Any body fat loss tips for women??

empressaradia

Two years ago, I weighed myself at 189 pounds (at this point about 5'4" or 5'3.5") and said no more. By the end of the year my lowest weight was 158 pounds. But after going through a year's worth of nausea-related illness (so much so that I had to drop out of school,) I ballooned back out to 185 pounds, and grew a couple of inches as well.This was a shock to me, though since I'd fallen off the wagon in terms of calorie counting and exercise (still usually only eating at most 1600 calories a day, however) it shouldn't have been.

Weeks of walking 3-4 miles every day and even going through annual marching band camp (spending 3-4 hours out marching in the heat every day) and counting calories as close as possible, along with trying a variety of different weight loss pills and approaches, and I'm starting to feel sick over it. I weighed myself a few days ago and I was at 182 at around lunchtime. I have hardly lost anything.

It is possible that perhaps I have lost body fat but gained muscle, though I am not sure how I would determine this. I am in truth just sitting here feeling sick all around because I'm not eating enough but I'm also not feeling healthy enough, either.

To put things frankly I am wondering what I can do to try and fix things. I'm female, and my chest area is particularly 'well-endowed,' something that runs in the family regardless of weight, but I don't think that could really contribute too much to my weight. Is there a different approach that women need to take for this kind of drastic fat loss? Are there certain foods that might help speed up my metabolism? I tried the CLA 1300 body fat to muscle mass pills for a few months, but in the past week I've switched to acai berry diet pills in the hopes that they will show better results. Lunch is substituted with a weight loss shake every day and my breakfasts are usually tiny - a fruit or something similar.

So long story short - does anyone have any advice??? I'm really sorry to flood the forums with this kind of post, as I'm sure it's posted once an hour or so.

katymambros

I had the same problem, only I don't get near as much exercise as you. You may just need to switch up your diet, try eating small portioned, healthy, regular food. Those shakes are fine when you're on the run, and have no time for breakfast, but are you eating enough? I'm sure you've heard that you're body goes into starvation mode if you're not getting enough nutrients, and i've found that to be true. I'm no expert, but that may be all you need to do.

kitty0889

Hi and welcome! I'm new here too, but let me see what I can do to help.

1. Please, please, step away from the diet pills. They do not work, and even if they did, who knows what kind of crap is in them? They're not regulated by the FDA. If there was a magic diet pill that worked, everyone would know about it. You can be doing a lot more harm than good with them.

2. It sounds like you're getting plenty of exercise, so I think calorie intake is where the problem might lie. My brother did band camp under a tyrannical band director and marched off about 20 lbs one summer (and he wasn't heavy to start). I think you might not be eating enough, but I can't say without knowing your daily diet. Can you give us an idea of what you eat on an average day? Once we know that we can help you pinpoint the problem.

3. Your chest is definitely going to be a factor in your weight. However, as an A-cup, I'm not at all qualified to to tell you how much. Perhaps some better-endowed ladies here can help.

4. It's very possible you've lost fat and gained muscle. Best way to tell is by using calipers, but you can also use a measuring tape and get your waist/chest/hip/etc measurements every 2 weeks or so. This is what I do rather than hopping on the scale, because weight can fluctuate a lot from day to day.

nomeejerome

A calorie deficit is what will lead to weight loss. There is no pill that will speed it up, there are no foods the "rev" up the metabolism and it is difficult (especially for women) to gain muscle while eating at a deficit.

Are you weighing your food? Are you logging consistently? How long has it been since the stall?

empressaradia

Hi and welcome! I'm new here too, but let me see what I can do to help.

1. Please, please, step away from the diet pills. They do not work, and even if they did, who knows what kind of crap is in them? They're not regulated by the FDA. If there was a magic diet pill that worked, everyone would know about it. You can be doing a lot more harm than good with them.

2. It sounds like you're getting plenty of exercise, so I think calorie intake is where the problem might lie. My brother did band camp under a tyrannical band director and marched off about 20 lbs one summer (and he wasn't heavy to start). I think you might not be eating enough, but I can't say without knowing your daily diet. Can you give us an idea of what you eat on an average day? Once we know that we can help you pinpoint the problem.

