Help me, I can't loose

M

mustang

Member
For the past 7 weeks I have been seeing a nutritionist. She has me on a 1,500 calorie eating plan.I have only lost 3.7 lbs. I do cardio 5 to 6 days a week and weight train 2 body parts a day. I switch my routine all the time so my body doesn't get use to the same thing. I want to lose 20 lbs but can't seem to budge it.I'm very fustrated. I eat very clean, tuna, salads, chicken, Bran cereal, yogurt. I eat yogurt before I go to the gym. Cereal for breakfast, Tuna with a whole wheat wrap,slice of cheese for lunch. Almost every night I eat grilled chicken a 4-oz piece with a salad or vegetable. That is almost every day.I do change it up a little, but that's pretty close.The nutritionist is also confused. Does she really know? Any suggestions?I do have a body like Cedie's. She looks great. I am very strong but would love to see more definition in my muscles.I would like to know what Cedie's menu look like and what kind of calorie intake she has. I try to eat 20g protein for breakfast,30g protein for lunch and 30g protein for dinner, suggestion from the nutritionist. Please help me. I'm at my wits end.I am 5'6. The nutritionist said to stay at the weight I am I need 2,750 calories so by cutting me to 1500 she said about 2 to 2.5 lbs a week. I figured at least 1lb a week. Someone help me. Sorry this is so long, had to get all the information in.
Linsey
 
I really don't like to give diet advice, but here it goes...you might want to consider omitting the dairy and cereal. Try substituting your wrap with Ezekiel bread (it's a flourless, seeded, and sprouted grain bread). It's also a good idea to have a complex carb with a lean protein with each meal.
 
Hi Linsey,

I guess my question would be, are you trying to build muscle and definition or are you trying to loose 20 lbs?

1,500 kcal may not be enough to sustain the workouts that you are doing, escpecially if you are trying to build muscle and the body basically goes into starvation mode. The same thing happened to me, my nutritionist told me to have my calorie intake around 1,500 kcal (and man, did I weigh every morsel of food and journal every bite that went into my mouth - almost obsessive)and after a brief weight loss the first few days, I could not shed an ounze of weight, it actually went up.

It wasn't until I kicked the nutritionist to the curb (she wanted to drop my calorie intake even further and I felt like I was starving already) and slowly increased my calorie intake, did I start loosing weight AND body fat.

I think 1,500 kcal may be appropriate for someone with a moderately active life style, maybe doing 2 or 3 workouts per week, certainly not for someone who does Cathe workouts. You mentioned that you do Cardio 5 to 6 times per week and do weights every day, I think you simply need to eat more!

What kind of cardio do you do and for how long? What is your level of exercise (beginner, intermediate, advanced?)and did you just start your exercise program, or have you done it for a while at this pace? Do you keep track of your heart rate while doing cardio? I have to pace myself with Cathe workouts, I just LOVE them and I have a tendancy to go all out and my heart rate goes too high, and actually slowing down my weight loss (bringing it to a halt is more like it :) ).

In general, your diet looks good, you may want to add 2 or 3 healthy snacks - it looks like you are only eating 3 meals. I would try and add 100 kcal at a time and see what it does to your weight loss.

Have a wonderful day!

Carola
 
First of all 4 lbs is progress - don't feel down about that! That's like 1/2 lb per week! that's pretty good! Keep it mind, the scale isn't always a good indication of results. You could be retaining water, maybe you've gained muscle....

Not getting results could be a number of variables.... ie, are you doing cardio at a high enough intensity and duration? are you doing too much cardio so that you are counteracting your muscle growth? Is your resistance training effective - are your weights heavy enough and are you using proper form? You're diet sounds good. Are you watching your serving sizes? Are you eating at the right times? 5-6 small meals, don't eat 3 hours before bed...Maybe you have a hard time digesting some foods you are eating like dairy. Maybe you are on a birth control pill or other medication....
 
