Hi I am new!

C

Candy1

New member
Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum and wanted to tell you a little about myself. I have been dieting and exercising for 3 months now. I have lost 5 pounds and that is it. I recently bought a elliptical trainer so I am now doing a half hour a day on that, and a hour a day on my treadmill. I can't figure out why I am not losing weight faster:confused: . I have cut pop out of my diet, and have really been concentrating on eating alot of fruits and vegetables. I don't think I am a problem eater, I just wish I could figure out why the weight isn't coming off faster. Do I need to exercise more? I weigh 148 and am 5'6".
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Candy
 
Weight loss is more a function of caloric intake, moreso than any other variable, including exercise. So no, I would be willing to bet that your problem lies on the nutritional side of things rather than the exercise side.
 
That is what I thought. I will have to start writing down what I eat and try to figure it out. I get really frustrated, as I have been working so hard. :(
 
Most likely you don't have to work as hard as you been. People make this out to be a lot more difficult than it has to be. If you are trying to get in figure or bodybuilding contest shape, yes, this can be a chore. If you are simply trying to shed some pounds, it is not that bad.

Do you have any idea how many calories you are consuming? That is the driving factor in all of this.
 
both and offer free online food logs there's a few more as well... if you start recording your food for the day and accurately measure it - you might see where your calories are coming from
 
I really don't know how many calories I eat a day. For breakfast, I have a bowl of Special K with red berries. For lunch I eat a bowl of salad with a few baby carrots, and I use Italian dressing. Supper time I normally have a small portion of whatever I make for supper. I don't drink anything with sugar in it. I drink LOTS of ice water a day. I am not a snacker, I don't drink alcohol. I can't figure it out. I love to exercise that much, do you think I am over doing it? I really have no problem exercising that much per day.
 
It is hard to believe someone can't eat enough. LOL, but I have read that many times. I don't feel hungry alot, therefore, I have a hard time eating.
I've heard a person should eat something like 5 small meals a day, I have a hard enough time eating 3 meals a day.
 
There will not be much of a difference if you eat 3 opposed to 5 meals per day. Many people say that, basing the recommendation off of the thermogenic effect of eating small, numerous meals. Truthfully, when reviewing studies on the subject, you can eat however many meals suits your schedule or liking. I would never recommend limiting it to 1 or 2 meals, but 3 and above is fine as long as your calories and macronutrients are in line for your goals.

I would be interested in seeing your food journal. Anorexics lose weight even on 600 calorie per day diets, when they really don't have any weight to lose in the first place.
 
I will have to start keeping a journal. I forgot to mention that for snack throughout the day, I will eat a apple or a orange. Baby carrots are another of my favorite things to munch on if I feel a little bit hungry. I used to eat alot of McDonalds,,, have cut that out unless it is a side salad or a snack wrap. I don't eat the frenchfries or the burgers anymore. LOL I loved them, but knew I had to quit!! After I quit smoking, it seems my metabolism screeched to a halt.
 
I can tell that you are deficient in protein from the start, but we will focus on that later.

Remember, it is not the amount of calories per day, even though that is how I go about designing a diet. It is the calorie balance over a longer continuum.

I have so many people that I help that say they eat nothing and they still can't lose weight. And during the weekdays, they do eat very good. But once Friday night rolls around, they pig out until Sunday. 9/10 times, once they start tracking their calories, they are extremely surprised how fast they add up. I am not saying this is your case, but it would be a good measure to track a full week or two to see where you stand.

Do you mind telling me your stats?

Nevermind, I read your first post again.
 
LOL! Wish I could say I pigged out on the weekends, but I really don't. I do eat more on the weekends though, as that is when I am cooking for my family. For breakfast I will either make things like eggs and bacon, biscuits and gravy, egg rollups,,, things like that. Then I will have 2 eggs and a couple pieces of bacon, or I will eat one biscuit with gravy, or one egg rollup. I eat bigger lunches on the weekends also, always the same amount for supper though. Guess maybe I am pigging out on the weekends??
Starting today I am going to start writing down everything I eat and see what happens. I used to like to munch on things like chips, crackers,, that sort of thing, but for my snacks now I will only grab fruits or veggies.
Soup is another thing that I will eat for lunch. (during the week) I figure there can't be that many calories in chicken noodle soup, or beef vegetable. I don't really look at the labels though on the cans of soup. If I do open a can of soup, I usually have half one day, and save the other half for the next day.
We eat alot of meat at supper time though. I've been cutting down the portion sizes that I eat. Seems I am working really hard on this but not getting results. LOL
 
Candy said:
What would be a good diet for me? On a typical day, what would you suggest I eat and how much??
Click to expand...

That is a very big question. Calorie wise, probably 1600-1700 calories per day. Food wise, you should read my journal about the post I recently did regarding diet design.
 
I will check out your post.
Thanks for all of your help! I am going to get this figured out one way or another. Obviously it is in my diet, just need to figure out how to eat better to lose weight. During the week I do really good, weekends maybe not so well.
Forgot to mention also that the last 2 weeks is when I really started watching what I eat.
For the first couple of months I figured I was exercising, why worry so much about diet. That is not the case though, and I finally started to really work on that. I used to be a soda fanatic.. I love coke! I have not had any in 2 weeks now.
 
I've done alot of reading in your journal, very interesting! I plan to do more reading later when I get back on the computer.
Once again,
Thanks for responding to my posts, I hope to learn alot!!
 
Candy said:
I've done alot of reading in your journal, very interesting! I plan to do more reading later when I get back on the computer.
Once again,
Thanks for responding to my posts, I hope to learn alot!!
Click to expand...

I am glad. And from what you said in your previous post about really only watching what you eat for the last 2 weeks.... understand that sometimes fat loss is not as responsive as you'd like it to be. Most give up at this point or they blame on their exercise, not doing enough of it namely.

It 99% of the time comes down to the nutritional side of things. Let me know when I can be of more help. At the very least, I would love to see your nutrition log once you get it started and going.

You can post in my journal if you have questions, just so I don't miss it. :)
 
Hi Steve,
This is what I ate today.
I had a bowl of Special K with red berries this morning.
For lunch I had a orange and a lettuce salad with italian dressing.
For supper now I had a cheeseburger with a little bit of ketchup on it. White bun. Nothing else on it.
I also had a small baked potato with a very little bit of butter and just a hint of sour cream on it. I also made green beans, and had a small portion of them also.
The only thing I have drank today is tons of ice water. That is all I ever drink in a day.
How did I do or did I do horrible???
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top