So, I moved to Toronto at the beginning of the year and when I first got my new scale it was 158. I began eating a bit healthier before I got my new job on the 7th of January and brought it down to 155.
Since then, I have a really lowfat/calorie breakfast, a lean cuisine for lunch, some kind of apple/fruit snack during the day & my boyfriend makes a healthy dinner for us as he's a chef.
I do eat out on weekends, but even then its not that bad and we do a ton of walking on weekends...we dont even own a car nor do we use public transit really here.
I'm also exercising more than I ever have in my life - I see a trainer twice a week and am doing really good cardio the other days. How, 6 weeks later have I only lost 3 lbs??? I weighed 152 this morning.
I really wanted to get myself down to about 135 by Easter because I'm going to Italy and am meeting my boyfriend's family for the first time.
I'm really heartbroken and so disappointed. I have a pair of jeans that last July I wore when I weighed 142 lbs...right now I can't even zip them, much less button them up.
Im sorry you going through this! It really knocks your self-esteem, i am busy struggling as well at the moment.
Maybe you need to mix things up a bit in order to kick start your metabolism again? Im not sure seeing as i am still new to the weight loss thing.
But then again you say you are exercising more, muscle weighs more than fat, so you prob just replacing muscle with fa and therefore are not loosing weight on the scale.
3lbs is actually not that bad... you're on the smaller-ish side, and you know, the thinner you get the harder it is to lose weight. 3lbs is still an accomplishment. you shouldn't feel discouraged by that. remember, it's not a race, it's a marathon! you just gotta keep going!
I think it really depends on what you are eating when you eat out. Restaurant food can be sneaky and even things that seem healthy enough often have far more calories than we think. It's possible that you are eating back most of your weekly calorie deficit on the weekends, esp if you are eating out for several meals.
without an actual calorie count and some real sweat breaking I think that is about what you can expect from a just watching what you eat and walking type program. Especially since you aren't that big in the first place. If you want faster results you are probably going to have to use a more regimented approach to food like counting calories and do some more intense exercise.
and btw, my husband is a chef too and they don't always have the same definition of healthy as we do. I'm still trying to explain to my husband why I won't eat a steak or fish that has been marinated in straight olive oil.
you prob just replacing muscle with fa and therefore are not loosing weight on the scale.
i'm sorry, I think this is really unlikely. Much as I wish it were true, it is really hard for women to gain muscle that significantly. When I was working out HARD, like training for a marathon hard, and was freaking lean as, I probably gained 1kg of muscle in the whole time that I lost 26kg of fat (I know this as I was under a trainer and we were measuring fat and muscle). It's just really hard for us to gain as much muscle as we lose fat. <I edit this to add, the scientist in me screams *anecdotal evidence arrrg* so I will try and do some proper research on this tonight, if only for my own sanity>
Anyway, I agree with the other posters that your eating on the weekends needs to be looked at, as that could really be adding up surprisingly, make sure you are counting accurately the cals in your dinners, and work out HARD. Since you are getting smaller, you might have to really fight for those last few lbs! Your trainer should be able to help you out though- have you asked for their advice?
Last edited by Iconised Ghost; 02-21-2013 at 12:49 PM.
i'm going to talk to her (my trainer) tonight, about what she thinks it might be. Trust me, the days I'm with her are HARD...sometimes I can barely walk home! And my days where I'm by myself, I'm still doing a good 45 mins of cardio where I'm sweating or doing spinclass where its pool-of-sweat-on-the-floor.
You're probably right its got to be my weekends. We wind up doing one big meal out, and then just doing a really low calorie soup or salad for dinner. I was hoping that would balance itself out, but obviously its not.
Where are you in your monthly cycle? this might have something to do with it too. If you weigh only once in awhile, it's hard to know if the first weight was a down day when really you weighed more OR the second weigh in was a up day and you really lost more.
Or, are you weighing more frequently and just realize that it's only 3 lbs total?
AND... are you weighing in the same circumstances? best time is first thing in the morning, after pee, before eating or drinking and naked (or always wearing the exact same things).
And...start counting calories. I cook extremely healthy dinners too, but they could be upwards of a thousand calories if I eat enough of it!
I'm On depo so no cycle for me, and I'm a regular morning weigh in person. First thing I do before I brush my teeth in the morning!
I do yogurt (50 cals) or a granola bar for about 90 calories in the am as I'm walking out the door at 830 (I wake up around 745)
I have an apple around 1030 for around another 100 cals.
Lunch is at 1230 and some form of lean cuisine/meal that is around 300 max
I save all the rest of my calories for dinner, which is always something that is a lean meat, and mixed veggies - he knows not to cook anything too starchy for dinner. If I eat a small dinner I wind up snacking all night long.
Last night's dinner was a boneless/skinless chicken breast with sauteed kale, garlic & brussel sprouts. (and zomg was it good!)
Also, for the first time in my life I'm drinking at least 6 glasses of water a day. I've cut out Chai Lattes :-( and switched from 4 cups of coffee a day down to 1.
I've lost 6 lbs of fat and gained 3 lbs of muscle. 3 inches off shoulders, inch off each arm, 2 off of my chest, waist, 1 from my hips and 2 from my thighs.
My body fats dropped 2.5 percent as well.
So it was nice to hear some numbers even if the scale is disappointing !
Anyway I'm going to add Zumba to my routine starting next week, so that will be more full body cardio.
I just wanted to chime in that, while not seemingly popular on these boards, it is possible to lose weight without doing any sort of counting (calories, carbs, macronutrients, protein, points, etc). I have lost 45 pounds and have never counted a single morsel.
Anyway, good luck. Try not to get discouraged. Keep putting one foot in front of the other, and the small losses will add up to big ones before you know it.
Congrats, Bex! It's got to feel great to have tangible measurements of your accomplishment now. Would it help to add in some non-scale/inches related goals? That way you'll be able to feel like you're making progress even if the scale isn't moving as fast as you want it to.
In my experience, it's always been a calories issue. Either too many or too few. I would take the time to count everything you're eating for a week & see where you are landing. You may think your dinners are healthy, but unless you know EXACTLY what is going into it, then you really can't be sure about the exact calorie content. It could even be that you aren't eating enough calories.
When it comes down to it, it's calories in, calories out. If you're consuming the right number of calories, barring any kind of health issue, your body should be dropping. If you're serious about dropping the weight, you may need to cut out your weekend diets for the next 6 weeks until Easter. You might be sabotaging your entire week with the weekend.
I wholeheartedly agree with the ladies who emphasize calorie counting, and doing it CONSISTENTLY. I know it's cliche, but you cannot out-exercise a bad diet, and its incredibly easy to negate the calories burned during a hard workout with just one snack.
Lets say you are doing a hard 30 minutes of circuit training and REALLY busting your butt... you might burn 300 calories. If you go out for dinner and have a dinner roll, a glass of wine, and a pat of butter on the roll that pretty much wipes out that workout before you've even shared an appetizer, had your main meal, or considered dessert.
3 pounds is still progress, but if you want to see MORE progress you'll have to buckle down just a bit more.
3 lbs, seriously?
