[BassAckwards]

I need to lose about 30-40 pounds. I have been within 10 pounds of the same weight and the same size for almost 6 years now. No matter what I was doing it never changed. I played Volleyball all 4 years of highschool ... we had practice or games 5 days out of the week. All that exercise never seemed to do anything. I rarely drink pop/tea/juice. I almost always drink water. And I drink a TON of it. I hardly ever eat fast food. I'll eat candy if it's around but still in moderation. I eat a lot of salads either at home or when going out to eat. And I have been trying harder now to stop eating before I feel stuffed. But it seems like no matter what I do, even if I eat a bunch of crap it doesn't matter. I don't know what I need to do? Any ideas?

[JayEll]

Hey Bass,

You can learn a lot just by reading the posts on the forum and by using the other resources. One thing I would suggest is that you make a food diary and write down everything you eat, every day, for a week, and see what you are really eating. I thought I was a "moderate" eater, too--but it turned out I really wasn't. I was eating too much fat and carbs and too big portions. For instance, a salad can have a lot of fat calories if you put dressing on it, even if it's good dressing. And candy is really not going to work--I don't know of any food program that says it's OK to eat candy at all, if you want to lose weight.

Have you asked your doctor about this? Sometimes people have a problem with thyroid hormones that makes weight loss hard.

Also, some people are just heavier than others. That's a fact. The question is whether your current weight is a health risk for you. Check out the BMI information and the weight vs. height charts.

These are just some ideas--I'm not a doctor or a nutritionist, just someone who has struggled with weight.

Good luck!

SW: 196 5/24/04
CW: 179 7/28/04
GW: 145

[BassAckwards]

I am using FitDay to track my food I haven't once gone over 1500 calories in a day and that's on the high end. I am 5'10" and weigh 190, I should weigh anywhere from 175-130 according to the charts.
I had bloodwork and thyriod tests done everything was fine.
And when I say I eat candy, I don't mean like a whole candy bar, I mean like 10 M&M's which isn't GREAT but if I'm craving chocolate I'm going to eat chocolate or I'll go around eating other foods to try and get rid of the craving and end up eating a bunch of stuff and still end up wanting chocolate.

[BassAckwards]

Like so far today I've eaten breakfast, lunch, and a snack and It's less than 325 calories

[brittyboo07]

Hey Val

Glad to see you made it over here to post. Why dont you list what you have eaten today so we can see cause its not much if you have only eaten a little over 300 calories.

Britt

[BassAckwards]

Pizza with meat and vegetables, thin crust
SMALL piece 75 cals. 4 fat 7 carb 3 prot
(Yes this was breakfast .. don't yell .. I don't buy the grocercies )

Broccoli, cooked, from frozen, fat not added in cooking
1.5 cups 27 cals 0 fat 2 carb 0 prot

Egg, whole, boiled
68 cals 5 fat 0 carb 6 prot

Lettuce Raw
2 cups 13 cals 0 fat 2 carb 1 prot

Salad dressing, KRAFT Ranch Dressing
1.5 tablespoon 83 cals 8 fat 2 carb 0 prot

M & M's Plain Chocolate Candies
15 pieces 52 cals 2 fat 7 carb 0 prot

Totals Cals 317 Fat 19 Carbs 24 Prot 14

[brittyboo07]

Hummm maybe your just not eating the things that trigger weight loss for you coupled with exercise. Cause i mean i agree with you that you arent eating a lot but thats not the only thing involved in weight loss so maybe you need to look at all the areas. Step up your game on the exercise level and your eating. Hummm maybe you should do body for life (BFL) and Eating for life (EFL) lol has anyone ever told you that. Talk to your mom about it girl see if she will do it with you it helps to have lots of support not only here but also at home.

Britt

[BassAckwards]

Originally Posted by brittyboo07

Hummm maybe you should do body for life (BFL) and Eating for life (EFL) lol has anyone ever told you that.

You know ... I think I have heard that somewhere ... I'll have to tell her ... She'll be mad though, I just made her buy the South Beach book.

[JayEll]

Breakfast, lunch, and a snack--325 cals. Is that usually what you eat? That's not enough calories for three "meals," to my way of thinking. What will you have for dinner and another snack that will put it up to 1500? Just anything you want? Hmmmm....

Sometimes people's metabolism gets "stopped" as far as weight loss goes. Some people can gain weight on 1200 cals. a day.

Maybe try a regular plan of some sort and stick to it for 6 weeks and see how that goes. A lot of people really need to have their food intake structured. I'm normally a fan of pizza for breakfast, but on my plan, pizza is not allowed, period, no matter how many calories it has, and I'm following my plan.

Anyway, that's what works for me. You'll have to find what works for you. There's lots of information around.

Jay

[BassAckwards]

Yeah ... you're right. I do kind of eat whatever is around some times ... and in my house it's not always healthy, even if I don't eat a lot of it.
My problem is that I have no plan to follow. lol ... But I ordered the BFL and EFL books ... so we'll see what happens after that.

