Is my body working against me? Are my goals unrealistic? All advice accepted.

Just a question, but why do you care so much about inches, when you are doing better in the body fat area?

Are you maybe trying to make your body into something it is not?  I would say to be happy with controlling your body fat to the proper levels.  Your muscle size can be regulated somewhat, but to an extent, you are what you are.

Also, how are you testing your BF?  Is it pretty accurate?  Same method each time?

Hey Guys--

Thanks so much for you replies! You're right--I bet it is a nutritional thing. Okay, so as far as my calories being more consistent--you're right. That 800 calorie day wasn't accurate--but I do range from about 1200-2900 calories. Is this still not consistent enough?

I have had my metabolism tested and they said that I have to eat 1700 calories a day to lose 1 pound/week . . . so my body burns 2300 I guess.

 Hmmm . . . why am I concerned about inches? Well, there are many reasons. 1) I am at the biggest end of the clothing spectrum, so when my inches go up . . . what am I supposed to wear? 2) I do have a sort of downer attitude about being tall, etc . . . I'm getting better than I used to be . . . but I HATE being so much bigger than other people. I know, I know. Bad attitude. But it's how I honsetly feel.

Do you think that if I ate consistently around 1700 calories that it would be working better for me? And, yes, it is time to measure myself again. I will do this today.

 I really do appreciate your thoughtful responses and will keep you updated!

I am having my bf measured at the gym using the same methods everytime . . . so I guess it's as consistent as it can be.

It's better to workout longer . . . for a slower pace? Interesting.

I am not an expert, but I have found that eating 5 smaller meals a day helps me not get hungry between meals. I am only 5'2" so I don't need the same amount of calories, but here is an example of what I ate the past two days (I have my Outlook Calendar set up to remind me to eat since I would forget often since I am not hungry):

Monday

7 am - Raison Bran and Skim Milk

10 am - Yogurt

Noon - Salad

3 pm - Banana 

8pm - Beefaroni with a Salad

Yesterday

7 am - Raison Bran and Skim Milk

10 am - Yogurt

Noon - Salad and two slices of french bread 

3 pm - Celery Sticks with Humus

7pm - Chicken with Veggies and Noodles

Adding those snacks really helped me not feel deprived and help with portion control during the normal meal. 

This method also helps keep your Metabolism up...

Okay, I just spent a bit of time looking at your logs and your % of calories from fat are WAY too high.  Right off the bat I would cut back those fats and add some lean protein.  Your fat percentage should be somewhere around 15% while protein should be up around 30%. 

For me, now, long ride days are 3-4 hours and a light workout is around an hour.  But, it took time to work up to that.  On days I swim I get in 30-40 minutes of swim and 30-40 minutes of strength.  I can't run right now due to a foot injury so I can't say there. 

Thanks for your time looking at my food intake. See, my problem was that I was a vegan . . . for medical reasons . . . but I have recently tapered back to a more pre-diabetic diet (the G.I. Diet) . . . so I can actually get more amounts of lean protein. The problem is, I don't really take the time to figure my fat intake. You think I should? So if I make sure that each individual food is fits those fat percentage requirements, etc., than all my calories should be? Is that how you calculate it? Man! 3-4 hours? I am NOT there yet.

Thanks,

Elishia

No, you don't need to have a complete package for each food or even each meal you eat.  But you do need to balance it through the day.  For example this morning our office provided breakfast but it was all baked goods so I chose a small cinnamon roll.  My mid-morning snack will be a .75 oz piece of cheese which will give me some protein.  Another good choice would be lowfat yogurt or cottage cheese.  You will have higher fat meals and/or days but you're looking for an over all balance.  Can you write out some sample days for us?  Try to do what is typical, not on either extreme and maybe we can give you some alternative choices? 

FYI - I am 5'5" and 191 pounds (down from 217 in mid April) so I'm not perfect and am always making adjustments to my diet (and that is more of a healthy way of eating diet than a short term fix).  Unfortunately our bodies do not function on perfect mathmatical equations all the time so it's always a work in progress.  I think you are being unrealistic about your ideal weight of 150 by the way.  Where are you getting that number from?  Even BMI which is a notoriously bad way for an athlete to guage says that the upper end of normal for you would be 178 pounds.  

Without having read all the other posts....don't discount the fact that you've dropped 10% of your body weight in a year.  Everyone wants to do it faster, but that's an accomplishment. 

If there's anything I've learned over the last year of tri training, it's that what you eat is way more important than how much you work out.  Many people really have to work out A LOT for that alone to make a dent in their weight.  I fall in this category - check out my logs.  I don't log food, but I can assure you that my caloric intake is usually reasonable and consistent.  I've (only) lost about 10lbs in the last year.

