Help me over this weight plateau.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

I've been stuck at 1X0.0-9 for too darn long! I want to see the middle number drop 1, and I don't know what I've been doing specifically to lose or gain in the past 3 years.

 

Ideas?

[momto2Cs]

Are you eating enough? I know that sounds odd, but if you are chronically underfueling your body, it'll hang onto EVERYthing.

 

Get a good balance of fats (the nice ones), protein and complex carbs at every meal. Drink a lot of water, and get regular, fairly vigorous exercise.

[snickelfritz]

I would count calories, even for a few days, to see what you are really eating.

 

My disclaimer is that I know calories don't tell the whole story. But, if you know the basics of good nutrition (lots of veggies, whole grains, fresh fruit, protein, good fat, etc...), then counting calories can help. You have to be eating less calories than you expend in order to lose weight.

 

Counting calories caught several " healthy" foods that would be fine for me...ON MAINTENANCE diet. But they really added up to ruin my weight loss efforts. Good cheese. A nightly glass of wine. Eating those meant that I had plateaued (and kept off previously lost weight), but I had not been able to lose more. I've had to really load up the veggies (and lay off the cheese and wine) and I've had good results.

 

ETA: I also don't do artificial sweeteners. One drawback to counting calories "for me" is the potential temptation to have your goodies and just make them with artificial sweeteners.

Edited January 15, 2012 by snickelfritz

[amo_mea_filiis.]

Thank you.

 

I don't eat any grains. It's quite possible I'm not eating enough because I'm not hungry. If I eat breakfast, I'm not hungy until dinner. If I skip breakfast and eat lunch, that's about all I have. I'm *not* doing it on purpose, I'm just not hungry.

 

I could add more water, and possibly try to gain for a few days and go back to the way I was eating. It seemed to be the pattern; drop 2-3#, eat things I shouldn't, gain 1-2#, then drop again below where I was.

 

Other than possible thyroid problems, for which I'm on meds now, I can't figure out why I even gained 50# starting a few years ago.

[FriedClams]

Do you keep a food diary? I'd start there. Write down everything - amounts, calories, and how you are feeling. And - lots of water. I've read you should drink half your weight in ounces per day. So it you are 140 - you should drink 70 ounces a day. Not sure how true that is, though, but worth researching.

[Negin]

Are you eating enough? I know that sounds odd, but if you are chronically underfueling your body, it'll hang onto EVERYthing.

I wish this were true for me. It never is. :confused:

Adding more fuel to my already-deprived body just makes me gain more. Eating the same measly amount seems to make me plateau. Eating more makes me gain. Even a teeny tiny bit more. The only way I can lose, if at all, is to eat even less. :glare: And it gets harder with age. Every decade, I need to eat less. I'm sure that in a few years' time, I'll be going on the Jennifer Aniston diet -3 small jars of baby food a day.

[Caribbean Queen]

I've been stuck at 1X0.0-9 for too darn long!

 

What?

[amo_mea_filiis.]

What?

 

Replace the X with a number.

[Caribbean Queen]

Ah! Algebra weight. ;) " I weigh one hundred some pounds and I want to lose 10 pounds."

I still don't know what the -9 means. :blush:

[LG Gone Wild]

Thank you.

 

I don't eat any grains. It's quite possible I'm not eating enough because I'm not hungry. If I eat breakfast, I'm not hungy until dinner. If I skip breakfast and eat lunch, that's about all I have. I'm *not* doing it on purpose, I'm just not hungry.

 

I could add more water, and possibly try to gain for a few days and go back to the way I was eating. It seemed to be the pattern; drop 2-3#, eat things I shouldn't, gain 1-2#, then drop again below where I was.

 

Other than possible thyroid problems, for which I'm on meds now, I can't figure out why I even gained 50# starting a few years ago.

