General Meal/Exercise Plan: Should this be working?

Hi, I'm a 17 year old girl, standing at 5,2 and weighing 149 lbs.

Since about September, I have been slowly and semi-consistently losing weight. My highest weight has been about 210 lbs.

The weight has been seeming to come off rather easily, but as of late (the past couple weeks) I have been stuck around this 145-150 mark (my weight fluctuates a lot during the day so I never really know) . I don't know why, because I feel as though my lifestyle choices should continue to help me lose.

I work at a day camp, so I move a lot during the day... (some days I am walking nonstop, however others are not as active). I also either bike to and from work (about 20 minutes there, 20 minutes back) or walk home from work (45 minutes, decent pace)

I rarely do strength training, which I guess I should start?

This is an example of what I would eat on a work day:

B: fruit, or piece of ww toast (i find it hard to eat first thing in the morning)

MS: fruit (ie.clemintine, apple) or some veggies (ie. baby cucumber)

L: turkey sandwich on ww, or spinach salad with chicken (i try to switch from day to day)

AS: yogurt and 2 rice cakes

D: whatever is being made--> usually generally heathy (some sort of meat--usually light, veggies--perhaps potatoes or asparagus, usually some carbs

NS: popcorn, sherbert ice cream

*i also would most likely have some small snacks in between (ie. a handful of shreddies here, and a little bunch of grapes there)*

On the weekend, I usually eat bigger portions less often. I sleep past lunch and can't usually bring myself to eat until 3ish. I also drink a fair amount of alcohol, do you think that this could be part of the problem? (it doesn't make me unmotivated)

Anyways, this is where i'm stuck:

1) should this general lifestyle continue to work for me?

2) should i start strength training more, and if so, any suggestions?

3) any suggestions for my meals/exercise would be much appreciated!

pretty much anything you have to say would be really helpful for me

Hi devonx!

I am 23, and have experienced a lot of the same things as you.  Here are a couple of my thoughts..

First, I bike to work almost every day as well, about 20 minutes each way.  I do feel like I exert myself a bit (mostly on the hills) but find that biking is not something that really has the intensity of other exercises.  As much as sometimes it is so hard to step out and go, I find jogging has always been the best for slimming my stomach.  I suggest you start to jog at a comfortable pace 3 times a week and see if that gets you closer to your goals.  And I find running is addictive itself, and gives you time to think.

Second, I started strength traning, but never could really motivate myself to keep it up or do lots of repetitions by myself.  But, I joined a gym which has this hour-long class called 'group power' where everyone lifts weights together. Sounds cheesy - it is, but I have never had visible muscles and now I do.  Each muscle group is one song, and you really do get motivated by the teacher and the music.  Gyms do cost - but check out if your community gym has a class like this.  

Last, I've read that eating popcorn at night works against losing weight.  Popcorn is mostly carbohydrates.  Even sherbet may have sugar in it which is a simple carbohydrate as well.  If you can cut your evening snack out, I am sure you will notice results.  I drink herbal tea (chamomile, peppermint) which calms me down, fills me up, and contains no calories.

Oh, last, maybe one of your meals with ww toast could be replaced with a different grain - like oatmeal, or brown rice - I find these more filling, and they have different nutrition values, so can spice your regimen up.

Sounds like you're doing really well, keep it up!

well done on your weight loss, use that knowledge of how well you have done to continue to spur you on.

the way you have your meals set into 6 settings (breakfast, lunch, dinner and 3 snacks) is very good as will allow your metabolism to work throughout the day. However some of your choices may not be the best now you have less weight to loose. definately change your last snack away from processed food to a clean protein and fat source, things such as protein shakes, cottage cheese or nut butters for a fat source work well. you may find yourself feeling much more satisfied through ensuring that you do not eat fruit alone (i.e. your breakfast and morning snack is only fruit/toast which is only carbs, therefore you may find it beneficial to add a clean protein or fat source with that - eggs work very well in the morning e.g. boiled eggs, egg white omlettes, scrambled egg).

alcohol will have an impact on your weight loss as it is simply empty calories. However that said, I managed to loose 60lbs whilst being a student and therefore having alcohol as my vice. many people have been successful whilst loosing weight through eating clean 80% of the time and incorporating "cheats" into their plans. However whilst this can be successful and help ensure that you stick to your plan, if you are to regularly drink alchohol then this should be your "cheat" and not on top of junk food or food treats. whilst i managed to loose weight while drinking alcohol on weekends, this was only because my diet was 100% clean without eating anything else bad. so basically i think if you want the alcohol make it instead of the ice cream or popcorn or other bad things you eat in your evening snack. also be incredibly careful with the inbetween snacking, often a "handful of shreddies" and a bunch of grapes adds 250 cals that is an extra 1750 a week i.e. an extra days calories, try to stick to the 6 "meals" and through ensuring that each one contains a good protein or fat source alongside a healthy carb should ensure that you are fuller for longer and hopefully eliminate the need for inbetween meal snacking.

whilst such food will fit into your calorie count when you have less weight to loose simply reassessing your macros could tip you through the plateau and help you to begin loosing again. it could simply be merely consuming a little more protein and a little less carbs that could do it for you.

while cardio will help make a smaller version of you it will not help define the muscles and can even lead to muscle wastage. therefore you are right to think that you should incorporate strength training into your regime. aim intitially for 3 times a week, lift heavy weights (heavy relative to your weight, try 3 sets of 10-12 reps, so that reach muscle failure at the end of the third set) - focus on complex full body moves such as squats, lunges, dead lifts that work lots of different muscle groups at the same time. if you do not have access to the gym, free weights are pretty cheap at stores or on the net so picking up some will help you a lot.

anyways hope some of this helped!

Sometimes when you get stuck on a weight it means that you are not consuming enough calories.  Maybe add some raw vegetables.  Otherwise, you are doing very well, eating healthy... that's great :)

Sometimes a plateau means that you're consuming too many calories, because your needs have changed at that point.  Conversely, it can mean you're consuming too few calories, and you're body has noticed and is storing everything it can.  You might want to try using the planning tool on the site to figure out what you're needing caloricly right now.

If that doesn't work, try adding in 30 minutes of more intense exercise a few times a week.  Maybe you just need to burn a little more to make up for the adjustments your body has already made to your lifestyle.  And you're right, strength training wouldn't hurt, since more muscle means more calories burned throughout the day to support it.  If the gym isn't an option, a set of inexpensive hand weights is fine.  There are also exercises you can do that just use your body as the weight.  For example, you can do a one-legged squat while standing on a low, stable stool - bend your knee and dip the other leg a few inches or so below the top of the stool.  Try searching online for more.

The alcohol could be part of the problem, actually.  People tend to forget that beverages have calories too, and alcoholic beverages can actually have a surprising number of them.  Check the caloric content if you can, and find lighter alternatives or just cut back.

Congratulations on what you've done so far, and don't get discouraged!