First off, I would not be so concerned with what the scale says. Many people leave weight training out of the equation b/c they have a fear of getting "too big" or not losing weight. This if very flawed. Let me explain:
In its simplest form, to lose fat, you must be in a calorie deficit. To gain muscle, you must be in a calorie surplus. So in order to lose fat, you must be eating less then you are burning through physical activity each day. To gain muscle or fat, you must be eating more then you are burning each day.
Now, we all know a calorie is not just a calorie, meaning, there is more to it then the above paragraph. However, this makes the above paragraph no less true!
Your best approach is to do one or the other at any given time. If you want to lose fat primarily right now, then you must create a calorie deficit. The deficit should not be major. If you induce too large of a deficit, your body will respond poorly by invoking its starvation response mechanism. This is bad simply b/c your body will fight to hold onto fat as much as possible since it is the densest form of energy our body stores, and it will burn muscle which is also very bad because this will slow your metabolism.
During this deficit, you should be consuming 5-7 small meals each day each consisting of lean proteins, complex carbs, good fats, fruits and veggies. We can get into specific foods if you need help with that later.
You should also be doing cardio 3-5 days per week using 20-60 minutes sessions. This is a large range b/c people respond differently. I would start with 20-30 and if you are not getting any results even though you are eating properly, then bump up the intensity by increasing the time you workout cardiovascularly.
Lastly, you should be lifting weights while trying to lose fat. This is where many people go wrong. Remember, to lose fat, you must create a calorie deficit. Whenever you create a deficit, you are going to lose muscle along with the fat, it is common human physiology. To minimize the muscle loss, you must weight train. For beginners, I def. recommend 2-3 days per week using full-body routines. Many are only concerned with the scale, and say, "Who cares if I am losing muscle....if the scale is dropping I am happy."
Muscle is a metabolically active tissue, meaning the more of it you have, the faster your metabolism is. If you induce a calorie deficit to lose fat, yet, do not implement weight training, you are going to keep losing more and more muscle. As this happens, your metabolism will gradually get slower and slower until it gets to the point where your metabolism is so slow, you will not be able to lose any weight. Your metabolism becomes very inefficient.
So this is a start, we can get into more detail once you begin to grasp these basics. I look forward to hearing from you.
Take care,
Steve
