I'm 21, 5ft 10 and size 12. I would like to lose a stone.

I'm not into fad diets so i thought with exercise and a healthy diet I could expect weight loss of 1-2 pounds a week.

I weighed 11stone13 pounds at the beginning of the week and i've just got on the scale to see 12stones. I've put on a pound?!!!!

This week i've walked for 4 miles, did a 80 minute high impact aerobics class, a 60 minute power pump( weights and tone) class and a 35 minute speedwalk.

I've been eating 5 small meals a day, i dont smoke or drink. I've got 8 hours of sleep each night. Why have I not lost the 1-2pounds what am I doing wrong.

Monday I had a smoothie, banana, chicken sanwich(no mayo or dressing), another smoothie and a fish salad
Tuesday I had a smoothie, pear, jacket potato with beans and cheese, another pear and a fish salad,
Wednesday I had a smoothie, cocktail sausages( 6), grilled chicken roll( no butter), and pear.
Thursday I had 2 slices of toast, a smoothie, a banana, a panini, a pear, childs portion of spaghetti bolognaise and another pear.
Today i've had a croissant, a pear, brown rice with salmon and out of frustration a biscuit!!

My abs, torso, thighs, bottom and arms are killing me from all this exercise and i've put on a pound! Can anyone give me any tips? Should I try the atkins?

Erm... Is that all you ate all week? Where's your dinner? You need to eat more, especially with the exercises. Also with the exercises you are doing you are building muscle so you will weigh a bit more until you lose the fat. Now also you should measure yourself. I sometimes only lose a few pounds but lose a lot of inches.
Make sure you are drinking at least 1.5 litres of water, that really helps with the appetite.

Smoothies can be quite heavy and it depends what you put in it, so I would say to cut down on that.

Your eating too many pears you need to have a mixture of fruit cos they will help you in different ways. I think raspberry is supposed to be a good fat burner etc

What you adding to your fish salad? Is it more fish than veg? Do you have salad dressings? It seems as though you need to increase your veg intake anyway from what you've written.

Cheese is fattening go for reduced fat and have in moderation

Cocktail sausages are fattening, how much percentage of meat is in that anyway?

Croissant is fattening cos it's pastry and already loaded with butter when you buy it

If you must have bread and pasta go for wholewheat

Read your food labels carefully cos it gives you vital information. Refer to this at all times: Food Standards Agency - Eat well, be well - Traffic light labelling

To be honest you shouldn't worry about putting on a pound in a wk, if it was 3 pounds or more then you should be worried. You have to remember as women we go through a lot of hormone changes, especially a wk or 2wks prior to having a period. Even after a period it will take time for hormone levels to go back to normal.

I'm by no means an expert so I would advise you to research, Google is your friend. I'm also trying to readjust my eating and exercise habits so I'm in the same boat as you.

@ BP

<Facety shakes head>

Thanks for your help. I did whip out the measuring tape and had lost half an inch on each thigh and my waist! YAY!!

I thought my eating was quite faultless but when i looked at it again and read your comments, I can see that the smoothies and pastries were not the greatest choices!

Raspberry's ey? didn't know that - gonna try some!
(Those pears were just so ripe and juicy, couldn't fight em!)

portion size tip: For anyone trying to distinguish what is comfortbale full ( it took me a while)

You are comfortable full when you can eat a meal AND have a glass of water aftewards and still not feel that your ready to burst! If you have a meal and you feel comfortable full but you CANT have a drink afterwards because you are too full, your eating too big a portion. It take some practice and you really need to listen to your body but is very beneficial in changing your attitute to food.

Many Thanks!

Well at least you're taking some proper initiative. The only public messages i see about losing weight or getting in shape is diet, diet, diet and no exercise!

Im not a professional, but my guess is to keep doing the aerobic exercise (walking, jogging...i used to do a lot of walking, its fun) and less of the explosive strength exercise.

NO.. Size 12 for your height does not sound like a lot.. and as had been said, muscle weighs more than fat.. you could look at the intensity of the exercises that you are doing, could be that your body is coping too eaisly with what you are doing and you need to up the pressure (CV wise) just a little more - read that as get your heart rate up a bit more.. walking is not a fat burning exercise no matter what anyone tells you.. High impact aerobics does not always mean high heart rate for long periods of sustainable times.. things may just need a bit of readjustment.. you may care to have a look at something I wrote a while back about weight management.. its is long winded but the pointers and points are all there. Weight Management Link

Not true. Fast paced walking can be a fat burning exerise. Early this yr my girl lost a stone within weeks when she changed jobs which meant travelling by tube and partially walking to work, where her previous role she travelled 100% by car. I too have experienced similar weight loss yrs ago when i did the same thing.

