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anneliz
New Member
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Posted: 13 May 2005 12:58 pm |
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I weigh 200 pounds, which is a lot for my 5' 4" frame. I have started a program of eating 6 mini-meals a day (fruits, vegetables, protein, carbs and no junk!), walking for 1 hour a day and lifting weights (3x a week) about 3 weeks ago. I am trying the "Body for Life Program" which lasts for 3 months.
The scale is, however, not budging. And my clothes are not fitting any looser. I used to be quite thin at 125 pounds (3 years ago). I do take thyroid medication and everything seems to be in balance. How long should it take before my weight starts going downward??? It is very frustrating. Any helpful suggestions would be wonderful!
Anne Liz
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Seragilo
Senior Member
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Posted: 14 May 2005 05:12 am |
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Hi There
I am no expert but I am sure that you need to get that heart rate up. By all means keep doing what you are doing, the weight training alone is helpful.....as long as you are feeling the burn.....However, try this. There is a running club I have heard about where you run for 1 min then walk for 2 mins....gradually tipping the scales to where you are just running. After a while you run for 1 1/2 mins, an so on...I think thats how it works. It is a good way to ease yourself into cardio. Personally, gliding along on an elliptical machine is the best feeling.....
good luck to you!
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spensar
Member
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Posted: 16 May 2005 04:55 pm |
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Anneliz, If you are staying at your weight, it appears that you have a balance. Have you tried figuring out approximately how many calories you are burning in a day or week, compared to your intake? Take heart on a couple of things, first is that you are not putting weight on, the second is that you are getting fit. Fitness will make it easier over the long term and you will feel better. Even without losing weight you are a winner and are making yourself healthier.
Once you have an idea about the calories in and out, you can tweak your food. Perhaps there are a few foods or drinks that are higher in calories than you percieve and some substitutes will work better. With the weight work, you may also be adding some muscle already, so your weight staying static is actually a transfer from fat to muscle - maybe not much but it is healthier. The body is not a straightforward thing, so stick with your plan and I 'm sure you will get results!
(This site has pretty well everything needed to estimate calorie burning, and most food calorie values as well.)
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anneliz
New Member
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Posted: 18 May 2005 03:48 am |
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Thanks for your reply and suggestions. I am a little concerned about running because of being so overweight and the stress on the joints! But I am certainly going to stick with the walking and weights. I have thought about the running room and joining when I am a little less overweight.
I am not sure how much I should be lifting. I'm pretty strained at the last few reps. And I hear that's how it should be...Thanks once again for your input. A site like this is very helpful!
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anneliz
New Member
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Posted: 18 May 2005 04:25 am |
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Hi there,
Thanks so much for posting. It really helps to have feedback!
I don't drink sugary drinks or anything like that. I eat mainly fruits and veggies with a little carb and protein.
For example, I usually eat as follows:
Breakfast is: 1/2 cup oatmeal, I/3 cup cottage cheese, 4 stawberries
Mid morn snack-1/4 cup cottage cheese with piece of fruit
Lunch: 2 cups homemade chicken soup, no fat and lots of veggies in the broth
Mid afternoon snack: 1/4 cup yogurt mixed with 1/4 cottage cheese
Dinner: I piece salmon, with broccoli, carrots, 1/3 cup brown rice
After dinner snack: 1 apple, boiled egg
8 glasses of water a day + tea without sugar (4 cups a day)
I usually walk everyday, quite briskly, for about 1 hour or 1 1/2 hours. My weight routine involves being very stressed on the last few reps and last about 1/2 hour, 3 X a week.
The scale is still not budging. What can you do. I guess persistance is the key...It is a bit frustrating, though, to see no results after a month. I keep thinking I must be doing something wrong? I thought I might be gaining muscle but my clothes are not fitting any more loosely.....
Anne Liz
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Dave Brown
Senior Member
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Posted: 18 May 2005 10:04 am |
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Hi Anne Liz,
Sounds like you're really trying. I would point out that each of us is biochemically unique. This means that what works for one person may not be appropriate for another due to the genetics of body chemistry. You may be one of those people who cannot tolerate a low-fat diet; in which case I suggest you check out various high-fat approachs. High-fat seems to work for my family. If you are concerned that your arteries will clog if saturated fat is added to your diet, there's considerable information out there indicating that saturated fat is not a problem as long as one is not consuming excessive sugars and refined carbs.
Do you like to read? Here are some excellent books:
Sweet and Dangerous by John Yudkin, MD.
Nutrition Against Disease by Roger J. Williams, PhD.
Eat Fat, Lose Weight by Barry Groves, PhD.
Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary G. Enig, PhD and Sally Fallon, MS.
Here are some web-sites you can visit:
secondopinions.co.uk
westonapricefoundation.org
thincs.org.
