Don't see a change

nancy324

nancy324

Cathlete
Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this: I've been weight training with my Cathe tapes now for more than 3 months. Mostly PS, but also S&H, and a bit of MIS. My clothes fit exactly as they always have, and my weight is about the same. I do not see any difference when I look in the mirror. In short, there are no changes whatsoever except for the following:

1. My upper legs and my glutes feel like they are made of cement.
2. When I run my hand over my arms, I can feel roundness and shape where I never felt it before.
3. If I press very hard on my tummy, I can feel solid ab muscles under the fat.

In short, although I don't see any change, I can feel change. Has anyone else experienced their body this way? Is this the way its supposed to go? Is it possible that my progress is slow because I miss about a week out of every month to PMS? Thanks.
-Nancy
 
Hey Nancy! Sounds like a few positive changes





































































































































































Hi Nancy! Sounds like you have experienced some (non visible) changes! Well may I ask what kind of cardio you are doing?

When you build, or increase density of, muscle, your cardio burns more fat. So tell us about your cardio, water intake, and protein consumption.

I paid a trainer good money just so she would give me a food diary (as it turns out, I needed to pay $ to pay attention to its importance!) and I filled it out dutifully each day. She eventually *never* checked it but I learned a ton! It sure did change me!

Anyway, 3 months is a quarter of a year. Project over 5 years. Where were you when you started? What is your short term goal?

Your medium and long term goals?
 
You haven't shared what you're doing, if anything, to clean up your eating habits. I agree with Connie about the food diary thing. Clean eating in conjunction with weights and cardio is essential.

Do you mean that you are not exercising for one entire week every month? If this is the case, it may very well slow down your fitness gains. PMS should never stop you from exercising.

Usually weight training will make you more compact - I weigh the same since I started weights in earnest in 1996 or 1997 (after a 7 years lull) and wear am down from a size 10 to a size 4 or 6.



Just Do It! :)
 
As testiment to what Conni & Honeybunch are saying here, I have been using Cathe for about a year now. I haven't SEEN a positive change in my body. In fact, my clothes are now tighter & my measurements are larger than when I started. What am I doing wrong? MY DIET SUCKS!!! I don't eat enough protein & I eat way too much sugar. In the last week, I've started keeping a food journal. Day 1 went something like this

Breakfast--coffee, eggs, fruit
Snack--chocolate chip cookies
Lunch--ham sandwich with full fat mayo & a sweet pickle
Snack--14 large goldfish (170 calories of nothing but air~)
Dinner--Homemade veal parmegiane with garlic mashed potatoes
Snack--hot chocolate with a cookie

Yesterday (day 4) was much better

Breakfast--coffee, 2 eggs, spinach, cheese, salsa (much more filling!)
Snack--apple with 2 tbsp peanut butter (I actually measured it!)
Lunch--turkey with cheese & mustard & a hot pepper
Snack--1 cup of grapes
Dinner--meatloaf & oven roasted potatoes

The change in my diet is slight but I think eventually, I'll do better & lose the fat I don't want clinging to my body!

I've also increased the cardio I'm doing to 45 minutes a day 3 days a week. Yes, that means I'm working out almost 2 hours on some days, but it is a sacrifice I have to make in order to get fit!

I'm ready to take the next step! http://www.smilies-world.de/Smilies/Smilies_klein_1/a_smil09.gif
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-27-02 AT 10:31AM (Est)[/font][p]Good questions. I haven't really thought that much about my goals. I think I just want to feel good, be healthy, control my stress and age gracefully. I'm 46 years old and I'm scared of menopause, which has not begun for me yet. My mom didn't experience it until she was in her late fifties. I'm 5'3" and weigh about 115 lbs. I have no idea what my body fat ratio is and should probably find out.

I have a low fat diet, but it is high in sugar. I doubt I could ever do the "clean eating" thing. I don't own a pot and don't have time to prepare food. I've been eating Lean Cuisines for many decades, which I assume is the antithesis of clean eating.

My cardio is aerobic walking on the treadmill about twice a week. I use a heart monitor and usually stay in my aerobic zone for at least 35 minutes. Although health and stress control are my first priorities, I think there is a part of me that would like to see a smaller waistline and a better shape, and maybe that's what my post is about. Realistically, I have a short-waisted thick-middled body type, and I have had a matronly appearance since I was a young girl, and I don't think you can change that.

