Diets & Weight Maintenance Support Group

I Love Curves frankly - 30 minutes three times a week and centimeters are melting off - I feel energised - its an easy committment to make timewise - and at around $50 a month its affordable. They have an eating plan too - so I'm going to go to the info session - but in the meantime I have the old Weight Watchers books out - the WW plan is easy, allows for "straying" and it works if you stick to it....curves will reduce your size, but not your weight unless you change your eating habits. I'm planning a combo of both......

millstarr, I did Curves... first three times a week... then when that didn't work every day.. then when that didn't work twice a day... and i did their meal plan too... after six months i hadn't lost a single pound and lost heart and quit going. (also didn't lose a single cm)

It's really very simple. You need to consume less than you need to maintain your current weight. That's it, that's all.

For your diet, you want to be eating as clean as you can, watching your portion sizes. Calculate the minimum calories you need to maintain your current weight, then cut back no more than 500 from that number. Try keeping a food journal for about a week, and be sure you write down every thing, including the portion sizes. A journal's the best way to look at what you have been eating to find spots that need fixing.

Get exercising. Pick up some weights and start lifting so that you do not lose what muscle mass you have because it's that muscle that's great at burning fat. Pick a form of cardio that you find enjoyable. Get a good sweat going and not for just 10min either. You should keep going for a good 35-45 min or more at a time to get a good benefit.

No matter what forms of exercise you select, be sure you enjoy them and do a little something every single day. Every day.

All changes you make to your eating, make them permanent changes. Diet pills are a joke; you may well weigh less because of them but you have likely lost water and muscle mass, and will definitely gain it all back when you stop taking those caffeine diet pills. Temporary wacko diets are the same; you'll lose, then you'll gain it back. All because they are temporary.

If you gain muscle mass, you may not lose weight but you will become smaller in size as the fat shrinks and the muscle gains.

It won't happen overnite; an acceptable and reasonable loss is 1-2lbs a week.

if you have fat to lose, and you eat a calorie deficit at the same time as you are exercising, you will see results.

Just blue, obviously it is not that simple. according to my height and weight i need 2500 calories to maintain my weight. the goal i've set for myself each day is to consume 1200 calories.. which i meet most of the time.

I do plan on taking up yoga once again and swimming when the pool opens in spring.. but i do not expect to lose weight. In fact, I know i will not.

And you have shown why you are not losing.

When you cut back more than the 500 calories, your body goes into a form of survival mode - it holds onto the fat because it is convinced that you are starving it!

There is a reason that you are to cut back slowly with the calories.
There is also a reason why weight training assists with weight loss.
And it's not just diet; the water you intake also matters if you want to lose fat.

If a person wants to lose fat, you must exercise and cut back your caloric intake no more than that 500 calorie deficit per day.

Nobody said it was easy to lose, but there are no ways around it.
The yoga and swimming are excellent forms of exercising, but they will do less than resistance training or cardio to contribute to fat loss.

resistance training and cardio are both parts of what Curves does and i didn't lose then.. and their diet actually has three phases.. you go betweem 1200 calories and 2500 calories.. i can't remember the middle one.. the theory being that it prevents your body from going into starvation mode and increases your metabolism.

i'm doing the swimming because it's the only exercise i can really do. i have a bad ankle and some days i can barely walk. when i did curves it was constantly agonizingly painful every day... and i can't put myself through that again. also because the pool is free ;-)

so... are you saying that if I go up to a 2000 calorie diet i'm going to suddenly lose weight?

One thing that hasn't been addressed is do you NEED to lose weight or do you want to lose weight? From your photo, it looks like you are not overweight from all. If you are already at a healthy BMI for your height, then none of your efforts are going to pay off because our bodies have a built in survival mechanism to keep us from getting too thin. If I may ask, what is your height and your current weight?
If you truly do need to lose weight then you need to set realistic goals and be very patient. You didn't gain it overnight and you cant lose it overnight. A healthy rate of loss is between .5 and 2 pounds per week, with 1 pound a week being the average. Stick on a reduced calorie diet, but not a "low" calorie diet. If you eat less than 1200 calories a day, your body is starving and it will go into starvation mode. All fat loss will stop and everything you eat will be stored. Try and stick to 1400-1500 calories a day, get at least 30 min. of exercise a week and you should lose a pound a week. This is the best method not only to lose the weight, but to maintain the loss.

My other comment is have you seen a doctor. If you honestly went to curves twice a day every day for 6 months and did not lose a pound AND were following a low calorie diet at the same time, you may have a medical problem that is stopping weight loss. Could be a thyroid problem, could be a hormonal problem, if you are taking any meds - they could be the problem. I would get a complete work up by a doctor if you haven't already.

IMF, well then my photo must be deceptive.. lol.. if you look at my other pictures there are ones that show how fat I am. I'm 5'8" and weigh 260lbs. My "ideal" weight is supposed to be 160 at the most.. but what I'm shooting for is about 200.. or a size 16. So yes, I do need to lose weight.

and that built in mechanism doesn't seem to work on all the size 4's running around. I mean... one of the main factor in the US as to whether one is beautiful or thin enough is whether or not you can see her ribs.

as for a doctor... i didn't go and specifically say "why am i fat?" but i did go and had my thyroid checked. it was high, but "within normal ranges". Although I did later find out that there are different tests and a couple are pretty much ineffective so maybe i should try again.

I have been to a nutritionalist who could only tell me that perhaps i ate too much fruit.

as of right now, i'll admit that i'm not eating perfectly. i'm vegan yes, but when i get a sweet craving i have nothing against a few oreos or vegan cheesecake etc.. but i only don't care at t his point because i can't lose weight even when i'm NOT eating those so what's the difference?

i suppose i can try upping my calories a bit from 1200 to 1500 or so... i do usually come in under 1200.. which i thought was excellent. 30 minutes of exercise shouldn't be a problem.. i have a 2 year old! lol

I have found that all the diets and exercise programs I have choosen have worked up until I quit. I am my own worst emeny. I gained 20 lbs this year just from sitting around, not working and sleeping more than usual. My daughter bought me a membership to a gym for christmas and I am going to us it. I have gained 3 lbs since I started my program. So I know how you feel. I took the FAT pictures this morning and i didn't realize how fat I have become. I still feel a size 10 surprisingly I am a size 16 at best.

I hope you add me to your friends list so that we can continue to write and I hope you have a good day.