Hi all have a couple of questions

RSO206

Hi all!

First I want to thank MFP.com for the great iPhone app. I'm glued to my iPhone all day and now thy I have this great app I am now able to follow my diet plan and stay motivated through this process. Just a warning there will be some typos cause I'm typing on my phone.

First here are my stats: 29m, 5.6', 170 lbs.

My whole adult life I've been anywhere from 20-40 pounds over weight. It has caused many health problems mainly fatty liver. I had to have a biopsy and that really woke me up and made me question my lifestyle. A couple weeks ago I decided to go on a 1200-1400 cal diet with a 30-60 min workout a day. I've only lost about 1.5 lbs in two weeks.

I started about 2 weeks ago and weighed 170.5. I've been doing a combination of 20 min of walking (3mph) mixed with some jogging Then I do about 30 min with a combo of free weights (25lbs each arm) exersizes. I weighed in today at 169. I know I lost a little but i thought with a 12-1400 cal diet and about 45 to an hour a day of exersize I would have lost more.

Could the slow weight loss be because Im gaining muscle from the free weights?

Ive been drinking lots of water. could this be water weight?

Does it really make a big difference where I get my cals from?

Thanks in advance for any advice

brittanybark

Make sure your weighing yourself in the morning to make sure you dont have all that water weight. . and keep drinking alot of water throughout the day...

I would also suggest doing an interval type workout when you do cardio...your body could be not responding due to the same routine...if you do a treadmill try doing a fast speed for a min or two then going down to a slow speed for a few minutes and keep alternating and work your way up to longer periods of time...

If you use an eliptical machine change the resistance, this will definitely burn more calories and probably help you out in seeing some more weight loss.. make sure your eating is very clean, but do not starve yourself. Eating is 80% of losing weight...

rastrillo

I agree with Brittany, keep drinking water. 8 cups is minimum. You aren't filling yourself up with water, you are raising your metabolism and detoxifying yourself.
Don't weigh yourself so often. Once a month at most, and again I agree with Brittany, first thing in the morning. You may be gaining some weight from the lifting, but that will help you lose fat, ultimately the goal.
Don't cut your calories too low. Set realistic goals, and let MFP guide you. 1 pound a week is safe.
It really does matter where you get your calories from. Personal opinions run wild with all things, mine is to really cut out sugar.
Corn Syrup and all simple carbohydrates. (white colored foods).
Brittany is spot on with the interval training too. Run as fast as you can if just for a minute then go back to a comfortable pace for 2 minutes and repeat that for twenty minutes at least.

continued success

AmeMahoney

Stop watching your weight so much and take your measurements. Muscle weighs more than fat, and when you use weights you will lose inches faster than pounds, which is the best way to do it.

If health is your goal, it absolutely matters where your calories are coming from. It's not all about weight. Fresh fruits and vegetables are much better for your body than over-processed fatty "foods." You can lose weight by eating twinkies, but do you really think that's healthy?

DiamondRubyMom

So far some great advice. First weigh yourself first thing in the morning with the same clothes on (or none at all) and remember it takes a few days for a good or bad day to show up on the scale (true but no idea why). Also make sure to eat the calories you burn off so that you don't go into starvation mode. Finally celebrate your 1.5 lbs and realize that it is a good healthy rate of weight loss. I'm sure it took years for you to put it all on. Allow yourself at least months to take it all off.

rileysowner

Someone mentioned Interval training. A good resource to learn more (and it has free interval workout programs) is http://www.intervaltraining.net/ I just started looking at it, and would try it, but he uses running or cycling, I have no treadmill and while I can cycle on the stationary bike we have at home, my experience with it tells me it would not work well for interval training although I might try it. As stated use a measuring tape it will show if you are losing inches. If you are lifting weights, you could be putting on enough muscle, especially at first, to counteract your fat loss. It is not the first place I would go, instead I would make sure you are logging all your food consumption including things that don't seem like a big deal with candies. One candy doesn't seem like a lot, but they can have a surprising amount of calories and they add up very quickly. Make sure you log everything, especially at first.

2hdesign

Keep weighing yourself, although I would suggest once a week. I would also take measurements once a week. Since you are watching kcal AND exercising, you could be switching from fat to muscle (you may not see a scale difference, but will see a tape measure difference). And keep it up!

mistybelieu

Everything that Brittany said was absolutely correct. I just have one more thing to add, your calorie intake concerned me. A lot of people have a misconception that cutting calories is the way to lose weight this is by far furthest from the truth. In order to burn fat/calories a person must consume a variety of foods throughout the day approximately 6 small meals per day and around the same time a day. If you do not consume enough food daily your body will go into starvation mode and store fat to hold on to what little reserves it can. My sister is a physical trainer and a championship bodybuilder so of any person I go to for advise it is always her and I have to say she never steered me wrong. I average about 2 pounds of weight lose per week by eating 6 small meals a day meaning breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, workout for about 1 to 1 and a 1/2 hour, smoothie with whey protein in it to help speed up recovery time, and of course dinner. 1 to 2 pounds per week is healthy weight loss.

RSO206

Thank you all for your feedback! I will take all of your advice. I've tried many things to lose weight fast but I now realize that it just doesn't workout in the longrun. This time I will be patient and lose it the right way.

Thanks Brittany for all the great advice, I have been reading about interval workouts. It sounds promising so I'm going to give that a try.

Does anybody have any advice on how to stay motivated? So far this it's been a couple weeks and that's the longest I've ever been able to stick to a diet/excessive plan.

Thanks
Ryan