Help!! Nothing happening!!??? AArrggh!!!

Help!  I've been in a sedentary lifestyle and drinking lots of wine (approx 3 to 4+  bottles a week) for a couple of years and put on about 15/20 lbs from my 'normal' weight.  Feeling uncomfortable in clothes and un 'toned' etc.  About 7 to 8 weeks ago, I gave up smoking, joined a gym and ever since have watched what I eat like a hawk.  Food intake has been Cereal, oily fish, loads of fruit and veg daily (at least 2/3 intake is fruit and veg eg: carrots, broccoli, peas, clementines, bananas, prunes, pumpkin seeds, grapes, blueberries).  Meat is usually tuna or chicken breast or lean ham in about 1/3 quantity per day by volume.  I eat most of the above little and often as opposed to lots in one go.  Total calorie intake per day is between 1500 and 1800.   I've been attending gym classes at least 2 to 3 times a week (spinning, body pump, boxercise and pilates) as well as 'normal'  1 hour gym sessions on cross-trainer, etc (mainly cardio) about 2/3 cardio and 1/3 weights (mainly light weights /many reps combos).  According to this calorie count website I am burning, on average, 3000 calories per day.  I do feel much better, however, I still feel bloated and my clothes tight and, most remarkably of all, I am only ONE POUND lighter after nearly 2 months.

I have been using the same scales...I have never 'slipped' from the diet/eating lifestyle and had any burgers/chips/biscuits/sweets/crisps, etc.  My alcohol intake is now approx 2 bottles of wine a week (spread out).  I don't 'snack' or eat any fast food whatsoever - if I'm hungry I will have some fruit /  a beetroot sandwich  or whatever.  Don't worry - I absolutely LOVE the food I'm eating now - enjoying the tastes nd sensations immensly, however - it doesn't appear to be doing any good..

The only thing I haven't mentioned is that I drink LOTS of water - LOTS AND LOTS - at leat 2 litres in a gym class/session alone.  I guess I must be drinking about 3 to 4 litres a day.  Obviously I pee a lot and  - to be honest - this is what wakes me up in the morning.....

Any comments/ideas/suggestions would be REAL welcome.  Can anyone pinpoint where I'm gong wrong?  Or is it a case of  - WHOAA  my body isn't used to this and over-compensating by storing fat somehow and I should pursue what I'm doing and it will all come together soon?????

ALL advice / comments welcome - especially if you have experienced the same thing....

:-)

ANY SUGGESTIONS

Regards

Andy

FYI all...I am loggin EVERYTING that passes my lips down to the lat grape and pumpkin seed........

That must be really demotivating for you, i suppose firstly you need to remember not to give up! Have you been logging your wine intake and adding it to your calories? When I gave up drinking red wine through the week last month, I lost 5lbs after two weeks. I never realised how much of an impact it was having! Same with coffee/squash etc.

The other thing it might be is if you have been working out with weights/body pump, maybe your fat is turning into muscle, which weighs more. In which case you are still becoming fitter. You might not notice the muscle if you still have a bit of fat around it, but I'm sure if you've been weightlifting you will definately be toning up.

To combat the bloating, I eat low fat 'activia' yoghurts (in the UK..not sure where you are!). They really get your digestive system going and make you feel a lot lighter around the tummy.

Make sure you still keep drinking the water as this will flush out any water retention you still have in your skin. And don't become too demotivated. As you say it could just be the case that you're body has not caught up with you yet. Last time I dieted, about a year ago, I was eating and exercising like a saint and after 2 weeks i had GAINED 8 lbs! I never knew why as I wasn't doing anything wrong. Then after a few weeks it started coming off a lot more quickly than it had done before.

I'm sure you will feel fantastic soon :)

I'm completely in the same boat. For no obvious reason my body decided to gain 10 lbs (after coming of BC) in Jan.09 and I've been struggling to loose it ever since. I started recording everything I eat last week (I even have an excel sheet to track everything so that my calorie total is as accurate as possible). I exercise vigoursly 5xs/week, but I've lost practically nothing. I'm 7lbs away from my goal, but no matter how hard I try, can't seem to lose any more. It's driving me mad!!!

Dude, you are on the right road for sure.  The one part that is not clear is the amount of exersice you are getting. 2 or 3 times a week including or excluding gym sessions?

If you have the time, try 5 times a week and no less that 40 minutes cardio to start.  Congratulations on quitting smoking.  To actually have lost weight while quitting is impressive.  You probably know this but smoking increases metabolism - so when you quit you put yourself at a disadvantage regarding losing weight - but then again - you can take cancer and chemo off the menu... they don't taste very good.

