I have 36 lbs. to lose.

[patcha]

Hi everyone.

 

I have 28 more pounds to lose, and it doesn't seem to be budging. I may lose a pound every 2 weeks which is great I know. I'm wondering if my exercise and diet regime could be improved?

 

Here's what I've been doing:

 

Exercising everyday alternating between strength training and cardio. For the strength training, I'm using .5 lbs. which is actually a little difficult for me. Should I up the weights? The only thing holding me back from upping the weights is that I have not exercised everyday consistently for a whole month yet. I'm afraid that if I may exercising too difficult that I would stop or have long pauses. I want to make exercise a habit before I tweak with its intensity. What do you guys think? What are your experiences with this?

 

I walk for at least 1 hr. 20 min. Mondays through Thursdays. I walk my dogs for about 15 mins. everday.

 

My diet consist mostly of beans with veggies. Sometimes I'll add unhealthy things like ramen noodles(frequent), biscuits(rare), rice wrappers(frequent) and white bread (rare).

 

What do you guys think? Where can I improve but not be a "drastic" change for me?

[Jilly Bean]

I think you're doing everything wrong, hon.

 

To lose weight, you need to combine a restricted calorie diet and exercise.

 

Walking for an hour only burns about 200 calories, which isn't much.

 

And you're using 1/2 pound weights? Do they even make such a thing? That's like picking up a can of coke. Actually less - lol.

 

And your diet is horrible. Too many carbs, and way too little protein.

 

Do you have access to a trainer or nutritionist? With such a large amount of weight to lose, it would be best to seek professional assistance.

 

Without being aware of your overall physical health, age, health problems, mobility, current size, etc., no one can safely prescribe a diet or exercise plan for you without first evaluating your whole profile.

[patcha]

Yep. 1/2 pound weights, and I know that is so little. lol. I'm actually tempted to do it without weights at all and use my body weight. I really want to get into the habit of exercising before making it difficult at all. I'm working with Jillian Michael's DVDs. "No More Trouble Zones," "Banish Fat. Boost Metabolism," and "Cardio Kickboxing." I alternate between those religiously in the mornings after breakfast, and I do get pooped out. After that, I walk to work for 40 mins. which I then walk back home which is another 40 mins.

 

My max caloric intake is 2000 from Fri.-Sun. Less than 1000 M-R. It just is. Not intentional. I eat until I'm full.

 

A nutritionist or physical fitness trainer would be expensive for me.

 

I'm in my 20s. No illnesses. Mobility is 100%. Female. 5'3"

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it!

[WTRanger]

The basic key is to burn more than you intake. As a female you'll want to burn at least 500 or more calories than you intake. How long have you been doing this? It might take you time to ramp up to large weight losses. I'm a guy, but when I started to lose weight it went slow, then about 3 months into it when my body was finally in shape and ramped up, I just shed weight light crazy.

 

When you do you eat? How many meals? How large are your meals? Do you walk or exercise on an empty stomach?

[patcha]

I used to walk and exercise on an empty stomach. Now I make sure to eat breakfast. It's only been this week that I'm making sure to eat before walking or exercising. So I'm hoping to see some positive results.

 

I usually eat breakfast and dinner M-R. Fri-Sun., I'm able to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is within an hour of waking up. Some time from 7-9am. Lunch around 12-1 and dinner 5-7.

 

For instance, today:

 

Breakfast: 3 spring rolls (rice wrappers filled with beans, chinese broccoli, carrots, jalapeno & onions)

Lunch: same

Dinner: 2 whole wheat pitas stuffed with same. 5 bananas.

 

I've only started being serious about my weight in April. So far have lost 8 pounds.

[WTRanger]

First thing, you really need to concentrate on what you are eating. It doesn't sound like you are eating all that well. For me, and for most people, one of the major keys was to eat more often but to eat less. I ate 6 fist-sized meals a day, about every 2-3 hours. Pre-portion your meals the day before and eat ONLY what you have portioned out. Don't jam 5 bananas down your pie hole because 4.75 of those just went straight to your gut.

 

You are stuffing yourself 3 times a day, and that's causing your body to in turn store food. By eating 6 times a day you allow your body to be in constant calorie burn mode. You obviously have to watch what you eat, it has to be low or no fat, low caloric intake, and generally healthy for you. You also need to drink tons of water a day, and I'm not kidding. I drink around 2-3 liters of water a day, you'll flush so much trash out of your system that way.

 

I never ate before I ran in the mornings, do some research and you'll see 2 different arguments on that but not eating worked for me. I would have my first super small meal before I ran, usually one orange or one banana just to get some sugar in my blood. I'd run, clean up and go to work, then about 2-3 hours later I'd eat my 2nd small meal, the real breakfast. Then lunch, then lunch #2, etc.

