Hi All - I'm new to this site. I have 10 menopause lbs to lose. first week of v-trim diet did not lose 1 lb and don't understand why. I work out 5 days at my health club (religiously and have been doing this forever) and walk my dog 1 mile a day - every day, rain or shine. I ate 1200 calories and understand that I should not go below that. I ate all the right foods - whole wheat, plenty of veggies, fruit - very well balanced. I really don't think I should be eating more calories. I did weight watchers all my life and recently switched since it stopped working - at 20 points a day with no bonus points. my only treat is a 100 calorie skinny cow but that is within my 1200 calorie limitation. Any feedback? Thanks so much...i am not feeling good about this.

I am right there with you. I started my diet one week ago, and gained a half pound. Aggressive cardio, weights, walking, the whole nine yards. However, my calories were not perfect - they were around 1,600 for the most part, with a couple of 2,000 calories days in there. This week, however, I vow to not go above 1,300 calories on my walking days and 1,400 calories on my aggressive cardio days.

The only thing that I can think of is that my body is retaining water from all the aggressive cardio and weight training I did this week that it is not used to. I read somewhere that the body does this when it repairs the muscles and such. So I will just have to be patient. The same might be true for you.

Also, you are pretty close to your goal weight. In fact, your BMI is in the "healthy" range. So, you will have to lose weight differently from me. A great book for you is "Making the Cut" by Jillian Michaels. That book is geared specifically for those who are at a healthy weight and don't really need to lose weight, but want to lose a few pounds, like yourself. I think that you will find that you are not eating enough - she suggests eating your BMR and never below that in your specific situation. You can Google "BMR Calculator" if you are curious as to what your BMR is, then never eat below that.

Anyhow, good luck.

I have found that the less I need to lose the slower it goes. I don't know why and men can lose a pound , just by thinking about it, apparently. Don't give up it sounds like you are doing all the right things.

You are not eating enough for the exercise you are doing. 1200 is the absolute minimum you should eat if you are sedentary and don't exercise. If you have been doing the same exercise forever, you need to try something new. Our body becomes used to the same exercise and burns fewer calories to do it.

Next week will be better. Look at it this way, if we aren't trying to lose weight we could be gaining.

I have found w/ my body that sometimes it takes a couple of weeks for the changes I did to affect the scale.

Not everyone will agree on this point, but I definitely think you aren't eating enough. There is no way I could work out like I do and eat 1,200 calories. I lost an average of two pounds a week eating significantly more. Granted, I started out with a lot of muscle, but muscle doesn't burn that much more than fat. That's a myth. It's primarily exercise that is responsible for one's ability to eat more despite being petite.

Of what precisely is your exercise routine comprised? What kinds of foods are you eating?

Petite Powerhouse,

Whats your story? How long did it take you to get down to such a low weight? Calories? Exercise? I'd be interested to hear..

Cocoa!

What is the v-trim diet? I'm not familiar with it.

Two thoughts:
1. I read the following on www.hussmanfitness.org the other day. I cannot vouch for the qualifications of the author -- just that this statement made a lot of sense to me re: whether or not you will lose on too few calories.

If you are having trouble losing weight, it is wishful thinking to believe that eating more calories will help. Do not use the BMR calculation as a reason to increase your caloric intake. Even if you were taking in far too few calories, you would still lose lots of weight, but part of it would be muscle. So if you're losing neither fat weight nor scale weight, most probably you're eating too many calories that you aren't counting. (I write this because the research on this point is clear). You have to run a caloric deficit when you total it up over the full week, counting any free day. Sadly, some people use the BMR calculation and their free day to justify overeating. This is unfortunate. The only way to lose fat is to create a persistent, daily, sustained caloric deficit. Eating more frequent and smaller meals can help, but it is is superstition that simply eating more will help you to lose fat.

Very low calories may make you tired, cold, cranky, etc, but it should still result in some weight loss. Yes, you may plateau. Yes, over time you may develop the side effects seen in anorexics. Yes, you will have trouble building muscle mass no matter how much you lift weights, because you are not giving your body enough fuel to create muscle (Petite Powerhouse, I'm betting this affecting your experience a lot since you lift so much!). I am not endorsing low calories, because I believe a lot of people start unnecessarily low, just saying I read this and it intuitively makes sense. (that said, lots of people on 3FC swear by eating more to lose more)

2. Being that you are post-menopausal, you may just need to give it more time. Your body's chemistry is different from those of us who still experience the joys of our cycles and it wouldn't shock me at all if it makes weight loss just a much slower process. You may want to post on the Weight Loss forum or in the appropriate age group to hook up with other women in the same boat. (but please continue to post here, too, cause we Feathers like to flock together!)

Welcome, Cocoa! It's nice to have you here.

I find this thread from the Maintenance Forum helpful:

On Metabolic Calculators

I have found the recommended daily calories from the online calculators, and in the books I've read, to be too high for me. My body does not seem to use the number of calories in activities that the recommendations are based on.

All the best to you!

I don't think my story is very helpful, unfortunately, because my calorie situation is somewhat unusual. I've been lifting weights and doing cardio/running for 20 years, so I have a lot of muscle. I also burn anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 calories per workout. So I lost about two pounds a week eating between about 1,800 and very often 2,800 calories a day. I lost 21 pounds in about three months.

Thanks to all the featherweights for taking the time to give me thoughtful and knowledgeable answers. The v-trim diet is from the eating well authors. It is very healthy and includes all the food groups and takes into account your bmi, waistline, calorie expenditure etc. In the interim, I stepped on the scale on day 8 and found I lost 3 pounds! Strange, but I rechecked my digital scale and it is not corrupt, luckily for me. It gave me incentive, although I won't quit till I reach my goal, but thought of trying an alternate diet. The new carb-lovers diet appeals to me too. For the meantime, however, I think 1200 calorie is a keeper since it allows for flexibility. Glad to have found this supportive forum.

WOW! Thats remarkable! How do you burn so much in one workout? I wish I could do that!!