Weight remains unchanged...

Question
Hi Wendy... I am 24 yrs old 5'7 female from India and i weight 163 lbs. I used to weigh 138 lbs a year back and have gained weight considerably after i had my gall bladder surgery. It was also partly because of a very stressful job and an early stage in my career so health was kind of ignored.Anyway I am getting married in Dec this year and would like to return to around 130-135 lbs before my wedding..

My weight has been static around 163 Lbs for the past 3-4 months... in these past mnths I have tried everything... from aerobics to weight training to controlling my diet etc. etc... but nothing seems to be happening... yeah sometimes (say once a week or so) I go out for a party and then happen to eat a lil extra... but i have even been avoiding drinking for the past 3 months!! The weight just doesnt come down... sometimes after a party it increases by 2 pounds and then comes down again...

I am beginning to get really frustrated now... need to shed off the weight fast... please help me!!! Thanks so much

Answer
Hi, Beatrice...

I do understand your frustration and I see your looking to lose around 30 pounds or so.

One of the reasons we plateaus with weight loss is that our bodies get used to the same food and the same exercise intensity.  Because even if you change exercises, but the intensity is the same, your body still won't react to the change because you won't be using more energy (calories).

The first thing I would recommend is to keep a food journal.  Write down everything you eat and drink for the next 2 weeks.  This serves 2 purposes.  The first is that it gives you a written record to see any patterns of food and drink consumption.  The second is that knowing you have to write it down sometimes forces us to make better choices.

Also, make sure you have at least 1200 calories per day.  Based on your age, you could probably go up to 1600-2000 depending on how hard and how often you workout.

So, be patient and make sure you step up the intensity of your workout and drink tons of water.

That should help.  Good luck.

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