Trying to lose weight without success

Y

yellowcoco

0
Current stats:

140lbs, 5'5'', 22 yrs old, female, small frame (bones)

stats from 1 year ago:

120lbs, 5'5'', 21 yrs old.

I have been faithfully using the elliptical machine (90min/day, 6-7days/week) for the past year, eating a diet of 1600-2000 calories/day. There has been a period of time where I ate a lot of peanut butter+high stress, which I think contributed to the weight gain (which happened in less than 6 months). I have not weighed myself for a very long time because I get frustrated by the numbers on the scale and use my clothing to gauge my progress. I know I have not gained more than the highest weight because my clothes fit the same. I have also started running regularly since March (as a part of the 90min/day cardio). I have tried HIIT. I am in great shape. I can run better than ever before. However, my body feels so heavy and my legs feel so heavy. My upper body is very skinny (strangely, I never gain weight there). My legs have become noticeably larger. I am very frustrated at the lack of weight loss. I have been trying to lose this weight since last August. I want to call it all quits. Quit the gym. And just eat nothing. it is very frustrating to see others I know drop weight so quickly even without having to spend 90min at the gym or doing any weight training. (I know some people will point out that I am at a "healthy weight." But the problem is that my body feels heavy and I know this is not my normal weight).

I know these are some points I should change:

-add weight training to exercise.
-eat more proteins, less carbs
-Cut down on the cardio... maybe I am overloading my body? (although I never really feel tired from the cardio!!)
-eat less?? (how is this possible? I am trying to stay between 1600-1800).

At this point, I just want to give up using the elliptical (which I do for 90-120min), and just run for 60min straight, on the treadmill. I usually run between 6.5-7.4mph for 30min (2-3times a week), but do take breaks when I walk for about 1min. Does this sound like a good idea? Today I was further shocked by the amount of cellulite that formed when I was stretching. I am very frustrated and don't know what to do.

I have tried eating more, I have tried exercising more, I have tried HIIT (almost 3 months). Nothing seems to work. ANY advice would be appreciated! ( I want to get back down to my original weight, ie., lose 20lbs, by mid December).
 
What kinda food are you taking in?
 
RadioActive said:
What kinda food are you taking in?
Click to expand...

I haven't been focusing on what I eat much. Some foods include oatmeal, egg, tofu, rice, vegetables, fruits, fat free yogurt, olive oil, bread (my weakness), crackers (my weakness). I want to cut out bread and crackers...can't control myself when I eat them.

I have never been this heavy before and it is very discouraging.
How should I change my diet? I know I am usually carb heavy, but it has never caused any problems before (except now, I just can't lose any weight).
 
Doing cardio and eating 1200 calories a day is perfectly fine....if your body can handle it. I do cardio for 60-90 min a day, 7-days a week. I also have my calories down to 1200-1500 a day (and I eat NO bread or crackers...and its my weakness too!). With cardio, you can never overwork your heart! If youd like, ill give you my cardio treadmill workout. It will take the weight off!

You must watch your carbs (your bread and cracker intake is killing you in the weight loss area!). Dont eat any thing white! That means bread, crackers, rice, etc! Eat brown rice (1/2 cup servings and NO WHITE RICE), whole grain bread (not whole wheat), egg whites, limited fruits (they have TONS of natural sugar that will be bad for you), apples are the safest (1 a day for fiber). Yogurt is ok, just for breakfast and thats it. 1 container a day. Cut out the olive oil too. Some people say "its healty" and it is, but just not when trying to lose weight.

You really need to focus and pay attention on what you eat! Thats the most important part of losing weight! Exercising does no good if youre not feeding your body properly! I will post below what I told another member who has the same problem about not losing weight. Some of it applies to you, some doesnt. The eating parts and walking tips will help you, but you know the parts that pertain to her and not you. I just dont want to have to sit and clean up the whole thing. Youll get the point of it all though.


Here we go..................


Its hard to say how much weight youll lose in any amount of time. It all depends on your eating habits and the intensity of your workouts.

I would cut out the spaghetti, and the sauce. If you want pasta, eat whole wheat pasta, and if you want sauce, either find a low cal, or just use it sparingly since there is a lot of sugar in it. I would leave the cherries alone too. You dont want to over do it on fruit. Some is good, but not too much. Natural sugar can be just as damaging. Apples are great for fiber (1 a day), and oranges and grapefruit are good in moderation. Try to stay away from certain vegetables too. Carrots are high in sugar, as are peas, and corn. Vegetables are important for fiber. Califlower, brocolli, celery, salads (light dressing and only a couple tablespoons), tomatos, cucumbers (in moderation), bean sprouts, cabbage, peppers, asparagus, and a few others are great for filling you up. At your age, you need some carbs. Do go with brown rice (1/2 cup), small baked potatos would be good for you (no butter), and whole grain bread (not whole wheat). Drink lots of water, and thats great!

