Frustrated about my lack of measurable progress

[RapidBreath]

Training for endurance events often leads to weight retention/gain. Most marathon runners put on 10 pounds with their first marathon. I wonder if you are doing too much cardio. Also, soy can impede your ability to receive your own thyroid. In other words its like insulin, you need the receptors to be in receiving mode in order to reap the benefits of your own thyroid. You might try rice powder. Also, are you getting enough fat? Sometimes people try to have a low fat and low carb diet, but its easiest to burn fat and put on muscle with an adequate protein and high fat (healthy fats) diet. So, drizzle extra coconut oil on your vegies.

 

[Bobbi-B]

I can almost guarantee that STS will be one of the BEST birthday gifts ever! Happy Early BD!!! Also, did you preorder the new workouts? They will be delivered right around your BD!!! My hubby used to roll his eyes til I got him hooked on STS...now, he asks when Cathe is coming out with new workouts!

OF COURSE I pre-ordered the new workouts, nobody and nothing could have stopped me! I love that they'll arrive shortly after my bday, it's my present to myself. STS will be my present from my hubby.

I only wish I could get my husband hooked on STS. He's a couch potato with various health problems, many of which would improve with exercise, but many of which make it hard for him to be active in the first place. I've tried to explain to him how even some light weight work would make a big difference for him, but he will have none of it.

 

[Bobbi-B]

Training for endurance events often leads to weight retention/gain. Most marathon runners put on 10 pounds with their first marathon. I wonder if you are doing too much cardio. Also, soy can impede your ability to receive your own thyroid. In other words its like insulin, you need the receptors to be in receiving mode in order to reap the benefits of your own thyroid. You might try rice powder. Also, are you getting enough fat? Sometimes people try to have a low fat and low carb diet, but its easiest to burn fat and put on muscle with an adequate protein and high fat (healthy fats) diet. So, drizzle extra coconut oil on your vegies.

Thanks RapidBreath, really good things for me to think about. This will be my third half-marathon this year, but I walk these 1/2-marathons, I don't run. The training I do for them is walking on my treadmill and hiking in the woods, I consider it my LSD (long, slow distance) work. Then I do shorter, higher intensity cardio another few times a week. Not sure if this sounds like too much. I like cardio, I like to sweat. I'm looking for a non-soy protein powder, and trying not to eat too much soy. I think I get enough fat, about 20-30% of my calories come from fat, and that's all from nuts/nut butters, olive oil, canola oil, and avocados.

Thanks you everyone for so many good things to think about. This is really helpful for me to figure out how to tweak what I'm doing.

 

[maddiesmum]

Bobbi:

if you are a walker, not a runner, than it seems to me the cardio program you have explained seems just fine. You have a combination of long, slower and steady and other cardio workouts of greater intensity.

The amount of cardio is not too much. You can only consider it too much if you are feeling required or forcing yourself to do it or if it becomes too onerous or if it stops you from doing anything else due to time constraints. If you enjoy the cardio you do, it is not too much! There are posters here who do way more cardio than you. Relax.

It is also not true to say that only HiiT cardio has any effect upon your metabolism. I took two months off this summer due to depression. During this time I barely moved and hardly ate because I was not motivated to do wither. Both these non-activities are, supposedly, terrible for the metabolism. Indeed, I did feel rather slug like! However, I threw myself back into my regular workouts and within two weeks my metabolism is singing along. Like you, I am a walker, not a runner (due to constant injuries with running), and my cardio sessions are typically steady state. It is very hard to introduce interval training and HiiT into powerwalking. I do three cardio sessions per week, each lasting 60 mins. The workout always gets progressively harder as time goes along. My fastest walking (5.8 mph) and highest inclines (14-15%) are saved for the final 10-20 mins of the workout. It's not interval training, but it works for me.

If you are pushing as hard as you can, hiking the steepest hills, speeding along on the flat stretches, giving yourself power bursts to accomplish, you can add greater intensity to your walking workouts.

I wonder if circuit training/bootcamp style training might help you shed fat tissue to reveal the muscle you have worked hard to gain on your frame? If you are not used to this type of workout, it might provide the "shock" to your system to persuade it to give up some fat to show muscle definition?

