Hi everybody. Why can't I lose the 5-10 pounds that I have been trying to lose now for almost two years?

Question

I am a teenage girl and I am so frustrated, mad, and sad because I have done everything right, but have not gotten any results! I eat right (I've even been to a nutritionist that said my eating was fine) and I excercise 6 days a week (currently working with a physical trainer). I am 5'7 and 160 lbs. Has anyone out their heard of any medical problems I could be facing? Could my metabolism just be very slow? Please help if you have any suggestions or comments!

Answer 1

Muscle weighs more than fat - fact

I yo-yo'd with my weight for a long time until I stopped thinking in terms of weight. At the end of the day weight is a number. It is about how you feel. As an example I could be a size 12, put on 6 pounds and still be a size 12.

As long as you have good muscle tone and eat healthily you will look absolutely fine. And skinny is way over-rated.

Answer 2

every woman in my wife's family has had the same issue. G'ma is 69, her sisters are 68, 67, and 60; daughters are 46, 44, 42, 40, 38, 36, 32, 28 and 24; and granddaughters begin at 21 [and go down to 3 months].

Every woman over age 12 in the entire family has always thought the same thing ... too heavy, must lose weight, and has serious trouble doing so.

Normal diets just don't work for them. And most nutritionalists do not know why.

What does work is consistency, avoiding carbs, lots of fruits and vegetables, and exercise or hard physical work. The ones who are on a formal program have a goal to lose 1/2 pound a week. They weigh themselves at the same time of day once each and every week. If weight doesn't go down, they reduce carbs even more and increase exercise.

Desserts are out. Completely out. Personally, I eat my salad last like Europeans do and I fill my dinner plate with it. I feel full when I leave the table and am easily able to decline snacks and dessert afterward. [Of course, I'm a guy. I'm 6 feet and weigh 148 -- my weight has been bewteen 145 and 158 for over 20 years. I start reducing carbs when i weigh 155.]

Exercise for them is two or three times a day for a minimum of 20 minutes per. If your heart rate doesn't go up and stay up, it isn't exercise. The most successful among them swims for an hour a day [or one mile, whichever comes first], PLUS takes at least two 30 minute brisk walks with the dog -- EVERY DAY. Her sister chases her kids and her job. [These two wear size 6 -- the only ones who can].

You have to keep records of everything you eat and all the exercise you do, as well as total them regularly (weekly is fine). If you don't keep records, you'll start to forget the soda you had at 4pm. And you'll not notice that your total exercise this past week was light. [The Weight Watchers point count system seems ok. Get a copy of it from someone who is in the program.]

Btw, these women have normal size frames [bones]. they wear dress sizes from 16 down to 6. And they're about your height ... 5'4" to 5'8" or so [normal].

Women with larger frames just can not achieve the weight to height ratios you want -- their bones and muscles to move those bones weigh too much.


GL

Answer 3

You are getting professional help, which is great. If you are doing quite a bit of cardio/aerobic exercising as part of your program, that's also great. It must be your caloric intake that is still too high, in spite of what your nutritionist says. Your weight puts you at a BMI of 25.1, which is right at the top end of the safe range for an adult. If you are teenage, that is outside the safe range, which goes from about 22 at age 13 to about 24 at age 16.5. Losing 10lb would give you a BMI of 23.5. (A calculator is at http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/)

Consumer Reports, the non-profit, no advertising organization, recently rated the "Volumetrics Eating Plan" as the best approach to weight-loss dieting. It doesn't cost anything more than what your parents are already paying for your food. Simply put, for each food, you look up or calculate the caloric density by dividing the number of calories in a serving by the weight of the serving. Then you focus your attention on eating more low-density foods than high-density ones. They fill you up sooner, so your calorie intake drops, and you lose weight. You can continue the plan indefinitely (after you get to your desired weight, just add a few high density foods to maintain it), so this diet has a good chance to keep you at your desired weight once you get there. There is a book available, "The Volumetrics Eating Plan", published this year. Your local bookstore should have it, or will be able to order it.

Be sure to involve your parents in your dieting plan. Always set yourself a definite target when losing weight, and don't go beyond it. That way, you minimize the risk of falling into an anorexic or bulimic pattern of eating. Good luck!

Answer 4

I really don't think you have that much to worry about just now. Your weight is just within the heathy weight section.
Your BMI is 22% which is fine.
If you are doing a lot of exercise you shouldn't just focus on the scales because you are burning bodyfat and building your muscle mass (which weighs more but takes up less room) Measure yourself for inch loss as well.

Just keep doing what you are doing. Make sure you are eating breakfast and don't skip meals. Drink about 6-8 glasses of water a day to keep your body hydrated more when you go to the gym and eat plenty of vegetables and fruit and cut down on chips, crisps and biscuits and you will be fine.

If you live in the uk I can talk on the phone with you if you still doubt this but really don't worry. You're doing great.

No problem!!!

Answer 5

as my great grannie used to say,,,, always leave the table feeling like you could eat another wee bite and u'll never get fat! in other words eat in proportion. try not to boredom eat and if ya gotta snack then chose a nice bit of fruit!

ALSO if u go to the kitchen, before ya pick up something to eat ask urself if ur actually hungry or just thirsty!! sometimes ur body can fool you so have a big glass of milk then decide if ya want a snack ect.

AND.... u say u work out 6 times a week! goodness give ur body a break! hopefully its not slaving away in the gym for hours. by simply taking a 40 min walk everyday can make a difference

AND REMEMBER.... Muscle weighs more than fat!! so if ur doing heavy workouts and building up muscle u mite find that u weigh much more. instead of weighing urself try working with ur BMI. mite give u a beter reading.

hope tht helped!

Answer 6

What you should do is not eat breakfast. Everyone says that this is no good, but it always works for me. I eat just 2 meals a day. I usually eat my first meal around 11:15 am and my second meal around 5:30 pm. The rules are that you can eat breakfast, lunch or dinner for any of the two meals. It's best to eat what you feel like eating and make sure you eat fruits, vegetables and proteins everyday. Just eat till you are full, do not eat till you are stuffed. Be sure you take some kind of a walk everyday, even if you just walk around your house several times. You will lose your weight and it should take 2 to 3 months.

Answer 7

I was the same way. A few things worked for me.

1) *I changed my mindset from trying to lose weight to trying to be healthy.*

2) I did the South Beach Diet. I found that I was eating all wrong- my body did better with lower carbs

3) I ate more- smaller meals throughout the day. I think I was eating so little that my body wasn't burning fat

Answer 8

to be honest the best way is not to go on a diet as ive tried them all and diet pills and they dont work lol but just change your diet and go swimming 4-5 times a week for about an hour each time it tones your tummy and all your body up wonderful too ! i lost just over 2 1/2 stone since may its great and i eat loads too im just eating the right foods but instead of swimming try aqua arobics its great and really fun ! great question goodluck !

Answer 9

It could just be that you are at your natural weight already. Not everyone fits some magic standard that says our bodies should be a certain weight in relation to height. I am 5'4" and can hardly ever get below 140 lbs. When I do, my face starts to look drawn and my friends tell me I look ill. Accept your body the way it is and you'll be so much happier!

Answer 10

If you really do work out 6 days a week, then you could just have more muscle then fat in your body, making it harder to lose weight. (Its harder to lose musle then fat). Personally I would just tell you to skip the excercise and relax, maybe you want to eat a little less then you do right now, if the nutritionist said that you are eating right that mean that you are getting the right amount of calories that helps your body continue to grow, but since you want to lose weight then you might want to cut back on the calories.