 

 

Thyroid problems are a doozy. Check your actual calorie intake. Move a little more. Don't eat less than 1200 calories BUT if you want to reduce, shoot for an energy deficit of 300-500 calories per day. Don't skip the exercise and eat only 900 calories, eat the 1200 (as long as it isn't junk) AND do the exercise.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

Ah! Algebra weight. ;) " I weigh one hundred some pounds and I want to lose 10 pounds."

I still don't know what the -9 means. :blush:

 

.0 - .9, 1X0.1, 1X0.2, etc.

[snickelfritz]

Ah! Algebra weight. ;) " I weigh one hundred some pounds and I want to lose 10 pounds."

I still don't know what the -9 means. :blush:

 

I though it meant she was bouncing around within 10 pounds. Ex...120.0-129 And she wants the middle number to go down so that she's in the 110.0-119 range????

 

ETA--ah. I missed her explanation. I was off, too.

[gingersmom]

Exercise exercise exercise

 

I have had problems with my thyroid for 30 years and I have been skinny and been fat.

 

Exercise plus a healthy diet is the only thing that gets the scale moving for me.

[Negin]

Exercise exercise exercise

I have had problems with my thyroid for 30 years and I have been skinny and been fat.

Exercise plus a healthy diet is the only thing that gets the scale moving for me.

I wish that worked for me. Exercise no longer helps me in the weight loss department. Yes, it helps tone and lose inches, but not pounds. Not what counts at the doctor's office or for insurance companies. Exercise helped me until my mid-30s, now, the more exercise - the more rigorous and the longer the session - the more of an adverse effect on my weight loss. I have lots and lots of info on this. Exercise if fabulous for all the health benefits, but not for my weight loss anyway. :confused:

 

Exercise makes you hungrier, causing you to eat more –

Maybe not immediately, but eventually. Burn more calories and the odds are very good that we’ll consume more as well.

I know that when I exercise very intensely and for more than 45 minutes or so, my appetite can be insatiable.

For lots of people, when exercise is bumped up considerably, appetite is also increased.

"The most powerful determinant of your dietary intake is your energy expenditure," says Steven Gortmaker, who heads Harvard's Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity. "If you're more physically active, you're going to get hungry and eat more." Gortmaker, who has studied childhood obesity, is even suspicious of the playgrounds at fast-food restaurants. "Why would they build those?" he asks. "I know it sounds kind of like conspiracy theory, but you have to think, if a kid plays five minutes and burns 50 calories, he might then go inside and consume 500 calories or even 1,000."

Gortmaker and Sonneville found in their 18-month study of 538 students that when kids start to exercise, they end up eating more — not just a little more, but an average of 100 calories more than they had just burned.

 

Exercise does not burn that many calories. Couple that fact with being hungrier and you may eat more calories than you burned. Exercise does help burn calories -- you just can't eat more because of it.

To demonstrate the calorie intake versus exercise principle:

Elliptical training for 44 minutes/500 kcal burned = 1 Honey Bran Raisin Muffin from Dunkin Donuts

Kickboxing for 25 minutes and 272 kcal burned = Grande Starbucks latte with whole milk

Jogging for 60 minutes and 470 kcal burned = 1 slice (1/6 of cake) of Sara Lee Cheesecake, chocolate swirl NY style

Pilates for 30 minutes and 119 kcal burned = 5 pieces of hard candy

 

To burn sufficient calories to lose one pound of body fat, you might:

Briskly walk a total of 35 miles

Swim moderately fast for 6 hours

Dance for 12 hours

Play about 12.5 hours of golf, carrying your own clubs

Jog for about 29 miles

At the same time, you would need to monitor your eating habits to ensure that you are not increasing your calorie-intake in line with your increased exercise! And we all know that it’s much easier to eat 1000 calories than it is to burn 1000 calories!

If you're looking to control your weight, exercise is the least efficient way to do it. You'd have to run for hours to keep the cookies you ate from adding to your waistline.