RE: Help me, I can't lose

Linsey,
I can relate to you! It's so frustrating to not see the results that you expect after working hard. I had been at the same weight for over 1 year and finally started seeing results when I got a personal trainer and did more circuit style training and higher reps (15-25 rep range) with shorter rest periods. I also supplemented with about about 4 days of cardio, mostly intervals. Before I had been doing heavier weights of 8-10 rep range because I was thinking that building muscle would increase metabolism which would equal weight loss...WRONG! at least for my body! I still do heavy weeks about once every 3 weeks, per my PTs advice.

Basically, I have a body like Cedie's too, lots of muscle but a tendency to not look as lean (as compared to the other video ladies...I think she looks great!)

I haven't been as disciplined as you in the diet area,cycle between 1500 & 2000 calories per day, but even so I was able to lose about 6 lbs of fat in the last 8 weeks. Not dramatic, but slow & steady. Get your bodyfat tested & do body measurements, the scale is not a reliable indicator at all !!

Good Luck to you! Keep at it, you WILL get results. Come back for moral support as needed.:)
 
Thanks for the support. I'd like to do both,loose and define. The cardio I do is on the Arc trainer, Body pump classes, step aerobics, Treadmill, and the Crosstrainer.When I have time at night, I like to do Cathe's Fittv shows. The times I stay on vary, 30 min. 45 min. 60 min. sometimes I split 15 min. cardio then a set of weights 15 min. cardio then another set of weights until I have completed 3 to 4 sets total. On the machines I vary my intensity. I will do intervals, Hills, it depends on what I'm on that day. My heart rate is between 150 and 165. it depends how long my sessin is. if it's a split I try to do 15 min. with my heart rate at about 160 or above. I try to eat every 3 to 4 hours. I have a mid morning snack 10:00am, (kashi bar, cottage cheese) then I split my lunch and eat that at different times, I eat dinner and that's it. Sometimes I don't get home from work until 7:00pm or 7:30 and by the time I make my chicken it's 8:00. but I don't want to skip dinner either.
 
They say the more slowly you lose the weight, the longer it stays off. I don't know what you're doing "wrong" (full-fat cheese, full-fat salad dressing?), but whatever it is, you're still doing well, so don't be impatient. Quick weight loss tends not to be permanent, and your weight loss will probably be permanent.
-Nancy
 
OK, I would say start dropping your calorie intake until you start losing weight, you really have to burn more calories than what you take in 2 lose weight. I have found this 2 be true. Everybody is different and this nutritionist is just trying things 2 see what works. I never had the money 2 hire one so I just did it on my own.

I just had to learn what worked for me.........

Rhonda:7
 
You didn't mention how old you are...if over 35, the woman's body changes and changes FAST...really roars into changes after 40 - which took die hard exerciser ME by shock...how COULD my body soften like this...your body is like mine...after my son, I was 35, did 1.5 hours a day 4 times a week, plus worked 12 hour shifts as an icu nurse all on my feet on the other days...ate maybe 1300 calories a day TOPS and lost .5 pounds a week...no FAIR...YEAH, I TRIED upping calories a little thinking, oh, I'm in starvation mode....NOT!!!! I've come to conclude that 6 cockroaches, my Nanna Re and ME will survive the end of the world....sigh...... but in a recent seminar I took, we are fighting a losing battle in the 40's BUT if we maintain aerobic and muscle endurance, things will level off by mid 50's and we'll start dwindles in our 60's....that's for the majority of us...there ARE those bionic gals who are in thongs and skinny at 45 (still looks icky though)- but they are the rare ones....
 
For the amount of cardio you are doing, it sounds like you are not eating enough. You said that in order to maintain your weight, the nutritionist said that you need to eat roughly 2700 calories. Why did she/he cut that number so drastically to 1500? That's a 1200 cal difference. Especially for the amount of cardio/weights you do and your height, 1500 may be too drastic of a drop. Your calorie deficit may be closer to 1100-1200 because of the exercise and that's why you are not losing. Your body may be in "starvation mode". Like someone else suggested, try increasing your calorie intake by 100/week and see if that makes any difference.

I know that from personaly experience that for my height/weight, I have not been losing at all for the past several month, especially with all the exercise I do. I spent one evening and figured out my calories eaten/expended and was rather shocked to see that I wasn't eating the calories I though I was because all the exercise.

HTH
 
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