I am a 38 year old female. I am 5'6" and weigh 240lbs. I have worn the same pant size for 15 years. I started weight watchers 3 weeks ago. I am a person who is not lazy I am an RN so job is not sedetary. I went from eating one meal a day to eating 4-5 small meals a day, drinking more water, eating more fruits and veggies. I have walked 2-2.5 miles per day since I started weight watchers. The first week I lost 6 pounds, since then I have not really lost anymore. I have a friend who is a receptionist that joined weight watchers with me and she is 5'2" and weighed 240 pounds she has not done one bit of exercise in the 3 weeks we have been on weight watchers and she has lost almost 10lbs. I just don't understand this and I am becoming very discouraged. I know that muscle weighs more than fat but you would think that with all the eating right and exercising I would lose. Please help me with this because I really would love to lose the weight. Should I stop exercising and just eat right cause it seems to be working for her,
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Q: eating right exercising not losing weight
I am married to a doctor who is constantly on his feet all day running around and he still managed to gain 30 pounds in our marriage because your body does get accustomed to that movement - so though it's good that you are not sitting - it doesn't burn a whole lot of calories. The 6 pounds you lost is alot of bloat or water and then some component of fat stores is also a part of it. I'm not sure which ww program you chose - but everyone's metabolism works differently and the walking you are doing also promotes heart health, lowers cholesterol helps to prevent diabetes - so please, please keep the walking going and build up to longer walks slowly and more "effort" during the walk so you raise your heart rate and burn more calories. At some point get motivated and add weight training which will help re up your metabolism more AND add muscle mass - the walking is not building alot of muscle - it is more "aerobic" if you are really moving along and it will help you with bone density.
The 4-5 meals a day is fine as long as each meal is about 300 calories - you need to really make sure those meals are not tempting you to eat more than that.
An outline of 4 meals should look like:
2 hard boiled eggs/1 piece of fruit/1 60 calorie yogurt
1 cup high fiber cereal with skim milk, 1/2 cup berries, 1 tsp ground nuts
large salad with 3 ounces shredded white meat chicken and 1/4 avocado with fat free dressing (2 tsp) - iced tea
3 ounces fish, 1 cup steamed veggies, 1/2 cup brown rice, 12 grapes - water
Lots of water throughout the day
This is just a sample outline to give you an idea of portions and size of meals.
I don't agree with the 5-6 meals a day. I have tried doing this and always packed on the pounds. If you constantly stuff your face all day long; yes even "small" snacks throughout the day, you never train your body to use it's reserves (i e fat). If I eat once a day,(dinner), I can feel hunger pains during the day and I know my body is burning fat. I can actually feel my body getting harder when I am hungry because it is burning its fat reserves. If I eat 5-6 times a day....I NEVER feel hungry and in fact I get fatter because my body is always being fed and is not using its reserves. Ever hear of "eat only when you are hungry?". How can you be hungry when when you are eating 6X/day?
What's nice about eating once a day is that you really don't have to worry about eating too much in one sitting....most likely you will stay in your daily caloric intake range if only eating one meal. Sorry....I stay at a lean 136 pounds by eating once a day.
you are probably gaining muscle, and unlike her you are gaining a toned body while still losing weight. Muscle weighs more than fat, so you may have lost more fat than your friend, but you have gained muscle. I wouldn't be too concerned about what the scale is saying for you until after the first month--what really matters is how you feel and the inches being taken off. Also, I thought I should just add that I lost 85 pounds on weight watchers and I didn't do more than my normal exercise-- 30 min. 3 times a week...and that took me about a year to get off. Also, don't push yourself too hard, if you keep exercising all the time and eating a little your body is going to eventually get used to that, and then exercising less and eating more than the little that you do eat will cause you to gain weight. Weight watchers is all about GRADUAL change--the slower you loose it, the less time it takes to get put back on. :D hope this helps <3
Muscle does not weigh more than fat.A pound is a pound,wether a pound of marshmellows or a pound of fat.Fat is "fluffier" than muscle(takes up more space).If this person really is doing all this dieting and excercise and her waistline is not getting smaller,she should recheck her foods for hidden fats and sugars.If they check out to be low fat and low sugar foods and her waistline still won't shrink,then a trip to the Dr. may be in order.
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Oh my god. That is an AWFUL answer. Please no one listen to this if you are trying to loose weight.