Can't lose weight, Help please

[tbags]

I am 5 ft 4, about 120lbs and I desire to get down to about 110, but I have become stuck.
I am worried that my exercise routine and diet are simply counter productive.

I eat about 800-1000 per day, and I do cardio six days per week, and burn about 750 calories per session. Additionally I do resistance traning twice per week.

I can't understand how it can be possible that I am not losing any weight??? I have been doing this for about two months now, and at first I lost about a pound a week; however, for the last three weeks I have actually gained about a pound. It just seems odd that I could gain weight when I am burning off almost more than I consume .

I would greatly appreciate any constructive criticism and help.

Thanks very much.

[.V.]

There's your problem. To lose weight, YOU should be eating no less than 1200 calories/day. Your body thinks it's starving and is holding on to every last gram of fat that it can. It'll even sacrifice muscle and eventually brain tissue to save the fat which is more vital to starvation survival.

Rethink the diet. Standard would be 40-45% carbs, 30-35% protein, 20% fat, some would even suggest 30% fat.

Some kind of resistance training 3x a week is nice and cardio as needed. Either HIIT 2x a week for 15 min or something less intense before breakfast while glycogen stores are low so you can burn fat directly for 20-30 minutes each day.

If you don't eat enough to fuel workouts, your body will revolt and fight against you.

Try this for a couple of months and see what happens. Start an online training journal to get more feedback.

If after an honest 8 week evaluation, you haven't made progress LMK and I'll tell you what I'd do. You actually don't have enough to lose to need to do that though.

One more thing, forget the scale, just worry about how you look and how your clothes fit - that's a better indicator of fat vs muscle. I can gain and lose 10-15 pounds in a week of water sometimes. That's why I only weigh at the same time on the same day every week.

[Lady C]

Give us an example day of what you eat and when and the workout. The more detail the better.

Also at 5'-4, 110lbs is not realistic. I would chose a goal that is more how you look in the mirror or how your close fit and forget what the scale says. I am 5'-4 and I struggle to get below 120lbs (most of mine is muscle). Go see my progress pics for proof.

[minime]

welcome to DF!

800-1000 calories a day wouldnt be enough for you even if you were bedbound. At 120 your BMR(the amount of calories needed for your organs to function etc.) is probably around 1200 therefore as Welch says you should never drop below this.

I suggest you up your calories to 1200 this week, 1400 next week etc until you reach 1800 or even 2000. Add a resistance training program and cut down on your cardio/switch it up with HIIT like welch suggested.

At 123lbs you are not overweight : focus on your training and eating enough to fuel your body. And throw away your scales. If you keep going the way you are going right now you are on the way to a serious metabolism slowdown.

I am only 5'2 and i eat twice what you do or more.

Good luck : i hope you stick around, and consider starting an online journal here!

[CF-OC_gal]

I agree that under 120 is not realistic except for short periods of time. Why not focus on another type of goal like a fitness achievement. That often gets your weight and appearance into line without even having to think about it.

Welcome to the forums.

BTW - I'm 5'4, 124-128lbs, eat 2500-3000 cals per day, workout 6 days a week, age 49, 19% bodyfat

In my work I see many clients once a year so it is quite obvious when I recognize one who has lost a noticable amount of weight. Being the amateur fitness buff I am, I always take time to ask them how they did it. The two ways that most say they did it are that they followed the South Beach Diet or they participated in Weight Watchers.

[arbit]

Plus, there is no way that u'r averaging 1000 cal/day, and burning 750 cal 6 days a week in cardio and not losing weight. It not possible.
I also agree that you should probably eat 1400 cal/day or more.

[tbags]

thanks for all of your advice. im new at this and all of your expertise is really helpful. i guess i will have to start eating more and change my workout. this should actually be a lot less frustrating...thanks again!

[.V.]

One more thing, open a free account at FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal and accurately track your food intake every day. Use it to plan meals ahead of time. It's a great way to make sure you are either eating enough or not eating too much.

[LiftGirl]

I won't repeat what everyone else has said, though it was great advice. I just wanted to remind you that those calories counters on cardio machines are notoriously inaccurate. A lot of times what happens is the manufacturer knows that machine is going to be sitting in a gym with a bunch of others. They all want you to use their machine, so many of them will show more calories than you really burned because that makes people want to use that machine more.

P.S. 120 at your height is a fine weight. My stats are 5'5 1/2", 130 lbs, about 20%bf (haven't measured in like a year), size 4. I'm plenty thin.