Finally, there's a scientist at Harvard University who compared low-fat and low-carb weight loss approaches. Her name is Penelope J. Greene. Just type her name into a search engine and you can access reports on her research.
Hope this helps.
Dave Brown
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anneliz
New Member
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Posted: 19 May 2005 05:13 am |
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Thanks for your post, Dave. I do like to read and will definately get some of the books out of the Library and check the sites you suggested.
Anne
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junebug
Senior Member
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Posted: 19 May 2005 05:51 am |
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Hey
Just thought I would tell you what works for me, or has so far, and that is journaling every single thing I put into my mouth. I am too lazy to do much in the way of excercise and I know I should, but this method of using the calculators on this site to make sure I never eat more than I burn in the way of calories has helped me to lose 18 lbs in 5 months with only 6 more to go to reach my goal. If you do this, and realize that you have no choice but to lose weight if you burn more than you eat (mathmatically sound you see) it will help you feel better as well. Some weeks I know that the intake has been less than the calories I have burned, but the scale goes nowhere, then boom, a few days later I see a difference. It is tedious at first, but make a game of it, soon it will be motivating in itself.
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2happy
New Member
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Posted: 26 May 2005 11:08 pm |
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Hi Anne,
I can relate to almost everything you just said!! I just gained all this rotten weight in the last few years. I went through a terrible divorce AND I quit smoking!! I am 5' 1" and use to weigh between 125 and 130. I now weigh a whopping 175 lbs. Heck, when I gave birth almost 14 years ago, I didn't weigh that much. Anyways, I just started working out and trying to eat better. While I am very motivated, it is also frustrating. I still have to cook for my boyfriend and daughter and it's soooo hard to eat something else or just a few bites of the 'good stuff'. Grrrrrr!
Anyways, my point was to tell you to keep at it. You will get there. Never give up or in!!!! Please post again and let us know of your progress!
Roxanne
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JRae
New Member
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Posted: 28 May 2005 11:17 am |
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| You say you eat fruit, veggies, protein, carbs and no junk. What do you mean by "carbs"?
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flyawayana
Senior Member
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Posted: 30 May 2005 09:41 pm |
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i am assuming (hoping) they are refereing to carbs as being whole grain/ whole wheat carbs. aka. the slow burning kind, not all the refined #%@&!.
fly
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Anne
New Member
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Posted: 16 June 2005 08:20 am |
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Hi there,
For some reason, due to my computer, I have had to register, again. Else I would have responded sooner. So, I am no longer anneliz, just Anne.
I have lost 5 pounds, this is without exercising and eating very little (down to 195 from 200). I am trying to get back into the swing of things this week. I think I have been eating way too little and not exercising, not very healthy, eh!
I am an emotional eater, too, (plus I love food), so I know life's ups and downs can have a major impact on keeping trim. When you need to keep healthy most that seems to be the time we let everything go! Thanks for your encouragement, Roxanne.
Anne
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Anne
New Member
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Posted: 16 June 2005 08:47 am |
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Sorry, I haven't replied. As I mentioned in another post my computer has been up to no good and I haven't been able to sign in with my old name which is anneliz. So now I am just, Anne.
I was eating complex carbs like brown rice, bread and apples, potatoes etc. I went on a program for 4 weeks and did not lose any weight. Went off it and lost 5 pounds (hope it wasn't all muscle!). Anyway, I am trying to start all over again. Thanks for your post!
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Dave Brown
Senior Member
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Posted: 16 June 2005 04:33 pm |
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Anne wrote: Sorry, I haven't replied. As I mentioned in another post my computer has been up to no good and I haven't been able to sign in with my old name which is anneliz. So now I am just, Anne.
I was eating complex carbs like brown rice, bread and apples, potatoes etc. I went on a program for 4 weeks and did not lose any weight. Went off it and lost 5 pounds (hope it wasn't all muscle!). Anyway, I am trying to start all over again. Thanks for your post!
Hi Anne, If you only lost 5 pounds by cutting down on carbs it's probably mostly glycogen (which is glucose molecules linked together in a chain for storage) and water. The body can store about 2 pounds of glycogen in the liver and in muscle tissue. Two pounds of water is associated with each pound of glycogen stored in the body so if one exercises burning half of ones glycogen stores, one loses three pounds plus whatever fat was burned.
Muscles burn fat and glucose simultaneously. During rest, 60 to 70 percent of the energy released in muscle tissue is derived from fat stores. During aerobic exercise, about 80 percent of muscle energy comes from fat.
To get the fat out of storage so that the muscles can use it, you have to eat some fat of the right sort. Your body prefers saturated fat to vegetable (seed oil) fats in this respect. Long chain vegetable fats such as corn, soybean, and canola oils tend to get stored while medium and short chain fats like butter, lard, beef tallow, and palm kernel oils promote fat burning.
