My name is Deirdre and I am in desperate need of your opionions and advice. I am a 32 yr. old female, 5'3 1/4'' and weigh approximately 112 lbs. I exercise regularly which consists of aerobic exercise for approximately 1 hour, 6 days/week, and weight training for about 1/2 hr-45 minutes 4-5 days/week. In addition to this, I also brisk walk for approximately 30 minutes 3 days/week and on Sunday, I just brisk walk for around 55 minutes (I do not do additional aerobic exercise on Sundays).

I used to weigh about 128 lbs. probably in the winter of 05. I then dropped down to around 119 lbs. during the Summer of 05, and now have dropped to 110 lbs. currently (2/06). I am really concerned with how much weight I am losing and am afraid I will continue to lose, which is not what I want. In fact, I would like to either stay at this weight, or preferably go back up to 119 lbs. I was quite comfortable with that weight. Now I feel like I am beginning to look and feel too thin.

Could anyone suggest what I would need to do in order to not lose anymore weight and perhaps guide me as to how to get back to 119 lbs? And, once I reach that goal, how do I maintain it without either gaining or losing any more weight? I've been reading many of the responses in the maintenence forums and agree that I do have to experiment, however, I'm not quite sure where to start. I thought about continuing to eat the same as I have, but completely cut out the extra 3 days/week of 30 minute brisk walking (but continue to just walk and do nothing else on Sundays) and continue with the hour long morning aerobic sessions & weight training 6 days/week.

Any suggestions that anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated. I am desperate for advice and some direction. I look forward to hearing from you! Thanks!

Sincerely,
Deirdre

Have you tried tracking your food intake? Maybe you're not eating enough calories, or enough calories for your metabolism. Your exercise sounds good, but maybe you could add a few more calories. Just play with it to find what works for you. It may be that you just need an additional snack during the day to get your weight where you want it. Good luck!

Deirdre,

Have you ever met with a nutritionist to assess your diet? You're getting a LOT of exercise and your body needs the foods to fuel it. Your doctor might have some insights, too; have you had a checkup recently? Best wishes to you.

Thanks for your responses. I actually thought about both of the suggestions that each of you posted (adding a snack to add extra calories (considering I don't even snack now), and the possibility of meeting with a nutritionist to assess my caloric intake against the amount of exercising I do). My fear is, as is many others in our situation, that I'll gain too much weight back and forfeit all of the hard work I've done to get to where I am. I, in no way want to be where I began at 128 lbs., however, I also don't want to be 110 lbs. either. If I could just get to and maintain a weight of 115-119 lbs., that would be ideal for me!

What would be some suggestions in regard to adding a snack during the day? I was thinking an option might be Dannon Light yogurt, which has 90 calories & 0 fat. Or, maybe a non-fat chocolate dairy shake (150 calories, 0 fat). Both of which I don't know if that would even be enough calories in order to maintain and keep from losing more weight.

Another issue is that lots of times I'm not even hungry for a snack. That is why I haven't added a snack, because I figure, why am I going to eat just to eat, if I'm not even hungry, you know? I guess at this point, I have no choice but to add a snack. I cannot lose any more weight. It's really scaring me how the weight just keeps coming off when I'm not even trying to lose anymore!

Any suggestions that you guys might have for me is greatly appreciated! It's also awesome to know there is such a great support system of people who go through, or have already gone through these issues.

Thanks again!

I am by no means an expert and not even a maintainer yet but it seems like you would need to do the opposite of what is required to lose weight. Since we need to reduce our calorie intake and increase our exercise to lose weight then in order to gain weight you could either increase your calories or reduce your exercise or some combination of the two.

Do you know your daily calorie intake right now? If not you could try and track them using www.fitday.com for a week or so. Once you know your current intake you could increase your calories by 50 or 100 a week until you start to slowly gain. I think if you keep track of your calorie intake it would be easier to control the exact amount of weight you gain. But then again I have never been purposefully trying to gain . I'm sure some super smart maintainers will be along with better advice but that's my 2cents.

You're pretty super smart yourself, Miss Holly! That's exactly what I was going to answer. To gain, you have to eat more or moves less (or some combination of the two).

Deirdre - since it's hard for you to eat more, how about cutting back on the cardio? You're doing 505 minutes a week, which most people would call excessive. But don't cut back on the weights - what you're doing there sounds just right.

My thoughts were along the lines of Meg's... Cut the cardio a bit keep the weight training or even add more and maybe heavier weights? For snacks I would add healthy fats (nuts) and lean proteins (eggwhites or whey shakes) rather than yogurts... Increase gradually both in foods and exercises so as to not gain too fast...