Questions for vets: Exercise and weight loss

[Ruth1ess 494]

I'm on my 9th month post op, and about six weeks ago, I started an exercise routine that I've been following to a T.

3x a week I do a high-intensity Krav Maga/martial arts routine for 60 minutes that I supplement with a day of crossfit. So, 4x weekly 60 min workouts. I feel great and I absolutely love it! It's the perfect mix of strength training and cardio and I feel stronger both physically and mentally.

However, the scale has predictably stopped moving as soon as I started. I expected this. I know all of the reasons that are usually given:

"You're still losing fat, you're just gaining muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat."

"You should just be happy that you're doing the right thing for your health even if the scale doesn't move"

"Stop looking at the scale"

Regardless, some discouragement has crept in because I feel in a way that I'm missing out on the 'grace period' of loss that my sleeve provides. Prior to this, I was losing about 5 lbs/month. It was a push after that 6th month, but I was really buckling down and seeing results.

I'm not going to stop my routine, regardless of the answer, because again, I love it and I'm doing it for my health. But my question for the vets who have gone through the same situation is: Did you eventually start seeing the scale move after starting intense exercise, and how long did it take your body to adjust for this to happen? If so, did you do anything different to trigger this, or stick with the same routine?

HW: 293

CW: 185

GW: 159 ("normal" BMI)

Height: 5'7"

Calories: 800-1000. I try to stick to 800/day, but they often become 1000 on workout days due to increased hunger. I fill the extra calories with Protein.

Protein: ~70-80g/daily

Carbs: ~40g daily

MFP: Every day!

[JamieLogical 8,702]

Actually, the main reason the scale stops moving or you see a gain immediately after you start a new, intense exercise routine is waster retention. Sore muscles store Water to heal. It's true that muscle weighs more than fat and gaining muscle will slow your weight loss overall, it doesn't happen immediately. That's just Water retention.

Anyway, in the long run, it is SOOOOO worth the slow down in weight loss. You have to remember that this isn't a race. There is no reason you need to lose all the weight RIGHT NOW. I did intense cardio and strength training through all of my weight loss phase. It meant I lost more slowly than a lot of my peers. But by the time I reached goal, I had GAINED seven pounds of muscle. And my metabolism is great. I see people on these forums posting that they gain if they eat more than 1000 calories a day in maintenance. Whereas, I can safely eat 1900-2000 on non-cardio days and 2400-2600 on cardio days and not gain.

If you lose quickly without keeping Protein up and exercising, you lose a lot of muscle along with that fat. It will mess with your metabolism and you will end up skinny, but not healthy. You are doing the right thing by stepping up your exercise. The scale might slow down, but in the end, you will NOT regret it!

[orionburn 1,024]

Changing up your workout routine from time to time is really important. It's easy to get caught up in doing the same things week after week after week.

Many will scoff at the idea, but there are times where it's better to take a week off of hardcore exercising. People tend to equate not exercising at 100% to sitting around shoving food in their faces. And no, taking time off doesn't mean if you've been working out for 2 weeks you deserve a week off...lol. I'm talking months of following routines. With lifting weights there are so many various exercises you can do for each body part to keep your body guessing. Whether it's simply switching from machines to free weights or different movements it all helps.

When I was younger, and before I gained a ton of weight back after I quit smoking, I lived at the gym. Went from 395 down to 265 and got stuck. Didn't matter if I did an hour on the stair climber three times a week the weight wouldn't budge. Looking back that was a big part of where I went wrong by not changing things up.

[Ruth1ess 494]

Thanks all, for your input.

I'm specifically looking for an answer to my question at the end. I'm aware of Water retention issues and changing routines. I'm also well aware that it's worth it and don't intend to stop the exercise, as I mentioned I'm also getting plenty of Protein, above my doctor's recommendations. I'm not trying to hurry things, but I do want to take full advantage of the 'early days'. I'm looking for those who have been in my shoes and what their experiences were like.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Ruth1ess

[Ssze1109 163]

http://onemorebite-weightloss.com/muscle-to-fat.html

Muscle does not weigh more than fat. 5 lbs of muscle and 5 lbs of fat weight 5lbs. BUT fat takes up less space. So you will be losing the bumpy fat and replacing with smaller, leaner muscles.

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[Ssze1109 163]

Sorry. Correction. Muscle takes up less space. Read that article. Makes sense.

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[JamieLogical 8,702]

@@Ssze1109 Muscle does weigh more than fat. When people say that, they are referring to volume. Fat is denser. I don't think anyone is implying that 5 lbs doesn't equal 5 lbs.....

[Ssze1109 163]

@@JamieLogical That is why I linked that article in my post .

Some people do think it weighs more and don't know the difference. Some have no knowledge of medical info just from not being exposed to it.

I have talked to people and also have patients that don't want to "exercise" for fear of gaining weight from "muscle weighing more than fat". They fear follow up visits with Drs for fear of failure if they are not losing weight.

The article explains it in simple terms to put the fear aside of gaining weight from muscle.

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