Hi everyone. I have been going to the gym everyday for at least an hour on the eliptical machine(on the lowest resistance/setting). My diet is pretty good, (whole grain cereal for breakfast, turkey sandwich on wheat bread for lunch, grilled chicken and veggies or low cal lean cuisine for dinner....) I have been doing this for the past few weeks but I have not seen any weight loss or inches, if anything I've gained a few inches here and there. I understand that sometimes you can build muscle but won't the fat eventually come off, I don't get it. Am I doing something wrong? If anyone can offer suggestion, please let me know. I could really use some advice. I feel like all of my hard work is for nothing. I'm trying to diet/exercise the healthy way but it's fustrating that I'm not getting results. I've done fasts/very strict diets, little exercise before and have lost weight consistantly but it's hard to stick with it and I end up falling off the wagon and gain the weight back. So now I'm trying to do it a better way and it's not working. HELP!
I'm Not Losing Inches or Weight! PLEASE HELP!
- Thread starter shorty061
- Start date
Instead of going for an hour at the lowest setting, play around with the settings at various intervals - I will often do it per song... and bump up the resistance for a song and just make myself work harder
Nemesis2
New member
To put it in really basic terms, as long as ur calories in is less than ur calories out, u should be losing weight. My advice would be to bump up the intensity of the cardio, as low resistance on the eliptical machine doesn't do that much because once you have momentum going the eliptical machine does most of the work 
Also, I would tell you to cut back on food portions but your stated calories a day seem fine for weight loss. That being said, make sure you know the calorie count exactly, we tend to overestimate the calories burned and underestimate the ones we eat.
Also, I would tell you to cut back on food portions but your stated calories a day seem fine for weight loss. That being said, make sure you know the calorie count exactly, we tend to overestimate the calories burned and underestimate the ones we eat.
gettinskinny
New member
loosing inches
I ran into this same dilema at one point, and felt very frustrated. What helped me was making an appointment with a personal trainer. Explaining what I was doing, and what I wanted to do. They put me onto a routine on everyother day doing a long cardio routine, but adding in a good weight lifting routine was what made my weight fly off. I was working out 4 to 5 days a week. Doing daily cardio, weights and swimming and I lost 70 lbs.
Hope this is helpful advice.
I know you can do it.
And so can I if I get back into the routine.
I ran into this same dilema at one point, and felt very frustrated. What helped me was making an appointment with a personal trainer. Explaining what I was doing, and what I wanted to do. They put me onto a routine on everyother day doing a long cardio routine, but adding in a good weight lifting routine was what made my weight fly off. I was working out 4 to 5 days a week. Doing daily cardio, weights and swimming and I lost 70 lbs.
Hope this is helpful advice.
I know you can do it.
And so can I if I get back into the routine.
Question, how do you expect to bulk up when you're not even eating enough to keep what you've already got ? (ie, the fat)
You're not going to bulk at all by increasing the resistance, some strength and fitness gains, but not size really.
I joined this forum to ask the exact question you've asked! I am 5'7" and when I STARTED my excercise/diet routine I was 155. Now I am 160!!!!!! I am doing 45 minutes of cardio a day PLUS toning excercises. I am also counting calories (approx 1500/day). I was eating much more and exercising less and staying the same size...now with cutting calories WAY back and exercising 4-5 times a week, I am bigger and gaining weight. If you figure out something that helps you, please let me know.
the empress
New member
i know exactly what you mean.i too have in the past worked out for an hour 6 times a week and still did not lose any weight at all.people were telling me that i looked slimmer but I know that i had not lost even 1". this time round i started walking and doing step training 6-7 days a week for 40 mins a day.i do some abs work first thing in the morning and evening. i 've been following this routine for the past month and i have managed to lose 1lb!!!!!!!! its not a lot i know , but for me a big achievement as i'm one of those who take ages to lose weight. so hang in there , give it another week and i'm sure you will lose weight.i know that even losing a small amount of weight is a great motivator and you probably feel a little low right now but don't give up.
gettinskinny
New member
Resistance
I wouldn't worry about bulking up in your problem areas. Are your problem areas already all muscle? If not, then how are they going to bulk up. Your simply going to start turning that fat into muscle by adding weight training. It's vital to loosing weight (and as you said you wanted to loose) Inches. You will first start to see the inches come off by toning up. I also suggest taking measurements, sometimes the scale will not be showing weight loss, but you will see a difference in inches.
I hit a plateau and was very frustrated so I met with a personal trainer. He took my measurements and BMI and althought I only lost 1 lb. in 2 months, my body fat went from 36.44% to 32.43% by my measurements. That was a huge difference, all from a slight increase in my cardio work out and a new weight training routine which worked out muscles I wasn't normally working out.
