OK....I've been l'cing for over two months now. I am LUCKY if I lose one blasted pound every two weeks!!! I keep my carbs to around 30-35, drink enough water that I feel like a walking aquarium and have recently started working out 5-6 times/week. I began working out on 11/18/02.

I guess I had the misconception that as soon as I began working out, the pounds would drop faster. Why won't they? One pound in two weeks??????? That's crazy!

What am I doing wrong???????

Kim

According to your profile, you are 5'3". You are not that far away from the ideal range for your weight. Your goal of 110 is probably too low for your height. If you loose two lbs a month, you will probably be a good weight for your height in 5 or 6 months. When you are so close to goal, you lose at a very slow rate. Anyway, as far as I am concerned, I will be eating this way for the rest of my life anyway, so however long it takes, it takes. It's not as if I am going to go off it when I reach goal weight. If this is true for you also, what difference does it really make how long it takes for your 10-15 lbs to come off? You know it will come off eventually, and anyway, you'll be eating the same way when you reach goal. If it doesn't come off, then your body is probably happy at the weight it is now. I am 5'1" tall, and I am aiming for 130. My body type is probably different from yours, but I am planning on looking really good at 130. My advice, for what it is worth, is relax! It sounds as if you are doing all the right things to get and stay healthy. Your body will find it's own level. Trust it.

MayLisa:

What you said does make a lot of sense. If I lose another 5 pounds and look the way I want to I'd be thrilled. It isn't really a matter of numbers on the scale so much as it is being happy with the way I look. I KNOW I need to lose more because I have 32.5% body fat. That number should be in the mid to low 20's.

The thing is, I've already lost 11 pounds and really feel no different as far as how my clothes fit me. I have a gut and my thighs are enormous. By enormous, I mean, you can actually see the cellulite. My point is.....how could a mere 5 or 10 pounds get rid of that? My body may know more and not mind the cellulite but I sure as heck do! If I weighed 150 pounds but had no cellulite or gut....I wouldn't care.

Question: Does it take time for exercise to kick in??? After I've been exercising for a few months....shouldn't the gut and cellulite diminish or should I already have seen a difference?

Kim

Kim, it really depends on what type of exercise you are doing.

Cardio burns fat but will not increase muscle mass. Only weight bearing exercises will do that. You need to combine both cardio work and weight training in order to get the best results.

It does take several months to "see" results. Reason being is the body will burn fat stored in the muscle BEFORE it hits the surface fat. So when we start working out, we seem to get flabber but what is happening is the muscles are getting leaner underneath that layer of fatty tissue. Keep at the workouts and you will soon start to see that layer of fat disappearing

Kim,

You are the only one that can determine what feels right for you. Even though I have a number, I really don't know at this age what I will look like at that number.

And remember, usually the first place we store fat is the last place we lose it. I store mine the most in my breasts. I do not store hardly any in my hips, butt, feet or hands. I lose it first in those four areas and I do not lose much of any of it from my upper area until I am 10-15 pounds away from my goal weight. It just hangs on. So, it may take you getting pretty close to your goal before you lose your problem areas.

Kim, You aren't doing anything wrong. I'm a slow loser too and I know firsthand how frustrating it is. I'm sure you are thinner but don't notice it b/c you see yourself everyday. The day before yesterday I didn't think I was a bit thinner but yesterday I noticed that my jeans were baggy. I swear they weren't the day before. About all you can do is keep doing what you're doing................sooner or later something's gotta give.
asugar

How are you calculating your percent body fat? The reason I'm asking is because I'm currently lower than that percentage wise even at the weight I'm at now and we're the same height.
Even by height/weight charts, you are maybe 15 pounds over your ideal weight. I'm not sure how that could calculate out to 32.5% body fat. If you're basing it on what a scale says, those are notoriously inaccurate. A better way to calculate it is using measurements (neck, chest, waist, hips, thighs) or having someone who really knows how to use them calculate it with calipers. You may want to have that body fat percentage checked again and base your goal weight on that. HTH


edit: I did a quick BMI calculation from another site and came up with 24.6 as a BMI...not too bad. If you got down to 120 that would give you a BMI of about 21...excellent.