body changes and approaching 40

L

laura35

Cathlete
cathe,

I have gotten alot of good advice from my cheetah friends here on the forum but wanted your opinion as well. As I approach 40 I am finding it more difficult to maintain my weight. I am trying to clean up my eating and eating more proteins,veggies,fruits and less junk. I workout 5 days a week. I do a bootcamp class 2x week and usually run1-2days a week for no less than 45minutes and do the elliptical or some other type of cardio 1day a week. So I am doing different things so my body wont get use to the same thing but I am having no results. I have been brain storming to come up with plan of attack that will get me results but need some expert advice. I feel nothing that I am doing is working. I have even thought about supplements for wt loss and I usually am against them. I just get such low self esteem with this extra 8-10lbs. I am short and it just looks plan fat on me. please help!Thanks you!
 
Not Cathe, and you might want to try this on other forums... looks to me like your workouts are almost all cardio which is great, but you do need the strength training. I too am short 5'2" and a few extra lbs. don't look good at all. I've beefed up my strength training twice per week, and found that at my age (44 3/4!!) that 45 minutes is not always enough. I would suggest doing 60+ min. workout at least once, if not twice per week - at least to get you off your plateau.

Since I've started this plan in early December till Feb. 1st I have lost 4 lbs, and I still want to lose 3-4 lbs. (I was 133, now am 129). What you'll find is you'll go down a pant size which makes your self-esteem go way up! I just pulled out pants I haven't worn in two years!!! :9

Hope this helps!
Cheryl
 
cheryl,

thanks. so you think I should add another day of wts? I currently do them 2x week with bootcamp and occasionally do them 1 more day when time permits. Are you saying up my cardio days or strength training day to 60+ minutes? Because the bootcamp class is an hr sometimes a little over and I sometimes run for 45-60 but usually no less than 30-45. I just dont want to do so much that my body comes to expect it. I have read that your body adjust easily and then you will have to workout longer or harder which is good sometimes but I dont want to be like some people I know that workout for 2 hrs and arent seeing results now. At first they did but then it tapered and they are struggling also. You and I are the same height and weight or around there but you are right a few pds looks bad on me, I look way thicker and fat, at least that is how I feel. In my bootcamp class we are only doing 1 exercise per muscle group, so maybe this isnt enough strength training. thanks for you tips though!
 
The bootcamps are a very challenging workout cardio & strength, but I personally tend to go a little easy on weights becuz I need to last the whole 60 minutes, so I would say that. Your cardio looks really good. I wasn't getting the results with only 45 minutes so I get up earlier in the morning to go 60 min. And, there's no way I have 2 hrs. to workout nor do I really want to! Try doing a pure strength training workout when you are well rested and push yourself harder.
Believe me, your heart rate gets up there.

I just did LIC this a.m. just circuits 1,2 and abs and my heart rate was pounding because of the low intensity. You really work your legs harder. That's what I'm working on because my legs are not as strong as I'd like.

Hope you have Legs & Glutes, Butts & Guts and Muscle Max. Those are my favorites. Also, on Superbowl Sunday I did Muscle Endurance which I've had forever and don't do, and WOW it was a good workout and the AB workout was not what I remembered!! A Goodie!

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I agree with adding more strength training, maybe a split routine....chest/triceps one day, back/biceps another and then maybe on one of your running days run for 30-40 minutes but make it an interval run with short sprints and then do shoulders that day as well. I'm in the same boat as you more or less....5'1" approaching 40, carrying an extra 10-15 lbs but I have a bad knee so cant do half as much cardio as you, nor can I do high impact. I do concentrate on weights but that's for upper body, my lower body looks horrendous. I've just about given up all hopes of dropping these excess pounds. My orthopedic doc says my knee MRI looks fine and cant figure out why I have problems, he offered exploratory surgery but I'm not ready to commit to that yet when I dont know if he'll find anything.

Good Luck!
 
Laura,
One thing that I wanted to add is when I was an aerobic instructor I would never count the workout that I taught as my workout. I know you are doing it with the class, but your body is probably so used to that workout that it is not responding anymore. Even if you change it for your class, it is probably pretty doable for you. I love circuit workouts, but only do maybe 1 a week. I would suggest straight cardio 4 days a week for about 45-60 minutes and 2 full body workouts a week like ME or MM. Good luck with it!

Susan
 
thanks everyone!
susan- I never thought of that since I have only been teaching since october but you may be right. Class is very doable for me, yes I get kick my own butt but compared to the people in my class I am way more advance, which I should be as an instructor.

I didnt think that wt with the class 2x week was enough as far as lifting but havent added anymore do to time with the exception of here and there. Not consistantly though. I dont want my legs to get any bigger though. I do have butts and guts and ME and legs and glutes but dont do hardly at all. In class I do lots of leg stuff so I was afraid of doing extra leg wts on other days. I will add at least another total body workout and see how things go. but when y ou say total body you are refering to strength training not cardio,correct?

thanks again!
 
Hi Laura - yes I was referring to weight training. I see you mentioned you didn't want your legs to get bigger. I got skinny legs (my problem is in my middle!!) So, I hope the advice you are getting from all of us will work. I guess some people gain in legs when weight training - Cathe sure doesn't! ha ha!
 
Can I just say that sometimes I think with training legs with weights that it seems at first that they get bigger but over time actually start to get thinner. That's my perception because I used to stay away from leg workouts much because my legs seemed to bulk up but once I kept at it I think they got smaller. Especially if you are doing cathe workouts. I think you'd really have to use bodybuilder type weight workouts to keep getting larger legs.
 
My thighs are thick no matter what I do. I havent seen slim thighs since I was 15yrs old but I will say they are athletic. They dont really get bigger doing wts but they havent gotten smaller. I havent seen much changes in my lower body no matter what I do. I run and even with all the running I have done in the past my legs and butt remain the same. My biggest problem area. Now my upper body has responded but slow. I am getting some shldr definition but not as much as I want but strength wise , I have seen major gains. The lady in my class calls me the push up queen and high knees queen. I always get a kick out of that. girl push ups are so easy for me and I can do about 30 guy pushups. I have dreamed of slim thighs and a nice tight round lifted butt but I think in my genetic makeup it isnt in my future. I am short and have thunder thighs and a heavy butt that causes me to have cellulite beneath it.

I will try the recommendations and see what results I get. I only need to lose about 8-10 pds but have major toning to do. but its been the same since I was 16yrs old , so who knows if it will change now that I am older. I know however Iwith exercising that I have prevented it from getting worse.

thanks once again!
 
You're right Laura. If we didn't keep doing what we do, we would look REALLY BAD! And, it doesn't take long to put the pounds back on! Good luck and keep plugging!}(
 
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