Trying Everyday

I have been on calorie count since April at 5'8 190pds I have not dropped at all, I use my treadmill 2 to three times a week and I do feel great and I swear I have lost inches but when I step on the scale I am sadly disappointed, I am still 190. Although cc has opened my eyes to how poorly I was eating. Im 36 years old and need to lose the weight before it gets even harder.

The best piece of advice I can give you is something I heard a while ago that just makes a lot of sense:

Losing weight (or getting in shape, working out, building muscle etc.) is a marathon, not a sprint.  You didn't gain all the weight in a short time, so it won't come off in a short time.  I'd suggest a couple of things for you.

First is, you should be working towards eliminating all the processed foods in your diet.   Yes you can lose weight by eating less of the foods you normally eat but for the vast majority of people it is a temporary solution that won't work in the long term, and most people just gain the weight back if they don't develop long term healthy eating habits.  You should be eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, lean meats, nuts, seeds, whole grains and healthy fats.  

Second, add some weight training to your routine.  A combination of cardio and resistance training is the best combination for losing body fat compared to either method alone.  Check out Melkor's Welcome Thread in the Fitness section and follow some of the links if you need to get info about this stuff.

Third, don't be discouraged too easily.  It's a marathon, not a sprint.  Follow the generally accepted path of diet, cardio and resistance training and you will succeed I guarantee it!!!

Well, let me be the first to say that just switching to unprocessed foods will not help you lose weight.  If the unprocessed foods have the same calories as the processed foods then you'll lose at the same rate.

First, we need more information.  How many calories are you eating per day?  How much exercise are you doing per day?  How religiously do you count calories?  Do you count condiments, gum, coffee, sauces?  Do you ever have cheat days?

Usually in these situations, there are a couple of different probable causes.

1.) You're not eating enough and your metabolism has slowed.

2.) You're not counting calories close enough and so you're eating more than you think or less than you think, leading to number 1.

3.) You're over or under counting your exercise or not counting it at all.

4.) You're cheating on a regular basis which wipes out the gains you've made.

I think that since you are only looking to lose 15 pounds at your height and weight, you and I are in a similar situation - you are healthy at a weight above the normal bmi recommendation. 

If you are feeling better and your clothes are fitting you better, than you are probably just putting on muscle.  When I first started on this website, I was able to drop about 20 pounds very quickly through diet.  (To be fair, I'd put on those last 20 lbs very quickly.) 

Since then I've been working out alot, and haven't really lost any weight (I'm 5'7" and around 180-185, also looking to lose 15-20lbs), though I am much skinnier - fitting in clothes that I wore I was 20lbs lighter than I am now - and much much stronger and fitter.  I track my progress through measurements combined with the scale.  This is what I've noticed:

• If I've been eating poorly and not working out, my waist measurement goes up, and the scale stays the same. 
• If I've been working out a lot and eating a lot, the scale goes up and the waist stays the same. 
• If I've been working out and eating very carefully both the scale and waist go down. 

I find that my main problem is eating late in the evening - you know when you could either go to bed, or eat something.  I'm trying to go to bed instead of eating.  It's a lot easier if you can find one small thing that you can fix to get the scale headed in the right direction.