I am 26, 5'6", 170lbs. I used to have no problem losing weight when I was younger, but over the past 2 years it's been a true struggle. I have spent hundreds (maybe even thousands) on trainers, gym memberships, equipment, doctors, fad diets, etc. I work out at least 3 days a week at the gym (30-45 min of cardio, then rotating upper and lower body weight training) plus I play volleyball every Thursday night. I don't eat bad. (Fried food maybe once every 2-3 months, lots of fruits and veggies, very little meat.) I use protein and calcium supplements in addition to my vitamin packet. (GNC Ultra Mega Wellness Program) I have had my thyroid tested, and everything was ok. So what am I doing wrong? Why can't I lose weight? I don't want to be a size 2, just back to where I was happy. (130-140lbs, which was a pants size 7 or 9 for me.)

lovelesspa

It sounds like your doing everything right, a great exercise program for one thing! The eating might have to be looked into to, you say you only eat bad few every couple of months, sounds ok, your allowed to cheat occasionally. How about serving sizes? Are you adhereing to what a 1 serving size portion really is? In meats it's 3 ounces, basically the size of an open palm. How about the meat choice, truly lean, like chicken without the skin, turkey, fish, loin type red or white meats only? Are you baking and broiling them in canola or olive oil only? Do you use butter or margarine, no a good choice choose spreads or cooking sprays, instead. Do you drink sweetened drinks like soda or sweetned fruit juices? they need to be cut out, if the drink contains high fuctose corn syrup its the # 1 cause of calories, so start checking labels. Choose wheat products instead of white flour breads, pastas, or rice. 1-2% milk instead of full fat milk, choose low fat low sodium cheese products and eat yogurt, frozen yogurt if you like ice cream, again checking to see if its the low sugar kind. You have to cut down on salt consumption, don't add salt to your meals, don't snack on chips or highly salted snacks. Some granolas have high amounts of sugar in them so again, check out the nutritional labels on products! Milk, cheese and yogurts increases fat breakdown in fat cells so make sure your getting 3-4 serving a day. Drinks lots of water, before meals especially, Choose nuts as a snack but the serving size is 1 oz, the size of a fistfull but it will curb your urges when you eat the nuts and drink 2 glasses of water. Avoid all processed foods, choose low fat, low sodium spread for your sandwiches, use the new spritzer for your salad dressing, a squirt is lower in calories and it won't soak your salads. On a 2000 calorie diet which is a normal average for a women, start limiting fat, saturated fats, transfats, cholestrol and sodium. When your looking at nutritional labels, the part that says DV, shows what each nutrient requirement is, 5%DV is low (good) 20% of more is high, so make another choice or eat less of this. In addition if you know how many calories you eat a day, start reducing them by 15% or around 500 calories a day and never more than 1000. I would keep a journal for a couple of days and write down everything you eat and figure out what you are either doing wrong or just restructure the calorie intake. Hope it helps.