please take the time to help with a reply here...

LindaMee

I'd like support because I can't seem to lose a pound. I am now exercizing 5 to 6 days a week. where before I didnt exercize at all. I sometimes replace two meals a day with protein whey powder. I eat or drink (whey) five times a day and it is almost always healthy. For a regular meal, I will have skinless chicken breast, salad (with no dressing) made of mainly baby spinich, cucumbers and chicken as a typical dinner. I have either green tea, or decaf coffee (black). I never have sugared drinks. I either drink water or crystal light. I may treat myself to a 25 cal hot choc with a couple of tabespoons of fat free whipped cream. Maybe I'll have a 100 cal wheat english mufffin and sugar free polaner jam. I eat fiber one cereal and 1% milk or kelloggs weighjt reduction cereals for breakfast.

I also, at least four times a week, do the 3 mile walk found on exercise TV. AND YET, I have not lost a pound in three weeks. I am not overeating or undreating. I am exercizing. I eat virtually no fast food or processed foods. I homemake just about everything we eat from wheat breads to soups. We have no junk food in our house. We make fresh fruit smoothies for dessert on occasion. AND YET, I am not losing any weight.

I am 159 pounds and 47 years old. I am 5'8 inches tall. My ideal weight has always been around 135-140. This extra 20 pounds is tiring and bulgy. I want it off and can't seem to get it off.

I eat my daily suggested calories and I make each cal count. I eat healthily.

i do get fat in my diet with light cream in coffee on occasion and milk in my cereal. I use olive oil for cooking. We make fat free pudding for dessert, but also use full fat whipping cream to make homemade wipped cream with no sugar. I do get some fat,, some carbs and some protein.

They reccomend 1200 cals per day. i follow it.

Please help with suggestions. I am frustrated and lately I walk into the YMCA wondering what's the point. I don't want to give up but it is getting hard to stay motivated

iRun4wine

Maybe if you let us see your food diary we can help better by seeing what you're eating in those 1200 calories each day?

pniana

Are you also eating your exercise calories or only the 1200?

marm1962

Seems like an awfully lot of exercise for that kind of diet.......are you eating your exercise calories or at least half of them?

abatres7

You need to either eat more or reduce your workout days. you want your metabolism up and not going into starvation mode.

LindaMee

I do try and eat my exercize calories, but that didn't work either so I gave up on that. I will try to let you see my food diary input if I can find the link. Thanks to all who are trying to help!

everyday

You need to either eat more or reduce your workout days. you want your metabolism up and not going into starvation mode.

I agree!!

Too much w/o & not enough calories... your body is going into starvation mode.

I'd look up my (((bmr calories- here or Google))) , if you going to w/o 5-6 days per week.

Stay away from the Crystal Light & the artificial stuff & drink water.

You have to find the right combination for you. I hope this help you!!

LindaMee

I made my food diary and exercise public. Maybe that will help. Thanks.

LindaMee

Thanks to all who posted. I will rethink my daily food and exercise.

mrsyac2

how about eating Food for breakfast and lunch and leaving the shakes for snacks or real food-

For example I put a scoop of protein powder in my oatmeal (so good-its unflavored) the rest of the day I eat real food.

The last 20lbs are gonna be hard- Try lifting weights it will tighten you up and even though you may not lose you will look like you have.

don't get discouraged 3 weeks isn't long enough to stress- If you had alot more weight to lose than 20lbs then yeah you could stress a little- but not when you only have 20lbs

The last 20 is a bi$ch.

LindaMee

thanks for your help...

thumper44

You need to eat more, you are exercising alot and not eating enough calories, as everyone else said.

read this.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

You can view your "sugar and sodium" on your chart to see how much you are getting each day.
Also, you can take measurements and see if you are losing inches and not weight

LindaMee

Thanks for the link, Peter! I will read and adjust my plan.

marm1962

Are you logging all of your fluids? If you are then you need to drink a whole lot more water too.

SHBoss1673

with your numbers, assuming lightly active lifestyle, your maintenance calories are around 1950 calories, 1200 calories is a very very agressive amount of calories, probably screwing up your metabolism. that's a 700 plus deficit a day. I would set your goal to around 500 calorie deficit or even less than that. With only 20 lbs to lose, there's no way your body is going to allow for more than a 1 lb a week average. Your target really should be about 1/2 lb a week or so. That means between 250 and 400 cals a day deficit (I.E. between 1550 and 1700 calories a day NET). 1200 calories is just too low IMHO.

I know this sounds counter intuitive, but trust me, it works. Some tweaking may be needed, but only after you find the right amount, and expect to not see results for a couple of weeks while your body becomes used to the changes.

