I joined the health club in my town 3 weeks ago and I have religiously gone 5-6 days per week. I do 20 - 30 mins on the elliptical daily, walk half a mile, and swim 15-20 minutes every time. I have not lost a single pound i dont understand, i am working out harder than i ever have, my calories are in check, i'm drinking my water (this one was a biggie for me, lol) and nothing. I feel so discouraged right now. I love working out every day, and i am feeling better overall, but i really need to lose some weight or inches and so far i have lost neither.
any advice??

Congratulations about the healthy changes you are incorporating into your life. With a little tweaking and patience, I'm sure you'll get some pounds off as well.

First thing I would ask you is, when you say that you are keeping your "calories in check". What exactly does that mean? Are you tracking them carefully? Is it possible that you're consuming more calories then you really think you are? Have you had any "off" days. Because I know for me, I could be exercising 7X a week, but if I'm not carefully tracking my calories, I wouldn't be creating that all important calorie deficit and would not lose any weight what so ever. I'm not sure if this is the case with you, so I won't even go any further until you get back to us.

Sometimes it takes a little while for the results to show up. This is especially true if you've made a drastic change (ie: sedentary now very active). However, if you keep at it you WILL see the results. I had that happen to me when I first started exercising but stuck with it. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks for my body to really show the work I did a week or two before.

hey girl!! I understand how you feel, I work out 5 to 6 times a week, and don't always see a weight loss. However, I would be making sure you really are eating less and more healthy. I know that is my biggest problem. I can be working out really hard, and then over eat that night and ruin the amount of calories I just lost. So, I would recommend counting your calories to insure you aren't going over the limit you set for yourself!!

You'll see results soon enough. I am glad to hear you are feeling healthy, keep it up!!

thank you all for the responses. I am tracking every bite of food that goes into my mouth, and keeping my calories between 1400 and 1600 daily, lower than this and i feel like i am starving. I have been more careful about the types of food i eat as well (less fried, greasy stuff, no sweets, etc). Actually i find that since i began working out, I dont even really want the bad stuff, my body is craving fruits instead of chocolate for a change, lol, and i actually WANT to drink water, lol.

I am trying not to focus on my weight, and instead just focus on getting healthier, but still it is frustrating.

hope you all have a great day, I'm off to the wellness center for my workout

hi amanda,

that calorie amount could be too low for you. i eat about 1900 calories a day and with working out and also keeping active (such as walking to work instead of taking the bus) i am still losing weight. don't put your body into starving mode. there are BMR (basal metabolic rate) calculators online where you can figure out how many calories your body is burning and what it needs to function. if you are eating balanced (whole wheat carbs, plant based protein (i am vegetarian), and healthy fat) and want to be satisfied it is hard to keep your calorie intake lower than 1600 i find.

also, when you're working out make sure that you work at a good intensity.
maybe try to focus on a goal like walking 2 miles in 30min and then cool down with a few laps in the pool.

good luck and keep it up!!! it is fun to get healthy!!!

I am in the same boat, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am burning a significant amount of calories daily, leaving a large calorie deficit everyday. However, I've read a lot of information that leads me to believe that I may be losing the fat, but gaining muscle at the same time. I went from completely sedentary, to exercising over an hour a day. At the end of the day it could be a number of reasons but patience is indeed a virtue. Have you lost inches perhaps? Even if you're not seeing results on the scale, you may see them in inches.

My thought exactly! Muscle weighs more then fat, so therefore, it is TOTALLY POSSIBLE that because you are working out so religously your body is building lean muscle, but at the same time burning fat. When this happens, more often then not, you will not see a change in the number on the scale, but you will see a difference is the inches you lose. I would suggest measuring yourself & seeing if your making progress there. Progress does not always translate into lbs lost on the scale.... Either way, you're doing great & sounds like your doing everything right, so stick with it, you'll see the results soon enough!

Congrats on a healthy beginning. Sometimes it takes our bodies about 30days to see a change on the scale when we first start working out. You may be eating too little to create a deficit that doesn't kick you into starvation mode. It sounds like you are doing a lot of cardio and not lifting weights, so you are probably not building a significant amount of muscle and it doesn't weigh more than fat, it just takes up less room. Just be very vigilant about writing down what you eat, calories, fat, sodium, protein, carbs-all of it. Then at the end of the month, I would review everything, exercise and food intake and tweak changes where they are needed.

Hey!..

The calories may be too low for you! Try upping them a bit, and that could help! Sounds weird, but its true! After you start losing steadily, you can decrease them..remember that you can always reduce them later on. As for the excersising, you could definitely be gaining muscle, so try taking measurements, which should give you a better idea of your body size changing. DONT GIVE UP! WE can ALL do this together!

-good luck girlie

are you eating often enough? You can eat low calories while eating 4-5 times a day. Try eating every 3 or so hours (but not after a set time at night). Something small and snack like.

(and remember, almost every drink, has calories - are you including these)

Try upping to like 1700-1800 calories, since you are working out a lot you may just need a few more calories