 

“Overexercise—for a variety of reasons—actually makes it harder to lose weight. Overly strenuous exercise—especially combined with insufficient sleep, unrelenting stress, and poor eating habits—can push your body into survival mode, raising your level of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol’s job is to boost energy levels by any means necessary. If these levels stay high for too long, cortisol starts breaking down the cells in nerves, muscles, and bones, converting them into energy. In the short term, it’s a rush. In the long-term, it’s debilitating.

Cortisol has another job: storing energy where the body can get at it quickly. And guess where that is? In the most accessible place, biologically—belly fat. Ongoing high levels of cortisol lead to weight gain, fatigue, nervousness, and possibly osteoporosis (loss of bone mass).â€

 

I have lots and lots more info, but don't wish to overwhelm here.

 

Here's just one of many links.

[JFSinIL]

I have lost 33 pounds since late August. I have another 27 to go by summer. 60 pounds is a lot of excess baggage when you are 5'1 (and a half!!!)" :D

 

I have cut out 99.99% of all the sweets I used to gobble, (made 18 different types of Christmas cookies but only ate six cookies the entire month before Christmas - I already knew what they tasted like so did not need to eat them!) and increased my intake of fresh veggies and some fruit. I still get whole grains, a bit of fat (only in the food I eat, no added butter, etc.), protein - I just do not eat as much.

 

I exercise at least 6 days a week. Either 35 minutes with Gold's Gym Dance Workout - boxercising only (too uncoordinated to dance) or the 52 minutes of boxercising with ExerBeat. Both are with the Wii. Yep - just me and the Wii in my living room, pocket doors closed so no one can see me sweat (except the Labrador and cats on the couch.) I am also messing around with NFL Football Trainer for fun to work in more varied exercises. I do free weights, too, a few times a week. But I am pushing weight loss more at this stage, than toning. That will come later.

 

I do eat every 4 hours, so 4 small meals a day. I am NOT feeling hungry, despite the exercise, and I AM losing weight. Have gone from size 14 to 10s in my favorite "Mom" jeans. :D

 

The key is to retrain yourself to not want or need those muffins or lattes etc. Gobble up huge salads with different lettuces, sprouts, baby spinach, maybe a grated hardboiled egg if you need the protein...a bit of s/p and NO DRESSING. Have trimmed/sliced veggies in the 'fridge for a quick nibble - I love red/orange/yellow peppers. A sliced apple seems like more food than a whole one )beware - apples nowadays are so big one may count as TWO servings of fruit). Spenda or another non-calorie sweetie of your choice can be used on your non-fat milk latte (from the espresso machine you won from Pioneer Woman) to make a nice lo-cal treat. Have plain raw almonds on hand for a quick protein (a meal with some fruit or salad) when everyone else is chowing down on food you really shouldn't have. Spaghetti squash is a great substitute for pasta. etc. etc. etc. A glass of water or cuppa tea can quell beginning hunger mummers for an extra half hour or so, when needed.

 

I had two Wheetabix dunked in my non-fat Spenda latte for b'fast. I know I want a slice of meatloaf for dinner (made it with very lean meat) so will avoid other fatty things today like almonds, eggs, and peanut butter (I try to limit my intake of a fatty thing to once a day.) Will heat up some leftover brown rice with some lentils for lunch, have a salad and my cut-up peppers at some point when I feel the munchies, plus an apple.

 

It works. Now I need to go do my boxercising in in front of the telly with Wii, so see ya'!

 

I am 52 years old, btw.

Edited January 17, 2012 by JFSinIL

[Negin]

JFS, great job! :D :):D

Love your tips.

[LG Gone Wild]

 

Exercise does not burn that many calories. Couple that fact with being hungrier and you may eat more calories than you burned. Exercise does help burn calories -- you just can't eat more because of it.

