Disappointed with Results

So for the past few years, I have weighed around 160 pounds, and for the past year or so, I have weighed anywhere from 165-169 pounds, depending on the day.

My weight seems to fluctuate an entire 4 or 5 pounds sometimes, which I thought was a lot, but apparently this is normal for my body.

For about the last year and a half, my husband Eric & I have been eating the healthiest we've ever eaten, adding whole grains, lean chicken, skim dairy products (for me only; Eric is fatally allergic to dairy), and vegetables and fruits.

Ever since then, I also have been lifting weights a few times a week and running off & on, with a few breaks for vacations & injuries.

Recently, however, I've been stepping up my cutting calories & workout efforts, in an effort to see more muscle definition and lose more fat. I made this decision because I have hardly seen any difference in my body and have not lost any weight, and it's been over a year! That's plenty of time to completely change my body composition! And yet practically nothing has changed for me.

So for the past week, I have been cutting calories, eating even better than usual, and cutting out fancy, sugary coffee drinks all last week, hoping to lose at least 1 pound. I was hoping to lose about 1 or 2 pounds for that effort, and to continue to lose about 1 pound a week. (Experts say that a weight loss of 1-2 pounds per week is the healthiest way to lose weight & keep it off long-term).

I weighed myself today, however, and the scale said 171 pounds! Seriously?!?
I actually gained weight. Now, you're supposed to weigh yourself first thing in the morning with no clothes on, and this was right after lunch, and I was fully clothed. So hopefully that was the reason.

But still! My clothes don't weigh that much!

As you can imagine, I was pretty disappointed & frustrated to find that I had gained weight. All I can hope is that I have gained muscle mass, which weighs more than fat.

I've also read that you should eat "according to your target weight", meaning that, for example, if I want to eventually weigh 150 pounds, I need to eat no more than 1,500 calories a day.

I have found that trying to eat 1,500 or less calories a day is nearly impossible for me. I have only been able to do that a couple of days in the past year, and I was eating so sparingly that I was hungry throughout the day and my stomach was growling so intensely at night that I had difficulty falling asleep.

So I am currently sort of disappointed with my weight-loss journey, but I'm going to keep running hard, lifting weights, and cutting more calories than usual, trying to kick-start some weight loss. Hopefully, once my body is kick-started to lose weight, it will be a bit easier to keep it going.

We shall see!

Minimun Exercise Requirements

The minimum exercise standards from the American Heart Association are: raise your heart rate for 30-45 minutes, three or four times each week.

Now remember, these are just the minimum guidelines to have a healthy heart.
If you want to lose weight or train for a race, then you may have to workout for longer than this.

Food Portion Guide

One Serving Of: ************ Should Fit In:

Lean Protein ************ Palm of 1 hand

Leafy Greens ************* Palms of 2 open hands

Denser Veggies **************** One open hand
(beets, brussels sprouts)

Whole Grains ****************** One cupped hand




*So try to stick with these portion sizes to get the nutrients you need without the extra calories*

More Whole Grain Goodness!

Aim for 34 grams of fiber every day. Healthy whole grains not only help your heart, but also help fend off depression!

(Self magazine, April 2010)

So eat plenty of fiber, exercise, and feel better in every aspect of your life!

Heavenly Whole Grains!

A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that women who ate at least 2 servings of whole grains daily cut their cardiovascular disease risk by 51%!

This study also found that cereal fibers seem to be even more effective than veggies are at lowering cholesterol.

Fifty-one percent?!? Wow, that's huge! And 2 servings a day? That's not so hard to do. Replace all your white bread with 100% whole grain bread, all your pasta with whole grain pasta, and even try whole grain pita bread and tortilla shells! They all come in whole grains, and you can probably find them cheap at your local grocery store!