Why Doesn't My Weight Go Down ?

[Mercury]

I quit smoking some time ago and I know that I ate more, snacked more and just somewhat substituted high calorie foods for the cigarettes. OK, I put on some weight. Later, confident that I had beaten the weed, I eased back on the substitutes and now I don't snack at all and my food intake is as it was when I was smoking, but I am 15kg to 20kg heavier and it won't budge.

Now I know I need to exercise more etc. but let's look at the facts. Weight increased when eating more calories. OK. But now not eating more calories, weight does not go down. My lifestyle is the same as before.

What I don't get is how my body can stay the same weight now, when before I stopped smoking I was not putting on weight. That seems illogical. I would have thought a larger body would need more calories and if it didn't get them then it would shrink but that is not happening.

Any ideas ?

[Loz]

I've never smoked but I'm in the same boat re making changes but not seeing wieght loss.

Its a simple equation, take in less calories than you burn. If you need to burn more, do so. If you can take in less do so. It really is that simple. just don't confuse simple for easy.

[Mercury]

I've never smoked but I'm in the same boat re making changes but not seeing wieght loss.

Its a simple equation, take in less calories than you burn. If you need to burn more, do so. If you can take in less do so. It really is that simple. just don't confuse simple for easy.

I understand your argument and agree with it but I don't understand this (numbers used for illustration):

Eat 1000 weigh 100 = stable weight (when smoking, stable weight for years)

Eat 1200 weight 120 = increasing and then stable weight (i.e. weight increasing and then stable after quitting smoking)

Eat 1000 weight 120 = stable weight (this should not be happening, weight should fall back to 100 as only eating 1000 - why not ?)

If the 120 body needs 1200 input then giving it only 1000 input should make it fall back from 120 to 100 but it isn't happening and I want to know why ?

[GarryP]

Having the exactly the same, but smaller, problem. Quit smoking nearly three months ago. Some dietry changes, read snacking but not anything major and my weight increased by 8kgs in 2 months. Stabilzed now but refusing to go back down to my smoking weight despite having cut out snacking entirely. I suppose I am lucky in a way as despite the increase, I am not overweight. I just dislike the extra girth and having to go out to buy more trousers.

However, I did catch a program a few days ago when channel surfing and it was mentioned that calorie reduction alone will not help get the weight off. True or not I don't know. Anyway, I am now looking to buy an exercise bike as in addition to losing a couple of kgs, I would like to get fit again.

[robblok]

How much calories your burn is depends on your metabolic rate, i believe smoking increases that rate. There are other things to increase that rate. I will post more about that later going to have a workout first.

[Atmos]

Hi

everyone's different; I was a fairly constant 98-102kg for years. Went to a dietician and continued seeing her every 6 weeks for about 8mths. Dropped to 82 which was too much loss, stabilised at 86 and over 2yrs later - as of last Friday - am 86.2.

Achieved through diet - have always been very active sports-wise but simply eating a lot of the wrong foods for me. 100kg was fine as a rugby player way back, then competitive distance swimmer, but for cycling/running too much weight to be carrying.

I learnt a lot about what to eat, and when to eat is important too - often I was exercising to exhaustion without the proper foods beforehand.

So - I'd recommend a dietician if there is one available, everyone's different and you do need to be careful with diet modification. Sudden weight loss in this climate is not a good idea, for me 1-2kg a month was fine, personally I'd avoid any of the 'lose xkg in a month diets'

[Mercury]

How much calories your burn is depends on your metabolic rate, i believe smoking increases that rate. There are other things to increase that rate. I will post more about that later going to have a workout first.

Something like that would make sense. Do come back with more later.

[Insight]

To the OP, are you drinking alcohol at all (specifically beer)?

I lost over 10kgs quitting alcohol for 3 while doing regular exercise. Beforehand I was doing regular exercise but still drinking - lost a few kilos but "flat-lined" around the 88kg mark from about 92kg. A month after quitting alcohol the results were dramatic.