If you are squeemish about eating these supposedly artery-clogging fats, please type "The Oiling of America" into a search engine and click on the I'm Feeling Lucky thingy.
You can also explore thincs.org, westonaprice.org, "Barry Groves, UK", Mercola.com, and doctoryourself.com websites.
Still another source of interesting information is an online, open access journal called Nutrition and Metabolism. The following is the introduction to an article published in August, 2005 entitled Ketogenic Diets and Physical Performance by Stephen D. Phinney. Anyone interested in using exercise to lose weight would enjoy this entire article. Just type "Nutrition and Metabolism into a search engine and hit the I'm Feeling Lucky thingy again.
Introduction:
In the opinion of most physicians and nutrition scientists, carbohydrate must constitute a major component of one's daily energy intake if optimum physical performance is to be maintained]. This consensus view is based upon a long list of published studies performed over the last century that links muscle glycogen stores to high intensity exercise. It has also been reinforced by the clinical experience of many physicians, whose patients following low carbohydrate formula or food diets frequently complain of lightheadedness, weakness, and ease of fatigue.
During the time that this consensus view of the necessity of carbohydrate for vigorous exercise was forming, the last pure hunting cultures among the peoples of North America finally lost out in competition with expanding European cultural influences. Between 1850 and 1930, the routine consumption of carbohydrates spread north from the U.S. Plains States through central Canada, where the indigenous peoples had heretofore made at most seasonal use of this nutrient class. However the last of these groups to practice their traditional diet, the Inuit people of the Canadian and Alaskan Arctic regions, were luckily observed by modern scientists before their traditional dietary practices were substantially altered. The reports of these early scientists imply that the Inuit people were physically unhampered despite consuming a diet that was essentially free of identifiable carbohydrate.
Given this juxtaposition of clinical research results favoring carbohydrate against observed functional well-being in traditional cultures consuming none, it is an interesting challenge to understand how these opposing perspectives can be explained. This paper will review the observations of early explorer scientists among the Inuit, track the controversy that they stimulated among nutritionists in the last century, and utilize some of the forgotten lessons from the Inuit culture to explain how well-being and physical performance can be maintained in the absence of significant dietary carbohydrate.
One final comment. Earlier, I failed to take note of your thyroid problem or I would have recommended you read The Schwarzbein Principle II by Dr. Diana Schwarzbein, MD. Do obtain a copy of that book. She can help you.
Dave Brown
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thistle
New Member
| Joined: | 13 June 2005 |
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| Posts: | 6 |
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Posted: 17 June 2005 08:11 pm |
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Hi Anneliz
take heart, it will ge there. I know i had a bad moment of frustration last week (as those saw on the board) but keep reminding yourself that you are fit and workign hard and that is the important part.
I have actually taken some nutrition classes as I am currently studying at the toronto school of homeopathic medicine. One thing we've discussed (and i'm not saying this applies to you) is that often people don't eat enough, although if you're eating 6 meals a day you should be okay. When I first started making a lot of dietary changes I did have to count calories and how many I burned, etc. just to give me a chance to keep it balanced and healthy so that I was burnign calories but not entering into triggering a metabolic starvation mode. I like to range between burning 300 - 600 calories a day so that it doesn't shock my body.
One thing that I've turned to instead of running is swimming and that is amazing as a cardio workout, plus has some light weight with the water. In 2 months my heart rate has dropped like magic and it burns a lot of calories. I swim 4 - 5x a week and generally on the days I swim, I burn about 3000 - 3500 calories in the day, so I eat accordingly. I find that swimming also doesn't strain the body and it is cheap! I pay $75 for as much as I want for a whole year. Doesn't get much cheaper than that.
For now, throw the scale out for a few weeks and just enjoy teh fitness and taking the time to become aware of your body.
As I've written before, I've not cut anything out of my diet, i just choose better alternatives. You might look at finding any organic stores in your area (we have lots in my area) as they offer really good options instead of the junkie food--i eat flax breads and ezekial breads instead of the low-grade nutrition stuff, for example.
The only other thing I concentrate on is watching my fibre intake and I try to get minimum 25g of fibre in me a day, a mixture of soluable and insoluable. It really is good for decreasing your cholesterol levels or keeping them balanced having a good fibre diet and helps fill you up. I don't take supplements or anything and i get my nutrition from food as the body likes that and can break them down.
good luck, you're doing great and be proud of yourself. And if 200 pounds is what your body likes as its set point, don't worry about it--as long as you are healthy that is all that matters. At 218, people think I'm not fit but I can swim laps for 2 hours hard and my heart rate and breathing, etc. still is in normal exercise parametres--i know a lot of skinny people who can't say the same!
take care and good luck
thistle
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taebowoman205
New Member
| Joined: | 17 July 2005 |
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| Posts: | 1 |
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Posted: 18 July 2005 03:58 am |
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I seem to be having the same problem. I have been doing exercise for about 6 weeks 6 times a week for an hour and I haven't lost one pound I still weigh 205lbs and I am 5'5. I need to come up with a good diet plan. But I don't really like alot of things like seafood,cottage cheese or tomatoes. If anyone has a good diet plan, suggestions are gladly appreciated. I've played sports my entire life so I have always been athletic. I always stayed in the 140 lb range and looked great, but as I got older the pounds just added up quickly. I'm not going to quit exercising but I really need to lose weight. Help!
