NOTHING is working!!! :( any advice?

[Northwoods Voyager]

It has taken me about a year. I have lost a lot of weight. From 230 to 153. Tried Slim Fast for 2 meals and ate a very good lunch, and fruit for between meals. Walking and more walking and some other exercises every day. I am an older woman but needed to do this for knee problems and having become a diabetic. Everyone is different. You need to 'find' your own daily eating habits and stick to it because you want to. Good luck to you. Oh, yes stay off of the scale, once a week was fine for me.

[adventuregurl]

I was just going over this thread and wanted to say "boy have you done well"! Would you mind sharing what you ate for lunch?

Originally Posted by Northwoods Voyager

It has taken me about a year. I have lost a lot of weight. From 230 to 153. Tried Slim Fast for 2 meals and ate a very good lunch, and fruit for between meals. Walking and more walking and some other exercises every day. I am an older woman but needed to do this for knee problems and having become a diabetic. Everyone is different. You need to 'find' your own daily eating habits and stick to it because you want to. Good luck to you. Oh, yes stay off of the scale, once a week was fine for me.

[Cleverbeetle98]

I have to agree with the general tone of the posts - it sounds like you are on the right track! While you are eating healthy make sure you are eating enough- if you aren't your body will go into survival mode and your metabolism will shut down. Also, you may hate me for saying this but you may try a more directed exercise routine. While being active during the day is great an extended or more focused walk/jog/run with weight lifting will help keep your metabolism working longer and will help tone muscles!

[LittleDolphin]

Sounds as though you're doing fine...funny how impatient we can be when we're on a diet...how long did it take to put on the extra pounds--not overnight I bet? So it's going to take some time to take them off.

Remember to eat high fiber foods to feel full. Some breakfast cereals have 67% of your daily fiber needs--Fiber One, for example. Top with half a banana or other fresh fruit and you're doing your digestive tract a kindness

My diet tip is a baked potato topped with salsa. A medium potato has something like 90 calories but it fills you up and has great minerals, too. No butter, no sour cream, but a little non-fat yogurt's fine.

Drink lots of water. Add in some lemon or lime slices to jazz it up. Drink it, too, when you want food but are not really hungry but are eating from stress, boredom or you've just seen something tempting on TV or in a magazine.

If you're eating a lot of salads, add in a cubed apple for bulk and fiber and avoid the high fat salad dressings. Try balsamic vinegar or a squeeze of lemon instead. Or I make a honey mustard dressing with honey, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar and black pepper...it's good and a little goes a long way. Very low fat.

Keep up the good work! Be proud of yourself. It's great that your treating your body with respect.

[zits]

Have you heard about Michael Molloy’s free weight loss video program? I have heard that there is a collection of good and easy tips for loosing weight in this program.

[Davachka]

Lifting weights actually burns more calories in the long run than does cardio exercise. The reason being is that lifting weights increases muscle, which increases your metabolism 24/7. Cardio only burns calories while you are doing the exercise, the weight lifting burns calories all the time. I would suggest adding that to your routine and slowly but surely you will see a change in your physique.

Also, eating 4-6 mini meals also really revs up your metabolism, as long as its good, clean food that you are eating. Its all about getting into the habit of it, I have been eating 5 meals daily for several years now and it is great for appetite control and feeding muscle.

[ChessieMom]

Originally Posted by Davachka

Lifting weights actually burns more calories in the long run than does cardio exercise. The reason being is that lifting weights increases muscle, which increases your metabolism 24/7. Cardio only burns calories while you are doing the exercise, the weight lifting burns calories all the time. I would suggest adding that to your routine and slowly but surely you will see a change in your physique.

Also, eating 4-6 mini meals also really revs up your metabolism, as long as its good, clean food that you are eating. Its all about getting into the habit of it, I have been eating 5 meals daily for several years now and it is great for appetite control and feeding muscle.

For the time spent, no, it doesn't. I'm all for lifting, but I'd never recommend replacing cardio with it. And metabolism really doesn't "rev" up much at all with what you eat. That's really controlled more by age and genetics. You do get a slight (I mean VERY slight) boost by the digestion of food, but it is so minimal you shouldn't even use that as a reason really. Appetite control is really the better reason. So many people will cave, and then binge, if they let themselves get really hungry. THAT is the point of frequent small meals.

[teatime]

Just a thought, but have you had your thyroid level checked? All women really should as we seem to be prone to thyroid issues.

I noticed in the past few months I suddenly gained 12 pounds. I eat a healthy diet, don't snack unless it's something like a piece of fruit or yogurt, and have been the same weight for a long time. Had to get a new internist and I mentioned this to him. He laughed at me and said I need to cut calories to lose weight but he said he'd check my thyroid levels if I insisted. I did.

Well, guess what? The tests came back showing I have hypothyroidism and he started me on thyroid replacement. Weight gain is a symptom of thyroid deficiency and the thyroid controls the metabolism. It really needs to be ruled out in women.