[celtia]

Hi
I'm 42 and began my weightloss journey in Feb. at 306 lbs. I started Nutrisystem because of the convienence. I was on it for 4 months and met with some success by losing 35 lbs. In April I began working out with a personal trainer 2-3 days a week doing cardio and strength training. I dropped a clothing size, yea me, right? Then everything just stopped. I stuck to it for another 6 weeks and decided to switch to weight watchers. That was about a month ago and I have seen almost no additional losses at the scale. I know I've been gaining muscle but for the love of God will I continue at this weight until I'm a solid ball of muscle? I'm so far from my weightloss goal that this 2.5 month stall is really disheartening. Last week I started a morning 1 mile walk/jog routine in addition to everything else. If this doesn't work I don't know what else to do. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Thanks for your input.

[peccavi]

You say you switched to WW. Are you still on that program? Are you eating within your points? You definitely need to be eating enough to fuel all this extra exercise.
And make sure you're eating plenty of protein (I find it helps me in all sorts of ways). You could also start varying your calories AND exercises day to day so your body doesn't get used to what you're doing.
Just keep trying, I promise you that you'll get through it. Trust the process!
This 2.5 months with no weight loss is good practice for maintenance anyway. Stay positive.

[SnowWolf]

Dear celtia, don't worry yourself. Ok? Your strong to go threw this. No, your not going to turn into a ball of muscle. I do think...your body is just going threw a sage, were it is mantaning that weight for a this period in time, and that maybe perhaps your biulding muscle-and don't be afraid of that ok sweetie? Eventually you'll burn up all your fat and be a wall of muscle, so you will get down to a very slim size. So don't stress your self out, sometimes things happen for a reason. Learn form this.

So, you need to mix up your work outs, like peccavi has told you. Mix it up. Drink alot of water, I'm sure you know this. And it's importent to eat alot when you want a healthier slimmer toned body. But eat small meals around 5 to 6 for your metabilism to get higher.

Yes, your metabilism has changed. Don't loss faith though. I do think it has ajusted to balancing the carbs you burn and the carbs you intake.



But, I'm not sure what's happening to your body, maybe consalt a doctor, or someone who is a really knows. Maybe someone else here can tell you exactly.
You know you can do this, don't get frustrated. If you continue to work out and also eat veggies/meat/some fruit here and there/milk/...just organic food, and exercise. Then you should start lossing wieght.

May I suggest changing your exercises up and seeing if that makes a difference. Maybe get a jump rope for cardio. That will sweet some pounds of, for sure. And also doing wieghts is good-not exactly to build muscle if you do slow reaps is good if you just want to burn and tone. Go on walks, do sit ups, make sure to streatch-maybe look into yoga and swimming works all parts of your body, the Glazel I've heard from people helps and it's good on your joints. I have one.

So, if nothing at all has changed for you, see maybe someone who can tell you exactly what to do, maybe you should not exercise to much if that's waht your doing, maybe over doing it is causing this. Mental picturing is good too, sometimes our body wants to hold on to fat, it might think you need it to survive. Tell body body no, if that doesn't sound wierd.

If you eat less calories then you burn you'll loss wieght. Maybe it's even. Maybe that's the problem here, perhaps it's even. Same amount of calories burned as you put in. So you'd say at the same wieght.

Fix that if that's the problem, maybe eat better or different foods, I'm not sure if they give you good at WW. But maybe instead of making complicated meals eat minni meals threwout your day. Maybe 3 hours apart.

Try that, see what happens. And keep it up, swim, walk, jog, do sit-ups, take a break here and there. Don't to push your body to hard, it might have to adapt to change slowly-I think it will fight back-it might think your trying to force it into a survival mood so it would want to hold onto fat(it's in our Dna) learn to turn off that switch and make your body want to be slim and tone, so maybe relaxe yourself alittle bit, if you eat good and not exercise for the day it doesn't do anything bad to you. Think good thoughts. Stay positive, I know it's hard. We are all her to support you.

You can do this, don't stress out, and get help to see what's the problem, other then that you should see a change.

Hope it helps, sorry I wrote alot.

Eat carbs before twelve(that's when our body needs it the most and will burn it that fastest), eat dinner before it gets dark. Eat veggies anytime. Try not to eat carbs at night. If you get cravings they only last around 10 minutes, so chew gum drink water or snack on something healthy and organic when that happens. Like some leaft over chicken. Pop it in the microwave. Also never beat your self up, be proud of your self so fare. k?

Most importently, only eat when you are hungry-that's the big key and don't over do it. It takes 20-30 mintues for your brain to signal us that we're full. And always get enough sleep, it triggers something in us when we don't get a good nights sleep. Love and respect your body, and don't get stressed. It's a growling process, like fighting our own monsters-but you CAN do this, don't ever think you can't, look around here, there are alot of people who have reached thier goals.

ok, hope that helps. Good luck.

also, peccavi makes a great point.

[RealCdn]

Most women can't put on more than a pound or two of muscle a month. If you were new to weight training then perhaps you could put on a little more, but you won't continue on until you are simply solid muscle.

Look carefully at how much you're eating, and how much you're moving around.

Weight training can make some people extremely hungry and people will pick at food a little more. You know, a little extra here, a little extra there adds up pretty quickly. Especially if you're measuring by eye. I've been eating cherries recently (yum, in season) and I use a food scale. It's amazing how many calories are in so few cherries.

By moving around I mean other than exercise. Some people will go to the gym, kill themselves for an hour, then come home and collapse on the couch for the rest of the day. They may burn more at the gym, but less for the rest of the day. It's just something to watch. Try and evaluate where your energy levels are.

There are generally two issues when you're not losing weight. They aren't absolutes, but... you're either eating too much or moving too little. With that second part you could be eating too little, which saps your energy and so you expend as little as possible.

[sugarbaby269]

Hello,
I certainly can understand your frustration. I had a similar problem happen to me and I found out that I was insulin resistant. Basically, this means that when I eat carbs my body doesn't process them right and I easily gain weight. I have to really watch my carb intake and up the aerobic exercise in order to lose at all. It's been really frustrating and I consider it a dieter's nightmare. If you are following your diet and exercise properly and are still not losing then I would suggest some blood work done for you by your doctor. Ask them to check your insulin levels... Who knows, it could be something metabolic.

Good luck and keep up the good work!

[Samantha100]

A little biology lesson that may help. When we first begin to exercise, our bodies use glycogen (animal carbohydrate) for energy. This first process is called glycolysis and does NOT require oxygen for it to occur. Most of us keep enough glycogen in our cells for 10-15 minutes of "quick energy". This process alone does not burn fat. After we have used up all of our glycogen in our cells, the body must now convert other sources of energy - fat - for cellular energy. This second step requires oxygen for it to occur. This is where we get the term "aerobic exercise" meaning "with oxygen". If you want to burn fat during exercise, you must first work through the glycogen and then continue to exercise at a steady pace for an extended period of time. This is not about building muscle, but about burning fat. Your goal should be to get your heart rate up to a point that your breathing rate is also elevated. This is your body's way of bringing in more oxygen to carry out fat metabolism. Walking is one of the best exercises to burn fat because it's easy, safe and affordable. It doesn't build alot of muscle, but it will help to burn fat. Try getting onto a treadmill or out into your neighborhood and walk for an hour per day at a rate of 3-4 miles/hour. You want to work up a sweat and get your breathing rate elevated. If you're not fit enough for this, you may have to work into this amount. Never do more than your body is ready for!!! As you get fitter, add some hand weights or at least swing your arms as you walk. A good hour of serious walking at your height and weight should burn about 400-500 calories which is equal to 1 pound every week.