Exercise! Love it or hate it, let's motivate each other to just DO IT!

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Old 05-24-2005, 01:00 PM   #1  
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Default Can you tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Hi all,

I'm 22 and currently 6 ft and 236 pounds. I have been exercising for a month now and have only lost 2 lb. If i put the details of what I've been doing here I hope some one can help me. Here goes:

I'm taking in approx 1400 calories a day (vegan diet, very difficult to "cheat" on)

I lost 7 lb a month ago by accident and decided to get healthy so for the last month i have been on my treadmill, swimming and i've just started salsa classes, (only 1 lesson so far)

For the first 2 weeks i did 4 miles a day (walking at about 3mph) on the treadmill and i only lost 1 lb so for the next 2 weeks i did 7 miles a day on the treadmill and went swimming 4 times a week. Again i only lost 1lb.

I don't understand how i can double my activity and still lose the same amount of weight. Is anyone else having this problem? Does anybody know what i am doing wrong?

I'd appreciate any help

Thanks
Sarah
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Old 05-24-2005, 01:12 PM   #2  
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Could be that you are gaining muscle. Muscle is denser then fat. Overall you may not see a change on the scale, or will only see a small change, but you will be losing inches for the same weight. Did you take your measurements before you started working out? If so take them again you should see a difference. If not take them now and use this as a way to track yourself. It can help to keep motivated when the scale is not showing a difference.

If you didn't take your measurements before take a close look at how your clothes are fitting. You may notice them getting looser...

All I can say is stick with the excercise. I notice myself losing weight slower at the beginning of a program with excercise, but the loss is steadier overtime and easier to maintain. Also, looks like you are doing a lot of cardio. May want to mix it up with some weight training.
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Old 05-24-2005, 01:23 PM   #3  
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Sarah dear, don't stress out you might not be getting enough calories up it by 150 more if your weight goal is 140lbs you should 140 x 10 = 1400 + 150 you should eat 1550 calories a day. I started to do the same thing at first but I found out that i wasn't eating enough. cut out the coke if you can too that will help if you can cut down on it.
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Old 05-24-2005, 02:43 PM   #4  
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Some times when I start a new excersise, or change it, I dont' see results right away, its like it cummulative or somthing, not instant.
Also, try journaling your food and you can make sure you arn't over or under eating. If you are undereating, your body won't let yourself lose the fat and if you are over eating, you might not realise it because since you are excersising, you might feel more hungry. Its all about finding the right balance.
I was working out extra hard, then I got sick(just a cold but it knocked me out) and I had to slow it down. I went from jogging to just walking fast on the treadmill and I ended up losing more weight than ussual. So I decided for my calorie intake, I should probably be working out a little less rigourously or eating a little more(of the healthy stuff).
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Old 05-24-2005, 02:43 PM   #5  
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Dont go by the numbers on the scale, they might take months to move. take your measurements.. thats what matters, it may say you only lost 2 pounds, but you might have lost 4 inches in your waist which is 2 or 3 sizes in your pants. Thats what really matters. those tight jeans no longer are so tight, but that darn scale says nothing changed. I felt the same way. Stick with it!!




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Old 05-24-2005, 07:09 PM   #6  
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Hi all,

Thanks for your advice, I'm going to take my measurements and try eating a few more calories to see if it works.

Thanks to everyone for all your support
Sarah
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Old 05-24-2005, 07:45 PM   #7  
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Also make sure you drink enough water, and eat little salt. One slice of pizza can keep my weight 2 pounds up for about 2 days. The same goes with sushi and actually any food I eat out. So while exercise helps you maintain weight, I am almost sure that you can lose weight without exercise by just watching your calories (does not mean that it is a right way to go - for many of us exercise is a vital part of the lives and we need it to stay healthy).
And yes, sometimes we stress about what we eat too much and do not have enough food - I often do the same mistake myself.
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Old 05-25-2005, 08:04 AM   #8  
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If you're just walking along on the treadmill with no intensity UP you intensity considerably to burn fat... walk faster or slow jog for a minute then walk a minute, go up and down on the speed OR do inclines in the same manner...

Be honest with yourself and journal your food on paper or on Fitday.com it's amazing how much we forget the foods we sneak in when we don't journal.

Make sure your food is as unprocessed as possible pizza keeps me bloated for a few days, even those Lean Cuisines are notorious for sodium.

I personally think that you MUST have the combination of exercise AND clean eating to lose weight...