Does any of that help clarify anything? :)
-Nancy
 
Hi Gettingfit! If you'll allow me to suggest some changes I would tweak your diet and workout program like this:

Breakfast: the second breakfast you listed was much better but also try to eat McCann's Steel Cut oatmeal w/blueberries this will give you 16g of protein and 16g of fiber in only 1 cup. Also the blueberries will give you 4g of fiber. A nutritious and substantial breakfast
Snack: the apple was great but please skip the peanut butter (its too fattening; even the natural kind). Instead eat a lite cheese stick w/the apple; again protein & fiber
Lunch: turkey and cheese were fine but try to add avocado & tomato to it plus a mixed green salad. Again far more fiber and will fill you up quickly and last in your system much longer
Snack: this was good (grapes)
Dinner: meatloaf is fine but instead of adding breadcrumbs try using oat bran flakes instead; please try to it more veggies (didn't see you list any)

2 hrs. to workout seems like a lot to me; maybe if your schedule allows try doing 2 or 3 bodyparts for 1 hr. and then doing 45 min. of cardio on another day; don't know if you can alternate your days; put more emphasis on weight training than cardio.

Good luck and let us know how your progressing! Best, Kathy
 
To me, 5'3" and 115 pounds sounds pretty ding-dang thin. I'm 5'3" and 122 and it's hard to imagine you as matronly. It sounds like you should just continue to work on building and toning your muscles. Eventually you'll change your shape to something that will satisfy you. In the meantime, don't be so hard on yourself. I'd kill to be 115. :)

- Jennifer
 
Honeybunch:

Sorry, but I disagree on this one. Chronic PMS, which actually should be diagnosed as PMDD, does and can stop you from working out. I chat to Nancy often and I believe she and I are alike on this one.

When the symptoms get so bad, they affect you both physically, and psychologically and emotionally. If this happens, you are actually doing yourself a disservice to try Power Hour on one of those days, as was Nancy's recent experience. All that happens is you feel like total s**t, you feel a total klutz because you know you can usually lift double this amount, and then the negative thinking vibes kick in and you try for lower ends, all while convincing yourself that you are a loser, you'll never make any fitness goals nor achieve anything in other areas of your life either.

Then you finish your workout session full of this negative energy and carry it around with you for the next week.

In this scenario, I have been known to take the complete week off, because it's just not worth it. Who needs to burst into tears in the middle of IMAX? (Me last March)

Nancy, you are not alone

Clare
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-27-02 AT 11:36AM (Est)[/font][p]I agree with Kathy. Your diet sounds too high in fats of the sugar variety.

Try to cut down on biscuits and mayo (I actually think peanut butter is good for you, but to have it with apple is a bit weird. Do you just eat the peanut butter spread over the apple? Try it over bread is better). You ever thought about scrambled eggs with grilled tomatoes and mushrooms for breakfast? That is an excellent protein start to the day. Have roasts with boiled vegetable and roast parsnips instead of potatoes. Why not have a turkey sandwich with a little spread and salad rather adding the cheese, which is high in fat. Next day have a cheese sandwich or cheese salad. Try to have one protein at a time so you don't end up eating too much.

As for your workout, I think 2 hours a day is far too much. Go for just over an hour and do cardio on seperate days. For instance:

MON: MIS
TUES: ANY STEP
WEDS: PS LOWER BODY
THURS: PS UPPER BODY (BOTH SEGMENTS)
FRI: REST
SAT: MIC
SUN: REST OR YOGA STRETCH

These programs are very challenging so you don't want to do them for long. I personally do not want to do cardio after a PS or MIS or PH because I think they are quite long and very exhausting.

For me, I have been doing the weights program with running instead of step. My running is very hard. I CANNOT work out for more than 1 1/2 hours a day otherwise I would not have a life.

Yen
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-27-02 AT 12:08PM (Est)[/font][p]I know exactly where you are at because i have been there for a long time.

Are you lifting heavy enough? You have to really challenge yourself with PS series (I lift more weights than I do with MIS). It does take time for your body to start changing. The first 3 months, your body is still new to exercise and weights. You will not be able to lift heavy enough to start gaining muscles and burning fat. When you are sufficiently strong, then increase the weights and as you add more weights your body will enter the 'real workout' phase, as I call it, and your muscles will begin to work for you.

I have not been doing Cathe for long either (6+ months) and it's only now that I have moved on to the PS series with MIS 3 times a week and 2 running sessions that I am feeling myself losing weight. The fitter I become, the more my body can do and the more weight I lose. You wouldn't believe how long it's taken me to get to this level and there is still plenty of room for improvement. I used to think step aerobics was challenging until I joined a running club (I was the slowest one there). Also, I keep trying to lift more weights all the time (I have finally gotten over the fear that heavy lifting will make me muscley and went for the challenge). Exercise is tough! But it does get easier.