[izzy bee]

Hi Guys,

After all the nutritional info i have read, and diet books, the best piece of advice that i was told was this, and i must admit i have been doing this and feeling great, and full of energy:
"Eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a prince and eat dinner like a poorper!"
I love to have porridge for breakfast, and toast if i have time, i bascially eat as much as i can and have all day to burn it off! for lunch i eat when i am hungry, usually a sandwich, and for dinner i always try to eat before 6pm and have something small. By the time it is time to go to sleep i am looknig fwd to my porridge in the morning again! This combined with eating healthy food such as brown rice and bread and lot`s of fruit and water, it works a treat. And means you don`t have to cut out any food groups, that no-body (well not me at least!) can stick too.

Give it a go!

[funniegrrl]

There are a lot of things to analyze here. You need some hard numbers and facts, then you can see where you stand and what to do.

First of all, it's important to know where you really are and what you are really shooting for. You say you are 5'10" and weigh 190, and need to lose 30 or 40 pounds. That may or may not be true, because what determines health and size is not just WEIGHT, but body composition. Have you had your body fat tested? You may find that you have a lot more lean weight than the average person of your height and weight. For example, I'm 5'9" and weigh 195. Because I have a lot of lean body weight, I need only lose 15 more pounds to get to 22% body fat, which is a perfectly acceptable number for a woman my age. If I were to lose 30 pounds, I'd be UNDERweight to the point of having my periods stop, probably. So, get a reliable, professional body fat analysis and forget the BMI numbers and height-weight charts.

Second, you don't say how much exercise you are currently doing. However, according to a metabolic calculator, your expected Basal Metabolic Rate (for your height, weight, gender, age) is 1740. This means that, if you were to do nothing but sleep for 24 hours, your body would need 1740 just to maintain. That is IF your metabolism were normal. Any activity on top of that -- just living, plus any formal exercise -- adds caloric needs. So, assuming you just do light exercise a few times per week, your ACTIVE metabolic rate is 2300. If you are still a serious exerciser, your AMR would shoot up to over 2600.

To lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit -- burn more calories than you take in. The usual recommendation for slow (that is to say, safe and sane and long-lasting) weight loss is to create a deficit of 500 calories per day through a combination of reduced intake and increased activity. HOWEVER, you never ever ever want to drop your total intake below your BMR. By eating only 1500 per day, you are shorting your body 240 calories per day. Do that for very long and your body starts to think there's not going to be enough food in the future, so it starts lowering your metabolism. This is called starvation mode. It also starts PRESERVING fat and BURNING muscle, which makes your body composition WORSE than it was to start with, and which also further lowers your metabolism.

So, to me, the answer is that you have damaged your metabolism and actually need to eat MORE. Gradually add more food to your day, perhaps 100 more calories a day for a week, then the next week another 100, and so on. While you do this your weight may stay stable or you may even gain a bit. But that's OK, you are healing your body and encouraging it to run at a normal rate rather than an energy-saving rate. If I were you, I'd aim for gradually working up to maybe 1800 per day. (If you are exercising more than 30 minutes a few times per week, you will probably need more.) Stay there for a couple of weeks and see what happens. Other things you can do to boost your metabolism (as already suggested) is to eat throughout the day. Experts recommend 4 to 6 small meals rather than 3. For example, I have about a 300-350 calorie breakfast, 100-calorie morning snack, 400-500 calorie lunch, 100-200 afternoon snack, then the rest at dinner. If you're used to eating most of your food in the late afternoon/evening, then switching like this may actually make you HUNGRIER for a while. But, that's a good sign that your metabolism is revving up, so just hang in.

You might want to get your metabolism tested to see where you really stand with that, as well. You can go to www.heathetech.com and see what facilities in your area offer the BodyGem or MedGym test, which is easy and quick and costs less than $100.

[JayEll]

Really good information, funniegrrl!

[GreatBigMonsterMomma]

I think funniegrrl hit the nail on the head.

IMO, you need to question whether you really need to lose weight. My mother is 5'8" and when she got down to 145, her doctor chided her about being too thin. I'm 5'5" and 125 is on the very low end of the scale for my height; I cannot imagine adding four inches and only five pounds!

If you are a very active athlete, you need to keep in mind that you're probably pretty muscular. That could well be one reason you weigh more than you think you should. Get a good bodyfat test (don't simply get a bodyfat scale!) and see what your percentage is. From what I've read, anywhere from 18% to 30% bodyfat is healthy for a woman (the Navy lets women get up to 33% last I checked, but every other source says this is a bit much). Yours should probably be on the high end of this scale, since you're an adolescent.

Never look at the BMI again. I have yet to meet a healthcare professional that thought that scale was worth the paper its printed on. Likewise, realize that not every woman has or should have the same body shape/composition/weight.

If I were you, this is what I would do:

1) Concentrate on nutrition, not calories. Eat plenty of veggies, lean meats, good fats. Since you're active, you're going to need a fairly high proportion of protein in your diet. Go to the Ladies Who Lift forum and get some advice from them.
2) Trust in your body. Learning this skill will be invaluable to you your whole life. If you have been the same size for the past six years and you're very active, it's likely that you're meant to be that size. Screw what the rest of the world thinks.
3) Exercise and lift weights. You already obviously get in lots of cardio, & the BFL book will help you with the weightlifting. Lifting weights will change your metabolism somewhat, and you may lose weight (but measure too, since muscle takes up less space; you may weigh the same but have actually lost fat).

If you eat right and exercise, the rest of it will fall into place. You will probably lose weight. You may not. But if you're active and properly nourished, that's what counts healthwise in the long run, not an arbitrary number.