Always trying to lose 3-5lbs!

M

mortgagelady

0
I have read enough to know how I should eat, how I should exercise, how many calories, etc. I think I am pretty smart on the topic.... but I just CAN'T lose the 3-5 lbs that I always have on me. Yeah, that's nothing I know but it makes a big difference when you are trying to look good in your jeans or bikini! I am not a fanatic and have my vices but overall, here are my normal practices:

I eat breakfast EVERY day - Whole Wheat low carb bread with almond butter and/or peanut butter and coffee.

I snack 2-3 times a day and have 3 meals (small snacks and meals).

I count calories and have for many years. By the way, there is NO WAY my body can handle the number of calories I see posted in every sight and in every magazine. In the past several years, I have come to realize that to maintain my weight, I need 1200-1600 calories a day. I have a desk job and while I do exercise some, I still have to keep my daily calories in this range.

I exercise 3-5 times per week for 45 minutes to an hour. Usually Tae-Bo, treadmill, pilates, and light weights. I cannot workout with weights much because I have a tendency to bulk up easily. I cannot work out more due to my busy job and family life.

I am 33 and have noticed a difference in my stomach - I've always had a defined stomach. Not so much now!

I rarely do fast food, other than the healthy kind. I try to stay away from a lot of fats (but I get some), I always eat whole-grain and try to stay with healthy foods.

I don't crash diet - I am a life-long dieter in that I am always watching what I eat. That being said, I do have a weakness for sweets so I have a little every day but usually just a couple of fun size candybars or something small.

What in the world can I do?
 
Well there are some fundamental problems with what you see as a "healthy" diet and your exercise regime. Don't get me wrong I think your intentions are good, but there is a reason why you store fat even though you are eating such low calories. It is a common problem that most women face. There is a fix for it, but most women don't want to chance gaining weight to lose weight so I am not going to sugar coat it and say that you couldn't gain a few pounds, though it is likely you wont, there is still a chance.

One you need to up your calories. The low end of your range is below your BMR. That is what your body would need if in a coma. Because you have been eating this way for so long, you need to restart your metabolism. The best way to do that is to introduce calories back into your body while exercising and doing strength training. Now you say you bulk up, but thats really physically impossible as to add muscle you need to be in a high caloric surplus which you are not. Chances are you are doing the wrong kind of strength training and not stretching properly afterwards. If you do squats and you do not stretch out those muscles properly in short that area will tighten and swell. Stretching after workouts is the key part of women getting the longer leaner look but its so neglected.

As far as your diet, you can't really achieve results when eating low carb bread, and then high sugar snacks. The best way to attack it is to not fear carbs, just make them work for you! I would start with a 40/20/40 ratio (and maybe tailor it down to a little lower carb when you reach the last 2-3 pounds). Lean meats, complex carbs, veggies, good fats, and so forth. I would like to see your daily diet in detail from start to finish to judge best where you strengths and weak points are.

Basically you need to do a complete overall, get your metabolism running again, get in the right foods and get some proper strength training in your routine to add with the cardio.
 
My diet

A sample of my diet consists of:

breakfast: 2 pieces of whole wheat toast and peanut butter or almond butter (approx 300 cal)

snack: couple handfulls of granola or 2-3 peanut butter crackers (100 cal)

lunch: Healthy choice meal (240-380 cal), 2 or 3 miniature candy pieces or 3 girl scout cookies.

snack: homemade chex mix or triscuit thins (200 calories).

dinner: varies, depending on what I have time for. Sometimes it might be a small piece of lean meat with rice or pasta and green beans, on rushed nights, I may have a slice of pizza.

snack: a few handfulls of life cereal

I like to drink diet limeades from Sonic about 2 days a week. I try to never drink calories as I would rather eat them.

Throughout the week, I do pretty well. On weekends, I just like to snack too much and munch away on little things. Also, we have more eating activities at church or with family. I may get up to 1800 calories (more during the holiday season!) on weekend days. I believe it is very possibly the splurges that keep me from losing. I have tried to weigh every day to see what kind of trend is going on. I may lose a pound during the week, then I gain back 2 over the weekend and this takes me 4 days or so to get off. I know this is just a normal weight fluctuation but I just don't make any real long-term progress.
 
How tall are you and what is your weight? I bet you're undereating.

