Health and Fitness

[Spinster]

Oh, honey, I've been the nutritionist route. A few times. They all say the same thing: You're underweight! Do X, Y, and Z to see if that helps!
It ALWAYS melts the pounds OFF, not the other way round. 

My average caloric intake for a day is well over the 'recommended' 2000 - probably close to double that now - but my metabolic rate is so high that everything gets burned off very quickly. Plus, being a massage therapist and doing six hour-long sessions in a working day, it takes an addition of nutritional shakes just to keep the energy level up to be able to finish a full shift at work. The only thing I can think to do is add even more protein, though that's a little tough with one of the people in the house trying to head us all toward vegetarianism. Which is part of what made me drop three sizes in the first place.

This is not something I want to do just to LOOK better, either. I want to do this because it's smeggin' embarrassing to have to shop in the children's department to find clothes that will fit. It's bad to have to sit down halfway through doing something because there is no energy reserve (usually carried in the fatty parts of the body) and food energy is burned off too quickly. I just want to feel healthy and adult again.

[Lady Mikayla of Phoenicia]

Spin I would try more pasta/carbs in your situation. 

[Spinster]

Spin I would try more pasta/carbs in your situation. 

I eat either pasta or bread with/in almost every meal, along with several snack-sized portions of bread, crackers, chips, etc. throughout the day. I think if I ate any more I would turn into a potato. 

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

It's bad to have to sit down halfway through doing something because there is no energy reserve (usually carried in the fatty parts of the body) and food energy is burned off too quickly.

Well , yes an no. The energy reserve ya wants ta be usin' is stored in the muscles as glycogen. Those wi' lesser amounts 'o muscle have less glycogen to expend. Therefore their workouts need be intense and of short duration. That way the muscles get stressed enough to grow without exausting the supply of easily available energy.
The energy stored in fat cells is not available till the body reaches starvation mode. Generally yer body hoardes that energy as a survival instinct. Bodybuilders tread a fyne line findin the balance between those two extremes. Yes you can starve on 8K calories per day *

2-3 hours before a workout polish off a baked potato or 3. Complex carbs is the secret to a productive workout. Your lucky, food is yer friend.

* Don't ask how I knows that

[Spinster]

Well , yes an no. The energy reserve ya wants ta be usin' is stored in the muscles as glycogen. Those wi' lesser amounts 'o muscle have less glycogen to expend. Therefore their workouts need be intense and of short duration. That way the muscles get stressed enough to grow without exausting the supply of easily available energy.
The energy stored in fat cells is not available till the body reaches starvation mode. Generally yer body hoardes that energy as a survival instinct. Bodybuilders tread a fyne line findin the balance between those two extremes. Yes you can starve on 8K calories per day *

2-3 hours before a workout polish off a baked potato or 3. Complex carbs is the secret to a productive workout. Your lucky, food is yer friend.

* Don't ask how I knows that

Believe it or not, I know all of that.    I was talking about feeling the need to sit down halfway through grocery shopping, or partway through mopping the floor, or similar 'everyday' activities. Not workouts. Those are an entirely different monkey, and a rare breed at that. For obvious reasons.

And yes, I have had my thyroid tested, and came up within the 'normal' range of excretions. Should probably get it done again, though...

[Corliss]

Two years ago, they brought Weight Watchers in at work and two of my coworkers badgered me into joining with them. At that point, I had resigned myself to never getting back to a healthy weight. So imagine my surprise when, at the end of the 13 week session, I'd lost 20 lbs! I guess I was finally ready to do something about the problem and just needed to give someone a lot of hard-earned money in order to realize it.  

I've stuck with it and my total weight loss to date is 38 lbs. (Well, it was 43, but 5 lbs managed to come back and find me when I wasn't looking.) Only 10 lbs from my goal, but it's still a daily struggle. I have to avoid the cafeteria at work entirely, to avoid temptation. The bacon on the breakfast bar calls my name every time I walk in there. It helps that we have a gym at work and coaches on staff to help motivate you (and if you use the main entrance, you have to pass the gym on the way in and out of the building.) But, you know, even though I feel great afterward, exercise is still a chore and not something I really want to do.

I've learned that anything is possible if you set your mind to it.

[CatAshtrophy]

What strategies have worked for you all when you hit a diet plateau? I haven't reached a healthy weight yet, so I'm not willing to give up now. I've been sticking to my diet and exercise but the scale wont budge and hasn't for weeks.

[Escarlata]

Cat, this may sound like a silly comment, but make sure you're getting enough water.

I have the hardest time with water and have been having the same plateau issue. I've now put a 10oz glass on the kitchen counter that is always full (ie as soon as I drain it, I refill it immediately). Every time I come out of the bathroom, I drain the glass. That's in addition to whatever else I'm drinking that day. This morning the scale is down.

Just a thought.

[Elennare]

Something else to try is changing your exercise up a bit.  Add something new, change the intensity or length of one of the exercises you're doing now, add more weight, stuff like that.  If we do exactly the same thing for long enough, our bodies get "used" to it and figure out the most efficient way to do whatever it is, which results in less results.  Changing the routine can "shock" your body out of the rut.

I really need to start exercising more.  My office moved, and there is a gym a couple of blocks from the new location.  I think I'm going to go check it out and see if they have any classes I want to take at a time I can get to.

I have lost 10 lbs, though! 

