Help! I'm exercising and still not losing weight!

Patrika Tsai Health Professional Diet and Fitness Doctor Patrika M. Tsai, MD, MPH, is a pediatric gastroenterologist at... Send Message Subscribe: Patrika Tsai

Wednesday, April 11, 2007
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Question: I exercise 1/2 hour every morning on the elliptical and 1/2 hour on the treadmill yet my weight doesn't come down. What am I doing wrong? Dr. Tsai: First, you should congratulate yourself for exercising a total of 60 minutes every day! You are exercising your heart and other m...

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Me Too!
Courtney
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 02:58 PM
I'm having the same problem. I work out about 30 min to 1.5 hours a day. I have decreased my calories to 1400 and fat to 30g per day. I am only 27 and 141 pounds and I still can't seem to take off any weight. I've been at this for over a month now and I've only gained weight. I am in the process of changing my birth control to see if loosing the hormones might help. Good Luck. I'll repost if there are any changes.

re: Me Too!
Laurie
Saturday, November 17, 2007 at 04:14 AM
You could actually be doing yourself more harm than good. 1400 calories per day will send your body into starvation mode. I would aim for 1600-1800 cals per day and break that into 4-5 small meals at 2.5 hour intervals. Are you including resistance training in your workouts? Increased muscle mass will lead to a higher metabolism, which makes such severe caloric cutbacks unnecessary. You don't mention your height, but is it possible that you have achieved a healthy weight at 140?

What is wrong with my workout?
Jenn
Thursday, June 21, 2007 at 10:36 PM
I too have not lost any weight in eight weeks of working out. I'm still a 5'5'', 156 lb, 28 year-old female. I do 40-45 minutes a day of cardio. I might do the wave at an effort level of 14 for 10 minutes, elliptical for 10 minutes, walk at 4.0 for 15-20 minutes, and row for 5-10 minutes. Then, 2-3 times a week I work out my arms, 3 reps of 10 each on arm extensions, arm curls, pullups, upper back, lower back, chest press, and another thing or two I can't think to name at the moment.

Also, 2-3 times per week I work out my legs 3 reps of 10 on about 4 different pieces of equipment.

About five times per week I work on my stomach (torso twist, sit ups, leg lifts) 3 reps of 10 each.

Not only have I not lost weight, my 33 inch waiste has not shrunk any! I started t his whole thing because of my weight gain and my stomach.

Yes, I pretty much eat what I want. If I ate everything I wanted and when I wanted, I'd only stop to sleep at night. I yo yo between 115 lbs and 140 lbs every few years, and this is the first time I've ever exercised. I probably eat about 2,000 calories per day. I way lost more weight by just cutting back in the past. I have seen no benefit in exercising.

Please help.

Typo: 136 is really my weight
Jenn
Thursday, June 21, 2007 at 10:39 PM
Sorry, I typed my weight incorectly. It is 136 lbs.

re: Typo: 136 is really my weight
Laurie
Saturday, November 17, 2007 at 04:20 AM
If you want to lose weight, you should look at reducing your caloric intake. Knowing only that you are 136 and 5'5", however, I'd say you are already at an ideal weight. Good job on focusing on the resistance training. You might consider meeting with a nutritionist (1-2x would be adequate) to see if you are getting the proper balance of carbs, fats and proteins. This will help maximize your workouts to get more fit. What's your body fat percentage? Perhaps you should focus on reducing that number rather than pounds.

Same prob
Jennifer
Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 11:58 AM

I started out in Jan 3rd at 170lbs. I started a food diary and working out about 30-60min a day at home and ate about 1200 calories a day. I am trying to lose 30lbs,during that month I lost 10lbs and was happy. I started at Golds gym in Jan 25th doing 5 day workouts Mon-Power(weights) class, tues-Cycling, Wed-Step , Thurs-Cycling and Fri Power class. After each class I hit the treadmill for 30min running at 6mph. So all to gether its about an hour and a half aday. Since I started this a month ago I gained back 3lbs and havent lost any inches either. I eat between 1400 to 2000 calories during my workout days. Making sure I try to eat the right portions and food. What am I doing wrong? I was doing better before I joined the gym and really working out.

I wish you all better luck!

Jenn