any suggestions?

Hi joolz -

Is it possible that you've been losing inches but not weight? If you're exercising a lot you could be building muscle which is heavier than fat. Do you know what your body fat percentage is, and have you been tracking it?

Are you weighing yourself at the same time of day each time? Your body weight changes during the day, so most people recommend weighing yourself first thing in the morning every time to be consistent and have a fair comparison.

Are you recording all of your little snacks? If you're not, those can add up pretty quickly and throw your calorie numbers over your goal.

What's your daily calorie goal? If both are not too low already, you could try lowering your calorie goal to see if that helps. But don't go too low (below 1000-1200 calories or so) or you might go into starvation mode - that's when your body starts to slow its metabolism and actually makes it harder to lose weight. I've read on other sites that if you're eating too little, you may actually need to eat slightly more to gain weight, believe it or not, because of starvation mode. People recommend targeting about 1/2 - 1 pound per week weight loss which is about a 250-500 calorie deficit per day only.

Does that help?

hey there,

i'm a big fan of varying my exercise routine. after you've been doing a particular type of exercise for a long period of time, your body starts to get "efficient" at it, and you don't burn as many calories doing it...or so i've been told. so i always try to mix things up. run/walk one day, lift light weights the next, do a machine one day (like the elliptical machine), swim (do you have access to a pool? swimming is a wonderful workout and very easy on the joints)...hang in there, joolz!!!

women also loose weight differently than men. Most men are larger than the average woman and therefore will burn calories faster. A womans body has a habit of hanging onto its fat longer.

Hello sweettooth what helps me is if i got the biggest loser DVD at wallmart. it has helped me a lot.

Hey all, I'm a 31YOM and I've been using this site for only 3 weeks now and I've lost 5 pounds already. I started at 163 and i just hit 158 today. I definitely have more definition in my abdominal area again just like i did in high school. I just have my love handles and some back fat to get rid of. My brother turned me on to it and he said in only a couple of months he's lost a couple of inches off his waist.

I don't want anyone to get discouraged from living a healthier life so here are a couple of tips i wanted to share with those that aren't really seeing any results with this site.

This site is only a tool for tracking food and excercise. you must have a game plan to see actual results. Here's how i built my game plan.

1. Calorie deficit or calorie surplus? If I want to lose weight, you have to be in calorie deficit mode. I selected aggresive weight loss of 1.9 lbs/ week and I use custom nutrition goals. If I want to gain weight I have to be in calorie surplus mode.

2. custom or recommended goals? I wanted fat loss so I've set my own custom goals to 30% carbs, 35% fat, and 35% protein. getting my calories from protein will allow my body to burn body fat instead of carbs for energy. (default i think is >50% carbs)

3. How many meals and how much in each meal? Now that I set my calorie and nutrition goals for the day, I need an intra-day meal strategy. I eat 6 meals a day (default is 4). I'm not eating more food, I'm eating the same food in smaller portions more frequently. My meals are as follows, Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Pre-Workout, Post Work out, and Dinner, each meal is 2-3 hours apart. I eat a third of my calorie target in my first three meals when i use the least amount of energy in a day. These are my low carb meals, and 2/3 of my calorie goal in my last three meals that surround my workout when i use the most energy. These are my high carb meals.

4. Food Type and Timing! The secret is the type of carbs, fat and protein you consume and when you consume them.

I try to intake only good fat that contains ALA's and other anti oxidents like olive oil, flax seed oil, and fish oil. low fat margarine uses soy oil which has no cholesteral. I spread my fat intake evenly throughout the day.

I intake a steady supply of lean protein throughout the day. Lean is key because you want your fat from good sources and not animal fat.

Carbs come in two main types, fast and slow carbs. Fast carbs include sugar, fruit, and white flour, and doesn't take much to break down into energy. Slow carbs are whole grains like whole wheat or oatmeal. use slow carbs when you aren't working out for slower steady release of fuel during the day. It will get used up slowly and released slowly when you are inactive. Use fast carbs only immediately before and after your work out, this will give you the energy you need for an intense workout but will run out quickly and you will then start burning body fat. Timing is crucial on your carb intake. If you get it backwards and use fast carbs when you're inactive you will have more carbs then you can use and it will get stored. if you use slow carbs during and after your workout you won't be able to burn off your body fat cause you will be burning your meal instead.

5. Metabolism. My metabolism slowed down as I got older so I had to make my metabolism go up so I was burning fat all the time. during and after your my workout my metabolism is highest so i don't need any assistance. When I am inactive in my first half of the day, I drink coffee with splenda and skim milk for a no fat, low cal dose of caffeine which increases metabolism. Spicy food increases metabolism as well. If i want a no cal dose of caffeine I take a natural herbal thermogenic to get a dose of caffeine. Keeps me alert during the day.

6. Excercise for muscle. straight cardio (running, cycling) strengthens the heart and tones your body but building muscle mass will burn body fat quicker. circuit training combines weights and cardio. martial arts is aerobic as well. Incorporate weights into your excercise program, tone, build muscle mass, and burn fat at the same time.

Hope this helped!

I think other factors could be at play as well. Estrogen levels (like if you're on your period), sleep, and stress levels can all affect weight loss/gain. My advice would be to just keep at it for a little while longer because as long as you're in a caloric deficit, you will lose weight. I'd still suggest getting a food scale to make sure your tracking is as accurate as possible though.