I've been working out since November (20 mins/day of cardio @ 5x/week), and I've been seriously watching what I've been eating since the last week in December. I know I've lost some weight - I can see it and my clothes fit a bit better. However, I had never stepped on a scale until tonight.

BIG MISTAKE!!!!

I was under the impression that I was about the same weight as I was about a year ago - 185lbs coz I've been wearing the same clothes with no problems. Well, tonight the scale read 210. That's 25 more pounds than I anticipated and I am just devastated!!! How did I let myself get like this and how did I come to this gross misjudgement about my body? This is a nightmare for me!!!

This weight is coming off very slowly despite the fact that I'm eating only a 400-calorie meal at lunchtime, and spending 20 minutes on my versaclimber each night. My biggest fear is that I will be stuck like this for the next year despite my efforts, or worse yet, that I have some mystery medical issue that will keep me fat forever. I don't know what else to do! I feel like I'll never get to see myself in the mirror ever again!

I'd suggest not eating more than 300 calories per major meal, and eating more frequently (like every 3 hours, 5-6 times a day). Make sure your calories don't get over your target though. My target for active loss is about 1200-1300 calories per day. Yours may be different - there are calculators online.

i.e. I have a 240 cal. breakfast at 8, a small amount of fat-free cottage-cheese & grapes/melon at about 10, a cup of light columbo yogurt at noon, a piece of fruit or 1 serving of trail mix (high cal./high fat, but good fat necessary) at about 3, a WW "Smart Ones" or Healthy Choice frozen dinner for dinner. (Or, if we go out, we'll do Subway, or a salmon dinner with steamed veggies, etc.). If I get the munchies at night, I have some grapes. I get one "wild card" a week to go nuts on chocolate-explosion-cake or have that hamburger or whatever, but that's it until Sunday when I get a "new" wild card to use for the entire week.

As for the cardio - great! But you need to do more than 20 minutes. 20 minutes is the MINIMUM. For the first 20 minutes, your body is burning sugar. AFTER 20 minutes, it starts burning fat. Just don't go over 45 minutes, or you'll start burning muscle, too, which will slow down your metabolism. Same with working out too frequently - you should work out 3-4 times a week, and give yourself 2 days (the weekend?) for recovery. If you do too much, again, you'll start burning muscle and slow down your metabolism.

You might want to add some weight-training in there too, to build some muscle that will burn calories while you're at rest.

Without a full picture, I can't really help other than to give you the weight-loss-101 version of what needs to be done.

--Janis

Janis,

All very good advice. Thank you for posting. I think I will change up my workout to add a longer cardio routine 3x/week that won't wear me out as quickly as the versaclimber. I seriously can't take more than 20 minutes on that thing! Maybe the trick will be for me to keep my heartrate up for longer period of time without the constant burn in my quads and butt that I get from the versaclimber. I'll also add in a few bites of cottage cheese and a cup of orange juice in the morning. That's about 210 calories, then I'll eat my 320 calorie frozen dinner at lunchtime and that's it for the day.

Well now that I know my true weight, at least I'll be able to measure my progress going forward. The best thing about that horriffic experience last nite is that I pushed thru all my tears and got back on the climber and did my ab and leg workouts afterward. I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED!!!

You need to eat more thatn 530 calories per day. That is not a healthy amount. I think Janis is right with the 1200 cal. Your body can not funtion on that little amount and it will store whatever you do eat. This is what they call the starvation mode. Try eating a little more.

I can tell you that the reason why you're not losing weight is because you are eating so few calories. It is a scientific fact that when you consume extremely low amounts of calories your body goes into starvation mode. What happens is it stores EVERYTHING that you do eat. It is the bodies safety measure.... because basically what you are doing is starving yourself. What weight you are losing will all be muscle and not fat. I guarantee if you consume 1200 calories a day (doctors, scientists and all the research out there is not wrong) you will lose a ton more weight than you are now.
Your body is the only one you've got. Be kind to it and it will be kind back!

Good luck

I don't think she is only eating 400 cal per day, I think she was describing her lunch habits (at least I hope that is the case).

You are the same body you were before you stepped on the scale and you felt great. I will go as far as to say that is because you know you have taken charge of your body and are looking forward to the results. Take it and use it to measure later. Others say measuring the body is better. Whatever works for you.

I can't do 20 min on a stair stepper. I can do a lot longer on a tredmill.