3. Your chest is definitely going to be a factor in your weight. However, as an A-cup, I'm not at all qualified to to tell you how much. Perhaps some better-endowed ladies here can help.

4. It's very possible you've lost fat and gained muscle. Best way to tell is by using calipers, but you can also use a measuring tape and get your waist/chest/hip/etc measurements every 2 weeks or so. This is what I do rather than hopping on the scale, because weight can fluctuate a lot from day to day.

Hi! Thanks for the welcome, and welcome yourself!

I will heed your words about diet pills, although I have only been taking these acai ones at the recommendation of a friend's - I was told they "really worked!" I've been feeling a lot sicker after taking them, though, so you're probably right about them not being very healthy or helpful.

I've been eating sometimes ~1000 calories a day, and sometimes ~1200. I am not trying to starve myself; for at least a few years now I've been eating pretty small portions normally anyway. Like I said, before I went back into 'fitness mode,' I was eating around 1400-1600 calories a day and feeling fine about it, so cutting it down to 1000 or 1200 isn't as drastic a change for me as it might sound. I guess I have a pretty slow metabolism. Lately though I've been eating a small breakfast, a weight loss shake for lunch, and then a canned or frozen dinner for supper - which might be bad for me, but I've only done so as I'm no good at cooking and this way I know exactly how many calories I am eating (as those canned foods have the convenient number on them already.) I also eat 1-2 fruits as snacks each day (pears or peaches, usually.)

Thanks for the suggestion about the measuring, I actually didn't think of that!! It will be an interesting way to see if I'm actually getting healthier.

(By the way, I like the Castiel in your signature!)

I had the same problem, only I don't get near as much exercise as you. You may just need to switch up your diet, try eating small portioned, healthy, regular food. Those shakes are fine when you're on the run, and have no time for breakfast, but are you eating enough? I'm sure you've heard that you're body goes into starvation mode if you're not getting enough nutrients, and i've found that to be true. I'm no expert, but that may be all you need to do.

Maybe I should try eating something other than processed stuff for dinner, but I'm not sure how substantial a fruit-based dinner would be! It could be starvation mode, I suppose, those as I mentioned above the deficit isn't near as great as it sounds.

DouMc

I took a quick look at your diary for the past few days and you need to eat more. Any sickness you are feeling is probably because your body is not getting all the nutrients that it needs. You also need to balance your diet more with more protein, fat and carbs.

People are often scared of cooking but it is incredibly easy to get started on some simple dishes. For example to do a chicken stirfy just fry some chicken pieces until they are brown and then add a ton of vegetables (mushrooms, courgette, peppers, asparagus, sugarsnap peas etc), and some garlic, ginger, chilli (or all three) and keep tossing them around the heat until they are cooked. To make it very easy then just add some straight to wok noodles (or some cooked rice) and a little sauce (I normally use a combination of soy sauce and fish sauce) and cook for another couple of minutes. And voila, a healthy well balanced dinner!

ETA: my post didn't address weight loss at all but I'm sure that if you start eating more and you body starts to recover that you will begin to see some loss.

hotmamacjl

It is possible that you also need to start more strength training into your exercise routine? The only way to know for sure on how much muscle you're gaining is by measuring it. I would suggest buying a tool to do that, take all your measurements, increase your strength training and measure again after a couple of weeks.

laylaness

You're probably eating too little for the activity level you're at.

