I need advice?

Question

I have been going to weightwatchers for a few months now and to start with it was great! I have lost a total of 3 stone. I have been using the points system and have and still am following it properly with no cheating! The problem is my weight is now for the past three weeks has been going up instead of down. What is going on as i am not cheating?

Answer 1

Well, I for one am not an advocate for weight watchers or any other popular diet program like Jenny Craig.
I grew up big and fat, and it wasn't until a few years ago that I finally figured it out and started making vast impovments and was able to keep the weight off. Before, it would only stay off for six months at the most.
For you, you need to figure out how many calories you are consuming, chances are, your caloric intake is way too low. Most people that "diet" cut they're calories way too low, too fast, and instead of your body buring calories, it's actually storing everything because it thinks it's not getting enough food for energy. The best way to cut calories is to first determine your BMR, or Basic Metabolic Rate. This is the amount of calories your body burns in a single day, just by being awake and alive, given that you work and do the dishes, etc...and not just lie around in bed all day. This forumla is found at http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html.
Once you know that, than the smartest way to cut calories, to sneak up on your body so to speak, is to cut 100-150 calories a week from your BMR, until you're cutting about 500 calories below your BMR. 500 is the lowest that you want to go, the safest way, and most healthiest. That will give you about a 7000 calories deficeit per week, which is about 1.5-2 pounds a week. They say that 3,500 calories is one pound. But I wouldn't believe that completely. A safer bet would be to say that 3,500 calories is about .75 pounds.
Also, in conjunction with the calorie defiecit, you should include an exercise program. Even if you just walk 30 minutes a day, that's better than nothing. Starting walking 30 minutes a day, and keep increasing it until you can walk an hour a day. Use that time to reflect on the day, your work, your family, or use it as quality time with your significant other or kids, dog, etc...Once you can walk at a good pace for a hour, either start a walk-jog program, or if you're not too keen on running, then start carrying a backpack, slowly increasing the weight over time. Studies have shown that a 180 lb. man, walking at a moderate pace, with 30 lbs. will burn about 800 calories. It's all different with a woman, but I'd bet money that you'd burn at least 500 calories in an hour, with a 30 lb pack.
Those two principles make up the scientific formula for loosing weight: calories in vs. calories out; buring more than you are consuming.
The last one is consistancy. You can't expect to loose weight and keep it off if you don't maintain. When you start an exercise program, don't be discouraged by the scale. You will gain muscle intially when you start an exercise program, but don't be alarmed. This new weight is muscle. You're still burning fat, but you're body has to grow the muscle in order to continually do the exercises. The plus side to this is that more muscle burn more calories. After a certain amount of time, your body will build enough muscle to be able to do the exercises, and then the fat loss will start to show.
Finally, don't do any crazy diets. All you need to do is learn about nutrional information the food you're eating. The new Food Pyramid is a great example. http://www.mypyramid.gov/
It shows that you eat a well balanced diet of all food groups. Even fat and carbs. You just need to know which types of carbs and fats are good for you and which are bad for you. For example, on carbs. http://www.glycemicindex.com/ This website gives you a complete list of most foods and where they stand on the glycemic index. You generally want to stick that have a low glycemic index because they digest slower. Carbs that are higher, mean that they digest faster, turn to sugar, causeing an increase in your insulin levels, and causeyour body to store more in the fat cells.
All this is really simple once you study up on it a little bit, find out what different types of food do to your body, and what things just shouldn't be consumed. Read magazines, use the internet to research, and by no means just take my word as fact...It's always better if people research for themselves rather take other peoples advice. But just remember, calories in vs. calories out....Everyone can loose weight, you just have to know how to do it.

Answer 2

Go over your diet for the past few weeks. Small things such as going out to eat 2 or 3 times a week can cause a gain. You may not be cheating, just not watching what you eat so much. Like I said, look over your diet and see what you've eaten that could use a little improvement.

Answer 3

after a great loss you weight can stabilise you may need to eat less and exercise more if you want to keep losing but probably not as much as initially as it's healthier to lose it gradually so good luck and keep up the good work but be happy with less and keep adjusting to make it happen--It's not easy but it should be a learning experience for the long journey that it is

Answer 4

i believe that you may be gaining some muscle weight you should get a body fat % scale then do it after a week see if it changes and congrats on the weight loss so far really good effort =)

Answer 5

Consult the experts.