Try not to get too disheartened. everything you are doing is promoting a fabulously healthy body. It's all good. Maybe, as Self magazine discuses each year, this is your body's happy weight? As we age, our body composition does change and with the reduction in estrogen, is is a herculean task to lose fat from the female body. For most women, some added fat is an eventuality that we are forced to accept, if grudgingly, for the sake of our sanity and because, really, there are fabulous things going on in our lives we do not want to miss out on while worrying about our body fat percentage, and also, there are greater things to worry about!!!

Also, you can add muscle and definition on a vegetarian diet. I do it all the time. The body reacts to all food as chemical compounds to process. It does not distinguish between protein of animal versus plant sources. The only thing to think about is: do you eat the correct amount of protein? Do you cover all the essential amino acids in different food combinations in your diet?

Good luck with that marathon walk. I did one once and couldn't move for days afterwards!!!

Clare

 

[morningstar]

Clare, I didn't say that cardio didn't burn calories, I said it doesn't do much to grow your metabolism. Of course cardio burns calories; it just doesn't do much to keep burning extra calories after the workout's over.

 

[maddiesmum]

I did not mis-read or mis-interpret your statement.

The affect of steady state cardio upon the body is going to depend upon the individual and the intensity each brings to her steady state cardio workout. I think blanket statements should be avoided, especially if the result might be to discourage Bobbi from the cardio workouts and from the walking from which she obviously derives much pleasure.

You also do a lot of walking, no?

Clare

 

[112toGuru]

I have been working out 5 to 6 times a week for five and a half months, and logging everything I eat. For the past three months, I have lost neither pounds nor inches, despite the fact that I have noticed significant strength, endurance, and cardiovascular gains. In other words, I am in better shape, but it doesn't show, so I am the only one who knows it!

This morning I took my measurements, and they are exactly the same as three months ago, which is what is sparking this little rant. I was fine with the scale not moving, because I figured all my hard work would mean I would be getting trimmer.

While I do appreciate the fact that I can work out harder and longer, it's very frustrating to work so hard and not look any fitter. I'm not overweight (I'm 5'9" and my weight ranges between 145 and 150 lbs.) but I would like to look more toned, ideally by replacing a few pounds of fat with muscle.

Any ideas about what is going on?!

P.S. I eat between 1200 and 1800 calories a day, and I eat a relatively clean, wheat-free vegan diet.

Hi Bobbi-B,

You mentioned you've worked out with Cathe workouts for the past few months & said you have a lot of older workouts, you don't use anymore; how long have you been working out regularly? 5 years, 10 years? or has regular exercise been more recent than that? I only mention this because sometimes seasoned exercisers may not see the kind of changes you would like to see, or just not at that visible rate, like beginners.

I picked up Tom Venuto's Holy Grail of Body Transformation, hoping to shed some body fat, I haven't come up with the perfect menu equation, still working on it, but it's mainly focused on protein, fats, & carbs. No quick fix either, it takes a pretty focused approach. I guess I'm a little reluctant to try it (or don't have my ducks in a row yet) but I think the method is pretty good. Once you have the exercise part I think the diet needs the same rigorous attention, if that's the result you want to have, leaner look with more muscle, less fat. That wouldn't show on the scale, you'd know by measurements & body fat test or calculation.

I hear ya! Good Luck!

Linda

 

[AnneMA]

A similar question as Frustrated

I was going to post a similar frustration myself and I came upon this one. I am 5'3" and weigh 105 lbs and have always been this size. I do some cardio, but mostly strength training with weights, pull-ups, push-ups, etc. I've been using Cathe for many years and also incorporate P90X and P90X Plus. Although I have muscle tone, I do not appear cut, which is what I want. I'm a partial vegetarian, meaning I still eat fish and occasionally chicken. I always eat a protein bar after strength training, but maybe that isn't enough? Do you know how much protein is required after strength training and then is it necessary to continue throughout the day and following days? Thanks so much for offering your expertise.

 

[morningstar]

I did not mis-read or mis-interpret your statement.

