I'm Really Getting Frustrated!!

[christiekritter]

Hello all,
I'm new to the site. I thought I'd log on to get some advice. I have a desk job (40-hour work week) and I go to school two nights a week so you can see that finding time to work out has been hard. I managed to find the time though. I have a 1 1/2 hour lunch break so I work out for an hour 5 days a week. Also, on school nights I walk an additional 3 miles. Here is my dilemma. I'm not losing any weight! I've been working out 5 days a week since January and nothing is happening. I went from not working out at all to 5 days a week and I've only lost 7 pounds in 9 months. I'm 5'11 and I currently weigh 175 pounds. I usually eat cereal and a piece of toast for breakfast, a Lean Cuisine for lunch, and whatever we cook up for dinner. For my workouts I usually start out with 4 sets of 15 and I work 2 different muscles a day. I also do 40 minutes of cardio (jogging or elliptical) a day. What is the story? I don't see any muscle forming, I haven't dropped any sizes, and I've barely lost any weight. The only good thing is that I feel great. What can I do?

 

[amomono]

hmmm... I'm not an expert, but let me try to give some advice...

one thing that you could do is to change up the routine or diet to kind of shock your system. Take a week off, and then start back up and see how you are doing.

You also may want to check how many calories you are consuming compared with how many you need (based on your exercise, daily activities, etc.) If you are getting too few calories into your system, you may in fact be in a sort of "hibernation" mode, where your body is actually storing fat b/c it doesn't want to starve. Then again, (and I don't know the details of your diet) you may be consuming too many calories and that is why you are not loosing... Dinner has always been deceptive for me and where I eat the most calories... Portion size is VERY important...

a third idea would be to space out your calorie intake through out the day. It is suggested that we eat every 3-4 hours to keep our bodies awake and our metabolism up. Try eating a snack like a piece of fruit or a yogurt between breakfast and lunch, and lunch and dinner.

option four would be to add some sort of supplement to your diet like a shake, or weight-loss pill

I hope some of this helps! and if anyone else has better suggestions, I hope they post here too =) I'm sorry you have had such bad luck and I hope you stick with us and let us know how things go for you!!!

 

[mikehende]

1] which types of workouts do you use 5 days per week, free weights, machines, e.t.c?

2] what workload, with machines, heavy resistance? With free weights, heavy?

2] How often do you work each bodypart per week?