New to board - not losing weight, looking for advise or mentor? Would be greatful

[babybeegurl]

Hi there,

I have actually been reading along on these boards for quite some time and all you ladies seem both very helpful and knowledgeable. I was wondering if I could please get some advice. I am a 25 year old female, my hight is 5'4. I have been going to the gym for about 5 years on and off. At my heaviest (4 years ago) I weighed 227lbs. I now weigh 154. I did this through weight watchers initally and cardio at the gym.

I have gotten quite sick of cardio at the gym and have found a new interest in the classes that my gym offers such as Group power (45min weight lifting, 15min push ups/stretching/cool down), Step Class (1 hour) and Spin class (with the sat. Bikes). I actually am finding it hard to be motivated with out the classes because i am not seeing results. I have stayed at 154 for the last year and a bit. My routine is as follows

Monday - 1 hour Step class + 30min incline brisk walk
Tuesday - 15 min eliptical (high resistance) + 1 hour Power Class
Wed - OFF (school)
Thursday - Spin Class or Step class (depends)
Friday - Power Class
Sat - OFF
Sun - 45min eliptical (high resistance)/treadmill (incline)

I do not eat fastfood as I have had my gallbladder removed so i am cautious of eating fatty food. I am a carb lover but am trying to be better. I now recored my calories on my fooddiary.com and they run between 1150 and 1350 (depends on the day and gym routine). A typical day food wise would look as follows...

Breakfast - Multi grain toast with peanut butter and a whole banana or instant oatmeal

Snack - low fat yougart

Lunch - Chicken breast or low fat chili or ww smart ones meal or chef salad with egg + some kind of fruit

Snack- apple or rice cake or 100cal pack treat (like cookies or something)

Dinner - Chicken or low fat meatloaf with veggies or on a busy night branflakes with skim milk

Snack - usually some fruit in the evening or low fat frozen yougart maybe low fat popcorn (if i didn't have a treat)

I don't really believe in diets that are kind of all or nothing, i do enjoy some low fat frozen yogart etc and think that it should be okay in moderation.

I'm not really sure what else to say but that I am frusterated and would really appreciate some guidance. I did go to see a dietitian who said that everything looked good and i left feeling more upset then ever lol.

My bf offered my Clen which i have decided to try, this is my 3rd week and just today I increased to 80mg. In the first few days i did see a 5lb loss but since then i have gained it back and remain at 154. I'm not really sure what i am doing wrong. I am not looking for a quick fix i just thought it would give me a motivational kick start again. I am more then willing to work hard to achieve my goals. Ideally I would like to tone up my arms and legs and lose about 15-20lbs.

If you have any advise i would be very greatful.

 

[needtogetaas]

welcome to the site. Of course some lovely lades will help you.

 

[Melaina]

Your diet could using some tweaking but first off... welcome to the board and WTG on all of that weight loss!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like you're doing a fantastic job and yes, cardio will burn you out and classes are a good way to stay fit in lieu of the ol' calorie burning machines

 

[tps]

are you weighing and measuring all your food? you cant eyeball it. i think you need to eat more clean real food, up your protein and ditch the processes pre packaged stuff.

congrads on the weight loss...good for you. and welcome

 

[SouthernLord]

Welcome EF and congrats on your weight loss

Here is a good read that will give you some ideas on how to tweak your diet.....



The 7 Rules of Good Nutrition

By Dr John M berardi Ph.D.


Take a look around the nutrition world. Confusing, isn’t it?

Conflicting advice is everywhere, and you’re stuck in the middle. You wonder whether anyone out there even knows what they’re talking about, or whether the experts will ever reach a consensus on anything. You start to wonder whether you’ll need a degree in nutritional biochemistry before you can lose that stubborn abdominal fat.