To demonstrate the calorie intake versus exercise principle:

Elliptical training for 44 minutes/500 kcal burned = 1 Honey Bran Raisin Muffin from Dunkin Donuts

Kickboxing for 25 minutes and 272 kcal burned = Grande Starbucks latte with whole milk

Jogging for 60 minutes and 470 kcal burned = 1 slice (1/6 of cake) of Sara Lee Cheesecake, chocolate swirl NY style

Pilates for 30 minutes and 119 kcal burned = 5 pieces of hard candy

 

To burn sufficient calories to lose one pound of body fat, you might:

Briskly walk a total of 35 miles

Swim moderately fast for 6 hours

Dance for 12 hours

Play about 12.5 hours of golf, carrying your own clubs

Jog for about 29 miles

At the same time, you would need to monitor your eating habits to ensure that you are not increasing your calorie-intake in line with your increased exercise! And we all know that it’s much easier to eat 1000 calories than it is to burn 1000 calories!

If you're looking to control your weight, exercise is the least efficient way to do it. You'd have to run for hours to keep the cookies you ate from adding to your waistline.

 

“Overexercise—for a variety of reasons—actually makes it harder to lose weight. Overly strenuous exercise—especially combined with insufficient sleep, unrelenting stress, and poor eating habits—can push your body into survival mode, raising your level of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol’s job is to boost energy levels by any means necessary. If these levels stay high for too long, cortisol starts breaking down the cells in nerves, muscles, and bones, converting them into energy. In the short term, it’s a rush. In the long-term, it’s debilitating.

Cortisol has another job: storing energy where the body can get at it quickly. And guess where that is? In the most accessible place, biologically—belly fat. Ongoing high levels of cortisol lead to weight gain, fatigue, nervousness, and possibly osteoporosis (loss of bone mass).â€

 

I have lots and lots more info, but don't wish to overwhelm here.

 

Here's just one of many links.

 

 

I am going to quibble with this just a little bit. Exercise does burn a lot of calories during the activity AND after BUT...BUT....BUT...not as as much as you need to counteract all the junk food Negin uses in her example. The only person who seems to be able to do that is Michael Phelps.

 

The only way you can have a calorie deficit is if you exercise. So while you wouldn't swim for 6 hours in a single day, you could swim for an hour each day and get rid of that fat over a week. A pound a week is what any doctor would recommend for safe weight loss.

 

Make your own food and you will be alright. So, don't eat that Sarah Lee cheesecake! When we prepare our own food, I have trouble eating the minimum requirement of 1200. The further away from cooking from scratch, the faster the unnecessary calories add up.

 

Overtraining comes in when you are pushing beyond what is good for you at your current level. If you decide to exercise, push yourself within your fitness level AND be mindful of your calorie intake. For example, if you eat 1200 calories and exercise for 600 calories, that is too much exercise and you will end up with all those things Negin pointed out.

[regentrude]

Exercise makes you hungrier, causing you to eat more –

Maybe not immediately, but eventually. Burn more calories and the odds are very good that we’ll consume more as well.

I know that when I exercise very intensely and for more than 45 minutes or so, my appetite can be insatiable.

 

So, the answer would be to exercise when one does NOT have access to food to replace the calories (if a person does not have the discipline to simply do not eat more when food is available).

I have not seen anybody NOT lose weight on a multi-day backpack where you only had the food available you could carry on your back - you burn a lot more than you can possibly carry if it is anything longer than four days.

I think that most people grossly overestimate the amount of calories they are burning when exercising for short amounts of time; so the key would be to exercise under conditions that make it impossible to replace the calories quickly. Anybody will lose weight, guaranteed.

[Negin]

Make your own food and you will be alright. So, don't eat that Sarah Lee cheesecake! When we prepare our own food, I have trouble eating the minimum requirement of 1200.

