How long before we see results ...until we start to loo...

[Radclmystic]

I have cleaned up my act although this morning I watched a video taken of me playing tennis and honestly I was as fat as the first day I started really trying to change my body. Instead of crying and losing it...I decided to play (I am at a tennis camp) and get honest about my eating. OBVIOUSLY my eating has really loosened up, some for the holidays and I notice I will mimic and keep pace with My BF who eats anything and it barely shows. I have been cheating and eating chocolate , nuts and fruit and high fat cheese at night (with him) so no wonder! I know> I am well educated on clean eating well... plus he watches a cooking show and I realize I need to go do something else when it's on because it makes me want to eat. I was gutted when I saw the video. Oh and there is a slim woman who barely eats in this camp because she talks through the meal and I notice she hardly touched her plate. Do I have to become a food hater and not eat?. I am so sad and depressed about how FAT I am. I do the DVD's and I run and I cross country ski and I spin and I am no slouch. So I know under all of this fat is muscle.
Still how long will it be until I look anything like Cathe (being cut)YOu know? I am so ready to cry my eyes out and I feel very frustrated as if I can't humanly do more sport and weights. So I guess this is a plateau and I am teetering on losing my mind and quitting because I am really just as fat as before after a year of hard core working out. Seriously I look as fat as when I first started. I am really bummed. Okay tennis clothes are not very flattering but my gut my legs look huge.

I guess I am in La La land thinking I am working hard. Obviously I am not. I am fat. maybe fit but I am FAT. UGH...Help.:-(

 

[Jess_jugs]

I'm sure that you're just being your own worst critic (I know how that is!). I'm sure that you look great in your tennis skirt (which are so cute, BTW!).

Are you just doing cardio for working out?? You mention tennis, running, spin, etc. If you want to get cut, you need to lift weights. I've seen big changes since I started lifting heavier and eating cleaner.

Don't look at other people and try to imitate them (ie, the slim woman that barely eats). What works for one person might not work for another.

Take care & hope you aren't feeling so down!!

 

[lala1]

Hi Radclmystic and welcome! You don't mention how long it has been since you started "cleaning up". Give yourself time. It sounds as if you really know what you need to do. You recognize that you're eating when your BF eats and that you need to do s/t else when he's watching his food shows, so you have good skills. I would just say to keep up your exercise, make sure you add weights to your workouts, use your eating clean knowledge and before you know it, you will see changes. Be patient with yourself.

 

[SolidNProud]

3 weeks of really working hard and watching your food and portion control you will notice strength.
3 more weeks until your body begins to show change

that's alot of reason why most people give up the first month because they aren't seeing any results. All of the results are internal the first month with water fluaction, fat lose/ muscle gain, learning the exercises, strengthing weak muscles.

Sooooo- don't look at it from a "what can I see in a month", try focusing on feeling great and fitting into your clothes better.
Best trick is to try your "skinny" jeans on every OTHER week.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sunshine 1528]

Another thing that helps many of us is to eat 5 - 6 times a day, but only a few hundred calories with both protein and carbs (not the sugary kind ) each time.

I find if I wait too long in between I get hungry and then eat everything in sight - especially the "bad for me" stuff.

Not sure if that will work for you, but worth a try.

And if you can take the time to prepackage or get healthy foods ready at the drop of a hat (or when you feel the need to eat), the good choices will be there. I am not great at planning my entire day or week in advance, but always cook quite cleanly (make DH add all his extras like butter, salt, sauces after the food is ready) and then have leftovers in one serving sizes in the fridge. Then I just grab what I need to take to work and it doesn't take too long.

As Jess Jugs said, lifting weights is great also when you need a "shove" to get past a plateau. The other thing that seems to help is to switch up your exercising every month or two because your body gets used to your workouts and doesn't work as hard after awhile.

I will bet there will be others who will respond with more ideas for you.

BOTTOM LINE: Don't give up - I am sure you feel better by exercising. Just try something different for a while and see how your body responds. If it doesn't work after a month, hunt down something else to try and go for it.

And definitely keep checking back here - there is tons of support from all of us :7

 

[xschwarz]

I've "started" many times. But when I finally saw results, leaned out and lost the weight was when I did 3 things differently:

1. Determined my daily caloric deficit formula required to lose weight over time, based on height/weight/age.

2. Accepted the FACT that it will take months to achieve this goal and that the sooner I started, the closer I was to the end result.

3. Followed my personal caloric deficit plan, day after day after day. If I fell off plan (rarely) I focused on my positive achievemnts. I focused on me.

The exercise plan whether it's heavy weights, light weights, cardio, interval training, once a day, twice a day, etc... is really just a nuance to the above plan.

Decide to do it for yourself- and start today! In 6 weeks (I agree w/ SolidNProud) , you'll see a well deserved change which will catapult you into following through to complete the task for good.

X

 

[LeanneM]

Everyone else has already given you great advice, but I wanted to chime in to echo them and to say what worked for me.

Like you, I had been working out five or six days a week doing mostly cardio and circuit workouts, and my weight wasn't dropping. I was feeling really frustrated since I felt like I was working out so hard, and not seeing many results!

Once I got serious about lifting weights three days a week in August, though, the pounds started coming off right away. I started by using Cathe's Muscle Max and Pyramid workouts, and then moved into Gym Styles and Slow and Heavy. If you don't have them already, I would definitely recommend getting Muscle Max and the Gym Styles series, which so many others seem to love, too.

I also have been really diligent about monitoring my calories. I enter everything I eat into a free website from Self magazine so I can make sure that I stay within my calorie range.

I know how frustrating it can be, too, to see how much harder you have to work than other people, since I have a few friends who can eat whatever they want and stay stick-thin. My husband also eats a ton of ice cream, and never seems to gain weight. I just know that I have to work harder than them to reach my goals. It doesn't seem fair, but I've come to accept it!

I'm sorry that you're feeling so down! Remember that you're probably in great cardiovascular shape, even if you're not quite where you want to be. And like Jacque said, keep posting here because you'll get lots of great support!