The affect of steady state cardio upon the body is going to depend upon the individual and the intensity each brings to her steady state cardio workout. I think blanket statements should be avoided, especially if the result might be to discourage Bobbi from the cardio workouts and from the walking from which she obviously derives much pleasure.

You also do a lot of walking, no?

Clare

I don't think anyone has ever accused me of discouraging someone from walking before! I walked for 3.5 hours today and never told a single person on the street that they should be in a car.

Steady state cardio burns calories while you are doing it, is excellent for your cardiovascular system, helps us live longer, etc. But compared to resistance training, HiiT cardio, intense strength/cardio circuits, compound exercises, etc., steady state cardio is simply not going to boost your metabolism to the same extent.

Walking has lots of wonderful things to recommend it, but it is by no means the only type of exercise I do and I don't rely on it in the slightest to boost my metabolism - I rely on intense cardio workouts and strength training for that. And I'm pretty darn sure most personal trainers would agree with me.

 

[112toGuru]

...
Steady state cardio burns calories while you are doing it, is excellent for your cardiovascular system, helps us live longer, etc. But compared to resistance training, HiiT cardio, intense strength/cardio circuits, compound exercises, etc., steady state cardio is simply not going to boost your metabolism to the same extent.

Walking has lots of wonderful things to recommend it, but it is by no means the only type of exercise I do and I don't rely on it in the slightest to boost my metabolism - I rely on intense cardio workouts and strength training for that. And I'm pretty darn sure most personal trainers would agree with me.

I'm looking forward to Cathe's article on Steady State vs. Hiit, while there is a lot of talk about metabolism and what each may do for that, I'm interested in what systems it works, the aerobic vs. anaerobic effect, and where that falls in daily exercise & conditioning programs. While you may not rely on walking to boost your metabolism, I think any exercise, and especially exercise done on a daily basis does boost metabolism. You can not replace regularly daily exercise with Hiit and expect to get the same results, for many people Hiit is not appropriate because of a low level or lack of physical conditioning in general. All physical conditioning programs have to be looked at with safety in mind, first. I would think this would be a personal trainers primary goal.

Back to the systems though, I would really like to know what physiologically goes on during the aerobic-anaerobic mixes and what actual effects they produce as well as the time required & length of the benefit.

I think at some point, I will know, the basic metabolism factor though isn't really the answer I don't think.

Linda

 

[Bobbi-B]

Hi Bobbi-B,

You mentioned you've worked out with Cathe workouts for the past few months & said you have a lot of older workouts, you don't use anymore; how long have you been working out regularly? 5 years, 10 years? or has regular exercise been more recent than that? I only mention this because sometimes seasoned exercisers may not see the kind of changes you would like to see, or just not at that visible rate, like beginners.

I picked up Tom Venuto's Holy Grail of Body Transformation, hoping to shed some body fat, I haven't come up with the perfect menu equation, still working on it, but it's mainly focused on protein, fats, & carbs. No quick fix either, it takes a pretty focused approach. I guess I'm a little reluctant to try it (or don't have my ducks in a row yet) but I think the method is pretty good. Once you have the exercise part I think the diet needs the same rigorous attention, if that's the result you want to have, leaner look with more muscle, less fat. That wouldn't show on the scale, you'd know by measurements & body fat test or calculation.

I hear ya! Good Luck!

Linda

Thanks Linda! I'm a seasoned exerciser, been doing some form of cardio and weights since college (I'm 41 now) with several lapses in activity along the way. I think I'm just going to stay consistent, lift heavier, and up my protein a little, and see what happens. I'm gearing up to get STS in a couple months, too.

 

[sweaty1]

I have to pipe in because I feel the same way with working hard with little noticable results. I have been an advanced exerciser for over 20 years. It is part of my life and I love how strong and confident it makes me feel. However, I too have a very hard time getting the last layer of fat off of my body and letting my hard earned muscles show! I have ate more, ate less, did steady state, did weights only...you name it, I have tried it.

