Looking for Inspiration

lynda

lynda

Cathlete
Please help! I've been trying to lose weight for about 3 years now, with no success. Realistically, I've got between 15 and 25 pounds to lose. I've been doing Cathe faithfully for over a year, 5x a week, for at least an hour. I did the Firm before I found Cathe. I've slipped up a bit since the holidays, and I'm trying to get back into the faithful routine I was in last year, but I've missed a few workouts a week for the past month or so. The thing is, I can't seem to change my body no matter how hard I try, how I watch my food intake, how I change my routine, and I'm just getting so discouraged. I work out more than almost anyone I know, I watch my diet and try to eat healthy, and I just get no visible results. I notice that after missing workouts, my cardiovascular capacity diminishes, but my clothes still look the same. I'm just losing my motivation, and it's getting me depressed. My husband, who has watched me struggle with this throughout, doesn't know what to say anymore. I've seen doctors who I'm sure don't understand how greuling Cathe's workouts are. One told me that I have to make sure I sweat. That's not the problem. Plenty of sweating going on. They can't find anything wrong physically, which is great, but how do I keep getting up every day and doing this when I have nothing to show for it? Thanks for listening, Lynda
 
I copied this from a previous post i did a while ago. Thought it might help. Also try a food diary that might help. Are you doing much weight lifting? Or too much Cardio? Is you diet too high in refined carbs? Too low in protein? Enough water? What are you meal sizes like? When do you eat them? How often? See if the below helps... I hope its does. Thinking of you... x

1. Eat every 2-3 hours, no matter what. You should eat between 5-7 mini meals per day. Perhaps 3 Main meals and 2 snacks or 7 mini meals.

2. Eat complete (containing all the essential amino acids), lean protein with each meal.

3. Eat fruits and/or vegetables with each food meal.

4. Ensure that your carbohydrate intake comes from fruits and vegetables 85% of the time.

5. Ensure that 25-35% of your energy intake comes from fat, with your fat intake split equally between saturates (e.g. animal fat), monounsaturates (e.g., olive oil), and polyunsaturates (e.g. flax oil, salmon oil).

6. Drink only non-calorie containing beverages, the best choices being water and green tea. Diet soda does not count as a beverage.

7. Eat mostly whole foods that in theory you could either hunt, pick, grow or kill yourself.

There you have it folks. 7 Highly effective principles...
 
Lynda:

I am sorry you are getting disheartened. I think this happens to all of us at some point, and also, I remember Nancy battling with this same question about a year ago. You might try posting a thread with her name in the subject line (Attn: Nancy) and ask her directly for advice on what worked for her to stay motivaated and see results.

I have a couple of things to say also.

1. Attitude adjustment may be in order.

Try to remember that the benefits of good, regular exercise are aesthetic, but should be primarily health benefits. As you yourself noted, stopping cardio has little effect on your body size, but enormous depletion of your cardio endurance, i.e. the benefits of cardio to your body go way beyond the aesthetic. Try to focus on the biggest and most important reason why anyone should do cardio work. It's not to lose fat, it is to strengthen the cardiovascular system to ensure optimal health for a long and well-lived life. Ask anyone suffering from cardiac failure, and they will tell you that this is so.

2. What's your current routine look like?

Why don't you post to us what weekly routine you have been typically following? It will allow us to see more clearly if the real answer lies in not needing to workout more or longer, just smarter. What I mean is that you may need to crosstrain more to shock your system, insert interval training, insert circuit training, kickbox rather than just pure step.

3. Weights, weights, weights.

Emphasize weight training over cardio work. I agree with Wayne (previous poster) on this one. The more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest. Go heavy. Have you tried the Slow & Heavy DVD set? They produce fabulous results, really do build muscle in just a three week rotation, and can get you over current plateaus and into lifting more in all your weight training workouts. If you prefer to do three days cardio and tewo of weights, now would be the time to change this to three for weights and two for cardio. Although three for cardio is optimal, so perhaps four for weights? It all depends on what time you have available.