It was so effective I'm considering doing it again this year during Khao Pansa simply for the benefits.

[sarahsbloke]

Eat a lot less but more often.

The only way to lose weight is to eat less, exercise just adds muscle which is heavier than fat.

Edited May 24, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[robblok]

Here is my post:

Because you stop smoking your metabolic rate goes down and you start to eat more. This is how you gain the extra weight.

If you want to loose weight you should burn more then you eat. You can do this two ways by reducing your intake and by increasing how much you burn. The best thing is to do it both.

You reduce your intake by getting on a healthy diet and i don't mean a starving diet i just mean plenty of proteins and healthy fats but not too many carbs and sugars (actually sugars are the most simplest form of carbs)

- Muscle burn calories when in rest (so get some extra muscles)

- Exercise raises your metabolic rate even when your done so do some exercise you like

- Eat unprocessed foods they are healthier its better to eat an orange then orange juice as with orange juice you get in loads of carbs with an orange you get les carbs and healthy fibers. Start your day with oatmeal its ok to eat carbs in the morning just taper them down during the day (eat les and less of them as the day progresses)

- Certain drugs increase your metabolic rate some legal some illegal (caffeine is legal / stackers) (clenbuterol / t3 is illegal) i don't advise these drugs without training or diet they are not an easy way out. There are many others but bear in mind without a healthy diet and training they won't work.

- Try to raise your testosterone levels (heavy compound exercises might help) high testosterone combats fat.

-Dietary Fats: Make sure that you are getting about 50% of your total fat intake from good monounsaturated sources such as nuts, avocados, olive oil, natural peanut butter, etc. 20% of your dietary fat should come from saturates (the remaining 30% will come from polyunsaturates in the form of fish/flax oil). This type of eating can encourage adequate testosterone production.

These are just a few pointers i'm not much of a writer but if there are questions i can always help. But remember a good diet is the basis of everything. Unfortunately this means sacrificing a few things.

[robblok]

Eat a lot less but more often.

The only way to lose weight is to eat less, exercise just adds muscle which is heavier than fat.

Most people are happy with some extra muscle as it helps to burn more calories. But you are right if it really is about loosing weight then just eat less and loose muscle. I really don't care too much if my weight goes up (as long as my fat percentage doesn't go up) I am building extra muscle so a pair of scales is not that good for me.

[robblok]

Having the exactly the same, but smaller, problem. Quit smoking nearly three months ago. Some dietry changes, read snacking but not anything major and my weight increased by 8kgs in 2 months. Stabilzed now but refusing to go back down to my smoking weight despite having cut out snacking entirely. I suppose I am lucky in a way as despite the increase, I am not overweight. I just dislike the extra girth and having to go out to buy more trousers.

However, I did catch a program a few days ago when channel surfing and it was mentioned that calorie reduction alone will not help get the weight off. True or not I don't know. Anyway, I am now looking to buy an exercise bike as in addition to losing a couple of kgs, I would like to get fit again.

Get one of those spinning bikes they are more expensive but you can do HITT on it and that whips you into shape quite fast.

[Theyreallrubbish]

The latest research shows that exercise doesn't help you lose weight. What it does is help the body maintain at whatever weight you are at. The body adjusts your metabolism and appetite levels to maintain a certain weight. What weight it sets to maintain at is what its used to and any perturbation the body will act to get back to the previous level.

The kind of things the body can do is very impressive, from changing the metabolic rate and changing body temperature, to changing enzyme levels in the digestive tract and fat cells, all the way to altering macro behaviour such as the amount of clothes you wear.

This is why most diets fail. If you're fighting against your own body, you're usually going to lose. You need to reset the body to want to maintain a lower weight

[robblok]

The latest research shows that exercise doesn't help you lose weight. What it does is help the body maintain at whatever weight you are at. The body adjusts your metabolism and appetite levels to maintain a certain weight. What weight it sets to maintain at is what its used to and any perturbation the body will act to get back to the previous level.