Just a correction

technically there is no such thing as a fat burning excercise.

there are movements and activities that can burn a certain amount of calories based on your weight...the duration of the activity and the intensity of it.



adjusting any of those or other factors can increase or decrease the amount of calories you burn doing that activity..

walking for an hour at a brisk pace technically can burn more calories than doing one full 100 yard sprint.....(or 100 meters for you brits)

Creating a plan where you try to burn more calories...and consume less calories can achieve weight loss....it's pretty simple...



Difficult part is trying to figure out how to cut calories and still nourish your body and get all the vitamins,nutrients, minerals you need......
and find fun calorie burning excercises that you enjoy and can do regularly....


millionsof dollars have been made trying to complicate these simple truths and confuse people..

While I appreciate what you are telling me, I doubt that your daughter actually lost a stone of fat; a stone in weight I can understand; and this is commendable, but fat loss is not the same as weight loss and is often misunderstood when professional weight management is spoken about. All exercise is good but when it comes to burning fat, the gears have to be altered..

If I may can also say the that when I talk about fat I am referring to the energy systems the body uses to fuel itself, a better term would be energy that is being burnt, but the body turns to glycogen first before it starts breaking down other forms of energy of which the term "fat" is probably inappropriately used to describe energy.

In general, there are three basic energy systems:
• Phosphagen system (also known as immediate energy system)
• Glycolytic energy system (also known as nonoxidative or anaerobic system)
• Mitochondrial respiration (also known as the oxidative or aerobic system).

Regardless of which energy system is used, the end result is production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is extracted from food we eat (fat, carbohydrate, and protein) and is required for biochemical reactions used in any muscle contraction. The intensity and duration of activity dictates which food types are broken down as well as which energy system predominates. However, no energy system acts alone. The relative contribution from each system depends on intensity and duration of activity.. and for this reason walking even at a fast pace is more likely to use up your stores of carbs and protein before it starts attacking the fat.. for the fat to start getting burnt up requires a higher intensity and a longer duration of exercise, which in itself flies in the face of the myth that moderate aerobic activity is the most effective way to burn fat..

We often think of low to moderate intensity aerobic exercise as a good way to burn a significant amount of fat. While this is true, aerobic energy can be derived from carbohydrates and to a much smaller extent, protein. In fact, most people do not realize that even during light to moderate exercise, carbohydrates can provide up to 40 to 60 percent of total energy requirements. In contrast, protein is not a preferred source of energy during any form of exercise (assuming an adequate diet) and generally contributes less than 10 percent of total energy requirements.

The whole fat burning thing gets mixed up when you realise that in order to get past the stage where the body just burns up its store of carbs actually takes more than just the odd 20 minute, for after about 20 minutes of continuous exercise (and if the intensity is high enough), the body's stores of glycogen become exhausted, and the body starts using stored body fat for fuel to power the muscles. This process of fat metabolism occurs in the presence of oxygen. This is how sustained aerobic exercise of a high enough intensity helps to burn fat and thus causes weight loss. In fact, the body continues to burn body fat - even after your exercise has ceased - which it converts to blood glucose and uses to replenish its stores of glycogen in the liver and muscles. Thus fat-burning continues for several hours.

The key words here are the word intensity, this is why so many people doing basic aerobics will loss weight, but struggle to loss and keep off fat..

EF Max without sounding pedantic, isnt this thread entitled "why cant i lose weight". So bearing this in mind im struggling to understand the relevance of you stating that "walking isnt a fat burning exercise", if techincally you meant something else and agree that walking can infact contribute to losing weight.

It is because the thread is "why can I not loose weight" that I have said what I have said..

Too many people fail to understand that simple things like walking are a form of exercise but its not serious enough to do what most people wish to achieve and as you do more of any execise you body gets used to it and you have to change things a little.

