A little advice here? anything..

Why is any kind of weight lifting soo good for fat loss? I really thought jogging/running do the trick for that, exp in the belly area.

Oh you will lose weight faster doing just the cardio and eating at a deficit for sure. Problem is a good amount of that weight will be your muscle so when you have hit your target "weight" you will find that you still look soft and pudgy just considerably smaller.

If you want to look healthy fit trim sexy etc you want to keep that muscle around, lifting weights and eating more will help you do that. Sure the weight will come off slower but it will all be fat and eventually you will reveal that trim sexy fit muscle rather than just more flab underneath.

Aesthetics aside its just plain healthier to.

Let me try to put it in terms of math. How "good" you look aesthetically is basically down to your body composition which comes down to your bodyfat percentage. This is oversimplifying but for now lets just go with it.

Lets say you weight 180 pounds and you want to get down to 130. At 180 pounds 100 pounds of that is lean mass which means you are at 44% bodyfat.

Now lets say you decide to get to 130 you are eating at a very large deficit and just running and running and running. What happens is your body burns fat for calories and muscle to give you the essential amino acids you are depriving yourself of. After a year you have finally attained your goal weight of 130 but looking in the mirror you still look a bit fat...what happened? Well in addition to going from 180 to 130 pounds your lean mass dropped from 100 to 80 due to all the muscle burn. That means that your body composition is now 35% bodyfat which although better will still have you looking pudgy.

Now lets say instead you decide to get to 130 by lifting weights, eating at a small deficit and doing some cardio but not overdoing it. What happens is your body burns fat for calories but retains the muscle because it is using its muscle and you are supplying it with enough calories to keep it around. Your nutrition supplies the needed amino acids so there is no need to break down that muscle that you are using every week. After a couple of years you have finally attained your goal weight of 130 and look slim, trim and fit. What happened? Well you kept your lean body mass at 100 pounds since you lost zero muscle but your body weight dropped to 130 from fat loss. Your body fat percentage is now 24% which is pretty sleak and trim.

That is why you lift weights.

That is why you eat at a small deficit not a large one.

You want to lose weight fast, do what you are doing. If you want to actually look good when you are done then eat more and lift some weights.

When you eat doesn't matter very much for the average person (unless you are a competitor). How much you eat, and how much protein you are getting is important. Also, you will see better results with a lifting program that has lower repetitions and higher weights.

You can make protein appear as a category on your food diary. The amount you are getting is probably not enough. Aim for .8 grams per pound of your body weight.

Regarding the safflower oil, while it is lower cholesterol than other oils you might use, there isn't some magic property that is going to burn fat. Just because Dr. Oz had it on his show doesn't make it true.

it shows me 60grams of protein per day since im doing 1200cals

You should be eating more.

You should be eating more calories than 1200. Already established earlier in the thread that you are not eating enough to preserve lean body mass.

You should eat "your body weight" multiplied by .8 = grams of protein to eat.

1) More protein... I'd maybe cut back on the fruit so much... lots of sugar... and sugar that isn't used turns into what? Fat.
2) Eat more... 1200 is WAAAAAY too low for as much as you're exercising.
3) Are you lifting? The first time I was using MFP back in the 08/09 range I lost 20lbs but still didn't really look much slimmer... because I did it all doing cardio. This time around, I do a little cardio and lift 3x/week and I'm the same size I was then but 18lbs heavier.... and I look slimmer.

Just hang in there... stick with it... good luck!

Im worried upping my calories will just make me gain more, It was hard to even lose this much weight, it seems like I lose weight very very slowly, that or im just not working hard enough or eating well enough. as far as excerising, I do a mixture of walking and running on the treadmill, using the Eplitical, and using 3 different weight lifting machines at the gym.

You said you started in mid Jan of this year at 156, and are now at 136. That is twenty pounds in less than three months. That is not slow weight loss, that is fast weight loss, ~2 pounds a week which is the most mfp recommends.

ALL the weight I have lost was water weight and muscle and maybe a tiny tiny bit of fat. At the time of doing 1200 cals, I wasn't working out at all, so i lost muscle. NOW i'am still doing 1200cals, AND working out and i just started trying to do heavy lifting...

You missed the point, you lost muscle because you lost too much weight too fast, eating too little. This is why people are recommending you slow down on the weight loss and start strength training to prevent losing any more lean body mass. Because people who lose too much too fast still have proportionally the same amount of body fat % when they get to goal weight. It is commonly known as "skinny fat".

Why are you not listening to any of the advice given to you on the first 2-3 pages of this thread? Why are you asking all of these people to regurgitate what has already been clearly outlined on the first 2-3 pages of this thread?

:huh: Sorry, but it's obvious to me why. But I love these threads, they make my day go faster and I do end up learning stuff. Your advice has been helpful to me, thanks.

ETA: typo

Do processed foods include the Smart Ones and Lean Crusine meals?

That's almost the epitome of processed food.

I believe the 1200 calories a day is too low since you are exercising. Your body needs fuel. I recommend upping your caloric intake. Also, what exactly are you eating? Do you mind sharing your meal plan? Is it the same thing over and over, or are you switching it up everyday. Personally, I am a firm believer that you should be eating a proper balance of protein, carbs and healthy fats. Try not to focus so much on the number on the scale, but how you look and feel. Also, I hate to say it, but cellulite is really hard to get rid of...especially as we age.