HTH keep us posted...
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Old 05-25-2005, 08:34 AM   #9  
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It sounds like you are doing great. Just a few comments from my personal experience. For me, exercising have never really equalled weight loss. It definitely makes me look "tighter" so to speak and my overall appearance seems slimmer to me - that is why I do it - but never actually received weight loss from it. I see it as something I do as part of the process, but personally speaking the food intake is what mainly does it for me in terms of the scale. This could definitely be debated by many people I am sure though.
Now, you say you are 22. I am almost 22 as well, and last week I ate on average 1800 calories a day, without vigourous exercise (I am really working on upping it) and lost 3.5 lbs. I think at our age we should take advantage of the naturally higher metbolisms. I weighed about 141 and went down to 137.5lbs. I definitely think you should try increasing your calories, and only weigh once a week, and take measurements once a week. That seems to work best for me!

Good luck
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Old 05-25-2005, 11:40 AM   #10  
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Cyndy,
I think that is true with me too and i am 24 but hopefully with all these good ideas sazzy will fine what works best for her. Sazzy Good luck.
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Old 05-25-2005, 01:15 PM   #11  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ilene

Be honest with yourself and journal your food on paper or on Fitday.com it's amazing how much we forget the foods we sneak in when we don't journal.

Make sure your food is as unprocessed as possible pizza keeps me bloated for a few days, even those Lean Cuisines are notorious for sodium.

I personally think that you MUST have the combination of exercise AND clean eating to lose weight...

HTH keep us posted...
Great advice! Keeping track of actual foods/portions/calories/nutrients is the way to go, along with excercise and eating as clean as possible; whole, natural foods rule!

As far as pocessed foods go, as a vegan, there really isn't much she *can* eat that is processed and no "Lean Cuisine" meals for sure, as none are vegan to my knowledge.


Sazzy, are you getting plenty of vegetables, legumes, beans and whole grains? As a vegan you must eat a variety of foods to ensure you get all your nutrients. Do you supplement with B-12 or any others?

Just keep up the good work and keep moving your body!
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Old 05-25-2005, 06:51 PM   #12  
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Hi all,

Thanks again for all of your advice. I have been keeping a food diary for the whole month and that is where i got my expenditure of 1400 calories. I am very strict about putting down everything i eat and drink and have been counting the calories for everything. I have been mostly over-shooting in my estimations of the calories i'm taking in as a lot of my food is vegetables and home made stuff.

I think my actual calorie intake might be nearer 1250 which i'm beginning to learn is too low to lose weight. I am making an effort to up my calories. i have eaten 1500 calories today and I do feel less tired, i think this may have been the problem.

i have a very balanced vegan diet that has quite a lot of b12 (from fortified foods) but i still take a supplement as well (better to be safe than sorry) I'm also taking iron tablets as i have a tendency to go anaemic sometimes (i've always been like this, even when i was a meat eater)

All in all i think it is probably the calorie thing so i'm going to up that, but does anybody know how many calories i should be eating? My target weight is 168 pounds

Also I'm doing 4 miles on the treadmill (at 4mph now), i plan to swim more often, because i really enjoy it and i'm teaching my mum to swim! and i'm going to incorporate some weight training as well. and maybe a little yoga, i've always wanted to try!

Once again thanks for everybody's help
Sarah
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Old 05-26-2005, 03:57 AM   #13  
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Hi all, just a quick update, in the last 9 hours (it's 8.50am here) i have lost 2 pounds! i know i shouldn't have weighed myself but i'm weaning off i swear. in fact i'm too scared to weigh myself again in case it all turns out to be a mistake!

I really think it was the extra calories that helped me and thank all of you so much for your wonderful advice.

Thanks again
Sarah
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Old 05-26-2005, 11:16 AM   #14  
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congrats sazzy i am so happpy for you okay if you want to be at 168 x10 = 1,680 cal add you goal weight to that of 168 + 1,680 = 1848 calories i hope that is helpfull i see that helps me too.
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Old 05-26-2005, 05:48 PM   #15  
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hi bola,

Thanks for the advice you have been very kind and encouraging to me.

i've been quite naughty today and eaten 2004 calories (although the actual figure might be 100 - 200 calories lower it's difficult to judge sometimes) on monday i only had 1436 calories so does this mean that the extra calories i ate today wont matter because i was 400 under on monday? i really hope so.

i also did 2 hours of swimming and 1 hr 30 mins of gardening (damn the weeds) so hopefully i've burned the extra calories off anyway.

It's cool that we're going for the same target weight. How tall are you? I'm asking because I'm just aiming for 12 stone but i don't know if it will suit me or not when i get there (the last time i was thin was when i was 11 and 2 foot shorter!)

Best of luck with your weight loss and thanks again for all of your advice.
Sarah
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