Thread: Can someone please tell me if this is right?

Okay, I am 5'9", 170 lbs. I have lost a LOT of weight already. I have only been dancing for 2 months. The first week of my dancing, I lost 3 lbs. Since then, NOTHING!!!!! I have not changed my eating habits. I eat 1300-1400 calories a day. Lots of veggies and lean protein, few white carbs, no milk, no sugar that does not come from the fruits. I just don't understand it. I have done the same workouts I was doing before, only added about 30 minutes to an hour of dance a day. I am getting really frustrated with this. I only have 25-30 left to lose (have lost a total of 180 in the past 4 years), and I cannot get the scale to budge. It is making me VERY self concious (more now that I am so in love with a form of dance that feels so sexy and I feel so not sexy). Can any of you help me out? Either with explaining it, or telling me what I may need to do differently?

Plateaus are normal and healthy places to rest on a lengthy journey. They are where your body assimilates all the new signals you've been sending into it and is working out how best to store and catalog all that stuff. As someone who's lost a large amount of weight, I know how hard it is to get it off yet how easy to put it back on. Your body is possessed of its own wisdom, and it's important to listen to its cues. Respect your body, continue eating right and practicing your moves and you'll find your body will respond in due course. Also bear in mind that a healthy body isn't necessarily a skinny body. Sometimes we women get caught up in setting goal weights for ourselves based on charts and numbers and the way we hope to look, without taking the time to assess how we feel inside our own bodies as we go through these sometimes very dramatic transformations. Also, muscle weighs more than fat, so it's possible that after 2 months of practicing dance you may be building muscles in new places, again redistribution of energy can change your trajectory. I always take a plateau in any of my endeavors toward mastery, whether it be weight control, dancing, or pottery, as a signal that it's time to assess my progress and recalibrate my goals. Good luck on your journey and remember to rest, breathe, and drink lots of water! :)

Originally Posted by IntoTheSky

Okay, I am 5'9", 170 lbs. I have lost a LOT of weight already. I have only been dancing for 2 months. The first week of my dancing, I lost 3 lbs. Since then, NOTHING!!!!! I have not changed my eating habits. I eat 1300-1400 calories a day. Lots of veggies and lean protein, few white carbs, no milk, no sugar that does not come from the fruits. I just don't understand it. I have done the same workouts I was doing before, only added about 30 minutes to an hour of dance a day. I am getting really frustrated with this. I only have 25-30 left to lose (have lost a total of 180 in the past 4 years), and I cannot get the scale to budge. It is making me VERY self concious (more now that I am so in love with a form of dance that feels so sexy and I feel so not sexy). Can any of you help me out? Either with explaining it, or telling me what I may need to do differently?

How old are you? Are you eating enough fat? What else do you do for working out?

Some generalizations: The last 20lbs are the most grueling and stubborn ones to lose. It gets more and more difficult the older you get. 1400 calories doesn't sound like quite enough for a person of your height if you are doing workouts of any intensity. Finally, doing the same workout for a long period of time is not good. Your body gets used to it and it ceases to cause progress and strength gains.

Your 3lb weight loss when you started dancing could have been due to something else, or it might have been because when you first start learning these dance moves, a newbie will use alot more energy than what is really required. As you gain coordination, the moves require less energy.

Wise words from Kozmique. I would also say be patient, it takes time. You may be building muscle now, which weighs more than fat. The most important thing is how healthy you feel and how you feel at home in your own body. Rather than bearing down, ease up (mentally), give yourself credit for all that you have accomplished - it's not easy to do what you have been doing! Keep dancing and practicing healthy eating and living habits.

It's good to vary your workout routines, adding weights or more reps(but go slowly on that), or trying a different kind of workout.

Congratulations on how far you have come, and don't give up!

Ah yes, as Dunyah said, you must keep in mind belly dancing will increase muscle mass all over your body. This is a good thing for your health and your appearance, but when it comes to watching the scale it's confusing because that muscle weighs more than fat.

People are always incredulous when I tell them how much I actually weigh. They say, "NO WAY! You couldn't possibly weigh that much!" I'm just too shapely. Muscle development from dance is the reason.

