Newbie on the Go! Hello Everyone!

[MitziMossman03]

Hello Everyone!
I'm new to the site and look forward to conversing with many of you regarding health and fitness. I'm pretty new to the "heavy duty" fitness circuit, and have plenty of questions. My first being, I am 39, am at about a 22 BMI, am 5'7" and weigh 153. I have been working out 4 to 7 times a week with cardio, 2 days weight training for about three months. I would really like to lose about 15 pounds (fit into a size 6-8) but seem to be stuck at this weight and it's dring me CRAZY!!!!!!! I eat healthy, with 5 -6 small meals daily, not a lot of carbs, plenty of fruits and veggies, but I just can't figure it out. Is this do-able? What else can I be doing? Should I just keep doing what I am doing and not worry? Does it just take more time? I am frustrated and could use some ideas/advice. Thanks!

Amy

 

[Fil]

First off, welcome! We're all fitness minded, but I wouldn't call us all "heavy duty". In the end, you settle on a fitness plan you can live with.

If you're plateauing (which is what we call it when you can't lose more weight or put on more muscle) one of the best things you can do is switch things up. Note that you're doing weight lifting, and that muscle weighs more than fat. So you don't want to look at weight, or even BMI, but at body fat %.

You can measure body fat % with body fat calipers, which you can buy cheap. Most people overlook this fact because it's so much easier to measure weight and we're so used to referring to everything in terms of weight.

Remember this: a nice toned body looks toned because it contains MUSCLE. So while you maybe haven't been losing weight, you may be noticing your arms/legs are shapelier.

Also, as you get closer to your target weight is gets harder and harder to lose. It's impossible to get rid of 100% of your body fat, even if you're the grossest skeletal anorexic around - because your body needs some fat to live. It's spare energy, is all fat is. So the closer you get to being your ideal weight, the less likely your body is to give up those fat stores it's relied on for so long.

In any case, my #1 recommendation would be to switch up your routine. If you're doing endurance cardio, switch to intervals. If you're doing a targeted weight lifting set, switch to full body or circuit training. You can find out about all these things by searching these boards.