I have been training about three or so months. I did my first Tri over the last weekend. I was really hoping that working out and training would have had somewhat of a dramatic effect on my weight. I was really looking forward to dropping pounds and at a whopping 265lb i thought there was a lot of low hanging fruit that would fall away. Well even after three months of fairly consistent and increasing effort I havent lost any weight. My legs are hard and I do feel better about myself, but no weight loss. As was mentioned in the previous posts it must come down to nutrition more than training. I have three kids under three, my life is not my own, and I really find it hard to get time for training much less be diligent about calorie counting but I think that must be where the opportunities lie.

Keep it up though, don't give up, its a long slow haul but with time you will get to where you want to be.  Well God I hope so because thats what I have to keep telling myself.

Thanks, aquaboy--your post was meaningful to me. I mean, it was a bit upsetting because I see now that I might never lose the weight. But, notice, you're a guy . . . I am not. Who knows.

Here is what I am eating today (part of it). Is this better guys?

Breakfast: rice milk and Kashi granola cereal

Snack: piece of skinny cow light cheese

Lunch: smart one frozen lunch

Snack: Apple slices and grapes

Is this better so far?

Hey Elishia,

I looked at your work out logs and I reckon your on the right path. What I see that I think is important (as a beginner not claiming any sort of expertise)  is that you are consistently training. Its the getting out there and doing it that is important. You have recently increased your runs to 1.5 miles - excellent. Give it another month and you will probably be up to about 3 miles per run. With increased distances you will be working you body more and I believe will start to get the results you seek. Don't be in too much of a hurry, increase as you feel comfortable but keep increasing. And when you do increase your distances dont worry too much about how long it takes. Getting the miles in a safe comfortable rate is better than trying to go to fast. Speed seems to come as a product of just doing it regularly.

As mentioned in a previous post I know very little about the right calorie intake etc but all I would say is don't starve yourself. Eat moderate amounts of decent tucker.

 Daniel

Yes, that menu looks much better.  You might think about adding a tablespoon of peanut butter (a healthy fat in moderation) with your apple in the afternoon, the protein will help it satiate you better. 

And Aquaboy is right, your training is consistent and that is great!  As you increase your training you'll see results in a big way! 

Keep in mind that it takes excess calories to gain weight- even if you are strength training. You will not build muscle without taking in enough food to build muscle.

1700 calories seems low. If I ate 1700 calories per day, I would lose weight and I'm 5'4" and about 138 lbs. Go to fitday.com and log in your measurements and activity level and see what they tell you. It's a rough ballpark, but I would be curious to see if it matches what you've been told in the past.

It's all calories in, calories out. The trick is in eating the right calories to make you not feel hungry and to give yourself the energy you need.

I'm not up on all the vegan ways... can you ad whey protein to your rice milk or to oatmeal? That's a good way to get more protein.

Also, on your snacks... make your snacks bigger. I try to make my meals in the 400 calorie range and my snacks in the 250 calorie range. The closer you can get to a constant level of fuel in the oven... the better you will be hunger wise and energy wise.

Think of your metabolism like a fire. You put too much wood on it and it will bog it down and smother the flame. (ie eat too much at one meal). By contrast, if you add just a little bit of wood to it at constant intervals, you can keep the fire burning hot all day (eat more often)

Good luck!

I ain't no expert. But I have studied training. I had to. 

First thing is. You should forget about how you look or how overweight you are. Start accepting yourself. 5'11" and 190? I bet you are one gorgeous creature. I'm sure the only problem you have with men is fighting them off. Quit worrying about weight, looks, and diets. Just worry about being healthy and feeling good. When you talk about weight, size and such. I tend to pick up that you go from unhealthy and smaller to healthy and bigger. I think perhaps you need to face the fact that healthy means bigger than unhealthy. Yes you can work on getting smaller... but gotta get healthy first and work through the top of healthy. Not give up just to go back to unhealthy. 

 The biggest problem is simply your perception of yourself. You seriously need to quit obsessing about how you look. That is something that leads to eating disorders. Besides, like I said... you most likely look fantastic. Most women would kill to be 5'11". 

 It appears as though you should learn about training also. Study training books on running and triathlons. There is much wisdom there. 

Birdog--

You caught me. This has been a huge problem of mine since, well, fifth grade? Well, no, okay, forth grade--the year I learned that I weighed the same as all the chubby boys in my class. In fifth grade, I realized that no boys liked me liked that, but they liked the tiny girls. Well, even though you'd think that I would've gotten over that by now . . . I definitely haven't. And, yes, I used to have an eating disorder. I wouldn't say that it was consistent (it wasn't)--I didn't really follow through with the bullemic actions very often (like . . . once every three months for a year or so?), but it was my mental state (my sr. year of high school). I realized that this was a problem and I told my parents and they helped me out a TON. However, I still do struggle with my self-perception sometimes. Uh, okay, a lot. I actually wrote my thesis on being a tall woman (I have an MA in English). And, I do have a good figure. I know that I do. It's just whenever guys have told you they you're fat and whenever they walk up to you in stores to let you know how tall you are . . . it gets a little frustrating. Not to mention that clothes never fit me and I get so frustrated when I get "healthier" and clothes are even more difficult to find. I am actually crying right now. And being VERY open. Sorry. It also doesn't help that my mom used to be a model basically . . . and, yes, she was VERY skinny.

