[lalareb05]

ok so i'm 20 years old 5'2", 125lbs and i feel horrible. I'm not fat, but my clothes are not fitting right and i just dont like how i want to look. I've done every stupid thing you can possibly do to lose weight. About 3 years ago i took stackers (with ephedra) and lost weight so easily. I went from 118 to 108 in no time, but i know now that it was VERY stupid. I stopped taking those and my weight just kept creeping up and my freshman year i got to about 127-128 and so i jumped on the low carb bandwagon. Got down to about 118 lbs and then stopped the low carb thing and the weight crept up again to about 126-127 lbs. Then i decided i would just stop eating. From January-March this year I was depressed and i wouldnt say i was anorexic, but i had anorexic tendencies. I would fast for days...only drinking water. I got down to 113 lbs and then after a month of trying to "restrict" (meaning less than 800 calories a day) and occasionally bingeing on everything in sight my weight is back up to 125. I realize that not eating is TOTALLY the wrong thing to do. I'm trying to get back into a routine. I've been eating about 1200-1500 calories a day, working out twice a day 5-6 days a week (elliptical, treadmill, bike) and burning about 600-1000 calories each day with that, and lifting weights 3-5 days a week. Ok so to get to the point. Do y'all think my metabolism is so messed up that it will take me much longer to lose weight? It's so weird eating 1400 calories a day...i spread it out to about 4 or 5 small meals a day. I just really don't want to do this for a month and see no results and feel like i have to go back to restricting. What do y'all think? Will i be able to lose weight this way?

[Sofia4444]

First of all, I think you make the mistake that many...all of us have made (and at times keep on making) - you expect fast results. As you noticed from your previous attempts to lose weight - the faster you lose it, the faster you get it back on. And on top of that, you mess up your metabolism.
See this equaison as an example:

if you lose 10 lbs in one month, you must go to starvation and when you are done, your body turns every single calori to fat, so after a month or two you are back where you started. thats 3 months.

instead - you get the same result in 3 months by doing your cardio and weight training and eating the amount of calories you mentioned. You are not only at the desired weight, but you have also build up metabolism to keep your body going even when you treat yourself with some nice dish sometimes. Then also, you get a lifestyle. If you continue with it, not only you will be in the best shape ever, you will both keep on improving and feel stronger, leaner and HAPPIER.
And that´s again 3 months equal to the first version.

So, what you have to learn here is not how to eat and how to train, because I am sure you know that already, but how to be PATIENT.
Believe me, thats the hardest part!!!!

Good luck to you.

[lalareb05]

Hey! Thanks for the input! I have another question though. Am i doing TOO much cardio? I've been doing it twice a day 4-5 days a week, and i burn about 400-500 calories each session (so about 700-1000 calories a day). I know i'm trying to create a defecit, but is this a little too much? If so, how many calories should i be burning?

[ttuPrincess]

try doing just one session a day... 30-45 mins... and spice it up by what you do... wawlk, stair master, eliptical or bike... or better yet take a calss, youll have so much fun

[lalareb05]

Originally Posted by ttuPrincess

try doing just one session a day... 30-45 mins... and spice it up by what you do... wawlk, stair master, eliptical or bike... or better yet take a calss, youll have so much fun

So are you saying two cardio sessions a day is too much? Why is that? Also i do switch things around a lot...sometimes i run, sometimes i walk with an incline, sometimes i do the elliptical, bike every now and then. And i take a class every wednesday called strength training on the ball!

[ttuPrincess]

2 cardio sessions is to much becuase your not taking in enough calories and your burning off to much.... yes you might lose weight, but it will be muscle not fat, and we want to keep our mucsle

[Sofia4444]

The thing is that if you do a lot of cardio at once, your body will adapt to it and will become "effective" at doing lots of cardio. Which means that your body will hold on calories to be able to survive. I know a guy how runs 2,5 hours a day + an hour in the evening (he is preparing for marathon) and he is bodybuilding, and still, his BF % is quite the same. Which means his body can do more but burn less.
If you spread your weight loss in 3 months and you go for building some muscles during that time too, so you want to live some "surprises" for later on when/if you hit a plateau. To do all the cardio in the beginy will leave you with not much space to add some more in the end.
If you want your cardio to be more effective, do 20 min HIIT (high intensity interval training) and go for additional 10-20 min after that, low intensity. thats it.

HIIT will not only burn more calories, it creats a higher metabolic effect which burns fat even after the session, while low intensity cardio burns fat during the session.

[Neko]

I think the road to good good is lifestyle change. It's not a "diet", or workout/diet for a month. You change the way you eat and exercise to make you healthy. When you are healthy, you will look good. You are only 20 years old. Gosh, if I knew what I know back then, I will be in great shape like some of the people here. If you look at the eating/workout program like a temporary thing, you may lose weight, but you will go back to where you are eventually. Think of it as your lifestyle change.

I did also realize that if I workout too much, I don't see any result.

Another thing, calories are not all same. You need to have balanced meals too.

[ttuPrincess]

neko that os a very good post. that is why fad diets dont work. You need to make a lifestyle change. Im really happy you posted this