Help - what else can I do??

Open your diary.

It is now! :drinker:

You have all kinds of entries that aren't weighed. And your exercise calories are...well, let's just say you could divide them by 3 and they still might be to high.

Minimum caloric intake for women is 1200 calories. Add that to the amount of calories you burn when you work out, and that would be your total caloric intake for the day. Say you burn 350 calories on Monday, plus 1200 calories equals 1550.

Try adding a weight training routine (either dumbbells, barbells or circuit machines) to your work out at least three days a week (Here's a sight that might give you some ideas: http://barbell-exercises.com/). And keep journaling, every meal and every workout!

Good Luck!!!!

I use a HRM when I go to Zumba and it's about a 700 cal burn. Now, you might have a higher burn if you're a little heavier than me but I doubt you're burning 1200 calories in a 1hr class. I highly recommend getting a HRM. It makes all the difference in the world so you're not guessing on your exercise. Also, as some people said a lot of starchy foods. Also, your sodium is pretty high. Eating out kills you on sodium. Make sure you're drinking a ton of water to counteract that or you'll retain water weight like mad.

Mr_Knight wrote: »

HRMs will significantly over-estimate burns on exercises like Zumba.

Not the way I do Zumba. When your heart rate stays at about 180bpm for an hour... yeah that's a 700 cal burn. Sure, nothing's 100% but that's pretty darn close.

Hello! I had a look at your diary too - I think you're massively overestimating your exercise calories. I run for an hour most days (outside, not on a treadmill) and I really only burn about 330-400 calories. Otherwise... I guess it's just a matter of time and dedication. One thing I've found has helped recently has been to really make an effort to stop eating dinner or lunch when I"m no longer hungry and concentrate on the idea of not having to finish everything on my plate. It's really helped. Good luck!

Well researching "counting macros" would be a good start. Could learn that callories alone may not solve all your weight loss goals if your body is in a defensive mode from the strain of a new lifestyle. Cortisol could increase.. Your metabolism could slow down to protect itself from massive fat loss from such a huge change.. I bet you're pretty stressed if thats the case in which case you would be getting by on pure determination! Learn about macros! Not saying your callories should go up or down thats your call after you learn how to structure your macronutrient needs, but ill bet if you get your protein up more or less around .8grams of protein per pound of body weight that alone would make a huge difference in how your body responds to such a huge amount of new strain. Its not only a staple for building muscle but also for loosing fat. You don't want to consume alot of fat, but cutting too much out can cause a hormone imbalance that also effects fat loss.. Carbs are necessary, but not in the way most ppl go about eating them.. You only need them as far as they effects your energy and selecting low glycymic sources of carbs does make a significant difference. Whatever macro nutrient ratio you decide on your carbs will be lower than your protein for your goals i would assume. It does take time for a body to adjust to huge habbit changes.. Took my body a month to adjust to a crazy lean diet before i finally starting making big progress, but then tweeking my protein and other macros was a huge part of that when those changes really started taking place. Hope that was something new?