advice/help please

victoriageorgina

Hi.

Really need some advice or help please. I haven't been able to loose weight for about four months now. In fact my body just seems to be playing around with the same 6lb. It will take me weeks to loose it then I can litterely put it back on over night. I get that it will be water weight but then it will take me weeks to loose it again and bang.. Back on over night. I am just really struggling with it. I am 5 ft 6 and weight between 10 stone 7 and 11 stone.. Depending on what mood my body is in. I exersice 5/6 days a week... Mostly Jillian Michaels body revolution (my current workout) I do two workouts a day and I really enjoy them. I am building muscle.. Or rather getting shape to my muscles.. There has defo been a change there and I am very happy about that but I am not loosing fat or inches or weight. It is really frustrating. I have been at this for 8 months now. I have tried changing my diet.. Low carb, high protien which made little difference... I drink plenty of water. I just don't know what else to do. Any tips or advice would be great.

helenrosemay

Why not try maintaining for a while? Try not worrying about the last 6lbs and enjoy what you're doing now. You're at a healthy BMI I think and if you're building muscle then your weight may not go down as you're gaining muscle.

grimendale

If you are eating at a deficit, it is highly unlikely that you are building muscle. You are likely melting fat to reveal the muscles that are already there. As I see it, you have a few options:

1. You can reduce the amount of weight you are trying to lose each week. Since you are very close to your natural setpoint, you are going to have a tough time dropping more weight. Reducing from trying to lose 2 lbs a week to 1 lbs a week, for instance, can help get things moving again sometimes. You may also want to stop relying on the scale. Given that you are close to goal, the scale is not going to be a reliable indicator. A tape measure will be better at this point.

2. You can up your calories to maintenance for a while and let your body adjust to your healthy weight. After a month or two, you can reintroduce a small deficit. The break from being at a deficit can help your metabolism bounce back a little and help your body relax about holding on to its remaining fat reserves.

3. You can stop trying to lose weight and focus on body fat percentage instead. You could eat at maintenance for two to three weeks, then introduce a small surplus and progressive resistance training to build some muscle. Do that for a few months, then transition back to a deficit to cut the little bit of fat you may gain while building muscle. You won't be able to get your weight as low this way, but you can get your body fat percentage lower, which will give a leaner, more toned look (which is likely what you're after). You won't build massive muscles this way without seriously trying to do so (and even then, it would be difficult for a female), but you will get a little bit of muscle definition.

victoriageorgina

Thanks. I really appreciate the advice. If I am not building muscle then I must be burning fat as my muscle is much closer to surface and noticable. I really do have to get my head out of the scale issue. I actually don't mind being the size I am now as long as I am toned.