No Weight Loss For a Month :(

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Ok so i'm posting this topic because i'm feeling a bit deflated about not losing weight and thought you guys could give me some help and/or advice.

Im currently at 188lbs and i'm 5ft 6. Ive lost 29lns since October time.

I eat quite well most of the time and have really upped my water intake to the point where i am up between 2 or 3 times during the night needing the toilet!

I exercise 5 times a week doing a variety if different things and i am currently training for a half marathon, my typical routine is:-

Monday - Running
Tuesday - Gym (Cardio)
Wednesday - Zumba and Running
Thursday - Zumba
Friday - Gym (Cardio) or Running

HELP!!!!!!!

Replies

  • mimi1924
    mimi1924 Posts: 14
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    Check your food intake. Too much or sometimes too little. Also, your workouts might need a tweeking. If you have been doing the same thing you may need to up it by working harder or changing what you do. Not sure if you've every tried spinning, but that will give you a great workout.
  • ceri1980
    ceri1980 Posts: 92 Member
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    Ive upped my worksouts of late, pushed myself that bit further and still nothing!

    They do spinning at my local gym, maybe i'll give it a try....thankyou for your help.
  • sehughes22
    sehughes22 Posts: 4
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    Try doing more weight resistance work to build up your muscle strength. Don't worry you won't get bulky, but it will mean you boost your metabolism and burn more calories after your workout as your muscles repair. A good weight workout (can be body weight and done in your living room, e.g. squats, lunges, sit ups, planks, press ups, etc) done for 20 mins will often burn more calories than an hour jogging on a treadmill.

    It'll also help you build your core and leg strength which will make it easier with your running and marathon training!
  • chels1605
    chels1605 Posts: 206 Member
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    Hey hun just messaged you! Thought I'd reply here too!

    Whatever you do - Don't give up! I was really down after 3weeks of loosing nothing then 4lbs just went in 2 weeks... but maybe you need to give your body a rest for a week from exercise (i seem to do that every other week when i loose interest in swimming lol) - then give it a kick start it with a spinning class a week later so its confused by whats going on!! Just do something different from what you have been doing for the last 4 weeks because it sounds like your body knows what to expect from you now!

    Zigzag your kcals and drink ice cold water (your body burns kcals by heating the water up) and chew gum!

    xxx
  • Ashleyroberts297
    Ashleyroberts297 Posts: 10 Member
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    Hey, yeh you should try doing weights. I do circuit training and weight training with kettlebells and since i have been doing that the weight has been falling off. You burn more calories doing weight i know it sounds silly but really does work!!
  • sehughes22
    sehughes22 Posts: 4
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    Hey, yeh you should try doing weights. I do circuit training and weight training with kettlebells and since i have been doing that the weight has been falling off. You burn more calories doing weight i know it sounds silly but really does work!!

    Totally agree - I love kettlebells!
  • becka63
    becka63 Posts: 712 Member
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    Don't give up! I didn't lose for a month, but I was still exercising and I was losing inches during that time...

    I don't know if it made a difference, or if after a month my body was ready to start losing weight again anyway, but I changed my goals from a 1lb/wk loss to a 1/2lb/wk loss, which gave me more calories to play with. I also checked my calories allotted for foods and found I was off on some of them (I cook almost everything from scratch, so tend to build a lot of recipes on here! - I wasn't doing this before, just 'guessing'). I really upped my water intake to 10-12 glasses per day and yes, I peed round the clock initially, but then I think my body got used to it. I also drank hot water with a tsp of lemon in it first thing, it's meant to kick start your metabolism.

    Anyway, the combination of all of those things lost me another 2.5lbs, which was very welcome! Stick at it!
  • nickiben
    nickiben Posts: 117 Member
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    Do you log everything you eat? To lose 1lb, you need to have a deficit of 3500 cals. So if your daily deficit is only 100 cal, then it'll take 35 days to lose a lb. Maybe get a HRM so you can log the cals you actually burn when exercising, as I found this site was way over estimating what I was burning. If you log absolutly everything, Im sure you'll be able to see whats going wrong. Good luck!!
  • 4theking
    4theking Posts: 1,196 Member
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    Up your calories for one day and then take a full week off from exercising.
  • ceri1980
    ceri1980 Posts: 92 Member
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    Up your calories for one day and then take a full week off from exercising.

    The thought of this scares me!!
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
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    Up your calories for one day and then take a full week off from exercising.

    yeah, this...
    your body just needs to rest and repair.

    Once you start up your routine again you'll have more energy and the pounds will fall off. But when you DO go back to working out, make sure you eat ENOUGH.
    A lot of days your NET is LESS than 1000. This needs to be OVER 1200 EVERY day.
    You may be seeing the initial effects of underfeeding and the "survival response".
    (I don't like the term starvation mode, but it's true, your body will rebel and hold on to the fat for dear life.)

