kilofrust: 25 pounds+ and headed towards a JLO

[kmcd23]

Hey everyone. a quick brief on my issue. I am 20 years old, 5 ft. 1.25 inches weight: 141-143

I am studying abroad and when I left america in February, I weighed 119. It is now december and I weight 141, however i first hit that number on the scale a couple months ago, in september to be exact. I took part in work out classes throughout the time that I have been here, but I haven't been getting any skinnier. I do have what I like to consider an athletic build, and I put on muscle relatively easily. I am decently strong for my size.

A year and a half ago, I weighed 110 and I was slender. I did not have muscle definition because i had just been coming off of a very serious flu...which is how I got to weigh 110 in the first place. Originally I was 127 and in 2 weeks I dropped 17 pounds. I loved how I looked at 110. I felt comfortable, and confident. I am very insecure about how I look now. My face is fuller, and I would much rather see my cheekbones, seeing as they are very high and in my personal opinion are one of my most favorite parts about my body...when they are there.

I have been going diet INSANE since being here. I have tried the strawberry diet, the banana diet, the yogurt diet, the grapefruit diet, the raw foods diet, the zig zag method, the water fast, the master cleanse, the clementine diet, the baby food diet, along with workout classes such as toning and shaping, bodysculpting, tae- bo- robics, and regular aerobics. Currently I have no idea what I am trying. I cannot run very well, so I have taken to walking everywhere. I have done that since October, and yet I have not seen any results from that. I am going home in exactly 2 weeks from today for the holidays, and I am very afraid of what people will think of me. When you havent seen people in a year they notice when you change...especially if it is for the worst, and even more so when you live in a small town where everyone elses misfortunes are everyone elses gains...aka, the girls are bitchy and I am sure it would make them happy to see a former skinny one gain a few.

I dont know what i am looking for by posting this exactly. I just feel that i have tried what i have, with no results and although the things that i need to try may be obvious to others, for me i feel blind to it all. Any tips and/or suggestions of any kind are welcome.
thanks
~K

forgot to mention: the areas on my body where the fat gain is most apparent is the lower lower hip area/ upper butt regions, the lower abdomen- big surprise there, my face and upper arms- which have always been a big larger i suppose. My thighs have some added love, but it is not as noticeable to me as the fat gain in other places.

 

[TheGreatDane17]

Get yourself a plan that includes a good diet. Eat like the women you want to weigh like. Combine that with Cardio & Strength training, you will be on your way !

Getting into weight training, a female friendly guide

Are you near a gym, where they might have some cardio equipment? Hope I helped.

 

[Lizabell1]

I sympathize with how you're feeling. I don't think a girl could feel any different than you no matter what their weight gain circumstance. But, you need to zone out of that feeling if you're going to succeed, because working out and dieting take will-power and motivation, two things that can be overshadowed by negative thoughts. Just start focusing that energy you're using on insecurities into working on a plan of action and making a pact with yourself that you won't quit just because the weight isn't falling off as fast as you'd like.

Now my two cents to losing weight. First, your diet.

Quick fix diets are horrible. Not only do they provide mostly water weight loss, but each and every one of the diets you listed (as well as many, many more out there that limit food groups) are meant to do one thing: drastically cut the amount of calories you're eating in one day to cause a caloric deficit. Unfortunately on these diets, more often than not, people eat too few calories that their body NEEDS to function, and that is where you'll see mostly water weight loss and of course, muscle deterioration. Does it matter to you what that weight loss actually consists of? To me it does; I want fat loss. Your body needs to feed itself throughout the day whether you put something in your mouth or not. So, if you don't eat the calories it needs to do its daily functions, it is going to attack your muscles. Losing muscle mass is counterproductive to fat loss. Not weight loss; FAT loss. As I'm sure you've heard, muscle uses up more calories/day than fat does, so you can see why it is important to maintain the muscle you've got already (if not to also plan on increasing your muscle mass--but that is a whole 'nother topic entirely) in order to achieve the body you want and to help keep you that way.

