pros and cons of exercise

[MADE IT 2 MY GOAL..OH YEAH 0]

I was just banded on the 18 of aug. I havent joined a gym or anything yet. Part of me wants to but part of me dont. I use to go to curves a few years ago. I did a diet with it and went 3 times a week for about 2 months.

My problem is, I never lost any weight but built muscle which made my

number in pounds go up. I know it went up because of the muscle but

I just cant stand the site of a scale that goes up no matter what.

What am I to do?

[Jachut 487]

With the amount of weight you lose with a lap band, compared to what it is truly possible to build muscle wise, the scale will go down.

Your result with dieting and curves is not an indication that you build lots and lots of muscle, more that the diet wasnt working and you didnt lose a lot of fat. It takes really hard work, heavy weights working to exhaustion and LOTS of it, not half an hour relatively light sessions such as Curves to build pounds and pounds of muscle. Curves is primarily an aerobic toning circuit not a bodybuilding one designed to add significant weight in muscle.

You simply dont build 3lb of muscle in a week, that old "oh, it must be muscle since I just joined the gym" is a bit of a chestnut, its really not true. Overtime, if you get really fit and muscular and dont gain fat, you will probably weigh a LITTLE more, but its not that easy to pack on 12lb of muscle, particularly for a woman.

What tends to happen early on is you retain a lot of Fluid due to the damage to your muscles which makes you weigh more.

Overtime, burning more energy and improving your fat to muscle ratio cannot help but to make you lighter.

There's no cons to exercise, only pros.

Edited September 9, 2008 by Jachut

[smsmithart 4]

Well said jachut...my hero..

Yes get your bum to the gym..

[She Smiles 2]

I'm 99% with Jachut.

I wouldn't have had nearly as much success with my band had I not exercised. I feel healthier, happier and more energetic when I am exercising regularly. It does amazing things for the body, mind and spirit. The only con I can think of in the equation, is if you happen to sustain an injury. I injured myself when I was training to run a half marathon a few months ago (illiotibial band syndrome, better known as "runners knee"). Guess that's what you get for wanting to be that fit! Hahaha! I'm now building back up to going to the gym daily. Even with the injury, I don't regret my exercise history one bit.

[kagoscuba 0]

The building muscle to replace fat perception is a myth. A world class athlete would be hard pressed to add 20 pounds of muscle in a year, so a little under 2 pounds a month, and their bodies are genetically perfect for adding muscle. There are no cons to exercise, unless you exercise without a plan and consistency. Even then the only cons are injury and lack of progress. Consistent informed exercise will do wonders.

[luluc 6]

Even then the only cons are injury and lack of progress. Consistent informed exercise will do wonders.

completely agree.

without consistent exercise, i would never have lost close to what i have in the last yr. diet alone wasn't going to get me there.

i weight train pretty hard 3 days a wk (cardio another 3) & what's interesting, i have not lost a lb since increasing the weight training - in fact i can be up a lb or 2 on any given day....however my body definition has changed that i've been able to go down another size in clothes.

i'm trying not to pay too much attention to the scale when i can fit in a size 4.....so i say exercise, i see no downside to it!!

[Michee 2]

I agree with KagoScuba

Have you ever seen a fat marathon runner in the olympics?

After one full year of working out, including running, during my fitness review (by a kinesiologist) it was determined that my lean muscle mass has stayed the same, but my body fat percentage has gone from 47% to 32%.

The only "cons" to exercise, is that when you work out, and look and feel great, lots of your friends will be jealous!, and of course you spend a ton of money on new clothes to show off your toned hot body.

[areellady 1]

I forgot to post last week. I gained a pound. I hate that. I am hoping for some success tomorrow, but not sure how that is going to work out... I am hoping we all lose for the 15th day of Sept.!!!