Eating until lunch and then stopping isn't going to help, it'll hurt. You need to do the 5-6 small meals a day, so your metabolism is constantly going. If you eat it all at once, then your metabolism stops right away, and you're not burning as much as you could be. Without the expectation of a regular fuel-input, (or enough fuel-input) your body will start burning muscle for energy, which slows down your metabolism and makes you go into that "starvation mode" everyone was talking about.

Trust me on this, it's happened to me, when I get too overexuberant about calorie & fat restriction. And one of the habits that's led to (my) weight-gain is only eating once a day. Your body will lose weight when it feels comfortable, like it has nothing to lose by running efficiently. If you provide it with the right number of calories and nutrients, it'll say, "I'm getting everything I need. I can dump some of the storage, because times are good, and it's not likely I'll starve anytime soon."

While weight-storage is mostly a nuisance to most of us today, back when we were cavemen (not that far ago in the evolutionary scale of things) or even in the last couple hundred years, (or in 3rd world countries today) people are facing starvation and malnutrion on a daily basis. The only reason they've been able to survive as a people for so long is the human body's amazing ability to prepare and deal with the worst conditions. Unfortunately, it means it's not going to give up on that fat so easily - especially if you are proving it's actions are justifiable by not eating enough or frequently enough.

The key is to find the balance that your body and you can live with, and to constantly trick your body into losing, by making it think plenty of food is available (while not going overboard), and by exercising it enough to make it work, but not so frequently that it gets "too" efficient again.

Hope that puts it in perspective. I know it's tough - you think the harder you work and the less you eat, the weight will fall off, and it gets discouraging when just the opposite happens. I'm sure many other people here (besides myself) have learned this the hard way, but moderation seems to be the key.

--Janis

Thank you all so much for your replies. Yes, I was stopping eating at lunch and keeping my calories count for the day to about 500. But it does make sense what all of your are saying. So I'm definitely eating a small but healthy breakfast from now on, maintaining my lunch at 300 calories, adding in a snack in the afternoon of mixed nuts, and a small dinner (low cal, low carb - around 300 calories) just after I work out at night. Does that sound reasonable to you?

As of last nite, I've also changed up my workout routine to alternate the versaclimber with a 55 minute cardio sculpt workout that includes some strength training along with cardio. And I'm definintely happy to take off 2 days/week to recouperate especially since that newer cardio sculpt really kicked my butt!

Thanks again for this great advice - I will trust you guys on this!

Hi there Erika,
I dont get to post here very often but its a great place. I just wanted you to know that I know how you feel, and you are not alone, I am in the same boat!!! The scale doesnt budge and then I find out that my scale is 6 pounds light!
but I think that as long as we dont give up and we stay on track it will come off.

take care

At bare minimum, you should try for 1200 calories per day. Depending on your current weight, your height and your own body, you may actually need more than that to lose effectively. I am 5'4" and weigh 167. I eat around 1400-1600 calories per day. I am not terrific at the gym part. I've lost 14lbs in 6 weeks. A healthy rate of loss is 1-2lbs a week with some possible stalling. Even if you lose some the way you are going, can you continue to so the rest of your life. Instead of the mindset of dieting, you should really have the mindset of lifestyle change.

500 calories is simply not enough. You need to be eating between at least 1200 and 1500 calories a day. Your body needs calories, fat, protien and carbs to function properly to allow your body to even lose weight. You should be eating a minimum of 3 meals per day.

Strength training as well as cardio are very important to losing not only weight, but inches. I was working out with just cardio for 2 weeks and lost 1 lb and 2 inches. When I added strength training after two more weeks I lost 9 1/2 inches and after 3 weeks I lost 6 lbs. BIG DIFFERENCE. I also lost an additional 8 3/4 inches since then and that again was after only 2 weeks. Your body needs to get enough vitamins and nutrients as well as calories. I would suggest you take a multivitamin if you aren't already.

Hang in there and good luck. Results are different for every person.

I've also found that it's not only important how much you eat and how regularly, but what you eat. If I eat Corn Pops for breakfast, by about 10am I'm shaky and starved. If I eat wheat toast with an egg white and a wedge of Laughing Cow Light Swiss spread, I'm good to go until lunchtime and a piece of fruit mid morning, I'm good to go until lunch time.

I've noticed that if I eat the same amount of calories in junk and fast food in a day as I would do with non-processed whole foods, fruits and veggies, I'm still craving food out the wazoo. But if I'm eating the healthful stuff, my body doesn't seem to have the same cravings. I'm wondering if we misinterpret a need of nutrients for plain ol hunger.

So don't be afraid of foods, just eat the right types. If you start eating healthy, you'll probably see your metabolism kick back into production in about a week or two, dependent on how close you get to the 1200 - 1500 range.