LindaMee

Thanks, SHBoss, for the advice and everyone else. I am going to adjust, although it does feel counterintuitive as you say. I am not as hungry as 1700 vals per day and I sort of enjoy the exercize. I do need to add more water to my daily intake. I just don't really love to drink it. I never have been a big drinker of any beverage.

I will not give up thanks to all of your kind words and inspiration. I am going to tweek until I come up with what is working. Thanks, again.

And SHBoss, how about them Yankees? NYC born but living in Red Sox country (Maine) makes me have to stand up for those Yanks. Actually, though, I am really a Mets fan and not at all a Yankees fan!

Good luck to all of you!

Phoenix_Rising

Every body is different.
(And I mean every 'body', not 'everybody', although both apply )

I was working out 5 days a week, eating okay and not seeing results. I was expecting the exercise to pull me through. Apparently that is not how my body functions.

I've focused in more on the diet now, less on the exercise (due to life situations keeping me from exercise for a while). Since I've been better about truly counting calories, I've seen actual weight loss.

MFP recommended 1200 cals a day for me, plus exercise.
I raised my base to 1400 cals and generally hit close to that.
I don't think 1200 was enough for me, and I think I wasn't focusing closely enough on my diet.

Just my point of view. Not right, not wrong, just mine. :flowerforyou:

LindaMee

Thanks, Pheonix! Great advice and I will tweak my diet a little at a time to see what works. I am exercising about 4-5 times a week. I know I need to drink more water and I am trying to count calories accurately.

I have so much to learn on this journey!

kryssy77

i read your food diary this past week and you are definitely not eating enough almost everyday you have over 600 cals remaining. Try and make yourself and larger breakfast it will fuel your day and make your metabolism regulate and you will still have all day to burn. Try two eggs with yolks on a whole grain english muffin with a decaf coffee even add a little cheese.

LindaMee

I'll try! Thanks for the advive and taking the time to try to help me by looking at my food diary. It means a lot!

HeatherMN

Good afternoon,

I read through all of the responses you've received so far and agree that you need to make sure you're eating your calories for the day, as well as some of the calories you gain from exercising. I would take a look at what this site suggests for your protein intake, as that may be too high if you're replacing two meals per day with protein shakes.

However, my question would be what you are doing for exercise? Have you changed your exercise routine at all, or have you kept it the same the entire time. Make sure you're getting a good mix of strength training, whether with weights or just your own body weight, as well as cardio. If you haven't changed your exercising regime, try adding some interval training to your cardio or add more weight to strength training. Remember that your body adapts to routines fairly quickly and changing it up may be all you need to get past the plateau.

Good luck and happy exercising,
Heather

LindaMee

Thanks for your answer, Heather. I guess I will try to do something different for one of the replaced meals and not use the protein powder. I just don't want to fall into a trap of consuming too many calories and not knowing. The protein shakes were a good way to know exactly what I was getting.

As far as exercise, I do at least 30 mins on treadmill. I usually do anywhere between a 3.8 and a 4.3 (between 2 and 3 miles). Lately, I have hnaged that up to 45 mins to an hour, generally at a 4.3 to a light jog of 5.5 (for only a few minutes of the entire time). I spend the last fiftenn minutes cooling down from 4.3 to 3.0. Then I do 36 sit-ups with a 5lb med ball, and I use about 10 arm and leg machines ( I don't know what they are called as I am new to this). I try to do 3 reps of 12 on each machine. I recently increased the weights from 10 lbs to 20 or 30 depending on machine.

I also get in the pool at the YMCA with my five year old while she learns to swim, so I use some other muscles doing the doggy-paddle and just keeping up with her. I am not a good swimmer, so laps aren't really for me.

I also do (3x a week) a three-mile walk with a tv program. It consists of marching in place, leg lifts, kicks, kick-backs and lunges. Side-stepping is also included.

I feel like I change-up and do things differently each week because I may skip one thing and add another. I don't know what else to do. If you see a change I could make, please let me know. I am new to fitness and I am doing something wrong.

Thanks, so much.

Linda

HeatherMN

Linda,

It sure sounds like you get some good variety! I've found that using fitness DVDs work best for me because they work so many different things and it keeps me from getting bored. I've found I'm not a person who enjoys going to the gym.

Like you, I am fairly new to fitness, so am therefore not an expert. I wish I had better answers for you. Have you tried talking to a trainer at the YMCA you go to or to a dietitian; since they're professionals in their fields, they may have some good insight or ideas.

Good luck!
Heather

LindaMee

I did talk with a fitness director and she said sometimes you get in shape and don't lose weight. Then, she added be happy to get in shape. Hmmmm, I thought.

I guess I have to take her advice. I can't change what I can't change!

Thanks for chatting. It does help.
Linda