 

By eating smaller and more often I was able to shrink my stomach back down and now I can only eat half as much food as I used to be able to in one sitting. Over the course of about 10 months I lost about 60 pounds and about 35 pounds of that was in the last 2 months. So it went slow for a bit, then all of a sudden when the more stubborn fat was gone, the pounds just shed off.

 

Generally I would always switch my workouts too, if you routine yourself you'll get to a point where no matter what you do, you won't lose any more weight. You have to keep your body guessing. So every 3 months I would mix things up. Some months I have a more cardio heavy workout with light weight lifting on my off days. Others, I'd do heavier weights with lighter cardio. To motivate my ass to get up, I signed up for a marathon. I only trained for about 4 months before I ran it. So in order to not die or make a fool of myself when I ran the marathon, I had to stick exactly to the training plan I had laid out. I had told everyone I was running it too, so they would expect to see me finish and harass me if I didn't.

 

The argument behind not eating before you run in the morning, is that when you do burn calories you are only burning your stored calories and not new calories you've just eaten. Of course, when you do eat after you really have to be careful because your body will break down that food. So if you eat like crap, then crap is what your body burns.

[WTRanger]

One more thing to add. I've seen many arguments to eat before you work out in the morning, as in lift weights but to eat after you do cardio. It's because weights and cardio burn calories and demand different energy stores from your body.

 

8 pounds since April is good. You have to remember you are training your body to react to food differently, so it will take some time for your inner plumbing to get re-routed. Just keep up the positive gains.

[Star Gazer]

Join sparkpeople.com - it's FREE, and a great resource for someone who needs guidance on diet and nutrition.

[patcha]

Thanks guys for the advice. Really appreciate it since I need it obviously!

 

WTRanger -- what do you usually eat?

 

And I am an SP member, since I started.

[Cherished]

I highly recommend the book Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting by Bethenny Frankel.

I already do a lot of her advice naturally, but I got the book because I want to stay trim. The book helps keep things in perspective. I also exercise, but I don't go crazy with it.

[patcha]

I'll check it out. I just put it on hold at my local library.

[WTRanger]

I typically eat a lot of fish and poultry. I do eat red meat, but I make sure it's a lean cut. Though, there are days where a nice fatty hunk of steak makes it's way into my food.

 

I eat a lot of rice, pasta, soups, etc as well. I try to cook most of those from scratch or near scratch as I can better control what I put in them.

 

Initially it was a pain to prepare the meals, but once I got into a groove it become no problem. I'll prepare all styles of dishes from asian, indian, american and various other ethnic backgrounds. As with my workouts, I really try to vary what I eat as much as I can so my body doesn't get too comfortable with processing and breaking it down.

 

I don't go wild with my exercising either, the most I'll do is 45 minutes in one stretch. But it is an intense 45 minutes.

[1Angel]

More water, more cardio and check out sparkpeople.

[minniezz]

I have the same problem.I eat mainly fruit,juice and play basketball,running,weight training but i haven't lost as much weights as i expected.Did i do anything wrong ?

[LisaUk]

Hi, last year I lost 83lbs on Weight watchers online, using Points plan (now discovery). The weight came of at the rate of 1-2lbs a week from diet alone. It soon adds up, my mantra "the tortoise and the hare" slow and staedy wins the race! It took 11 months total.

[choklit]

Hi, last year I lost 83lbs on Weight watchers online, using Points plan (now discovery). The weight came of at the rate of 1-2lbs a week from diet alone. It soon adds up, my mantra "the tortoise and the hare" slow and staedy wins the race! It took 11 months total.

 

 

I agree......lost over 50lbs with weight watchers. Will help you control portion sizes and eat healthier. The weight will decrease in a healthy manner. Also with exercise, you have to make sure you eat enough food.

[Bayern]

If you're doing a lot of weight training you may keep the same weight or actually gain weight. Muscle weighs more than fat, so you may be doing yourself a disfavor if you strain too much with a muscle workout (that is only if your only goal is to lose weight).

 

I'm a firm believer that meat has a little to no place in one's diet. Fish and some meats occasionally cannot hurt (especially for people who are used to lots of meat), but I suggest adding more nuts into your diet and beans for protein.

 

I'm half Indian (my mother) and she has cooked strictly vegatarian my entire life. I eat meat outside of the home every once in a while and when I cook myself fish, but I'm 6'0 and 165 lbs. It's not impossible to build muscle and have a good build on an almost no-meat diet.