I'm a 30 years old, 5'4", 142lbs. I was a very overweight child/teen. During my early 20's, weighing over 200lbs, I started taking diet and exercise seriously (completely eliminating fast food, walking, running and yoga). Over the course of 7 years, I went through I series of 2lb, 5lb, 10lb weight losses with months of plateau in between each loss. I've maintained my current weight for the past 3 years.

When I reflect on all of the life changes I have made and how far I have come, I am very proud of myself. At the same time, I've come this far and feel like I have not acheived my full potential. Being on the short side and having a small frame, I still feel chubby. The women in my family are on the slender side so there does not appear to be any "genetic" factors for my weight.

Overall, I think my diet is pretty good. I eat cheerios w/ skim milk and a piece of fruit EVERY morning, usually a turkey sandwich (no mayo) for lunch, and a lean cuisine w/ a small salad for dinner. I usually have 2 or 3 snacks per day which may include a 100 calorie granola bar, light microwave popcorn, piece of fruit, light yogurt, or a non-fat latte.

Lately my exercise routine has consisted of 45 minutes of walking/running on the treadmill. After turning 30, I decided to be a little kinder on my joints, so I alternate 5 min. walking (4.0)w/ 5 minutes of running. Twice a week I do a series of arm exercises with 8 lb weights. On a good week, I fit in a yoga session.

Given my weight history, I may very well be destined to be kind of chubby. However, if there is anyway that I can acheive a slender physique (in a healthy way) I would love to attain it. 120lbs sounds good and completely within my healthy weight range.

I would love to know if anyone has acheived success in a similar situation and specifically what they ate throughout the day (including quantities). Any exercise advice would be appreciated as well.


Thanks!

This thread title is hella funny. "Skinny" people can eat whatever they want. Skinny is a very in-general term. I assume when you meant skinny you meant people who are healthy. Healthy people eat fruits, vegetables, meats, etc. Basically, they eat real food; none of that high processed products, high fructose, etc. Sorry, I would be more specific but I don't have the time. I hope you are successful with your goals. You sound like you have a lot of control which is good. I hope someone will help you a little more than I did.

Good luck mate.

maybe cutting a couple snack food might work

That is slightly odd to me; have you tried calculating your caloric needs against your actual caloric intake? Try This Website that features different methods of caloric calculation based on your concerns.

I'm definitely not a nutritionist, but I believe the reason you cannot lose weight is because you're ingesting enough calories (daily) to preserve your body mass.

Good luck, and congratulations on the excellent work!

Well, first off congratulations on your weight loss! Like adrenaline said, you should find out how many calories you're consuming and how many you need to maintain.

That will give you an indication as to what you're doing wrong. It could be that you're taking in too many (you'd be surprised how bad those "non fat latte's" are) or too little (making your body go into starvation mode and not burning off stored fat)

Also your diet could use some work. I'd ditch the lean cuisine and anything else that is already packaged even if it's labeled 'low fat', also the granola bars and the popcorn and replace them with better snacks. Check out LV's grocery list for some good food ideas.

You may also want to up the intensity of your strength training, using bigger weights and other compound movements like squats and lunges. Good luck!