While I understand that these diets make it much more simple to do the math on calories, you're not getting adequate nutrition to have the energy to continue dieting or exercising, and it is doing harm to you in the long run. Why avoid a certain food group? Is it more that the roll at dinner is really that horrible for your diet, or is it that it adds an additional 200 or so calories to your meal, an amount that would be easy to cut by not eating the roll? There's absolutely nothing wrong with passing on the roll, but realize it is more for the purpose of reducing the amount of calories you take in at that meal than it is the type of calories. You can still lose weight while eating from the 4 food groups.

My suggestion to help you determine the amount of calories you need to consume in order to both do your body good and to lose weight, go to BMR Calculator - Basal Metabolic Rate - Lean Body Mass - Caoloric Needs - Fitness: Exercises, Fitness & Nutrition, and Fitness Articles - Fitness: Exercises, Fitness & Nutrition, and Fitness Articles . Put your credentials into both the Basal Metabolic Rate calculator and the Harris Benedict Equation to find out the minimal calories you need to function and the calories you need to maintain your current weight, respectively. This will give you the calorie range per day in which to plan your diet around. Basic info on calories and such: 3500 calories is equal to 1 lb of fat. You're more likely to see the results you want if you plan to lose no more than 1-2 lbs a week, ensuring that the weight you're actually losing is coming more from fat rather than water or muscle (you'll inevitably lose some water and muscle, but a much smaller amount than on fad diets). 1-2 lbs/week is equivalent to a 3500-7000/week caloric deficit, or 500-1000 calories per day. Do not go below your BMR calorie needs, but stay way below (but by no more than 1000) your maintenance calorie needs in order for you to see results.

As far as what foods to eat? Personally, I use the U.S. food pyramid as a guide, but everyone is going to have their own take on proper nutrition. The reality is, no matter what, we were meant to drink water, eat a variety of veggies, fruits, grains and meats/beans. We were not intended to eat out of a box. So, I eat which ever fruits or veggies are in season, on sale, look good, etc and I don't monitor those as carefully as I do my meat/bean/fish or grain portions. The point is, calories DO matter, but it is far more important to get the right calories than to just minimize them completely. You'll operate way better on 1400 calories/day on a balanced diet than you would on 1400 calories of mandarin oranges.

Now, on to exercise.

Exercise should be the other cornerstone (along with diet) to your weight loss plan. I've received some wonderful advice on this forum and the consensus is that full body resistance training is the best tool. Cardio work is powerful, too, but listening to the advice of others on this site, the resistance training has helped me shed fat faster, get stronger and look leaner quicker than when I was just focusing on cardio. Again, a well balanced plan is going to be better for you than just focusing on one style of working out. Plus, it keeps the workouts varied so that you don't get bored or burned out. I end up working out 5-6 days a week. I do 3 days of full body resistance training, 1 day of running, 1 day of interval training, and 1 day of an activity that is going on in my town: soccer, hiking, etc. I have been losing 1-2 lbs a week. I use a set of various weighted dumbbells, a fitness ball and I downloaded some quick full body workouts on iTunes for days I don't have a lot of time or it is my "light" day (I do have access to a ridiculously useless gym at my apartment complex, but you can see why I rarely go down there). Since I don't have a weight bench in my home, I use the fitness ball for bench presses and such. I also use the dumbbells for squats, lunges, bench presses, rows, etc. The point is to exhaust as many muscles in your body as you can so you know you got a full body workout. You can also look up "full body workouts" to get some ideas. 2-3 times a week is ideal, leaving plenty of time to recuperate.

Lots of info, I know, but hopefully it is beneficial to you. The people on this site have helped make so much sense of this stuff for me. You'll see countless recommendations to go read the various stickies on this site. That's good advice. And, I hope you realize that most of the info I wrote is just about what has been working for me, and I'm just passing the info on.

BTW, what country are you in? I am an expatriate living in Korea for the year, but my husband and I did 2 years in Japan a couple of years ago. Food sources are a bit different here than back at home in the States.


Lizabell