4. Enjoyment.

Exercise is only a chore when you focus on it for fat-loss potential and then fail to see desired results. Exercise should be a joy, a release, a time for just you, to focus on your own well-being, to enjoy being in a body that can go through a grueling Cathe workout and feel powerful after wards! There are so many people out there too sick to workout, or with disabilities that prevent them from doing so. I am always so grateful that I have two legs that work and allow me to do any damn workout I please. Try to focus on the pleasure that physical movement gives, and the power you feel when you ffnish any Cathe workout in style, no matter how sweaty the style!

5. Is a 25 pound loss realistic for your body type?

Perhaps only a doctor can help advise you on this one. Some bodies are not meant to be stick thin and such people would actually be sick if they dropped to what culture may deem to be their ideal weight. Only you can tell what kind of body weight and composition allows you to live and feel great energy levels, and optimal health. It may be 10 pounds heavier than you anticipate.

That's all I can think of. I hope I have not offended you at all. It's not that I think fat-loss is a waste of time and effort, I just don't always agree that it should be the primary focus in life, unless an individual is facing chronic obesity. But if you do Cathe workouts, then that clearly is not the case. Sometimes a release from anxiety about all this just comes from asking yourself again: why do I eally workout?

To your best health,

Clare
 
Lynda-
I'm so sorry to hear about how you are feeling. I have to say that I totally agree with everything Clare said.

Along the lines of what Clare said, if you could measure yourself by your health rather than by your weight, I'm sure you would get an A+. Nonetheless, I understand the desire to want to be thinner. I guess it's what we all want to some extent.

Clare may be confusing me with someone else. I struggle with my motivation for doing cardio most of the time, and I complain about it a lot, but I'm always happy to do my strength training, which is my true love. I'm really not very strict with myself. I just get the cardio in where I can, and cut myself tons of slack because of a stressful job. As others have suggested, perhaps you should try doing less cardio and more strength training. See if that makes a difference. (Also, I disagree with Wayne as to the amount of fat your diet should contain. I always do better on a diet with lower levels of fat, and I avoid saturated animal fat completely).

In my book, you're doing great. Sounds like you are in great health, and your weight goals are probably unrealistic. You are looking at magazines and advertisements with twig-thin women who you think you should look like and it just ain't so.

The most important thing is to think you are great the way you are. How is your cholesterol? How is your blood pressure? My doctor does a waist to hip ratio to measure health. A .7 or lower is great. How far can you run without getting winded? How many flights of stairs can you climb before your legs give out? If you're in good health, then feel good about what you have accomplished. Don't feel desperate to lose weight. Just do the best you can and feel good about yourself. You have a lot to show for taking care of yourself!! Losing weight should just be a bonus if you can do it. If not, so what? You probably look fine the way you are. :)
 
These posts are filled with wisdom, advice and details and I agree with them all. I got some surprisingly good results from caloric staggering. allyourstrength.com explains the method I use. The idea is that instead of eating lower calories the same each day, you eat low middle high, low middle high so your metabolism doesn't reset to the low level. Psychologically too, you don't have to be so hungry every day, just half the time!

I am 130 lbs and 5 foot 8, still trying to lose 5. But I started at 140 and this is the only change I have made. My weekly calories are 1200, 1500, 1800, 1200, 1500, 1000, 2500. I also try to eat low carb, lots and lots of vegetables though. Flax seed. Mostly vegan (but that is not what's doing it, it's just my preference). I work out 6 days a week, 4 cardios and 2 strength. I am 46 years old.

I eat higher fat than Nancy. It's the carbs I avoid. But just see what works for you. I find that the fats help me not be hungry as often.
 
Mogambo-
At 5'8" and 130 lbs., it doesn't sound like you need to lose anything! That sounds awfully thin to me.
 
It is, but one can only keep one's blubberless butt dreams alive by trying! I have no bodyfat anywhere but in the jodphur area, which even at 118 lbs as an anorexic teenager, guess what? Anyway, these days I have lots and lots of muscle, thanks to Cathe mostly, but those evil lumps are still there!

