to lose weight, but it's very detrimental to health. It has a horrible effect on the brain. We need a variety of foods for the body to get all it's nutrients for optimal health.

Sarah
 
Well it was answered already, but I came to clarify. While the plan had the right idea, it didnt have the right amount of food nor calories.
 
Great, thanks for the info! I feel way more back on track since I asked a question on this forum. You are all really helpful!
 
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