If someone has weight to lose and starts any form of exercise, this will help, but when you first start off doing that exercise, the weight you are losing is often water and what you really want to lose is fat, hence why my thread.. so the reason some people can't or don't lose weight or fat is because their body is not in the correct gear for burning that type of energy and althouh their body will benefit from the walking (and sometimes this is about as much as some people can do) It is not gonna shift the fat the way using the science will help you to..

Ok, that makes sense.

Exercise tips that might help to loose the weight...

1.See your doctor before you start any exercise program. Get a full physical to make sure everything's in working order, then find a personal trainer in your neighborhood and make an appointment with him or her for a consultation. Most trainers will give you a free consultation and help you figure out what your fitness level is, your body fat and circumference measurements, and the right way to start a program.

2.Start Slow! Many beginners make the mistake of doing too much when they first start out. If you haven't worked out in a while (or ever) start with a walking program of about 20 to 30 minutes, 3 days a week. Each session, add a few minutes to your workout to progress each week.

3.Write down your workouts every day, making notes about what you did, how you felt and how you improved since your last workout.

4.Schedule your workouts each week, just like you would a doctor's appointment.

5.Harass your best friend, spouse or significant other into working out with you!

6.Every day, ask yourself how you will make your life healthier. It can be as simple as drinking more water or parking farther away from the front door.

7.Reward yourself! Give yourself a massage when you reach your goals, or maybe some new workout clothes.

8.Set daily or weekly goals. Long term goals are great, but are so far away we often forget why we're working so hard. To stay motivated, write down a daily or weekly goal and then follow number 7 (rewarding yourself) if you reach it.

9.Prepare for your workout the night before by packing your gym bag or, if you work out at home, laying out your workout clothes so when you get home, you're ready to go.

10.Eat regularly throughout the day so you don't bonk during your workout.

In today’s world we choose to eat foods that are dead, highly processed, lacking life energy, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other essential nutrients. It is no wonder obesity and illness is on the rise. Human beings lack the education required to eat correctly. We are being brain washed by constant advertising which leaves us even more confused as to what food is good or bad.

Do our foods come from mother nature or from a laboratory? Ponder this next time you contemplate what you will eat. How long has it taken to get to your table from the source? What has been added or removed from the food? These are good basic questions that will get you thinking about where our food comes from and maybe why we are not well nourished.

Discover the truth to losing weight now

Although we now have advanced technology and medical systems people are not getting any healthier. Since the turn of the century there has been little decline in dis-ease, instead dis-ease is on the increase. This is truly a sad state of affairs.

Degenerative disease such as Cardiovascular disease, Hypertension, Circulatory ailments, Arthritis, Diabetes, Cancer, Obesity and Mental disorders are common place in today’s world

Our lifestyles seem filled with excess stress, we consume too much of the wrong types of food, we do not get enough exercise or sleep and suffer with ailments as a result of the number of pollutants in our food, medicines and environments.

The combination of these factors can leave you feeling very fatigued and apathetic. As a result we seek out quick fix solutions and use stimulants such as caffeine, energy drinks and sugar. You may get a quick burst of energy but these foods also come with side effects such as dehydration, dental caries, depletion of mineral levels from the body and ultimately leave you even more fatigued. They are an unnatural source of energy that plays havoc with blood sugar levels. These stimulants do not provide a solution.

We need to look towards nature to find plant based wholefoods. Raw foods are unprocessed and contain a complete source of vitamins and minerals which can help you achieve balance and provide you with a longer lasting source of energy.
These foods produce less acidity and more alkaline within the body to create a more optimum environment. If stress is reduced we can start to experience a calmer mind and body.

Even if you eat a diet that’s 50-70% raw it can not only reverse cell degeneration that comes with long term illness but it can also slow down the ageing process.

To reclaim our health we must first consider the importance of our nutritional intake. Studies have shown that a diet high in raw live foods can considerably improve your health.

Its quite simple really the more lifeless or dead our foods that we eat are the less natural energy we will obtain from their consumption. Our immune system’s ability to fight disease is thus weakened. We ultimately become the living dead. We lack vital energy because the foods we eat are lacking in vital energy.

You can start your journey immediately simply by incorporating a green juice into your diet every day. Green juices are packed with essential nutrients and are a great way to move you through your day filled with happy happy energy.

Here’s a recipe to get you started:

4 Cups of Spinach
1 Large Carrot
2 Apples.

Reclaim your health start today

Have fun and cheers to your health