I spent months exercising intensely for 1-2 hours a day. I'm talking Jillian Michaels stuff, etc. This was in my 40s, not my teens/20s/30s, when my body was different and reacted differently to diet & exercise. I ate and cooked super-healthy. No sugar, no desserts, except for the occasional birthday cake. I wasn't so lucky. I barely lost ANY weight in more than six months. I got very toned. Lost inches. Felt great, but hardly any weight loss for all that effort. I also got rather, how should I stay, stocky and bulky, which I don't like.

Eating healthy for me no longer works. I have to eat healthy AND eat VERY, VERY little. No, I never went near Sara Lee Cheesecake or junk food. But, when I exercise THAT intensely, I do need to eat more than 1200. I'm inherently more hungry. Dh, who is very thin and lean, and weighs the exact same as he did in high school (lucky thing!) NEEDS to drink 2 large Gatorades after each soccer game.

I can eat healthy and cook my own meals and still be overweight.

I guess I'm the oddball. :glare:

So when I make my own food, I'm usually not alright. In fact, me and cooking are not the best of friends. I cook very healthy, by the way. The times when I lose the most are when I cook the least. But I loathe cooking anyway and would gladly hire a healthy chef if I could.

For me, it's mostly about intake. 80-90% what I eat and 10-20% what I do. Unfortunately, since I love to exercise. Mind you, I also love to eat. :tongue_smilie: I love both and both worked for me for many, many years. No more.

 

the key would be to exercise under conditions that make it impossible to replace the calories quickly. Anybody will lose weight, guaranteed.

Yes, but other than natural disasters and such, how often does that happen? :confused: I lost about 10 pounds in 1 week after a major hurricane hit Grenada, due to a lack of food. I call it The Hurricane Diet. It works! :D

 

I'm going to include all my info here for anyone who may be interested. If not, ignore. :D :lol:

 

 

I'm trying to change my approach to eating less (tell me about it!) and doing more gentle forms of exercise - barre, pilates, yoga, etc. Some cardio, but not going all out. And no longer exercising for 90+ minutes per day.

Edited January 17, 2012 by Negin in Grenada

[Negin]

Exercise is wonderful for preventing all sorts of diseases – heart disease, cancer, diabetes, protecting the bones, lifting one’s mood, boosting metabolism, and so on. But in general, for weight loss, exercise is not all it’s made out to be. Lots of research has shown this. In terms of weight loss, diet and aerobic exercise provide only a very marginal benefit when compared to diet alone.

I have numbers to prove it - since I weigh and measure on a weekly basis - the times that I have lost the most weight are when I exercise moderately (not for an hour or more a day, like I used to) and eat MUCH, MUCH less.

My body has changed. It's not the body I had in my teens, 20s, or early 30s. I used to be able to eat that slice of cheesecake AND run 4 miles the next morning AND not ever gain. I can’t do that anymore.

I have more recently found that that when I exercise intensely for 45 minutes or more per day, my appetite increases. I get the most results from eating MUCH less and exercising moderately – for about 30-45 minutes per day, or at least most days. That's just my experience. Again, I have numbers to prove it.

For me, weight loss is pretty much 80% what I eat and 20% what I do. As with most things in life, the usual 80/20 Principle applies. My dh (and others have said this also), say that it may be more like 90% what I eat. I'm actually am agreeing with that more and more.

When it comes to weight loss, intake is the major factor. When it comes to overall health and longevity, exercise is essential also.

I no longer exercise for 90 minutes a day, and sometimes not even every day, since it’s not always possible.

I tell myself to exercise for health not necessarily for weight loss. Exercise is not a weight loss solution.

 

We all need to move more, yet this doesn’t necessarily mean that we need to stress our bodies at the gym. Our leisure-time physical activity (including things like golfing, gardening and walking) has decreased since the late 1980s, right around the time the gym boom really exploded.

Very frequent, low-level physical activity — the kind humans did for tens of thousands of years before the leaf blower was invented — may actually work better for us than the occasional bouts of exercise you get as a gym rat. To burn calories, the muscle movements don't have to be extreme. It would be better to distribute the movements throughout the day – functional fitness such as housework, walking the dog, raking the leaves, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking while carrying groceries, walking instead of driving when possible, etc.

