anyone a nutritionist?

[jusdooit]

Forgot to ask about your drinking. Are you getting enough fluids?
I also assume the dietician took the time to calculate exactly how many calories, and therfore servings of each food group you need to consume. If not you need to make her do that, it should have been part of the consult. She is right though, not enough really makes your body hold to what it gets.
You may also want to try mypyamid.gov, you can track your food, and exercise, and calories burned by everyday activities, even as minute as brushing your teeth.
Good luck............never give up.

[DarcyInOregon]

Donna, you have been given some excellent advice. I can't believe how many women who responded eat just like I do, including the choice of complex carbs over simple carbs.

I have a follow-up question. What were your daily calories before you went to see the dietician? And what are your calories now?

The reason I ask is because the calories are critical, and the calories are what have to be individually shaped to your needs. A dietician can tell you the calories, but seriously, you take the recommendation and then you figure out what your body needs. Susie (offthegrid) recommended several calorie nutrition programs; I use Calorie King. When you exercise, particularly with cycling, you have to eat the right kind of calories to compensate for the body losing nutrients during the exercise. Somehow, those calories have to be added to your daily requirements, and you can only determine what that number is by recording the calories over time and watching the results. The dietician might tell you that you can't exceed 1500 calories a day, but if you are out cycling 25 miles a day, that number will need to be altered, and only you can figure out what the number should be.

Weight loss just isn't sure and easy like they show it in television commercials and on the reality television shows. It is why all of us have so many friends who are large and heavy and don't ever move their bodies; it is because they start from a position of being so out of shape they can't exercise enough to lose weight, and they become discouraged and stop making the effort. A large part of the equation is moving the body, and the more weight you lose, the more you have to exercise. Remember, the official recommendation from the federal government and the American Heart Association for weight loss is 60-90 minutes of aerobic activity each day. That is every SINGLE day, not every other day, or only 2-3 times a week, it is SEVEN times a week. But, as the body fat goes down, you still have to increase the cardio time. That means you have to reprioritize the routines of your daily life and put exercise at the very top. It can be done. Somebody says, "Hey, want to go to a movie and dinner," and you say, "I can't, I haven't done my cardio yet." You go on vacation, you choose a hotel that has a fitness gym or has access to a fitness gym, even if you have to pay more to get such a hotel.

And get that heart rate monitor right away. It will make a difference for you.

Darcy

[han-grrl]

Its a common misconception that ingested carbs of some kind gets converted to fat. Actually it takes the body A LOT OF ENERGY to do this type of thing, so it isn't the preferred way to store fat. The body will take fat and store it, but it won't just start randomly converting carbs to fat. Not unless there is some odd imbalances going on. Sometimes the plumpness around the body is assumed to be fat, but can be water mass too.

Other reasons to consider weight gain: medications, thyroid conditions, lack of sleep, too much stress (both cause disruptions in tissue building and can cause the body to store more than release fat), nutrient intake (if you aren't getting enough of one thing, eg. calcium, your body can respond to protect the organs by adding extra "padding", allergies (as i have already mentioned).

So weight loss isn't simple caloric math of exercise and eating.


I hope you are able to find a solution.

Hannah

[Offthegrid]

Lots of great advice here for you. I recommend looking back on this thread in a week or a month and seeing how you've progressed and what else you could change. I think if you start logging your calories you will see a vast difference in your weight (or at least will understand why you are not losing).

I did want to reply one more time to say that if you're doing a lot of exercise, make sure to take one rest day a week completely off. Your body needs time to recover.

Also are you lifting weights at all? I try to do so twice a week, and I always find that the days after I lift weights are the days when I lose pounds. No scientific evidence - just a little observation.

[wildstreaktn]

Hi Donna,
I am also a big girl,5'8",198 lbs,down from 245 lbs.I have used a combo of strength training,lots of cycling,and am now training for my first tri.I just got my certification as a personal fitness trainer and read and study voraciously on all aspects of fitness.I applaud your perserverence,don't ever quit,it is just a matter of finding the right combination that works for you.Being a neophyte trainer,all the info I have been studying shows that when we do cardio,the fat burning and weight loss effects are immediate,what you burn is what you burn.You might consider adding strength training to your routine.When you strength train you burn calories during your workouts and after your workouts,when your body is in recovery and healing the small tears you create in your muscle tissue when you lift.You might also try zig zagging your daily caloric intake,i.e.,one higher calorie day,two lower calorie days to bust through a plateau or jump start your metabolism.Check out Tom Venuto's "Burn The Fat,Feed The Muscle" website.I purchased his e-book and that is what started this wondrous transformation for me.I hope this gives you some new ideas,and best of luck,you will find the right key to get you where you want to be in your fitness journey!!!

[Julibird]

When I started wearing my new Polar F6, I wore it evertime I worked out and when I checked my weekly calories-burned total (I know it's not solidly accurate - but close enough I think) I was shocked to see I was burning about 2500 - 3600 calories a week. That equals more than an entire day of eating for me.

Maybe such a tool could give you useful data to show your nutritionist when figuring out how many calories you really need?

In my case, I upped my intake (of quality food) and felt better (after being on a plateau) - and lost ten pounds in the following three months without changing anything else. Well actually, I went to bed earlier too.

I love my HR monitor because its gratifying to see the log of my workouts and know when I need more or less.

I applaud your commitment. You are sure to be successful because you are being smart, seeking group support, and doing workouts that you enjoy.

You can do this!
Julie

[DarcyInOregon]

Another function for the heart rate monitor is to wear it while it is turned on in the Exercise Mode for a 24-hour period on a day when you don't engage in any planned cardio exercise. The result will be how many calories your body needs in a 24-hour period. Use that as the base, then lower your calories and increase your cardio. Some people really do not require very many calories, and it is important to know if your body is at 1800 calories or 2200 calories a day, or even lower. Also allow for an error variance in the results.

When you see the results of how very little your body does require, it is very powerful knowledge and helps you to refuse higher calorie foods in the future. Once you get familiar with how many calories are in the food items, you will know to refuse eating certain foods, because one portion may be more than what your body needs for an entire day.

Darcy