I think there are two things combining to make your weight loss minimal right now -

1. You quit smoking. It's pretty much common knowledge that your metabolism  tends to (temporarily) slow down after quitting. I don't exactly know how much or for how long, but it's probably a major reason for the lack of weight loss. High-five for quitting, though! =)

2. You're simply not eating enough for someone with your stats! When you have a deficit of  say more than one thousand calories, your body thinks it is being starved and hangs onto fat for protection. Increasing it gradually (say maybe to 2000-2200) could give your body the go ahead to lose.

Good luck!!

"... your body thinks it is being starved and hangs onto fat for protection. Increasing it gradually (say maybe to 2000-2200) could give your body the go ahead to lose."

Source?

Many thanks to everyone for your comments -I'm very grateful..lets see here...

• Elle - I have a probiotic drink each morning with breakfast and one 'activa' type yoghurt per day...I'm from UK - Newcastle
• I do drink a lot of coffee (5 to 6+ cups a day -w/semi-skimmed milk no sugar).  I could probably replace most of these with more water or green tea or soemthing..
• Legaleli - Excerise 4 to 5 times a week on average.  I'm doing 3 x 1 hour Gym classes a week (varies between spinning, body pump, boxercise, body combat and pilates) PLUS 1 or 2 gym sessions on my own - usually 1x cardio and 1x resistance) with ranging intensities but definitely getting my heart pumping into the Cardio-zone for significant chunks of time.
• Icat_7 - I really don't feel like I could eat more than I do now.   I certainly don't feel like I'm starving myself.  I rarely feel hungry  - I believe  - because I graze throughout the day rather than have big meals with long gaps of time between them.  I really don't think I COULD eat any more if I wanted to as I feel satiated when I am finished eating.  A good analogy would be like... regularly throwing sticks onto a fire to keep it burning throughout the day - as opposed to letting the fire almost nearly go out and then chucking some huge logs on for some temporary huge flames!!  Does that make sense?  Now here's the deal - I'm not sure if this approach is good or bad for what I'm doing...any thoughts welcome!
• I assume that the regular exercise and good quality wholesome food should compensate for my metabolism slow down after quitting smoking?

Thanks again to everybody for taking the time.  As I become more experienced I'll let you know developments........... 

from newcastle! great accent! my best friend is from sunderland and her mates are a right laugh. (obviously i understand the importance of newcastlers not  being compared to sunderlanders but still..)

i never realised smoking made THAT much of a difference!! i know it speeds up your metabolism but didn't realise it would hinder weight loss. well done for giving up. i tried to but thought that dieting and giving up smoking all at once was just too much to bare! especially since when i was out over the weekend i wasn't drinking as much so had to smoke to remain sane!! you should definately swap the coffee or maybe try it black. i think the caffeine in coffee speeds your metabolism as well, plus is full of antioxidants, but the milk will add calories. might not seem like much but it all adds up! it's also a diuretic drug, if you drink a lot it can cause water retention.

x

If you've only been at it for two months then I would say your body is just catching on.  Keep it up because it makes you feel better - the rest will follow.

I just broke through a FIVE WEEK plateau and let me tell you it *was* discouraging.  My thought process was "I'm making these changes permenantly for my health, not to lose weight. I'm not going to do anything different just because the scale is not budging in any direction."

Lo and behold my body finally caught on, made adjustments and I'm losing again.  (Thank Gawd!!)

Good Luck!

Penelope

Hi Elle

LOL @ "Newcastlers & Sunderlanders"  It's mainly a football thing but we probably shouldn't talk about that lol.  Had a party on saturday which was a real test for the smoking thing - about half of the friends who came smoke.  I managed to resist though...I understand the thought that if you're not drinking so much you smoke more - you got to do something right?!   It does get easier.  You DO get the urge less and less and it only lasts a minute or a few minutes.  The main thing is to do something completely different.  I joined the gym the day I stoped smoking to keep busy after work instead of sitting in the house.  If I am in the house I've turned somewhat into a case of OCD to keep my mind occupied and 'off the tabs' - lol.  So far so good.......Good luck  :-)  x 

Hi Penelope!

Thanks for the reply.  I do believe I've broken through the plateaux!  Weighed myself last night and 5lbs lighter which is the first breakthrough! 

My main reason for doing all of this is not primarily to lose weight necessarily - although its a good indication.  The weight thing isn't the be all and end all - I'm more concerned about how my body feels, how I feel in my clothes, etc. 

I like your thought process about not to rest everything on the scales! As you say - I'm sure after 3 and 4 months everything will take care of itself.

Regards

Andy

Update!!!!!

My last weigh in this week was 189lbs which is not bad from 210lbs back at the end of April....most of the weight has come off in the last 8-10 weeks!!

It's working at last!!!!   Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!

For anyone on a plateau - KEEP GOING!!!!!!  break through the barrier and don't give up!!!!!