 

It's how much you eat, not how hard you try to work it off, that matters more in losing weight. You should exercise to improve your health, but be warned: fiery spurts of vigorous exercise could lead to weight gain.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/27/earlyshow/health/main5269114.shtml

 

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/phys-ed-why-doesnt-exercise-lead-to-weight-loss/

 

Someone here wrote this:

There’s a Gary Taubes video where he talks about how when we increase our exercise, our appetites naturally increase to adjust. Conversely, when we reduce our caloric intake, our bodies naturally reduce their energy output to adjust. The video is long, but definitely worth watching! He describes (in general layman's terms) the biochemistry of how weight gain and loss occurs, and it's very valuable information.

http://webcast.berkeley.edu/event_details.php?webcastid=21216

 

 

 

Remember: Weight loss begins in the kitchen!

 

In order for me to lose, I need to eat MUCH, MUCH less ... which is really, really hard for me to do.

If I want to maintain, I need to eat about the same or slightly less and maintain the same level of workouts.

 

From a good friend:

Just for a personal experiment, I did nothing but yoga for a week, cardio for another and weights the last (and I'm talking heavy weights) – there was NO change in my weight (not up or down). Meaning that it doesn't matter what type of exercise you do, as long as you do them, you will lose at the same rate, if that is your goal. I get so tired of hearing that you have to do cardio to lose weight.

When I was doing hcg or any other diet that I was on, it didn't matter what I was doing, as long as I was eating less than I normally ate.

When I did Body for Life, I was lifting the heaviest weights I had ever lifted (125lbs. was my 6 rep bench press and 195lbs. was my 6 rep squat) and I was smaller, tighter, and weighed the least amount I had weighed in a long time. I just wanted to get the point across that ANY exercise will benefit your weight loss goals. It's the controlled eating part that is most necessary to the weight loss effort.

 

In Good Calories, Bad Calories, Gary Taubes debunks the myth that exercise equals weight loss (and the old calories in, calories out myth). While exercise has many other benefits, to promote exercise as the solution to weight loss exclusively is doing people a great disservice. People who are more than a few pounds overweight, insulin resistant, or diabetic really need to concentrate on a permanent change to their diet -- and I mean severely reducing their carbohydrate intake. A nice long walk along and strength training are far more beneficial to this group of people than cardio. Wait to do cardio until you are thin, you are doing it for fun, and it is less stressful to your joints.

 

"Great bodies are made in the kitchen and improved in the gym."

 

When you talk to women who have successfully lost weight and kept it off, many have discovered that weight loss depends almost entirely on what goes into their mouths.

 

I loved the French Women thread. Learned a lot and good reminder. :)

My good friend wrote this after her trip to Paris. Very interesting. She pointed out that in France, there is no Jillian Michaels type counterpart. They just walk a lot and eat less, it seems. I noticed that also.

[LG Gone Wild]

I spent months exercising intensely for 1-2 hours a day. I'm talking Jillian Michaels stuff, etc. This was in my 40s, not my teens/20s/30s, when my body was different and reacted differently to diet & exercise. I ate and cooked super-healthy. No sugar, no desserts, except for the occasional birthday cake. I wasn't so lucky. I barely lost ANY weight in more than six months. I got very toned. Lost inches. Felt great, but hardly any weight loss for all that effort. Eating healthy for me no longer works. I have to eat healthy AND eat VERY, VERY little. No, I never went near Sara Lee Cheesecake or junk food. But, when I exercise THAT intensely, I do need to eat more than 1200. I'm inherently more hungry. Dh, who is very thin and lean, and weighs the exact same as he did in high school (lucky thing!) NEEDS to drink 2 large Gatorades after each soccer game.

I can eat healthy and cook my own meals and still be overweight.

