Hello All,

My name is Kelly and I gave birth via a cesarean to a 6lb baby girl on January 3,04. On the day of my 6week post op check up I began my diet. I started out at the gym slowly with just a lot of cardio trying to loose weight then I added weights. I lost weight rather quickly. However now I'm at a stand still with my weight. I've gone from 210 to 168 with a goal of 130 by my daughters first birthday. I currently work out 120 minutes everyday and I've added a supplement with my routine *thinking* maybe thats what I"m missing? I need help what am I doing wrong?? I want to tone and define my muscles, but I also want to loose this weight. I've been at 168 for almost 3 months now and I'm not budging. :confused: Any advice would be so appreciated!!!

Thanks y'all. :claplow:

What's your diet look like? How often do you eat? What are you doing for those 2 hours per day you're exercising? Tell us more... can't fix it if we don't know what's broken.

-R

I have two kids so if I"m lucky I eat twice a day. Lunch I'll have usually a egg sandwich on whole wheat bread w/ 20 oz Orange Juice. Then I'll have dinner at 4:30-5 and go to the gym at 7pm.
I try to eat healthy I'm not really well educated with food so I bought Dr Phils cookbook and try to make every meal according to it.

My gym rountine is
75 minutes of cardio divded up between the elliptical and bike. I usually go on those until I reach 8 miles.

45 minute weight time I work on my hamstrings, quads, pecks, triceps, biceps, trapezius (not trapezoids LOL LOL Oh dear lord I dunno where my head was :lol: now that yall got a good laugh LOL LOL ), abs and glutes. I do combination between machines and free weights.

I do pilates every Monday for an hour which replaces my cardio routine.


So where do u think I'm going wrong.

For all that you work, I don't think you're eating enough. Your body is probably going into starvation mode and is desperately trying to save everything you eat. I'm not completely sure about this figure, but when you weight train, aren't you supposed to eat around 2,000 calories a day?

And maybe you're working out too long. I think the goal should be about an hour each day, breaking up weight training days and cardo days.

I know I'm not too helpful... I'll let the other smarter people step in. :)

-Kendrah

You are definitely exercising too long. Plus, you're not eating enough.

Try to keep your exercising below 60 minutes. If possible, do cardio and weight lifting on separate days. Many claim that morning cardio on an empty stomach is preferred. I do that sometimes.

You should figure out exactly what you're eating by maintaining a journal for a few days. From the journal, you'll be able to figure out what your macronutrient ratios are. Many believe you should shoot for 40% protein, 40% Carbs and the rest fat.

Lastly, it's a good idea to keep track of your workout and try to improve over a period of time. Improvement could be more reps, more weight or if doing cardio more distance in the same amount of time. The bottom line is that you need to improve. And to know if you are you'll need to record your progress . If not on paper then at least mentally.

There plenty of information here on a how to construct a proper diet and/or what exercices to perform. If you can't find what you need, we're all here to help.

Think Positively

See the eating and counting part is where I get confused I don't understand how to correctly count the 40% and stuff. Is that meat and how do I know I"m eating 40%? :confused: If u don't mind can u explain a little more in depth? :o

Thank you all so much. I thought the less I eat the more weight I'll loose until I stopped loosing. Any suggestions on what to eat that will be a metabolism booster? Thank you all for all ur advice I need some place like this to help me learn to do this correctly.

Kelly, you can track what you eat on a free site -- fitday.com & it will give you the percentages of carbohydrates, proteins & fat you're eating each day & also total calories. You need to eat 5 times per day. You could have 3 meals & two snacks. You must eat enough food or your body is going to hold onto its fat & your metabolism is going to slow to a crawl. You also need to eat the right kinds of food. 20 oz. of orange juice is just full of sugar.

Have you read Body for Life? You might want to give it a read. It's great for a beginner & has a great eating plan where you don't have to count calories, etc. The book tells you what a serving size is and gives you a list of healthy choices for your meals.

Here's an example of a day's meals that would be much more healthy for your activity level. You should eat every 2.5 to 3 hours:

Meal 1: 1 cup cooked oatmeal, 1 egg, 4 egg whites, some fruit like grapefruit or strawberries, if you like.

Meal 2: (Snack) -- 1 oz. almonds. Do you like protein shakes? You could try Myoplex Lite -- it has 25 protein grams & 20 carbohydrates. It's very easy to mix up in a blender & something good for someone on the go a lot!

Meal 3: Your sandwich and perhaps some whole fruit. Fruit juices are loaded with sugar. Whole fruit would be much better as your insulin levels will not rise as much & fruit has fiber. Make sure you use whole grain or whole wheat, higher fiber bread. You could do an egg sandwich, as you mentioned, or tuna, chicken breast, turkey, etc. Stay away from processed meats & you should probably avoid too much mayo -- it has a lot of fat. Mustard is preferable.