Try this out: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

It's worked for a lot of people, including myself.

kitty0889

Alrighty! So first off, MFP has a neat little tool that will calculate your BMR. It's under the Apps tab. Have you used it yet? If not, plug in your height and weight and it will give you an estimate of your basal metabolic rate. This is the bare minimum of calories your body needs to function, and only if you were to lie in bed all day--it doesn't take into account normal daily activity or exercise. If you eat below your BMR, your body will go into starvation mode and hang onto every calorie it can. For example, I'm 5'9" and about 150 lbs, which gives me a BMR of 1500ish calories (I do tend to take their numbers as estimates, since everyone's metabolism is a bit different). Therefore I need to eat around there or a bit above in order to prevent starvation mode, including exercise calories. There's a bit of debate regarding eating back exercise calories on the forums here, but my personal opinion is that you should eat however much you need to hit your BMR, whether or not you exercised. So if I burn 300 calories doing Insanity or whatnot, I need to eat back those 300 if I'm under 1500 calories that day, to fend off starvation mode.

Now, as for the food. There are many paths to weight loss, all of them having their own pros and cons. Personally I eat Paleo, because I've done quite a lot of research on the Paleo lifestyle and it seems the best way to lose weight in a healthy, natural way. It's a high-fat, low-carb lifestyle (not "diet"--you have to be prepared to make some permanent changes to keep the weight off, with any style of healthy eating). I know high fat sounds counter-intuitive but it's excess calories that make us fat, no matter the source. With limited carbs, your body will switch to using up stored fat for energy. I recommend doing some research on the Paleo lifestyle and seeing if it's for you. If not, a lot of users here have had great success with "clean eating" which I think is eating lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, and lean meats. Whatever style you choose, it's important to eat unprocessed, nutrient-rich foods with plenty of healthy fats. Frozen dinners are quick and easy--I used to eat a ton of them--but about as healthy as the box they come in. I do like the convenience though, so what I do is dedicate a day to preparing most of my weekly meals in advance and freezing them. The kitchen is your friend! Even if you're new to cooking, there are tons of recipes for easy, healthy meals that freeze well.

Glad you noticed Castiel btw! He's my fave.

wamydia

I think where you are going wrong is that you have yourself in a frenzy of trying all kinds of gimmicks and fad approaches instead of just concentrating on the basics: nutrition and calories in/ calories out.

I would suggest using MFP or a similar calculator to figure out how much food you should be eating every day and actually eat those calories. Work toward hitting the macro goals the program gives you too, as this will make it easier for you to be sure you are getting balanced nutrition. Continue your good work with exercise and try to estimate your calorie burn as closely as possible (MFP is not entirely accurate for some exercises) and eat your exercise calories back if you are using MFP (it is set up for you to eat them back. If you still aren't losing by doing this after a few months, try eating only half of them as some people find this helpful). Use a food scale and measuring spoons and cups to accurately measure the portions you are eating and track honestly every single day. Drink plenty of water, try some relaxation techniques to help you calm down (stress hormones can be released when you stress about your weight and this can actually make it harder for you to lose weight), and please chuck all those pills, diet foods, replacement shakes, etc out the window -- they are a prescription for failure, especially in the long term. Give it a few months to see if the new approach is working before you change anything. The best recipe for healthy weight loss is slow and steady and fueled by good nutrition and exercise.

Good luck and don't give up!

sarahrbraun

Two years ago, I weighed myself at 189 pounds (at this point about 5'4" or 5'3.5") and said no more. By the end of the year my lowest weight was 158 pounds. But after going through a year's worth of nausea-related illness (so much so that I had to drop out of school,) I ballooned back out to 185 pounds, and grew a couple of inches as well.This was a shock to me, though since I'd fallen off the wagon in terms of calorie counting and exercise (still usually only eating at most 1600 calories a day, however) it shouldn't have been.

Weeks of walking 3-4 miles every day and even going through annual marching band camp (spending 3-4 hours out marching in the heat every day) and counting calories as close as possible, along with trying a variety of different weight loss pills and approaches, and I'm starting to feel sick over it. I weighed myself a few days ago and I was at 182 at around lunchtime. I have hardly lost anything.

It is possible that perhaps I have lost body fat but gained muscle, though I am not sure how I would determine this. I am in truth just sitting here feeling sick all around because I'm not eating enough but I'm also not feeling healthy enough, either.