I guess I'm the oddball. :glare:

So when I make my own food, I'm usually not alright. In fact, me and cooking are not the best of friends. I cook very healthy, by the way. The times when I lose the most are when I cook the least. But I loathe cooking anyway and would gladly hire a healthy chef if I could.

For me, it's mostly about intake. 80-90% what I eat and 10-20% what I do. Unfortunately, since I love to exercise. Mind you, I also love to eat. :tongue_smilie: I love both and both worked for me for many, many years. No more.

 

 

Yes, but other than natural disasters and such, how often does that happen? :confused: I lost about 10 pounds in 1 week after a major hurricane hit Grenada, due to a lack of food. I call it The Hurricane Diet. It works! :D

 

I'm going to include all my info here for anyone who may be interested. If not, ignore. :D :lol:

 

 

 

Wait! How is that a failure? You lost inches! You got toned! You felt great! I don't understand.

 

 

FTR, I also gain as I cook because I snack along while cooking and then also have my meal. So my calorie intake is off. And I, too, hate cooking but well, one can't always have it one's own way all the time.

[Negin]

Wait! How is that a failure? You lost inches! You got toned! You felt great! I don't understand.

Because of the stupid scale. Doctor's office. Health insurance forms. Plus, I just looked more stocky (mainly in the upper body area) which I really don't like. I wish that the world would not judge us on BMI and weight. :glare: You're sweet. I do wish that I could eat normally AND exercise as much as I want. I no longer can. I LOVE exercise. But when I exercise for too long or too intensely, I get hungrier. This did not used to be the case.

 

Thanks for understanding :grouphug:.

 

You, by the way, look great in all your photos I've seen. :grouphug: :D You're doing wonderfully.

[LG Gone Wild]

Because of the stupid scale. Doctor's office. Health insurance forms. Plus, I just looked more stocky (mainly in the upper body area) which I really don't like. I wish that the world would not judge us on BMI and weight. :glare: You're sweet. I do wish that I could eat normally AND exercise as much as I want. I no longer can. I LOVE exercise. But when I exercise for too long or too intensely, I get hungrier. This did not used to be the case.

 

 

Thanks for understanding :grouphug:.

 

You, by the way, look great in all your photos I've seen. :grouphug: :D You're doing wonderfully.

 

 

Thank you but from what you have posted, I think we have nearly the same body type. I am really stocky.

 

When you had those months of success, you lost a lot of fat. BTW, do you think the Williams sisters blow those BMI readings out of the water?

[JFSinIL]

I have read that muscle is denser and weighs more than fat - if you exercise and work in strength training you will lose fat...and gain muscle. The scale may not show weight loss - but you will be leaner and healthier. That is why I am working now to lose weight more than build muscle. Once I am closer to my target weight I will adjust my workouts to include more strength-training and less aerobics. The scale won't go down as much or as fast (if at all) but I will be toner and healthier. Muscle Mom, the Middle-Aged Wonder! :D

Edited January 17, 2012 by JFSinIL

[amo_mea_filiis.]

Not sure that I did anything, but this morning I was in the next 10's!!!

 

It's very likely that I have hashimotos and have been hypo for years. Since starting thyroid meds, I'm either normal, or close to hyper so I'm losing.

[snickelfritz]

I have read that muscle is denser and weighs more than fat - if you exercise and work in strength training you will lose fat...and gain muscle. The scale may not show weight loss - but you will be leaner and healthier. That is why I am working now to lose weight more than build muscle. Once I am closer to my target weight I will adjust my workouts to include more strength-training and less aerobics. The scale won't go down as much or as fast (if at all) but I will be toner and healthier. Muscle Mom, the Middle-Aged Wonder! :D

 

This is me. I'm focusing on lots of quick walking, overall toning to build up my really weak core/upper body, and stress reducing trying some yoga, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong.

