Trying to Shed Pounds

[bassplayer]

... but so far I haven't had much success.

I've changed the way I eat, and I'm riding the exercise bike 3x per week when I wake up and before breakfast. So far my weight has slightly increased! It's driving me batty so I'm hoping you folks have some ideas.

Here is an example of what I eat daily:

Breakfast: 1 egg w/slice of cheese (use Pam spray to cook with), 1/2 cup oatmeal with 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup of milk to drink (1 cup total)

This meal is:
1 Protein
1 milk
2 carbs/starch

Morning snack: 1/4 cup Cottage Cheese, 1 serving crackers, 1 fruit

This snack is:
1 Protein
1 carbs/starch
1 fruit

Lunch: Salad w/3 Cups veggies, meat, cheese, salad dressing

This meal is:
1 Protein
3 Veggies

Afternoon snack: remainder of luch salad, 1 fruit

This meal is:
1 fruit

Dinner: Meat, 2 starches, 1 veggie, 1 milk

Evening snack: handful mixed nuts, roughly 2 fats

Am I eating too much? Too little? I'm eating waaaaaaaaay better than I was a month ago, by my weight actually increased (my sugar decreased).

Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

[HeatherP]

Reducing fatty foods may help a bit. If you're drinking whole milk and "regular" salad dressing that might be a factor.

Up your excercise to 5 or more times a week, and how long are you doing it? I think you need a bare minimum of 30 minutes.

It takes me about a month of modified excercise/eating before I see any results at all. I've been excercising for about 6 weeks, and I seem to be keeping about 5 lbs off so far. Try to concentrate more on speeding up your metabolism and overall fitness level rather than weighing yourself every day. Also, if you're building muscle it weighs more than fat so take that into account, too.

Good luck,
HeatherP

[bassplayer]

I'm drinking 1% milk and using fat-free salad dressing.

Right now I do my bike riding for 20 minutes, 3x per week. I shoot for a mid-130's heart rate which works out to ~73% of my max. heart rate.

I also walk during lunch for 30 minutes on non-rainy days. It was 38F this lunchtime so it was very chilly today! :)

I only want to do weightlifting to mitigate muscle loss during weight loss (when you lose weight you don't just lose fat, you lose muscle as well). When I've lost the spare tire then I can concern myself with bulking up. I'll mention here that I haven't started weight training yet, it's on the 'to-do' list.

I do think I still have too much fat in my diet, but I have reduced my saturated & trans-fatty acid intake. My non-vegetable fats come from cheese, milk and whatever meat I'm eating. My non-animal fats come from nuts & avocados.

I try not to weigh myself every day. I usually check about every 3rd day. That and I try to notice if my clothes are looser or tighter on me.


Oh yeah, I forgot, I also drink a couple 16oz. coffees during the day. I do use whole milk in my coffee, but only a little bit. I use 2 packets of Splenda to sweeten it.

Thanks for your reply. :)