To put things frankly I am wondering what I can do to try and fix things. I'm female, and my chest area is particularly 'well-endowed,' something that runs in the family regardless of weight, but I don't think that could really contribute too much to my weight. Is there a different approach that women need to take for this kind of drastic fat loss? Are there certain foods that might help speed up my metabolism? I tried the CLA 1300 body fat to muscle mass pills for a few months, but in the past week I've switched to acai berry diet pills in the hopes that they will show better results. Lunch is substituted with a weight loss shake every day and my breakfasts are usually tiny - a fruit or something similar.

So long story short - does anyone have any advice??? I'm really sorry to flood the forums with this kind of post, as I'm sure it's posted once an hour or so.

The scale is a lying witch. Go more by the way your clothes feel, etc. In all these pictures I weigh within a few pounds of each other. As a matter of fact, I am wearing the exact same grey tank in 3 of them!


0120100909 by crochetmom2010, on Flickr


photo grid by crochetmom2010, on Flickr

As for meals...my breakfast is usually 2 scrambled eggs, a slice of wheat toast, and sometimes diced red potatoes. Lunch is usually a wrap--turkey, roast beef or chicken salad--or leftovers from the night before. Dinner is my worst meal of the day since I have 4 picky eaters to satisfy. In the last week or so I have made hamburgers, crock pot chicken and noodles, and baked sweet and sour chicken. For snacks I either make no bake protein bites, or buy balance bars.

wamydia

I've been eating sometimes ~1000 calories a day, and sometimes ~1200. I am not trying to starve myself; for at least a few years now I've been eating pretty small portions normally anyway. Like I said, before I went back into 'fitness mode,' I was eating around 1400-1600 calories a day and feeling fine about it, so cutting it down to 1000 or 1200 isn't as drastic a change for me as it might sound. I guess I have a pretty slow metabolism. Lately though I've been eating a small breakfast, a weight loss shake for lunch, and then a canned or frozen dinner for supper - which might be bad for me, but I've only done so as I'm no good at cooking and this way I know exactly how many calories I am eating (as those canned foods have the convenient number on them already.) I also eat 1-2 fruits as snacks each day (pears or peaches, usually.)

If you are running a calorie deficit, you can still lose weight eating canned and processed foods. However, I wouldn't recommend living off of this stuff day in and day out if you can help it. They are typically full of salt (which can make you retain water), and short of nutrition. I understand this can be a major dilemma if you aren't much of a cook. Do you have anyone who could teach you a few basics -- scrambled eggs, baked chicken, roasted veggies? These are all very simply and require minimal prep and clean up. Also, if you have a decent grocery store nearby, you may be able to go in and get stuff like rotisserie roasted chicken, salad and fruit bar, and hot meals behind the deli counter (just be sure to avoid the greasy and fried stuff). These may not all be the most top notch healthy options ever, but I think you'll get more nutrition from them than the canned and boxed meals at home. You may be surprised how easy it is to get accurate calorie information on them too. You can usually find stuff in the database that is close to what you are having even if you can't find the exact thing. Also consider adding some whole grain and dairy into your diet -- you don't really have to cook most of these things and they will give you more variety of food without having to resort to stuff in cans and boxes.

Edit: Just wanted to add a few other things I thought of that don't require cooking -- Peanut butter, nuts, seeds, and hummus & pitas. Also, easiest thing in the world to make and get some good protein -- hard-boiled eggs. Boil them hard for a while (let them get thin cracks if you're paranoid that they aren't done enough), take them off the heat and immediately put them under very cold running water until you can handle them and the shells don't get hot in your hand when you hold them. They should be easy to peal this way.

sunshine1082

I will heed your words about diet pills, although I have only been taking these acai ones at the recommendation of a friend's - I was told they "really worked!" I've been feeling a lot sicker after taking them, though, so you're probably right about them not being very healthy or helpful.