[Fanny Adams 7]

Hehehehe - I saw the thread title and wondered how it would go down, posting the word "cons" associated with exercise in the Fitness and Exercise forum. I wasn't disappointed

[cakegal 0]

I know how you feel, a few years ago I joined a spin class at 240lbs. I was obviously the largest one in that class. In the dark, it just didn't matter and I spun my little heart out. I did this 3 days a week and played tennis 1-2 days a week. after a year, I had lost 4 pounds. I was in the best shape a 240 lb. woman could be, but no significant weight loss. I concluded, that for me, I was just working out harder than my over weight body could handle. I was starving every day after each work out, and pretty much ate what I wanted since I was convinced I had worked out so hard. We all play games with ourselves and tell ourselves what we want to hear. For me, It's not about working out hard 3 days a week, I need to be consistent with a 5-7 day a week exercise plan that I can stick to. I've really enjoyed walking, increasing my pace and time. I've started doing core training and I hope to be lifting weights on a regular basis soon. I'm working my way up to whats reasonable for me, but I know in order for ME to loose weight, it's a minimum for 5 days a week for me. I think we all know what works for us, and we are all different. facing the reality that we may need to change what we did in the past, which did not work for us, and trying to find what does is as hard as the work out itself. I hate that I have to work out 5-6 days a week, and my friend stays fit with 2-3, but that's my reality. I vote for exercise, the benefits out wiegh the weight loss, even if I don't make it 5 days every week, I feel soooo much better about myself, I usually try harder the next week. Never surrender!!!! (not when it comes to exercise)

[Ceradad 10]

completely agree.

without consistent exercise, i would never have lost close to what i have in the last yr. diet alone wasn't going to get me there.

i weight train pretty hard 3 days a wk (cardio another 3) & what's interesting, i have not lost a lb since increasing the weight training - in fact i can be up a lb or 2 on any given day....however my body definition has changed that i've been able to go down another size in clothes.

i'm trying not to pay too much attention to the scale when i can fit in a size 4.....so i say exercise, i see no downside to it!!

As always, I couldn't agree more with luluc. I started walking immediately after my surgery. Two weeks out, I started lifting light weights per dr's instructions/permission and increased the amount of weight gradually. I've consistently done 6-7 days a week of cardio and 4 days a week of lifting for almost 13 mos now. I'm almost to goal (5 lbs away:thumbup:). I now have people tell me I am leaning out more than ever before.

When I lift, I go at it HARD. I've gone from size 48" waist pants to almost a 36". Shirt size went from a tight 3XL to XL's hanging off me (except through the chest and shoulders:biggrin:).

There is no excuse for not incorporating exercise into your lapband plan. Listen to all the people in here and you will succeed. Especially Jachut and luluc for women. They really know what they are talking about.:embaressed_smile:

[snowbird 2]

This certainly isn't a "con"--as everybody says, there are no cons on exercising, but more in the way of a caution. When I exercise, that little demon in my head tells me I can eat more because I just burned up some calories. Also, I do get hungrier when I exercise. This may have been what happened to you.

I had a friend who was a competitive bodybuilder. She had to diet like CRAZY before a competition. The moral of this story is that you have to watch what you eat no matter how much you exercise, or you will have some fat on your body that you don't want.

[Livingthe Dream 0]

Sassy,

This is your new life and you have made a big step in the a great new direction. I have lost 80 pounds of weight and hit goal in about 8 month so I can tell you what works. The first thing you should do is search this website for posts made by Jakhut. She knows what she is talking about and will lead you in the right direction.

Im going to be blunt but it is for your own good.

Curves is a joke. A 30 minute session burns 184 calories which is not the kind of work out you need. You would be better served walking the parking lot at curves then going back to that place.

Joining a GYM- You can join a gym but are you that type of person? Are you going to be embarrassed to be the biggest person in the gym? I don't know you but when I first started I felt like I need to deal with these demons on my own and not in front of 20 soccer moms at the YMCA. (I'm a guy). Can you fail in front of people?

Stress- Don't add a reoccuring gym bill to your stress level, lose the first 10 pounds on your own. If you need momentum then buy yourself something sports related like new walking shoes. Did you know that if you go to a real runners shoe store they can get you in the perfect shoe based on how your foot lands on the ground.

Good luck to you. How long this journey lasts is completely up to you.