So, after 3 months its still not working.....

Ive been calorie counting for about 3 months now eating between 1500 and 1900 calories a day and Ive actually gained about 1.5 lbs--and its not muscle because I dont do enough exercise for that.   Ive lost 32.5 lbs since last january, but that it is ridiculously slow for someone my size.   I just dont know what to do.  Im 5'4, 220lbs, 20 years old.  I know Im insulin resistant and im on metformin for it.   I feel like im trying so hard and doing everything right, so why did i gain.  I would at least like to lose 1 or 2 lbs a month, but i either plateau or gain.  I never lose.   Is anyone else going through this?

hello?  is anyody home ?...........

How many calories do you think you burn a day?

I don't know much about insulin resistance or the medication you are taking, but maybe you need to also watch what types of foods you are eating. Are you familiar with the GI index?

From what I understand about insulin, it is the major determining hormone as to if food is used immediately or stored as fat, so I think that if you can keep your insulin levels low or steady you will not gain ... I'm not sure though. It's a little out of my league.

Have you talked to a doctor about what type of diet you should be following?

According to all the calculators, at sedentary I burn 2200 calories.   I do eat low glycemic most of the time and there hasnt really been any results.   My doctor told me to stay away from starches.  The only thing that has ever really worked is eating fairly low carb (about 100g or under for the day).   Im trying to believe that I can lose weight while still eating more carbs, but like I said, Im not really having results with the whole calorie counting thing.  I guess it could be due to a lack of exercise, but with a deficit shouldnt I have lost even .5 lbs or something without exercise?   I just cant figure out what Im doing so wrong that no progress is being made, even though I feel like Im really trying.

I'm sorry to hear that you have hit a plateau. Have you tried switching up your work out routine?

Having lost 32.5 puonds since January is nothing to sneeze at, congrats on your weight loss thus far. Don't give up!

amayaou82, thanks for the compliment, but remember, Im talking about january 2008.   Thats 17 months.  Working out is the one thing that Im not doing right and I know it, but I guess Im just wondering how much not working out regularly is holding me back especially since Ive been reading from so many people that diet is the most important aspect.

I've heard to take a couple weeks off dieting. Chances are you won't gain anything, but your metabolism will shift directions.  After a couple weeks go back to 1900 cals, after a couple more weeks go down to 1700. See what happens for a month after doing this.

It IS frustrating, it took me about 18 months to lose 25 lbs, then when I hired a trainer and started working out, I lost another 10.

The final 10-15 just won't come off and I'm out of tricks. Anyway, the stuff that took for-ev-er to come off is NOT coming back on, and I'm most happy about that. Healthy lifestyle changes and new eating patterns that result in slow weight loss are better than quick yo-yo dieting, especially if you're diabetic.

You don't say much about your workout routine, perhaps you need to add cardio to that???

As far as exercise is concerned, i do cardio just not as regularly as i should.  some weeks i do it 4 times a week, other weeks i miss it completely.   Working out is my weak point for sure. 

Are you mostly sedentary? If you don't hit the gym, that's okay, but there are other things you can do to boost your metabolism.  Keep moving, talk fast walks, now that it's getting warmer (pretty much anywhere in the world right now) get outside and offer to do some yardwork.  Anything.

One trick to loosing weight is increasing your heart rate...the higher your heart rate the more FAT you burn. Cardio is GREAT for this.