I've been eating sometimes ~1000 calories a day, and sometimes ~1200. I am not trying to starve myself; for at least a few years now I've been eating pretty small portions normally anyway. Like I said, before I went back into 'fitness mode,' I was eating around 1400-1600 calories a day and feeling fine about it, so cutting it down to 1000 or 1200 isn't as drastic a change for me as it might sound. I guess I have a pretty slow metabolism. Lately though I've been eating a small breakfast, a weight loss shake for lunch, and then a canned or frozen dinner for supper - which might be bad for me, but I've only done so as I'm no good at cooking and this way I know exactly how many calories I am eating (as those canned foods have the convenient number on them already.) I also eat 1-2 fruits as snacks each day (pears or peaches, usually.)

Please, please, please think twice about relying on diet pills.

I remember my days spent at band camp. That was a crazy amount of exercise in very hot weather. If you really are only eating between 1000-1200 calories a day, you are most certainly undereating. You say you have a pretty slow metabolism. Your metabolism might be slow because you've damaged it by not eating enough. You are young, and there is plenty of time for you to repair your metabolism and be healthy and fit before you head off for college. I highly recommend you scan through the threads to find ones about eating more to lose more. There is some very helpful information in them.

AmyRhubarb

You're probably eating too little for the activity level you're at.

Try this out: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

It's worked for a lot of people, including myself.

Absolute best success I've had with fat loss has been since reading, understanding, and following the info in that topic for setting my goals - daily calorie goal as well as macros (carbs/fat/protein).

No special diet, no pills, no restrictions - eat well, drink water, exercise, get good rest, patience, repeat. :bigsmile:

jnagy9886

If you are looking to drop inches; please check out Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I know you do a lot of marching in band but your body has probably adjusted your typical band marching sessions. I used Youtube to do level 1 of 30 Day Shred for free (I finally broke down and bought the DVD); after just a week my jeans fit looser and I feel incredible. Don't forget to eat your workout calories. And please at least eat 1300 calories per day. 1200 calories is enough for a small child and you are a grown woman. If you have any questions; add me and we can talk!

CountryGirl8542

You should look into a site called www.iifym.com ... it is about how most people lose weight in the beginning by eating too few calories so then when you try to maintain your body thinks it is starving itself. When you use the IIFYM calculator, be sure to put in your body fat percentage. To get that percentage, message your waist (belly button height) in inches and Google a body fat % calculator. It will give you Macro goals (protein, carbs, fat, fibre and calories). If you stay within those macros you can eat however much you want... but still eat clean (salads, chicken, sprouted grain bread, Greek yogurt)... just look into it. I just started it so I can't say it works or not but I do know I do not deprive myself of the odd treat so long as it fits in my macros.

Find what works for you

riveroflight

For women, I recommend Fat Loss Factor, a well-rounded, realistic fat loss program, found here:

www.getslimquick.net

I also recommend, for creating the body you want beyond fat loss, Visual Impact for Women, found here:

www.hotfitbody.com

Best of luck to you!

bacitracin

Do squats, lunges and deadlifts.

http://www.thenewrulesoflifting.com/nrol-for-women

LoraF83

Two years ago, I weighed myself at 189 pounds (at this point about 5'4" or 5'3.5") and said no more. By the end of the year my lowest weight was 158 pounds. But after going through a year's worth of nausea-related illness (so much so that I had to drop out of school,) I ballooned back out to 185 pounds, and grew a couple of inches as well.This was a shock to me, though since I'd fallen off the wagon in terms of calorie counting and exercise (still usually only eating at most 1600 calories a day, however) it shouldn't have been.

Weeks of walking 3-4 miles every day and even going through annual marching band camp (spending 3-4 hours out marching in the heat every day) and counting calories as close as possible, along with trying a variety of different weight loss pills and approaches, and I'm starting to feel sick over it. I weighed myself a few days ago and I was at 182 at around lunchtime. I have hardly lost anything.

It is possible that perhaps I have lost body fat but gained muscle, though I am not sure how I would determine this. I am in truth just sitting here feeling sick all around because I'm not eating enough but I'm also not feeling healthy enough, either.

