getting annoyed now

pepper

Hi

I have been on a diet the last 6 weeks - eating right- 3 meals a day- gym 5 times a week- but the thing is the first week i lost 9 pounds- but since then ive lost nothing- not a THING.

At 1st i was told it was a pleatou(body getn used to the diet)and itd go in 2weeks- but it hasnt- im doing everything i can- i was told then to increase my exercise- which i did- AND I PUT UP WEIGHT!!!

I am about ready to quit i am so angry and fustrated

Smellyirishman

Post diet, post training regime.

pepper

Smellyirishman wrote:

Post diet, post training regime.

morning- bowl of special k- apple- yogourt

Lunch-Chicken Salad with crackerbread(the salad doesnt sound like much but it is)water- kiwi

Snack-Low fat bar- can of diet coke

Dinner-Pasta and bean salad- water- orange

I drink green tea and water at intervals during the day

I go to Curves 5 times a week

And please dont say im not eating enough because according to my doctor I am

RonanC

Ditch the bar and the pasta in the evening.

Add in a lot more lean protein, fibrous/green veg and healthy fats.

Mr E

Are you overweight, or are you thin (looking to get thinner)?

pepper

TmB wrote:

Are you overweight, or are you thin (looking to get thinner)?

overweight

dudara

You say that you go to Curves 5 times a week, but how much exercise do you actually do? Can you give us a breakdown?

pepper

dudara wrote:

You say that you go to Curves 5 times a week, but how much exercise do you actually do? Can you give us a breakdown?

its a half an hour exercise programme

http://www.curves.com/

dudara

Maybe I didn't look hard enough on the website, but I can't find an actual breakdown of a routine. Can you provide one for me please?

Also can you be a little more specific as to your height and weight? It might help us.

pepper

dudara wrote:

Maybe I didn't look hard enough on the website, but I can't find an actual breakdown of a routine. Can you provide one for me please?

Also can you be a little more specific as to your height and weight? It might help us.

i dont know what it is- u just go on the machines for thirty seconds at a time and you go around twice- it works every part of your body

im 5ft 0 and currently 15st 10

pepper

http://www.curves.com/curves_right/thirty_minute.php

this is a breakdown of the exercise programme

dudara

Walking is a great way to start working out and to lose weight. But you have to work at it, you can't stroll. You need to push yourself and feel your heartbeat rise. A half-hour walk or more should tire you and put you slightly out of breath.

Once the weight starts to come off, then I'd recommend some jogging or more vigorous exercise, starting with 5 minute sessions and building up to longer and longer times.

That's the problem I have with Curves as a concept. You just can't get enough exercise in 30 minutes spent in 30s intervals.

Dietwise, I'd dump the carb in the evening in favour of more protein, as suggested by a previous poster. Low-fat does not mean low-sugar, which I consider to be the true enemy of the overweight person. I'd recommend reading up on a GI-type diet.

LegacyUser

I think you need to do more excercise. Curves seems useless...

Smellyirishman

Initially curves will do a decent job, but the idea is fundamentally lacking. One size fits all? I don't think so. Without being able to change resistance and improve/modify your workout your going to plateau early. (30seconds on a weight that you have adapted to is not going to accomplish much, you need to vary things)

As far as I know it usually involves, leg press/curls/extn, should press, chest press, etc...

Up the protein in your diet, ditch the "low fat" bar and diet cokes.

It's summer, get out and about walking (hard), jogging, whatever and whenever you can.

RealJohn

Can't say I see 30 minutes as being enough either (even if it is 5 times a week). I'd agree too that you might be taking in more carbs than you need.

The impression I get from Curves is that it's more focused on making your lifestyle more healthy without focusing too much on issues that could potentially make you feel bad like weightloss (though I admit, my knowledge of it is limitted). It's good for well-being but to lose a lot of weight, you might need something less "comfortable".
I have several friends who go to Curves. One of them told me she almost felt uncomfortable because she felt she was working too hard at it compared to the others there. Another did lose a pile of weight but she was on some crazy diet too (and for the record, she didn't look that healthy afterwards, even though I'd still describe her as overweight).

Your goal is admirable but you need to be careful about how you go about it.

Duck Soup

The problem with diets is that they lower your metabolism by making you lose lean muscle mass. If your body is carrying less muscle, you need less calories to maintain it. And - if you're intent on losing 2 stone in 2 months - you will lose muscle as well as fat. Anything over 2lbs a week weight loss and you're burning up muscle.

There are two simple things I'd do with your diet. First, ditch the Special K for porridge/oatmeal. Special K is great for not adding calories, but useless for raising your metabolism. Oatmeal with milk (don't add sugar, obviously) is a slow release complex carb that will raise your metabolic rate. Have it at least 5 days a week. Second, have your last meal - no matter how small - at 6 o'clock, or 7 o'clock at the latest. If your body goes without food for 12 hours, it will tend to burn fat to sustain itself. Conversely, eat late at night and it will tend to store itself as fat.

As far as your exercise goes, the tendency is to go harder and faster on the cardio. People think that profuse sweating equals greater fat loss. In point of fact, on most cardio machines, there's a fat loss zone indicator on the machine's heart rate monitor. You can usually get your heart rate by gripping the handles of the machine. It goes without saying that it's better to keep your heart rate within the fat burning zone.

Go steady and often on the cardio, perhaps bringing it up from 30 mins to 40 or 45. The name of the game should be raising your metabolism through eating slow release carbs and steady cardio.

DOLEMAN

The fact that you are getting annoyed after 6 weeks is a bad sign!

Having the body you want requires a total permanent lifestyle change. A short diet will not work.

Also, (and I'm sorry to depress you,) but once fat cells are created they only go away via surgery. Dieting just makes them "empty", waiting to be filled again.

This is why you need an entire lifestyle change. Learn to love vegetables and hate taking elevators. Think long term.

PS Forget about Curves. I cannot imagine being around overweight women is particularily motivating.
PPS With your current attitude I can never see you getting slim (not trying to be a wanker - just stating my opinion!)
PPPS I knew a girl like you, with the same complaints. However, I knew secretely she was eating entire packets of diet biscuits and chocolate bars at night. Are you sure your diet is as consistant as you've stated above?

rubadub

pepper wrote:

I have been on a diet the last 6 weeks - eating right- 3 meals a day- gym 5 times a week- but the thing is the first week i lost 9 pounds

hmmm if you didnt mention "but the thing is the first week" people would be saying that is good going!, i.e. 9lb over 6 weeks. 1.5lb per week is really good going.
I suspect you may have weighed yourself incorrectly, i.e. perhaps you had clothes on and were fully hydrated, possibly retaining water and had a feed. Perhaps after the first week you weighed yourself with no clothes and dehydrated. Maybe you used a different scale?

Doing all these things give me results varying by up to 4-5lb after only 1 day! I could easily drink 3lb of water and have about 2lb in the bladder too. You must weigh yourself under the same circumstance of feeding and hydration and time, on the same scale each week.
9lb is far too much too lose in a week and I do not believe for a minute that you did that on that diet with that amount of excercise.

My weight has also pretty much stabilized yet I had to put another notch on my belt since my FAT was falling off. Muscle was gained which is far more dense than fat, I seem to be gaining muscle in line with fat, so even though I weigh the same I am thinner. You may want to take measurements of yourself to track this.