very confused and need help please

[TCarroll 1]

Hi everyone,

I am 5 months out of surgery and down 66 lbs... but I am noticing one thing and I am wondering if yall can help.

As per my dr-- and well every other health person out there- you need to exercise to be sucessful and health-- and I am doing that... with the exception of a few weeks where I got the crud and had a horrible cough and couldnt make it to the gym... anyways, here is what I have noticed....

On the days/ week I go to the gym and workout-- I am not losing weight. I am maintaing but not losing- yet if I dont go to the gym and work out I am steadily losing weight...

I have asked several fitness people and they are saying that I need to get in more calories -- because my body it in self preservation mode... due to so few calories and burning off so many... ugh--- well I am eating my 3 meals- Protein first and have been at my sweet spot for a while so I am not hungry inbetween meals... I am making healthy choices.

Of course they also gave me the-- muscle weighs more than fight thing-- and I get that -- however, muscle is also supposed to burn more calories than fat and increase my metabolism... right... well the weight still isnt coming off when I work out....

How are you dealing with this ???? Is this happening to anyone else. I need to workout not only for my health but to help with toning and loose skin... when I am not working out- yes I am losing quick... but I notice that things seem to ...ummm... buldge out in places...

Very frustrated-- I want to do the right workout routine and see improvements and have it pay off-- but I am at a total loss... any advise will be very much appreciated.

even if some of you have a workout routine and excercises you do that are working I would appreciate that too...

:thumbup:

[newdicarlo 0]

I posed a few questions to a family friend who is a fitness expert and got back the following response (sorry, it is a bit long, but it could help) my questions are in bold, her answer is the rest.

Weight loss and weight lifting go hand and hand. I am living proof. Muscles burn fat. If you are lifting, you need to eat appropriately. The reason we gain is obvious...we eat more than we burn. If we eat too many calories we store it as fat. If we eat the right amount and are lifting weights, the muscles we are creating will burn excess fat. Don't over eat and you don't have extra fat.

Hi there!

I have exercise questions for the exercise experts…

1. I was told that I should be doing half cardio, half heavy weights, low reps for muscle building and boosting weight loss—does this sound right for wanting to lose weight?
   

Here is what I did to lose my seventy some odd pounds of baby fat:

Weight Watchers to start. I lost 25 lbs with them. THen, I joined my gym. My initial training I did on my own was like so:

Sunday, four mile easy walk and abs

Monday: 30 mins. cardio(biking, hiking, running, walking up hill) Anything to get my heart rate around 135. Trained (aka lifted weights)Back and Biceps

Tuesday: Trained chest and triceps

Wednesday: off or cardio

Thursday: Trained legs

Friday: trained shoulders and abs

Saturday: 45minutes of cardio

I did three sets of exercises or eight to ten reps each set. I alternated cardio.

I followed this for another twenty pounds (at this point, down 45lbs!!!)then I hired a personal trainer. The best thing that has ever happened to my health.

Here is what he did with me:

Sunday is always a rest day. Always. You can rest hiking at a park or riding a bike, but don't get the heart rate up too high. Just take it easy.

Monday:Chest and Tris, cardio

Tuesday: back and bis, cardio

Wednesday: cardio and abs

Thursday: shoulders, cardio

Friday: leg day, cardio

Saturday one hour cardio and abs. I always separate my cardio and training by at least four hours.

By the time I finished my three months with Scotty, I was down another 35 or so pounds. I lost track. The more muscle I gained the scale stayed put, but I still shrunk in size,hence, the body sculpting. So hitting a plateau while lifting is ok. The muscles are still doing their work by burning fat. You will still lose inches, just not pounds for a while.

NEVER LET ANYONE TELL YOU WEIGHT LIFTING IS NOT GOOD FOR DROPPING WEIGHT. Alternate your work outs so that every six weeks you do a different routine. ie; six weeks of heavy lifting, six weeks of plyometric lifting, six weeks of light lifting and so back to heavy.

Just to complicate things, here is what I do now:

Sunday: I walk my dogs two hours a day (mostly b/c the guy I walk w/ is hot)an hour in the morning and at night. Some Sundays I'll do cardio for fun.

Monday: I will start my rotation with CHest. I teach a Boot Camp at night. I do not do the same thing every Monday with weights, as I stated, it's a rotation. Walk the dogs 2xs

Tuesday: Train Back. This takes me about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Dog walk 2xs, again, he's hot.

Wednesday: 530am Boot Camp, 9:00 Abs and 9:15 one hour Spin class. I try to squeeze in my lower back and traps. Dog Walk 2xs

THursday: Shoulders and Boot Camp at 530pm at the J Dog Walk, 2xs

Friday: Leg Day or lower back and traps Dog Walk 2xs

Saturday: Leg Day Dogs boot camp

I sometimes will go for a run, but I teach so much that I use that as my cardio.

I rotate my lifting chest, back, lower back and shrugs, shoulders, adn legs. I lift a warm up set at a lighter weight for fifteen reps. Then, I lift three sets of fifteen reps a piece. If by the time I get to 10 I am not struggling, the weight is too light. If I get to ten and am struggling and cannot get to fifteen it is too heavy. I want a struggle to get to fifteen, but do not want to hurt. This is where you use common sense in lifting. Only you can tell you what is a comfortable weight to lift and what hurts. I never do the same thing week to week. I use my classes for my cardio and sub regularly for others when I feel I need more cardio. The walking is theraputic and great for maintaining weight or increasing weight loss

2. If the above is true, what should I be doing and how often? See the above answer.

3. Is it recommended to split cardio and weights and do them at different times? Keep four hours between cardio and weights. If time does not allow it(and most times it doesn't!) and you need to do both together, then do weights first and cardio second. ALways make sure you are eating some protien/carb with in thirty minutes of working out. Feed those muscles!

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

Another factor is that if you are working out hard, you may be storing lactic acid in your muscles (if there's of lot of it you'll be sore, a little and the muscle will feel a little tight). that has to be excreted by your body and takes a bit of time (think about how long it takes for soreness to go away).

[happy2lose 0]

When you are working out you are building lean muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. I'm sure you are losing fat but not noticing on the scale right away but you are losing inches. It does take the scale about a week to catch up with the fat loss when working out. Besides this, you will become more tone and physically fit working out. If you haven't taken your measurements yet, I suggest you do so that you will see the difference in how many inches lost.

I workout at Curves for 45 minutes 5 times per week burning approx. 500 calories with each workout. I also ride my bicycle on the weekends (weather permitting) with a goal to burn at minimum 1500 calories. 3 times per week I workout with 2- 5 pound weights to help tone the underneath and back of my arms. I do 50 crunches 2 to 3 times per week as well as leg lifts.

I can see a big difference in my thighs from working out. They are becoming less flabby and more firm. My arms have also become very tone although I have that dreaded skin hanging when I lift my arms, this is why I workout with weights at home.

Could I have lost the 90 pounds without working out??? Yes, probably, but I would not have been physically fit. My goal is to be healthy and fit.

Edited January 14, 2010 by happy2lose