stuck and losing motivation!

LindsayB2217

Ok, I lost around 45lbs over a year ago and then due to some life circumstances went off my diet and gained about 5 back... Now I've been trying to get back on the diet. I've tried Calorie King and staying around 1300 calories there including what i burn off and eat to make up for it. I've tried high protein, and then not exceeding salt and all of that stuff but I CANNOT for the life of me lose more than a couple lbs! I've started and stopped like 5 different times.... last time i lost 4lbs and was all excited only go stay with the same thing come back a couple days later only to have gained about a pound! I eat similarly every day eggs or oatmeal for breakfast and usually a salad/veggies/fruit with cottage cheese for lunch... then dinner is kind of whatever I want to eat only just really portion controlled. Now I'm going insane and WAAAAAY losing motivation to drop the weight! I only have 15-20lbs to go! Any advice/ideas? 

jonchrissy

Congrats on your success so far!

If you're eating the same meal and doing the same work out every day, your body gets used to it and becomes more efficient. Try switching up your workouts and meals and it might help!

LindsayB2217

thats the problem, my breakfasts are usually 1/3 things and lunches are just whatever is low cal... dinners are always diff... I do walking and biking along witha  whole bunch of cheesy work out videos... So, nothing is really the same! 

mgietler76

You also have to remeber that your body will vary in weight between 1-2lbs daily so don't get defeated! Keep doing what your doing and I agree with jonchrissy to switch up your routine a little. Good luck!!

CrazyMary77

The fact that you've only gained 5 lbs back is great IMO! Congrats on your weight loss!

When you exercise, do you feel challenged? Do you get your heart pumping and sweat? Does it feel difficult? For it to really count, you need to push yourself and feel challenged, especially at this point when you're trying to lose those last 15 lbs. It doesn't sound like your eating is a problem, so try increasing the intensity of your exercise, and do it 6 days a week. Good luck!

LindsayB2217

Thanks CrazyMary! I did that today... instead of my normal 25 min bikeride i added 45 min more... mainly out of lack of something to do... then did ab ripper X (as much as i could) I thought that maybe it would help to up it, but I wasn't sure if that was correct! Thank you!

kayakrunhike

Um, don't do the body wrap. 

Do exactly what you did yesterday, OP.  25 minutes probably just isn't enough for you to lose a significant amount of weight anymore.  Unfortunately, what worked 45 lbs ago may not work now, esp since you burn less now that you weigh less.  Try integrating activities that give you higher calorie burn, but you still find fun.  For me, that is hiking and kayaking.  try and get your FI to exercise with you, or take some classes at a local gym.  That should help you to start losing again, as long as your eating is pretty clean.

msange727

ditto kayak - if you're getting close to your target weight, you're going to need to make big strides to "convince" your body to let go of those last pounds (it's the starvation prevention mode that our bodies use to keep us from dying of malnutrition - they just hold onto the pounds until they can't anymore)... i would say add time to your workouts and perhaps add some resistance work in as well, to get your muscles involved (ab ripper was one of my favorite p90x workouts!) - why not try some of tony's moves from the legs, arms, and back dvds too? just remember to use weights that will challenge you. good luck!

shawright13

You definitely need to be doing more cardio, like someone said, the 25 minutes did it in the beginning but you need more than that now.  Try to aim for 45-60 minutes 5x/week and 2-3 days of resistance training.  Resistance training helps you build your lean body mass (muscle) which burns more calories at rest than cardio - essentially it improves your metabolism even more. 

My other comment is....without know your weight I am not sure if you are getting enough calories.  1300kcals/day is getting close to the 1200kcals/day which as a health educator we never recommend.  You also need to be sure that you are eating EVERY 3 hours a combination of protein a carbs.  This also helps with metabolism.  Good luck!

OH a good website  www.acefitness.org they even have some workouts online. 

LindsayB2217

I've started tracking on myplate (through livestrong). It has me at like 1360 calories a day and then it adds more calories as I work out. I'm at about 154-160... I was at 154 but then i gained a couple when I upped cardio to an hour a day 3 days ago.