Rosette

WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS on your weight loss, I know how much work that is! I've read a lot of good advice given already. Definitely change up your workouts, every one to two weeks. That is super excellent advice. Also make sure you are getting at least one rest day every week. Seven days a week of working out is just tooooo much.
I've lost 50-60 lbs over the last year, and during my worst plateau I actually saw the biggest changes in my shape, with absolutely no show on the scales. Maybe a better judge of how you are doing is a too tight pair of jeans. Try them on no more than once a month, that is a much better judge when your weight on the scale isn't budging, it doesn't mean you aren't toning up and gaining muscle weight.
I also will ask, are you eating enough? It sure doesn't sound like it. Eating too little will not only cause your body to hold onto every little calorie you put into it, but you will also end up getting sick. You may need to revisit your dietary needs, being so active. Sometimes less is not more, speaking from experience with eating disorders in the past, you may want to consider a consult with a nutritionist if you can to help you tweak your diet. You want to make sure you are getting enough and the right calories. Doesn't sound right does it, eating too little to lose weight? Can happen though!
Congrats again, happy happy dancing!!

1300-1400 calories -are you sure? Are you journaling to make sure?

A pound of muscle weighs...the same as a pound of fat. A pound is a pound. However, it looks different.

The scale only shows one thing - weight. Which may not be an accurate reflection of what you actually look like. It also takes your brain a while to catch up with a body change, so what you see in the mirror is not necessarily what is accurate (brains are weird that way).

What are you using as your "guide" for what you should weigh? When I did Weight Watchers, I knew there was no way I would be able to be the "recommended" weight for my height as I would look ill. So you may want to revise that also - 5'9 and 170 looks very different on different people. There used to be a website gallery of just this, different people, same weight/height, but I can't remember what it was called; however, mybodygallery.com is a women-only site, same concept.

If you still need to lose, then play with your numbers - eat more, for a long period (a week is not enough time. You may need to revamp your maintenance intake in order to reduce it again). Play with your macros - more protein, more fat, etc.

Good luck on your journey.

TRUTH!!!

a pound of fat = a pound of muscle.

BUT muscle is far more dense than fat- so you can fit a lot MORE of it into a smaller space. Muscle also boosts your "fat burning" ability. A muscled body will continue to burn long after your workout is over and at higher rat than one with a higher percentage of fat.

I'm about your height as well- 5'8" and I weigh 175 whooping solid pounds.
and while I would love the number to be smaller- just because well 145 SOUNDS better than 175 but I am solid and sexy.

I know I have some problem areas- I look amazing for the most part. I'd say 80% of the time I am really happy with how I look and FEEL. Sure I have my down days and I get depressed when I realize my thighs wore a hole in my favorite dance pants- but it's really hard to have an awesome ass without some substantial thighs holding it up- so I take the trade off!

You need to make sure you are putting a LOT of variety into your workout. If you haven't done any weight training GET ON THAT like- yesterday.

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I am a HUGE advocate of HITT (high intensity interval training) cardio/circuit training and intervals- of the short and long kind. If you have the right tools you will NEVER be bored wtih a workout- AND you will shave hours of your workout.

For me personally it's WIN WIN WIN WIN... I need to dance- my mental health depends upon it- so fitting a full blown weight training+cardio workout AND a solid hour + of dance- just isn't practical- that can be over 3 hours a DAY. I can't do it- no one can unless they are in college or unemployed! LOL

HIIT is short fast workouts- so my workouts are between 12-30 minutes long (my longer circuit training ones *can* be up to 30-60 minutes- but I plan accordingly for those on weekends)... so I spend 30 minutes on a workout and 1-1.5 hours dancing. So I can get what I need out of less than 2 hours of working out- it's GREAT!

Weight training is ESSENTIAL for building a fit body- cardio alone will not do it- don't be scared to pick up real weight- those little 2.5/5 #'s are just NOT going to cut it.


check bodyrock.tv or youtube for Zuzka/Zuzana Light (she is the old bodyrock host- but she has her own channel now)... angrytrainerfitness is an excellent site as well.

feel free to ask me anything or PM me anything as well- I'm now training as a personal trainer for my gym doing these exact workouts- the training program manager loved what I did he pestered me for almost 2 months to come train for him. It WORKS- the days of hours of cardio and 5 lb weights in step class are OVER!!! :)

Plus weight training helps build strong dense bones to prevent bone deterioration! very important for women obviously ;)

wow- epic novel. sorry! I'm very passionate about my training- I love it!