Diet wise, I eat pretty much what I want because I know I can burn it off. Although I do try and eat fresh meat and vegetables every day. Once a week I will have pizza, fish & chips, burger & fries etc. (usually after a hard run). I do eat chocolate (usually before a run) and everything else, but my daily diet is rice, fish, meat and vegetables.

Yen
 
Apples and PB

Don't have much to add here but I just wanted to tell you Yen that Apples and Peanut Butter are very very tasty, you should try it!
 
Hi Nancy. Well I think I get it. When you do walking for cardio, your results will not be the same as if you are doing Interval Max once a week.

I got IMax by mistake. My mom picked it as the free tape when getting me the tapes I asked for for Christmas almost one year ago now. My first Cathe tapes! I didn't have a step and didn't want to step.

But after trying to unload the tape here on this forum, people encouraged me to just try it without the step. I tried it and got hooked.

Between more vigorous cardio and redistributing what you eat, you can change how you look and how you feel. You don't have to buy a pot. You will always be in control and you will only buy a pot if you want to buy a pot.

Sugar is fun but it boosts and saps your energy and that can be annoying. Carbohydrates in cottage cheese, apples, whole wheat bread and a myriad of other foods can really grow on you if you give them a chance.

[link:www.geocities.com/ciaobella98765/FoodDiary.xls|Here] is a copy of the daily food diary I used. (Thanks to Cheryl DeWorken, P.T., www.dewpath.com). With my level of activity at first I was shooting for daily intake of 1400-1500 calories, 140 grams protein, 140 grams carbohydrate, and 25-30 grams fat.

This is an Excel file so I hope you can decipher it. If not, maybe someone can tell me how to convert it or decode it for you.

Now my intake is roughly 2300 calories a day and I am keeping my weight stable at 130 pounds (I am 5 feet 4 and a half inches tall). I eat peanut butter almost every day, I like it. With food I just plan ahead a little more and I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn but it's fun. Check out my page [link:www.geocities.com/ciaobella98765/Fitness.html|here] (pics). You may have already seen this page.

Summary: add adventuresome intensity to cardio, and tweak what you eat. Take a walk on the wild side!
HTH,
Connie
 
I agree, Clare. Severe PMS can and does interfere with exercising. On Friday, my whole body was in pain, even after taking ibuprofen. I felt too sick to do anything but sleep, but I couldn't sleep because of the pain. Although this was an unusually bad month, there are many months that come close. Why am I dreading menopause?? Maybe I should be looking forward to it!
-Nancy
 
RE: RESEARCH........

Hi Nancy,

Research has shown that women who suffer with dreadful PMS/PMDD, tend to breeze through their Menopause with little or no symptons, so maybe you should be looking forward to the change ? I know I am, after, too suffering for years. Have you tried giving up caffeine ? Or, taking Evening Primrose Oil caps ? Or even trying Raspberry Leaf capsules too ? Raspberry Leaf helps to strengthen the uterine contractions, therefore lessening the pain. Both of these taken together really help (Evening Primrose take about 3 months to get in the system, and the Raspberry Leaf gets to work straight away). You could try drinking the tea, Raspberry Leaf, if you can find it, 3 times a day. Both remedies have worked for me. Also, if you are lowering your calories, Omega 3 found in Fish oil capsules are recommended to keep ones temperament sweet, too, if you suffer at TTOTM. As ever, if taking other medication, check that you can take them with it.

Hope this was of some help,

Anna :)
 
PMS kept me from exercising for 3-4 weeks last month. Yup, THAT bad. The residual pain is very uncomfortable. I just don't exercise during that time because it is useless to even attempt it.

My pains are so bad that I will be trying out the new Yasmin BC pill next month to see if it can help me.

Take a break, "slurp" ;-) the coffee, be nice to yourself and others and enjoy your life...Runathon http://www.plauder-smilies.de/happy/coffee.gif[/img]
 
Peanut butter with apple TASTES terrific!! Cut the apple into slices and "dip" the slices in peanut butter. I don't know how GOOD it is for you but it is filling and tastes good. BTW I use the reduced fat PB the other is just to greasy for me. DO you think that is still too much fat. I am curious b/c I am trying to "tweak" my diet to get rid of the fat layer also
 
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