JUST DON'T GET IT :(

C

ckanuckel

Cathlete
I just don't get whats going on with me. I have been following Tosco Renos eat clean diet for 5 wks now and to be honest have actually eaten clean for yrs. Have just really clean things up lately to try to get this stubborn d**n fat off my lower half. I have been kicking my butt and this junk's just not budging, matter of fact at times I sweat its getting bigger!! I always follow Cathes rotations and I think I'm going to start the STS rotation tomorrow cause I havent done it for several months.
Don't know if its hormonal or what. I'm 41 and have had perimenopausal symptoms for a couple yrs and use arbonnes phyto prolief which seems to keep symptoms at bay, but all blood tests indicated normal with that and thyroid. Alls I know is that i am getting super freaking discouraged. Any words of wisdom
 
Do you track your calories? I mean really weigh and measure everything that passes your lips? Eating clean doesn't mean anything if you are still consuming more cals then you are burning. Often times when we eyeball portions we eat more then we think.
 
I agree it would be good to actually track calories. It's soooo tedious - especially when your eat clean! You can't just look at the side of the box to see calories. I've been experiencing what you have -- thought training for a half would be my miracle answer. Not so much. I've managed twice to keep track of calories for 2 weeks and it is eye-opening. It may be your age - I hate saying that. I'm 39 and two of my friends are experiencing the same. One gal used to start South Beach every February to loose her "winter storage" but this year she only took off 4 lbs in 6 weeks. Now she's tracking calories. I guess I don't have answers - just sympathy! Guess you're in good company!

Jen
 
I dont track calories, but I don't eat large portions either. Never really had that problem, matter of fact I tend to eat to less than too much. Thought maybe that was the problem that I wasn't actually eating enough because some days I'd be lucky to eat a real lunch or dinner. Handful of carrots and pretzels here, cup of cereal there, didnt eat alot of protein til I started the eat clean diet. Youre prob right, my age isnt helping matters and I cant get my brain to understand that I'm not going to have the body I did at 30. ARGGGG
 
I know! I'm far from overweight, but also far from my "happy" weight. I'm trying to reconcile that I'm almost 40 and have had 3 kids. Plus, to loose that weight I may have to give up my nightly wine. Which I'm not sure is worth it!
 
It IS frustrating Christine. I have also had times when I felt that clean eats and hard work only brings me a bigger butt. :eek: But don't give up. It took me a REALLY long time to learn what my body responds best to. Tracking food - and following all sorts of diet theories: low carb, low fat, portion control, everything in moderation, etc. Ultimately your body WILL tell you how it responds best, but sometimes you just have to keep trying. And trying for long enough to properly evaluate. I've been so frustrated at times, almost feeling like I'd read or learn TOO MUCH, that I'd switch diet apporaches every week. That certainly doesn't help.

I think the same goes for exercise. For me - after detesting my saddle bags for years, I've FINALLY learned that they only respond - and get much smaller - when I use very heavy weight training. I'll be 48 this summer and I have three kids - had them all when I was old too (had my youngest when I was 40.) And honestly - I started going much heavier in my training about 2 years ago. It's a LONG work in progress and I still take it slow and smart.

Think about when you've seen your best results. Do you journal your food and activity? I think that can be a HUGE part. Keep going. You'll get there.
 
I realize this isn't the magic pill for everyone, but since you are perimenopausal, you might want to read about estrogen dominance. I'm 48, perimenopausal, and started gradually gaining weight despite running 35-55 miles per week and watching my diet. I was given Provera for heavy periods and boom, lost ten pounds in a month. Some folks gain weight on Provera, so you might consider a progesterone cream.

What is the Arbonne product? Is it a supplement or a cream?

Also, you might consider a full thyroid panel...most docs just look at TSH which is usually all they need to look at, but some women have hypothyroid symptoms even with TSH in the "normal" range. There's also some controversy over what is considered normal TSH range but we don't need to discuss that right now...however hypothyroid is a very common condition among women over 40 and it's under-diagnosed...
 
Thank you ladies for all your encouragement. Its helps knowing others have and are going thru the same thing, although I hate that any of us r dealing with it.