Meal 4: (Snack) -- You could try a variety of things here -- a salad with chicken, tuna, etc., cucumbers & some flaxseed oil or perhaps a boiled egg & some almonds.

Meal 5: Lean protein source -- about 4 oz. -- (i.e., orange roughy, chicken breast, turkey, salmon (best choice -- it has healthy fats & protein), etc.), along with a fibrous vegetable -- asparagus, broccoli, green beans, etc. If you don't eat the salmon, you do need a healthy fat source -- flaxseed oil or extra virgin olive oil are good choices.

I'm 118lbs and eat 5 times a day. I eat 5 meals a day -- not the snacks -- so don't think this is too much food for you!

Lift weights 3 to 4 times a week. If you're going to cardio on weight days, do it after weights & try 30 to 45 minutes. I would cut back to 3 times a week for now and add if needed. You must eat within 20 minutes or so after your training & cardio, so as not to eat up your muscles.

Anyway, just some suggestions! :)

Kelly, you definitely need to eat more! I weigh 126 and I also eat 6 times/day, for a total of 1800-2000 calories when maintaining, 1500 when cutting. And no way do I top 120 minutes for exercise! I usually do an hour of cardio on alternate days from weight work, plus maybe 30 minutes on weight day (weights in evening, cardio in morning).

As Hibiscus mentioned, try tracking your intake in fitday -- 40-30-30 or 40-40-20. Fitday will tell you how close you get to that!

Thank yall so much!! So afte eating after training could I do like a Slimfast shake or something?? I see a lot of women coming out of the gym drinking some sorta shake stuff. Since I"m on the go a lot could I supplement the meals with meal replacement shakes? So I'm getting in enough calories? I appreciate all yalls advice your helping me out so much! :claplow:

A meal replacement shake I like is one I make at home:
1 cup cold skim milk
1 banana
1 and a half tablespoon peanut butter
1 scoop protein powder (plain, All The Whey)
Blend till smooth.
It's fast, way cheaper and healthier than storebought, and tastes like a creamy milkshake. Really yummy. And best of all, it has the proper ratio of fats/carbs/protein - and it's about 450 calories. It's a meal on it's own.

You don't want to substitute protein shakes for real food all the time, but you could probably do it twice a day.

OH THANK YOU I use my blender all the time to make my toddler smoothies so I could definitely do this in a pinch! Thank you! :D

OH THANK YOU I use my blender all the time to make my toddler smoothies so I could definitely do this in a pinch! Thank you! :D

Yes, SLIM FAST while low fat is high in sugar. There are better post workout drinks. Whey is preferred after a good workout.

There are whey powders with carbs, no carbs, low carbs, hi fat, low fat, no fat - it can seem a little complex. After a hard workout, use whey with (moderate) carbs to help restore lost glycogen.

I also use whey with no carbs and no fat when I do my morning cardio. I sip this while working out. Alot of people prefer a 100% empty stomach for morning cardio, however.

Another tasty protein shake is ProBlend 55 -- I buy strawberry and mix it with Strawberry/Orange/Banana Krystal Lite. It's yummy. I've also heard many people say Muscle Milk is very good, but I haven't tried that. You can buy the Myoplex Lite in little cartons (like milk) ready to drink. Those are nice and convenient.

The protein drink Ansett mentioned sounds yummy.

I love myoplex lite and Met-RX chocolate shakes as well. Mix with ice in a blender and yummy!! I add a little xanthan gum as well if I want a more 'pudding' consistency.

Hey Kelly. It does sound like you hit a wall. I was in that same situation and was not going any where.

Firstly, I never drink my meals. I know plenty of people do, but I like to take the time and eat a well balanced meal. I find since I am trying to drop weight, the protein shakes do not fill me up sufficently and I still want "real food".

Also, I did as much cardio as you, if not more, and got no where! It was frustrating and devastating to put in all that effort for nothing. I can run all day, or use any cardio equipment so efficently that it really does nothing. I know it sounds strange, but I suppose that I am a freak of nature. I have struggled with this for two years, and ran myself into the ground... for nothing. I already hike 3-5 miles a day with my dogs, and get lots of exercise but my body stays the same. I also eat very clean and well balanced meals, and stay the same.

I have now started something new at the gym. It is from Body Training Systems and they are several different kinds of group classes. I HATED aerobics more then anything, but decided to quit my whining and do them. They are difficult at first and I still have trouble keeping up with all the irratic movements and changes. However, I get better with each class, and I have never had such good workouts. These classes push you hard but I have yet to get injured from them. I have been doing them for about 3 weeks now and am dropping inches and am seeing a toned body started to peek thorugh the extra fat I am carrying. For the first time in a very long time, I feel confident that this weight will finally drop off. For me, this is a big deal.

