New and need help....

I've been reading a lot on this site to try to help myself and figure out what I'm doing wrong. You all seem like a big help to each other, so I thought I would post.
I am 26, 5' 4'', 165 lbs. and a mother of two. I have recently started dieting which I always seem to be on again off again and I have been exercising at home. My goal is to lose about 30-40 lbs. After I had my first child it took me about a year with diet, not even exercise to get me back down to 115 lbs. So, me weighing 165 lbs. right now feels embarrasing to me. What I'm doing is this...

Breakfast (8 am)
Bowl of Kashi 7 whole grains and sesame
1 c. 2% milk
1 fat-free Yogurt


Lunch (11:30 am)
(Starkist Tuna Lunch Packs)
3 oz. Tuna
1 tbl. reduced cal. Mayo
1 tsp relish
6 whole wheat crackers
Granola Bar

Snack (2 pm)
Banana

Dinner (6 pm)
Baked Pork chop or chicken breast with Barbeque Sauce
Mushrooms with garlic
Green beans or peas and carrots

Exercise (8 pm) 5-6 days a week
Elliptical 45 min. My elliptical has personal training programs built into it and this is the longest program and it starts off at 3 resistance and has 4 peaks that go up to 9 and 10 ever other peak. It says I'm burning 800 cal at the end, but I know those counters are not accurate.
Then every other day I have dumbells and I do arm exercises, pushups and crunches.

I have been doing this for just about a month and have lost a few pounds, but I'm not sure if I'm doing enough or if I'm eating okay.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
How many calories is all that? That doesn't seem to be a lot of calories, which could be the problem. Here are some suggestions I have:

Meal 1) I would get some protein in there (like egg whites). Also, I find cereal is not very filling. I'll have a bowl then an hour later I'm starving. I find something like oatmeal is much more filling.

Meal 2) Once again, I think you could find foods that are much more calorie dense. The tuna is ok, and so is the mayo if it fits into your end of the day totals. But instead of crackers, why not just have some ezekiel bread (found in the health food section of your local grocery store) and make a sandwich or half a sandwich?

Meal 3) A banana is not enough. Get some protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs.

Meal 4) ok.

When do you strength train? What do you normally have after that?

As for your workouts, you're doing alot of cardio and not enough strength training. The workout section has great information on how to design your own training split.

Keep working hard, your on the right track :)
 
I really appreciate the help!

I think it's somewhere around 1200 calories. See, the thing is that I'm not hungry when I eat this way. But, if I need to eat more, I will. The cereal in the morning actually fills me up which was a surprise to me because normally I could just keep eating cereal because it would never fill me up. It has more fiber in it than regular cereals.

I do my dumbells after I do my cardio and I don't usually eat after I exercise. Sometimes I'll have carrots and fat-free ranch dressing, or something like that.

I just feel like I should be losing more, but that's why I think I'm doing something wrong.
 
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