Hi Everyone,

I'm new at this, I'm have been working out 5-6 times a week for 2 month, I have been doing cardio for about 30-45min and I do a little of weights, In the first 3 weeks I loss 8lbs, but the last 2 weeks no change on my weight. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or should I just keep doing what I'm doing? My diet has change, I don't eat fry food and carbs, don't drink soda anymore. I drink lots of water..... I have notice change in my body but I also want to see the weight going down..... Any suggestions?

Weight measures more than our fat - but also things like water and food as well.

So you have to always weigh yourself under identical conditions in order to try to limit the food side of this - maybe wearing the same clothes after going to the toilet.

The less obvious aspect of water weight is the fact that our body holds on to water differently for a number of reasons. If we eat salty food for example it is likely that we will hold on to more water.

Similarly many women experience a weight gain around the time of their period.

These water gains can be of several pounds...

If you are losing weight - the fat that you lose may cancel out the increase due to water weight so it can look like you have not lost anything. You have still lost that fat - and when the water goes down it will show up on the scale.

Some people assume that if they are suffering from water retention they should maybe drink less water. In fact - the reverse is true and you benefit from drinking more. I am drinking more than my standard allocation at the minute because my weight is up and I suspect that it may be due in part to water retention.

The recommended level of water to drink is based on our weight. It is 1 ounce of water for every 2 pounds of our weight.

The scales are just one method of judging weight loss. The tape measure and body fat percent are two other methods. A lot of people here use at least the tape measure in addition to the scales.

Having said that - a lot of our weight loss comes from the nutritional side of the equation and you would be wise to log both your food and exercise under FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal and monitor your calorie balance to ensure that you deserve some weight loss. This tool also allows you to monitor the nutrient levels in order to apply the information in the nutrition section. You will lose more weight more effectively by eating the nutrients at the optimum levels for both weight loss and good health.

I would echo what Omega said to a large degree.

Exercise is an excellent thing, but exercise alone will not cause you to lose weight. You must control your eating and eat fewer calories that you burn, or you'll not lose weight.

I'd recommend signing up with fitday.com or thedailyplate.com or one of the other free calorie tracking sites to see what you're eating. When you see what and how much food you intake, it'll give you a better idea of where and how you can cut back.

Yes for sure the scale is not that great at measuring progress. I tell people that measuring progress in body change and fitness through the scale is like using a fish tank to measure meal portions. it kind or works but there are much better tools out there.

I'm a big fan of using clothing to measure progress. Have some tighter jeans and a few shirts that you can slip on and instantly feel if a size change has occurred. Of course do bear in mind that bloating can also set these off a bit.

As far as exercise is concerned do a quick run through of your routine with the following 3 characteristics. Weight loss is heavily hinged on burning more calories than you take in and to my knowledge there are only 3 ways you can increase your calorie spending through activity:

1. move more muscle in an exercise. So doing a full body weight lifting routine will burn far more calories and fat than just a set of crunches and Db curls.

2. Ramp up the intensity. You burn more walking at 3 miles an hour than 2.5 and lifting 20 pounds instead of 15. You can use interval training to bring about short bouts of increased intensity without getting too tired.

3. do what you do for a longer period of time. jogging for 20 minutes burns more than 10 minutes and so on.

I would start to play with your current routine while also making changes to the diet at the same time. This way the results compound on each other.

The Fit Rebel

The American Sports Medicine Institute's guideline is 1/2 oz of water for every pound of bodyweight.

The metabolism thing is a myth. Metabolic adaptation doesn't happen that quickly. If you think eating several smaller meals will help curb hunger, go for it, but there's no harm to eating 3, 2, or even 1 meal a day if that works for you.

Healthy fats should make up about 20% of your diet. 20g per day is way too little.

There's no reason to put a time limit on eating. Some people find that by limiting late night eating, it helps them cut down on mindless snacking. Others find that a snack right before bed helps them to not wake up ravenously hungry and therefore not binge on breakfast foods. Do what works for you.

This is very valid, but keep in mind that many of us got to be overweight because we've screwed up our own understanding of what hunger and satiety feel like over the years. Until you learn how to differentiate true hunger from emotional eating or stress eating or whatever ... it's hard to listen to your body and know if it's speaking the truth.

Most Americans eat too many carbs. Increasing carbs alone won't do it. Make sure that carbs are 50% of your diet or less and that the carbs you do eat are whole grains, not starchy white carbs.

Detoxing is a total and complete load of hooey. No one has ever been able to state what these "harmful toxins" are that supposedly build up in your body. Eat healthy foods and drink enough water and you'll "detox" well enough. Don't fall into the trap of spending money or doing foolish things to "detox" - it's not necessary.