I need help!!


I have been trying to lose weight for most of my life. In highschool I was successful, dropping 50 pounds, but then resorted to diet pill after diet pill. The weight stayed off but when I decided to not take the pills, i ballooned to 180 pounds (im 5 feet tall ) Now im eating 1200 cals a day and spinning regularly for an hour and NOTHING...

any suggestions to get the weight off?

thanks!

aimee

First Iw ould say...EAT MORE. You're body thinks it is starving and is going to hold on to every ounce it can. I would say go up to 1500-1600 a day; especially days you're spinning. Keep a food journal to see where the calories are comng from. If you are eating 1200 calories a day, but they are mostly refined carbs or refined sugars you are not gonna loose.

Lots of healthy whole grains, veggies, and lean protien are a key to success.

How long is nothing?

You don't say how long it's been since you stopped with the pills but, sometimes if we get our bodies in the habit of depending on "outside" help, it takes a while to get rebalanced.

I agree with KateB that, for the level of exercise you're doing, you probably need more calories. If you've been at 1200 for a while, you might not want to dump 1600 calories on yourself all in one whack but you could try increasing gradually - 100 calories every couple of weeks was comfortable for me - until you find the point where you start losing again. Takes a little perseverance, but it will happen for you

Okay...I am confused about something.

You say that you went up to 180 pounds, and have been spinning, and eating 1200 calories a day, and nothing-but your weight loss thing under your profile says 170 pounds...which is correct?

At this point, I am not going to tell you to eat more or less, or exercise more or less, or anything until I know more information-because it would be premature. So, could you answer a few things?

~Are you currently still at 180, or are you down to 170?

~How long have you been eating 1200 calories a day?

~How long have you been spinning, and are you doing the bike on your own, or are you taking a spinning CLASS?

~Can you give me some sample menus of what you have eaten in the past few days? The reason why I am asking, is because 1200 calories worth of cheesburgers and M&Ms will yield different results than 1200 calories worth of fruit and chicken breast.

~How long has it been since you stopped taking diet pills?

I will be happy to offer suggestions, but I need more info first.

I began at 180...I recently went abroad and walked so much that when I came back I was down to 170...I have been able to maintain at 170 for the past month.

I have been eating 1200 cals for about a month now and doing spinning classes for about the same time

for my menus i try to have a whole wheat bagel in the mornings, or some whole grain cereal with 1% low fat milk. My other 2 meals usually consist of chicken breast or turkey. Vegetables are extremely hard for me to eat. I have tried to incorporate them in my diet but havent succeeded

also, I have been off of the pills for about 2 years now

thank you for all your help!

Not to be too picky, but a bagel (even a whole one), 1% milk, and chicken or turkey isn't 1200 calories. You must be eating something else. Just trying to help. If you don't keep a food diary and don't remember what you ate, now might be a great time to start. You learn a lot by having it in black and white.

Yeah....the menus that you gave are really rather vague. I don't know if you are eating a 50 calorie slice of deli chicken, or 3 whole chicken breasts. If you could, could you give me a more detailed menu-listing portion sizes, and EXACTLY what you have been eating for lunch and dinner. If you give me yesterday's eating, for example-each and every lick, bite, and taste is important.

I suggest you actually weigh and measure the food. Try and have some protein with all meals and snacks. Cereal and milk or a bagel will not give you the energy you need or the satiety until lunch. You also need to experiment and learn to eat more fruit and plenty of vegetables. Have 2 servings of a healthy oil (2 teaspoons) a day - keeps you satisfied, keeps your hair from falling out. What do you do for exercise on the days you don't spin? Definitely up your calories. Meals not only need to be within your calorie allotment, they need to be nutritious.

Good luck!