Not losing the weight and getting really frustrated

Im 31 years old. Im  currently 183lbs and 5'4.

For the past month I've been eating low carbs (south beach style but with fruit) I feel like the fruit has been helping me with my sweet cravings. Anyhow, i have really been doing good.

It took a few weeks to notice a loss I started at 186, 2 weeks later at 174ish and then I weighed myself today and Im at 183. Im so frustrated.

Ive been been doing 10 flights of stairs mon-fri and then walking when i get the chance. Which has been maybe 3 times a week.  

I need guidance, I really want to make this happen but with little progress Im getting very frustrated. Im thinking I should change up my diet plan but Im not sure what to do. The low carb method worked for me in the past (3 years ago) I lost about 30 lbs but I feel like im going no where this time. How can i rev my metabolism back up?

Hey :)

 Can you tell us approx how many calories you're eating a day? And what is the % of your carbs run ususally?

I see you had quite a dramatic drop about a month into your new eating plan so I have to assume it was water weight from an increase in protein..

We want it to happen for you as well-just a little more info is needed

Unfortunatly no, I didn't log calories. I just made sure I ate no sugar, breads (carbs) Im going to start writing down everything I eat now, so that I can keep track.

I have had the same problem. It must be your calorie intake. Fruit is good, but too much fruit can cause more cravings for sugar. Try to make up a large percentage if your diet with whole foods. Beans, lean meats, EGGS (whites until you see mire weight loss) but mainly veggies. Eating a lot of fresh or steamed veggies are packed full if water and nutrients. This will break your cravings. No processed foods (cookies, crackers, chips, most cereal, etc). I bet you could see a diff if u even try it for 3 or 4 days. The dukkan diet is extreme for me, but relatives did awesome with it!!

Also, i hate being hungry and love food. I eat 3 light meals (300 calories) a day and 3 snacks in between (greek yogurt, avocado, Nuts, salad, etc). So I eat every three hours. Im trying to not eat after 8pm but its hard! Eat early and try to eat the most during ur active times.

Use the calorie tool, you might be eating too much for the calories you burn. Mix up ur work outs. Primary cardio and 3 days weights. Confuse ur muscle memory, maybe ur too used to the stairs??

I can dish advice but I totally understand the frustration. Good luck!

Fruits are made up of a lot of sugar. Not bad, just read up on dieting and how much u should consume.

thanks. I will try to focus on the 300 calorie meals and snacks in between.

A typical day for me is

coffee
breakfast 3 hard boiled eggs
coffee
Snack - fruit
lunch - Salad with a protien (ceasar or balsalmic vinegrete) with water
snack - fruit or nuts (liek a bag of cashews)
4pm snack - nuts or fruit again. sometimes lucnh meat androlled up with low fat swiss cheese with water
7-8pm - dinner protien and veggies with water or diet soda.

~
I know i need to drink more water but perhaps my portions are still out of control. Hopfully logging it all down will help me see where im going wrong. An def more veggies.

Definitely log your calories, weight loss is all about calories in and calories out. You could be working out ever day and not lose any weight if your not monitoring your calories. Its frustrating and annoying but unfortunately true. I'm 5'4 and 177 pounds as well, I'm on a mission to lose 40 pounds. I have a wedding dress to fit into in March, if you need a motivation buddy let me know, we could help each other stay on track :D

That would be great!! Thank you.

Your diet is total b.s. you can't eat fruit and intend to lose weight on a no carb diet.

You might as well use the calorie counting tools on this site.

Well I wouldn't have thought 'total b.s.' I mean before i was eating processed and sweets like crazy. I really thought me cutting that out and opting for an orange or grapefruit instead of a slice of cake would have been a better choice. But I guess I was wrong. I just joined this site and plan to use the tool. Actually started using them today, just hoping I can make it a habit.

Thanks to those for the supportive advice. Im not a food expert and I am really trying.

Original Post by nicholas_shannon:

Your diet is total b.s. you can't eat fruit and intend to lose weight on a no carb diet.

You might as well use the calorie counting tools on this site.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this.

First, she doesn't say that she's on a no-carb diet.

Second, I'm not sure if you mean that you can't eat fruit and still lose weight, you can't have a no carb diet and still lose weight, or that eating fruit means that you aren't eating "no carb".

Only the last is true, and since she isn't on a no-carb diet, I'm still not sure what your point is.

And it sounds like she was already planning on starting to log her food, so I'm not clear what the point of the second paragraph was.

Original Post by simplydenyse:

Unfortunatly no, I didn't log calories. I just made sure I ate no sugar, breads (carbs) Im going to start writing down everything I eat now, so that I can keep track.

If you're not logging accurate calorie numbers, you can't expect to see any results. Losing weight from "counting calories" is a simple math formula: Calories consumed - calories burned. 

You don't have to eat low carbs or even climb stairs. You do need to have a calorie deficit.

I've lost 17 lbs in the last 2 months eating high-carbs and performing no exercise. All I needed to do was have a calorie deficit. 

You're totally on the right track. Now just learn portion size, and you are ace

Starting out low carb isn't a bad thing, it helps to detox from all the sugars but after 2 weeks you should start incorporating complex carbs back into the diet.

And... Telling someone their diet is complete BS is rude and nonproductive! There is no need to even comment if that's how your going to respond.

I remember being in your position the first time I tried losing weight. My friend who has two former body builders as parents gave me some advice - you must do 30 minutes straight of cardio a day. Then stop and do 30 minutes of strength. You can then go back to cardio....

I don't know if there is any real proof in this but I did it and began losing weight. I met my goal in two months of 18 lbs. With that being said, I was counting my calories like others on this thread. I bet the advice my friend gave me just made me aware of how much exercise I needed. Good Luck - I would love to hear about the changes you decide to make and how they work for you... Give us an update in a month!!!!

That is frustrating. But muscle weighs more than fat, and as long as you are going down in waist line and seeing a difference in your cardio, you should still feel proud of yourself.  Think of those people they have on that Biggest loser show. One woman worked out- hard- 5 times a week and ate raw foods for all week and GAINED 2 pounds.  She might have stayed another week if they had been measuring the biggest loser by waist line. 

Stay with it. Sorry it's been hard this week.

That is incorrect. Muscle does not weight more than fat. One pound of fat weights the same as one pound of muscle.  The difference is in the volume. Fat takes up more space muscle does.

LOl. Yes, a ton of feathers weighs the same as ton of lead, that is true, but when people refer to the common adage- "muscle weighs more than fat", they are referring to density- how much mass an item takes up to create the gravity of 1 lb. So a pound of muscle takes up less room, and can make you appear thinner, than that pound of fat sitting on her thighs. 1 lb of fat is more porous & has less density, & so takes up more room and looks more unsightly, than a lean pound of muscle. So the idea that muscle weighs more than fat has to do with cubic density. Muscle does weight more than fat when you take the same equivalent mass.

 

Oh, Ok. I see your point. Yeah, the overall principle of cutting out junky sugars is definately diet worthy. I apologize.