Don't laugh...but the only thing that truly has helped me on the diet side is weight watchers! Can you believe that? Something about tracking my food online with that program just works for me. I am no novice to diet and exercise and I dont' have a ton of weight to lose (although I weigh a lot). I am almost embarrassed to mention it because I am a Cathlete, P90X, Insanity advanced workout junkie. I change it up all the time, I eat cleanly (not vegan...love meat...sorry!). so weight watchers? I use it to track and it seem to work. Since I started tracking with that system, I have lost about .5 lb per week; which is slow, but I don't have much to lose as I am looking for leaning out and letting my muscles show. However, I have come to the conclusion that I am a slow burner. None of this 2000 calories a day for me although I work out so hard. I really have to stay at about 1200-1500 and for me, that is not much food. But if I zig zag once or twice a week (eat about 300 more calories on a given day) then I seem to continue seeing slow, but visible results.

Right now I am on my last month of a 90 day rotation of Insanity (I extended it a bit) and I am finally seeing results and have had my friends mention I am getting trimmer! Yeah! These are those 'work out' friends that you love but you compete with? When they say you are looking leaner...that is a big deal! And I put a pair of jeans on yesterday that fit before, but fit GREAT now. Little successes are big time when you are fit to begin with.

So...that is my story. I don't have STS yet, I know, I know, and I think that I will be doing a P90X/Insantiy hybrid for a bit, then will do my Cathe STS. For now, I am liking the cardio and body resistance muscle work I am getting from Insanity and keep seeing results so I will hang with it for a bit yet.

Oh, I am 5,5" 152 (yup, I weigh a lot) but a size 4. So I know I have muscle weight and I am happy with my size, but I want all my hard work to show in my arms and core (happy with my legs!!!) and I am on my way. I just can't eat that much...darn it.

Love the posts ladies! And Debbie H...now I see your posts everywhere my facebook friend!

Becky

 

[112toGuru]

Thanks Linda! I'm a seasoned exerciser, been doing some form of cardio and weights since college (I'm 41 now) with several lapses in activity along the way. I think I'm just going to stay consistent, lift heavier, and up my protein a little, and see what happens. I'm gearing up to get STS in a couple months, too.

That's my thinking too, Bobbi-B, I have hemp protein I drink with lite chocolate soy milk, it's 15g protein + the soy milk 3g, for after workouts. Also choose Go Lean Crunch cereal, 9g per serving, generally on strength days. Prefer shredded wheat on the other days for some reason.

Have not been having as much citrus (for vitamin C) or Green tea, but have read once again that these additions may be good. Also usually have fat free yogurt daily. Have been very consistent over time with calories & components of the diet. I just haven't quite put it all together regularly for that goal, on a daily basis.

Becky, that's my height too, but I hang around the 132 mark right now, and haven't crossed that, muscle weighs more than....threshold. No disrespect, but man, you got to be just solid to be a 4, & that weight, can't imagine you havin' any fat. I talked to a guy at a fitness shop once, he was my height & 200 lb. he was very solid, & trim.

Good Luck to you both if you go for the STS, I'm still building and have some specific rotations to complete before I think on that. Mainly core-centric & possibly Cathe-Ilaria 10 day mix, for fall.

Let me know what you come up with!

Linda

 

[mom418]

sweaty 1,
i really dont understand how 150 lbs is alot. i'm close to the same height. years ago i was 140/150 and i looked healthy. i dont think you should say its 'alot' just by the number. some of us arent ment to be 110 lbs. we dont all assume you weigh too much, and i hope that you dont think that.
also, for the plus size girls its turned another way. well what about 200? is that alot? well if i'm 30 lbs lighter, then i'm happy to shout it from the roof tops. body type. where your perspective is. it matters.
i try to be as empathetic as possible when i'm reading or posting. fat or thin we all struggle. and i think and hope most of our members feel the same way.

 

[112toGuru]

mom418,

I don't know if you saw, Becky said she was a size 4, which is tiny in my eyes, I'm the same height, at 132, some 20 pounds lighter, yet I'm size 8 easy, maybe a 6, but I wear 8-10 tops, 8 bottoms, and have 25% body fat (there-abouts).

