What am I doing wrong?

[Doolallygirl]

I'm not particularly small, well OK I'm large but not obese. I can't understand why I'm not losing weight. I eat bran flakes in the morning (small bowl), salad with no dressing at lunch, four portions of fruit and dinner I will have a bit of meat and potatoes and veg and I go to the gym three times a week. Anyone got any idea where I am going wrong?

[Casey]

Well from what you have said it doesn't sound like fat to me. It could be water retention? You can get tablets for this, but I think your best bet would be to go to the doctors for advice. Then at least you know exactly what it is and the best way to go about losing it. Drink plenty of water also as this flushes out your system.

[natalie_1982]

How long have you been going to the gym and what machines do you use? The inductor at mine set a special programme up for me and although I've been going about 6-8 weeks the weight isn't dropping off but I do feel better for it, even if I don't look like Kate Moss!

[natalie_1982]

And agree with what Casey said.

[Doolallygirl]

I've been going to the gym for about 3 years now, differing my routine doesn't help either. I use the cross trainer, rowing machine, running machine, bike and I do weights too, but only lifting about 5kilos a time which I don't think is enough to say that all this is muscle.

[natalie_1982]

Then I'm stumped! I'm apparently the only person who goes for 2 months in the hope that it'll make me thin by September.... 3 weeks to go! Maybe you ought to see you doctor as it could be that you're intolerant to some sorts of foods, have you tried cutting out certain foods for weeks at a time? i.e caffeine, wheat, etc.

[DOB]

Maybe you are losing weight slowly but surely although it certainly doesn't sound like fat. It's better if the weight doesn't fall off you anyway. I have been exercising and watching what I eat for about 3 months now but have only lost about 7lb. But when I went a bit mad for 2 weeks, I didn't put any weight on at all.

[Doolallygirl]

That's the thing, I haven't lost any weight at all really since I've been doing it. It's driving me crackers because my friends who don't go to the gym and go on a diet always lose weight even though they tell me they cheat all the time and when I hear what they eat it's always really fattening stuff. Might have to take a trip to my doctors. Cheers for the advice though.

[Powertool]

You can go about this very scientifically. On the web you will find tables both of of the energy you put in ands the energy you consume. How many calories is it in those potatoes? Since we dont come with fuel meters and expanding fuel tanks. We must figure out a way not to fill up more then we use. If we have been filling up more then we use fore some time. We need to decrese the extra supply of fuel. The way to make this last is to have a negative energy balance of about 1 - 300 calories until you have reached your goal. (This migth take a year or more.) It's not sure you set ou goals as a weigth goal. I migth just as well be changigng yur waist or your speed. Muscles have a higher density then fat. You migth not lose weigth even if you get slimmer.. So to the most common cause that nothing happends: You must train progressively. Heavier weigths an faster running as you get stronger. You cant keep lifting the same weigths and hope for a change.

[Doolallygirl]

Ok cool, so basically I'm eating too much and not excercising fast enough, I've got to drink more water, go to the doctors and lift heavier weights, then I might see a change! I'll let you know how it goes!

[Hamish]

what size/weight are you? perhaps you don't need to loose any and this is your bodys way of telling you that?

[Doolallygirl]

I'm 5'8" and I weigh about 13.5stone which is on the border of obese but not quite there apparently. I'm a LOT bigger than all of my friends. Take an English size 18 in clothes. I DO need to lose weight, I'm just running out of ways to do it....

[Doolallygirl]

I've taken in everything you have said antseyg but I don't add salt on my food, I drink enough liquid throughout the day, I may drink once a month if that where I would have maybe four vodka and diet cokes, I might have a bit of my boyfriends takeaway again once a month if he gets one but never a whole one myself. I do about 45 minutes CV work in the gym then another 30 minutes, maybe longer in the weights room. I even tried stopping the weights for a while but didn't lose a pound! I'm stuck.

[darth vader]

go to a weigh****chers meeting. the leader will analyse everything you do, what you eat, the type of exercise you should be doing. he/she will be able to tell you where you are going wrong. trust me. i went over a year ago and have lost 2 stone (prior to this i never really lost weight no matter how hard i thought i was trying - the irony is that i don't feel like i am trying anywhere near as hard as before yet the weight is now coming off)

[darth vader]

har har i can't say weigh****chers!! how about weight watchers? O I C it thinks i am referring to that scottish town called t_watt

[beenee]

I second darth on trying WW. The best thing about their programme is that you can keep count on how much you eat. I joined WW earlier this year to discipline my previously erratic eating (used to skip breakfast, snack all day etc.) and was shocked to see that the amount I ate everyday clocked more calories than I could imagine! I thought that by snacking on crackers I was being good, but you dont realise until you have a way of calculating calorie values.

[secretspirit]

I know this may be no help but I'm agreeing on the (censored) Weigh****chers thing! I lost 45Lb in 7 months where all else failed and have kept if off since April last year. The best thing I found is that whereas with other diets once you've got to the weight you want you're cast adrift not knowing what to do, with WW you are given leaflets and advice on how to maintain the weight. Also as it's based on a 'points' system and tells you how many points each type of exercise earns you it's nice to see how much food you can earn (or make up for!) by doing a bit of walking or whatever. Before WW I found it really hard to lose weight but this has worked long term and without you realising you end up eating healthier foods and enjoying them. Plus they NEVER make you feel guilty or humiliate you if you ate some chips or whatever and if you want you can just stay for the weigh in and not the pep talk. If you do join WW you'll probably find you're horrified at the hidden amount of saturated fat in things because that is what determines how many points a food is. One thing I would say though is that it is quite biased towards carbohydrates because they are lower points that fat so you can end up eating a lot of pasta etc which doesn't suit everyone.

[secretspirit]

it was meant to 'and fat' towards the end there. Doh!

[female19]

exercise is the answer its okay eating healthy but if you dont move it aint going to shift. it also depends on what you are doing at the gym ideally cardio workout rather than weights and toning ask gym instructor for workout program. eating before seven at night is a must as your body needs to rest and having large lunch small dinner as your digestive enzymes are working better in day than nigh/evening