Fitness & Exercise Community

Simply put...just get back on track and stay there! you obviously know how to lose the weight...just get back to doing that. Be consistant and patient and the results will come. I started my journey October 2012 and it is always a battle but with perseverance I have managed to drop over 100 lbs. I may exercise everyday and eat right and still put on weight or atleast fail to lose any. Then again I am female which could contribute due to water weight gain monthly.

Thanks for the encouragement! Congrats on your weight loss!!!

correction...I started in October of 2011! sorry! It is a long road and there are many potholes!!!! keep going, even if you slow down just remember where the gas pedal is and stomp on it!!! Keep us posted. I can encourage all day!!!

Hi csmoore,

There is an error with the advice "but at the same time with exercising if you don't eat enough your body goes into starvation mode", that's not true. You have to look at the energy balance equation "calories in, calories out". If you consume more calories than you burn in a day you gain weight. If you've gained 10 pounds then you're consuming more than you burn. It's well known that exercise is not an effective way to lose weight (reducing calories is far more effective). One of the reasons exrecise isn't a good way to lose weight is that peple over compensate with extra calories because they think they can since they exercised. The point is, they may have burned 350-500 calories with exrecise, but you know how easy it is to consume more than that. A single large bagel has more than 500. Starvation mode, where the body slows down metabolism, typically occurs when the weight loss is severe, e.g., a few pounds a week consistently. You probably reached that plateau wheny ou reached the 48-pound mark. You needed to recalibrate your calorie intake at that point (lower it), because whatever number of calories you were consuming at that point to get you down 48 pounds was no longer working and you needed to consume less, exrecise more, or both.

I suggest that you post your weight goals and diet-related questions to the Diet Community:
http://exchanges.webmd.com/diet-exchange

And estimate your basal or resting metabolic rate (BMR) here:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-metabolism-calculator

And here's the Food and Fitness Planner
http://www.webmd.com/diet/food-fitness-planner/summary

And the exercise calorie counter:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-fitness-calorie-counter

Go ahead and add your BMR to your total exercise calories, then subtract that number from the number of calories you consume all day. If the number is negative then you'll lose weight. For instance, if you consume 1500 and burn 2000 with BMR and exercise, then you get -500 (minus 500), which means you will lose a pound a week (3500 calories equals one pound - so 7 days of a 500 calorie deficit = 3500, or one pound).

Finally, you didn't post your height and weight. It would be helpful to know if you are at a healthy weight, and perhaps a weight where more weight loss may be difficult.

Congratulations on the 48-pound weight loss. Once you go back to your old plan you'll lose the 10 pounds, but you may need to consume fewer calories to do it.

Feel free to post back if you have more questions. And if you do, your height and weight too.

Take care, Rich