The arbonne product is a progesterone cream. I thought my thyroid was on the low side although doc said it was in "normal range" so I pushed to be put on armour thyroid on the advice of a nutrionist who has done in depth study of what ranges of thyroid should be treated. Prob with that is, even with a low dose, I have uncomfortable side effects (heart palps, shortness of breath and cooky in the head) so quit taking it.

I have a saddle bag issue too and have tried everything and those suckers don't budge. Heavy weights bulk me up, running, extra cardio, nothing seems to work. makes me want to scream my bloody head off.
 
Christine - when you say heavy weights bulk you up -- how heavy have you gone and for how long? I know we are all different, but for those saddle bags, IMO and experience, nothing in the world hits them like heavy controlled walking lunges. (But even those ONLY 1x a week.) Have you tried those? How much weight? And have you tried that WITH your clean eats? Just trying to come up with some different approaches for you. You've gotten some great input here.
 
Hi Lorrie, I agtee have gotten some great input. As far as the heavy weights go, heavy for me is 40 lbs on squats is about as heavy as I can go, which prob doesnt seem like much. I am 5'2 so heighth wise dont have much going for me so 5 lbs on me looks like 15 :( Haven't tried heavy walk lunges, whats your recommend on that and how many? Sts worked well for me at first cause its a gradual adding of weight. Havent done a rotation of that for several months though, thinking of starting one today, but if theres a rotation u recommend I can give it a whirl, I'm up for anything at this point
 
ckanuckel said:
I dont track calories, but I don't eat large portions either. Never really had that problem, matter of fact I tend to eat to less than too much. Thought maybe that was the problem that I wasn't actually eating enough because some days I'd be lucky to eat a real lunch or dinner. Handful of carrots and pretzels here, cup of cereal there, didnt eat alot of protein til I started the eat clean diet. Youre prob right, my age isnt helping matters and I cant get my brain to understand that I'm not going to have the body I did at 30. ARGGGG
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You've gotten great advice already but I just wanted to add that you may need to play w/ your macronutrient ratios (carbs vs proteins vs fats). I gain weight if I eat too many starchy carbs (esp. late in the day) even if my calorie count is steady.

How many grams of protein are you eating each day? (Personally, I aim for 90 - 100g daily) Your body needs sufficient protein to repair & build muscle. Otherwise, you're just breaking down your tissues.

Also, you might try breaking up your cardio into shorter bursts (i.e. sparking) where you do a short workout (20-30 min) in the morning (on an empty stomach or close to empty) and then another short one (20-30 min) later in the day. It can help to boost your metabolism.

Finally, if you don't move much during the day except during your workouts (eg. w/ a desk job), your daily calorie burn will be much lower. On days that I'm chained to my computer, I burn 15-20% fewer calories then when I'm active (housework, running errands, yardwork, etc). This is per my GoWearFit. Wearing a pedometer is an easy way to see how much you're moving during the day. (I aim for 10,000 steps.)

The reason most people gain weight as they age is they move less, exercise less, lose muscle mass & eat more than their body needs based on their reduced activity levels. It's not babies, menopause or years. I weigh 20 lbs. less at 47 (w/ 2 kids) than I did at 30 (before kids). :D
 
I couldn't agree more with Joan. Also DirtDiva has some input on another thread about legs, muscle, and fat. After working so many theories and approaches over the years, heavy is the only thing that works for me. I do think (and may get heat for this) that truly working legs to see results involves weight much heavier than we use in any at home video. AND, if you carry weight there (I have that icky genetic propensity as well) then reshaping the legs involves a commitment to cleaner eats and more attention to calories and their source than most people really want to do. You have to stay super clean - think only one cheat meal a week. Have you tried something like that? And track that food - it is SO helpful.

Contrary to a lot of belief here, my trainer has me weigh daily. Do I hate it? Yes. BUT -- I also see when my weight goes up what my food was - so I can more directly SEE the link of "you are what you eat." I also see when the hormone fluctuations occur and monitor what they do.

