Not any weight loss

[dhtmex]

I have been exercising 5 days a week for the past 2 weeks and eating healthy and staying away from bread, tortillas and potatoes.  I am 6'1, 206 lbs and have not lost anything. (Some days I am 1/2 a pound more or less).  Any thoughts?

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

With a healthy lifestyle, weightloss doesn’t work like magic. It is a gradual process and may take a few weeks before one actually sees a weight change. The initial weight change is usually fluctuant and at times one might actually see weight increase instead of weight loss due to muscle build up. If you are aiming at losing weight, it is important to calculate your current BMI and the target BMI. The target BMI should be in a healthy range. Aside indulging in moderate amounts of physical exercise it is also essential to maintain a healthy diet plan. It is important to know that a diet plan is not about cutting down calories; it’s about ‘healthy’ eating. With cutting on diet one may initially lose weight but this may remain static or increase later. When one cuts down on calories, the body sends a signal to the brain which in turn turns on the ‘stress hormones’ and the body switches into the ‘starvation mode’ and paradoxically one may notice no change in weight or an increased weight. One would need adequate amount of calories to support the basic metabolic functions and if you work out vigorously, your required calorie intake rises. A healthy diet should consist of adequate amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, fat and plenty of fruits and vegetables to supply vitamins and minerals. Start with a healthy breakfast, moderate lunch and light dinner. You may also try changing your exercise regimen. You may rotate between a gym, swimming, yoga, aerobics, jogging, cycling etc. Also keep a track of calorie intake and your work out. With gradual consistent efforts, you should be able to lose weight as desired in a healthy way.
Hope this helps.

Take care!

[mzrichee]

how's your diet? are you eating enough? or are you eating too much? remember, to lose 1 pound, you must have a 3500 calorie deficit. divide that over the course of a week and it's like eliminating 500 calories from your total intake each day. so whether the 500 is made up of all exercise or food or a combination of both, you have to make sure there is that deficit. otherwise, even if you exercised for hours a day and then eat like crazy, that won't do you any good. of course, on the other hand, if you don't eat enough, that's not good too as it can slow down your metabolism, making you burn less calories, etc. when this happens, usually what it can do sometimes is put your body in starvation mode.. meaning, whatever food you put into your body, it stores it away because it doesn't know when the next time you're going to feed it. so again, how's your diet like? are you eating enough? are the foods you're eating healthy? remember, diet and exercise go hand in hand. good luck and i'm sure you'll do just fine. sometimes it may just take a little longer to see a change in the scale. oh, one other thing you can do is measure yourself. sometimes the number on the scale isn't reflective of the change that's happening to your body; such as inches lost, etc. :)