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Old 02-19-2006, 11:35 PM   #1  
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Default Frustrated and Lost

Hi, I'm new here and am not sure if this is the right place to be putting this but I hope if it's not, someone will let me know the right place.

Ok, here it goes..... I have begun trying to lose weight recently. Starting on December 28th, 2005 up to the present time, I have been working out 5 days a week at the local gym here. I do at least 30 minutes on the Elliptical machine before I do my weight machine workout then I do another 20 to 30 minutes again on the Elliptical machine AFTER my workout. I WAS walking the treadmill up to 5 miles a day but it was hurting my legs and knees so thats why I began the elliptical. I am usually in the gym about 2 to 3 hours a day. I drink water all the time now, and I have begun watching what I eat. I am still a little confused about the calorie counting and stuff like that.

My problem is, I haven't lost any weight. I have lost 3.5 inches from my waist, but thats all that I have lost, as far as I can tell. I HAVE lost a pants size, but that was a few weeks ago. I feel like I am working out for nothing most days because I haven't seen anymore results.

I just dont know what else to do to start losing weight. I began taking Zantrex3 then was getting headaches from that so I stopped taking it. I then started taking Relacor, but I wasnt seeing any results from it either *plus it states on the bottle "Not intended for persons under 40 years of age" which i am* so I recently began taking SmartBurn, but I havent been on it long enough to see any results yet.

The whole calorie counting thing just baffles me, mainly because I have all sorts of ppl telling me different ways to do things. When I do the elliptical, i generally burn up to 700 calories a day. This isnt including what I burn during my weights.

I guess I'm just lost because I want to lose weight SO BAD and even though I work my tail off, I havent lost any weight yet.

What can I be doing wrong? Any ideas on what I can do to jumpstart my metabolism? Sorry to sound like I'm whining.... I'm just really frustrated right now. Thanks in advance for anyone who takes pity on me and gives me some ideas.

Thats all for now. Thanks again.
Shana

P.s. Sorry this was so long.
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Old 02-20-2006, 12:07 AM   #2  
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Hi crimson!
What I know about dieting could easily fit on a pin and STILL have room for the complete works of Shakespeare, but I'll tell you what I do. I couldn't possibly count calories. How confusing! I try not to think of it as dieting, because that just makes me feel like I'm denying myself. I "make better choices". ex: i think to myself, do I want to get carbs from eating cake, or how about a baked sweet potato?
I'm doing lowered carbs, lowered fat. That means I eat carbs, but I get them from beans, fruit, whole wheat bread, Fiber One cereal (which has tons' o' fiber), and the occasional potato or rice. I eat lean protein, lots of veggies, and I'm addicted to luna bars. Low fat string cheese is good too. I also make huge batches of soup and freeze them.
I eat something horrible for me everyday. ex: I don't want to spend all night dreaming about the damn pizza in the fridge, so I eat ONE piece, not 3 or 4. I also lowered my salt intake and fat just by cutting the cheese (pardon the pun). I drink low sodium V8 juice, which gives me a lot of vitamins and it's a serving of vegetables.
Do drink soda? Even diet soda can prevent you from losing weight. The caramel coloring that's in sodas is proven to make it harder for you to lose weight.
I know how frustrated you are! Obesity runs in my family and I'm the only one eating right in my house (I'm a college student and mooch--I mean, live with my parents). Also, you seem to be working out a lot, which is wonderful, but did you know that muscle weighs more than fat? It takes up less room, but it weighs more. Plus, I'm sure that your ab muscles are rock hard; it just may not seem like that if there is some pudge on top of them. I'm not trying to sound rude, by the way, i have the same problem!
My advice? Get off the "quick fix diet pills* a lot of them just use huge amounts of caffiene, or guarana which is the same thing actually, or green tea axtract (Hello, more caffiene!)
Take a women's multivitamin, keep up the workout, and try to relax. Stress can also keep your body from lsoing weight.
And no one thinks you're horrible for long posts! Feel free to msg me if you want to chat more.
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Old 02-20-2006, 12:41 AM   #3  
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Although you say you've 'begun watching' what you eat, you may need to be a little more stringent with watching. I sporadically journal myself, but you need to know how many calories you consume every day and you HAVE to decrease that number if you want to begin to lose actual weight. And let me tell you from personal experience, there is NO pill to jumpstart weightloss. You've got to create a calorie deficit, and there is no pill that can do that for you.

If you read some posts on here, there is something that we refer to as: Non Scale Victories (NSVs) You've already experienced a couple. We always can't judge our successes by the numbers on the scale. Don't wrap up all of your hopes on a number, there are so many different ways to measure your progress. And you've done an impressive job so far with your exercise regimen.

And as hoodj0080 mentioned, muscle does weigh more than fat, so I can guarantee you've lost some fat and replaced it with muscle (your lost inches prove this).

Keep it up and welcome to the boards.
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Old 02-20-2006, 12:43 AM   #4  
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Hi Shana

Sounds like you are working really hard to lose that weight. 2 to 3 hours in the gym every day is way too much. I can understand why you want to work so hard, you think it will speed things up. But you are exausting yourself. You need to work smarter, not harder. There is a program out there called Body for Life you might want to try. You can do all the exercise you need in 6 days a week in under an hour a day. You could possibly do some cardio on top of your weight training days if you chose to, but even so it shouldn't be as much time in a given day as you are doing.

One thing you should know though, if you are working out as hard as you have been you won't lose weight. Certainly not at first anyway. You will build muscle which is heavy, you will burn fat which has a lot of volume to it, but your weight may very well stay the same, particularly if you are eating enough to compensate for all the exercise. It doesn't surprise me your clothing size changed, that is the benefit of more muscle/ less fat.

I did Body for Life for 12 weeks and didn't lose any weight in fact for awhile I gained.

You didn't say what you are eating. What you eat is the primary factor in losing weight. You didn't say how many calories you are eating. Or what type of foods. John Hussman's site would probably help you to understand a little more about your body and how it loses and gains while working out intensely.

http://www.hussmanfitness.org/theScale.html Read some of these articles like the one "you really do change from the inside out". You might feel better about what is happening to your body. I know I did.
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Old 02-21-2006, 10:45 PM   #5  
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Well I wanted to get on here and thank everyone who responded to me on this. I appreciated all the suggestions. I have taken myself off the pills, for a few reasons. One is because they too started giving me headaches. Another reason is because I decided that if I had to depend on pills to make me lose weight, then I will more than likely have to depend on them to keep the weight off and to me thats just not an idea I like. I dont like pills anyhow so its a big weight off my shoulders. *no pun intended*

Good news is, I weighed myself this morning and have somehow lost approximately 5 pounds.YAY!!! I just dont know if its because I have drank nothing but water all weekend (I also ate food, but no soft drinks or juices and such) and spent the whole weekend in the bathroom, or if its a true loss.
Either way, I'm not going to look at it negatively. Its STILL a loss.

The foods I eat are usually fruit cups for snacks, soups like Campbells Chunky soups which only have between 90 to 150 calories per serving, I eat some salad and very little (if any) salad dressing. I ate a tenderized steak the other night with a baked potatoe and some butter in it *I know I know*, but I generally dont eat alot. Not like I used to.

Also on another note, I talk alot at the gym so it usually takes me a little longer than some people, but my full workout *including the 1 hr cardio on the elliptical* usually takes me 2 and a half hours at the most. I dont feel exhausted... if anything, I have more energy now than before. I dont think I'm overdoing it *in MY opinion*...
Again I appreciated getting all of your responses. It made me feel good to know I'm not alone in my struggle. Thats why I joined this forum. Hope ya'll have a good day. Until next time.....
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