First off, congrats on the weight loss so far.

Many on this thread would say that you run for fitness, eat for weight loss. You sound like you're doing well in terms of low-fat items, but have you ever done a calorie count on what you eat in a regular day?

If it's too high, then it won't matter if all your food is low-fat; you'll stay steady or even add weight...if it's too low, then your body may be going into a sort of starvation mode where it's reluctant to give up the extra fat.

Also, you may be plateauing because your workout has stagnated a bit - a prolonged plateau was good sign for me that I needed to shake things up a bit.

Think about some other cross-training to add variety (weightlifting, aerobics, biking, etc.). Or if you want to keep mainly with the running, vary your distances a bit and go with the easy-hard principle (one easy day followed by one hard day followed by a relatively easy day etc.)

Good luck to you!

I agree that 3 miles is not going to promote much weight loss. The calorie expenditure for a 120 pound woman is about 85-90 cal. per mile. The 100 calorie estimate is based on a 160 pound man.
Focus on vegetables and fruits! Increase the exercise intensity if time is a problem.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by annora:
no. carbs are not bad.<HR>

Nothing wrong with a balanced amount of good-quality carbohydrates. Runners need carbs for good performance.

However, Beach Girl seems to be eating way too much of the over-processed empty-calorie type of carbs.

Beachgrll, it took me a long, long time to sort out all the food hype and diet claims, only to find out that eating right really is very simple.

You may also be protein-deficient. Try replacing some of your carb foods with lean proteins, like tuna, grilled chicken, poached eggs, soy protein shakes and cottage cheese. Protein keeps a body feeling full longer, and curbs cravings for snacking.

You didn't say how much you're actually eating each day, just the types of foods you're eating.

I joined WW last January and lost about 30 pounds. I completely plateaued though when I reached 150 pounds. It took me 4 months to lose another 5 pounds even though I was following plan diligently and exercising like crazy. (150 pounds was the top of my healthy weight range, but 15 pounds from my ideal weight.)

I started really looking at things and this is what I concluded/discovered:

1. At 150 pounds, your daily points allowance goes down to 20. That's about 1000 calories per day. You can get up to an extra 4 points (200 calories) worth of food through exercise.

2. The number of calories required to maintain my current weight at my level of activity is about 2100 per day.

3. On WW, I was at a 900 calorie per day deficit.

4. Therefore, my metabolism slowed down and I stopped losing weight.

In November, I finally quit WW. It hit me in the head that I shouldn't keep doing something that wasn't working. I now eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full. I eat whole grains and nuts and dairy and all kinds of healthy foods that I had cut out when I was dieting. If I want a piece of chocolate, I eat it and don't feel guilty. I find that when I go for quality, I need less quantity.

Out of curiosity, I kept a food diary for a few days last week. At the end of the day, I calculated my calories. I consistently ate 1850-1950 calories each day. Now, I haven't lost any weight since I stopped dieting. But, I haven't gained any either. I started the Couch to 5K program three weeks ago so I'd have a way to get in some exercise on days when I can't go to the gym. Hopefully, when I'm able to run a few days a week in addition to what I'm doing now, I'll start losing again.

BTW, I'm 45 years old and it's not a myth that it's harder to lose weight in your forties. It's not impossible, but I have to work a lot harder than I did twenty years ago.


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Sandi