Working out and Gaining Weight

[Tracy]

I seemed to have stopped losing weight since I started working out. I even seemed to have put on a few pounds. I want to blow my head off.... http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I know muscle weighs more than fat and yadda yadda yadda - but this is a real blow. The goal is to lose weight and I seem to be sabatoging myself with exercise... http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/wallbash.gif

WHAT THE http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/censored.gif! This always happens to me when I begin an excercise regime...my clothes are even tighter than they were before. So is my bod - but that's a secondary objective. The first was to be smaller.

I would REALLY appreciate the benefit of someone's experience here.... http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry3.gif http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/whyme.gif http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[azul11]

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=78075&page=&view=&sb=5&o= &fpart=all&vc=1

This may help not too sure. God bless you all.

[azul11]

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=Fitness&Number=117001&Foru m=Fitness&Words=weights&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Sear chpage=0&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=61940&Search=t rue#Post117001

God bless you all.

[Robin41]

Tracy, your body may have simply adjusted to the calorie burn and your metabolism slowed down to match it. Try alternating days of eating a higher amount of calories and lower the next and see if that gets your weight loss back on track.

Good luck!

[Tracy]

Thanks Robin and Azul...I never thought of that....

I feel like I keep trying to lose the same 20-30 pounds over and over and over again....


genetics is so unfair. everyone doesn't have to diet in friggin' intervals! why should i have to. :hmph:

but i appreciate the advice.

[Tracy]

Azul that thread was actually EXTREMELY helpful....

[sweetcocoa]

Girl this is a sore subject for me also. I'm not gaining...but since my surgery I haven't been able to lose. I'm toned..but I just want to lose 10 lbs...I don't think I'am asking a whole lot.
I'm checking out the tips also...
Thanks!

[Tracy]

The seem to be good ones, Sweetcocoa....

Check them out. They mirror a lot of the advice I've gotten "in person" as well....

Weightloss is so confusing...all the magazines and books say to use diet and exercise together, but I'm getting the clue that the key is to DIET the weight off FIRST and then exercise to tone up.


And I was just trying to be proactive... http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/ohwell.gif

[Supergirl]

Tracy,

Don't feel bad. I'm having to really vary up my "diet" also and I'm losing weight very slowly--like 2 pounds/month. Don't feel bad--you're not the only one strugglin'

[Tracy]

Thanks Supergirl..

I'm certainly not HAPPY that you are also having trouble - but it's nice to know that I don't have the one, lone, FREAK body. http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry3.gif

I'll keep trying....

You should too! http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Supergirl]

No girl!

I remember when I was in college--I started really working out. I was trying to lose weight. I was going to hour long aerobics classes 4 times a week. Then, I was doing weight training too. And I was getting sooooooooo fine. I mean I was really fine. But when I weighed myself. Ugh http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/wallbash.gif --I had gained 15 pounds--but I was fine. Nevertheless, we as women will always give credit to that number on the scale no matter what. I stopped working out! I just stopped. The results of that weren't good either http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Now, I still do cardio/aerobics...but I don't use the weight machines at the gym. I have 3 & 5 pound dumbbells at home and I do all of my resistance exercises at home. Anything lower body--I use the weight of my own legs as resistance. Anything upper body--I use the dumbbells. Now, I'm not having a prob. with weight gain. Just a very slow loss.

[sweetcocoa]

My ex husband was and still is a body builder. After I had my son I lifted weights with him...I gained but I lost inches...people kept asking me if I was on a diet. I don't really care about the scale as long as my clothes loosen up. Muscle has a higher metabloism than fat at rest...correct Carrie? I just want to wear that size I wore before my surgery - size 6. I'm now between an 8 and 10 depending on what it is. I've never been this size my entire life(except when I was pregnant...that was 20 years ago). I prefer size 4...but I am perfectly happy being a 6. I guess I need to do more weights and cut back on the carbs. I also have a thyroid(or lack of)problem and take medication. I'm starting to believe that may be my problem since a change in my estogen levels also affected my thyroid levels. I have my 2nd blood test in 2 months tomorrow morning. My doc thinks I'm not taking enough. If she ups my dosage I will drop 10 lbs like that... so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I also started exercising for 15 minutes(that's the earliest I can get up) in the morning along with my 3 days a week aerobics. If I don't see any change in 2 months I'm giving up.

