Help, any advice would be appreciated!

L

lmmonk

Active Member
Help! I need some advice. I am 37 years old with 3 children. I am 5'5" and weigh 150 pounds. I have been trying to lose approximately 15 pounds without success. I was so tired of the low calorie diets that have only made me heavier over the last 10-15 years that I decided to try more calories, but a cleaner diet. Not only have I not lost wait, but I am very tired. What am I doing wrong? My current diet is as follows:

Meal 1: 60 gram protein shake (dave draper blend)
Meal 2: 1 cup Fiber One cereal, banana, 1 cup skim milk, green tea
Meal 3: 6 oz turkey, 2 slices LF cheese, 2 sl whole wheat bread, mayo, apple
Meal 4: 4-6 oz chicken or turkey, large salad, regular dressing
Meal 5: 6 oz meat (turkey, chicken, LF beef), small starch, vegetable
Meal 6: varies, from nothing to pretzels, fruit, or popcorn, green tea.

My questions:

1)Is my diet conducive to losing fat?

2)Does my diet help or hurt with the feelings of tiredness?

Any advice would be appreciated. Lisa
 
The best advice I can give you is to join Weight Watchers. It is a sensible program, you will have energy if you stay on program and drink your water. You will get support at the meetings. If you don't like a particular meeting, go to a different one. Give it a good try, and be patient. You are trying to change a lifestyle habit, not crash diet.

I am a lifetime member, although I rarely weigh myself.
Judy
Live by the golden rule: treat others as yourself :)
 
Have you had your thyroid checked?

About 15 minths ago, I had little energy. My DH commented that I was going to bed earlier and earlier. It was not unusual to be in bed by 7:30 p.m.

I had just come off a 12 week BFL rotation and knew I was eating better than I ever had previously. After seeing a doctor and having bloodwork done, he told me that I had hypothyroidism (My previous doctor told me I was "within normal ranges"). The doctor said if he had to give my thryoid level a test score, with the range being A-F, mine would be a D-...

Fast forward fifteen months: currently on 165 mg Armour thyroid and feeling great. The weight that crept on is now in reverse and creeping off. I have energy for regular exercise and no energy dips during the day.

It was well worth my time and money to have this blood work done. Good luck and hope this helps.

Dawn
 
I've struggled with same problem. One important thing is to be patient. For some of us, weight loss seems to be very slow and gradual. You should also get a check up to make sure medical reasons are not hampering your efforts. Also if you were on a low cal diet for a long time, chances are that you have developed nutritional deficiencies all of which can catch up with you eventually and cause fatigue. The best thing to do is to keep up with the good nutrition and take a muti-vit. Also if you are doing ample cardio and find you are not getting results, try doing more weights. That did the trick for me rather than my diet. I also found that getting rid of my phobia of carbs and upping my wholegrain/ beans intake helped with my energy levels a lot. Good luck.
 
Hi Lisa! I answered you over on the BodyRX board but in case you haven't seen it I did see in your meal plan that you have very little veggies and not much fruit either. This is the key to obtaining more energy. So change your meal plan to include these items and you'll see what a difference it will make. I also hope the shake you have in the a.m. includes 2-3 types of fruit in it; if not right there's your problem. The shake alone only has protein in it. Also please take the advice from Laura & Rebecca over at the other board. These ladies have a lot of knowledge & know what their talking about. Good luck! Best, Kathy
 
Something I thought of is that if you happen to have an allergy to anything at all that your eating that can sap your energy big time.

Edith
 
I agree--be sure to have that thyroid checked, and if you're taking meds for it, you might consider a different dosage or a different type of medication. If I understand correctly, some people test normal but still need meds; others simply aren't able to convert T4 (the most common type of thyroid meds) to T3, the form in which the body can use it (visit Mary Shomon site at About.com for more info). My situation was very similar to yours. I hadn't lost weight for over a year. At one point, I was riding my bike three hours a day and eating l200 (clean) calories without any weight loss. (I'm even a vegetarian!) I finally convinced the doc to change my thyroid meds. Voila! Finally losing weight!!!! Yippee!! And instead of going to bed at 6:30 or 7:30 every night (and wishing I could sneak away at 5:30 a lot of evenings), I'm still awake and lively at l0:00. I feel like I have a new life! It's a recent change, so I can only hope the weight loss and other benefits continue. And I hope you, too, are able to figure out what is holding you back. Best wishes.
 
