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JMTwist
New Member
| Joined: | 25 October 2008 |
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| Posts: | 2 |
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Posted: 28 October 2008 05:57 am |
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I'm a 15 year old male at about 185 lbs (not gaining or losing from there) and 5 foot 7. I'm not necessarily "giant" (I've got some muscle  ) but i'm at a weight where I'm just plain uncomfortable. So this summer i decided to do something about it. At the beginning of august I started to do the stationary bike for one hour at resistance of 3 and at 14 mph every day and weights 2-3 days a week. I do enjoy doing this, because i listen to music and read at the same time, so it's actually pleasant. I did this from then to about one month into the school year (homework got the best of me so I needed to focus on that a little more). After the homework started piling up, I did instead 5-6 days a week of cycling and 2 days of weights, which i thought was still pretty good. So then i checked the scale to see if i'd gone down any and I was dissapointed to see that if anything, I gained a pound or two.
I haven't really changed my diet, i eat enough, but not too much, and my family doesn't really but much junk food, if any. We do, however, buy diet sode and i do have on average 2 glasses of that daily(i'm definately willing to give this up though). I also know muscle weighs more than fat and if i've been doing weights than I would have gained muscle, but don't you think i should have lost SOMETHING by now? It's been about 3 months now and i'm getting extremely frustrated with this. Can anyone help??
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DaniMae1
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 28 October 2008 12:20 pm |
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Well I'd say if you haven't changed your diet at all that you should. There has to be something in there holding you back. Even if it's not junk, you can still eat too much. I speak from experience.  Maybe kick up the resistance on the bike. Switch it up from high to low a few times during your workout. Keep us posted!
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Straylight
New Member
| Joined: | 25 September 2008 |
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| Posts: | 870 |
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Posted: 1 November 2008 07:58 am |
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Diet soda has some funky stuff in it that makes your body hold onto fat/store fat. Don't drink it any more, or at least cut way down.
I would also suggest buying some skinfold calipers--you can get them REAL cheap on amazon, like under 10 bucks and you can measure your body fat to get an idea of how your body composition is changing.
Because it's true--muscle is much more dense than fat. If you lose a square inch of fat and replace it with a square inch of muslce, you WILL gain total weight because muscle fibers are much more dense and massive than fatty tissue. Think about it, that even makes intuitive sense, muscle is all hard and fat is really soft, so it would stand to reason that muscle is much more dense, right? It kind of just makes sense on its face.
I mean it sounds like you are working out and burning more than you put in, so you probably have lost some fat and just replaced it with muscle!
How are your clothes fitting? Does your body look different to you in the mirror? Has anyone commented on your body looking different?
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r_beau
New Member
| Joined: | 12 April 2008 |
| Location: | Oregon USA |
| Posts: | 81 |
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Posted: 3 November 2008 05:55 pm |
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First of all: What you eat in your DIET is 80% of losing weight.
That's great that you have stepped up with the diet and exercise but that's only 20%. If you expect to see results, you need to put in the effort.
And I hate it when people put so much emphasis on the SCALE which is not a true measure of weight loss. Let's say you start out at 200 pounds. You work your tail off with exercise and weight lifting and you are able to lose 30 pounds of fat but you put on 20 pounds of muscle. So even though your "true" weight loss (in fat) is 30 pounds, the scale will only show you 10 (because you have gained muscle). I know this is an exaggerated example but it is true.
A better estimate should be how your clothes fit and how you feel. Do you see more definition in your muscles? Do your pants fit looser?
Also, if you are really seriously wanting this, I would suggest keeping a DETAILED and ACCURATE food journal. I don't know if I am allowed to say this on here, but I am a member on another diet forum that has an excellent online diet journal that I live by.
Many people **think** they are eating "okay" until they start adding things up in a food journal and see how much they are really eating (or what portions of fat they really are eating, for example). Calculate your BMR and figure in your daily activity to see the calories you should be eating to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose weight, you should either eat less or burn up through exercise 500 calories a day (so that each day, you are 500 calories below your calories requirement to maintain your weight). This will add up to a 3500 calorie deficiet for the entire week which equals one pound of fat!
Remember: healthy and lasting weight loss should be no more than 1 to 2 pounds per week. Slow is better!
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CrimsonAnimus
Moderator
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Posted: 3 November 2008 06:08 pm |
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r_beau wrote: First of all: What you eat in your DIET is 80% of losing weight.
This really depends on the individual. It's easy to think strictly in terms of the calorie deficit that exercise creates during the workout, but it's just not that simple.
Along the course of this weight loss journey, I have learned that I simply do not lose weight without exercise, even if I eat as low as 1200 calories a day. (6'0", 214 pounds). Further, I can eat upwards of 5000-6000 calories a day and not gain weight, as long as I exercise.
Exercise has a very notable effect on overall metabolism. The extent of this effect is determined largely by genetics, but it is present. Sometimes, when I do not exercise, my energy level drops drastically, and it's a chore to even get out of my chair. With regular exercise, though, I feel like I could walk a half-marathon (and I have).
For me, exercise is at least 50% of the equation - probably more. Fortunately, I like to exercise (in general). Many people can lose weight without exercise - good for them. You just have to find what works for you.
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r_beau
New Member
| Joined: | 12 April 2008 |
| Location: | Oregon USA |
| Posts: | 81 |
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Posted: 3 November 2008 06:14 pm |
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CrimsonAnimus wrote: r_beau wrote: First of all: What you eat in your DIET is 80% of losing weight.
This really depends on the individual. It's easy to think strictly in terms of the calorie deficit that exercise creates during the workout, but it's just not that simple.
Along the course of this weight loss journey, I have learned that I simply do not lose weight without exercise, even if I eat as low as 1200 calories a day. (6'0", 214 pounds). Further, I can eat upwards of 5000-6000 calories a day and not gain weight, as long as I exercise.
Exercise has a very notable effect on overall metabolism. The extent of this effect is determined largely by genetics, but it is present. Sometimes, when I do not exercise, my energy level drops drastically, and it's a chore to even get out of my chair. With regular exercise, though, I feel like I could walk a half-marathon (and I have).
For me, exercise is at least 50% of the equation - probably more. Fortunately, I like to exercise (in general). Many people can lose weight without exercise - good for them. You just have to find what works for you.
Crimson: When I said losing weight is 80% diet, I do not mean that it strictly involves your calorie intake. What I do mean is that it involves WHAT you eat.
Say I need 2000 calories to maintain my current weight. So therefore, I need to eat approximately 1500 daily to lose 1 pound a week. However, if I am eating 1500 calories in McDonalds grease everyday, am I going to lost weight? Probably not. But if I am eating a healthy and vaired 1500 calories a day, will I be more successful with weight loss? Most likely yes.
I never said that exercise was not important.
It's just that your diet (and WHAT you eat) is more important.
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JMTwist
New Member
| Joined: | 25 October 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 2 |
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Posted: 3 November 2008 09:13 pm |
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Thanks everyone for the replies
I suppose that my clothes are fitting a little better and my muscles are bit more defined. Maybe I just can’t really tell if there has been a difference in my body fat because its changing slowly.
I think I’ll start a food journal and just keep it up with the excersize and see where it takes me.
Any advice on the food journal?
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