Please I need help! I am trying carefully to lose about 8 kilos - currently I am fluctuation daily calorie intake between 1200 and 1400 (don't want to slow my metabolism down too much). I change exercise daily, but always do 40 min - 60 min of cardio. I walk, ski machine, Pilates, weight-lifting etc and get my heart rate up in the right range. I only use skim milk, fat free yoghurt, I eat fruits and vegetables as my staple and include pulses on alternative days. I MAYBE eat lean red meat once a week or two weeks, and lean chicken breast maybe twice a week. I am really struggling with the weight fluctuations, one day up, one day down and I know I shouldn't weigh daily but I am so dedicated to this (tired of always being a little chubby) and I just don't know what else to try and where I am doing this wrong? Is it possible that I need to eat completely differently? PLEASE any suggestions or advice welcome!:(

It sounds to me as though you are doing everything right. Do you drink any protein drinks? Or anything that is high in sodium? This would cause you to retain water weight on certain days. Are you eating carbs before or after your workout? Lastly, what type of weight bearing exercises do you do? I'm just curious if you're doing exercises that will cause you to gain muscle mass. In this case, you would still lose body fat but gain more muscle which in fact weighs more than fat.

Unfortunately I don't have access to protein drinks (I am working in a small country in South America), so I am definitely concerned that I am consuming more carbohydrates than Protein. The foods I am eating are 80% fresh, separate to some dairy (no cheese), and the rice cakes I eat with my veggies - so the sodium intake is minimal.

I try at night to eat just veggies, but once or twice a week I will have lentils for dinner, and maybe once every two weeks rice. As for weight lifting I do free weights and weight machines, and believe I must be building muscle... maybe getting a measuring tape would help the feeling of not achieving?

A skin caliper is good for that which determines fat loss or muscle gain. It's not a bad thing that you can't get the protein drinks. Some of them are usually high in sodium. This will cause you to retain water weight temporarily so you want one with as little sodium as possible. It is good for, however, to help you burn more fat especially if you have it before your workout. The body will burn carbs first. If you don't have carbs before your workout and you do aerobics or cardio, you'll have better success. Just be careful with the weight increase as you steadily gain strength to use more weight. Sometimes less is more. You might want to use less weight and do more reps. This way you will still burn calories but tone your muscles rather than build. Hope this helps and best of luck to you.

If you're actually doing exactly what you wrote, you're getting so many things right.

How long have you been on this plan? Your body will have to catch up to your habits eventually.

I think you might benefit a lot more from measuring yourself than from weighing yourself so often. When you do weigh in, are you accounting for normal fluctuations in body weight, including changes that occur during your cycle?

What about portion sizes? I know that many people gain a highly warped sense of what a proper portion size should be because of the dinosaur portions served by much of the restaurant industry.

Adding green tea and/or hot water with lots of lemon (and no sugar) to your diet can help cleanse your system and can also put a tiny spark into your metabolism.

Personally, my body will metabolize high quality extra virgin olive oil with ease, but my body feels different (as in worse) if my meal has included butter instead. Also, I don't eat any low-fat models of regular fat foods ; I think you wind up with more chemicals in the hybrid versions. Also, I basically swear against eating any packaged, factory created foods for that same reason. I know that this goes against what many people have come to believe, but I don't believe in the no carb/low carb thing. Where I live, pasta is eaten at least once a day, and the people around me are generally in very nice shape. Of course, beans, legumes and whole grains are the best forms of carbs, plus they're high in fiber.

I agree with trmp about trying to increase your reps and decreasing your weights. If you do it the other way around, you'll tend to add muscle with more bulk. Yoga is an ideal form of exercise, and it will do wonders for your body shape.

Lastly, are you sure that you aren't at your body's natural weight? Are you trying to break out of being technically overweight, or are you instead trying to reach the middle or the bottom of the suggested weight for your height and body type?

Thanks for your response...

I am not sure if this is the same, but I drink two litres of water a day that has fresh lime in it? Is this the same as hot water and lemon? If not, I will change across... I do drink hot water with a herbal tea at night before going to bed. I also add fresh chili to most meals which I LOVE, but also have heard it does some what speed up metabolism.

Portion size I use an actual cup to measure - I am south african and fortunately we are rather a health conscious society, so our portions are probably 1/3 of American sizes, however I could be more precise in getting a scale maybe.

I also suppose the truth is I have only be going a couple weeks - but my problem isn't the SLOW weight loss, it's that every day my weight goes up and down, sometimes over a kilo in difference. If I was losing even 1kg or 1/2 kg per week I would be happy, but the problem and frustration is the fluctuation. And on the days it goes up, my motivation is so much less and it becomes a whole day of fighting myself...

As for what my idea body weight should be, I am no where near skinny, and my goal weight is in the slim or toned range - my bone structure will never really allow for skinny unless I become underweight. Right now I am right in the top end of my "suggested weight range" and am just looking to lose a couple kilo's to be down in the middle of that range...

The last thing is that I was brought up on skim milk products, so for me when I taste or try eat semi-skimmed or full cream products, I actually feel a little sick - they are too rich for my body. So this is not a CHANGE per se, this is how I have always eaten in regards to dairy... I feel the same after eating red mean - over full and struggling to digest... so my problem might be the carb to protein ratio if that's possible?

Thanks again for responding to my query...

Try reliv go to reliv.com it has helped me so much over the past 14 years.

Lime will do the same thing. Herbal tea is great, but green tea is something different altogether than, say, chamomile.

A couple of weeks is nothing in the long run. Keep doing the right things and it's physically impossible for your body not to catch up to your actions.

I encourage all of the healthy choices you're making. The only thing I want to warn you about, though, is that if you go into this in a way that's too extreme, it will not be something likely to maintain itself. I am just going on a gut feeling here, but I'm worried that you might be a little over the top with your concerns in weighing yourself too much or measuring everything out, etc.. Of course, this could just mean that you're being smart about your changes. I just don't want it to start meaning too much or develop into a little obsession or a kind of eating disorder. You have to stop beating yourself up! Don't be so hard on yourself! Remember, these are positive changes to stay with you for the rest of your life. Good habits stick, too!

Every single body on the planet goes through some natural fluctuations. You have to accept those and look at the bigger picture. That's precisely why many people recommend weighing in only once a week.

I wish you lots of luck in your journey. Come back to tell us how things are going!

Thank you!! And I definitely heed your warnings... unfortunately this has been a life long struggle and the only way for me to balance my weight is calorie counting - I have tried EVERYTHING and this is the only thing that works with me... when I stop, I lose perspective of portion and health and over indulge.

I also love food WAY TOO MUCH to ever be able to go crazy and give it up!

I will update in a couple weeks when hopefully I am healthy, fit and a little slimmer!

THANKS