Your breakfast is high in sugar (youre eating mostly sugar products in the things you mentioned) and you should stick to things like bran flakes, Special K, mini wheats or the full size (not frosted). Plain oatmeal (with sugar substitute) is the best. Choose a fat-free or 2% milk for your cereal.

The lean steak and chicken breast are great meals, but I would cut out the ham (too much sodium and its not very lean) and limit your cheese (dairy) intake. Eat lean turkey or chicken breast (deli style, not the processed garbage). If you like fish....eat it! Especially salmon. Salmon is the best to eat! Tuna is second best. Too many others are high in fat.

Once youre on your weight loss trail, and its working out good for you with progress, you can introduce the things you previously mentioned (the stuff I said to stay away from) back into your diet.

I eat very strict. Once I have good losses, I have a treat that I really crave or want. Then, I go back into my routine. Yes, its tough eating the same things all of the time, but its worth it in the end. Its important to stay diciplined.

You have that weight lost far sooner than the time period you are mentioning. In that kind of time, it sounds like a "cheaters schedule". Thats where you eat fairly well, but you eat things you arent supposed to, and then lose a little here and there, but gain here and there too. Go for broke! Get diciplined, stay focused, and dont stray from eating like youre supposed to. The exercising is important. If you can do your walks at a fast pace (to the point of heavy breathing) youll really get results. Get your heart rate up. Walk really fast for 2 minutes (time yourself), then, walk at a normal pace for 2 minutes, then, go back to fast again for 2 minutes. Keep this up everytime you go for a walk. The sit ups dont do much except build your muscles under the layer of fat that is your stomach. Sit ups dont burn fat around your stomach. Push ups are great for muscle building on your chest, shoulders, triceps, upper back, biceps, and traps. Not great for burning fat either. Jumping jacks are good because you are moving. So, just stick with everything you are doing. Youll be fine. Pay attention to what I said about what you should and shouldnt be eating. The things I mentioned will work great if you follow it, and the foods I mentioned will really help with the weight loss.
 
White rice and brown rice are pretty similar in nutritional value according to the back of the boxes. I personally like whole wheat or a multi grain rice, though its a bit more expensive.

Bread can be a killer. If I have bread its 2 pieces max in a day and its either rye bread or multi grain (multigrain is so amazing and its fairly healthy)
 
When you get down to within your goal weight, you really can't expect your body to lose more than .5-1lb per week... 1600-2000cals per day is about the amount you would need to maintain your weight with the current stats that you listed. (~1875 to maintain your weight with light exercise/moderate activity levels). If you want to see yourself losing weight, around 1lb per week, you would need to bring your calories down to 1400 and maintain it over a long period of time. ~20-30 weeks or half a year to get down to the weight you were at last year at this time. I think your issue of "feeling heavy" is way more mental than it is a physical condition. Perhaps you are unhappy in other parts of your life or need to be more involved... volunteering or something like that. I find myself, during downtime, obsessing over small body changes like water retention or letting my moods affect the way I feel. If I stay very busy and I go to bed fatigued from my day, I feel much better about myself... "idle hands are the devil's playground" etc.

Also, sidenote: I know I used light exercise/moderate activity levels, and you may not feel like that is the type of activity you are doing, but in reality, on the scale of sedentary to michael phelps, most people are at light exercise/moderate activity levels. Unless you are on your feet for your job, 8hrs per day, and then going to the gym, and then playing with your kids, and then taking your dog for a walk, and then cleaning the the house, taking a shower and collapsing into bed.... most people are light/moderate, not heavy or extremely physically demanding (aka burning 3,000 cals in physical activity alone, outside of normal bodily fuctioning).
 
Hi needloss

A good tactic thats working for me just now is that ive eliminated all sugar from my diet (you may of already done this) except for a little natural sugar from apples or pineapples.
I m steadily losing fat and im not even exercising just now because of an injury, also i was doing a lot of running and boxing a few years ago but still had some flabby bits that im only just losing because of the diet change.
Seems to me its definitely more about what you eat than how much you work hard in the gym (although this obviously helps).
Hope you dont quit working out and good luck, also check out this free ebook that i found for losing weight through diet ideas
 
Needloss said:
Current stats:

140lbs, 5'5'', 22 yrs old, female, small frame (bones)

stats from 1 year ago:

120lbs, 5'5'', 21 yrs old.

I have been faithfully using the elliptical machine (90min/day, 6-7days/week) for the past year, eating a diet of 1600-2000 calories/day. There has been a period of time where I ate a lot of peanut butter+high stress, which I think contributed to the weight gain (which happened in less than 6 months).
Click to expand...

