doing STS program, but still gaining weigh

[Maria del C Zepeda]

Hi Cathe, I'm almost 51 yrs old. 5'1" in height, about 11yrs ago I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and due to pain I stopped exercising and gain a lot of weight. Little by little I started to exercisse againg and 2 yrs ago I manage to lose 25 lbs by doing some of your workouts and using a calorie counting program (lose it). Now I am going on my second rotation of the STS program, but for some reson I gaing back 11lbs which I have accumulated around my waist. I continue to use the lose it program. I am sonsuming 12 to 14000 cal. per day but I am still gaining wheigh. I recently purchased your Cross fire DVD,and love it. I exercise 5-6 times per week. What am I doing wrong? Please help!
Thank you so much for your inspiration and great work you do. I am sharing all your workouts with my daughters, my 17 yrs old is a fan of yours and we sometimes workup together. Keep up your good work.

 

[sunsdaughter]

I have a kind of related question....how much weight can one expect to gain from heavy weight training? I've been doing more weight training over the past few weeks and have put on about 3 lbs...not a lot, I know, but something I've noticed. Just curious to know what others' experiences have been. I know that some of the initial weight gain can be temporary.
Thoughts?

 

[lcsavik]

Hi Cathe, I'm almost 51 yrs old. 5'1" in height, about 11yrs ago I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and due to pain I stopped exercising and gain a lot of weight. Little by little I started to exercisse againg and 2 yrs ago I manage to lose 25 lbs by doing some of your workouts and using a calorie counting program (lose it). Now I am going on my second rotation of the STS program, but for some reson I gaing back 11lbs which I have accumulated around my waist. I continue to use the lose it program. I am sonsuming 12 to 14000 cal. per day but I am still gaining wheigh. I recently purchased your Cross fire DVD,and love it. I exercise 5-6 times per week. What am I doing wrong? Please help!
Thank you so much for your inspiration and great work you do. I am sharing all your workouts with my daughters, my 17 yrs old is a fan of yours and we sometimes workup together. Keep up your good work.

Not Cathe, but will give you my opinion.
Did mean you are consuming 1,200-1,400 calories? If so, according to NutritionNow 6e, you should base your caloric need off of your basal metabolism, physical activity, and dietary thermogenesis. Multiply your wt by 10 to get your basal metabolic rate. Then, multiply that product by your activity level (30% for inactive, 50% average, 75% really active). Next, add the products of your basal metabolic rate and activity level to find your dietary thermogenesis. Multiply the result by 10%. Now add all the products together and you have your total caloric need.
You may just find that you aren't giving your body enough fuel to perform at the level you are demanding it to. According to the text book, the "really active" percentage is based on being active 4+ hours a day with strenuous activity. I'm a college student studying for my DPT, so I spend a lot of time sitting in class and studying so I chose average. I weigh 125 lbs. workout 5-6 days a week (all Cathe workouts) and my BMI is 20.8 which is in the middle of the healthy, normal range. I eat 6x a day and use the hand method to measure portion size. I don't eat anything out of a box and I shy away from animal protein due to chronic inflammation issues and was directed to do so by my doctor.

Here is an example of the above formula based on my stats:
Basal Metabolism: 125 x 10= 1,250
Physical activity: 1,250 x .50=625
Deitary thermogenesis: 1,250 + 625= 1875 -> 1875 x .10= 187.5
Total calorie need: 1,250 + 625 + 187.5= 2,062.5
Now if I wanted to lose 1 lb a week I would reduce my daily caloric intake by 500 because 1 lb of fat equals 3,500 calories and there are 7 days in a week.
Hope that makes sense.

 

[maddiesmum]

I have a kind of related question....how much weight can one expect to gain from heavy weight training? I've been doing more weight training over the past few weeks and have put on about 3 lbs...not a lot, I know, but something I've noticed. Just curious to know what others' experiences have been. I know that some of the initial weight gain can be temporary.
Thoughts?

Hi:

while you may gain a little weight, you should lose size. A little extra water weight can be expected for a week or two, then it drops and leaves lovely sleek muscle (in theory!).

In reality, I find that the minute I start doing weight training regularly, I am bigger all over and weigh more. When I stick to a high cardio regime with lots of running, I weigh less and am smaller. That's just how my body reacts.

Clare

 

[kariev]

I agree with Clare. Your body type may not respond well up heavy lifting. Maybe you should stick with meso 1 or do total body workouts with lighter weights such as high reps or muscle endurance. If I lift heave for my upper body, I get way to broad and thick through thar shoulders yet I can lift heavy for legs without a problem. It's all trial and error and it seems like heavier weights aren't working for you.

 

[UNLVCrjChick]

I feel your pain. I am just ending Mesocycle 1 and I'm bloated and looking and feeling terrible. I too am starting to wonder whether heavy lifting is right for me, although I had great results with slow heavy weight lifting when I did ChaLEAN Extreme.

 

[mini-natty]

Hi there,

Whenever I start a new strength training regime, I always gain a few lbs. I believe Cathe explains this as temporary water retention within the muscles. Quite normal. After a few weeks the water weight goes away and the weight stabilizes. However, if you want a more accurate measure of your fitness gains (if you are "truly" gaining muscle as opposed to fat) I would encourage you to try a body fat scale or even a measuring tape or fat capillaries. Would you be happy to see that you've increased your muscle mass by 1% and decreased your fat lbs, even of the scale showed an increase? I would. The #'s on the scale sometimes do not tell the whole truth.

lcsavik has given you excellent pointers on calorie consumption. Also, take this into account; are you accurately determining your caloric needs? Some people think they are consuming far more/less than they really are. It's easy to overestimate/underestimate calories. VERY EASY. You may think you are only consuming 1,300cal, but if you write everything you've consumed down, every last morsel eaten, you may be surprised at how "high" you've actually gone. 1c of milk instead of 1/2c, 5oz of chicken instead of 3oz, 2tbls nut butter instead of 1, ect. Don't forget juice, cream in your coffee, sugar, everything adds up!

And one more thing, don't underestimate plain old fashioned walking! All those steps and miles are like magic for the body and the mind. Most people in this day and age do not get the recommended 10,000 steps/day (which equals to about 5 miles) to ward off age related weight gain. Keeping your body in movement does wonders in shedding the extra lbs and puts virtually no stress on the body/joints.

Good luck and take care

Natasha

 

[Beth-B-Fit]

I don't have an answer for you but can feel your frustration. I have no idea why you have gained back 11 pounds. At 51 maybe your metabolism is slowing down. Are you drinking a good amount of water? You may want to move away from STS for a bit and do circuits and the metabolism workouts (Afterburn, Crossfire, etc.) Your body may be adapting to STS and you need a change. I always gain a pound or two if I'm in a phase of heavier lifting. Try to look at working out as fun and do what you want for a while. Stressing about it is counterproductive for me. When I get home from work I try to workout. If I end up having to work a 12 hour shift I just take the day off. If I work 10 I usually do a shock cardio or just the first half of MIC. Since I'm more relaxed about it I haven't had to worry about my weight. When I reach a certain number on my scale I cut out my 5th meal of the day and just do four meals of about 400 calories each. It works for me (for now anyway at 47 years old!).

Best to you,

Beth