Getting nowhere fast

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righty_tighty
righty_tighty Posts: 25 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I'm a woman, 33 years old and pretty overweight; I could lose 100 pounds and just be on the right side of too thin. In the past, I've lost weight by using the treadmill and calorie counting (1250 calories daily) and it's worked pretty well - I usually lose 1-2 pounds a week on average. So this time around, I joined a gym instead of just relying on my treadmill here at home because I get bored fast, quit, and gain back the 30-50 pounds I've lost.

Having joined a gym (which I actually enjoy), I thought I'd lose the weight just as quickly as before. It is NOT happening. I work out 4-6 days a week, I do the elliptical for 20-30 minutes on the HIIT mode and 1-2 times a week I spend 20 minutes using the weight machines in addition to the elliptical. I'm eating 1200-1350 calories daily. I'm stagnant. I lost 7 pounds, but started working out 4 weeks ago. I haven't lost a blessed thing in the past 11 days. I'm drinking around 100 ounces of water a day, and while my sodium isn't low, it's well under 3000 mg/daily.

So what gives? Is the elliptical worthless? Should I stop using the weight machine? (I lift low weights, 30-45 pounds, with 2-3 reps of 10 on each machine). I feel like I'm doing everything right but getting no results, and to be honest....as overweight as I am the weight should be coming down pretty rapidly.

What am I doing wrong?

Replies

  • louiseestelle1
    louiseestelle1 Posts: 2
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    It may be that you have just hit a plateau. These are things that may help!
    - Look at how far you've come and stay positive!
    - change it up when you excersize to keep yourself interested
    - Track EVERYTHING (we all lie to ourselves sometimes
    - Go to your doctor and see if there are any further medical issues for example PCOS or a thyroid problem
    Please try and stay positive. you weight does NOT define who you are!

    Kindest regards!
  • jessupbrady
    jessupbrady Posts: 508 Member
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    check out this article about fat loss: http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/how-to-lose-fat/
    and this one to help get you started on your journey: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
  • csteuter
    csteuter Posts: 87 Member
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    I had the same experience ... so frustrated to work so hard and see no "progress" for a week or more. Keep doing what you're doing. One day you'll drop another pound ... then another. And you may be gaining some muscle, which helps in the weight loss. Don't give up!!!
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,757 Member
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    No. Ellipticals are great. Anything that makes you sweat is great.if you need to lose 100 lbs you aren't eating enough. that is not why you aren't losing, but I feel it will be difficult to keep eating that little since you have a history of quitting you should eat at a modest deficit. Know your BMR, that would be a starting point !


    Weight training is also great. Keep doing what you are doing and give it time. See a specialist if nothing helps but give it am honest 6 weeks before panicking
    Pretty normal to stagnate
  • princa1
    princa1 Posts: 16 Member
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    jessupbrady wrote: »
    check out this article about fat loss: http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/how-to-lose-fat/
    and this one to help get you started on your journey: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    Great articles and a great summary of reasons why one maybe having problems losing the weight. I found it very informative and will use it in the future when giving advice. Hope this is useful for you righty_tighty!
  • suej396
    suej396 Posts: 2 Member
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    Good morning!
    Congratulations on joining a gym and doing your workouts! I'm a personal trainer who started out as a weight loss client, so I understand where you're coming from! As such, I would suggest making a couple of changes to what you're doing. First, you should be eating at least 1500 calories per day, especially since you're burning so many calories at the gym. You don't want your body to be starving! That slows down your metabolism and promotes fat storage as your body tries to hang onto a fuel supply. Also, it's better to cut way down on carbs and only have starchy or high-carb foods in the evening. If you eat mainly healthy proteins, healthy fats and vegetables during the day, your body will spend more time in fat-burning mode, which is good!
    Secondly, you're doing an awful lot of cardio - which is not as effective a weight-loss approach as most people think - and not enough muscle building from the sound of things. The more you can increase the percentage of your body that's muscle, the smaller your fat percentage will become - you can only add up to 100%! - and those muscle cells wil be burning extra calories during your workouts and while they recover! Only a tiny percentage of women will ever get huge muscles, so go heavy and slow on your weight training exercises. It's actually the reps that have your muscles burning that make a difference (they can already comfortably do the ones before the burn!), so push hard. If it ever changes from a burn to pain, though, stop immediately! Something's getting irritated or injured at that point and we don't want that! If you do a 7-10 minute warmup and then do weight training 2 to 4 days per week, and do 30 - 60 minutes of straight cardio a couple of times per week. Finally, please stretch at the end of every workout. That will help your muscles recover and reduce the soreness (at leat a little!). Keep on working it and you'll start seeing changes soon!
    Sue

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