Starting to think weight loss is just a myth!

honey I feel your pain! I have been a member for over 6 months and I feel the frustration of the plateau and many people have great advice just not sure if it the best for everyone. Everyone is different and we all have to find our path but right now im stuck as well so I feel that same exact way! Ive adjusted my water, changed my diet, cut out things, added things! I am beyonded frustrated!

Hang in there....

With you there. So peeved at the moment I keep wanting to do something really shocking, like cheesecake or a banana sandwich.
but ultimately I don't.
Then stand on the scales in th emorning and it's the same again... or worse lately I keep going up by 0.2lb. Not much but they add up and I'm going mad with frustration.
Someone tell me why this is? I do exercise but never tried weights. Wouldn't know where to begin tbh.

Lift weights! Seriously.

In the beginning of my healthy lifestyle change, I was doing lots of cardio (Read: elliptical) and eating less. I lost weight but I still looked flabby and felt flabby and awful, basically.

Fast forward - I've been lifting weights, incorporating cardio into my weight training (think 30 day shred or Insanity or P90x) and getting amazing results. I've lost about 15 pounds, and dropped two dress sizes. The goofy part is that I still weigh about 167 but! I'm now a Size 8! (Two different pairs of pants, one jean, one dress pants - can't be lying to me right?!) I know for a fact that I've been 167 and could not squeeze into a size 8. Period.

So in short, the number doesn't matter on the scale. What matters are your inches, like you said, and possibly even GAINING weight (in muscle) to reach the figure that you want. Most likely you'll lose some weight and gain some muscle. but like MissFancy no matter what I do my weight never seems to change. So was wondering how long did it take for you to see results?

Seriously though, read up on weight training and its benefits. Women tend to be very uninformed (I was one of them!) on what it actually means and all of the fabulous benefits that come with it.

Good luck!

How long did it take of doing weights before you saw any real differences? I was having the same problem so I started (again) with weight lifting at the beginning of the year and try for 2-4 weight sessions a week depending on if I have time between and school. I feel like there is no real differences, nor does the scale/tape measurement say so.

in that pic i hadn't exercised for 30 years hahaha!!

I wish I looked like that for not exercising I feel like I do not eat enough to have earned my fat. You are blessed!!!!

Definitely pick one angle of weight loss and keep that up. For you, you probably just need the exercise more than the eating since it seems you are pretty good with that.

I eat at 1,200 calories, i eat at 3,000 calories, i exercise more, i exercise less.... i still haven't lost any weight (lost 1lb the first week which i'm assuming was water). Starting to think some people are genetically pre-dipositioned to keep weight on no matter what, barring illness/ weight loss surgery. Getting really ticked off with all the posts on here about eating more calories/ eating less/ eating at or below or above BMR. It's all confusing and disheartening and really wish someone would just tell me the magic formula.

I'm sorry to say but there really is no magic formula... You have to find what is right for your body and what works then stick to it... I personally had destroyed my metabolism with crash diet after crash diet and had to increase my calories to a normal/maintaining range until I STOPPED gaining weight, and then was able to decrease again... I'm still working at repairing the mess I made of my body... but only you can decide what is right for you... Play around with your different numbers and see what works to take the weight off and then just stick with it... persistence is the key... if you do the right thing eventually the weight will come off... You just have to stick with it...

http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

I don't know if this was posted, 'cuz I skipped page 2, but if you're worried about heavy weight training turning you into a steroid lookin' meathead, it won't happen. Can't, not without lots of supplements. So read about Staci, stop trying to lose weight, and get to powerlifting. Trust me, you will get to the clothing size you want.

I'm at goal, I'm a guy, but that's irrelevant to my point. :laugh: I'm 5'7" and weigh 208 pounds. I'm at 16% body fat, and am wearing smaller clothing sizes than back when I was 18 and weighed 170. The weight on the scale pretty much means NOTHING.

Good luck!:drinker:

At 5'6 and 130 you're at a perfectly healthy weight. Perhaps, your body is defending this weight because it's a HEALTHY and DESIRABLE weight for you. I understand that everyone has goals but perhaps eating at maintenance and lifting weights will shape your body and get you closer to looking the way you want.

I don't think getting to 115 pounds is necessarily the answer.

^^^ This - your weight seems fine, toning might be a better approach.

Everyone has really good advice. I know how you are feeling in regards to wanting a certain size. Right now I am fighting against the grain with friends and family who were once so supportive. They see me as thin now and assume that I can drop the "diet" and do the things that I once did. I however, want those last 6 lbs to come off and then KEEP them off forever. This means that my lifestyle change will have to last FOREVER. I'm prepaired for that.