    Try taking the week off from exercise, or at least 3 rest days in a row, and UP your calories. Change your diary to a lower rate of loss (1 lb if it's at 2, .5 lb if its at 1).

    This will show your body that you don't mean it any harm and allow it to relax and go back to letting go of the fat.
  • pashenkova
    pashenkova Posts: 1
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    Ceri -

    This site is great for tracking and communicating with people but it relies heavily on the assumption that limited your calories will make you lose weight. This assumption has been disproven many times over (read Good Calories, Bad Calories for evidence!).

    Think about what you are eating and try to limit the amount of wheat, starch, and sugar you take in (i.e., carbs). Personally, i think the site recommends way too many carbs... try to make those things about 30% of your diet, not 60%. These foods create insulin in your body, which signals your body to store fat. Eat more fresh proteins and vegitables.

    An yes - make sure you rest when you workout. :) Good luck!

    SW - 165
    CW - 160
    GW - 145
  • Mandz1984
    Mandz1984 Posts: 84 Member
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    Up your calories for one day and then take a full week off from exercising.

    The thought of this scares me!!

    You should try taking a break. I hurt myself and had to stop exercising for about 2 weeks, I was freaked I would gain weight. Well I lost 2 pounds my first week off. Your body needs a break sometimes.
  • HolleeERL
    HolleeERL Posts: 313 Member
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    I agree you should rest your body at the very least for one day a week. I can't remember how long you've been training for your half, but I'll just say this: When I started training for my first half, my exercising increased dramatically yet I lost no weight for at least 6 weeks - not ONE pound! When my long runs increased (longer runs at a slower pace) the weight started to drop. You really must eat to feed your body for your training. There are some great running websites that tackle this. For sure you need your protein so you don't start losing muscle, but rest is essential for tissue regeneration and to lower the risk of injuries. You should NOT be running every single day. HOpe this helps. Cheers!! :o)
  • LarryPGH
    LarryPGH Posts: 349 Member
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    This site is great for tracking and communicating with people but it relies heavily on the assumption that limited your calories will make you lose weight. This assumption has been disproven many times over (read Good Calories, Bad Calories for evidence!).

    Umm... actually, calorie intake/burn is *exactly* where it's at! Wanna talk "bad calories" leading to weight loss? See the nutritionist who lost weight on the "twinkie diet"! http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html

    (Now, I'm not saying that his diet was healthy, nor that it's the way to go -- but "limiting calories" seems to trump "avoiding bad calories", if you want to stack one up against the other... :wink: )
  • Rhodium1976
    Rhodium1976 Posts: 81 Member
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    Exactly. People try to over complicate weight loss. It is simply calories in versus calories burned. Calories are units of energy and must obey the laws of thermodynamics. The complication of weight loss began in the 90s when everything went low fat and people ignored Calories. The result: it lead to us being the most overweight nation on the planet.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    What has likely happened is that because of prolonged caloric deficit your bodies leptin levels have decreased to the point that it is fighting you every step of the way. Have a day eating a lot, and not necessarily "healthy" foods (whatever those are) but stuff like pizza. Don't go crazy, but you want to be at or a bit above your maintenance calories. That one day will boost your leptin levels, and should get your weight loss going again. Adding strength training of some sort would be a very good idea as well. Finally, it looks like you are down to your last 15 or so pounds. I would suggest if your current weight loss goal per day is 2 pounds, drop it to 1 pound. As you get closer to your goal, your body cannot and will not abide a large calorie deficit.

    Yes, eating more can be scary, but realize you will still be at a calorie deficit even at 1 pound per week, and your body probably needs the calories desperately right now especially if you have not been eating your exercise calories.
  • Tacosmamma
    Tacosmamma Posts: 39 Member
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    Up your calories for one day and then take a full week off from exercising.

    The thought of this scares me!!
    I did that and lost this week.. I lost 2lbs after upping my calories by 200 calories.. I was stuck at the same weight for about 3 weeks...
  • solpwr
    solpwr Posts: 1,039 Member
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    I have a couple things that may help, along with a lot of good advice already shared:

    1) focus on the fact that you are in this for the win, no matter how long it takes. Visualize the goal of healthy weight independent of a point in time. it doesn't matter how long it takes, what matters is that you make it to the end.

    2) also focus on the process; trust it. Count every single one of your calories, expended and ingested. Be honest with the numbers. You have succeeded when your weekly average comes in below your target (just below). That's success no matter what the scale says. With this view, you will feel the satisfaction of achievement that will take you right into the maintenance phase. The scale becomes the affirmation that your process is working (or not), instead of the measure of success (or failure).

    3) exercise matters. a lot. try doubling your workout time for a whole week, but at a reduced intensity.

    4) one day per week, increase your exercise intensity beyond your prior biggest effort. Go harder than you thought possible that one day. Push your boundaries.

    5) don't worry about going over on calories once in a while. Just make it up the rest of the week. it's the weekly average that counts the most.