Help Please!!!

ohiobluegal
ohiobluegal Posts: 5
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
I have been exercising three to four days a week on the treadmill for up to sixty minutes. I have been eating up to 1200 calories per day. My weight loss has not been even. I will go between gaining and losing. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. It is VERY frustrating when I have a good week and gain weight. I have been very careful on what I eat and keep track religiously. Can someone please give some advice?

Replies

  • Ely82010
    Ely82010 Posts: 1,998 Member
    What are you eating? Your diary is not public, so I can't give you any suggestions about food.

    Maybe you should change your workout an introduce new exercises and routines. Change your speed and incline in the treadmill, or switch to the elliptical or reduce cardio time and start working out with weights. Increase muscle to increase your metabolism.
  • HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING OUT ARE YOU NEW TO THIS WHAT WAS YOUR EATING LIKE FOR ABOUT 2 TO 3 WEEK BEFORE STARTING HERE
  • Thank you for your suggestions. I eat salads, yogurt, proteins, fruit. I try and eat healthy and what ever I want so I don't feel deprived but less of it. I do change up the treadmill with incline and speed.
  • My eating habits were awful! I started January 2nd and have been going to the gym for one month, three to four times a week.
  • Leannek74
    Leannek74 Posts: 374 Member
    I had the same problem. I gave up pop (diet pop) by accident and about a week to 2 weeks later the pounds started coming off. Weird right? If you drink diet pop I tell everyone to try giving it up for a couple of weeks!

    P.S. I was running 3 to 5 kms 3 times a week and sticking to 1200 calories or less and nothing was happening! For Months!!!!
  • ladybu6205
    ladybu6205 Posts: 165 Member
    The thing I am noticing... "I eat UP TO 1200 calories"... You need to eat a minimum of 1200 calories and even more if when you exercise. Your body needs the calories to survive. If you are not eating enough calories, you body will start holding on to them...
  • It's hard to say what it is, but working out on a treadmill (even at 60 minutes) may not be burning as many calories as you think. And, if you are only buring 300 or so calories at every hour on a treadmill, it's going to take quite a while to reach a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound. You might need to change to something more aerobic that burns more calories. An eliptical, biking, swimming, rollerblading might pump up the calories per hour and you might see a better result. And, you might not be eating enough calories and your body is in starvation mode and trying to hang onto the fat. Make sure you are eating the right amount of calories and often. If you are cheating a little here and cheating a little there, you'd be surprised at how that affects what you are doing. The other factor to consider is that if you are just new to exercising, your body may have a sluggish metabolism and it's going to take some time for it to start burning calories properly again. It could be a lot of things, but the main thing is not to give up. The weight will come off if you keep on track. Good luck !!
  • sharesb
    sharesb Posts: 416 Member
    You could try alternating cardio one day and strength training the next. I started P90 and I have found that alternating between cardio and strength has been really effective. I have had personal trainers in the past who both told me that the strength training is very important. Cardio isn't going to do it alone.

    Good luck! ♥
  • Thank you for your suggestions. I eat salads, yogurt, proteins, fruit. I try and eat healthy and what ever I want so I don't feel deprived but less of it. I do change up the treadmill with incline and speed.

    I do treadmill workouts 7 days a week for an hour or 90 minutes. I notice that when I push too hard and get into the cardio zone by increasing the incline and speed, my weight fluctuates. I'm not saying I don't push myself with speed and incline changes, but I watch my heart rate when I'm doing those changes to keep it in the weight loss zone. If I stay in the weight loss zone (heart rate at 125 or less), I loose weight more easily. Look on the treadmill for weight loss program settings and the bars on the handles that will track your heart rate. If it's a Precor machine, you should be able to find the settings easily. The weight loss program is a flat set then a set of 5 minutes or so on a higher incline. The more areobic programs are designed for cardio heart rate workouts.
    I do cardio workouts on certain nights on purpose just to burn more calories, but it's just as important to do a slow, lower heart rate set on the treadmill just to be in the weight loss zone. I can go a week on doing cardio zone runs on the treadmill, but I have to come back down and change the routine between the cardio zone into the weight loss zone just to get out of the high impact workout to keep on track with the weight loss.
    It is frustrating, but weight loss is a frustrating process with ups and downs literally. You don't need to kill yourself on the treadmill to loose weight. Walking more than normal is sufficient if you're comfortable with certain exersices. I hate the other machines at the gym since I have a bad knee, so I rely on the treadmill mostly and learn from my success in loosing a pound or failure to loose a pound or 2 when I know I should have to gauge my workouts.
    It's about being aware of what is working and repeating that.
    If your food diary is the problem, change it too. That's part of changing your routine too. I eat a lot of fish....I mean A LOT of fish...and green veggies. I try to maintain high fiber foods or supplements just because it's hard to get a lot of fiber.
    Also, and this has happened to me too, stressing out about loosing a pound when you think you should have affects your weight loss. I'm sure none of us are stress free, but controlling that is pretty important too. On a busy week at work, especially if I'm working OT to stay caought up, I stress and my weight fluctuates because of it.
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