You diet is a disaster. Please read the stickies on this forum. There's a lot of information on healthy diet and excercise.

You can't add 2 pounds of fat over 2 days that is not unless you eat additional 7,000 calories. You weight gain on the weekend is probably due to water retention and the weight of additional food you've consumed.
 
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I am 5'6 1/2" and 126 lbs. I know I am not fat, I just need to lose a very few pounds to reduce some spots.

I snack on light yogurt with grape nuts, apples, grapes, and try to always have a vegetable or two for dinner and lunch. I don't think my diet is a disaster - there is just no way for me to pack in all the recommended servings of all the food groups with my caloric intake.

I have gone off diet for days or weeks at a time and eaten what I wanted (larger quantities, more calories, etc.) and I gain 5 lbs within a few weeks and then work months to get that off.

I have talked with my doctor about my caloric needs and he stated that some people do have slower metabolisms (my mother seems to have a slower metabolism as well). He is not concerned about me because I am thin.

I know also that I cannot actually gain 2 lbs in a weekend and that this is just from the food in my body which I have consumed over the weekend but what I am saying is that it takes a few days for that to come off and to get back to square one to try to lose a pound.
 
Yes, some people, especially those who have been undereating for years, may have slower metabolisms but there is a way to increase it without putting on fat. When you increase you lean mass (muscle) your metabolism increases as well allowing you to consume more vital nutrients.

I was curious a while ago why I should have higher metabolism and got some interesting answers

http://www.fitness.com/forum/nutrit...gh-metabolism-15197.html?highlight=metabolism

You need to understand that you cannot focus on your weight. You need to focus on your body composition. You can weigh the same or even more and fit into smaller clothes because a certain volume of muscle weighs more that the same volume of fat.

When you go on a severe calorie restricted diet (ie reduce your required daily intake by more than 500 kcal per day) your body goes into starvation mode and actually clings on to any fat it may have and is given. This is a protection mechanism that we keep from the pre-historic age.

You say you cannot eat the recommended calorie amount because you put on weight. This is probably because you're just increasing calories without actually paying any attention to where they come from (ie proteins vs carbs vs fat). If you follow a healthy eating plan with a proper nutritional breakdown and do a couple of days a week of excercises with weights in the gym you can start increasing your calories slowly by 100-200 per day each week.

You say you bulk up too quickly when you do weights. You need to realise that it is very difficult for women to gain muscle because we don't have testosterone. It is also absolutely impossible when you're on a calorie restricted diet. You can only gain muscle when you eating surplus to your requirements and you need to be eating much more protein then you do now. Whatever you're gaining is not muscle. I suspect that when you start weight wokouts while eating as little as you do your body goes into starvation mode and stores every little fat calorie you consume.

I was eating around 1000 - 1100 kcal per day this time last year compared to in excess of 2000now. I'm 5'4 and weigh 120lbs. like you I only had a few pounds to lose and trust me these are the hardest. I was 4 pounds heavier in January this year. I was also doing a lot of cardio. Now I hardly do any cardio, only HIIT and weights 2-3 times per week. I do heavy weights (my boyfriend gets scared) and I'm hardly putting on any muscle. Since last year I lost 5 pounds of fat and only gained 1 pound of muscle. The fact is I look much smaller and more defined.

I still think your diet is a disaster. It's too heavy in junk carbs and very light in protein. I have attached some links for you below that you may want to read to educate yourself. Dr Berardi has a Phd in Nutrition and he's also a famous bodybuilder and trainer of athletes.

John Berardi - Complete Idiot's Guide to Dieting

John Berardi - Lean Eatin' Part I

John Berardi - Lean Eatin' Part II

John Berardi - 7 Habits

I was pretty much where you are now last year. That is I had not clue about how human body works. I read a lot since and would like to think I have a much better understanding. I'm still learning though. You will be very surprised how little average person knows about proper nutrition. In case of women you can also blame magazines which print rubbish celebrity and fad diets instead of educating women. Suppose they are sponsored by the wrong companies.

Phew....

I hope I covered the basics for you. I mentioned before, please read the stickies and use the search function on this forum. There is a lot of information out there. You'll probably get a little cofused at first so just ask and someone will def help.

After you've read around a little come back and we'll help you come up with a good nutrition and excercise plan.

Good luck on your journey.
 
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