why is it so hard to lose weight

[islandsurfer]

After gaining weight, why is it so hard to lose it? My girlfriend who gained around 45 pounds in a two year period has been trying to lose a little weight since the spring. It has been a roller coaster experience where it takes a couple months for her to lose 10-15 pounds and only a couple weeks to gain it back.

 

On a side note, will losing weight alone get rid of stretch marks and cellulite?

[nice1_hurting]

Hey Islandsurfer,

losing weight (well fat) is something that a lot of people have trouble doing.

Not only does it require a caloric deficit, but some people also need to perform cardiovascular activities in order to oxidize fat. (I say some because not everyone needs to do cardio, sometimes it just takes a revamping of the diet)

 

Here are a few tips I can give in order to help your girlfriend shed some fat.

 

eat 6 times a day..

I know for some that seems excessive, but what that does is, it keeps your metabolic rate high and thus, your body requires less fat storage. On top of just plain unhealthy eating.. eating infrequently puts the body into a 'defensive mode' where it stores more because it's not getting a sufficient flow of nutrients over the day. Eating every 3 hours is a great way to keep your metabolism going.

 

Stay the hell away from saturated fats and trans fats. These fats are not what your body needs. here is a blog I wrote a while back about nutrition perhaps you two could read it together or you could read it and give her tips: http://ectomatter.com/2006/05/22/nutritional-breakdown/

That should help get a good idea of what types of food are good and what types are bad.

 

As the day progresses, lower carb intake and increase fat intake. Protein should be constant through out. (the reason for this is that protein feeds muscles and while eating a low calorie diet, people often lose some muscle weight as well fat weight. Carbohydrates are used for energy. When we consume large amounts of carbs late at night (ie pizza, pasta, breads..), we run the risk of fat storage. Un-used carbohydrates are stored as fat. (not fun). Consuming the majority of your fat at the end of the day is good because along with the good things fat does for our bodies, it slows down the digestion of protein (again, muscle food). When we sleep, we eventually hit a catabolic state where our body slowly breaks down our muscle tissue in order to get the amino acids. If you can eat something high in protein and a medium level of fat before bed, you are better off than just eating whatever..

 

Drink lots of water. Water is so important and it is often overlooked. It regulates body temperature, aids in metabolism etc etc. I would say she should drink 2.5 to 3 litres a day. If that is too much, she should drink as much as she can. Even if she has to pee all the time.

 

Cardio. Cardio can be your friend when trying to shed fat. There are different schools of thought regard when the optimum time to perform cardio is. I personally always found that by waking up extra early and going for a run before I ate, I was able to shed a lot of fat. All in all The trick is to do cardio when you are not full of food. You see, if you run/elliptical/whatever with a full stomach, your body will use the calories from the food for energy. If you are empty or at least don't have much in your stomach, your body can work it's way through the glycogen stored in your liver and then actually using fat stores for energy. Tell her to wait a while after performing cardio because your metabolic rate is very high after running and eating right a way will actually spoil some of the benefits of cardio. If you wait 30-45 mins afterwards, your body will continue to oxidize fat.

 

Those are just a few tips. I would recommend checking out some forums like

http://www.fitness.com or http://www.itransforum (which is just taking off)

Lots of info there. If you have any time, check the blog i write:

http://www.ectomatter.com

 

Good luck to your girlfriend and you too!

[RecordProducer]

After gaining weight, why is it so hard to lose it? My girlfriend who gained around 45 pounds in a two year period has been trying to lose a little weight since the spring. It has been a roller coaster experience where it takes a couple months for her to lose 10-15 pounds and only a couple weeks to gain it back.

 

On a side note, will losing weight alone get rid of stretch marks and cellulite?

What works best for me reasonable small and nutritious breakfast and lunch (I eat breakfast at noon and lunch at 4 pm) and fruit for dinner. The secret is: GO TO SLEEP HUNGRY. That works for sure.

 

Walking (not slow) is a great exercise that can be performed for an hour every day and is not difficult or too boring. Riding a bike, swimming, and roller-blading are fun and give good results. Swimming in the ocean is better than in a pool. Doing each of these activities pretty fast is what gives results.

 

Another tip: she should eliminate completely (from the fridge) the foods that she tends to eat in big quantities. I don't buy things that I can't resist. I lost 8 lbs in the last couple weeks just by eliminating dinner. I am 31. After 30 the metabolism slows down so it's harder to lose weight and easier to gain it. The more you age the harder it gets.