 

In mid-April, a gym we joined opens up. I'm hoping to have a little more weight gone by then and enough beginning strength to use their resources (personal training, classes, machines) to switch my focus to heavier toning. So, this is my pre-gym regimen because I was in such bad shape to start. :).

 

My mini brag, which no one may see at this point in the thread, but I want to say anyway---- it's taken me almost 2 years of plateaus and success, but I've lost 45 pounds so far. :)

[snickelfritz]

Not sure that I did anything, but this morning I was in the next 10's!!!

 

It's very likely that I have hashimotos and have been hypo for years. Since starting thyroid meds, I'm either normal, or close to hyper so I'm losing.

 

Good job!:hurray:

[LG Gone Wild]

This is me. I'm focusing on lots of quick walking, overall toning to build up my really weak core/upper body, and stress reducing trying some yoga, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong.

 

In mid-April, a gym we joined opens up. I'm hoping to have a little more weight gone by then and enough beginning strength to use their resources (personal training, classes, machines) to switch my focus to heavier toning. So, this is my pre-gym regimen because I was in such bad shape to start. :).

 

My mini brag, which no one may see at this point in the thread, but I want to say anyway---- it's taken me almost 2 years of plateaus and success, but I've lost 45 pounds so far. :)

 

Your record is better than mine. It took me that long to lose 10 lbs. Congratulations!

[Negin]

When you had those months of success, you lost a lot of fat. BTW, do you think the Williams sisters blow those BMI readings out of the water?

Yes, but I looked really bulky, or, should I say, bulkier. When I didn't work out as much and changed my workouts to less strenuous ones, I looked slimmer, leaner, and trimmer. My tops especially fit better.

The BMI readings affect how much I pay for health insurance and my doctor's disapproval.

The Williams sisters can afford to write their own checks. I can't. :glare:

 

Not sure that I did anything, but this morning I was in the next 10's!!!

:party: Happy for you!

 

it's taken me almost 2 years of plateaus and success, but I've lost 45 pounds so far.

:D Happy for you also!

 

I've lost 15 pounds in just under a month. I would love to lose 20 more. But then keeping it off is the real struggle. 95% of us (yours truly is really bad at this :glare:) regain and more. Losing is relatively easy. It's keeping it off that's hard.

[mchel210]

I am SO on the same page with you!!! I joined myfitnesspal online. It is free and if you have a smartphone you can add it on there as well. It counts your calories and such so you see what you are actually eating plus you count exercise. It is a useful tool to try.

 

I am stuck at 141-143 I have been eating super healthy...and my husband even had me do 2 weeks very very low carbs. He lost 11 lbs...I stayed the same. :001_huh:

Oh well...So I figured my body likes this weight. I am working out everyday and sticking around 1200 calories and very low fat. I figure if I continue working out regular...sooner or later things have got to change if only a tiny bit.

[Negin]

Happy to report that I'm slowly losing. I hope and hope and hope that I can keep this up and keep the weight off. I'm now in the next 10's. :D Lost 19 pounds in a month.

 

I joined myfitnesspal online. It is free and if you have a smartphone you can add it on there as well. It counts your calories and such so you see what you are actually eating plus you count exercise. It is a useful tool to try.

I would love something like that. :)

 

I am stuck at 141-143 I have been eating super healthy...and my husband even had me do 2 weeks very very low carbs. He lost 11 lbs...I stayed the same. :001_huh:

Oh well...So I figured my body likes this weight. I am working out everyday and sticking around 1200 calories and very low fat. I figure if I continue working out regular...sooner or later things have got to change if only a tiny bit.

I would love to be stuck at 141-143. In fact, that's below my ideal weight. :) I'd be delighted at 146 or so.

It is so very unfair that men seem to have an easier time. My dh is the same exact weight and waist measurement as in high school and he can eat what he wants.

Yes, I agree that your body must like that weight. You're doing everything right. :)

 

Remember to be healthy, not skinny. :grouphug: