I finally broke my plateau!

[Maggie76 0]

Janice:

Good to know you aren't starving yourself! But, something to consider - do you think you're eating enough? Perhaps try a week or two at 1000 or even 1200 calories - just add a couple of egg whites as a snack and perhaps a piece of fruit or something. It may help with the weight loss.

The link I use for the Couch 2 5k program is Cool Running :: The Couch-to-5K Running Plan. Scroll about mid-page for the weekly schedule for your runs/walks. There are other threads on the program on this forum - those may help too.

Paige: In answer to your quesiton, I've been at this for eight months, but the first four months were actually quite easy (once I stopped overeating and followed the program, the weight just fell off!). It's the last four months that I've had to really educate myself on everthing, especially on why I was losing weight anymore. Glad I could help re-focus you. It's great you're heading to the gym so early - that really helps I think, to get it out of the way early in the day. I too worked out this morning, and it's just nice to know that when I finish working today, I can have dinner and chill out. It's always hard come 6pm to log off, go home and work out.

[andjhd 0]

congratz, I took me a while to move again . keep up the g<a href="Weight Loss - Diet Ticker">

<img border="0" src="http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/t/whM6BGl/weight.png"></a>

ood work

[heidib 15]

Janice,

First and most importantly, you said that you're "not eating anything." Please understand that as tempting as it is, you can't starve yourself into losing weight! You need to eat and you need to eat right. You should have been provided with nutritional information before your surgery, such as how much Protein you should be eating, as well as carbs and veggies. If you try to starve yourself, or if you don't eat enough, your body goes into starvation mode and you will not lose weight.

I try to eat 1500 calories a day (although some days I'm lucky to get past 1200), and I try to burn 2500 calories each day. If I do this each day, I should lose 2 lbs per week.

So, to make sure you're eating right, you should be sure to have Breakfast. Eating in the morning has never been my thing, but I found a Protein Powder that I really like. So, I have that in 8 ounces of 2% milk each morning and it keeps me satisfied until lunch.

I also have lunch (usually a 1/2 turkey sandwich on wheat), a snack (usually a piece of fruit and 2-3 hard boiled eggs, egg whites only), and then dinner.

An example for dinner: I'm eating 3-4 ounces of Protein (steak, chicken, fish, etc.), a 1/2 potato baked with only a 1/2 teaspoon of oil and some fun seasonings (no butter, no sour cream), and a 1/2 of corn on the cob and an ice tea with lemon. This is about 400 calories (which is good).

As for exercising, I've recently started the Couch 2 5K program, but if you're just starting out on this journey, that may be too difficult. You certainly don't want to overdo and then never want to exercise again. So, I suggest walking, either outside or on a treadmill. Try to walk for 30 minutes. Each week, increase your time by 5-10 minutes and your intensity. Right now I workout for an hour on the treadmill. Physically I could do more, but I don't seem to have the time. To begin, I do the Couch 2 5K program for the first 1/2 hour, then I walk at an incline of 8 for 10 minutes, I walk at an incline of 5 for 5 minutes, then I bring it down to 2 and very slowly warm down. Time permitting; I also lift free weights to tone my arms.

I really hope this novel helps you. Please feel free to ask questions - and just remember, starving yourself is not the answer! I unfortunately made that mistake and I think that’s what led to my overlong plateau!

Maggie

Hi Maggie,

I'm a little confused. Did you say you try to eat 1500 cals a day & burn 2500 cals a day?? You can still lose weight if your burning more then you are eating? Thanks ahead! :smile:

[Maggie76 0]

Heidi,

Yes, I eat 1500 calories a day & burn 2500 calories each day. You lose weight by burning more then you eat. If you want to lose 2 lbs per week, then you need to have a deficit of 1000 calories (meaning you burn 1000 more calories than you eat) per day.

I hope this helps,

Maggie

[heidib 15]

Heidi,

Yes, I eat 1500 calories a day & burn 2500 calories each day. You lose weight by burning more then you eat. If you want to lose 2 lbs per week, then you need to have a deficit of 1000 calories (meaning you burn 1000 more calories than you eat) per day.

I hope this helps,

Maggie

ok. I've been told if you work out you need to eat more. It's all so confusing. Now I don't know how I'm gonna burn 2500 cals a day lol! can i eat less cals a day then I will have to burn less cals a day? TY!:smile:

[Maggie76 0]

Heidi,

Yes, you can try to eat less calories per day, but you have to be careful because if you don't eat enough, your body could go into starvation mode and you won't lose any weight. You should probably eat at minimum 1000 calories - but you may want to discuss what your personal instake minimum should be with your doctor.

It really isn't that hard to burn 2500 calories a day. Generally, when I'm just working at my desk all day I burn about 1800 calories. So, if I work out for an hour too, I can make my 2500 goal.

Alternatively, if you want to lose 1 lb per week, then you only need a deficit of 500 calories - so you only need to burn 2000 calories if you consume 1500.

Maggie

[frenchvanilla 0]

Heidi,

Yes, you can try to eat less calories per day, but you have to be careful because if you don't eat enough, your body could go into starvation mode and you won't lose any weight. You should probably eat at minimum 1000 calories - but you may want to discuss what your personal instake minimum should be with your doctor.

It really isn't that hard to burn 2500 calories a day. Generally, when I'm just working at my desk all day I burn about 1800 calories. So, if I work out for an hour too, I can make my 2500 goal.

Alternatively, if you want to lose 1 lb per week, then you only need a deficit of 500 calories - so you only need to burn 2000 calories if you consume 1500.

Maggie

How do you figure out what you burn for an entire day? i know how many calories i burn working out at the gym. but dont know what i am burning the rest of the day???! im confused and frustrated. im at about 1200 to 1300 calories a day,and working out almost everyday,but havent lost anything in months!

[Lottie 0]

I suggest using a HRM(Heart Rate Monitor) I use mine everyday and it calculates how much I burn. I bought mine at Academy. There are different price ranges. I bought the POLAR. Google it and find out about it and decide if this will be helpful to you.

[Maggie76 0]

Your confusion and frustrtaion are completely understandable!

After nearly 4 months of being so annoyed that I wasn't loosing any more weight, I bought a BodyBugg, started drinking a good Protein drink, and started the Couch-2-5K program. The BodyBugg tells me how many calories I burn each day (and even breaks the info up in detail throughout my day). There are similiar devices out there too, other than the BodyBugg - all ranging in price. Be sure to check out the various threads of folks comparing the BodyBugg to the other devices. You may find that a different device suits your needs.

In addition to the BodyBugg ("BB"), I also bought the digital display so I can see immediately how many calories I've burned, rather than having to plug the BB into my computer to upload the information throughout the day. So far I'm very happy with the BB - its reading seems on par with the treadmill when I run.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Maggie

[notateechanow 7]

Maggie,

Would you recommend the Body bugg? I was online looking at one a while ago and considered buying it...but it was kind of expensive. But, if it works, it might be worth the investment. Any feedback to share? :smile: paige

[Maggie76 0]

Paige,

Yes, I'm very happy with my BodyBugg ("BB") and would recommend it or a similar tool to folks trying to lose weight. I kept my eye on the BB website and bought it on sale this summer - I believe it was in July. I saved over $100 with the sale, and I bought both the BB and the digital display.

Since I purchased the BB and started the Couch-2-5K program, I'm losing weight again. I didin't realize that I just wasn't burning enough calories during the day. Also, the BB website is great with tracking what you're eating (so you can see how many calories you consume each day). I found this to be really helpful!

If you have any other questions that I'm not thinking of, just let me know.

Maggie