Losing weight?? Is 12lbs in 8 months? Am i doing something wrong?

Amerie

I invested in buying some gym equipment last year and my partner has given me fitness plans to include the treadmill and eliptical machine for varying amounts of 20-35 minutes 6 days a week. I was 10st, 5ft 7-8... In about 8 months I'm down to 9st 2lbs. I don't eat junk regularly (I go 8 weeks training and on the final day I treat myself). I eat healthy make my own dinners...veg etc (no frying of butter)... Now I'm not a calorie counter, fat, carbo checking person... But I do have a flabby belly and thick hips and thighs... I want to lose weight healthily and for good. And I want to tone up my tummy and overall body. I feel that my weight loss in that lenght of time doesn't seem right.... Should it be more? I know everyones metabolic rate and fitness etc impacts on their body's ability to lose weight but i thought I'd check with others?

floggg

Amerie wrote: »

I invested in buying some gym equipment last year and my partner has given me fitness plans to include the treadmill and eliptical machine for varying amounts of 20-35 minutes 6 days a week. I was 10st, 5ft 7-8... In about 8 months I'm down to 9st 2lbs. I don't eat junk regularly (I go 8 weeks training and on the final day I treat myself). I eat healthy make my own dinners...veg etc (no frying of butter)... Now I'm not a calorie counter, fat, carbo checking person... But I do have a flabby belly and thick hips and thighs... I want to lose weight healthily and for good. And I want to tone up my tummy and overall body. I feel that my weight loss in that lenght of time doesn't seem right.... Should it be more? I know everyones metabolic rate and fitness etc impacts on their body's ability to lose weight but i thought I'd check with others?

Could you post your typical diet and workouts for us to have a look at?

rccaulfield

Very slow alright- lower ur calorie intake a bit-up your exercise/change it-try hiit training-nothing better for burning fat-especially morning cardio if you can manage it!

FunkZ

You just simply gonna have to count your calories. I couldnt lose weight if i didnt and i dont think many could! Start writing down the protein carb and fat content in everything ya eat and add it all up after every second meal, great way to count em i thought. Remember one gram of fat has nine calories, and one gram of either carbs or protein has four.

pinkypinky

9st 2 at 5ft 7/8 - this is quite a healthy weight for your height (for a woman). Maybe your body is telling you that no more weight loss is required and now you should concentrate on toning exercise?

maxxie

Amerie wrote: »

I invested in buying some gym equipment last year and my partner has given me fitness plans to include the treadmill and eliptical machine for varying amounts of 20-35 minutes 6 days a week. I was 10st, 5ft 7-8... In about 8 months I'm down to 9st 2lbs. I don't eat junk regularly (I go 8 weeks training and on the final day I treat myself). I eat healthy make my own dinners...veg etc (no frying of butter)... Now I'm not a calorie counter, fat, carbo checking person... But I do have a flabby belly and thick hips and thighs... I want to lose weight healthily and for good. And I want to tone up my tummy and overall body. I feel that my weight loss in that lenght of time doesn't seem right.... Should it be more? I know everyones metabolic rate and fitness etc impacts on their body's ability to lose weight but i thought I'd check with others?

Amerie, you are doing great! keep it up.. To really burn off some of that excess fat I think you should increase the workout to 40 minutes! Next I would try interval training which basically means not staying at a constant pace, instead, when your on the threadmill for example, try running for two mins and then sprinting for one! This type of training is proven to be very effective for weight loss! If at all possible try getting to a spin class once a week! In a one hour class you would be looking at burning up to 700 calories!

floggg

FunkZ wrote: »

You just simply gonna have to count your calories. I couldnt lose weight if i didnt and i dont think many could! Start writing down the protein carb and fat content in everything ya eat and add it all up after every second meal, great way to count em i thought. Remember one gram of fat has nine calories, and one gram of either carbs or protein has four.

Well i have! While i'm sure it will work, i don't think you need to go as far as writing everything down, but you should def beome aware of what you're eating - read the labels and nutritional info, and watch portion size. Small meals regularly is the way to go, not large meals 3 times a day with nothing in between

GymJohn

floggg wrote: »

Well i have! While i'm sure it will work, i don't think you need to go as far as writing everything down, but you should def beome aware of what you're eating - read the labels and nutritional info, and watch portion size. Small meals regularly is the way to go, not large meals 3 times a day with nothing in between

Agreed, you don't need to count calories if you are eating clean ie whole unprocessed natural foods and eating 5-6 times a day. My clients will typically have a weight loss of 10lbs in the first 4 weeks of training so 12 in 8 months is not that great.