P.S. Does it matter that I can only do exercise at night time?
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Peter
Founder, caloriesperhour.com
| Joined: | 24 May 2005 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 4179 |
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Posted: 18 July 2005 04:45 am |
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No it doesn't matter when you exercise.
Hang in there!
Peter
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kisses4sam
Member
| Joined: | 4 July 2005 |
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| Posts: | 14 |
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Posted: 20 July 2005 11:22 pm |
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Hi there
I can understand how disheartening it is - I have been eating healthily for well over a month now but have seen no weight loss on the scales, but have noticed my clothes feel more comfy so I must be getting some good out of it.
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Starman
New Member
| Joined: | 24 July 2005 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 3 |
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Posted: 24 July 2005 07:29 pm |
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Hello everybody,
I'm new here, and this is my first post.
Like this thread says, I can't seem to lose weight. I'm male, middle aged, 6 feet tall, and started at 280 pounds. According to this site I should burn over 2900 calories just sleeping and watching TV. I eat 6 times a day, a total of 1400 calories per day at first until I learned about starvation mode. In the first 3 weeks I lost about 6 pounds. At 1 pound lost per 3500 calorie deficit, I should have lost at least 9 pounds. Starvation mode? So 2 weeks ago I went to about 1700 calories per day. My month-old electronic scale claims I've gained weight!
That's just impossible. Isn't it? I never cheat on my diet and write down everything I eat. I exercise a bit, mainly to maintain upper-body strength. I suppose I've gained some muscle mass but can it be that much? Or am I burning far fewer calories than I thought?
Patience is not one of my virtues, but I don't understand why after 5 weeks of strict dieting I've lost a grand total of 4 pounds.
Any ideas?
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Peter
Founder, caloriesperhour.com
| Joined: | 24 May 2005 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 4179 |
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Posted: 24 July 2005 08:20 pm |
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Hello Starman,
I would suggest you concentrate on your patience. Everything else seems to be going very well!
It's a learning process... learning about your body and how it works and what works for it. And it will change as you go.
You likely lost a lot of weight in water at first and may have gained some of that back. Plus muscle really is heavier than fat... I've lost pant sizes without losing any weight.
Lastly... if you can learn to take care of yourself -- as you are learning -- isn't 4 pounds in 5 weeks really fast enough? Think how much you would have lost by this time next year?
(Actually I feel a little hypocritical saying that, as I followed the ETL food plan and thus lost weight very quickly. See FAQ.)
Peter
Note: This is my website, but I'm not an expert in the subject. I just post about what I've learned from my own experience. So please think of my comments as being from another forum member and don't give them too much weight.:D
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Dave Brown
Senior Member
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Posted: 26 July 2005 05:30 am |
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Hi Starman,
Slow weight loss is probably the healthiest way to lose weight. It is also important to eat high quality food. Just counting calories usually doesn't work well if the body is starving for vitamins, minerals, and essential fats. It was your food habits that caused you to gain unwanted pounds in the first place. Did you change them? Or are you still eating the same kind of food only less of it? If so, you need to educate yourself about how your body works. I suggest you obtain a copy of The Wonderful World Within You by Roger J. Williams, PhD.
Dave Brown
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Starman
New Member
| Joined: | 24 July 2005 |
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| Posts: | 3 |
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Posted: 1 August 2005 08:48 pm |
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Peter,
Thanks for the reply, and the encouragement. I did lose a lot of water weight at first, and the weight gain was no doubt due to the fact that my prescription for a diuretic (part of my blood pressure meds) ran out. 
Since my post I dropped the gain and a few more pounds, a total of about 11 in 7 weeks, and I know I've added muscle mass, so I'm probably doing OK. Still impatient, though. I'm aware of the need to lose weight gradually and planned from the start to take 7 months to lose 60 pounds. If it takes longer, so be it. I plan for this to be a lifestyle change, not a diet. Fat runs in my family so I'll always have to watch me calorie intake. But I'm tired of being fat!
Dave,
Thanks to you, too, for the site and the advice. I used to skip breakfast, eat when I got hungry then until I got full, etc. Now I eat timed, measured regular meals. Last time I added everything up I was high on sodium but low on protein, and I'm working on that. I've taken vitamins and minerals most of my life, especially since The Big Five-Oh.
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