Last five pounds? Impossible, so far. I need help :(
So last year I lost around 30 pounds with the help of CC, but recently I've lost all my motivation to eat healthily and count calories, so it's nearly impossible for me to lose weight anymore. I need to lose about five pounds and tone up, but I've basically hit a really annoying plateau that's my own fault. So I was wondering what I was doing wrong...here are the basics:
I'm 5'5" and 122 pounds, as of today. I'm on the treadmill at least six days a week for about 90 minutes each day, burning around 1000-1200 calories each time, according to my treadmill (and others I've used).
But the main problem is that I usually feel like that "entitles" me to eating whatever I want, so I basically just eat anything in sight for the rest of the day, which makes it impossible to lose any weight. I always start out the day counting calories, but for some reason I lose my focus at night. Plus, I still feel like I look exactly like I did before I lost all the weight, and the only time I feel better is when I count calories...but I always feel like I'd have to eat so much to make up for what I burned. Am I burning too much? Do I even need to lose any more weight? Am I going crazy? Haha.
That was so long...I'm sorry. Has anyone else felt like this? What did you do?
Oh, and how many calories should I be eating? Say I burn 1200 calories on the treadmill but just sit around and do nothing the rest of the day...what should my intake be?
You need to NET at least 1200 calories a day (and that's after your workout). If you're burning 1000-1200 a day, you need to eat at least 2500 calories a day.
Is that in order to lose weight or to maintain?
That would be to lose. A woman needs mandatory, at least, 1200 calories a day NET. That is what you eat, minus what you burn. If you burn 1200, you should eat about 24-2500, to NET about 12-1300. This is still low, but its a start.
Okay, that's good to know. I think the problem is that sometimes it's hard for me to find enough healthy food to add up to that amount of calories, so I just give up and eat whatever I want, without looking at things I used to care about like fat and sodium content.
Have you tried anything else besides the treadmill? I know my trainer told me I had to continously change things up so my body didn't get use to one exercise. Maybe doing something else might work. I am on the 30 day active challenge for the wii and I have really toned up. I am a runner and just took a break because I ran a half marathon last month. I am also a fan of chewing gum and drinking a glass of water before I want to eat anything and waiting a few minutes to see if I really want to eat it. Good luck:)
Original Post by eszamp:
Okay, that's good to know. I think the problem is that sometimes it's hard for me to find enough healthy food to add up to that amount of calories, so I just give up and eat whatever I want, without looking at things I used to care about like fat and sodium content.
Just be careful with low-fat foods...your body does need SOME (not lots, just SOME) saturated fats, and things like that. eating the full fat versions of cottage cheese, yogurts, etc. is a great way to hit your calories goals, as well as making yourself feel fuller than you are, so you don't overeat.
Oh! That's a really good idea, I never thought about that. Thanks. I guess I'm probably just eating too much, then...I'll try counting to 2500 for a week or so and see what happens.
Original Post by sariff32:
Have you tried anything else besides the treadmill? I know my trainer told me I had to continously change things up so my body didn't get use to one exercise. Maybe doing something else might work. I am on the 30 day active challenge for the wii and I have really toned up. I am a runner and just took a break because I ran a half marathon last month. I am also a fan of chewing gum and drinking a glass of water before I want to eat anything and waiting a few minutes to see if I really want to eat it. Good luck:)
There's really not much else available to me, that's the problem :( I lift weights for about 20-30 minutes a few days a week (thanks to a Denise Austin video haha) and sometimes I do pilates tapes. I know that when I go to college this fall I'm going to definitely use as much gym equipment as I can. What exactly is the 30 day active challenge? I don't have a wii but it sounds really helpful.
if you eat so much because you think your allowed to because of how much you work out, and your having trouble filling up on healthy foods, why not try working out a little bit less. maybe only 30-45 minutes. you'll still have a good workout in, and it doesn't give you the excuse to go crazy on food.
Original Post by eszamp:
Oh! That's a really good idea, I never thought about that. Thanks. I guess I'm probably just eating too much, then...I'll try counting to 2500 for a week or so and see what happens.
thats a great idea. and, if after a week or so you don't see any improvement, you can either up or drop your calories by even 100-200, and you should start seeing the scale move. The last pounds are always the hardest, but you seem like your on the right track! Good luck 
im a runner too and i know how addictive the runnin on the treadmill can be. however, just three days a week i started doin a weight circuit. it only takes 15 minutes and youre supposed to use 6-10lbs dumbbells, but just fill water bottles or use soup cans for some added resistance.
the 1st move is a "walking" in place lunge: forward with the right leg, then back with the left, forward with the left and back with the right all with the "dumbbells" by your side. thats one rep. repeat x 10
2nd move: dead lift with weights in front of you startin at your shins until you rise up and down. repeat x 10
3rd move: standing bent over row with weights repeat x 10
4th move: walking lunge with bicep curl into shoulder press. as you take a step forward do a bicep curl and then go into a shoulder press. and lower as you rise back up. do 5 reps on each side.
after all 4 moves are repeated in a row without rest take a minute to rest. then repeat 2 times.
after 4 weeks... ive never gotten so many complements on my legs!! hahaha good luck!
also for the treadmill... try interval training or running hills, it'll change your runnin speeds.
Impossible? You're not even controlling your diet. Say it's impossible when you're doing everything you possibly can to lose the weight, and it's still not happening. Diet is 90% of losing weight, and the last few are notoriously hard to lose, even if you're doing things right.
A little aside, you probably don't burn 1000-1200 calories. The body gets better at exercise as you get used to doing it. Machine readouts can be pretty terribly inaccurate too, by the way.
That would be about 3 hours RUNNING, I really doubt you burn that much on the treadmill...
You should use the tools on this website to figure out what you burn daily.