It's a lot of muscle she has, not fat. that's really the crux of the whole thread for Bobbi-B. It's not a weight thing. The guy I spoke of was very slim, all muscle. That's what accounted for his weight, he was built like a football player. But an average guy his size would be around 155, not 200, with average strength.

I don't know if I explained the difference adequately, but we were discussing lean mass versus body fat, at least that's how I read it. I just thought commenting on someone's physique may be a little personal, so I prefaced that with an apology. I don't think there was anything wrong with what I said or meant.

Linda

 

[mom418]

i saw that she's a size 4, and your post about her muscle. all the more reason her post shouldnt sound like 152 is too much. it sounds like the right size for her, and healthy and being toned is great. thats how her post sounded, like she has to apoligize or she thinks people will think shes fat. maybe thats not the case.
too many women and men think they are fat when really they arent. too long i was in denial of my fat and i just got worse. still when i check my weight it says i'm obese. thats not muscle. i'm just fat. sometimes i think i ran faster than in hs. i am getting fit. but we have to be real and if we are fat wake up so we can do something about it. and for those of us lucky enough to be healthy be happy about it. too much of the time we think the number on the scale is so important. for all the cathletes i hope they are proud of their progress. and if they want to improve then great. but we have to stop giving everything lables. and assuming that other people think the worst. my worst enemy is my mind. i get in my own way. alot of us have that problem and we all struggle in life.
if anyone has great muscles and shes as fit as she can be. i'm proud she had the perserverance and discipline to do it.

 

[mom418]

ok i read what everyone was saying, i way over reacted. but its still wrong to say its 'alot' clearly its not too big a number for her. and guess shes just saying with less muscles she'd be 15 lbs lighter or something.

 

[Bobbi-B]

sweaty1, I have done weight watchers in the past with good results, too; this was a few years ago when I had about 20 pounds to lose. In fact, any program where I keep close track of what I eat helps me lose weight (or maintain my weight, depending on my goals). It's such a habit now that I log what I eat every day (not with ww, though, I'm using a bodybugg right now) and I know it helps me eat healthier and get enough of the nutrients I need.

112toGuru, I just google'd the ingredients for Go Lean Crunch and unfortunately for me it has wheat in it, which I avoid. I love its nutritional profile, I think I'll do a little research to try to find other high-protein, high-fiber cereals that don't have wheat. I usually have steel cut oats in the morning but a little variety would be nice! And yes, you hit the nail on the head, it's a lean mass versus body fat issue I'm dealing with. I'm 5'9", 145-150 pounds, and a size 6. I don't care if I stay the same weight and even the same size, I'd just like my hard earned muscles to show! I know my butts and guts are strong, but they look like marshmallow!

 

[LynAnthony]

not seeing results

For me it's all about the calories in verses calories out. You have to diligently count every calorie that goes in your mouth. If it's a 5 calorie piece of sugarfree gum, it gets logged. If it is a taste of anything it gets logged. You get the point! Make sure you're drinking enough water and eating enough calories. Sounds to me like you're doing pretty good. I'm sure you look great!

 

[meredith]

I just want to share something that happened to me. I got to be in an interesting experiment on my body, not intentionally. Like you, I worked out a lot to Cathe, every day since 1999, was strong and looked relatively good but wanted to lose at least 10 lbs. I am 5'7" and I weighed about 145. Then I got C. Diff, which is a wicked intestinal infection (I'm a nurse). I lost 10 lbs in one week because I really couldn't eat and everything ran thru me. Then it took me a week to slowly build back up, and I ate mostly yogurt, apple sauce and broth that week. And you know, I really liked how I looked. I decided to consciously eat less while I recovered. And I ended up settling at 125 lbs after about a month. This happened in March and I weighed myself this morning - 124.4 lbs! Here's the weird part - I have not had to work hard to stay at this weight. I do not count calories or deprive myself. A few times, I have even taken a bag of chips and salsa and eaten almost all of it.

What I always suspected seems to be true -- if I could just get the weight off, the maintenance wouldn't be hard. My natural lifestyle doesn't put on weight but it also doesn't really strip it off. I don't know how you'd accomplish this -- maybe strict dieting for a period, knowing that there is an end? But that's my story. Good luck to you.