anyone a nutritionist?

[DarcyInOregon]

Hi Donna,

Weight loss is a long involved process that can take years, with periods of time where the body may gain weight or not lose weight.

You can visit a nutritionist or dietician, but you really need to figure it out for yourself by trial and error over time. The experts all have their own theories and love to try the new theories out on anyone who walks in their door. Well, those theories may not be realistic for you, so you have to figure it out, read the literature for yourself, and keep on plugging away.

My ratio fluctuates around 50% carbs, 25% protein and 25% fat, if this information is useful to you at all.

I am somebody who has lost a lot of weight, and who is struggling to get the last of the excess fat off. I've been in a holding pattern all winter. However, the one thing that I added to my regime is using the Pulsar heart rate monitor, so I really know if I am exerting myself enough or not, and exactly how many calories I burned. Sometimes we exercise, and it is a great feeling of accomplishment, but cycling 10 miles on a bike trail while gabbing with friends is a lot different than cycling 10 miles up and down hills and pushing to increase the average speed. The same goes for the treadmill. It is easy to get focused on the television show in front of the treadmill and become relaxed, and the heart rate falls, and the calories burned decrease, whereas with a little attention one can increase the grade and speed and get the heart rate higher.

Also, I have a treadmill, and I try my best to cycle outside, even in the winter, because the treadmill simply does not get my heart rate up enough. I can spend an hour on the treadmill and burn the same number of calories that I do in 15 minutes of vigorous cycling outside. What the treadmill says you burned in calories won't be accurate. It is always more than double what the heart rate monitor says.

Another trick is to focus on the cycling. What I mean is do what it takes to make you a better cyclist, for fitness and fun, and if that is your focus, you will start cycling longer distances at higher speeds and more hills, and you will get more days where you burn over 1000 calories. When you start getting enough of those days adding up, your body will start to shrink. For example, maybe I haven't lost any weight over the winter, but I can tell you with a lot of excitement that my fitness level has increased dramatically, and that I now bike distances and speeds that I could only fantasize about last September. And then I think, well so what if I didn't lose any weight this winter because I am certainly more fit than most women my age.

Darcy

[han-grrl]

Hi DDH

weight loss is a fussy thing. SOMETIMES it has to do with body movement (ie exercise) and sometime it has to with calorie count, and sometimes someone needs both, and SOMETIMES it has to do with what exactly you are eating.

If you look at the typical north american diet, we pretty much eat the same foods ALL THE TIME. some examples are: wheat, corn, tomatoes, and some other things...

so even when people are eating "whole grain foods" they are still eating good old fashioned wheat. not a lot of variety. other grains include quinoa, buckwheat, spelt, kamut etc etc etc...

then there is the processed seemingly health foods like granola bars. LOADED with sugar and oil. when i eat these, i gain weight, no matter what i do with my diet. i cut them out, i lose weight.

So all this boils down to the fact that our bodies can develop some food allergies and intolerance which can present themselves as hives or rashes yes but they can also present themselves as headaches, and, yep, weight gain.

So your best bet is to find a dietician who is a bit more WHOLISTIC with their practice and willing to test you for allergies.

Another thing to consider, i am a big fan of the book The Metabolic Typing Diet by Wolcott. This book does provide a little insight as to why we are the way we are. Of course like all nutritional info, take it with a grain of salt, because the research is always changing. The book explains how some of us are more "protein" types and some are more "carb" types. Which means, we metabolize things at different rates due to genetics mainly. Makes sense to me! For myself, i found that when i was eating the recommended 50-60% carb diet, i was ALWAYS hungry. and not losing weight. but through the tests in this book i found that i am a bit more protein oriented, so by adding JUST A BIT more protein to my diet, so not excessive, out of the recommended 2 servings, i added one more serving, i found that my hunger has been controlled. ALSO, the book recommends never to eat foods solo, ie like just an apple, or just crackers. always combine carb, fat and protein so that you dont shake up your blood sugar.

Anyway, i hope some of this helps you. Weight loss is really and individual thing and you need to work with the right people who are willing to explore and see what is right for you.

Keep Smiling!
Hannah

[Offthegrid]

I struggle with my weight, too. Sometimes I just need a break for a bit. But these are the things that I've found work for me 100 percent of the time.

1. I'm not sure how involved your food log is. But I strongly advise logging your calories. Use calorieking.com, fitday.com or one of those sites. You can download a calorie tracker from calorieking.com for about $40. I think fitday is free. Log EVERY SINGLE BITE that goes in your mouth. Measure every single portion. If you're having cereal, then put it in the 3/4 cup or whatever the serving is. Do not miss any food.

These Web sites (or at least I know CK does) the total the calories, fat, carbs and percentages for you.

Log your exercise also. Do not go too low. 1,200 calories net is too low. 1,500 calories net is borderline too low. You should be around 1,600 to 1,800 calories net for a slow, steady weight loss.

I generally go 50-55% carbs, 20-25% fat, 20-25% protein.

2. Consider joining a support program such as T.O.P.S. (taking pounds off sensibly). It's reasonably priced (mine costs $2/month) and they help keep you on track.

3. Don't skip meals. Eat frequent but smaller meals.

4. Know realistically how much you're burning through exercise. Most people drastically overestimate how much they can eat after exercising.

5. Come on TE and let us know how you're doing.

6. Eat some full fat foods. Fat helps our feeling of fullness. Consider eating a full fat yogurt. But watch your total fat intake. You don't want to let it get too high.

You CAN do this. You WILL do this. We're all here to support you and lend a hand or kick in the butt when needed.

[KnottedYet]

Just a little comment on your breakfast:
I *completely* understand wanting to eat your protein/eggs/sausage for breakfast rather than later in the day!

I'm one of those people whose body runs on the "Breakfast like a king, lunch like a Prince, dinner like a Pauper" plan. (I didn't make that up, there are enough of us in this world who eat this way that someone else made it up. I'd like to find that person and say "THANK YOU!")

If I don't get to eat like that (or at least have my huge breakfast) everything goes wrong. From what I've experienced, most eating plans run the other way.

[SouthernBelle]

Hey Donna, Sympathy on the weight loss thing. I know how tough it can be.

A couple of things I wanted to point out about carbohydrates. There are simple and complex ones. You want to shoot for the complex ones. Your body has to put in more effort to burn those. Thus they are less likely to be converted to fat. Plus they are what contain the fiber that keep your bowels perking along. That's why whole grains are recommended over processed ones. Learn to read food labels. Often the front of the packaging will trumpet whole grains, but the product will still have processed wheat or other grains too if you read the ingredients. Enriched wheat flour sounds like a good thing, but it's plain old white flour.

HTH,

[jusdooit]

I'm glad you sat down with a dietician. I hate to tell you this but the 4ozs of meat is accurate. I believe an "extra" serving of meat a day equals 5 lbs of weight gain a year. That being said, I don't limit my meat to just one meal, but do limit myself to no more than one meat a day. By that I mean I may not eat meat every day. Also try to stick to lean meats as much as possible. Did the dietician review with you how to measure your quantities? It's possible you're eating more than you think. Remember most serving sizes are 1/2 cup. I know you're discouraged but I think you sholud try sticking with the dietician's plan for a while, give it some time. I also want to echo the comment about simple vs. complex carbs. This is important.
I doubt that food allergies are the culprit, as I have many. Except they will make read labels before you buy.
My only other suggestion about something that could be physiologically wrong is diebeties. This can result in unexplained weight loss OR weight gain.