Here's a bit of background... I am 36 years old, have two children, 6 and 3. I had my thyroid checked about 2 years ago and unfortunately (or fortunatley, I guess) I can't blame my weight on that as I did not have any thyroid issues at the time. My mother does have an underactive thyroid, by the way.

Anyway... I have been diligent for about the last year watching my nutrition and exercising. To be specific. I eat about 1500~1800 calories a day (ish). I eat off a saucer plate to be sure my portion sizes are not too big. I drink about 80 ~ 120 oz of water per day. I drink 2~4 cups of green tea/day. I go to Pilates classes at the gym every Mon, Tues, Wed, and Sunday with a heart pounding Cardio Kick-boxing class on Thursday mornings each class is 45 min and I throw in about 10 minuts or so of jumping rope on top of that. I jump higher, punch harder, scream louder and sweat more than everyone. I am drenched at the end of class. People are always commenting on my enthusiasm in class. I walk on the treadmill at about 3.5 gradually inclining to a level 10 for the first 10 min... stay at level 10 for 10 min and then gradually decrease to level 1 over the last 10 min. Sometimes I do interval training and keep the incline lower but run at a 5~6 for a min, slow down to a 3 to recover for a min and then back up to a 5-6 several times. Sometimes I just walk at a 3.5 level 5-7 for an hour. I do this several times a week. I also use an 8lb medicine ball when doing abs, I use bands and dumb bells in the evening while watching TV. I drive my husband insane. He thinks I exercise all the time... and I do.

I eat pretty well incorporating whole grains, white meats, fish, fruits, and vegetables. I limit my red meat to maybe 2 or 3 times a month. I eat toamtos and tomato based products for the lycopene. I usually eat tuna, salmon, or Tialpia baked in the oven.

I feel like I am doing everything right and my scale will not go down. My shape is changing a bit but for as long as I have been doing this I am expecting better results and yet I still am about anywhere from 196-199 on any given day. I have been watching my size with a tape measure and my arms are bigger (due to muscle, I'm sure). My waist is still right around 39 and I know it should be 35 to be a healthy size.

I realize muscle weighs more than fat so I try to tell myself that that is the reason my numbers on the scale are not budging... but I am really starting to feel frustrated. I am busting my butt and yet do not see my size changing very much. Granted I have gone from a size 20 and 220 lbs to a 16-18 and I am 5'9 so I wear it pretty well but why can't I seem to get any smaller.

The only way that I was really able to take any weight off was with Atkins, I got down to 184 but when I decided to start eating carbs again I got right back up to 200 lbs. I never wanted to see that number ever again. I have been able to keep it to 199 or below since then but not much below. I don't want to do the Atkins diet as I also realize that carbs are good for you so long as you choose the right kind. Whole grains, fruits, vegetables and very little to NO processed foods.

Have you any words of encouragement or advice for me? I am getting a bit discouraged. I know that even though the numbers are not really budging on my scale that my over health and well being have got to be improved a whole lot but I really want my size to be smaller and would love to see my scale get down to about 155. What can I do? :confused:

I don't have the answer for you but all I can say is keep on keeping on if you know what I mean. Do NOT neglect your family for the sake of exercise however and include them if at all possible. I need to drop about 25 lbs to be at a healthy weight but for me its cholestoerol that's the problem now. Five years ago my glucose level was high as well as tri-glycerides so of course Atkins style diet was for me. I did the same as you I lost about 24 lbs but could not keep it up. Once the fresh fruits and vegies of the summer and fall disappeared so did the weight loss. Like you we eat a healthy diet of grains, fish, greens but we do splurge with bacon on the weekends and do red meat about once a week. I believe during my atkins time I traded my pre-diabetes state with my current pre-hypertension state. I kicked my glucose and tri-glyceride problems in the butt but now I have to adjust my diet and exercise more. Its so hard to make the time to do this especially with a frantic schedule.

Anyway let me give you this bit of hope. Your metabolism is in your muscle mass. The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism. When you starve yourself your body will consume muscle not fat to lower your metabolism. So having your increased muscle mass is a GOOD thing even if you aren't seeing any results... yet. You did not mention how long you have been at this pace. It takes a LONG time. Six to twelve months or more. Maybe a nutritionist can chime in and suggest a tweak to your diet. Maybe you calorie intake is a bit low or its not the right calories. Again I am no expert but don't give up.

Thanks for your reply...It does give me a bit of hope. I think a nutritionist is probably exactly what I need as I realy feel I have the exercising part down.

I suppose the other thing I can do to hopefully inspire myself is to go back to the doctor and get all of my blood work redone as he has a base line from which to compare since I had my thyroid and cholesterol and all that other good stuff checked about two years ago and not rely so much on the scale to measure my success but my overall well being.

Perhaps I should tweak my strength program a bit and see if that makes the difference.

