If you are getting from between 1200 to 1800 a week in calories, as long as you are eating no sweets or junk type food, does it matter your ratio???

Carb/protein/fat???
Mine is not out of proportion at all, but I do tend to eat around 500 of them at night before bed. Does it matter as long as I keep the total down?

I quit a 31 year habit of smoking 1 month 12 days ago and have lost 10 pounds but now I am stalled. I have about 19 more pounds to lost and its not budging!
I am not exercising regularly, about 5x a week instead of 6 and some days 30 min 1.00 miles and some days up to 60 minutes 3.5 miles

WHY WHY WHY am I stalled!!! I want either a cigarette or a size 6 pair of pants!!!! NOW!!!!

lol, ok no cigarette, but I really want to get moving again.
Any suggestions? I've been stalled for a week, with a 1 pound gain instead of a loss.

oh.....I am also in PMS time. and perihomicidal......er I mean perimenopausal, so don't EVEN get smart with me!!!!


My poor husband.

Honestly? No. It's calories in vs calories out.
However there is the little matter of nutrition. Try to up your protein, watch your carbs and fats and lift some weights. Sometimes all it takes, to make a difference, is to make small changes.

I should be getting ready for work but instead I'm think about what to say to you

Eating less and moving more is the magic formula. Beyond that there are 'fine tunements' you can make. These are dependant on your goal. Probably the suggestions I gave you are tuned toward my goal of being slimmer, toned, strong ....

Let's see what the others have to say. I gotta get to work!

Yes, it does matter. The only way to lose weight is to have a calorie deficit. Look at how many calories you are taking in and how many you are burning during the day. Then decrease part of the calories and increase the activity to create a deficit. Everyone is different so the calorie balance is individual to you.

The ratio of carbs/protein/fat is also important, although the exact ratio is a cause for great debate. To put it simply, you need carbs for energy, protein for tissue repair and good fats to keep things well oiled. Generally, the ratio should be carbs 55-65% of calories, protein 15-30% of calories, and fat 15-25% of calories. Plus, a well-balanced diet gives you the micronutrients you need.

500 calories just before bedtime is a lot. I can't eat right before bed as that interferes with my sleep, but I eat 300-350 calories about 2 hours before bed so I don't feel hungry. Although I don't eat 6 times a day, eating smaller meals 4-6 times is actually better for your system. Your body is not overloaded with a large meal; it uses up the energy in between meals, so the excess is not converted to fat. The trick is to keep each meal within the calorie limit. Example 1500 cal divided into 5 meals = 300 cal per meal. It's too hard to keep to exact limits, so if one meal is 350 or 250 cal, I don't worry, just try to keep it around the limit.

You are not the only one stalled at the last 20 lbs. These are the most stubborn lbs to lose. I have been working on the last 20 lbs for a long time, and am down only 6 lbs. Your body gets used to the calorie intake, so as you lose weight, you actually have to decrease the calories in order to keep on losing. (or increase the activity). Weight loss is a constant balancing act.

5 times a week for exercise is good. However, you could probably up the intensity and type of exercise. I notice you are doing only cardio. Mix it up with resistance exercises to give your body something else to think about. Muscle burns more energy during the day than fat does just doing nothing, so a little bit of muscle goes a long way. Increase the intensity in your cardio. You seem to be working at the moderate level. Mix this up with higher intensity thrown in there. Exercise is also a balancing act. As you exercise, your body adapts and progress slows down, so you have to keep challenging it in order to keep progressing.

Hope this helps...

In my exeprience, the "when" does not matter. I have always enjoyed a late snack. As a SAHM with three children the only time I have to really sit down and quietly enjoy what I eat is after they are in bed. So, I've made a habit of saving enough calories for that time. Our bodies don't process our food minute by minute so the important thing is that over the course of a week or so that you incur the magical calorie deficit. I believe the catch for most people is that late night is dangerous time for mindless snacking. If saving calories for later in the evening is likely to lead to your eating out of control then, yes, the WHEN might matter for you. But, in terms of calories in vs. calories out it doesn't really make a difference.

As for the type of calories you consume, I agree with SusanB. You can lose weight as long as you burn more calories than you consume - no matter where those calories come from. In fact, when I first began losing weight all I did was reduce my calories. However, as I progressed I noticed that I didn't feel as good as I wanted to. As I introduced more exercise I noticed that my energy levels weren't as high as I had hoped they would be. I felt much better and had more energy than I did 20 pounds heavier but I just wasn't where I wanted to be. My goals had changed and I had to address that. THAT is when what kind of calories I ate became a focal point. There is something to be said to nourishing your body as opposed to feeding it. I did not start eating "clean" 100% of the time but I did make an effort to improve the quality of my food.

Now that I'm just 20 pounds short of my goal things have changed again. I believe that I will need to make significant changes in the type of calories I eat to knock off the last of my weight. It isn't an easy transition, but I am working on it and I do believe that it will make a difference.

According to this study, WHEN is not important:

http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/118/112924.htm

It matches my own personal experiences - when I was losing weight I worked late nearly every night and ate a big dinner about an hour before bed.

In my opinion, the HOW is very important. For me, long term health was a better, more sustainable goal than just a weight loss goal.

Wow! Thanks guys! Makes sense to me! I have a deficit for calories every day so it must be my exercises. I'm not quite able to exercise all out yet. I still get winded fairly easy due to asthma. I still have my ex-smokers lungs but they are getting stronger every day!!

I don't know what "resistance exercises" are besides what my kids start when I tell them it is bedtime!

I am going to look it up online.
If it is weights, I had some weights that came with my treadmill but my 4yr old hid them and we haven't found them yet! Might have to tickle torture him to find them!


& Hoe can you increase protein without increasing your fat calories? Cheese, milk eggs, they all seem like such a small amount of food in return for large amounts of calories! Any low fat protein? Natural I mean, I do not eat the weird chemicals pla-doh'd together to resemble food.

Click here for a list of good low-cal protein sources and their servings sizes.

I eat late at night EVERY night. Not quite 500 calories, though. It's usually between 200-300. But even with that 500 calories, if you're still within your calorie range for the day, it's not going to make a difference as long as your body is burning more than it consumes.

I don't think it matter when you eat but it matter what you eat. I feel better when I eat a balanced mix of protein, carbs, fiber.

Just a quick note; I not only stall with weightloss once a month during t.o.m. , I gain on average 7 pounds This always happens but I've noticed after t.o.m. goess away for a few days my weight goes back to normal and my weightloss stall goes away also.. Just a thought for you.. Godd luck :O)