How much is too much?

[Coakieanos]

Dear Cathe,

I am glad that you are on the mends and your recovery is going well. First, how old are your boys? I was searching the "Ask Cathe" site and found pictures of your first child when he was first born, it was great to read your monthly pregnancy reports. Yes, I was going waay back to the late 1999 and early 2000.

I was reviewing your response to "Pugsrule" and I was wondering if eating too much carbs could also hinder weight loss. I try to eat pretty clean, but I seem to be stuck at the same weight. I do your rotations faithfully and I am current doing the June rotation, but something seems amiss. I know you don't like given nutrition advice, in fact the advice that you do give is nutritionally sound. Could you provide some suggestions to help with this plateau. Any advice would at least provide me with some direction.

Thanks for you time, take are,

Yvonne

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Yvonne! How sweet of you to ask. My boys are 4 and 6 now...where is the time going

Since you say that you are eating a clean diet its probably unlikely that eating higher amounts of carbs would cause you to gain weight. In a case of eating clean, I would be more inclined to say that it reflects more on a person eating a higher amount of overall calories than higher carbohydrates.

High carbs are generally a problem when the carb sources are from overly processed foods. Overly processed foods or carbs tend to be referred to as having "empty calories", meaning they are so processed that they have practically lost all nutritional value. So basically empty calorie foods do nothing more then spike your blood sugar levels which causes your system to yo-yo. This yo-yo effect has been known to spike the body's craving for more sugar as soon as the sugar high has lowered, therefore setting a vicious cycle of eating too many simple (overly processed) carbs and furthermore leading to the consumption of too many of these wrong calories which of course can store as fat.

Since your diet is clean, it may be that calorie consumption isn't even a hindrance here.

1) Are you getting lots of water, sleep, ample rest days?

2) Are you experiencing any long term stress in your life?

3) Are you getting a good mix of hard workouts with some moderate ones?

If all else fails, sometimes we need to just take a full week (or even two) off and let our bodies heal. During that time be sure to do something that rejuvinates the soul. That way you will come back to your workouts inspired rather than frustrated.

Hope this helps!

 

[Coakieanos]

Thank you so much for your suggestions and for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer my question. What would constitute a good mix of hard workouts with moderate?

I will follow your suggestions.

Thanks Again!!

Yvonne