The kind of things the body can do is very impressive, from changing the metabolic rate and changing body temperature, to changing enzyme levels in the digestive tract and fat cells, all the way to altering macro behaviour such as the amount of clothes you wear.

This is why most diets fail. If you're fighting against your own body, you're usually going to lose. You need to reset the body to want to maintain a lower weight

That is why there are things like carb cycling to fool your body, believe me there are ways to loose the weight most bodybuilders do it a lot. It just cost a lot of effort. Don't believe all the research till it has been proven by counter studies. I can safely say that exercise does help you to loose weight (if all other variables stay the same). Mostly these kind of studies are abused by people who don't want to exercise (im not saying you are one of those)

[Theyreallrubbish]

The latest research shows that exercise doesn't help you lose weight. What it does is help the body maintain at whatever weight you are at. The body adjusts your metabolism and appetite levels to maintain a certain weight. What weight it sets to maintain at is what its used to and any perturbation the body will act to get back to the previous level.

The kind of things the body can do is very impressive, from changing the metabolic rate and changing body temperature, to changing enzyme levels in the digestive tract and fat cells, all the way to altering macro behaviour such as the amount of clothes you wear.

This is why most diets fail. If you're fighting against your own body, you're usually going to lose. You need to reset the body to want to maintain a lower weight

That is why there are things like carb cycling to fool your body, believe me there are ways to loose the weight most bodybuilders do it a lot. It just cost a lot of effort. Don't believe all the research till it has been proven by counter studies. I can safely say that exercise does help you to loose weight (if all other variables stay the same). Mostly these kind of studies are abused by people who don't want to exercise (im not saying you are one of those)

You might find this interesting

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/magazine/18exercise-t.html

[robblok]

The latest research shows that exercise doesn't help you lose weight. What it does is help the body maintain at whatever weight you are at. The body adjusts your metabolism and appetite levels to maintain a certain weight. What weight it sets to maintain at is what its used to and any perturbation the body will act to get back to the previous level.

The kind of things the body can do is very impressive, from changing the metabolic rate and changing body temperature, to changing enzyme levels in the digestive tract and fat cells, all the way to altering macro behaviour such as the amount of clothes you wear.

This is why most diets fail. If you're fighting against your own body, you're usually going to lose. You need to reset the body to want to maintain a lower weight

That is why there are things like carb cycling to fool your body, believe me there are ways to loose the weight most bodybuilders do it a lot. It just cost a lot of effort. Don't believe all the research till it has been proven by counter studies. I can safely say that exercise does help you to loose weight (if all other variables stay the same). Mostly these kind of studies are abused by people who don't want to exercise (im not saying you are one of those)

You might find this interesting

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/magazine/18exercise-t.html

Did we read the same article ? I mean it states that it helps keeping fat of and even helps loosing fat faster. I never said you don't need to lower your food intake its a combination of things. As long as you make sure you don't eat more when exercising then its a good thing.

Don't forget muscle burn fat so its always good to have a few extra muscles. Also its good to stay healthy. I did not read anything in that article that i did not know. I have always believed that diet is 70% the rest is exercising. In my case its different because i'm a bodybuilder then the things change even more because i workout harder then most in those kind of tests. Also i pack more muscle as most so i burn more energy. (unfortunately not enough still want to loose more i want to be ripped)

[Mercury]

To the OP, are you drinking alcohol at all (specifically beer)?

I lost over 10kgs quitting alcohol for 3 while doing regular exercise. Beforehand I was doing regular exercise but still drinking - lost a few kilos but "flat-lined" around the 88kg mark from about 92kg. A month after quitting alcohol the results were dramatic.

It was so effective I'm considering doing it again this year during Khao Pansa simply for the benefits.

