What am I doing wrong?

Bigreen

Bigreen

New member
Hi, I've been at 275 lbs for the last year. I do 20-25 minutes of eliptical 3-5 days a week. I walk home from work 3 times a week. (45 minute walk) I bike to work 2 days a week. (15 minutes each way)

I can't lose fat. I don't lose weight. I eat at least 2-3 fruit a day, I eat plenty of veggies. I eat no fat yogurt or cereal every morning. I eat pasta, bread or rice pretty often. I don't eat much meat, when i do it's usually chicken or pork.

I can't lose weight. Do I need to do more exercise? I don't get it. I probably eat too much cause im always hungry.

I need help, I am really down in the dumps right now.
 
Bigreen, the first step is getting yourself educated. Start with this Index of WLF "Keepers". There are some really good posts there that will help you get started.

This is a hard struggle. It will be tough, but you can do it -- if you work at it, educate yourself, and do the right things.
 
Tom is such a nice guy.....

Takes a lot of the guesswork out of it for us by making such a helpful list. Definitely worth a gander. Its a complicated little game this weight loss thing, true sucess IMO can only be achieved by finding something that you can and more importantly WILL do. So many choices and many work without fail, the trick is finding the one that will most appeal to you and your lifestyle. The link Tom sent is a great start.

Sometimes a couple hours of good reading is worth more than years of hard work...

I know.....

sirant
 
I'd say that's good excersize for keeping weight off enough, but not to shed it, join a gym and see how that goes for about 3months, I managed to lose 5" or so off my waist in that time, so I'm sure anyone can.
Keep it up! And yeah, educate yourself, "fat free yoghurt/whatever" is not good for you, fat slows down digestion, so the increased sugar from fat free proucts is instant fat for you to store!
 
Bigreen said:
Hi, I've been at 275 lbs for the last year.
Click to expand...

How tall are you ?

After all, 275 lbs @ 5' 10 " is one thing ........275 lbs @ 6' 3 " is another:)

What is your waist size ?


Bigreen said:
I do 20-25 minutes of eliptical 3-5 days a week. I walk home from work 3 times a week. (45 minute walk) I bike to work 2 days a week. (15 minutes each way)
Click to expand...

The eliptical - how hard to you exercie on it - i.e are you just breathing deeply or are out of breath the whole time ? Ditto on the bike and walk - do you get winded ( out of breath ) doing them ?

Bigreen said:
I can't lose fat. I don't lose weight. I eat at least 2-3 fruit a day, I eat plenty of veggies. I eat no fat yogurt or cereal every morning. I eat pasta, bread or rice pretty often. I don't eat much meat, when i do it's usually chicken or pork.
Click to expand...

Remember, it isn't always so much HOW WELL you eat ( i.e you could eat the healthiest food in the world 24/7 with fuit and complex carbs etc. etc. ) but also HOW MUCH you eat.

Any excess calories beyond what your body needs get's stored as fat - no matter how ' clean ' your diet is.



Bigreen said:
I can't lose weight. Do I need to do more exercise? I don't get it. I probably eat too much cause im always hungry.

I need help, I am really down in the dumps right now.
Click to expand...

On your hunger. When do you feel hungry ? Do you feel more hungry very soon after you exercise or do you feel less hungry after you exercise ?

How many meals / snacks do you have over the course of a day ? The usually 3 or 6 or so ?

Are you starving before you have those meals ? When you you feel the most hunger during the day ?
 
We will wait to hear your response to Wrangell, but he asked the right questions. Your problem lies in your nutrition.
 
Wrangell said:
How tall are you ?

After all, 275 lbs @ 5' 10 " is one thing ........275 lbs @ 6' 3 " is another:)

What is your waist size ?




The eliptical - how hard to you exercie on it - i.e are you just breathing deeply or are out of breath the whole time ? Ditto on the bike and walk - do you get winded ( out of breath ) doing them ?



Remember, it isn't always so much HOW WELL you eat ( i.e you could eat the healthiest food in the world 24/7 with fuit and complex carbs etc. etc. ) but also HOW MUCH you eat.

Any excess calories beyond what your body needs get's stored as fat - no matter how ' clean ' your diet is.





On your hunger. When do you feel hungry ? Do you feel more hungry very soon after you exercise or do you feel less hungry after you exercise ?

