What am i doing wrong?

Guest · Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 2:37 pm Post subject: What am i doing wrong?

I have forever struggled with weightloss. I can never seem to get to my goal weight which frustrates me greatly. I eat healthy (only whole wheat bread, chicken, eggs, skin milk, 2 litres of water a day, no chocolate, cookies, cakes, etc., absolutely no sugar what so ever) but i still cant lose weight. Its not that i eat insane portions or skip meals. So the question is, why am i gaining weight? Any tips?

Guest · Guest

I have to ask, do you exercise regularly?

Walking briskly in the mornings or evenings is a great, low-impact way to get moving and get fit.

Try to incorporate some stretching and bending in the mornings as part of your routine and transition that into doing things like push-ups.

Remember, muscles burn more than fat.

I hope this helps.

zushmoo · Joined: 20 Oct 2006 Posts: 27

exercise is definitely a helper. besides walking, or general cardio you should definitely do weighttraining and strengthtraining ... yoga also does wonders.

maybe .. a juice fast to kick start the weight loss? it sounds lie you are eating right, but maybe you need to cleanse the system first/???

weez · Joined: 01 May 2006 Posts: 4

First of all, do you need to lose weight? Walking is a great cardio that is easy and very good for you. Try pilates, I like the Winsor workouts. Good luck and don't give up

Miss Gulch · Guest

Many overweight people try to pin their weight gain (or failed attempt at weight loss) on low metabolism or pre/post menopausal hormone fluctuations, instead of owning up to the fact that they are simply eating more than they realize or will admit to and not burning the excess off through exercise.

The fact is that ALL calories count---not just the ones from junkfood. Even calories from healthy foods, such as whole wheat bread, nuts, skim milk, healthy oils and low fat meat, add up at the end of the day, so try counting calories and see just how much you're ingesting on a daily basis. You may be surprised at the number. (If you want to lose weight, you should be taking in 1200 or less calories per day.) It's good to eat healthy foods yes but even healthy foods have calories.

You can get just as fat eating too many veggie burgers and granola bars as you can from regular junkfood. In fact, some healthy foods are very calorically dense (for example, pasta, at 200 calories per 1/2 cup--and even worse with a creamy dressing on top), so you have to really watch what you're eating and if it's a high calorie food, limit yourself to a small portion--and the older you get, the more you have to watch it, as our metabolism naturally slows a bit with age (though weight training should help to combat this).

Perhaps you are ingesting extra calories without even realizing it (such as putting cream in your coffee or butter on your bread or too much olive oil on your salad---at 120 calories per tablespoon-- or too much alcohol or fruit and vegetable juice or lattes. It all adds up).

If you start lifting weights (they don't have to be super heavy--5 lb dumbells will suffice), it will increase your overall metabolism because muscle burns fat (while aerobics burns carbs) and if you then combine that with smaller diet portions (what you may think is a reasonably sized portion may actually be too large for your frame), you can't achieve anything but excellent results.

Unless you have a genuine thyroid condition or are on corticosteriods or something to that fact (it goes without saying to get checked by your doc to rule out other things), you should start seeing a positive change based on the things mentioned.

Diamond queen · Guest

Hi, i basically think the same as ur other replies. Besides eating the right stuff try and engage urself in many physical activities; such as weightlifting, cycling, jogging etc. I'm quite a slim person and many of my friends seem to wish they had my body, which i find hard to believe. I'm keen on putting on at least 2 stones in the nxt 2-3 months. Do you have any tips 4 me? By the way why are you so keen to loose wait? Is it the media that is encouraging you to do this? Jus curious because i am doing some research into this for my media work. I hope i've contributed to ur worries in some way.

SarahPT · Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 4

Hi there,
I've worked with many women with similar complaints. Weight loss is harder for some than others. Have you brought this up with your doctor? I ask because there are numerous medical problems that can cause a slow down in weight loss and also many medications can cause difficulties with weight loss.
If those issues aren't the root of the problem, your diet may just need some tweaking. Typically for weight loss meals should be balanced with some lean protein, good carbs, and small servings of good fats. At the end of the day carbs can be a bit lower. Meals should be spaced out pretty even.

JP · Guest

First, skip the dairy products. They are unnecessary for good health and very calorie dense for the level of nutrition they provide. Stick to real fruits and vegetables as the base of your diet, add in legumes and some grains for protein and fibre, and until you lose the weight, avoid nuts and seeds as much as possible, because they are so calorie dense. Eat only fish for protein and healthy fats. Skip the meat and poultry. Avoid processed and packaged food, restaurant food of any kind. Ditch the bread too. "Healthy" bread actually has more calories per slice than unhealthy bread, and although it's much better for you, it will help you gain weight, not lose it. Learn about whole grains and how to cook and prepare them instead.