To put things frankly I am wondering what I can do to try and fix things. I'm female, and my chest area is particularly 'well-endowed,' something that runs in the family regardless of weight, but I don't think that could really contribute too much to my weight. Is there a different approach that women need to take for this kind of drastic fat loss? Are there certain foods that might help speed up my metabolism? I tried the CLA 1300 body fat to muscle mass pills for a few months, but in the past week I've switched to acai berry diet pills in the hopes that they will show better results. Lunch is substituted with a weight loss shake every day and my breakfasts are usually tiny - a fruit or something similar.

So long story short - does anyone have any advice??? I'm really sorry to flood the forums with this kind of post, as I'm sure it's posted once an hour or so.

Here's the only piece of advice you need right now - track your calories. Your diary is empty. If you want to lose weight, track every bite you eat and stay just at your calorie goal.

Start there. If you track every single bite, every single day over a period of 6 weeks and you STILL don't lose weight, come back and ask your question again.

But first, do the work required by this program.

cmacphee3

Not a tip, but your chest can certainly add to your weight. My mom had a single mastectomy and lost TWENTY pounds with one breast. TWENTY.

SuperCrsa

Eat at a decent calorie deficit. (Decent: Feed your body properly)

That's it.

HELL NO to diet pills!
And one more tip: SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE!


Edit to add another tip! Dont trust the scale. Stop weighing yourself every day, put it away, rather measure yourself at the most once a week. oh and slow and steady wins the race.

Good luck!

Sarauk2sf

Same tips as for men.

Buy a digital scale, use it, log your food, eat at a reasonable caloric deficit.


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Sarauk2sf

For women, I recommend Fat Loss Factor, a well-rounded, realistic fat loss program, found here:

www.getslimquick.net

I also recommend, for creating the body you want beyond fat loss, Visual Impact for Women, found here:

www.hotfitbody.com

Best of luck to you!

What is wrong with logging on this FREE site and eating to a reasonable caloric deficit, preferably while doing some resistance training?

3dogsrunning

Two years ago, I weighed myself at 189 pounds (at this point about 5'4" or 5'3.5") and said no more. By the end of the year my lowest weight was 158 pounds. But after going through a year's worth of nausea-related illness (so much so that I had to drop out of school,) I ballooned back out to 185 pounds, and grew a couple of inches as well.This was a shock to me, though since I'd fallen off the wagon in terms of calorie counting and exercise (still usually only eating at most 1600 calories a day, however) it shouldn't have been.

Weeks of walking 3-4 miles every day and even going through annual marching band camp (spending 3-4 hours out marching in the heat every day) and counting calories as close as possible, along with trying a variety of different weight loss pills and approaches, and I'm starting to feel sick over it. I weighed myself a few days ago and I was at 182 at around lunchtime. I have hardly lost anything.

It is possible that perhaps I have lost body fat but gained muscle, though I am not sure how I would determine this. I am in truth just sitting here feeling sick all around because I'm not eating enough but I'm also not feeling healthy enough, either.

To put things frankly I am wondering what I can do to try and fix things. I'm female, and my chest area is particularly 'well-endowed,' something that runs in the family regardless of weight, but I don't think that could really contribute too much to my weight. Is there a different approach that women need to take for this kind of drastic fat loss? Are there certain foods that might help speed up my metabolism? I tried the CLA 1300 body fat to muscle mass pills for a few months, but in the past week I've switched to acai berry diet pills in the hopes that they will show better results. Lunch is substituted with a weight loss shake every day and my breakfasts are usually tiny - a fruit or something similar.

So long story short - does anyone have any advice??? I'm really sorry to flood the forums with this kind of post, as I'm sure it's posted once an hour or so.

Here's the only piece of advice you need right now - track your calories. Your diary is empty. If you want to lose weight, track every bite you eat and stay just at your calorie goal.

Start there. If you track every single bite, every single day over a period of 6 weeks and you STILL don't lose weight, come back and ask your question again.

But first, do the work required by this program.