[Will Gamwell]

What strategies have worked for you all when you hit a diet plateau? I haven't reached a healthy weight yet, so I'm not willing to give up now. I've been sticking to my diet and exercise but the scale wont budge and hasn't for weeks.

Hey Cat,
There are a couple of things that you could try if you already haven't.  Being that I don't know what your deit & exercise routine is, I am just going to list what most people generally do when they hit a plateau.

Changing your workout/exercise routine.  Sometimes when you do the same exercises for too long, your body gets accustomed to them and they quit having the same effect as they did in the beginning.  You can either try upping the intensity of your workout, or changing it entirely.
Increasing how many meals you have per day.  Smaller quantities of food at each meal.  If you eat 3 meals per day, make it five or six.  Eating about every 3-4 hours.  Also, have your last meal about 3-4 hours before you go to sleep.
Cut out any food that has High Fructose Corn Syrup, Glucose, Fructose.  These "fake" sugars are something that your body doesn't process directly into energy like real sugar.  It processes it into fat storage first, then you have to work extra hard to burn off that fat.

Cheers,
Sean

[Tremayne]

I'm still waiting waiting waiting for this stomach problem to resolve itself    It is sloooooowly improving now with additional aids from a dr.

Nliedel, I think you're doing what you're doing to give the rest of us hope.    Ok, so it may not be a conscious reason but serves the purpose nonetheless.

Many people's weight loss and fitness achievements expressed here give me hope that I can improve my own situation. Here is my goal to start--get back to the gym over one of my lunch periods some time in the next week! Maybe tomorrow even! I really need to get the muscle work back in my life (and it doesn't involve jostling my gut).

[Escarlata]

I'm pleased to report an entire week of walks and bowflex. Hopefully next week, the incisions will be healed enough to allow my floor stretches again. Yea, I know, that sounds kind of backward, but I'm not doing any oblique work on the bowflex yet but my stretches include the obliques. That's where I don't need pulling just yet.

[Tremayne]

I did make it to the gym yesterday and today and have decided to try for 20 min to half hour every day--just working the machines. In and out quickly seems to make it more bearable for me while still giving my body a boost. Happily, my stomach issue seems to have turned the corner yesterday and I'm hopeful I can get back to jogging in a couple of weeks.

[Rahne]

Tremayne, thanks for starting this thread. 
I just joined the new gym that opened down the street from me.  This is just the next step in a now 3 year battle to take off extra wait from 3 kids and a decreased activity level.  I'm only 5' 4" tall and after the third child I weighed in at 270. I hated my self for being so fat, and was very depressed about it for over a year.  Now three years later I have only managed to loose 35 pounds.  why is it that it takes a week to loose 3 pounds, but in a weekend you can gain 5 or 6.  It is just not right. any way I digress. 
Back in September I rejoined the Karate class I went to in high school. (graduated in 1990)  Started back with the rank I had then, Green belt.  I still remembered most of the basics, but had to relearn all of the katas up to that level 6 of them.  Once I had mastered those again, I moved on to learning the qualifications and 5 katas for my purple belt test.  Happy to say that after holding a green belt 17 years I got the purple belt in January.  Next is the brown belt.  The 3rd degree brown belt requires 3 different flying kicks, one of which has to be done 4 different ways.  I still need to loose about 75 more pounds to get to the weight I want to reach.  Right now the goal is just to drop another at least 30 pounds and build some muscle to help get me off the ground. (any suggestions anyone?) I also hate my tricept flab and the fat on my back these are the only really soft fat areas on me everything else is pretty solid, I've got pretty broad shoulders and a large frame for a girl.  What are the best exercises or machines for these areas?
I've been doing the elliptical for 10 minutes each time I go to the gym and then doing a trip around the gym on the various machines to help tone everything up.  I can only make it to the gym 3 or 4 times a week (have to get up at 4 am to do it on work days) Some days it is a real battle to get up and go so early, but I always feel better when I'm done, and am actually less tired than if I had slept the extra hour.  Right now I'm using lower weights and higher reps to tone up.  I have lost 3 inches on my hips 2 around the waist, 1 on each calf, and 1 on each arm in the first 5 trips. I also gained 5 pounds (had lost 40 )  I know the inch loss is a better measure than the scale, but it is still discourageing to see the numbers go back up. 
I'd love any advice from anyone with more experience in this stuff than I have.  (this would be almost anybody.  I only ever used the weight machines in highscool gym class.)

[Tremayne]

Rahne, sounds like you're doing tons to have lost so little weight. Have you talked to your doctor about the possibility that you have blood sugar problems? There's a "pre-diabetic" condition, which I have, called metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance. Even when I weighed less than I do now, when I went on medication to control it I lost 15 lbs in 6 weeks. THAT certainly hadn't ever happened before! So you might talk to a dr (or 2 or 3--not all drs are equally knowlegeable).

As far as which machines to use for what, ask gym staff. They should give you a tour of the equipment and some instruction on how to use it.

I had a former coach who was working at a gym tell me that aerobics are good for fitness and burns more calories than working with weights BUT it only burns calories when you're doing it. Working with weights increases your metabolism overall for a couple of days beyond the workout. I found this worth knowing in terms of creating a balance between the two.

I'm with you in tricep flab sisterhood    But alas have never found a cure. Even at my lowest adult weight--with tamed thighs and behind--that flab hung on