I just wanted to say thanks for all the advice. I am going to get some bloodwork done just to rule our any medical problems.

I have received the advice to eat more green veggies and fruit. But I actually don't know if I can eat more. Should I then give up something I am already eating? Or should I force myself to eat more and feel stuffed?

Regarding Weight Watchers, I have used that program successfully in the past for my first two children. But, when I tried it this time, I found myself craving and binging on junk food. According, to their program, I was only allowed to eat approx 1200 calories a day. I don't think that was enough. With the current diet, at least the cravings are gone, and I feel I am eating healthier than ever. But I am not losing fat like I hoped. So I am confused and very disheartened.

I have never had an allergy to anything that I am aware of. I lift weights (each body part once per week) for one hour 4 days per week, and just started back with cardio 2 days per week. I would like to get the weight lifting to 3 days so I can have a 3rd day for cardio. Sundays are my off day.

Hopefully, I have responded to all that replied. Unfortunately, if my bloodwork indicates everything is fine, I am not sure what to change: calories, type and level of exercise, of types of food.
 
My 2 cents...I also found my weight creeping up after having children even while trying to eat low fat. I also was sapped of energy, esp. mid-day (to the point of feeling drugged at times). Well, all of the advice here has been excellent. I also think that what works for one person may or may not work for another so experimenting with different advice will help you find what works for you.

"Something I thought of is that if you happen to have an allergy to anything at all that your eating that can sap your energy big time." I wish I had figured this out sooner...I have a mild allergy to wheat (esp. when eaten mid-day) so that is why I felt so sleepy & sick after eating sandwiches, crackers, or pasta at lunch. I still eat some bread/pasta at night or occasionally at breakfast but the sapped feeling is gone & as a consequnce, I lost some weight & my blood work improved - better cholesteral numbers (the allergy may have been causing the weight gain & increasingly bad cholesteral - there was probably more than one consequence of eating something that did not agree with me). I experience similar reaction to eating white sugar, but only in certain foods. I can eat fruit, veg, yogurt without bad reactions...go figure, it may not be a "carb-only" thing for me. I now eat some Cheerios (starchy but not wheat) w/milk 1/2 hour before a strenuous workout & it keeps me going & I don't feel ill. I do eat more now, but more balanced, than when I was gaining weight. I am 43, BTW, with 2 children.

Also, your meals 3-5 are balanced...carbs, fat, & protein (I asuume meal 4 has some fat in the dressing). When I eat this combo, I am not hungry. If I just eat one of those things (or mostly) such as your meals 1, 2, & 6 I will be hungry (and tired & cranky) soon after. When I have breakfast, for instance, I'll have a protein shake made with milk (or yogurt), fruit, protein powder, and some sliced almonds (if I don't use whole milk/yogurt). Or I'll have fruit & milk w/protein powder. If I don't work out, I can go for hours on this.

So, I am concurring with the previous posters, just wanted to share that I changed my eating around several times to find what worked for me. Amount of calories does count, however, if you are tired, then maybe you are also eating something that doesn't agree with you in more ways than one. I don't count calories because I'm not hungry all the time anymore (like when I'd eat bread...a low fat food :) all the time).

Sorry for the long post...shaking up your eating (and checking w/the doctor) can help just like shaking up your workouts (at least it did for me).

Good luck!
 
Thanks for your input. I am calling the doctor's office today to make an appointment. I felt even fatter over the weekend, and my scale is up 4 more pounds, and I fell it all in my stomach and waist. This is a body area I historically never had a problem with. Before, when I gained weight it was all in my butt, hips and thighs. I am praying it is due to my period.

Regarding my meals 1, 2 and 6 not being balanced. I get up at 6 am to workout and drink my protein shake and during the workout. Yesterday and today I added a banana and 1 slice of WW bread. I did feel more energy during the workout. My cereal is eaten at 8:30 before I go to work. I have to eat that much cereal to meet my fiber grams of 45g per day.

I haven't eaten the 6th meal in a while now. I am usually too full. If I eat anything, it is to meet my protein or fiber requirements of the Body Rx program.

If there is anything, anyone else would like to add, I am trying to listen. I am trying to add more veggies and fruit in during the day. I am also going to track calories, protein, carbs and fats grams for a couple of days to see exactly where I am at.

Lisa
 
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