rpmcduff

So 5/6 = .833 pounds/week. That is a very reasonable rate IMO. Don't get discouraged.

I was wondering what your protein intake is like? Because you are exercising and weight training you may find that upping your protein (but not your calories) will help you lose weight faster. Other women on the boards like ALMEEKER and CJOHNSON have posted that increasing their protein helped them to lose weight.

I would suggest that 30-40% of your calories should be from protein. That would mean 97.5 to 130 grams of protein daily on a 1300 calorie diet. You can also use the guideline of 1 gram per pound of lean body weight. If you are 155 pounds with 25% bodyfat then your lean body weight is 116.25 and your protein intake should be around 116 grams.

Just another piece of the puzzle figuring out what carb/protein/fat percentages work best for your body to lose weight.

Kathy13118

'I know for certain I burn over 600 calories when combined with weight lifting a couple of days a week...'

When I say it's hard to estimate how many calories you burn, I'm not taking into account the possibility that you're using some kind of measurement device while you exercise. I have read great things about the Body Bugg (sp?) and some other device that was mentioned by the Fat 2 Fit guys (Jeff Ainseley and Russ Turley) and it sounded good to me. Not terrifically accurate but good enough for me!

If you know for certain that you're burning over 600 calories from measuring with one of those things, then the other side of the equation is calories and that's lots easier to measure and know the accuracy. Putting in the effort to do that is the time-consuming part of it. The exercise measurement devices are time-consuming, too, though.

You do all this at a gym, so I'm guessing a trainer could help with fine-tuning if you want more bang for your buck from exercise. Mixing up the routines so that you're continually working a new mix of muscles is what I'd guess would be the suggestion. Your muscles get better at moving less weight and that reduces the effort needed to accomplish the same moves.

And the weight of muscle thing - so hard to quantify that! If you have muscle popping out so that you don't even have to imagine it's there, then that's when I'd say, yeah, you have some heavy muscle affecting your weight loss. But otherwise, it's not going to slow you down and if it does, as I said, that's very hard to quantify unless you're having someone do tests of your body fat every so often so you can even guess at that.

I'm thinking of guys who get washboard abs - that's not the muscles popping out so you can see it - that's the layer of body fat becoming so thin you can see it! Which is more diet than anything else - these guys don't get the washboard abs out of nowhere, they DO the work but you can't see the results of that work unless the fat layer is reduced.

jmlls07

I also understand weight fluctuates... I went to the gym last night, felt like I was holding water... my weight was increased to 158.8 lbs.

I warmed up on the treadmill at 4.0 mph for 5 mins, then weight lifted/circuit trained entire body, then ran on the treadmill for another 20 minutes at a moderate speed of 6.0 mph. I weighed myself again and I was down to 157.5 lbs.

This tells me my body is very much holding on to water weight. Could this be why the scale has barely budged in 6 weeks time?

Should I be concerned I'm doing something wrong, or should I just keep at it? People say I should start seeing results now and I have gone down an inch or two in some areas, but how long should I keep at it before becoming concerned? 3-6 months?

That is my real concern... should I be worried after such small results after 6 weeks, or has it simply not been enough time gone by to worry yet, for me?

it will be very discouraging as the scale is barely moving after 6 weeks, let alone 6 months. But if I just need to keep at it, then so be it.

RENOAK

Water weight and the scale can be very discouraging. Eating low carb can help get rid of the water weight. Low carb and eating enough protein (exactly as rpmcduff said) will ensure that you are losing fat (after the initial water loss).

Taking your measurements is good since it let’s you see that your body is changing even though the scale doesn’t say what you want it to!

Unfortunately, fat loss is not linear but as long as you eat properly and eat under maintenance, you will eventually get there. However, the smaller you get, the slower the rate of fat loss so be prepared for that. Even now, it does not seem to me like you are big enough to be losing 8-10 lbs a month. I still think you’re doing pretty good!

There is also the theory that too much cardio on a low cal diet can backfire. Google “why big caloric deficits and lots of activity can hurt fat loss”.

tony.roberts.01

A bit of a problem is in the mindset. Just think, are you doing the exercises because you want to live in a healthy way or because you just want to loose weight.

If you see healthy eating and exercises as an effort, than sooner or later you'll stop because it is a chore. But, if you want to be healthy and strong, than exercise is not a chore, but part of your life. You are doing it for yourself. And positive attitude will make you more sexy than any weight loss will!

Annah_H

wow mecomco

your weightloss is impressive!!

When did you start to add exercise to your weight loss?

mecompco

Thank you.

IIRC it was about four months in that I actually started my daily walking. I had started "moving more" probably six weeks in, when I had got down under 400.

I was at the point that I could literally not walk 50 ft. w/o stopping to catch my breath. Simply standing up from my chair was painful and going up my stairs was a daily ordeal. Pretty sad, eh?

But, that is water under the bridge! Things have changed and while I'm not close to the shape I ultimately want to be in, I can knock off a four mile walk in not too much over an hour :-)

Regards,
Michael

darthweasel

Well, if it helps, here is the math;
42 days, take the low end (300 calorie deficit), 42x300=12,600 calories short.
3500 calories in a pound.
12,600 divided by 3500 is 3.6 pounds.

So with a 3-600 calorie deficit in 6 weeks, you can anticipate a 3.6-7.2 loss...you are dead center so right on track.

Hope that helps...and also hope the math is right. I really should not do these things in my head...