 

Caffeine is good for a diet, too. Alcohol makes me hungry. If this is the case with your GF then she should avoid it or at least control her appetite in the late hours and not jump the refrigerator.

 

Cellulite does disappear when you lose weight, but not completely. Stretch marks don't disappear, but they look much better on a skinny body.

[nice1_hurting]

Not to start an argument on this, but going to bed hungry is a great way to lose muscle mass.. not fat.

[HokeyReligions]

If it were easy to lose weight everyone would be thin. Its not just a matter of diet and exercise - there is a lot more to it than that. Cellulite and stretchmarks are a whole different matter. Stretch marks are impossible to get rid of, though their appearance can be minimized sometimes. I know quite a few health, lean people with both stretchmarks and cellulite.

[RecordProducer]

Not to start an argument on this, but going to bed hungry is a great way to lose muscle mass.. not fat.

You can't lose weight if you are never hungry. Been there, tried that - doesn't work. When your stomach is empty, your body digs the fat out.

 

I didn't say "Don't eat!". I said "Go to bed hungry!" You can eat a piece of chicken breast at 6 pm and fruit at 8 pm and still go to bed hungry. As a matter of fact, you can eat 10 times a day and be hungry all the time.

[Shyguy86]

The biggest problem with people trying to lose weight is that they want the weight to be gone and not the journey of losing it. If they could snap their fingers and be thin they would. Unfortunately they will gain it back very quickly because they will not change the reason they became fat in the first place. It's pride of ownership. Having to work your butt off through years of sweat and tears will make you appreciate the weight you lost and it will change your whole attitude towards your lifestyle. Just remember that the faster it goes the faster it will come back. If she works hard for her results she will appreciate it a lot more.

 

Good luck to her

[Brittanyjean06]

It is hard to lose weight. I try to lose weight all the time by working out all it does is balances out what I eat to where I don't lose nor do I gain weight.

 

Its hard to resist sweets, especially if it is all around you. Drink alot of water and work out on a daily basis. The reason why it doesn't work for me is because I don't stick with this, the next day I'll go eat something and think I'll be okay yet it doesn't help at all. If you want to lose weight you really gotta stick to a healthy diet and exercise regularly.

[nice1_hurting]

..When your stomach is empty, your body digs the fat out...

 

In certain situations your body oxidizes fat. But saying when your stomach is empty it digs the fat out.. what do you mean exactly? I'm not trying to be mean or put you on the spot, but it doesn't seem like you actually know what you are saying. For one thing, fat is not targeted at a specific point. Meaning, you cannot target the fat on your butt or the fat on your legs. so the whole body digs the fat out doesnt really make sense. Especially considering that when you sleep (which is what we were talking about before) your body is more likely to break down muscle tissue on a caloric deficient diet than fat stores.. You can boost your metabolism to ensure more fat is oxidized. It's not as black and white as just being hungry and your body will burn fat for fuel. Plus eating only sucrose and fiber before bed is just not smart dieting.. if you eat fruit have some cottage cheese with it (or a whey shake mixed with some flax oil..). That contains casein protein which is slow digesting (perfect for your fat/sleep).

[RecordProducer]

I'm not trying to be mean or put you on the spot, but it doesn't seem like you actually know what you are saying.

You obviously know what you're saying... keep saying... while I am losing weight successfully!

[BlueEyedGirl]

Eat slightly less. Walk for at least an hour EVERY SINGLE DAY. Be patient.

I did gain 25lbs in the past. I couldn't stand doing heavy cardio or being hungry. So I did the above. What I have noticed is that when you lose some weight, your body tries to return itself to its previous weight and makes you extra hungry. So important thing is to lose little bit at the time. I would lose 4lbs then for the next 2 months just make sure I don't gain them back - not lose anymore. When my weight has been steady at (-4lbs) then this autimatically became my new starting weight. So I would put in some extre effort and lose next 4lbs, keep it off for 2 months again and get ready for the next lot. And so on. It takes a long time, but I didn't gain a pound back and it's been 4 years now. Few pointers:

- Don't skip even a day of walking

- Try to eat lower carbs/higher protein food, I didn't care about fat levels at all as long as I kept my diet low carb, again I was never very strict, just use common sense (nuts are good)

- Do not starve. If you are really hungry eat something high protein.

- Do not eat when you are not hugnry and stop when you are full.

- Take a good vitamin supplement.

