Feeling discouraged

Last year between Jan-May I lost 17 lbs for my wedding. I was doing cardio 3-4 days/week and watching what I ate. After the wedding we stopped going to the gym and dieting and I have gained back all the weight.

A month ago I started going to the gym again. 4 days/week 45 min of cardio each time. I'm not really dieting, but I do try to eat healthy. My weight hasn't budged. I thought I would have lost at least a few pounds just by exercising.

Any suggestions on what to do?

Re: Feeling discouraged

Add in some weight training but most importantly look at your diet. Weight loss/fitness is 90% diet, 10% exercise in my opinion. What does a typical day of food look like for you? Maybe we cna help!

Re: Feeling discouraged

i think to lose weight diet has to come first, then exercise.

Re: Feeling discouraged

You do need to look at your diet.

I would track your calories for a few days and see where you can start to cut back!

Re: Feeling discouraged

Here's an example of what I eat:

Breakfast: cereal (Cheerio's, Chex, Speical K) w/2% milk or frozen waffles if I'm running late

Morning snack: Greek yogurt or granola bar

Lunch: almost every day I eat a sandwich on whole wheat bread (chicken, turkey, ham, cheese, etc) no mayo. with some other type of fruit or veggie (green apple, cucumber slices, carrots)

Afternoon snack: cheese stick or granola bar, maybe some mixed nuts

Dinner: We dont really follow any rules for dinner. We do eat alot of fresh veggies, but we also eat rice, pasta, sweet potatoes, and that kind of stuff. And we don't stick to lean meats, we eat steak, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, pork chops, sausage.

After dinner snack: I usually don't crave a snack, but DH always does and this always leads to me eating another bowl of cereal or peanut butter toast.

I only drink water while I'm at work and at home we drink diet soda or unsweetened iced tea. However, we do drink beer/wine regularly.

I was hoping I could introduce exercise and see some results, but it looks like I'm going to have to adjust my diet too. Thanks for offering to help!

Re: Feeling discouraged

Track your intake and measure everything...once you know what you are eating (calories and macronutrients) you can adjust your diet.

Re: Feeling discouraged

Your diet doesnt sound bad - maybe its just eating slightly less that will do the trick.

Measuring everything for a week will give you an idea of how many calories are consuming - may be just a few small changes will be what you need coupled with your exercise!

Re: Feeling discouraged

Re: Feeling discouraged

I signed up for my fitness pal yesterday and I was surprised by how the calories were adding up (esp the cheese in my sandwiches!) I talked to DH last night and we're going to try to scale back the carbs, b/c as someone said, it's so easy to overeat pasta, rice and potatoes. I'd also like to start weight training, I just feel like I don't have the strength to do it in the morning when I go to the gym.

Re: Feeling discouraged

Re: Feeling discouraged

Defintely eat better. I am like that, I need to exercise and eat well to see any weight loss. Unlike others, where they can just either eat well or exercise and see results, I have to really work at all aspects.

MFP is one of the best things that happened to me while dieting. It makes you so conscious of what you are putting in your body and how much calories can be in something like a bowl of cereal. It helped me make smarter choices in my eating habits.

Dont get discouraged or give up, just switch it up and you will start seeing results!!

Re: Feeling discouraged

Protein is key! The ladies on here helped me realize that and I feel great. I am starting to see the weight come off and got my fitness pal - I recommend.