No, that's the strange thing. I couldn't quit the cigarettes and still drink so I quit both. I wish I hadn't bothered !

[Damacles]

My thoughts:

While I'm not massively overweight, I fluctuate a lot through bingeing on junk, then back to healthy, and back again. Over the years I have developed an extreme cynicism about the various research out there; one day its good for you, the next its not. Tiresome.

From my own experience only one thing truly works. Calorie monitoring, matched with exercise and the patience to know there is no quick fix and lifestyle choices have to be made as you get older.

When I count calories I use a site called livestrong.com which allows me to put in my details and objectives and tells me how many calories I can eat. Exercising means I can eat more depending on how many burnt during that exercise. I focus on the cross-trainer and get bored with weights. It takes no time at all for my brain and stomach to get used to eating less, and more healthily.

If I am allowed to eat 1100 cals in order to lose 2kg a week, I can exercise for 500 cals and then eat 1600 which is adequate. It works, and I am even able to treat myself to some crap every now and then!

When I am happy with my weight, I can then work out how many cals I can eat to maintain it. However, this is all much harder if I dont buy pre-packaged food with the numbers on it, and Thailand screws me royally as I have no idea of good, bad or ugly

edit ps - well done on giving up the weed. I'd rather be fat than smoke!

Edited May 24, 2010 by Damacles

[Mercury]

So how can you possibly know the calories in your food ?

And what happens if you are hungry later ? You'll go mad if you cannot eat.

Then what about exercise, how do you know what calories you've burned up ?

[Damacles]

So how can you possibly know the calories in your food ?

And what happens if you are hungry later ? You'll go mad if you cannot eat.

Then what about exercise, how do you know what calories you've burned up ?

The website I use lists calories of a lot of food, and research into it on the web generally will give you a good idea. I used to spray olive oil on everything before, for example....til I found out how high the cals were. Other foods come with the cal content listed.

What happens if you go hungry later? haha sounds like you already gave up mentally! Obviously you spread the calories out! If you're going to eat your entire allowance in a huge pizza with ice cream then of course by the evening you'll be hungry! I usually leave a couple of hundred for some toast or carrots to snack on later at night. You can take it as far as you like really - Want to lose less over a period, or want to extend the period? You can eat more. The rule is eat less than you need to consume and you'll lose weight - the speed is down to you.

Most gyms have calorie counters on their machines. And the site I gave you has the calorie content burned per hour for every exercise you can think of. Read it, then you wont have to ask too many more questions.

Ultimately its up to you and your motivation of course - as I did it, I started to learn how my body reacts to things and played with it all until Im comfortable. Still dont like going to the gym and miss my chocolate but I can still treat myself and I know when and how much just from experience

By the way - if you put effort into doing some decent exercise as part of it, tough as it is, it feels good to have the routine and also you will be less inclined to waste the effort with a Big Mac and fries afterwards. As a gauge, I lost 11 kilos over a 3 month period; dont be looking for any quick fixes, there aren't any, but you will see results if you're motivated and they will stay as long as you maintain it and don't go back to bad habits once its gone.

Edited May 24, 2010 by Damacles

[Mercury]

I actually like the feeling of having been to the gym and even of getting into a routine but I hate the starting out, which is where I'm at now. Lack of confidence is a part. It is one of the few areas where I do feel some pressure and the people at the gym near me are useless or near useless. Don't suggest one further away as I'd be even less inclined to go !

At the moment I can always find excuses and many of them are real. Like a snowball, I need to get rolling to start picking up momentum. However, it doesn't answer the original question because we already knew that exercise will make you lose weight.

[Damacles]

I actually like the feeling of having been to the gym and even of getting into a routine but I hate the starting out, which is where I'm at now. Lack of confidence is a part. It is one of the few areas where I do feel some pressure and the people at the gym near me are useless or near useless. Don't suggest one further away as I'd be even less inclined to go !

