Just Started and haven't lost much at all

So, I started my weight loss journey half a month ago. I decided to pick up running again. I do a half hour workout 4 days a week. I'm just building up on my running time. I haven't worked out like this in about a year. I started eating healthier, quit eating McDonalds, since I work there, no more sweet tea, quit smoking, no more fast food, and on occasion I do have some candy. I started at 207.6 at a height of around 5'6"-5'7", and now am at 206.4, which I've been at since basically after the first day. I'm starting to get stressed out, and am losing a lot my motivation. I don't know what's going on. I figured I'd have lost at least 2 pounds by now. I just don't know what's going on. Any ideas?

dont worry, your doing the right things.

keep up the running and start building your endurance.  thats what has helped me.  i started at 215ish and the calorie reduction and jogging every other day really works.  just stick to it, you'll see results.

I agree - you'll see it and feel it, even though it's not showing up on the scale. I've been working out hard and eating well the last month, and I look good and feel even better, but the scale has not budged. It's frustrating! You hang in there. Oh, and congratulations on quitting smoking!! Today is my 38th day quit.

Jtothefer is right!  You're really working hard, and keeping high-fat and high-sugar foods out of your diet is just the right thing to do, as well as exercise.  It sounds as though you're being very sensible about it.  A few pitfalls to watch out for might be:

-make sure you're not sabotaging your efforts by drinking sugary drinks, even many fruit juices!

-during your jogging/walking routines, increase your intensity for ten to thirty seconds at a time three or four times during the half hour.  You should increase intensity to a level where you're out of breath but not absolutely dying.  Ten to thirty seconds seems short, but I've read that this is the very quickest way to jumpstart your body into a higher level of fitness, and it's certainly been true for me.

-maybe you could get some friends involved in a fitness effort with you.  That always helps!

Best of luck, and congratulations on your progress so far!

If you are just getting back to running, you are probably retaining some water in your muscles and that will hide any fat loss for a while.

If you can, make time for 50 minutes of aerobic exercise 5x/week. 30 is great for cardiovascular stuff, but 50x5 is better for that and for fat loss. You can walk briskly for 20 minutes before or after jogging, for example. It's a really good idea to warm up with walking first, anyway, for at least 10 minutes.

Are you doing C25K? Try that for an excellent start-up guide for running.

And, you will show a weight loss if you are exercising, measuring food, and eating about 500-1000 cals less than you burn. Make sure you have some idea of what you are burning so that you are not undereating; that will stall your progress almost as much as overeating!

Good luck. Most of us know your pain!! :)

You've only been in this half a month, but you made significant progress, quitting smoking and fast food are two of the best things you could ever do for yourself - you accomplished two important fat loss and health goals.

You shouldn't be concerned with weight loss, but body fat loss as opposed to Lean Body Mass loss (muscle, water, organs, bone). If you can, get your bodyfat percentage tested at a gym, or just buy a skin caliper at a sporting goods store.

I love running, but since it causes so many injuries, I just bought a bike. Or if you have access to a gym, do an elliptical machine. Running requires great running shoes and decent insoles to prevent any pronation or supination problems and absorb the shock of high impact exercise. You would also want to start a resistance training program to building up your muscles around your joints and develop your core and stabilizer muscles.

When you do cardio, you need to do interval training, hardly anyone does steady state cardio anymore.

You have to get your heart rate up when you exercise, the higher your heart rate, the more calories you burn. It's difficult to keep a heart rate of 180 beats per minute for half an hour, which is why interval training is so great.

If you can afford one, buy a heart rate monitor with a chest strap, your heart rate will tell you if you're in your correct target heart rate zones, this is especially useful when you want to work in high intense zones.

Also add resistance training (weight training) to your cardio. I've seen a few studies that confirmed that weight training added with cardio burned off much more fat than just cardio alone.

As for nutrition, cut down on your added sugar intake by eating 5-6 times a day to keep your blood sugar from dropping and developing sugar cravings. Eliminate added sugars from your diet by reading the nutrition and ingredients labels. Breakfast cereals and yogurt can have way too much added sugar. Added sugar will spike your blood sugar levels, then it will drop causing sugar cravings.

Original Post by horacewalpole:

When you do cardio, you need to do interval training, hardly anyone does steady state cardio anymore.

 

 

too funny! but horacewalpole is right. intervals will add more benefit. not only will you burn more calories but it'll help to increase your distance (in the long run, pun intended) and it will help your speed. you have to train your muscles for speed & steady-eddy doesn't quite do that like intervals.

i would suggest starting out slowly tho, maybe give it a couple of more weeks (anyone intervene here) of slow running. you have to build up your tendons & ligaments even though your heart & major muscles are ready for more, before you start doing some serious pounding on the running. believe me, i've been there.

and horace is right too, i would highly, highly, highly suggest some strength training.

and half a month ago is only about 2 weeks. you're going to have to set yourself up & accept that this is going to be a process that sometimes will not go as you expected. some of us sometimes suffer from what they call the 'now-now-now' syndrome. you'll learn patience on the way. and if you keep doing the right things your body will eventually shed the weight, but in its own time. but if you dont do things right it never will. and the scale isn't everything, if you start to look & feel better you're on the right track.

EDIT: again highly recommend adding in strength training.

If I remember correctly, people who have just recently stopped smoking find it harder to lose weight at first.  Let a few more weeks go by before you get down, your body just needs to adjust to all the changes you've made.  You have done a lot of good things, though, so don't give up.

If you still haven't started losing in a couple more weeks, it might just be because you aren't eating the right amount.  You want to make sure you're eating enough, some people reduce their intake a lot and that actually slows down their metabolism so you maintain rather than losing or gaining.  If you made a drastic change in the amount you eat, try building it back up a little, maybe by a hundred a week, until you hit an amount that you lose something noticeable.

Remember, you won't lose a lot overnight, so just keep it up.

You may also want to track your body measurements. You could be showing a loss in inches as opposed to pounds.

Keep doing what you're doing. Don't give up! :)