Exercise regularly. Exercise boost metabolism in addition to the calories burned through exercise. Building muscle helps lose weight too. The important thing is not "what" you do, but that you raise your heart rate to an appropriate range for at least 20-30 minutes, 4-5 times a week. If you don't break a sweat or your heart doesn't get up to 120-150 bpm, you are wasting your time, if you're trying to lose weight.

Do this stuff, and I guarantee the weight will fall off.

Boss · Joined: 27 Mar 2008 Posts: 96 Location: The end of a wire.

Sorry I must politely disagree in some cases.

Dairy is a good source of Arachidonic Acid, Meat and Eggs being another source. Arachadonic Acid for those who don't know, is useful for Prostaglandin functions, which include Blood Flow, Clotting, Smooth Muscle Contraction and Inflammation control.

Also Nuts and Seeds would be a good choice especially if you're Vegetarian or Vegan.

Flaxseeds also contain Phyto-eostrogens, (Lignans), that help with reduced risk of Cancers like Breast cancer. Plus they have good Fibre and Fats, so for men the could help maintain good Intestinal function, and healthy Testosterone levels.

Also Danish studies prove more Fat can be excreted by high Calcium diets, by testing people for 2 weeks, (one week low, one week high Calcium), and analysing the stools, so if you don't eat Dairy and Nuts, you will be reduciing your Calcium sources, making it a little harder ot get Calcium, (though not too hard), should you wish to try increased Calcium as a weight loss measure.

Also in the case of things like Low Fat Cheese, the Fat content is about 2g Saturate, 2g Unsaturate per 100g, same with Skimmed Milk, it's low Fat, so there's no need to completely baulk Dairy, or Nuts, as long as you moderate them.

I'm not trying to insult or criticise you, I just wanted to provide my own take on this, so nothing negative meant by my response.

JP · Guest

Nothing wrong with some healthy discussion Boss..no need to apologize.

I suggested cutting down on the nuts and seeds while trying to lose weight because many nuts and seeds contain as much as 100 calories per tbsp, and although those 100 calories are healthy calories if the nuts are raw and unprocessed, they are still 100 calories. Losing weight is tough and exercise alone won't usually cut it and to be able to cut out 100-200 calories of nuts per day for example, would translate into 1-2 lbs of bodyweight in about a month, which is significant in the long haul.

When it comes to milk and dairy, I still maintain they are unnecessary. You can micro analyze anything and find a benefit for the human body but the fact remains, our bodies were not designed to digest the milk of another animal. That's why so many people are lactose intolerant or have bloating or gas symptoms when eating dairy products. Their overall nutritional content is still very low relative to their calorie content. One of the main reasons people cite for eating cheese for example is protein content. One ounce of cheddar for example has about 30 protein calories out of 120 total calories. To get that protein you have to consume about 55 calories of saturated animal fat, or about half the calories. To me, that is not a good trade off to get some protein. I'll get it from fish or legumes or from anything else, other than milk. To me, the saturated fat content alone puts it on a "do not eat" list.

Boss · Joined: 27 Mar 2008 Posts: 96 Location: The end of a wire.

Agreed on the cheese, although I often will stipulate Low Fat Cheese, because compared to Low Fat Cottage Cheese, it's got more Unsaturate content, and it'sd lower Fat making that Protein trad-off as you call it more worthwhile.

I don't agree people need regular Fatty cheese though as you don't either.

Also I tend to sometimes mention yoghurts for the Bacteria content. With the exception of Supplemental Bacteria, or something like Nattokinase, may Kefir as well, Bacterial flora ingestion through diet is very hard.

There's even been evidence to suggest, pro-biotics, might be beneficial for people on anti-biotics to maintain Gut Flora levels should the medications reduce them, and also evidence linking Pro-biotics as a cure for C-difficile, as C-diff may become rampant, when Gut Flora levles drop significantly, and Gut Flora is not sufficient to suppress C-diff activity.

Again, just points, not me necessarily championing Yoghurts or anything like that.

Good to talk though, and I'm glad we can do things like this in a controlled sensible manner.

P.S. nearly forgot, re the comments about Lactose intolerance, most people get Lactose intolerance, due to low or non-existant levels of Lactase enzymes, and therefore cannot digest the Galactose part of the Lactose Sugar.

This could possibly be rectified by taking a digestive enzyme supplement, but I don't do that, so I don't know exactly what enzymes are in one of those.