I keep losing weight but it will not show, what's wrong?!


Question: I keep losing weight but it will not show, what's wrong?
I am 19 years old, 5'2''. Starting January 1st 2011 I was 160lbs, I am now 142lbs. My goal weight is 125lbs. I am eating very healthy and walking for 30-60 minutes nearly every day. I am also taking Phentermine (Not sure if that is a factor for this). I am glad I have lost 18lbs, but it does not show at all. My stomach is the main thing I am working on. Is there a reason that it does not show I have lost any weight?

Answers:

I think you might be getting a little mixed up with what you want exactly. You say that you want to lose "weight" but that means you might want to get rid of some muscle too. You then say that you'd like to "shape" (I'd call it tone) your body a little which implies you want to build some muscle. I'm not trying to pick at your question - I just want to clarify the point for you.

To answer it in the best way, I am going to look at it as if you want to get rid of fat AND build muscle at the same time. If you're looking to "trim" and "tone" your body, and espectially because you suggest you are not that overweight, I would suggest you start performing more intensive aerobic exercises such as jogging. I wouldn't think you need to change the whole way you eat or go on a diet because if you're wanting to build muscles - it's better to do it all with exercise.

Exercises like jogging won't exactly "build" your muscles on your stomach but they will help reduce the extra fat around there. Depending on how fit you are, you should go on daily or bi-daily jogs of around a mile. To build muscles, you should concentrate on anaerobic exercises such as sit-ups to help build muscles.

These muscle-building exercises will give your muscles the toning and training they need to grow and become more prominent. To start to see a real difference with sit-ups, you should be looking to do no more than 100 every day (more than that will often hurt your muscles).

If you stick to doing those two forms of exercise - jogging and sit-ups, you should see real improvements in a week or two. Remember, you should do them as often as you can (I.E every single day).

Good Luck and Take care :-)



Could be a couple of things: Depending on how much weight you have to lose, it doesn't show very much until you get down to a certain weight. (I know it is very annoying).

Another problem could be, that you are losing muscle and not fat. If this happens you will lose weight fast but you are losing muscle, not body fat. This is why you can lose weight but still look soft, it is the fat that you need to be getting rid of to tone up.



i completely understand - i lost around 50 pounds over time and my stomach would not tone
the elastin in the skin takes time to settle -> remember that before there was fat taking up space making the skin stretch. like an elastic band over time the skin will settle
unfortunately it takes a year or so. you can make some progress by working on your abdominals/obliques (sit ups). around 200 a day helps :)



Do your clothes fit differently? Are you breathing better? I am also 5'2 but I started at 150lbs. I am down to 123lbs now but dont see much of a difference. I think its a mental thing tho since we see ourselves everyday. I only notice a difference when I look at pictures of me from before. Plus now I'm a size 5 or 7 in juniors jeans (depends on brand for which one) and before I was a 11 or 13. My point is that it might be you just thinking theres no difference and there really is. We are our biggest critic!!!



The problem is that weight loss is gradual, so you don't notice the difference from day to day. If you'd kept a photo diary from when you began, you could compare your before and after photos. I'd bet a substantial amount that if you had those photos you'd notice the difference!



Try varying your exercises and doing more tummy-toning routines - pilates, crunches, etc.




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