I wouldn't worry about bulking up in your problem areas. Are your problem areas already all muscle? If not, then how are they going to bulk up. Your simply going to start turning that fat into muscle by adding weight training. It's vital to loosing weight (and as you said you wanted to loose) Inches. You will first start to see the inches come off by toning up. I also suggest taking measurements, sometimes the scale will not be showing weight loss, but you will see a difference in inches.
I hit a plateau and was very frustrated so I met with a personal trainer. He took my measurements and BMI and althought I only lost 1 lb. in 2 months, my body fat went from 36.44% to 32.43% by my measurements. That was a huge difference, all from a slight increase in my cardio work out and a new weight training routine which worked out muscles I wasn't normally working out.
Thanks everyone for the responses. I might have stated wrong about "bulking" up, what I meant was I'm pretty muscular to begin with from years of sports but I have fat ontop of those. What I don't want to happen is turn the fat into more muscle. I just want the fat to go away and be left with toned muscles. My eating is pretty good and I know that I'm not going over my calories(I watch it carefully). I'm trying to give it some more time, but it is fustrating I feel like all of my hard work is for nothing. Would it be beneficial if I switch from the eliptical one day and the next the treadmill? My only concern with the treadmill is that I burn a lot less calories vs. the eliptical. I can only walk so fast on it(I'm short and had surgery on my leg which can make it painful to run/jog). If anyone has anymore ideas it would be greatly appreciated. Also what is everyone's thought on caffiene while your trying to lose weight. Is it good or bad? Also I know diet soda's such as diet coke is bad to drink when losing weight but how much would it really affect it. (i'm not currently drinking diet soda but I use to a lot and it's hard to kick that habbit. I do drink about 80+oz. of water a day also) Thanks everyone.
My eating is pretty good and I know that I'm not going over my calories(I watch it carefully). I'm trying to give it some more time, but it is fustrating I feel like all of my hard work is for nothing. Would it be beneficial if I switch from the eliptical one day and the next the treadmill? My only concern with the treadmill is that I burn a lot less calories vs. the eliptical. I can only walk so fast on it(I'm short and had surgery on my leg which can make it painful to run/jog). If anyone has anymore ideas it would be greatly appreciated. Also what is everyone's thought on caffiene while your trying to lose weight. Is it good or bad? Also I know diet soda's such as diet coke is bad to drink when losing weight but how much would it really affect it. (i'm not currently drinking diet soda but I use to a lot and it's hard to kick that habbit. I do drink about 80+oz. of water a day also) Thanks everyone.FozzwaldBear
New member
I'm not sure how "strict" you are on the eliptical, but maybe you could mix things up by doing some cycling on either a spin or programmable bike from time to time as well as the treadmill. Doing different things breaks boredom but can also break plateaus.
indigoiis
New member
You might be consuming too few calories.
Your body needs energy for all of the exercizing you are doing.
And are you counting exact calories? Also, are you measuring in the same place in some sort of methodical way (i.e. same time of day, once a week, recording measurements...)
Also, using the weekends to increase calories to maintenance, and then returning to reduced calories during the week has helped me tremendously.
Your body needs energy for all of the exercizing you are doing.
And are you counting exact calories? Also, are you measuring in the same place in some sort of methodical way (i.e. same time of day, once a week, recording measurements...)
Also, using the weekends to increase calories to maintenance, and then returning to reduced calories during the week has helped me tremendously.
Thyroid?
I have a friend that could not lose weight no matter how much she ate and exercised and she found out it was a medical problem. Her thyroid was bad and caused her to hold onto her weight. If you're still not losing weight after 3 weeks you might want to get your thyroid checked out (most doctors don't routinely check it but they should. I know many women with this same problem). It could be as simple as taking a pill to regulate it. If it's not this, it could be something else. Talk to your doctor about it. Hope this helps.
I have a friend that could not lose weight no matter how much she ate and exercised and she found out it was a medical problem. Her thyroid was bad and caused her to hold onto her weight. If you're still not losing weight after 3 weeks you might want to get your thyroid checked out (most doctors don't routinely check it but they should. I know many women with this same problem). It could be as simple as taking a pill to regulate it. If it's not this, it could be something else. Talk to your doctor about it. Hope this helps.
gettinskinny
New member
MIxin it up
I definitly think trying other things than just the eliptical will help. You'll be working different muscles. Try the tred mill, and bikes. It's really nice out now too, try taking a brisk outdoor walk a couple times a week.
If you get any good responses on the caffeine let me know. I am a major coffee addict. 2 to 4 large cups a day, I wonder how it effects my loosing weight too.
I definitly think trying other things than just the eliptical will help. You'll be working different muscles. Try the tred mill, and bikes. It's really nice out now too, try taking a brisk outdoor walk a couple times a week.
If you get any good responses on the caffeine let me know. I am a major coffee addict. 2 to 4 large cups a day, I wonder how it effects my loosing weight too.