So what’s the deal? Why so much confusion? Why does one expert suggest that high protein is best for everyone, while another expert suggests high carb and yet another expert suggests high fat? Besides, what exactly do high protein, high carb, and high fat really mean? And why are other experts telling us that food choices should be based on our "metabolic type," our "blood type," or our "ancestry"?

One expert says to eat like a Neanderthal and another says eat like a Visigoth, or perhaps a Viking. But while searching for nutritional Valhalla, most people just get lost and eat like a Modern American—and end up looking more Sumo than Samurai.

These days, we have a cacophony of expertise: lots of confusing noise from the experts drowning out the signal of truth.

On the surface, it appears as if today’s nutrition technology is quite advanced. After all, we have at our disposal more nutrition information than ever before. More money is being spent on nutrition research than in any time in history. Every day, impressive strides are being made in the field. Dozens of nutrition experts are rising to prominence. Yet simultaneously we’re witnessing a steadily increasing rate of obesity, an increase in nutrition-related illness (Diabetes, CVD, and Syndrome X), and an increase in nutrition-related mortality.

Part of the problem is that much of the information hasn’t reached the people who need it. Part of the problem is that even when it does reach those people, they often don’t use it. And certainly, the problem is multifactorial—there are probably many more reasons than I can list here.

How much more information do we need?

But the curious thing is that many people try to solve the problem by seeking out more information. They know it all and still want more. If there’s one thing of which I am absolutely convinced, it’s that a lack of good nutrition information isn’t what prevents us from reaching our goals. We already know everything we need to know. Sometimes the real problem isn’t too little information but too much.

All the fundamental principles you need to achieve good health and optimal body composition are out there already, and have been for years. Unfortunately, with 500 experts for every fundamental principle, and very little money to be made from repeating other people’s ideas, experts must continually emphasize the small (and often relatively unimportant) differences between their diet/eating plans and the diet/eating plans of all the other experts out there.

In the world of advertising and marketing, this is called "differentiation." By highlighting the small distinctions and dimming out the large similarities between their program and all the others, they’re jostling for your next nutritional dollar.

Now, and let me be clear on this, I’m not accusing nutrition experts of quackery.

Yes, some programs are utter crap. Those are generally quite easy to pick out and don’t merit discussion here. But most experts do know what they are talking about, can get results, and wholeheartedly believe in what they’re doing. Many of the differences between them are theoretical and not practical, and on the fundamentals they generally agree completely.

It’s all good — sorta

In fact, many of the mainstream programs out there, if not most of them, will work. To what extent they work, and for how long, varies. As long as a program is internally consistent, follows a few basic nutritional tenets, and as long as you adhere to it consistently, without hesitation, and without mixing principles haphazardly taken from other programs, you’ll get some results. It’s that simple, and that hard (as you can see, results depend as much on psychology as on biochemistry).

But if you’re like most people, you’ll first survey all the most often discussed programs before deciding which to follow. And in this appraisal, you’ll get confused, lost, and then do the inevitable. That’s right, you’ll revert back to your old, ineffectual nutrition habits.

Instead of parsing out the similarities between all the successful plans out there, the common principles that affect positive, long-term change, you get thrown off the trail by the stench of the steaming piles of detail.

The Atkins program works for all patients under the direct care of the Atkins team—as long as patients follow it. The Zone program works for all patients under the direct care of the Sears team —as long as they follow it. The Pritkin Diet works for all patients under the care of the Pritkin team— as long as they follow it.

Yet, not all three plans are identical. How, then, can they all get impressive improvements in health and body composition? Well, either each team somehow magically draws the specific patient subpopulations most in need of their plan (doubtful) or each system possesses some basic fundamental principles that are more important than the ratios of protein to carbs to fats.

The 7 Rules of Good Nutrition

Here’s my take on it. I call these principles, "The 7 Rules of Good Nutrition."

These aren’t the newest techniques from the latest cutting-edge plan. Rather, they are simple, time-tested, no nonsense habits that you need to get into when designing a good eating program.