[nice1_hurting]

Another thing one must take into account is that there are a lot of different body types. People with a slow metabolism generally store more fat. So what works for someone with a high metabolism might not for another. Other things can come into play like thyroid problems etc..

[Starr1]

After gaining weight, why is it so hard to lose it? My girlfriend who gained around 45 pounds in a two year period has been trying to lose a little weight since the spring. It has been a roller coaster experience where it takes a couple months for her to lose 10-15 pounds and only a couple weeks to gain it back.

 

Sounds like to me that while your friend has done very well to lose those pounds, she ends up slumping back into her former routine hence why the pounds stack back on so quickly.

 

As others have said, eat 5 times a day of relatively healthy food. Exercise the way others have said as well. The idea of starving yourself tho in anyway is not on.

 

I'm interested how your strategy works RecordProducer. If you go to bed hungry and you have breakfast at around midday, you are pretty much starving your body of nutrients and sustinence. When the body is in a mode of needing food, your body's metabolism shoots right down. You claim you are losing weight and I'm sure you are but are you shedding off fat or muscle because with the lack of food, tons of exercise and low metabolism (due to not having had enough food), it's probably mostly muscle mass you lost.

 

Without regular food to fuel the regular exercise, the body deteriorates and your muscles break down faster than any fat will. That's pretty much why experts encourage those who wish to shed off fat to eat. They eat regularly, they exercise regularly, you keep (and will probably increase) muscle mass while decreasing your fat percentage. Hence, whenever you look on the scales, if you don't lose as much weight as you would have liked and you put in the genuine effort, be aware you probably shed of a lot of fat but simply replaced the weight with muscle mass and that's a good thing

[islandsurfer]

Thank you for all of your replies, and thank you nice_hurting for the forums. Using some health calculators from the fitness forums and a health teacher friend of mine we figured out, for lack of better words, how healthy were were. Some of her measurement were a little shocking to her (you have to keep in mind that less then 2 years ago she was very fit and weighed around120 lbs), but overall they showed she is just a little bit out of the healthy range. I think she realizes she is not going to get down to her pre-weight gain weight, unless she really changes her lifestyle, but a little change will get her back into the healthy catagory.

[DeeBrod83]

Weight loss is hard because it's 90% mental. There's no quick fix, or way to do it that doesn't suck. You just have to make up your mind that being thin feels better than any food tastes. You have to learn to eat only when you're supposed to, to treat food like a requirement of your body, not a treat, and to think of working out as something that is just part of the day. You can't get out of it, just like work. You just do it. And yes, it sucks. And it takes about a month or two for things to really start working and becoming part of a regular routine. And once it's routine, it's so much easier to just do it. BUT you have to make it a lifestyle change. If you want to be skinny, you have to live like a skinny person. There is no way around it. And treat yourself here and there. If you have a craving for something, eat it. But don't do it all the time, and if you do, make it a point to spend a little more time in the gym, or eat a little extra well the following day. It's about moderation. Anything that takes all the good stuff away from you will NEVER last.

[josie54]

I feel I need to jump in here and defend RecordProducer! I think everyone is interpreting her saying "go to bed hungry" as "starve yourself." I don't believe that's what she's saying at all.

 

There is a saying in Asia which says something like "eat when you are 30% full and stop eating when you are 80% full." That may not be the exact saying, but it's something like that! What I think RecordProducer is trying to say (and the reason that I agree is that I've also lost weight this way--and I have a slow metabolism!), is that we often eat out of habit or we overeat during certain times of day, especially at night.

 

If you eat a sensible dinner around 7 p.m. and perhaps a light snack around 8:30, it's almost always the case that around 9:00 or so, you just want "a little something." You "feel hungry" so you want to eat a bowl of cereal or a cookie or ice cream or SOMETHING to turn that "feeling hungry" signal off.

 

The trouble is, we're often not REALLY HUNGRY! We're at that magical "80% full" (that is, not stuffed) that if we just left it at that, and not eat to 100%, we'd lose the weight. It's when we eat and try to push it to that 100% full feeling that we've overshot our calorie boundaries. And we've destined ourselves to gain yet more weight.

 

In fact, we should always be "a little hungry" when we want to lose weight, meaning that we should not eat until we feel stuffed. The body wants calories--and if you're in the habit of overeating, it wants them even more. If you exercise AND allow yourself to feel a "little hungry" at night and in between those three or six meals you have allotted yourself, the weight will come off.

 

So, please, understand that RecordProducer is not advocating hunger strikes as a means to lose weight!