Quoted for emphasis.

primpixie

Hello there,
I am replying as I am worried about the diet pill route - they are basically either amphetamines or a a complete waste of money - a con.
There is a view that eating overly ripe banana's can add to stomach and body fat; but as a lot of people have answered already a deficit diet is the only way really, with as much exercise as you can manage. This however, does not need to be hours of gym work. It is better to do a little and often, along with a food pattern in a similar vein. By doing a little often, your heart rate stays up for longer, and keeps that way too. So for example, today I cleaned the bathroom, then sat for a bit and checked my emails, then cleared the kitchen, then had lunch, then did some recycling and sweeping.
Food wise, try and eat more for breakfast or your body goes into starvation mode and will cling onto any fat or carbs it can to keep you going, thereby not allowing you to lose any weight. I'm not sure if having a shake for lunch is good either, as it is not a long-term scheme that can be kept up. You need to have a life plan, not a hoilday diet.
Hope this all helps.
PP

vinzorelli

Most women don't want to hear it but here it goes:

1. You need to build a strong metabolism. Yes that means eating more so your body gets accustomed to higher caloric intakes. Caloric increases can be done very gradually over a longer period of time, so as not to gain body fat.

2. Build some muscle tissue, which will help spend more calories too. Heavy weight training here is key. No you will not get bulky due to hormonal profile differences between genders. Women who do get bulky are supplementing with external chemicals

3. Stop the cardio (told you you wouldn't want to hear it). Steady-state cardio has a highly adaptive component for it, meaning your body's metabolism will lower to compensate for the consistent expenditures

4. Proper ratio of macronutrients is key for body composition and performance (fats vs carbs vs protein)

5. Slow, controlled dieting. Too many people drop their calories substantially, too fast, which leaves no room to work with down the line when a plateau inevitably occurs

6. Lose the liquid food, juices, protein shakes. Liquid food does not satiate hunger properly like whole, solid food does. When you're cutting at advanced stages you want the smaller amounts of food to keep you full. So lose those.

Proper implementation of all these components will yield results. The problem is the mainstream attitude and media brainwashing women they need to be on sub 1000 calories daily. Insane and unsustainable.

alli_baba

For women, I recommend Fat Loss Factor, a well-rounded, realistic fat loss program, found here:

www.getslimquick.net

I also recommend, for creating the body you want beyond fat loss, Visual Impact for Women, found here:

www.hotfitbody.com

Best of luck to you!

What is wrong with logging on this FREE site and eating to a reasonable caloric deficit, preferably while doing some resistance training?

Great advice.

You don't need expensive programs or weight loss pills -- the only cash you need to shell out (if you haven't done so already) is for a food scale. I bought mine on Amazon for $5.

Best wishes!

BabyNurseJen

If you have some extra money (which you do if you're spending it on diet pills), I'd recommend looking into a bodymedia fit, fitbit, jawbone whatever they have, something like that. I got one (bodymedia fit) about a month ago, and for the first time I feel in complete control over my weight loss. All the guesswork is gone. I know very close to accurately how much I burn, and I know with equal accuracy how much I eat thanks to MFP.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

eat at a moderate deficit and strength train. it's really that simple.

Well, and you have to be honest about your portion sizes and exertion levels.

wilmnoca

Stop with these stupid pills. No you have not gained muscle. Eat clean and exercise. Period. The weight will come off. There is no magic secret or magic pill. Eat less-move more. Ta da!

wilmnoca

Hello there,
I am replying as I am worried about the diet pill route - they are basically either amphetamines or a a complete waste of money - a con.
There is a view that eating overly ripe banana's can add to stomach and body fat; but as a lot of people have answered already a deficit diet is the only way really, with as much exercise as you can manage. This however, does not need to be hours of gym work. It is better to do a little and often, along with a food pattern in a similar vein. By doing a little often, your heart rate stays up for longer, and keeps that way too. So for example, today I cleaned the bathroom, then sat for a bit and checked my emails, then cleared the kitchen, then had lunch, then did some recycling and sweeping.
PP

Are you freakin kidding me????? ????