Again...Thank you for taking the time. Sometimes all it takes are a few encouraging words. :)

I'll post again should any miraculous changes occur! :p

Have you considered htat you may not be eating enough for the amount of exercise that you are doing? I'm not an expert by any means, but I have been on wieght watchers for about 4 months and have lost 30 pounds... still have aobut 15 to go... but I too exercise a lot. The plan explains that if I exercise I must EAT more... theres a bit more to it, I just use the online tools to figure out how much. I find that IF I eat some additional good food to compensate for the esercise that I do continue to lose, if I do NOT eat some of the extra food I do NOT lose, I've been told that if the body feels it isn't getting enough fuel it will go into starvation mode and actaully store more of what you eat... so maybe you should try eating an additional small meal... just an idea.

Thank you so much for your words... And in a nutshell, I think you might be right. I just started working with a personal trainer and she gave me a diet to follow. 50% carbs, 25% protein and 25% fat. Oh and let's not forget the gallon of water for those who are interested (not a problem for me by the way, water is my drink of choice). It seems like I am eating all the time. It is only 1600 calories a day but it feels like a bit more than I am used to eating. I have 3 meals and 3 snacks per day. I have only been doing this for about a week but already my scale has gone down 4 pounds, which is more than I was able to make it do on my own. I finally feel that there just might be hope for me after all. :)

In addition to the trainer, and the new found diet, I have also increased my cardio and strength training. I just changed up my routine a bit. A little less Pilates and a little more heart pounding classes. Again all of this has been a very recent change so I have yet to see what the result will actually be but so far so good.

Green Tea, Fluoride, and the Thyroid
I am writing to you with the intent to inform on various issues associated with the use of fluorides, especially as it relates to green and black teas, and to voice our concern about the continued promotion of green tea as a drink `beneficial to one`s health` on your radio show `Current Health Issues`
TEA IS VERY HIGH IN FLUORIDE CONTENT. Fluoride in tea is much higher than the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) set for fluoride content in drinking water.
Tea leaves accumulate more fluoride (from pollution of soil and air) than any other edible plant. Fluoride content in tea has risen dramatically over the last 20 years, as has tea consumption.
While in 1976 a Belgian analysis showed content of between 50 and 125 ppm (part per million) fluoride in 15 varieties of tea, a Polish study in 1995 found fluoride content of up to 340 ppm in 16 varieties of black tea. A major Canadian study published in 1995 reports average fluoride content in tea to be 4.57 mg/l in the 1980`s. A website by a pro-fluoridation infant medical group lists a cup of black tea to contain 7.8 mgs of fluoride, which is roughly the same amount as if one were to drink 7.8 litres of water in an area fluoridated at 1 ppm. It is well known that fluoride in tea gets absorbed by the body similarly as the fluoride in drinking water.
Some British and African studies from the 1990`s showed a daily fluoride intake of between 5.8 mgs and 9 mgs a day from tea alone.
In order to understand a dose / concentration relationship properly, one needs to realize that the level of fluoride at 1 part-per-million (ppm)=1 mg/l was set in the 40`s when TOTAL intake was considered to be only about 1 mg/day in areas with fluoridated water. It was thought that the fluoridation of water supplies at 1 ppm (1 mg/l) would duplicate this intake, assuming that people would drink 4 glasses of water a day. However, average current total intake of fluorides is approaching the 8 mg/day range, according to the last official data available from the US PHS (1991) and other publications TOTAL intake from ALL sources is the amount to be considered for any adverse health effect evaluation.
The fact that fluorides accumulate in the body is the reason why a MCL for fluoride content in water needs to be set by the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) by law under the US Surgeon General. This is to be done specifically to avoid a condition known as Crippling Skeletal Fluorosis (CSF).
The MCL is set so as to only avoid the third and crippling stage of this disease. It is set at 4 ppm, 4 mg/liter, assuming that people will retain half of this amount (2 mg), and therefore be at a`safe`level. The EPA scientists, whose job and legal duty it is to set the MCL, declared that this level was set fraudulently by outside forces, and that 90% of the data showing the mutagenic properties of fluoride were omitted. Virtually every company selling green tea advertises its high fluoride content as `beneficial`in preventing cavities, promulgating the misleading and false data supplied for the last 50 years by the ADA /CDA and other dental health trade organizations, as well as various public health agencies. There are no double-blind studies anywhere proving the efficacy of fluoride as a caries preventative. There are double-blind studies proving adverse health effects, at the level of 1 ppm (1mg/l) in water. There are no studies documenting safety at any intake level

THYROID MEDICATION
Drinking a cup of tea with fluoride content as mentioned above (7.8mg) would mean a fluoride intake much higher than amounts which were actually given as medication to treat hyperthyroidism (over functioning thyroid) for numerous decades-in several countries, specifically to reduce thyroid activity! In the 1930`s May reported having successfully treated 1,158 hyperthyroid patients within 6 years with either sodium fluoride or fluorothyrosine, given per mouth. Among products later released on the market were Pardinon and Tyrosin. Checking an older Merck Index will verify this information. Gorlizer von Mundy treated patients for more than 30 years in baths containing HF(30ccHF in 200 l water). Later fluorides were deemed not`reliable enough` to be recommended as an antithyroid.