Mind you, you prob need to concentrate on weight training & losing inches rather than weight as it sound like you have a good bit of body fat and v little muscle. You can't get tight unless you reverse this.

Amerie

Thanks for all the replies. I have to admit that I do use whole fat milk and cheese (as the skimmed and lower fat ones make me sick) AND I'm not the world's best at eating... as in I sometimes don't eat until lunch time in the day (due to work commitments..even though my OH says that breakfast gets the metabolism going and that helps the body to use the excess fat etc).

On a normal day I'd eat a Granola type cereal, I'd have a cup of tea at eleven (and yes with sugar), I'd have a sandwich on granary bread with lettuce, cheese and tomato, a yoghurt and juice. I got some receipes which were for people losing weight (on Irish TV-Operation Transformation) Potato, broccoli and chicken Gratin, Veg soup, home made pizza, spanish omelette etc. The are all using fresh veg and ingredients and made by me. I generally snack on the granola cereal or an orange (or other fruit/yoghurt). I get my OH to check out the nutr value on things... he is a runner you see and I haven't the first clue of what is healthy.

When I was younger I had to walk everywhere, 20 minutes to school and back, walk to town to shop, walk everywhere...we didn't have a family car. And therefore I was slim and fit and could eat whatever I wanted without putting on weight (I got a car when I was 20ish and the rest as they say..And I'm trying to get back into exercising) And i hated hearing people go on like weight loss was everything and wasting their lives away counting every morsle of food that passed their lips. And that's why I'm hoping not to turn into someone like that. I want to get fit and tone up but I think to tone up I've to first lose any fat that is there. I mean I'm a size 12 (10 sometimes depending on brands).

I'm 24 years of age and I weigh 9st 2lbs. I'd like to get down my thigh/hip size and around my quads and calfs on my legs could be better and get rid of the lower belly (that hangs down when you bend over). And ideally I'd like to get to 8st and a half by June this year. Maybe I should hide the car keys and as well as doing my exercises every week, walk everywhere again....

aye

GymJohn wrote: »

Mind you, you prob need to concentrate on weight training & losing inches rather than weight as it sound like you have a good bit of body fat and v little muscle.

+1.

Do you do any weight training?

Do you do any high intensity training or classes?

mags16

Is 8.5 stone not very light for your height? Do you have a very small frame? I am a little shorter than you and I was once 9 stone. People were constantly telling me how skinny I was. I didn't look my best. I'm now a healthy, fit looking 10 stone. Perhaps I have a larger frame than you.

celestial

OP, can you list out what you eat during a typical day? I ask because this sounds like a classic case of 'skinny-fat' - too few calories, too much cardio and no resistance training leading to muscle loss in preference to fat loss.

Amerie

Celestial,

I don't do weight training or resistence training. My OH said that I should probably lose the weight before I can tone up with exercises like weight lifting, sit ups etc. Can you explain the logic behind muscle loss instead of fat loss???

In my past post I gave the following as a normal days food intake

On a normal day I'd eat a Granola type cereal, I'd have a cup of tea at eleven (and yes with sugar), I'd have a sandwich on granary bread with lettuce, cheese and tomato, a yoghurt and juice for lunch. I got some receipes which were for people losing weight (on Irish TV-Operation Transformation) Potato, broccoli and chicken Gratin, Veg soup, home made pizza, spanish omelette etc. The are all using fresh veg and ingredients and made by me. I generally snack on the granola cereal or an orange (or other fruit/yoghurt).

Mags 16,

I don't know what type of frame I have... kind of like an hour glass shape I guess. I don't see where I've loss the weight I have.. probaby because it's so little in a large space of time. My OH says my arms are a little different... People always say I'm slim etc and i don't consider myself fat (don't get me wrong) but there are bits of me I want to get slimmer.

I can probably cut down on more things like sugar in tea and fizzy drinks and really try drink more water (I don't like water)

GymJohn

Amerie wrote: »

Celestial,

I don't do weight training or resistence training. My OH said that I should probably lose the weight before I can tone up with exercises like weight lifting, sit ups etc. Can you explain the logic behind muscle loss instead of fat loss???

No offense to your OH but that's poor advice. Your muscle dictates the amount of calories your burn a day. It's very metabolic which means you use a lot of energy to keep it.

