I have been walking (a good pace too) 3 miles a day for the past two weeks. 5 days first week, 6 days last week. and I haven't lost anything! I am eating right and keeping within my points...drinking lots of water as well. I don't understand. I have never had trouble loosing weight before. The walk my girlfriend and I take is on a golf course with lots of hills here and there. I know I am working hard, so does anyone here have any wisdom to figure this out. I am wondering if it is because of my age? I am 48 and haven't had a problem loosing in the past. It is dissapointing, as we are out there daily at 5:30am!
You should be burning more calories than what you are taking in, in order to lose weight. Maybe get a pedometer, track your steps/calories burned and go from there! I was told to work out first thing in the morning, before eating any carbs, because your body will burn carbs that you have just eaten before the carbs it has stored....You want your body to use what's already there instead of what you're getting from food. Work out first, then eat something high in protein, low in carbs after!
Thanks for the reply...I am burning way more calories than I am taking in, that is why I don't understand. I also don't eat breakfast till I get home (my walk is a about 45 min. if we walk through the neighborhood it is an extra 15 min. So all in all our walks are about 1 hour.
How do you KNOW you are burning more than you are taking in? do you weigh TO THE GRAM every morsel, bite, lick and taste? Or do you"guesstimate" your measurements?
How do you know how many calories you are burning per day? How do you know how many you are burning being active?
and the not eating before you workout is a myth. Eat when you WANT to,....... for some working out while fasted gets results, for others they get better results with food in their system. Everyone is different..
FYI if you do workout in a fasted state youre more likely to start catabolising your muscles for energy along with fat......
I only know what has worked for me in the past. I am sticking to WW points and NOT cheating. Who has the time to weigh every morsal? That is ridiculous. I know how hard I am working out. I know what my body is capable of (or was in the past) guess maybe I need to hear from people who are closer to my age and know what I am talking about. I have an appointment with my Dr. coming up, maybe she can shed some light on my dilema.
Well I second the measuring advice, but maybe not to the gram. I personally find eating six mini meals a day really revs up the metabolism and keeps it going. I like to eat six meals of 200 calories each.
Also, I find that my body fights weight loss when I exercise, but it also drops inches rapidly, which is pretty cool. I can't go by what the scale says at all. It takes patience and persistence for me.
Maybe try eating prior to your walk, maybe a banana and nut butter?? I do NOT eat before a workout because that's what works for me. (I'm another 5:30 AM person) But my best friend must eat before she works out. If what you're doing isn't working, try the other side of the fence.
It is possible for extra calories to creep in which is one reason I weigh some of the more caloric items. Our metabolisms do change as we get older mostly because we start losing muscle. Have you looked into any weight training? Also, have you been measuring yourself? Sometimes we lose fat but the scale stays the same due to water weight.
I only know what has worked for me in the past. I am sticking to WW points and NOT cheating. Who has the time to weigh every morsal? That is ridiculous. I know how hard I am working out. I know what my body is capable of (or was in the past) guess maybe I need to hear from people who are closer to my age and know what I am talking about. I have an appointment with my Dr. coming up, maybe she can shed some light on my dilema.
Good for you!
I personally think you gained more muscle than you realize, which as we all know weighs so much more than fat. Good luck!
being that strict is the only way i am able to lose weight (while still allowing for calorically dense foods -- like nuts, peanut butter and carbohydrates)
Is it possible your metabolism is slowing with age? ABSOLUTELY.. which means what "worked in the past" might not work now...in other words, your body may not be burning as many calories during the day anymore, and you therfore need to take in LESS calories to hit your deficit. This is where measuring comes in...... if my weightloss stalls, it is the first place i look (and the most likely culprit)... sneaky sneaky calories. And the fewer calories you get, the more dilligent you have to be with them.
I guess im ridiculous?
And none of our bodies defy the laws of physics (no matter how much we want to believe they do sometimes!) so if you really ARENT losing fat, then it all boils down to 2 culprits--- you are either not burning as many calories as you THINK you are, OR you are taking in more calories than you think you are.... either way you have to be in a deficit to lose fat
Its only been 2 weeks....maybe your body needs to catch up a bit? i personally lose in whooshes....
Also, if you dont want to hear from a certain demographic in the forum, then perhaps you should post it in the title or question?
I know that came out snippy, but i feel offended being called ridiculous
I'm older than you and it very well could be that it's harder because you are getting older. What used to work for me is a distant memory.
I don't count every morsel of my food either--I simply don't have time. If that works for some people then I say good for them. I don't have the patience. I eat when I'm hungry but I'm shooting for 90% healthy.
The only thing that moves the scale for me now is to cut the junk food and move, move, move. I have gained about 50 pounds in the past 8 years so it's not going away overnight. Even working in the garden or doing more housework adds up. Also the suggestion to lift weights was a good one.
Keep up the walking--I'm sure your clothes are looser.
just a quick defense of mkroyer! I don't think it's at all ridiculous to measure your food. Who knows how many tablespoons of olive oil I'd actually be pouring if I didn't measure it, or how big that chicken breast really is without weighing it. It's fine if you don't have to, but it's not ridiculous at all.
As lots of people have said before me, the weight didn't come on overnight, so we can't expect it to go away right away. It will likely take many times longer.
I don't think walking is necessarily a great calorie burner. Often, it's not high intensity enough. You really need to build up more calorie-burning muscle to speed up metabolism and weight loss. 2 weeks is not a long time at all. It took me 2 months to lose 2 pounds, and this is with 6 days per week high intensity aerobics and strength training and watching what I eat. But I changed my fat percentage during that time. I momentarily even gained a little weight as I was building muscle, and then lost it all and then some.
ETA: OK, 3 miles seems like a lot--how fast do you walk it?
Age is definitely a contributor, too. Get checked out to rule out any problems, I suppose.
Last edited by LabMonkeyGirl; 04-28-2010 at 02:29 PM.
Age definitely makes a huge difference. i used to beable to drop weight in no time. i can't do that anymore. my weight comes off one pound at a time now and i'm not exaggerating. i can remember a time when i dropped 12 pounds in 2 weeks. Those days are no more.
i hope you find out what is going on, maybe the Dr can give you some insight.
I completely agree w/MK that weighing your food is not ridiculous. I weigh all of my food, and I can tell you that what I used to eyeball as a tablespoon isn't even close. Also, 4 oz. of chicken looks a lot different that what you may think.
Weighing your food may not allow you to prepare meals as quickly but I know that it pays off in the long run. I mean what's an extra 5-10 mins of preparation to make sure that you're no overdoing it on food?
Also, if you're not happy with your current weight loss then what's the harm in trying something new? This is a lifestyle change that you have to be committed to, and if it takes trying new things to get your desired results then I say Go For It!
Haven't lost a darn pound!
I personally find eating six mini meals a day really revs up the metabolism and keeps it going. I like to eat six meals of 200 calories each.