I have to mention the BTS classes are a lot of fun. My favorite is the Body Pump class, and it gicve new dimension to weight lifting. It is so much fun!!! I also love the Body Flow classes, which are a combination of Yoga and Pilates. I was never much for stretching, but since taking these classes, I see how it has improved all aspects of my life. I move so easily now and it helps with all daily things I do. The Body Combat class is all punches and kicks and nothing makes someone sweat as much as that class does. I try to do Body Pump and Body Combat back to back once a week.

Any ways, perhaps you just need to change what you are doing. I find aerobic exercise makes my body keep guessing what I am going to do to it next. I have noticed that with any sort of cardio I do on machines, I can learn to do it very efficently even if my heart rate is soaring, and not get that great of a workout from it. With all the variations in movement in BTS classes, I honestly can't do it with ease. I think I found my silver bullet since what I was doing before did not help.

Good luck!

thank you all so much for all your advice. Well I have kept a journal for the past 2 days on my eating. Turns out I am eating around about 47% fat 48% Carbs and only aboue 15% protein. So I believe thats where m ymain problem is. Also like bust said I believe that my body is the same way. I had a physical done and he took my heart rate it was a healthy 40bpm seems kinda low he said I"m like well I run 8 miles a day. He gave me this sarcastic look while scanning my body like there's no way THIS person does 8miles a day. I do that running machine like the elliptical that has low impact on your knees since I have torn my ACL ones before. ANyhow I felt so humilitated with the look he gave me like if you run 8 miles then you should be like 120lbs and 11% body fat. I honestly do work out 120 minutes everyday and I am the hardest working person in the gym. It is just none of my work seems to be paying off which is what so down hearting bout this entire process. I will look into aerobics classes, bc honestly that was what I was going to try next. I've already started a Pilates/yoga one and that really helps calm me down and it rids my muscles of the toxins and stuff makes me fee really refreshed. I think too doing a aerobics class with other women won't be as lonely as running for miles by myself on a machine listening to my cd player lol. Thank you all for helping me out I can already tell yall are gonna really help with get to my goal! :claphigh:

Kelly, I totally understand where you are coming from. With the amount of exercise I do, I should look like a fitness model. I am working on it though, and think I found my "groove" with the BTS classes. I used to lift weights 3-4 times a week and do cardio 6 times a week. This is not including my hiking that I do with my dogs on a daily basis. My body is just so acclimitized to these activities, that they just don't do it for me anymore. I know many people say cardio machines are the silver bullet of exercise, but not for me. I did try the rowing machine last month and it is a keeper. You should try that, it kills the abs really nice and works the upper body very well.

I can say that you are eating way too much fat for sure. Just don't beat yourself up to death over it. I used to obessess about everything I put into my mouth and it just blew up in my face too. My husband bodybuilds and all those diets with the high protein and the shakes also caused me a big deal of grief. My body just does not deal with things like a normal body should. It has taken me tons of trial and error to get to where I am now. I do not count percentages for my eating, it just confuses things for me. I just take the common sense method and don't eat sugar, no high fat foods, and don't eat any refined or processed foods at all. Just doing these things simplifies my life a great deal. Like I mentioned before, I don't drink protein shakes. I might start when I strip all this bulk down and see where I want to be. I find that eating my calories helps me make proper meal choices and makes me think about balancing everything. Right now my goal is to lose weight. Of course I am building muscle, but my main sites are on fat loss and not muscle gain. Therefore, I will not go nuts on protein shakes for now. I find although they are pretty low in calories, I am restricted to how much I am eating anyways and don't want to waste those calories on a drink. That is just my perogative though, not anyone else's.

I do two hours of aerobics classes a day, 5-6 days a week. I generally back one intense class to a yoga class, and it helps with the soreness and loosens me up. Then a couple of days a week I do two intense classes back to back. I feel so good these days. Of course I am a little tired and sore, but it is the good tired and sore. I feel my abs and other muscles tightening up, and I feel optimistic for the first time ever. My instructors and class mates are a great support group and they really inspire me to be better.

Please look into it. You will be whipped the first couple of weeks and then WHAMO, you are in high gear after that.

Something I have just started that is working is 20 min. of intense weight training a day w/ 20 min. of intense cardio or 45 min. of medium intensity cardio. Doesn't sound like a lot, but it will do the trick if you are eating enough - I aim for around 200-300 cals a meal and sometimes more - I am losing the weight very slowly (1 pound every 2 weeks or so) but I am extremely happy with the progress. Just my 2cents!

I have come to learn that slow weight loss is better then nothing! It is good you found something that works for you, and you like it! It sounds nice and simple, which is so great, since sometimes things seem so complicated.

Something I have just started that is working is 20 min. of intense weight training a day w/ 20 min. of intense cardio or 45 min. of medium intensity cardio. Doesn't sound like a lot, but it will do the trick if you are eating enough - I aim for around 200-300 cals a meal and sometimes more - I am losing the weight very slowly (1 pound every 2 weeks or so) but I am extremely happy with the progress. Just my 2cents!