Weight training is not just for 'toning your muscles' it is a vital component of fat loss. When people go on diets they usually severely reduce the amount of calories they take in. This means that the body must respond by only using the energy it has to deal with. It slows down processes that are non essential or finds ways to make them more efficient.

One of these ways is to reduce the amount of muscle you have. Most (untrained) people don't have that much muscle to start with and so losing more isn't a good idea. Your metabolism slows down and that means you burn less calories on a daily basis.

Also excessive aerobic exercise will make you lose muscle too. Weight training is by far the best (and only) way to conserve and increase muscle.

Increase muscle = Increase metabolism = decrease body fat = slimmer you!

Train your muscles by lifting heavy weights for 12 reps 2-3 sets. Use full body sessions to burn a ton of calories.

cfitz

GymJohn wrote: »

No offense to your OH but that's poor advice.

That's me, so cheers for that! Amerie spends approximately 30 minutes per day exercising. Would you suggest that she replaces all/some of the aerobic workouts with weight sessions? Or do you think she should just tack them on and up her workload? I'm no expert on weight-loss - my strategy was to find something that works, even if it's slow, and stick at it and be patient. In an ideal world I would add resistance training to the schedule, but I think it is important to wait until Amerie is ready to up her workload. Reducing the aerobic work at this stage would be counterproductive. If you can provide a program that you would be confident will produce better results than the current program, please post it up.

GymJohn wrote: »

Also excessive aerobic exercise will make you lose muscle too. Weight training is by far the best (and only) way to conserve and increase muscle.

Excessive aerobic exercise?? - I think she's safe enough there considering her max workout is 35 minutes.

GymJohn

cfitz wrote: »

That's me, so cheers for that! Amerie spends approximately 30 minutes per day exercising. Would you suggest that she replaces all/some of the aerobic workouts with weight sessions? Or do you think she should just tack them on and up her workload? I'm no expert on weight-loss - my strategy was to find something that works, even if it's slow, and stick at it and be patient. In an ideal world I would add resistance training to the schedule, but I think it is important to wait until Amerie is ready to up her workload. Reducing the aerobic work at this stage would be counterproductive. If you can provide a program that you would be confident will produce better results than the current program, please post it up.

Ready to up her workload? after 8 months I think she's ready.

She could get better results doing 3-4 days of metabolic resistance training rather than 6 aerobic.

I can provide a program, but not on a public forum, you can pm me if you want.

cfitz wrote: »

Excessive aerobic exercise?? - I think she's safe enough there considering her max workout is 35 minutes.

But she's doing it 6 days a week IMO that's excessive especially with absolutely no resistance training

cfitz

GymJohn wrote: »

Ready to up her workload? after 8 months I think she's ready.

Well it has been gradually increasing over that period, the workouts were shorter and easier in the beginning.

GymJohn wrote: »

She could get better results doing 3-4 days of metabolic resistance training rather than 6 aerobic.

I can provide a program, but not on a public forum, you can pm me if you want.

Will do, thank you.

GymJohn wrote: »

But she's doing it 6 days a week IMO that's excessive especially with absolutely no resistance training

Well my background is in running, and lots of people run very successfully and are very light, with no resistance training. (Personally I think resistance training is important and include plenty of it in my own training.)

paulmeman

Hi I think you need to keep an eye on your cals and sat fats ive been doing that since the 2nd of jan and have lost 10kg. I also took up jogging on the treadmill for about 2weeks then moved out onto the road running with a mate can cover more distance in less time than on the treadmill and it has definatly hlped change my body shape ie belly tightening up and legs and bum shrinking

orlit

Hi Ann marie
I'm new to boards.ie but am very impressed with all the great advice people have shared with you! the only thing I would add is that your OH is right - never skip breakfast - your body will go into hunger mode and start holding onto every calorie you consume - up your protein intake (plant protein if possible as it is completely absorbed and is low in saturated fats) you should be getting a minimum of 1g of protein p/kg of body weight - 1.2g p/kg with your exercise plan. One last thing - water - you need 30 ml p/kg of body weight (tea and coffee don't count!) for example: 9 st 2 = 59 kg x 30ml = 1770ml = 1.7 L of water p/day
Best of luck!

Amerie

GymJohn,

Thanks for all the advice and for bringing my OH down to size (all 8 1/2 stone of him)

I'll be sure to check out your training plans and see how I get on. I'm sure my OH will be looking on closely too!! Thanks again.

And thanks for all the helpful info and replies. Glad to see people take interest in helping others