1. Eat every 2-3 hours, no matter what. You should eat between 5-8 meals per day.

2. Eat complete (containing all the essential amino acids), lean protein with each meal.

3. Eat fruits and/or vegetables with each food meal.

4. Ensure that your carbohydrate intake comes from fruits and vegetables. Exception: workout and post-workout drinks and meals.

5. Ensure that 25-35% of your energy intake comes from fat, with your fat intake split equally between saturates (e.g. animal fat), monounsaturates (e.g., olive oil), and polyunsaturates (e.g. flax oil, salmon oil).

6. Drink only non-calorie containing beverages, the best choices being water and green tea.

7. Eat mostly whole foods (except workout and post-workout drinks).
So what about calories, or macronutrient ratios, or any number of other things that I’ve covered in other articles? The short answer is that if you aren’t already practicing the above-mentioned habits, and by practicing them I mean putting them to use over 90% of the time (i.e., no more than 4 meals out of an average 42 meals per week violate any of those rules), everything else is pretty pointless.

Moreover, many people can achieve the health and the body composition they desire following these 7 rules alone. No kidding! In fact, with some of my clients I spend the first few months just supervising their adherence to these 7 rules—an effective but costly way to learn them.

If you’ve reached the 90% threshold, you may need a bit more individualization beyond the 7 rules. If so, search around on this site. Many of these little tricks can be found in my many articles published right here. But before looking for them, before assuming you’re ready for individualization; make sure you’ve truly mastered the 7 rules. Then, while keeping the 7 rules as the consistent foundation, tweak away.

 

[Melaina]

As for the Clen you shouldn't run it straight through. I suggest a 2 week on 2 week off regime to give your receptors a break. Also supplement with increased water, potassium and TAURINE!!!! Clen has a wicked rebound effect so your diet should be especially clean when you cycle off. If it's your first cycle I wouldn't run more than 80mcg/day.... if you're 100% sure that is what you're getting.... tabs or liquid?

 

[RADAR]

Southernlord Nailed it, No need for drugs i bet you didn't know the more fat food (just like sugar) you intake,the more your body demands it.
Wean off of those and you will be golden, if course after 2 weeks of clean eating it will be ok to have a day for a cheat meal ,to keep your sanity of course,


RADAR

 

[the.gladiator1987]

are you weighing and measuring all your food? you cant eyeball it. i think you need to eat more clean real food, up your protein and ditch the processes pre packaged stuff.

congrads on the weight loss...good for you. and welcome

I gotta disagree, if someone isnt gonna just eyeball their food then youre a little obsessed. Get real, you can judge and guess, youre not gonna break or make it with that little of a difference

Anyway good job so far, I dont know if you are doing weights but you should, thought all I saw was circuits and spin classes.

 

[Melaina]

And I am going to disagree to disagree. You'd be surprised how many WOMEN (since calorie intake is much stricter for females in weight loss mode then men) have no idea what true portion control really is. To get 5-6 healthy well balanced meals in on 1300-1400 calories is HARD and eyeballing grilled chicken from 3oz to 6oz is the difference of 200 calories. Weighing, measuring food is not necessarily a long term requirement.... but it is essential for at least a few weeks, if not longer.

 

[SouthernLord]

I gotta disagree, if someone isnt gonna just eyeball their food then youre a little obsessed. Get real, you can judge and guess, youre not gonna break or make it with that little of a difference

Anyway good job so far, I dont know if you are doing weights but you should, thought all I saw was circuits and spin classes.

Actually I think weighing your food out and pre-portioning meals is a great idea. Especially if fat loss is your goal. Those discrepancies in weight/volume repeated multiple times a day can break your diet. If you weigh and pre-portion all your meals ahead of time you control exactly what you consume.

Babybeegurl: If you are interested in a good nutritional scale check ebay. I got my Salter model 1400 (which has over 500 foods macronutrients pre programmed) cost me $12. It retails for ~$100.