Well, I am done explaining myself I guess. But, yes, you're very right. And I know this. But knowing the information and learning to apply it . . . two very different things. And, no, I don't beat guys off with sticks. Well, every once in a while--but I am very picky. Mostly, it's guys telling me that they would NEVER date a girl taller than they are. Yes, they've told me this.

Anyway, learning to be okay with your own body after years of a poor self-image is a bit easier said than done. I am hoping that this triathlon will help.

Thanks for reading. Elishia.

Any guy who would base his decision on whether to date someone on their height isn't worth your time.... next time a guy says that to you you should be glad you're not shorter, because then you might have wasted some time dating a shallow insecure guy.  That's right up there with a guy not wanting to date you if you make more money than he does.  It's ridiculous.

I guess that's easy for me to say because I'm 5'2", but there have been plenty of times in my life where I have been extremely frustrated with my physique - short and stocky.  In particular, this has been a disadvantage for athletic endeavours - including triathlon.  I seriously get comments like "you're not built for running".  Finally I decided that I'm going to bust my a$$ and try to be good at it anyway, even if that will only get me to the MOP.

Triathlon is a great way to get healthy and feel good about yourself.  I know it has changed my life forever.  I'm sure you will do great....happy training!

Hi Elisha....

 Thanks for the honesty. Ya know....it seems that is the way of the world. They always want you to be worried, about anything....self image...adequacy...etc.etc.etc..... Face it, all of that is going to hell. 

 I've always had a special place in my heart for athletic gals. You need to watch out cause you just invited another critical male point of view. The reason is when I was young. I remember standing watching a girl do something athletic. There were these two other guys watching. She was good. She was better than they were (me too). One of those guys said: "Oh she's just a dyke" The other said: 'ya" and they walked off. My heart broke for her. She was just as much a heterosexual woman as any. Plenty attractive. She was a great girl. And all these idiots could do was worry about their ego and insult her. They hated her because she was better at something than they were. They were (are) pathetic wicked little creatures worried only about themselves. 

 One other thing I've learned in life. It is the breaking that frees us. Think about those tears and what is actually the sadest part? The saddest part is that you got all wrapped up in yourself and it imprisoned you. The tears are you breaking out of that prison. Don't go back to it. 

 I wonder what your mother went through to be a model? I saw an interview with a past supermodel. She said her starving herself was so bad she didn't remember half of her life when modeling. She was showed a shoot and she didn't remember doing it. She said she was so weak and unhealthy while modeling. Now she feels great and she has a life. She looks great now and modeling agencies would treat her like she's bimbo the elephant...... Personally, most of those models don't look healthy to me... They have to pose in exactly one position in order to appear good. Otherwise... gals like Cathy Ireland ... she has stick legs. 

 Clothes are awful. Nobody fits them right. I don't think the designers are designing for human beings. They spend too much time with mannequins. They need to get out more. 

 Those men who would never date a woman taller than they are. They're just doing you a favor. Saving you from having to tell them you don't date men without testicles. 

 EDIT: One thing I didn't mention. I've never been big on music videos. But I remember one video for a song called: "Simply Irresistable".... The video had about 60 women in it all dressed the same. Same hair, same makeup and all. You belong in that video. You should get it and watch it over and over and remind yourself that you're one of them. 

I've read and talked to you before, and reading some of this just breaks my heart.  I so wish you could be better with your height...a tall woman is a beautiful thing (I should know! I'm 6'1" ) .  I think our difference in attitudes comes from what we heard when we were growing up.  Yes, I've heard the freak things, but when most people comment on my height, it's mostly out of awe or admiration or (some women) jealousy.  I have only ever had ONE guy make a negative comment about my height, and that was based on his own insecurity (if I wore heals I was taller then him...he hated that).  All the other men I've dated (and I've dated quite a few guys SHORTER then me...I'm talking 5'8" ) have loved my height.  My boyfriend now loves it (it helps that he's 6'5" ).  When I was growing up, I was always told to stand up straight and be proud (I was the tallest in my class for years).

I get the clothes thing...pants are a never ending struggle.  I'm in plus sizes because I'm more overweight at this point, but it's not impossible.  Check out Long Elegant Legs and Tall Girl.   You will have to accept that there are some clothing items that you will not be able to find in the typical store.  So what?  There are stores out there that cater to us!  It's great, and they are made in the correct proportion.  Stand tall!  Be proud! Think statueque!