Ok, SO I want to lose 40lbs. So I started a diet and excercise program and have been on it for one week so far.

I eat 1000 calories a day of mostly healthy foods that I measure and weigh to be sure. (I say mostly healthy because yes, sometimes I have ravioli or half a chocoa bar....but high fiber, low fat, sugar free foods are mostly what I eat)

I run for 35-40 minutes every other day, on the days I don't run I stationary bike for 1 hour at 13mph.

I havn't lost a single lb. I did "mess up" one day and had some popcorn and a second helping of ravioli to bring my calories of the day up to 1600 but I know that's not horrible.

What should I do?? What am I doing wrong?? Im so fustrated.

First thing, 1000 calories is not enough.

Secondly, we don't know enough to even come up with an idea of why you are not losing. What are your stats? Weight, height, age, gender?

What are 'mostly healthy foods' in your opinion? Did you count your calories or are you just guesstimating them? You would be surprised how wrong you can be about the calorie content of certain things, especially low fat foods.

What do you drink, and how much?

Loads of things can influence weight loss, so we just need more info to get an idea.

You probably won't like this but you need to up your calories. I know how it is to start a new program and want to hit it hard but restricting your calories to 1,000 leaves you know where to go later. On top of that if you're eating too little I'm sure you've heard that your body will fight you. I can find a link later but if you google BMR calculator you should be able to figure out what you should be eating to lose weight at your weight and height and how much is too little. When I did this I was surprised to find out how much I was SUPPOSED to eat and terrified to do it. But after being on this forum a while I finally did and lost more weight than I ever had and it was easy. Unfortunately I had some real life issues derail me so I'm starting over now too but I still stand by what I learned here before. It's not so much about restricting calories but finding the range your body will still lose at and not think it's starving. You've got the exercise going good already Good job on that. That's the hard committment for me.

Here's one link to a BMR calculator and has several others like the harris benedict formula. BMR Calculator

I'm sure there are more out there. Also if you want a good easy place to keep track of your calories there's fitday or sparkpeople, and I'm sure probably even others but those are the two I see alot of people here plug into.

You may want to check out the diary section and start your own also. I get alot of support and help there and people are able to see what I'm doing over all.

my stats:

21 year old female 5'5 155lbs.

I eat flax seed oatmeal, fruits, vegetables, lean cuisines, fat free yogurts, sugar free popscicles, ummmm lean meats and fish.

Ha, thats about it. I eat 100 cal popcorn too as a snack.

And I DO MEASURE and WEIGH everything so I know im not underestimating calories....I drink water, and light soy milk (80 cals a cup)


But if a cal is a cal is a cal, regardless if I eat 1000 or 1500 I should still be losing SOMETHING. ....?

At 155 lbs, you should be eating 2200 calories to maintain that weight, and about 1500 calories to lose weight healthily.

That said ...

You do need to have patience. You might not see a loss the first week on the scale. Not everyone loses at the drop of a hat at a steady pace. Some people are really lucky and see a consistent, steady loss. (I'm not one of them!) Some people (like me) lose in fits and starts - one week there'll be nothing and then next week, whoosh, 3 lbs. Then another 2 weeks of nothing, and then whoosh, 5 lbs.

As long as you're eating healthily (and yes, that means more than 1000 calories a day) and working out, you will lose weight. You just might not lose it on the schedule you want.

Go too low and your body panics and holds onto everything it can. Coma patients get 1200 calories a day to maintain essential tissue just laying there. You think less than that when you're out and bounding is going to do you any good. Even if you don't stall if you cut too low and ever raise the calories up by much you will suck it all up as fat gain.

Further, being patient is solid advice too. When I started eating right and exercising (this time and the last) it was nearly a month before I saw any appreciable shift on the scales. You will build a little muscle and your body also pushes nutrient-rich fluids into your muscles after exercising so they can repair. Given the time required to cycle that fluid you can actually be holding some weight there that is replacing lost fat on the scales.

I guess being 5'5 and 155 lbs. you dont have alot of excess fat that needs to go. A healthy weight for me 5'3 is 140 so i can imagine it must be 145 for you (not sure) But you know your body better than anyone and know what shouldnt be where(if you know what i mean) So it might take longer for you fat cells to break down and you actually start seeing something on the scale. All i know is that consitancy is key. If you dont see any change do not stop. Keep going and I'm sure you will see a difference. Also on the biggest loser the girls eat 1200 calories a day so you may want to up it. Personally I would do 1500. Since biggest loser is a show they do extreme things. Hope this helps.

Crystal

You really can't say for sure, based on your own weight. I'm 5'4" and I looked my best (and I mean nicely curvy, not stick skinny) when I was around 130. At 140 or 145, I'm still "chubby" looking.

At a height of 5'5" - the OP could be healthy in a range that varies from 120 all the way up to 160. It just depends a lot on her body type, how much muscle she carries, and how her body portions out her body fat.

and about the calorie thing. I know everyones body is different but i do know that for me. If i would only eat 1000 calories (which i have tried before) vs. eating 1200-1500, the 1000 cal was not as effective as eating the 1200-1500 cal. Reason being is my body fat would not break down as fast when i was eating 1000 calories because it held on to it a little longer for energy, since i wasnt feeding my body enough energy for my workouts that i did. But when i started eating to fuel my body with energy for my workouts i could preform better and lose weight faster. This is what happened for me. I dont know about everyone else but this i know works on my body and thats what i do.

Ok, so let's say that you get your nutrition under control. Dissecting your weight loss program I can see two things right off the bat. One is a lot of slow, steady state cardio. Check out the sticky on HIIT (high intensity interval training). You'll lose a lot more fat using just that 3 or 4 times per week instead of the 45 minutes of running that you're currently doing. Two is the lack of a weight training program. You need to lift weights to keep your muscles from catabolizing as you lose weight. This is important if you want a toned thin body versus a flabby thin body.

And, just FYI, one week isn't really enough time to gauge your progress. It takes time and consistency to lose weight. After a month, if your body isn't changing, then you should be worried.