I've exercised until my tushy is hard, like a brick.
And the scale. STILL. WON'T. MOVE.
It took me over a YEAR to get past a plateau and I finally lost another 10 pounds. Took me nearly 3 months to do that! And now I'm plateauing again????
WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Normal Food/Exercise Day:
Breakfast - one slice whole wheat toast, one egg, one slice cheese, 1 cup coffee
Lunch - green giant Healthy Vision veggies, 3 oz turkey, handful grapes
Snack - handful almonds or cashews (sometimes no snack, just don't want it)
Dinner - lean pork chop or chicken breast, veggies, and jello sugar free pudding for dessert
Drink water all day (except for occasional Diet Mt Dew)
Exercise - 20 minutes weight lifting, 30 min - 1 hour cardio (walk, bike, swim)
I know this sounds the oppsite of what we think you should do but maybe you should up the calories some. Sometimes our bodies think we are starving them and they hold onto the pounds, fat and all.
Eat more, especially with your level of activity. Your body (metabolism) needs fuel to work properly and my guess is that you're not giving it enough. Check out what your BMR is and try upping your caloric intake to at least that much for a few weeks and see what happens.
I use the following calculator to help me figure out a range of calories that I should stick with: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm It doesn't seem like you are eating a lot of calories...you might not be getting enough.
But I have to say... "increasing calories" scares the crap outta me. It's that "take in less calories than you burn=weight loss" thing that I've been taught all my life. Scientifically speaking, I should be losing POUNDS of weight. Scientifically speaking, it makes no logical sense to "eat more to lose weight."
And at this point, my stomach has shrank a bit, so eating more food will prove to be difficult. But I'm willing to try.
Here's an analogy that helped me understand. Your metabolism working well is the key to your weight loss success. Think of your metabolism like a coal-fired furnace. If you put too much coal in the furnace (too much food in your body) you'll smother the fire and the furnace won't work properly. If you don't put enough fuel in the furnace, the fire will die out completely and the furnace won't work properly. You need to find that perfect balance.
Based on your height and weight, your BMR would be around 1450-1600 calories per day (depending on age). That's what your body needs for basic physiological functioning...what a hospital would feed you if you're in a coma. The more you workout and burn, the more fuel your body is going to need/want.
Here's an analogy that helped me understand. Your metabolism working well is the key to your weight loss success. Think of your metabolism like a coal-fired furnace. If you put too much coal in the furnace (too much food in your body) you'll smother the fire and the furnace won't work properly. If you don't put enough fuel in the furnace, the fire will die out completely and the furnace won't work properly. You need to find that perfect balance.
that's a very good analogy, peanutt! it does put it into perspective. it's hard to "eat more" - I feel so STUFFED when I do! like a big fluffy king-sized pillow was stuffed into my body, LOL. but I can try. I've tried the "eating more" trick before, and I gained weight - & of course wasn't happy about that. but maybe I need to give it a couple months (at least) to see if it helps any.
I do weight lifting 2-3x per week, and some sort of cardio almost every day. I consider myself a "mediocre" exerciser. maybe I'm simply not fueling my body enough, like the analogy dictates.
But I wonder what should I eat more of? Double up the veggies? Another helping of turkey breast? An extra added snack? Decisions, decisions...
that's a very good analogy, peanutt! it does put it into perspective. it's hard to "eat more" - I feel so STUFFED when I do! like a big fluffy king-sized pillow was stuffed into my body, LOL. but I can try. I've tried the "eating more" trick before, and I gained weight - & of course wasn't happy about that. but maybe I need to give it a couple months (at least) to see if it helps any.
I do weight lifting 2-3x per week, and some sort of cardio almost every day. I consider myself a "mediocre" exerciser. maybe I'm simply not fueling my body enough, like the analogy dictates.
But I wonder what should I eat more of? Double up the veggies? Another helping of turkey breast? An extra added snack? Decisions, decisions...
You'll want to look for things that are more calorically dense - stay away from the "diet foods"! Try nut butters, nuts, eggs, 2% or whole milk, regular cheese, olive oil, granola, avocados, fruit and yogurt smoothies, whole grain breads and pastas, oatmeal. Eating smaller meals and snacks throughout the day might help with the overstuffed feeling i.e. eat 2 slices of toast with peanut butter first thing in the morning, then have your egg halfway through the morning.
I was going to ask about your cardio. I see people all the time doing their "cardio" and they are reading books or talking and texting on their cell phones. Make sure you are pushing yourself on the cardio as hard as you can push. I did the elliptical for 30 minutes for 6 months but I kept my heartrate at what the machine says is my "target". I failed a stress test and my doctor said you have to exercise. I told him I DO EXERCISE... but in reality I was not working hard enough. The fitness manager at my gym had me start doing interval training on the elliptical and that worked wonders!
On adding food- I would say add protein first... you may want to just try a low cal protein bar or protein shake after your workout. After protein I would opt for veggies... I tend to stay away from carbs.
I second the suggestion to up your calories.
I've been doing that lately, been feeling fed up and exhausted with eating little and exercising lots, and not getting results.
Now I'm dropping weight like nobody's business, 2lbs in one day after eating 1900 calories and not exercising! it makes NO sense at all.
are you low carbing? if not, you could up the protein at dinner or lunch and maybe add in some brown rice or quinoa or another healthy grain in lunch or dinner and maybe another fruit with your nuts at snack time.
if upping calories doesn't help, maybe you should have your thyroid checked?
I feel your pain...I was stuck for weeks but last week, I upped my calories (yet again) and the scale just whooshed down this week (3lbs is now a whoosh!). I still eat under maintenance but I am eating much more than 1200 calories which simply does not work for me.
As I told my friend yesterday, it is all about the individual body and my body loses weight after a week of 1/2 cup ice cream every night! Weird I know, but it works for me. Another suggestion is to make sure you are mixing up your exercise routine as our bodies get used to a routine quickly, and for some persons, they may be exercising but not seeing the results after a while. Additionally, if you are like me, you might need some more carbs (whole foods) to help your muscles repair themselves and ultimately help you burn more fat! Good luck and I hope you get a "whoosh" soon!
I use the following calculator to help me figure out a range of calories that I should stick with: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm It doesn't seem like you are eating a lot of calories...you might not be getting enough.
^This calculator got it right for me. I eat between 1200(minimum needed for metabolic processes)-2100(maintenance calorie allotment according to this site) everyday and have lost a good amount of weight in a rather small amount of time. I am pre-diabetic so I have to eat less carbs and eat more proteins to help combat insulin resistance. I also get a decent 25-40 minute workout 4-5 times a week.
I don't think you are eating quite enough calories either. You might need to also do some calorie cycling and give yourself a few hundred extra calories when you've been doing a long stretch of the same amount. Aside from that, try to make sure you're getting enough proteins, fats, and carbs, but not too much of any. That can be hard to gauge b/c it can vary body type and medical condition. But there are also calculators that can help you find a range for that too. You can tweak as you go based on how you feel.
Never underestimate the effectiveness of good diet and exercise. The scale doesn't always catch up as quickly as we'd like but it does catch up. You could be the same weight for a months and then drop 7 pounds in 2 weeks.
I was going to ask about your cardio. I see people all the time doing their "cardio" and they are reading books or talking and texting on their cell phones. Make sure you are pushing yourself on the cardio as hard as you can push.
As for my cardio -
First of all, let me say that I will be 48 in August. -
Ok, so, I was doing the stat.bike for 35 minutes (used to do treadmill, but my knees were KILLING me... so I switched to the bike because of that)
I have a very strange condition that 4 doctors have yet to figure out. For nearly 10 months now.... I break out in hives all over my body (everywhere except feet/hands & face). These "hives" come on slowly, and spread all over, and I itch so much... til the point of scratching til I bleed & bruise. It lasts about 6-8 weeks, then completely subsides for about 4-5 weeks, then starts all over again. When I SWEAT, it gets REALLY REALLY BAD. Therefore, I have tried to tweak my workouts so that doesn't happen. DIFFICULT TO DO!!!! - But now swim season has returned, and I can swim for an hour daily. It doesn't seem to do much for me in the losing weight dept., but it certainly does help with my joints & muscle fatigue. And of course, still lifting weights (very important, esp. for a woman my age.)
The last time I lost a significant amount of weight (from 176 down to 138) was about 6 years ago, and I was eating right/healthy, lifting weights, and doing treadmill 45 minutes!.... THEN, I decided to try something different: I lifted the treadmill up one level every minute for 15 minutes (15 is as high as it would go) and then did 2 minutes at top notch, then down one level each minute til back at flat rate. I REALLY started losing then! You've heard of interval training? That's basically what I was doing. Wish I could still do that.
So, because I have certain health limitations, I have to find ways to "tweak" my workouts. I'm open for other suggestions/ideas on how to do that.
My Body is SOOOO weird!!
Therefore, I have tried to tweak my workouts so that doesn't happen. DIFFICULT TO DO!!!! - But now swim season has returned, and I can swim for an hour daily. It doesn't seem to do much for me in the losing weight dept., but it certainly does help with my joints & muscle fatigue. And of course, still lifting weights (very important, esp. for a woman my age.) 
