I am glad I found these very active forums...

My name is Jamie and I have been unhappy with my weight for about 5 years now. I am 23, and very active. I weigh anywhere between 158 and 164 lbs, depending on the time of day, and the amount of water I drink, lol.

I honestly do not really know why I am always about 30 lbs from my ideal weight (I am 5'6), because I do not eat large amounts of food, and I always exercise. I ride horses professionally, and it takes a LOT of strength and endurance. I used to run daily, but I blew out my knee, and destroyed 2 of my lumbar discs, so I cannot run any more.

I just have a few general musings, that maybe you all could help me with. First of all, my diet obviously isn't conducive to weight loss, or else I wouldn't be this size! Here is a typical day for me:

breakfast - a banana or a bowl of Special K, and a cup of coffee with low fat cream and Splenda for sweetener.

lunch - a half turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onion, no dressing or butter or cheese. Some days I don't eat lunch, I will just have a Special K cereal bar.

dinner - either a salmon or chicken fajita, salad and chicken breast, or occasionally a small serving of ravioli or chicken parmesan. I do not eat desert, or snacks, at any point during the day or night.

my worst vice is that I do not drink water. At ALL. I know it's a horrid habit, but I just havent been able to fix it. I do not drink pop, juice, milk, or anything like that. I don't eat cheese or candy or chips or cookies or anything snacky. I have a glass of white wine with dinner, and that is the only beverage besides coffee that I ever drink.

I go to the gym 3 days a week and do the stairmaster. I stay on it until I have burned 100 calories, then by that time my knee and back is hurting so I just go home. I ride at least 2 horses, sometimes up to 6 a day.

Does anyone have any advice as to how to kick-start my weight loss? What I am doing isn't working, at all....

Thank you very much!!

Jamie

Welcome to 3FC, Jamie!

It sounds to me as though you may be messing with your metabolism a little. From the sounds of it, you're not consuming enough calories.
If I were you, I'd journal my food/calories for several days.
A few years ago I was on a doctor/nutritionist supervised diet. At 5'-2" and 220 pounds, I was told to consume between 1700 and 2000 calories a day (plus do 30 minutes of exercise per day), and I lost a steady two pounds a week. If you eat too little, your body will hang onto the weight with everything it's got.

Also, you may be dehydrated. Water was never a big thrill for me, either, but I "forced" myself to start drinking a glass or two a day several years ago. Now my body tells me when I want water. I mean, I actually crave it. (hard to imagine, eh?)

Hi there JAIMIE . . . from another Canuk.

So glad you found us and hope you will wander over to visit on our CRAZY CANUK CLUCK CLUB in the Support Groups forum . . . http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150590 . . . when you get a chance.

Afraid I tend to agree with Ellis (as usual, she is right on with the good advice) -- both about not enough calories and the need for liquid -- really hope you can find a way to enjoy drinking water. In the meantime, stuff in lots and lots of high water content vegetables -- salad greens are particularly great.

I agree with Ellis also...you've got to EAT to maintain that exercise level!

I also might raise question of your "ideal weight" at 5'6" being 30 lbs less than where you are now. Given that you're very active, you might have a ton of muscle on your frame. If you're really muscular, you're more likely to land at the HIGH end of the BMI range for your height (since BMI doesn't taken into account anything but height, it doesn't really consider things like muscle when calculating the range...so it isn't very accurate for athletes). Your BMI now is 25.5...overweight, sure, but only just barely.

Have you considered getting your body fat % checked? Recommendations for women are 20-25% or so...how are you in that regard? You might be surprised!

Anyway, look around, settle in, and get to posting. Can't wait to get to know you better!