Pamela from Chihuahua, Mexico
I work out 5 days a week and can't loose weight. I do spinning, tae bo and many types of cardio. Where am I going wrong?

Answer:

Pamela:

Hello! Thanks for the question. Mmmm...I don't know specifics about you and details on your training methods so let me answer this based on similar situations with clients like yourself.

You answered part of your question by saying that nutrition is important. 80% of weight management issues revolve around what you eat and when you eat. If you are eating well but not losing the weight then you may be doing some things that are not allowing you to rev up your metabolism or your ability to burn fat and drop un-wanted weight. Here are a few things to look at along with a link to a great article written by my good friend and advisory board member Amy Carlson, Registered Dietitian.

- Are you eating healthy snacks between meals and avoiding after dinner snacking? If not scale down your breakfast lunch and dinner and add in a healthy, low cal snack between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner. This reduces cravings for the late night snack.

- Are you drinking 8-10 8 ounce glasses of water per day? If not start doing it. Consistently drinking your water revs up metabolism and allows your body to burn more fat. Plus muscles love to be hydrated and perform more efficiently

- Are you staying away from sodas and high sugar foods? If not cut back on the sugar. Sugar adds empty calories and without the activity can be readily stored as fat.

- For more dos and don't of metabolism check out Amy Carlson's article on metabolism at the link below.

" Rev Up Your Metabolism"

OK, now that we have discussed fine-tuning your nutrition the next and most important question is, do you weight train? All of the activities you mentioned involve cardiovascular fitness which is a great way to burn fat but to get off the sandbar you are stuck on with your weight you must
build muscle while you are burning fat with your cardio. I call weight training the "missing link" because many avoid it or don't do as much of this as they should to maximize results. I see this more often with women. If you are not weight training start doing it. Work every major muscle
group at least twice a week. Check out these links below to some great articles I have written on the weight training.

Building your own weight training workout

Sets & Reps: The Building Blocks of a Great Workout

Getting The Most Out Of Weight Training

Lastly I want to commend you on doing your cardio. Most people I work with have the toughest time sticking to this. You have some good variety in your program but I would suggest building some rest days in. A day or two each week when you shut down exercise, fuel up with great nutrition and allow your body to recuperate. You will come back stronger for the next workout and allow your body to build muscle more efficiently. If you add weight training do your weights first and follow with your cardio for maximum fat burning. I have given you plenty to think about
so meld some of this in a little bit at a time and see what happens. Keep me posted on your progress.

Hope that helps. Read the articles, keep up the good work, fine-tune what you are doing and I would almost bet that the weight will start coming off before you know it.

Regards,
Michael

Michael J. Merlino
Certified Professional Fitness Trainer