How many meals / snacks do you have over the course of a day ? The usually 3 or 6 or so ?

Are you starving before you have those meals ? When you you feel the most hunger during the day ?
Click to expand...

Im 5' 6", my waist is 40".
I go pretty hard on my eliptical. I take long deep breaths to try and regulate my heart rate. When I am doing it my heart rate is probably 160 ish by the end.

When I bike to work I go as fast as possible. I usually don't get winded by the time I arrive. (i used to though, not anymore)

Same with walking, I walk as fast as I can. I don't get winded at all.

As for food, Im hungry all day every day all the time. No matter how much I eat. I think I have a eating disorder. Even when I know I am full I still get hungry. I try to limit my intake to good food. I usually work out after dinner and I don't eat again.

I work a lot. My eating is pretty routine right now.

I wake up at 4:45am - I usually have a bowl of cereal.
On my first break at work 8:00am I have my first snack. (at this point i am absolutely starving) My fisrt snack is usually fruit and yogurt.
I have lunch at 11:00am, usually it's fruit & veggies, a sandwich & a small leftover from the night before.
I have another snack at 1pm & 3pm then I have dinner at 5pm. I have many diffrent dinners, but usually i try to make something healthy. (not always though)

I have a snack at 7pm and work out at 8pm. In bed at 10pm.

Thank you for any advice you give me.
 
I'm not surprised that you are hungry all the time, you're not having a proper meal until 5pm.

The program that I follow recommends 5-6 meals per day, but these have to be proper meals with at minimum a source of lean protein and a fibrous carb. Across the day you need to ensure that you get the right balance of protein, carbs and fats.

It doesn't sound to me like you are getting enough protein. Probably too much fruit as well. Fruit has a lot of sugar which will spike your insulin levels then leave you craving more on the rebound.
 
I don't think Im not eating enough. I eat 2500 + calories per day. My problem is I could eat 5000 calories and I would still be hungry. Even when my stmoach is full, my mind still tells me im hungry. I don't know why or how, but that's my reality.
 
It's not just the calories that dictate your hunger. The macronutrient ratios are important too. You might also find that you do better if you taper your calorie intake over the course of the day - eat more in the early part of the day when your energy expenditure is highest and less later on.
 
I'm probably hitting 1800kcal :s And I don't usually feel hungry...
Half of your problem I'm sure is you're used to more food, less activity, and at that I'm sure more calorie dense food(Fatty foods). Try and get some nuts and olive through your day, keep protein in each meal, have a good breakfast with plenty of carbs and protein (I have poridge and whey protein in milk with some caffeine)
Fat doesn't make you "fat", excess calories will though, so make sure you get a balanced diet, saturated fats will add weight, poly and mono saturates won't without having excessive amounts.
And yeah fruit, it might be natural, but it's still mostly sugar, to be honest I'd say just have it after a workout.

Last of all, don't stress, once you make this a habit more than a chore you'll see the weight pile off without thinking about everything so much!

Good luck ;)
 
A quick word of advice....

As you can plainly see, there are people here who are capable and willing to help you. However, they need data to work with also.

I would reccomend really taking charge of your eating and starting a food diary. People here will be more than glad to make reccomendations and give advice based on your eating habits, but your "typical" days food consists of 4 snacks, a bowl of cereal, a sandwhich, leftovers and "something healthy" for dinner. Really not a great description at all.

Thats like going to a mechanic with car problems and saying " It makes a funny noise". He would just stare at you. Your description of your daily food intake is so non-specific even a nutritional genius would have a hard time to give you some sound advice. Everyone has different ideas of what is healthy. Sometimes those harmless looking little snacks can hold a WHOPPING big punch to your best efforts! I used to think a nice small cinammon scone from Starbucks was a nice healthy alternative, sometimes I would eat 2.... Little did I know they are close to 600 calories each... (I had very wrongly assumed around 100). I'd have been better off with big macs and chocolate bars!

Try giving us (and yourself) a much more detailed description of a typical days eating and we will be much better able to help you. And as hard as it is to do sometimes, be completely honest and frank about it. Every little thing adds up and you could well be sabatoging your own best efforts. I learned the hard way that eating plays probably the biggest role, bar none, in real, successful and healthy weight loss.

I hope to see more info soon.

sirant
 
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