This is no doubt what contributed to your weight loss! Peanut butter is two things: Calorie dense (high in fat) and delicious!

Needloss said:
I have not weighed myself for a very long time because I get frustrated by the numbers on the scale and use my clothing to gauge my progress. I know I have not gained more than the highest weight because my clothes fit the same.
Click to expand...

I know the scale can be frustrating but maybe think about using it in a constructive way for motivation. What if you measured yourself every Friday morning after you used the toilet. Do you think if you saw the scale go down it would add to your motivation to continue?

Needloss said:
I have also started running regularly since March (as a part of the 90min/day cardio). I have tried HIIT. I am in great shape. I can run better than ever before. However, my body feels so heavy and my legs feel so heavy. My upper body is very skinny (strangely, I never gain weight there). My legs have become noticeably larger.
Click to expand...

Needloss, do you think any bit of the excess weight is muscular? Have you ran like this your entire life? If these long runs and HIIT are new to you, do you think that you could have built a little muscle?

Needloss said:
I am very frustrated at the lack of weight loss. I have been trying to lose this weight since last August. I want to call it all quits. Quit the gym. And just eat nothing. it is very frustrating to see others I know drop weight so quickly even without having to spend 90min at the gym or doing any weight training. (I know some people will point out that I am at a "healthy weight." But the problem is that my body feels heavy and I know this is not my normal weight).
Click to expand...

Do not give up! Remember that nothing worth having comes easy!


Needloss said:
I know these are some points I should change:

-add weight training to exercise.
-eat more proteins, less carbs
-Cut down on the cardio... maybe I am overloading my body? (although I never really feel tired from the cardio!!)
-eat less?? (how is this possible? I am trying to stay between 1600-1800).
Click to expand...

All these pointers are going in what I think is the right direction! I will explain below.

Needloss said:
At this point, I just want to give up using the elliptical (which I do for 90-120min), and just run for 60min straight, on the treadmill. I usually run between 6.5-7.4mph for 30min (2-3times a week), but do take breaks when I walk for about 1min. Does this sound like a good idea? Today I was further shocked by the amount of cellulite that formed when I was stretching. I am very frustrated and don't know what to do.

I have tried eating more, I have tried exercising more, I have tried HIIT (almost 3 months). Nothing seems to work. ANY advice would be appreciated! ( I want to get back down to my original weight, ie., lose 20lbs, by mid December).
Click to expand...

Needloss, lets first examine your goal:
20 lbs by mid December

20/140 = 14%. You are trying to lose 14% of your body weight in 120 days. For someone as dedicated as you seem, this should be no problem, we just need the road map to get there!

However:
Something I am not buying for one second:
That you are using cardio for 90 mins and consuming 1600 calories in one day and still not losing weight. I don't think you are considering all your calories! I would recommend really watching your proportions and make sure you are reading nutritional labels correctly. Are you taking cheat days? In a typical Needloss's day what makes up her 1600 calories? How often do you eat out? What is your typical first meal of the day and what is your typical last meal?

As far as working out:
The human body is utterly AMAZING at adapting. Do you ever notice that when you are in a bar that is absolutely filled with smokers :sifone: that your eyes will water and you will cough. None of the smokers are doing this. Their body's have adapted to be comfortable with smoke (yuck!:puke:). There is no doubt in my mind your body has become extremely efficient at managing long jogs and HIIT. Simply put, your body has adapted to this conditioning.

I would recommend a few things as far as your work out:
For the rest of August, lets give HIIT and long cardio a rest. Lets start lifting weights. I would recommend using a 5 day split and resting twice a week. On your rest days just because you are taking a break from the gym doesn't mean you're off your diet.

There are numerous weight lifting programs out there that are at your fingertip. A few things to remember about weight lifting and being a lady:
1- Laugh in the face of anyone who tells you weight lifting adds mass and does not burn fat. Weight lifting is very good at getting your heart rate up and does an amazing job of depleting the trained muscles of glycogen. (Once your glycogen in muscles is low, your body responds with glucagon - a fat burning hormone!)
2- Do not think that lifting anything bigger than the two pound pink plastic weights will make you build mass. Simply put, with a calorie deficiency and your lack of mass building hormones will not allow your body to 'bulk up'. So lift heavy! Make your weight training a challenge but never at the expense of an injury or proper form.
3- Instead of long cardio, set the treadmill to a brisk walk or speed walk (between 1.8 and 3.0). Then put the incline to the max (15 or 16 degrees). Try this after your weight training three days a week. Maybe this change in cardio might show some results.

As always, good luck!

If you have any questions please ask and remember that diet is twice as important as working out.
 
At first glance it looks like you're eating too much. Try cutting it down by 300 calories, weigh yourself everyday. Look for a difference.
 
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