While I agree with everyone on the topic of lifting, I need to add one more thing that has really influenced the shape of my body. That is running. Even back at 160# I had already gotten into a size 8 jeans for the first time since junior high school. In comparison, I lost down to 160 about 10 years ago and was wearing size 14-16. I run outside in a hilly area so I get strength work in with my cardio. It has lifted and tightened my tush, sculpted my legs, and strengthened my core. When I'm not doing a long run or speed work, I do a leisurely jog with hand weights.

That being said, I have recently started adding on more resistence and strength training to fine tune my progress. I mostly just lift my body weight....ie push ups, sit ups, pull ups, squats, burpees....those sorts of things. I have only last week started actually lifting weights again.

I wish all the success in the world. While I do think it's important for us to stay realistic and not become obsessed, noone can set our goals for us. If you feel you need to lose those two sizes, go for it!

Again I don't want to offend you either but I had a look over your diary and the 10 or so days I looked at at least 7 or 8 of them were either over on calories or over on fat.
I have realised that unless I'm hyper aware of my calories its so easy to ruin all my hard work.

Please don't take offence!
x

No offense taken. I've been changing my calorie goals every few days because i am so confused as to what it should be on. For the most part i've been eating 1,200 - 1,500 calories per day, then burning about 500 calories through exercise.

whoa--that's going to lead to muscle loss and you'll be "skinny fat" you cannot leave your body with 700-1000 calories to survive and expect to like the result. not to be mean--it's just not how our bodies are wired.

This is something I'm really struggling with. I don't eat meat so my protein right now tends to come from quorn, mushrooms, eggs, cheese, milk etc, and i don't have a very big or varied list of foods that are high in protein so i kind of get lose trying to think up meals.

I was just pointing out, the other day, that while there are great vegan proteins, they are also carb's. So, it can be tough to get that optimal carb/protein ratio.

Like you, I've thrown everything and the kitchen sink at weight loss. I explained my story to you (I think) in another thread. But, to recap, I was thin nearly all my adult life. (5'4", 97 lbs from age 16-30 something...without trying) I spent a few years around 120lbs, but didn't care why I gained that weight because I felt I looked better. In my early 40s I suddenly starting gaining a fair bit of weight, year after year. I found it impossible to lose even a pound. For example, I was sick, at one point, and was unable to eat for 7 days. I didn't lose any weight. September 2011, I tried (again) to make a dent in this weight gain. I slashed my calories and started working out for hours every day. I gained weight. Long story short, I discovered my weight gain was likely due to having become insulin resistant, thus I couldn't possibly lose weight through healthy diet and exercise alone. Being insulin resistant means that when I eat just about anything, my body pumps out too much insulin....you know...triggering my body to store just about every calorie as fat. It wasn't until I treated the insulin resistance that I was finally able to lose weight.

That problem seemingly solved, for about 2 months, I'd been losing 2-2.5lbs/week. I grew bored with my existing workouts and tried a DVD. While I liked the routines, my weight loss stalled. When I went back to my regular (evidently more vigourous) workouts, the weight loss picked right back up where it left off. (In my weight loss chart, if I just delete the weeks I did that new DVD, my loss is an unbroken downward line from the day I started treating my insulin resstance.) That emphasized how MUCH I have to exercise to see a loss, since my diet didn't change during that time.

Now that I'm back on track again, I'm still fine-tuning because, even though I'm close to my pre-IR weight again, I don't look as thin as I used to. I'm plump all over, and have belly fat (which is weird for me). So, now I'm on this protein/fat/carb ratio kick....trying to increase my protein a bit, while lowering my carb's, if I can. As I said, vegan proteins are also carb's, so....

But, just yesterday, I read an article about total calories, and the importance of not losing sight of that. Remember the doctor who ate nothing but twinkies, Oreo cookies, etc., but kept his total calories at or below BMR (or was it TDEE)? He lost 27lbs, proving his point about total calories. (No, he wasm't recommending people eat twinkies and cookies as their main diet.)

So, I find myself doing everything.... Cutting overall calories...but not too much...increasing my protein...cutting carb's (esp. smple carb's, so I don't spike my insulin production)...eating a little protein pre-workout...doing more cardio...doing heavier weights...eating a protein with a carb at every meal/snack...getting more sleep...(trailing off)

Sound familiar?

Good luck to you. :-)