CATHE- need advise and help!!

[XSSmartie]

Cathe

Im in a bind. I have been doing your tapes since last summer. I do the PS series 3x a week and MIS 2x a week to rotate. I do cardio 3-4x a week lasting no more than 60 minutes at a time I have mixed it up between step, hi/lo, and TaeBo.

YET- I am not losing any bodyfat/inches. I have about 20lbs of bodyfat to shed- most of it in my lower half which has not gotten any smaller since August.

I eat very cleanly- lean protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. I try to keep it to 5-6 minimeals a day... 2 of those are usually a protein shake that is equal in protein/carbs but low in fat. I eat under 1800 calories but more than 1450.

Any suggestions/advise that might help me get off the rest of the weight/inches without starving my body (I know it needs fuel to match my activity level minus a bit for fat loss).

Thanks!
Maribeth

 

[xssmartie]

Anyone got advise???????

NM

 

[Jess]

answer

Hey,
This might not help but I have read and herd that if you do not eat enought calories your body
will save all the extra calories. Hope this helps
BYE

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Maribeth!

Before I suggest anything, I'm not sure if you meant that you do PS 3x's per week for say a few weeks and then later rotate to MIS 2x's per week for say a few weeks OR if you do PS 3x's per week and on the other two days of that same week you do MIS. If the latter is the case, then that 5 times per week is too much total body weight training for one week. You would need to have more recovery factored in.

But in any case, regardless of how you work the rotation, if it has been since August since you have last seen results, then most likely your body is just too used to both of these workouts. Either try other weight workout rotations or change the exercise order and/or weight of these current ones.

Its also a good idea to select a cardio that you don't usually do(atleast one time per week)so that you recruit new muscle fibers. Also, have you considered doing any interval workouts? One interval workout per week will help to shock your metabolism.

As far as your calorie intake, be careful to make sure that you eat enough healthy food to support your activities(as you mentioned above). Perhaps you are underestimating just how many calories you are burning off and/or taking in.

Good Luck!

 

[jesca]

Food

It's funny that Jess mentioned it, but I just visited a dietician for the first time last week. I have been trying to get rid of just a few more pounds of bodyfat, feeling like the effort has been futile. Since I stick to a diverse and active exercise schedule (that I REALLY experimented with to find a good mix for me), I thought the culprit must be diet.

I was required to keep a week-long food diary (I usually write down what I eat, but I tried to be particularly specific this time). I was nervous because it was a really bad eating week--visitors from out of town, running low on fruits & veggies w/no time for grocery shopping.

It turned out that she was actually surprised that I called it a "bad" week. According to my activity level, she marveled that I wasn't regularly hungry and suggested that I eat MORE food, explaining that your body hangs onto its reserves (meaning fat, I guess) when you burn more than you eat. Even though you don't feel like you're starving, your body can't be fooled.

She made up this plan for me based on the food guide pyramid. For the first few days, I was stuffed! It's only been a week, and it's still a struggle for me to get over the "Eat less, lose weight" mentality and get all that food in.

But, she did tell me that this might not work--everybody's body is different. She just suggested that I try it for a month and see what happens, then come in for another appointment. If nothing else, I left feeling like I'd learned a lot about nutrition when I'd walked in feeling like I knew it all!

So I guess it's all about finding something that works for you, I guess just by trial and error. I know it's frustrating, but I suppose it's worth the effort. Obviously, what I'm doing right now isn't as effective as I'd like, so I need to play with it. And, besides, how could I turn down a "diet" that tells me to eat more?!

Good luck! Sorry so long-winded!

Jessica

 

[Forgetful]

Eating too little slows your metabolism

You are absolutely right. This concept is why yo- yo dieting makes you fatter. If you don't consume enough calories, your body goes into starvation mode and holds onto fat for dear life. Once your metabloism has slowed, additinal calories- even in small amounts- add fat. The average woman should not consume less than 1200 calories per day. And that's really low and can set you up for a binge. I personally recommend no less than 1500. I am not a nutritionist, but am an avid nutrition "buff". Dieting is worthless. A healthy, varied diet full of frutis and veggies, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats is so much better than calorie restrictive diets that deprive you. Add that type of diet to exercise and you are all set. Recent studies of people who have lost weight and kept it off have found that 3o minutes 5 times a week isn't quite enough. These people exercised enough to burn 2800 calories a week, comparable to walking or running 28 miles a week and more like an hour a day of exercise although these numbers vary by person-the larger you are the more calories you burn.

 

[laurad]

HI Jessica (et.al)

Email is actually ldclay@netvigator..... I can't seem to fix that.

Anyway. Hi Jessica and others!

I had the very same problem (and sometimes still do) several years ago. And I visited a least 3 nutritionists (including 2 at Harvard -- and I'm only saying that so that I boost their legitimacy) -- who all said I needed to eat MORE.

Including more fat. So.... maybe this is an ongoing problem for us poor, starving, and quite athletic females!

Jessica -- I am really curious to see how your experiment goes. When I started increasing my caloric intake, I was scared. But I didn't gain any weight at all - and everything on my body (complexion, hair, muscles) - looked better. So trust in it. And good luck!

Laura

 

[xssmartie]

Clarification

Hi Cathe!

Thanks for your time!

As for the workouts- I should have been clearer... I was doing your PS tapes- each tape 1x a week alternated with cardio- either step, hi/lo, or TaeBo. I did this for about 6 weeks. Then I started doing MIS twice a week with cardio the remaining days. I did try to get in one interval workout a week- either Interval Max or another workout that fit... this I did for about 4-6 weeks.

I also wrote down and measured everything I ate so get as accurate a caloric intake (I did keep in mind it was not 100% to the calorie)....

I guess I could shovel down a few more calories and see what happens! I have always tried to get in adequate amounts of protein, carbs, and fat. I tend to eat more vegs/fruits than I do starchy carbs.

Again thanks for all the help/suggestions!

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

I'll just add....

that Laura's comment reminded me of time many years ago when I tried to substitute my fattening foods with all of that fat free stuff (that was everywhere you turned) to see if it really made a difference. I had terrible results. I was always bloated, craving more sweets, and dying for my next meal. My skin broke out constantly and my nails were brittle. I returned back to my healthy foods that contained natural fats and my entire body returned back to normal. I'm a strong believer in eating healthy natural foods(of course with some fattening "cheats" figured in there too).