Christine - I honestly think nothing hits the saddlebag like those walking lunges. I wear wrestling shoes to do them so I can truly feel pushing off through my front heel. When you do that, slow and controlled, you engage the whole backside of the leg - and most specifically the upper ham/thutt/butt. Cathe holds 5 or 8 pounds for walking lunges. I'm up to 135 pounds. No - I didn't start there, but I started with about 45 or 50#. I'll do 5 sets of 25 lunges. It's not easy by any stretch - but FOR ME - it's the only thing (coulped with clean eats) that has hit that area. HTH.
 
I highly recommend tracking the calories. Just because its clean doesn't mean it doesn't count. Try avoiding soy, sweet potatos/yams and see if that doesn't work. Soy is full of estrogens and inhibits your ability to use your own thyroid hormones properly. Btw, I feel your pain, I'm bottom heavy too. Have you done any calorie cycling? How about adding some yoga? Those two things help me a lot.
 
Everyones suggestions have been great. I dont eat soy or sweet potatoes and I pretty much do everything everyone has suggested aside from the calorie counting but like i said before, I dont think thats an issue because I don't eat high caloric things or large amounts or wrong choices. nothing with added sugar either nor sugary things. I also don't eat gluten cause I can't tolerate it so I don't consume alot of carbs either. Thats why its all so troubling to me that I'm having. Like I said before, prob don't get enough protein, not sure how many grams a day. Have started incorporating Designer Whey protein powder into things like oatmeal or have a shake as my snack mixed with water and greek yogurt. Per scoop it has 100 cal, 2g fat, 3 g carbs and 2g sugar, 18g protein and I usually only use 1/2 or less scoop.
 
Why not try something totally different? There have been tons of people (myself included) that got amazing results from switching from heavy weights to barre workouts. Maybe your body will respond to the change.
 
I was going to suggest something like Nicole did. About two weeks ago I ordered a Tonique dvd. It was humbling - that thing is HARD. I chuckled grabbing 3 pound weights but quickly stopped chuckling as I was trying to breathe. I ordered Tonique Premier. It's way different from Cathe, and I prefer Cathe's style/cuing/personality, but needed a change. Might check those out also.
 
I have thought of changing things completely but am afraid I'll lose my muscle if i don't continue with weighted workouts. What else do you do along with barre or tonique workouts and is there a series of dvds for a rotation or how do you work it
 
I was afraid of loosing strength also but after doing it not so much. I haven't been doing Tonique long but have thrown in some High Reps. Days I don't strength train I run. And Tonique is HIGH reps - like 30, then 30, then 30 more. Hips/thighs aren't my problem - my middle is. I mostly tried this to help with my running but was surprised at the intensity. I just looked at it this way - I've done a lot of other things. A full STS rotation, circuits, lots of running, STS cardio ... all good but just needed to really change things. Partly because of boredom. I'm a bit vertically challenged ;) as well. And I do believe in weights for women. But personally the last part of STS was a little more "muscle-y" than I wanted. This was just a different approach, and one I've ridiculed very much in the past! Just figured I had nothing to loose by trying it - except some lbs!!
 
Hi Christine,

I have enjoyed reading all of Tosca's books however I find that most of the receipes are to high carb for me. I am 53 years old and wear a size 0 (sometimes 2 if I can't find a size 0). When I was in my 20's I wore a size 0 - 2 but as time went on (marriage, career and a child) I gained weight. In my 40's I put on weight and was wearing a size 10. I could not understand it I was eating clean and working out harder than ever before. When I started paying attention to the carbs I was eating the weight just came off. I do not follow any particular diet I just make sure that most of what I eat is plant based (vegetables, fruit and grain.) I also try to get the most out of every workout. When I was 52 years old I did a chin up for the first time in my life.

Stick with it. You will find the magic for you.

Jo
 
I'm gonna have to chime in here with the 40+ crowd - I will be 45 in July and have the bodyfat % lower than when I was in my 20s.

For me the change I needed was heavier weights, more protein and shorter runs (30-40 mins rather than 60) less frequently.

However, I DID count calories when my weight loss came to a standstill. You will be surprised how a bite here and a bite there adds up, ESPECIALLY since we are so small (I'm 5'3" on a good day :)).
 
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