What am I doing wrong??

Question

I have been trying to lose weight for months now. I run 4 days a week, 2-3 miles each time. I also take a Pilates class once a week. My diet is similar to this-- high fiber cereal for breakfast, slimfast bar as a snack, a 230 calorie meal for lunch (usually the microwavable kind from weigh watchers), whole wheat pasta, lean chicken breast, rice or veggies for dinner. I usually have desert after dinner but I don't go overboard. So, why am I not losing weight?! I am still the same size as when I started running months ago and I have noticed only a slight difference in my body. I drink water and watch my portion size, but nothing helps. I am so frustrated that I feel like giving up. Could there be something medically wrong with me? Most of my fat is in my hips and stomach. It won't budge! Help!

Answer 1

Eliminate ALL refined sugar intake, increase water consumption, and consider smaller portions. And don't cheat.

Answer 2

Do your strength workout (develop one) then complete your cardio workout. You won't wear yourself out, and you'll dip into fat stores faster because you've already burned off some muscle glycogen.

Don't skip the cardio just because you have less than 30 minutes to devote to it. But you need to add intervals--bursts of speed above your normal pace--to make it count.

Eat more fish, especially salmon and other cold-water species like tuna, cod and halibut.

Avoid fancy coffee drinks. A 20 ounce mocha can easily top 400 calories, most of them from sugar. Two mochas a week equals 41,600 calories a year.

Don't drink mass-produced fruit juices. They're almost all pure sugar. Fruit, yes. Juice, no.

Don't do stuff you hate just because you think you have to. Nobody ever went soft because he/she lifted weights when they should have been jogging or jogged when they should have been rowing.

Avoid protein shakes. You get enough protein from your diet. Most everyone does.

Make sure you're having fun while exercising. An hour of basketball feels like 15 minutes. An hour on a treadmill feels like just that, an hour on a treadmill.

Don't forget to take a multi-vitamin everyday.

And finally to make sure you really are aware of everything you eat start a journal (try it or a month). Document what you eat, the date and time you eat it, and how much. Be disiplined and include even the smallest snack. You may be surprised at the results.

Good luck!!

Answer 3

You are actually doing great. You should always try to change your workout regimen every couple of weeks so that you are not doing the same thing constantly. Your body will get used to the particular exercises that you are doing and will not respond to them if you do them to much. That is why you should change what you do in your workout every few weeks.

I do believe that you are losing body fat. If your clothes are fitting you differently then you know that you are doing something right. Try measuring your body fat % because that is what will tell you if you are losing weight or not. Muscles weighs more than fat, so you may actually be losing weight, but since you are gaining muscle the scale will actually make you think that you are not losing weight at all.

Also, try increasing your protein intake. Proteins are what helps the body to build muscle and to lean out to put it simple.

You may want to try consulting with a personal trainer in your area to help you as far as measuring body fat % and seeing how much protein, how many calories, etc.. that you need inorder to lose weight and maintain the weight loss.

I am a certified personal trainer so I know that they are wonderful and caring people to work with!!! I also have a Masters in Health.

Keep up the great work and good luck to you!!!

Answer 4

So you've been at this program you describe for months?, no loss of weight at all? Are you noticing any toning of your body? The running is going to build muscle in your legs, possibly your seeing a little muscle gain? Good thing about that is that muscle burns energy when you work out, fat, well it doesn't. What is your liquid intake besides water? Watch the malted beverages if your of age. Do up feel that running is making you eat more? Not uncommon. Mix some walking into your running and maybe increase the distance another mile or so. There are many things I don't know about you or your fitness level to really be able to offer concrete suggestion. Just scratched the surface.

Answer 5

Since you have been doing this for months already, then the problem must lie on the fact that your fitness training is the same every month right? Well, you're body adjusts itself to the different changes you make in your eating and activities. That's why when you eat less calories and work out more, it adjusts itself use up less calories. That is why people usually lose weight in the first few days, and after that, no more.

What you should do is to continuously "shock" your body by changing your eating and activity routines daily or every 2 or 3 days. That way, it won't have time to adjust itself and you will lose the weight continuously.

Answer 6

You need to be running for much longer than just 2 or 3 miles if you want some serious weight loss results. Try to increase your mileage to 20 miles per week. Also in addition to pilates (which is a wonderful way to exercise) try weight training 2 more days that week.

As a quick fact. Miss New York 2002, Tiffany Walker, won at swimsuit at miss america in her year. She's actually a friend of my wife. Don't mean to brag but my wife was also Miss New York in 2004, Christina Ellington ;). She was top 10 at miss america her year. So pilates is great keep it up.

Answer 7

Yes, this happened to me also - I saw no changes for six months!

Everytime you walk or run 1 mile you burn approximately 100 calories. If you are running 3 miles, four times a week, then that means you are burning 1200 calories per week. If you need to burn 3500 calories to lose 1 pound, then basically, you are burning 1/3 of a pound per week (and that is if you are not cheating on your diet!). At this rate, after 3 months, you would be lucky if you lost a grand total of three pounds.

I would recommend that you increase your mileage (albeit very slowly). Also, find out what your base metabolic rate is - the rate your body burns calories while at rest. For instance, I found out that my BMR is 1500 - which is what my body would require if I were to stay in bed all day and not move at all. Since my BMR is 1500, I kept my caloric intake at 1500, and then all calories burned off in exercise created the "deficit".

Oh well, hope this helps.

Answer 8

From the amount of physical activity (depending on how much you were doing before you began trying to lose weight), I'd say you're building muscle which is accounting for your weight not changing dramatically. Sugar and stress seem to be the two main culprits for fat centered around the waist. Also, you may be losing fat but still have the skin where it was...it takes much longer for your skin to adjust than for you lose the weight in fat. It helped me to start measuring inches instead of pounds. You'll see a difference.

Answer 9

Aaahhh the joys of being woman. It has a lot to do with the TYPE of exercise that you do. You need to do exercises that target those areas. If you want to lose it in the hips, then I suggest walking, not running. Walking tones, while running bulks. As for the abs, well there's not much you can do besides crunches, leg lifts, etc.

I'd also recommend doing some of your Pilates exercises for 20 minutes or so everyday (preferably in the morning)

Ballet exercises are great for the abs and legs too.

Answer 10

You don't mention much about your body, whether or not you are overweight. You seem to be doing everything right, so maybe you are in pretty good shape already?

Keep track of your workouts. Is it easier to run those 3 miles? Are your times getting better? You might consider a body composition test, taking your body fat percentage. Or take your waist, hips, thigh, etc. and see if they change over a few months.

Lower body fat is also slower to lose than upper body fat. You are doing healthy things, and that's good enough not to quit!

Answer 11

it could be your thyroids, have it checked out by a doctor they'll draw blood and do a thyroid count and that could be why you're not losing the weight. Plus muscle weighs more than fat. Just keep doing what you're doing, heck I'm proud of you. Don't give up, you're doing great. Try not to eat anything 2 hours prior to going to bed and stay away from sugar pop. Crystal Light is awesome.