Can you go see a dietician?

Yes, you can only eat so many calories a day, and only a certain percentage of them can be from fats.

A dietician can be a great help, and you know the main points. Eat more fruits and vegs (but 1,000 calories worth of bananas are going pack on as much fat as 1,000 calories of fries), don't eat white sugar, salt, soda pop, white bread, white rice, and junk foods, fried foods, processed foods.

Portion control, calorie control, fat control. And you will find (after a few weeks of agony) that there are many tasty, yummy, quick to fix foods that you CAN eat!

It $uck$ big time, but it works. I alsmot have the "eating right" part down, but I can't make myself exercise...yet. I detest exercise; I don't want to sweat; I don't want to strain. The only exercise I ever enjoyed was dancing and weight machines.

Good luck!

In order to lose weight efficently, you must exercise and eat the correct amount of calories that it takes to lose. It takes an extrodinary amount of exercise and time doing it to take off the calories of ONE cookie (this can be researched on the internet) - the exercise is more for building muscle, which will help you burn more calories, even at rest.

But, in order to actually lose weight, if you take in more calories than you burn off every day, you will probably gain.

It used to be thought that different types of calories made the difference in how easily a calorie burned off: a calorie from sugar vs a calorie from, say broccoli - the sugar calorie was thought to be more difficult to lose by some.

They have found this NOT to be true - a calorie is a calorie by any name. But, the better you eat, the more satisfied you will feel quicker and longer and the healthier your body will be which enables your metabolism to work at it's peak for your age.

Your family doctor could refer you to a dietician that works within the clinic, you could probably really benefit from a "once" hour long session just to get the basic info needed on they way and what you need to eat to ensure success in weight loss.

Congrats on that exercise - it's as vital to your weight loss as reduction in calories - but it's half the picture.

Teresa: It's too bad that we couldn't join forces. You do the exercises, and I'll cut the calories, do the lowfat thing. Then we could both benefit. lol I sort of like the challenge of cooking healthier versions of things, of finding new recipes that will be healthier, etc. I just have no 'staying power' when it comes to exercising, and a lot of physical problems keeps me from doing most of them.

Shirley

I exercise a lot. Well, not lately, but usually. I have been gaining. The workouts are at a plateau. Every time I go on an extended bike tour, I loose again.

I guess, I am like you, and eat more than I work out.

At first it was easier to keep the weight down. I cut out lots of fats, and all fried stuff. No chips, and usually no snacks in the house.

Well, my body got used to the intake, and output, and I am putting on weight.

I think, in my case I will increase the output. Well, I know, I will increase the output, as summer is coming and I am much more active during the summer.

Sorry, not to be able to help more than that.

Moni

I found out that by making a strict limit on anything with flour, cornmeal and sugars of any type, I was able to finally lose weight and keep it off with that plus exercise. These things were my downfall within my diet structure. It's not easy to elimate them, but if you do you would be surprised at how much unhealthy junk and empty, fattening calories you cut out of your diet.

Teresa, I hear you. I'm pretty active and I've really been struggling with my weight the last year.
I suggest you check out Spark People. It is a free site and it has tools to track your exercise, but more importantly , your diet. If you go to a dietician, they will ask you to keep a food diary - this one is all online and you can print it if you end up going to a dietician. It has really helped me over the last month to get and stay focused. Although I tend to eat pretty healthy foods, I found that I was eating enough of them just to maintain or even gain - not to lose. It is worth a try - you can set your goal - 5 pounds or 200 and your timeline.

Teresa, seeing a dietician is a great help. She made me keep a food diary (which is a bore), but it makes me see my problems. I go too long between meals, then I'm too hungry and overeat. I also have to track calories.

The dietician has a scale which measures percentage of fat and percentage of muscle, so on my recent visit I had lost 4 lbs. which wasn't much, but there was an increase in muscle so the told me I didn't just lose water but fat.
Our local hospital has nutrition counselors and a nutrition class, and the services are free. Check with your hospital to see if they have anything like that. Our program is called HELP.

Yep, it's all about counting calories. Keep up the good work, Teresa.

Another factor is that muscle weighs more than fat. So it's possible that your exercise program (which you deserve a lot of credit for!) has converted some fat to muscle, and that has affected your scale.

Muscle is heavier than fat. You're strenuous exercise program is probably building up muscle as you lose the fat.

The real question is are you losing inches? Are your clothes feeling loose?

If the issue is your eating habits, then you're going to be surprised at how fast the weight will fall off as soon as you change them. Keeping up with your exercise regime of course.

Actually, I have been to a dietician twice! Once before I got married and then about 2 years ago. I lost nearly 25 lbs each time. Second time I ended up getting pregnant and had to back off for a while. I know it worked because I had to be accountable for someone. I felt like I'd "get in trouble" if I gained weight during the week. (My dietician was really nice and wouldn't have been mad) but that was my little motivation tool.

I'd love to have something like that again, but it's not covered by insurance unless I had Diabetes. Makes no sense, since that's what I'm trying to prevent from happening! But the $ is one thing and she would like weekly, or 2-3 times a month appt and I don't have time for that either. I guess I just need someone to stand in front of my fridge and block me when I try to grab bad snacks!

