Ask Me Help Desk - I'm overweight but can't lose weight

I'm overweight but can't lose weight

I am 16, 5'4 and 150 pounds. I know I am overweight but I can't seem to lose any weight no matter how hard I try. I don't want to diet, but I have cut out fast food and "junk food". I bike to work which is about an hour both ways at least a few times a week, I go for walks with my mom almost every night which last about 2 hours. I play on the wii often as well. I usually eat cereal for breakfast, most the times I don't eat lunch because I am working (if I do it is usually toast with Jam), and some sort of meat and vegetable for supper. I snack on cheese and what ever fruits we have laying around (Apples, banana's, strawberries, rasberries). Even when I was playing 2 hours of hockey 5 days a week I couldn't lose weight. I don't look "fat", I have a lot of leg and arm musle, and the only part of my body that I am unhappy about is my lower stomach.. Can someone help me?

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Originally Posted by Emily94

I am 16, 5'4 and 150 pounds. I know I am overweight but I can't seem to lose any weight no matter how hard I try. I don't want to diet, but I have cut out fast food and "junk food".

Who wants to diet? Dieting sucks and it doesn't work. Well it does but then when you get off the diet you gain it.

Forever cutting yourself off from junk food is crazy. I don't do that I have one day where I eat junk food-- okay not an all day session but I mean like order a burger, eat a pizza, eat some cookies, eat some ice cream... you know a treat! :p

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I bike to work which is about an hour both ways at least a few times a week, I go for walks with my mom almost every night which last about 2 hours.

Good you are fairly active and that is a good start. It's better going from a couch potato to a uh active potato!

Have you ever thought of purchasing a pedometer? It takes 70,000 steps to burn 1 lb of fat. So 10,000 a day would really help to lose 1lb a week! :) (just a little info)

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I play on the wii often as well.

Ahhh that to me is not proper exercise. That's just me though... You do need to do at least 30 min a day of some great great great cardio. If you can still talk while your doing a cardio work-out then you're not pushing yourself hard enough-- that's what I think anyway!

Another tip : burning 3500 calories which equals 1 lb of fat.

And if your asking what's cardio?: Well the best cardio is when your whole body is working out, like burpees, jogging, eliptical machine, aerobics, swimming... you get the picture.

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I usually eat cereal for breakfast, most the times I don't eat lunch because I am working (if I do it is usually toast with Jam), and some sort of meat and vegetable for supper.

Yeah your food intake is what's hurting you.

1) Sugary cereals are well a no-no. How about oatmeal with fruits and a tall glass of OJ. 100% Fruit juices are awesome in the morning. If you don't like oatmeal you can opt for may be yogurt with whole grain toast. Protein shakes are a good option if your time is limited. If you must have cereal opt for good cereals like : cherrios, quaker life multigrain, shreddies, all bran... these are all the cereals that I like to eat and well it helps me stay regular.

2) Dinners should be light and personally I do believe in the whole dinner no later than 6 rule. The reason for this is that your body's Metabolism slows down when it's sleeping, so it digests things slower. Carbs digest slowly even without a slowed Metabolism, so WITH the slow Metabolism, they end up not getting completely digested and end up stored as extra fat-- and well no one wants that. I however do eat a handful of almonds or like an apple because I do get hungry at like 8 p.m.

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I snack on cheese and what ever fruits we have laying around (Apples, banana's, strawberries, rasberries).

Ahh cheese. My personal trainer taught me how evil it is.. I still enjoy it but I enjoy it in moderation. It's very high in saturated fats and cholesterol and also sodium.

Ahh sodium, it's also a friendly bloating friend. The more sodium consume the more bloated you'll be and it's also bad for your health.

However your snacks do seem good! Fruits are awesome, a handful of unsalted nuts there are even those 100 calorie pack snacks.

Just remember to drink plenty of water, water is the best diet pill out there. No use in uh wasting your money on diet pills, either they don't work or they'll hurt you... I learned a painful lesson a week or so ago, I always advice people not to do it and well hey I went against my own advice and hey I got ill. So anyway drink lots of water and limit your caffine (pop/soda, coffee, tea).

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Even when I was playing 2 hours of hockey 5 days a week I couldn't lose weight. I don't look "fat", I have a lot of leg and arm musle, and the only part of my body that I am unhappy about is my lower stomach.. Can someone help me?

Awesome! More exercise!! Perhaps what is it that you do have an issue with is that you are muscular. Do you weight train?

The pooch is a spot that almost every woman battles with, I'm still battling with mine! The only thing you can do about it is AB workouts! It takes time and patience to get rid of that fun spot.

Well it takes lots of sleep (sleep does effect weight), lots of water, lots of cardio (seems like you're doing that already), and well I wrote the rest.

If you have any more Q's I'll be glad to A.

I play on the wii when it is raining or I don't feel like getting ready to leave the house, and I do sweat and it does make me tired, so I believe it is doing something. I have tried to increase my water intake, but I'll keep track of exactly how much I drink. I always thought cheese was healthy? Hmm, I guess a glass of milk will do :), I haven't completely cut out junk food, I still have some here and there, but I used to eat fast food ALL the time, it was easy to grab and I thought it was delicious, but now that I work in fastfood and see.. um things.. it makes me gag thinking that I put that in my body. I don't do anything with weights.. I did when I has gym class (Which was.. september-Feburary), but don't anymore, I swear I could lay in bed for weeks and my leg muscle wouldn't change (I guess I can be thankful for not having jiggly legs). Are protein shakes good? Or are they a waste of money? I saw some yummy looking chocolate flavored ones and was going to grab them but my mom said that I should look into them more before wasting my money (there pretty expensive). I have an eliptical trianer, but I really don't feel like I get a work out from it, I don't sweat or become out of breath so I feel it is a waste of time.

Hmm, I like the idea of a pedometer, I can keep trying to get more and more steps :)