Hi fellow 20's!

My sister has recently been trying to lose weight. Shes not overweight but has weight to lose. She is in her mid 20's and is 5'4 about 140. This is a little high for her becuase she has such a small frame. Anyways, she has been eating eceptionally well during the week (she showed me everything she was eating - very healthy and clean) and has been doing spinning every day during the week burning at least 500 calories in each of those sessions. She takes the weekend "off" but doesnt go too crazy with them. Shes been doing this for a month now and hasnt lost anything. She is capable of losing weight becuase shes dont it before but I cant figure out why she isnt losing weight now. I feel so bad for her because she is working so hard. With the way shes eating during the week and her vigourous exercise, she should be losing.

The only thing I can think of is shes not eating enough. Is her calorie deficit too much? If i had to estimate, she is probably eating around 1200 calories and then doing cycling (another -500). Has this happend to any of you? What do you all think? I really want to help her but shes doing everything right so I dont know what to say

Thanks ladies!

When you have so little to lose having an "off" weekend makes a huge difference. Is she tracking her calories? Also if she's eating 1200 calories and working out burning an additional 500 calories she may be working too hard.

I'd tell her up the water intake and don't go off on the weekends at least for 2 weeks.

of course i'm no diet expert but i would guess that shes not getting enough calories i would recomened that she move it up to 1400 calories and see if this works. the hardest thing about loseing weight to me is how hard it is to find out the right amount of caloroies your body needs to lose weight i call it "the magic number" lol and if shes not eating breakfast to eat breakfast. i notice a big difference in myself when i have a protien shake for breakfast to kick start my metabolism. i lose the weight faster and i dont feel like im starving myself. another thing is the weekends off. normally when you're not overweight by much you have to be really strict becuase your body thinks that it is in a happy place and it will fight you to lose the last 10 to 15 pounds. i hope this helps its just things that i have learned in my diet experience over time! but by no means am i an expert! i';ve just tried everything lol

Great thank you for the responses!

I have a feeling she isnt eating enough. She eats 5 small meals throughout the day but I think between the 1200 calories and 500 exercise (minimum) that she is burning, it might be too much of a calorie deficit. The average person burns 2000 calories a day so that would mean at the very minimum she is burning an extra 1200 calories a day during the week. Maybe thats too much of a shock?

Thanks again ladies for your responses!

The problem may be in the estimating of the calories. Is she tracking every BLT (bite, lick, taste)? and getting enough water?

It doesn't sound like she's eating near enough. Her body might be thinking it's starvation time or something. I agree with the other ladies, count calories on the weekends, maybe take the weekends off spinning and see what happens. Also make sure she's hydrating her body! I would think she should be eating 1400-1500. I'm roughly her size, 5'4" but 149 pounds, I am eating about 1400 and I run 3 miles several days per week and burn about 400 calories per run and I'm losing 1-2 pounds per week. Best of luck!

I eat roughly 1200-1400 calories a day and exercise everyday burning about 650 calories... most days it really is right around 1200... I lose weight and it works for me...if I feel more hungry I eat more

Honestly it is probably the weekends... I can maintain my weight by eating perfect during the week and crappy on the weekends and exercising... you can consume a lot of calories over the weekend when you arent paying attention. Those calories easily add up and therefore ruin the deficit you created during the week

I hope this helps... a lot of people don't agree with such low calories but it works for me and I bump it up on the weekends when I need more wiggle room

I don't think it is the calorie intake. For her weight and height 1200 to lose weight sounds about right. I think it is the weekends "off" that she takes. Is she drinking and eating over her cal limit during this time? Two days a week, especially with liquor make a difference. I would have her take two of these weekends and get back on plan. See if she loses weight then.

I find that the only way for me to lose is by staying strict on the weekend. There's a big difference between a weekend off and one meal on the weekend off.

In my experience, on the weekend I don't drink nearly enough water, I'll eat things that are higher in sodium, and I won't eat as often but have higher calories when I do eat. All of that messes with my body enough that I will not have a loss in the slightest regardless of how good i am during the week.

I would recommend that she stay strict for the next two weeks just to see whether that makes a difference. Also, it would be worthwhile to look at adding in an extra 100 calories at least of something that packs in more nutrients like extra fruit or 1/2 oz almonds considering how much she works out.

Hoping the best for her!

its definitely the weekends... you can undo an ENTIRE week of good eating... EASILY...... factor in miscalculating calories (hey, we all do to some extent) and shes breaking even.

Forgive me for stepping into the 20s thread, but I had to post and agree with those who think it's those weekends off that are creating the apparent stall.

It takes some people about a week just to lose the water weight they gain from eating a lot of sodium in one off-plan meal--let alone what two days of eating that way will do. She might be steadily losing fat, but unable to see it because she repeatedly regains and loses water weight each week. Alcohol exacerbates the water weight gain too.

During the week, she's really going low on calories. Depending on how she's eating on weekends, that could be a huge swing. For five days, she's training her body to be more metabolically efficient, then for two days she's keeping no tabs on her food intake. As Haley said, that's a good recipe for maintaining, not losing.

Maybe she could try a little more balance--still give herself some freedom on weekends and buckle down during weekdays, but keep the swings more modest. That'd mean at least a little accountability on the weekends too, but it's easy to fit a lot of good stuff into, say, 1800 calories on weekends and 1400 on weekdays (or whatever numbers she finds easy to live with that aren't as widely divergent as what she's currently doing).

I feel the pain of a plateau, as I'm kind of in one now. I hope she gets un-stuck from hers soon.

I also agree that it is probably the "off" weekends. Only because she doesn't have THAT much to lose and being OP 5 out of 7 days a week isn't always enough. I would also suggest that maybe she drink more water. Thats about all I've got.

My hardest times are the weekends too! ARGH!!

Thanks everyone! I think I will go with the mass's on this. Not eating enough during the week and perhaps eating too much during the weekends. Ill let her know! Thanks