Desperately seeking advice

M

mcgibso1

New Member
Hi There!
I was wondering if anyone else out there had this problem. I consider myself to be an advanced exeriser. I am able to routinely push my heartrate to 190bpm and beyond and still do the "talk" test. Problem is, that's supposed to be my maximum heart rate. Also, even though I eat well, monitor my calories, do loads of cardio, I can't lose weight. (I'm about 30lbs overweight.) Lifting weights tends to make me bulky if I'm not *really* careful. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Thanks, Maya
 
a thought

Are you consuming enough calories? If the deficit between energy output & input (eating) is too large, then the body goes into starvation mode & the metabolism slows.

Ok, 2 thoughts. Most people underestimate their portion size & therefore their caloric intake. Lots of Americans also consume a lot of sneaky liquid calories that can really add up. If that's a possiblity, you could go really anal & keep a food diary for a week or two. Also use a food scale, measuring cups, etc.

Good luck Maya.
Debra
 
Thanks, Debra

It just so happens that I've thought long and hard about the issues you brought up. I've sought advice from drs. and nutritionists, personal trainers and friends. I feel like I've stumped the experts and I just don't know what to do anymore. One thing I do know, is that exercise makes me feel a whole lot better--though it would be nice (and probably more healthy) to lose some weight too. Oh well, thanks again. If anyone has any other suggestions, I remain--
Forever grateful, Maya
 
anal??? Whaddaya mean, ANAL??

Debra, if food logging is anal, then I am anal!! hehe!! Never thought of myself that way before. Just kidding, really logging (along with MEASURING) is a great tool, it has helped me a LOT! Too bad it isn't the key for you, Maya. I would also suggest getting your thyroid checked (pardon me, I recommend this to everyone, I am hypothyroid myself so I'm aware of it). If I have any other bright ideas I'll let you know, in the meantime good for you for being so fit!!! You go girl!
 
Question for Susan P?

Hi,

Sorry to be butting in, but I have had similar problems as Maya (also saw a nutritionist, who BTW told me my low metabolism was due to perimenopause and genetics) and I'm also hypothyroid. My question is this: have you found you need to do different or extra things because you are hypothyroid? My dosage still, after almost 5 years, needs to oftentimes be adjusted and I cannot help but wonder whether this condition, even though the TSH now is where it should be, prevents me from losing weight.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Marianne
 
Hypothyro

My sister-in-law had that, then about 2-3 years ago had to have it removed. She was overweight until about six months ago. Now, I'm am not a nutritionist,but She was eating [it seemed to me] next to nothing! I told her she should up her calorie intake[quality calories]to 1500 a day. As said in the other responses, she was starving herself and her body was hanging on to all the fat it could. She is now at the proper weight for her height. However, she often has to have her dosage upped or lowered almost everytime she gets her bloodwork done. she says it's a real pain in the butt!!
 
Hypothyroid

<center><font size="1" color="#ff0000">LAST EDITED ON Jul-06-00 AT 12:43PM (EST)</font></center>

Hi Aimee!
It is good to know that I'm not alone with the constantly changing dosages. The literature makes it sound that being hypothyroid is very simple: just get the right dose (which may take 2 or 3 tries- yeah right)and then just take your pill and that's it!
I'm not sure whether I have been starving myself, though: at first I did eat between 1400 and 1500 calories, but I have since moved this up to between 1700 and 1800 at the advice of my nutritionist. This combined with exercising 5 to 6 days a week (Cathe and Firm)did nothing except keep me stable size-wise. I was injured for about 6 months and unfortunately that resulted in blimping me up again. Now I've started again and am hoping I will actually lose some weight, but I don't know what to do anymore.
BTW, when I ate less I didn't lose any weight either...
Thanks for telling me about your sister-in-law.

Marianne
 
Your Welcome

I wish I could've given you better news than 'My sister-in-law goes through that too.' I'm sorry to hear about your injury[that had to be hell!]. Maybe Cathe will read this and have better words of wisdom and encouragement for you. Let me know how your come-back journey is doing. Aimee
 
Insulin resistance

You may be insulin resistant. This term has been overused lately but it's a very real condition. It is a precursor to adult onset diabetes and it's generally genetic.

What it means is that when you eat, your insulin levels go up and stay up, rather than coming back down. This makes you somewhat hungry all the time, and causes your body to store more fat.

The solution to the problem is to lose weight and exercise, but it's a double edged sword because losing weight is extremely difficult with elevated insulin levels, because insulin enhances fat storage in the body.

Eventually, people with this condition can develop Type II diabetes if they don't modify their eating and exercise habits.

Some people find the zone diet helpful for this condition, and others use a diet that replaces some carbohydrates with healthy unsaturated fats, but high carbohydrate diets are not a good idea.

There are some other symptoms, but I won't take up more space here, email me if you have any questions as I have this condition.
 
Me TOO!

I too am insulin resistant. Carbs kill me, som more than others. I try to follow the Heller's
Carbohydrate book. When I follow the diet, I can lose weight. However, I seem to fall off the wagon alot. I am starting again because of the fear of developing diabetes. I have also started taking a supplement produced by Shari Liberman which is supposed to help you metabolize the carbs more easily.

I was once told by a rehab therapist that my heart
rate, which was in the 180-190 rate was too hi. She said that once I am in an anerobic state as opposed to an aerobic state, I will not lose weight. ( I don't know enough to know if that is true or not.)
 
Hi Marianne!!

Supposedly once your level of Synthroid is adjusted properly, you are physiologically normal. Your body doesn't know the real stuff from the fake stuff so if your dosage is right, it is as if you are not hypothyroid at all. Funny thing about dosages though, it's doggone hard to get them right and stabilized! I took the same dosage from the age of 21 to the age of 33. In the last 4 years my dosage has gone up EVERY time I see my doc! I get tested, they raise it a bit, re-test, it's fine, test a year later and need to up the dosage again! I guess my thyroid is slowly petering out on me more and more. So you are not the only one dealing with up and down and up and down on the dosages. Ever want to strangle your physician? Drives me nutso. I don't mind when it goes up, but dropping it throws me into a hormonal state mimicking three-month-long PMS! ACK!

My thought is that even though a dosage correction is "supposed" to make everything OK, anecdotal evidence seems to say that hypothyroid women, even corrected ones, still struggle a bit with the weight issues. I know that I have never struggled with my weight until the last 3 or 4 years, same time frame that I've had increasing dosages on a regular basis. . . Hmmmmm. Guess my answer is, I don't really know, but I'm with you all the way!
happy.gif
 
Thanks for your reply, Susan!

I guess what I'm learning from your answer is that the weight struggle seems to be related to the up and down dosages. I suspected that; in fact I brought up to my ob-gyn that I see a connection in my TSH levels and estrogen levels (as observed from the monthly cycle). It is as if each time the syntroid gets increased, the estrogen level changes and one gets that same 5 pound gain that one gets when one starts the Pill. He thought this was very possible.
I just wish I knew what to do to finally get some weight back off
sad.gif

I also read that hypothyroid women still have the problem that their brains tell them they're hungry even though their bodies don't need any food: some kind of miscommunication... Don't you love it?
Oh well, I guess we just have to keep on being vigilant about food, keep exercising and hope our thyroids eventually stabilize....
 
Hi Jane!

I don't know if your post was addressed to me or Maya or both, but I think I'm not insulin resistant; if I remember correctly my doctor did test me for this (among a bunch of other things, which is why I'm not sure). I do have reactive bloodsugar, though.
It sounds like we all have a lot of things happening in our bodies that wreak havoc on our body size....
 
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