Can someone plz help......I quit smoking a yr and a half ago which caused me to put on an xtra 45 lbs. on my already out of shape body. Well in April I decided to lose these pounds and get fit. However my motivation does not seem to be paying off. I have been doing my Richard Simmons Tape faithfully since 4/14/03 and 2 weeks ago added a 20 min tread mill walk to this. I do these excersises 5 days a week with out fail. However to go from 189 to 184.5 in this length of time is discouraging. I dont eat much and have eliminated sodas and sugar in my coffee totally. Doc say thyroid ok. PLEASE any suggestion, im at my wits end.

What does not eat much mean?

Keeping a food journal may help you find hidden calories you are taking in. You may be getting hidden calories from things like salad dressings ( regular blue cheese dressing can be 200 calories for 2 tbps) Fruit juice is 100 calories per 8 oz.

Also a baked potato with salsa and steamed brocilli and green beans, and 4 oz of grilled chicken. Is less calories then 1 calazone.

You also have to check portion size. The serving size of pasta is usually 1/2 cup cooked at 200 calories. If you eat 1 cup that is 400 calories so you should count it as only 200 calories.

I agree.. what does "not eat much mean"? that could very well be the issue. If you don't eat enough, your body will try harder to keep the fat on.

To Loosly figure out how many calories your body needs... try using this and see if what your eating now comes close.


The Equation- by Dan Isaacson -- Page 77.. I'm not exactly quoting but I will put quotes anyway.

If you weigh 150 lbs, it will take 1,500 calories to just to maintain your bodily functions. So you can safely reduce your calorie intake by 10% or (150 cals) before your starvation-protection device is activated... This works out to 1,350 calories you should be eating a day.

1) To determine the amount of calories you need a day, just weight yourself and add a 0 at the end.

I added the following to the equation:

Add to it the total number of calories you are burning during exercise.(this is what I added that seems to work for me..the exercise part)

2) Most individuals can reduce their calorie intake 20% without activating starvation-protection mode. However this isn't true for everyone. It's suggested in the book to start off with 10% reduction.

3) divide #2 by the number of times you eat.. to figure out how many calories you should have at each meal.


IMHO, if your total is too high or too low, that could be the issue.

I was for my annual doctors appt. last week. She told me something that really surprised me. She said that exercise was important for health issues, but for weight loss issues it is mostly about what we put in our mouths.
She said to loss weight it is imperative to write down and examine what we eat. Until we get this part under control the exercise is not going to solve the problem.
Fitday is a God send for this.
I overheard someone in a WW lineup once who hit the nail on the head. She said that it is aamazing how much of the good stuff you can eat, and how little of the bad stuff before you hit your daily total. So I'd start with going to fitday and really analysing what you eat.
Good luck;
Pat

There is another aspect we should think of. If you really don't eat much, it could be that you don't get enough fuel to burn calories.

Furthermore, it is a wellknown fact, that if you eat less than 1000 cals, your body will start acting as if it is in starvation mode. It will hang on to all the calories it does get and therefore you might not lose weight. If you would have a day with a bigger calorie intake, your body will also gain weight easier. :sad:

Just my two cents.

:flower:

John, I like that calculation thing.I am going to print that for my records.

Pat, I agree I am a gardener and I find it is more about the food from experience.I exercise all day and eat 1650 cal. which is what I am suppose to eat for my weight(165 lbs) and right now I am maintaining.Actually I have been maintaining for 2 months now.So, just today I cut back calories to 1,000 just to see if the food is what makes the difference.

chrissy

Whoa. That's not a lot of calories if you're exercising all day, chrissy. I hope you reconsider - in fact, if you use that printout of John's post, and start off with a 10% cut, that's just under 1500 calories a day, hmm, 1485 if I subtracted correctly.

If you are expending massive amounts of calories exercising you must make sure your calories are high enough to compensate for that...Say if you are burning 1000 calories on a 1600 calorie diet you should up those calories a bit.. Really your body only has 600 calories going into it which is basically starvation mode..

Just want to thank all of you for your suggestions, ideas. Eating not much for me is eating one meal a day which is dinner. If I still feel hungry I have seconds on the veggies only. Never dreamed I could be starving myself. I am going to keep a journal and practice some better eating habits..........Again thank you to all who responded.

Joanne is right... You should eat 3 square meals a day... especially if you are exercising a lot.

Originally posted by BlueEyez
Just want to thank all of you for your suggestions, ideas. Eating not much for me is eating one meal a day which is dinner. If I still feel hungry I have seconds on the veggies only. Never dreamed I could be starving myself. I am going to keep a journal and practice some better eating habits..........Again thank you to all who responded.

You should definetly move to 3 meals a day. You either getting to few calories at dinner or you are binging because you had no food.

My boyfriend only eats 1 meal a day and he packs in almost 3000 calories. He will eat 3 cups of beef stew made with beans, corn oil, beef chunks, potatoes, and a gravey made with syrup and ketchup, then serves it over 2 cups of cooked rice. Then he will have 20 oz of ginger ale at about 250 calories. Then he will have 1 cup of ice cream with 1/2 c of whole milk. So even though it was one meal it wasn't a small meal.

You also need to check portions. cooked veggie serving is 1/2 cup and raw veggie serving in 1 cup.