Since June 30, I've been working out five days a week at our tiny little local gym. After an initial 5 pound gain to 220 pounds, I've consistently lost one or two pounds a week until last week.

My daily regimen has consisted of 25 minutes on either the treadmill or recumbent bike, with a majority of days on the bike in the past few weeks, and then 45-50 reps with 50 pound weights (five different types of lifts) on my arms, and same weight and reps (two lifts) for my legs. In all the workout is 45 minutes to 1 hour per day, five days per week.

I've cut calories, as well, to an average of 1,300 to 1,500 per day, depending on the day and how busy work is. I'm eating more fruits and veggies, and smaller portions of the things that are bad for me.

Until the final week in September, things went well. I was burning, according to the machine, about 150-170 calories on the bike every day, then more lifting weights. The weight loss came along with the cutting and burning of calories. Then last week I got on the elliptical trainer.

In 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer (which asks me to input my weight and age when I start) at a resistance of no lower than 3, I burn 50 calories. From all the articles I've read, and posts I've looked back at on this forum, that seems WAAAAAY low. But since my weight loss stopped at the exact time I began using the ET, I'm thinking it's almost GOT to be pretty accurate. Yesterday I got on the ET for 20 minutes at a higher resistance (5) and burned only about 60 calories.

So I guess my question is whether it's that the machine, which works my WHOLE body and makes me feel like I've worked out, isn't helping me burn calories, or if it's helping me build muscle that's offsetting any weight loss? I'd like to keep doing it, because it IS a good overall feeling when I get off the thing, but if it's not going to help me meet the ultimate goal of weight loss then I don't want to waste three days a week, and the goal I'd set of 30-45 minutes per session, when I could be on the recumbent bike, working my legs and burning more calories.

Hi MindiK,

I'm suffering the same problem myself at the moment. You'd think it would be a simple formula: Burn more calories than you consume and you'll lose weight. According to some of the posts I've been reading, it isn't that simple!

Nevermind; where there's a will there's a way! You've definitely come to the right place to get help and advice. Best of luck in reaching your target!

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, the "formula" seems easy, but it's proving NOT to be at all.

Just out of curiousity, have you figured out your BMR, so you can actually calculate whether you have a caloric deficit or not? Also, the 1300-1500 calorie allotment, is that your own choice in calories or were you told to take in amount by someone? With the amount of exercise you're doing, you could be eating more.... hmmmm do you think you hit starvation mode?

-Sheryl

Oh and another thing, Mindi and Col... as for calculating your calories burned, I wouldn't go with what's on those readers. They're usually wrong. If you want something accurate for such, look into purchasing yourself a heart rate monitor. Good luck.

-Sheryl

About.com calculates my BMR (5-9 woman, 210, 26, I put in "lightly active") as 2,272. Another site calculated it at 1,770.

How do I know which is correct?

As for how I came up with my calories....

When I started I did some research and found out approximately how many calories it was taking to maintain that weight at the time (220), and how many I needed to get to the weight I'd like to be (about 165). I've just been eating as if I was maintaining a 165 pound weight, and working out.

But in the past week, looking back at my "food journal," it seems as if I've been eating too little...calories have been somewhere between 1,200 and 1,450 at the max. So "starvation mode" is a possibility, it seems.

This can't be. I use a Precor elliptical and set it at 12 resistance (out of 20) for an hour. I use interval training that alternates resistance levels. After my 60 minutes workout, I'm usually at 800-900 calories burnt. There is no way you are jogging for 20 minutes and only burning 60 calories!

That's kind of what I thought, Siromar....But other than purchasing a heart rate monitor, as was described above, I don't know how to get any sort of accurate count of what I'm actually burning. I'd LOVE to know, so I'll know if I'm even working hard enough....

When I read that the person was only burning around 60 calories I was confused cuz when I'm on the eliptical machine at my gym, I usually am on there for about 25 minutes and i burn around 600-800 calories depending on how hard I work on it. So that kind of confused me.

It confuses me too, cowgirl...

Quote:

Originally Posted by MindiK I've just been eating as if I was maintaining a 165 pound weight, and working out. But in the past week, looking back at my "food journal," it seems as if I've been eating too little...calories have been somewhere between 1,200 and 1,450 at the max. So "starvation mode" is a possibility, it seems.

Oh yikes! You've only been eating the amount of calories for a 165lb female? Okay... we'll use your weight now for example. You want to figure out your BMR, which would be ~1770. According to the following formula:

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

In other words, at rest your body will burn 1770 calories undergoing everyday functions. (ie: breathing, blinking, etc etc) If you're only eating ~1400 calories AND you're exercising as much as you are....then yuppers.... it's starvation mode, girlfriend. You need to eat in order to get the ball rolling.....

-Sheryl

Another thing, if you haven't already, log your food in at FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal. It will actually break down how many calories you need inorder to see your weight go downhill. I hope this helped you in some way. As long as you understand the importance of getting the proper amount of calories (carbs, fats, protein) during your workouts, you'll do just fine. Good luck.

-Sheryl

Thanks SO much, Ms. Ghetto.....I should've known something was up last week. For a couple of days I was feeling really weak and nauseous in the afternoons, and attributed it to catching what everyone else around here has had for the past couple of weeks. But maybe it was more of a severe lack of food.

I'll throw in some more fruit as snacks during the day, and extra veggies with dinner. Maybe that'll help a lot.

And I'll check out the FitDay site....can't do anything but help, right!?

Damn, I need to eat more too. I swear I eat all day...

Thanks, Sheryl. I've kept hitting a plateau but didn't realize I've been putting myself in starvation mode.