At the moment I can always find excuses and many of them are real. Like a snowball, I need to get rolling to start picking up momentum. However, it doesn't answer the original question because we already knew that exercise will make you lose weight.

Giving up smoking slows your metabolism as its a stimulant, by how much I have no idea. I doubt you're eating the same as before to have put on so much weight; and maybe portion control is an issue. Just doing exercise wont always mean you lose weight; keeping a food diary surprised me.

Beyond that, just do it as they say! I too feel a bit self-conscious at the gym which is why I tended to stick to the cross-trainer, but that changes. After a couple of weeks I was seeing a difference physically and on the scales and that was all the incentive I needed. You've said it yourself, you need to get rolling; the better prepared when you do, the better you'll become.

[Mercury]

Giving up smoking slows your metabolism as its a stimulant, by how much I have no idea. I doubt you're eating the same as before to have put on so much weight; and maybe portion control is an issue. Just doing exercise wont always mean you lose weight; keeping a food diary surprised me.

Beyond that, just do it as they say! I too feel a bit self-conscious at the gym which is why I tended to stick to the cross-trainer, but that changes. After a couple of weeks I was seeing a difference physically and on the scales and that was all the incentive I needed. You've said it yourself, you need to get rolling; the better prepared when you do, the better you'll become.

I tend to agree with you but not really about the food, though I cannot be sure. To be honest, the idea of measuring food is really just not going to work with me and I just cannot be bothered to learn that food A is 0.7% more good or bad fat (depending on which week it is) than food B. I'm guessing a serious change in gym going is on the cards. That's why I'm on here as much as anything, to get motivated.

I love maths and numbers and so if I could work out some formulae then I'd be fine, but I cannot or cannot be that bothered. Surely someone must know what number of calories you need to burn to get rid of X amount of weight. Surely that is like the holy grail, the get fit E=MC2.

My change realises that I cannot go to the gym after work. My days will be too long and the motivation will dissipate. I will be travelling a long way to work so before work is unlikely. That leaves during the day but 40 minutes to an hour a day should be possible 5 days a week. As I'm not working at present, I want to build up to the 5 days a week from near zero. That should provide an easy transition once I go back to the office.

Edited May 25, 2010 by Mercury

[robblok]

I tend to agree with you but not really about the food, though I cannot be sure. To be honest, the idea of measuring food is really just not going to work with me and I just cannot be bothered to learn that food A is 0.7% more good or bad fat (depending on which week it is) than food B. I'm guessing a serious change in gym going is on the cards. That's why I'm on here as much as anything, to get motivated.

I love maths and numbers and so if I could work out some formulae then I'd be fine, but I cannot or cannot be that bothered. Surely someone must know what number of calories you need to burn to get rid of X amount of weight. Surely that is like the holy grail, the get fit E=MC2.

My change realises that I cannot go to the gym after work. My days will be too long and the motivation will dissipate. I will be travelling a long way to work so before work is unlikely. That leaves during the day but 40 minutes to an hour a day should be possible 5 days a week. As I'm not working at present, I want to build up to the 5 days a week from near zero. That should provide an easy transition once I go back to the office.

Actually its not that hard 7000 cals is around 1 kg of fat. The problem is that its hard to know if you really burned that amount of calories. Its real hard to know what you really burn on a day there are formulas that can help. But for me they don't really work according to those formula's i would be able to eat a lot more.

Then the counting machines on the gym stuff are not that accurate, it would be better to get a heart rate monitor yourself it would show how many calories you burn. But you would have to subtract the calories you normally burn in an hour.

Like many said here its more diet then exercise.

You could get yourself a cross trainer / epileptical trainer or a spinning bike. But you have more options at the gym

Edited May 25, 2010 by robblok

[GarryP]

For me, actually I do not care if the weight does not come off as long as I lose the belly I have developed. Simply put I want to lose the fat I have put on around my stomach. My ideal weight is 70 to 72 kg but I have gone up to 78 and it is all around my stomach. I do not have fat legs, arms or arse. All the fat is very localized. I know for many of you this may not seem like much in terms of weight, especially for someone who is 182cms tall but when you are naturally slim, having a gut reallly stands out.