So I should know what to do, but I guess I'm being lazy. I know I am en emotional eater: when I'm bored, sad, stressed etc. If I know that, why can't I stop it! That's my main question??????? I stress over having the kids eat healthy, making sure they have their fruits and veggies, yet when it comes to me I just grab whatever is fast and easy. I feel ike I"ve used up all my energy on them! Which I know is not great, but...

I just grab whatever is fast and easy.

In that case, I would remove the fast-and-easy but damaging foods from the house. You can't grab what's not there. Or, if you feel you need to keep them in the house for your family, make them more difficult to grab. Take them out of the pantry and put them in the basement, for instance. Chances are, if you have to make an effort to get to them, you'll have second thoughts about doing so.

Unless, of course, you're a sugar addict like I was. Nothing would have stopped me! :-)

Weight Watchers is a great way to be accountable and to get some very tasty recipes your family will enjoy. With WW it is not a diet, it is a change of lifestyle. I have lost 7 pounds so far.

Keeping the food diary in Spark People has made me feel accountable and you get the stats on the food, so you can adjust your claroes, protein, carbs and fats. My meals are more planned these days as a consequence.
I agree with Alisande - get those undesirable foods out of there.
Fast and easy can also be healthy: Oatmeal, whole grain cereal, cottage cheese and fruit, hummus and carrots, warmed up rice and beans, tuna salad are all quick lunch and breakfasts for me.

Are you breastfeeding? And if so I'd be careful of limiting fats. I asked hubby and he said you have hit a plateau, and that with your activitiy level that to loose "body" fat, you'll have to cut out fat, but then he asked if you were a nursing mom. If so then he sumised that everything you are eating, that you aren't burning, is being held as store for the baby.
He also said that if you've had a baby in the last two years, your body will respond differently. (I don't pay that close attention, but I was thinking you have had another daughter in the last year. Yes?)

He felt that given that you are basically physically fit (by the level of working out you do) that if you just keep plugging away, it will work itself out.

Now I think it wouldn't hurt at all to figure out your calories that are coming in and figure out what you are burning, to see what your balance is or is not.

Sounds like Spark people will help with that.

Spark people was a huge help to me in learning how to get the weight off. I have hypothyroidism so it is doubly hard.

I'm not using them now, but I do keep a food diary. That is the most consistent thing you are going to here from people who have lost weight: they keep a food diary. Just knowing you have to write it down when you swallow it is a huge help. and you need to be willing to write it down immediately too, not at the end of the day. Too many things get forgotten that way. I have a food diary that goes back to last July. I print it out every month. I don't even expect it will ever get read by anyone. Here is a sample:
3-17-09: [165.1] 9am: 2 oranges. 10:30am 6 oz. baked ckn, 4 oz baked sweet potato, 6 oz steamed cabbage.

Like others, I'm became a complete sugar/empty carb/ white flour addict when I quit smoking. I just changed addictions. So that is an all-or-nothing thing with me, and I had to go with 'nothing'. I don't have it in the house. I also don't use any sugar substitutes because they are worse than sugar (most of them) and ALL of them set up the same chain reaction in your body that sugar does. What is surprising is that you really can get used to having a life of no sweetener except what is naturally found in fruits & veggies.

I second the comment about how your cloths fit. Muscle is heavier than fat and is a boon to good metabolism, so you have the hardest part under control. I WISH I could exercise like that. Half is won't, half is can't. Between worn out knees and weak wrists, and general age & wear, there is a lot of exercising I just can't do. Even more that I won't lol.

Go to sparkpeople.com. It's free and is the greatest place on the web for all kinds of support and education.
Another good site is radiantrecovery.com (I think. Google it if not) where they can help you detox from sugar.

Don't give up, you've got more than half the battle licked, being as active as you are.
j

Congratulations on your exercise routines. Next you should tackle "diet". Don't be obsessed with weight loss, rather worry about good nutrition. You may want to take a multi-vitamin. Many women of child-bearing age are anemic (low in iron) and deficient in Vitamin D. Next, think about everything you pop in your mouth. Are you drinking of water (not coffee and soda) and eating lots of fruits and vegetables? Don't forget protein, good lean meat bulids muscles. Don't be obsessed with weight loss. Worry about getting good nutrition with everything you stick in your mouth. Good luck!

It's all a mind thing. You're not going to change unless you decide to and stick to it. So, I'd say you have to want to do it and make up your mind AND do it.

You can do it!

I used to be pretty obese and started putting on a lot of weight especially on my thighs and bottom in my late thirties. I started exercising as often as possible and also cut down on a lot of high calorie stuff. Unfortunately I hardly managed to lose much weight at all. I then recently read an article by a lady who claimed that she managed to lose nearly half of her weight using a particular weight loss supplement. I tried it out and it actually worked quite well. Within 4 months I managed to lose about 65 pounds. The results were pretty amazing and I feel so much healthier and energetic now. You can read more about the lady's article at

http://www.obesityzapped.com