Has Anyone Else Experienced This? (kind of long)

K

kelley111

Cathlete
I was just wondering if anyone else ever did this and how they overcame it. I grew up being thin and never had to watch my weight. I always had a pretty nice figure until I was around age 37. At that point, for some reason, I thought I needed to weigh less. Well, actually I know the reason. That is when I started seeing people lose weight with low carb diets and I though I would look better if I lost weight also. I went on a low carb diet and lost 12 pounds very quickly. Not long after that I went off the diet and, of course, gained back the weight just as quickly as I had lost it along with a lot of extra body fat. I was not exercising at the time and I don't know if that would have made a difference or not.

My problem? I only weigh maybe 2 pounds more than I did when I lost the weight, but I'm so much flabbier. I hate that word, but it is true. I had never dieted in my life and when I finally did, I really messed up my body. It has been at least 3 years since that happened. I exercise faithfully every day and I still see no difference. It is mostly in my waistline which is where I never had fat before. It is so frustrating.

Has anyone else experienced this and what did you do to get back in shape? Do I need to eat super clean now to see results? I'm open to any and all suggestions.

Sorry so long, Kelley
 
Hi Kelley,

Guess what? You became flabbier because you lost muscle precious tissue during the low carb diet. And when the weight came back, it did so in the form of fat. Now it is up to you to build lean muscle tissue (via strength training) to replace what was lost.

Have to meet with a client but will add to this later.

-Roe
 
Might it have to do with age? I'm 37 also and I've noticed that in the past I've always had an easy time maintaining a nice flat tummy...ah, but it now seems to be where my weight settles. I took about a 2 month break, and came back weighing less than before, but also with a higher fat percentage. I've noticed that I really need to be strict about my eating.

By the way, I followed Atkins for a few years in my late 20s and never had any problems after switching up diets. It was actually the best shape I've ever been in. Due to IBS, I'm unable to tolerate a lot of dairy or fat so I've since switched to BFL.

Colleen
 
HI Roe, Thanks for your comments and I'll be checking back later for more. Yes, I did realize what had happened and I know exactly why it happened. I just can't seem to reverse what has happened. I knew from many years of watching my mother and sister yo yo diet exactly why I came back with more body fat. I've been strength training off and on with Cathe and the Firm, but I never seem to stick with any one particular rotation. I'm a rotation junkie. I hear how good one rotation is and I switch. I then hear how good another is and I switch again. x( I honestly do not know what I should be doing to get rid of this body fat. Everywhere you look there are different people saying to do different things. Some say heavy weights with low reps and others say light weight with high reps. Some say lots of cardio and others say very little cardio. :eek: It is so confusing.
 
Hi Colleen, Thanks for your reply. I'm definitely not blaming the diet for my problem. It was my own fault for gaining the weight back. I literally pigged out around the holidays and gained it back. If I had been exercising during the time I lost the weight and had not pigged out, I probably would not be having this problem. It's a good thing you're getting control of your diet now at age 37. I'm 40 now and it just seems to get harder and harder for me as I age, so yes that could have something to do with it also. It's just so frustrating.
 
Hi Kelley,

I understand about the rotation junkie thing. Even though I train clients who have specific goals, I have never set any real specific ones for myself because there is so much in fitness that I love to do. I pop in whatever workout video or DVD I feel up to doing on a particular day with the only goal in mind being to have fun and give it my best! I admire people who write everything down and keep track but that type of thing just isn't my thing! :7 I just try to listen to my body and if I know it isn't going to tolerate, say, Boot Camp on a particular day, I don't do it. This is probably because I teach fitness for a living, so I am exercising all day. If I set a weekly plan for my own personal workouts, I feel like I am planning to fail if I come home and don't do what was stated on the agenda. It's a last-minute decision based on how I feel at that moment. The goal is to choose something I can give my all to and not just go through the motions.

If rotating workouts is your preference, here are some suggestions to at least keep it orderly and functional. Always make sure you are challenging the muscles with the heaviest weights you can use with good forn for each and every video. You can rotate heavy strength weeks with lighter endurance weeks... so one week you might focus on Cathe's Pure Strength Series, the next week Firms, the following week Slow and Heavy, the week following that Muscle Endurance and Power Hour type workouts, then back to Firms, etc. As long as you are applying the overload principle to the muscles, they will respond by getting stronger whether you are doing higher rep or lower rep training. The key is to fatigue the muscle by the end of the rep range.

There are huge debates about how much cardio is necessary. I still believe that at least 5-6 days per week is necessary for fat loss and at least two of those days (non-consecutive) should be higher intensity interval type workouts. I don't believe in skimping on cardio if a person has bodyfat to lose. Weights alone won't cut it, and neither will cardio... the two combined contribute to fat loss. And when it comes to food, again, I admire the trackers and counters of calories and grams and servings because I can't do that. Instead, I simply try to eat smaller portions and make healthier food choices.

I am 43 and learning it really is harder to lose weight as we age, but it is not impossible. Francine wrote a really good reply about female hormones and fat loss in another post. Things that are definitely familiar to me as an exercise professional and made me realize that if I want to take off these last 8 to 10 pounds, I have to "exercise" more discipline!

:7

-Roe
 
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