My dietry intake is now exactly the same as when I smoked. The problem is that the few kgs I put on straight after quitting have stayed on.

Robblok, without changing my diet, ( I do not snack or eat breakfast - I have rice for lunch and dinner, never more than one plate (often only half a plate for dinner)), would an exercise bike help burn the fat off my stomach. What sort of prices are you talking about for a spinning bike? Double an exercise bike? I have no intention of joining a gym. I would just like to buy a single piece of equipment that I can use at home that does not take up too much room.

[robblok]

Garry,

For me its the same i dont care much about the weight i am, i do care about fat. I use a measuring tape to see if its working and the scales do tell me something because if my belly stays the same or shrinks and my weight goes up its all muscle and i don't have a problem with that.

Your weight will go down abeit slowly, don't expect to see major changes short term, this is a long time solution. (because you don't change your food too). You would have to be on the bike at least half an hour a time of hard exercise. Spinning bikes are quite pricey they are around 25k. But then you got something that is strong and wont break. Also you can do HIIT that is a kind of interval training where you quickly adjust how much resistance there is. The spinning bike is the best for that. I got one too at home i can show you some pictures.

I also got an crosstrainer / eleptical trainer that i am selling because the spinning bike is much better but there is of course a price difference in the two. You can get a epileptical trainer a lot cheaper.

[GarryP]

Robblok, where would you suggest buying the exercise bike or spinning bike other than Supersport and Marathon (the latter being too far away). I have been put off Supersport because you expect that the prices marked on the products are the final prices (being sold in Departments stores), but in fact discounts of up to 40 percent are available on those prices. Also, most of the exercise equipment on sale in Supersport is sold through commission agents and as such it would be cheaper to buy directly from source. Unfortunately, they do not reveal their sources.

[robblok]

Robblok, where would you suggest buying the exercise bike or spinning bike other than Supersport and Marathon (the latter being too far away). I have been put off Supersport because you expect that the prices marked on the products are the final prices (being sold in Departments stores), but in fact discounts of up to 40 percent are available on those prices. Also, most of the exercise equipment on sale in Supersport is sold through commission agents and as such it would be cheaper to buy directly from source. Unfortunately, they do not reveal their sources.

I would advise you to try it first and then decide. I know i did i am happy with it im not sure what brand it is. (not famous that is for sure). Once you have a spinning bike do this

5 min warmingup

30 seconds full out on a heavy setting (give it all you have)

minute normal cycling (lighter setting)

repeat this 3 more times

5 min cooldown

later you can increase the number of times you do the fast slow thing. It will give you a great workout for sure.

This is the reason for a spinning bike instead of a normal exercise bike because other bikes cant be set heavy or light that fast. This is also the reason why you cant do this on a running machine because it would take to much time to increase resistance.

Garry i am assuming your in good health else you better not do something like this because its real intense.

[Crushdepth]

I just got hold of a diet designed plan by CSIRO Australia (the gov. research org), lost 5kg so far. Main point I would like to make is that you *must* measure your food intake.

Trying to guesstimate how much you're eating based on how hungry you feel doesn't work.

[robblok]

I just got hold of a diet designed plan by CSIRO Australia (the gov. research org), lost 5kg so far. Main point I would like to make is that you *must* measure your food intake.

Trying to guesstimate how much you're eating based on how hungry you feel doesn't work.

I agree here that is why i buy the same stuff a lot i just pepare it different. The only variable is fruit i dont always measure that off. Its more an extra.

I have also found that carb cycling helps. It means that after a few low carb and low cal days you go high 1 or 2 days to make sure your body doesnt go into energy saving mode.