[Breeze]

sweetcocoa, I feel you girl! The scales suck (imho). Right now I'm 142 and a size 6/8...but back in the day when I gaining weight (fat) and was weight 142, I was a larger size. That's 'cause I had a much higher body-fat percentage...

For example:
We have 2 women we'll call them Sally & Sue...
For this example a leather coat = muscle & a down coat = fat (I'll get to that later)
LBM = Lean Body Mass (blood, water, bone, and muscle). The 1st three components in LBM pretty much stay consistent in your body (except for 1 week a month). So when you attain a higher LMB it's "primarily" muscle tone.

Okay both Sally and Sue weigh 150 (total) pounds. But Sally's bodyfat percentage is 31%, and Sue's is 25%. Okay so why do we care? We care because Sally has 46.5lbs of fat and 103.5 lbs of LBM, whereas Sue only has 37.5lbs of fat and 112.5lbs of LBM. Sue is "smaller" not "lighter" than Sally because her body is tigher, denser, and toned, and her muscles are not bulky, they're just not as hidden.

Now for the coat analogy...
If you had two women of the same height, weight, and bf percent and one puts on a 5lb. leather coat and the other puts on a 5lb. down coat the they would weigh exactly the same, but the woman wearing the down coat would be/look larger (even though she weighs the same), because the material the leather coat is made from is denser by volume than that of the down coat. That example makes a major difference in what size a women wears.

Like sweetcocoa, imho you need all three components for successful fat loss (a diet that's right for you, cardio, and weights). Again, imho. http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[sweetcocoa]

Breeze. Thanks for the info! I weight more than I look(always did) so your analysis makes sense. I have the cardio and the weights part down...but I'm not sure about the diet thing. I never had to diet before(used to try to put on weight cause I was so thin). Plus having a hysterectomy last year has the weight going to my mid driff. I have flat lower abs...but the upper abs...that's a different story...The extra weight has re-distributed to the upper body because of the hormone replacement therapy I'm on. What should I be eating or better yet what should I NOT be eating? Thanks for the help!

[Nessa]

YOu are 142 pounds Breeze???? Man I feel bad I weigh 180 pounds and you may be twice the age I am ? :cry:(

[Tracy]

Thanks for all of the insight (and commiseration http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif) guys.

That number on the scale matters SO much to me. So much. I just feel really fat over a certain wieght no matter how I look. And though my body does LOOK better, it is not SMALLER - this is also a result of the muscle. I tried on a pair of jeans today that were baggy on me when I started trying to lose weight and now they fit. I wanted to cry.

Because of this I really just can't believe that on MY body muscle take up less space than fat.

I think I just have a freakish body that is, and looks, large unless you eat salad and drink water.

So I guess tha5t's what I'm going to have to do. I'll start working out again when I've lost at least 20 of the 30 pounds. This is SO upsetting.

Breeze you look good though girl. http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Supergirl]

Hang in there Tracy! http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/up.gif

[Tracy]

Thanks Supergirl http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

What kind of eating plan are you on? If you don't mind me asking....

Just curious...I keep reading all these success stories about lo-carb and I just can't seem to stick to it (another thing that I think put on a few of the pounds) - I was just wondering if anyone who is having slow loss is also on lo-carb diets...

[Breeze]

Tracy girl, you hang in there and do what's best for you girlfriend! You know we got your back! http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif You will have success, and we're here for ya, always! http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Tracy]

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/kiss.gif Thank you Breeze... http://www.longhaircareforum.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif