I have been dieting and excercising for 2 years, now I'm stuck. PLEASE HELP

[aileenosaurus]

hello, I'm new here and I need your help. I started off weighing 225 pounds. I began dieting and exercising. I started off with just cardio alone and changing my way of eating. Now I work out with free weights to tone 3 times a week and cardio the other two days. My diet consists of veggie burgers, sweet potatoes, veggies, boiled eggs, spinach, salads, water, unsweet tea, brown rice and one cheat day every two weeks. I aslo do not consume any food after 7pm! I have been stuck at 140 pounds for the last few months and all the weight is in my stomach. I need suggestions, tips, anything you guys can educate me on because I am willing to change bad habits and learn new ones to lose this weight. My ideal weight would be 128-130. I have mastered how to maintain it but I lost sight of how to lose it. Thanks for your time and help!

[psychMZ3]

All of the exercising you have done will go to waste if you don't have your diet in check. You say you have been dieting, but have you calculated how much you need to be eating to lose weight? You can eat all the healthy food you want and still gain weight. Eating healthy does not mean you'll lose. I can eat cake and ice cream and remain under my calories for the day and lose weight at the end of the week.

Meal timing is irrelevant. Eat if you feel like it past 7, as long as you remain at a deficit.

You work with free weights to tone. Great. Are you lifting heavy? Probably not. You'll notice the most while lifting heavy. The myth of "If I lift heavy, I will only bulk up" is far gone. Your best bet is to join a gym with an exercise plan in place. There is tons of information in the Workout Plan section of the forum.

You can get back on the weight loss horse by joining Myfitnesspal.com. It is a great site to track EVERYTHING you eat and to give you a guideline on how much you should be consuming for weight loss. Alternatively, you can visit forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981 for all of your calculation needs. Incorporating those 2 sites into your daily regime will yield great results.

There is a lot of good information all over this site and you are guaranteed success if you take it seriously.

Lift hard, lift heavy, eat smart. Good luck!