They are just cosmetic. No one but a doctor ever sees them as I wear boy shorts for a bathing suit. My stomach is flat as a pancake, since I don't gain weight there. I just want them to leave!!! Go away! Die!! Never return!

By the time I get my body perfect, I'll have to wear a bag over my head. x( x( x(

Anyway, this is not about me after all. My point for Lynda is that I had plateaud at 140 for years and years. I ate well, worked out a lot. The calorie staggering made the difference. It may be something that would work for her that she hasn't tried yet.
 
Thank you all so much! Your replies were just what I needed. I am once again going to focus my attention on my health and not my appearance (as difficult as that my be). I will definitely look into all of the suggestions you have given, and they sound great, though some I've tried. They are all sound advice. The calorie staggering sounds very interesting, as I don't see how I can realistically cut down any more on my daily intake. By the way, a 15- to 25-pound weight loss would not put me in the too-thin range. It's a pretty realistic goal according to my doctor. My cholesterol, blood levels, heart are fine, so at least all of this has been doing me some good. It's great to know you are all out there in these moments of weakness. I'm feeling a little bit better already. Got up early and did Step Blast today. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a good roll for me. If I lose, I lose. At least I can be healthy. Thanks, again. Lynda
 
Lynda:

way to go! You are healthy, and after what I see sometimes on my horrendous visits to ER departments of the U of Michigan hospital, that is a great deal to be thankful for!!!!!!!!

This new attitude, and sometimes it's not even new, we just needed reminding of it, will take you along the long life-long path of true fitness. Good for you.

Nancy: sorry if I got the wrong person, but I could have sworn! Oh well....

Mogambo: I completely agree with Nancy, at your height (my height too!), 130 pounds is ideal. Please don't drop any more. You might lose it from your boobs, face, etc rather than the hips and might end up looking like a stick!!!!!! I weigh in at 128 (158 when PMS-ing!!!) so I'm right there with you sista! Course, I'd like to take a knife to the jiggle on my inner thighs and I have inherited the dreaded hips from my mother's side of the family, but no amount of squats and lunges shifts these really, so, whaddya gonna do?!?!?!

Clare
 
I appreciate the feedback. I think by working out and continuing to eat very carefully, I will probably not lose much weight, rather I will tread water. I doubt anything non-surgical could destroy the Lumps of Evil. But, it's worth trying.

Twenty pounds from PMS!! Holy Schmoe! I've never heard of such a thing.

My face and boobs are so fat-free that I think they're safe from losing anything. I guess Cathe, Francine and Aquajock just keep making me think it's still possible. I do keep making improvements, even though I think I've hit the genetic limit, so why not keep trying? I'm perfectly happy to stay at 130 too. I'm healthy, clothes look good, etc. So, I think I'll keep being Sisyphus and keep trying to lose it.
 
I am inspired by what everyone said! This forum is great.

Something else to add, I stopped thinking about pounds and starting thinking about how I felt - in my pants, recovery time from last workout, and just how I felt all over. Because lifting WILL add weight but you will loose inches! When I started to weight train, I gained five pounds!?! But, I felt better in my pants. So, I decided NOT to step on the scale. Funny how muscles work, huh?

So, my advice - toss that scale. Look and feel how you are doing and be proud of yourself for coming this far!!

jenni
 
I'm going to have to scold now. I hope that Lynda is not reading this thinking that 125 lbs. is an ideal weight for a person who is 5'8"! Especially for a person who has developed significant muscle mass. Lynda, this is not a goal that you or anyone else should strive for. A normal BMI is a goal worth striving for, but you have to keep in mind that even the BMI tables do not apply to someone who has developed a significant amount of muscle, as you probably have working out 5 days per week. Mogambo and Clare may be healthy at such a low weight, but I assure you that most of us need more flesh on our bones to keep up a normal, healthy existence, and, like the movie says, real women have curves! :)
 
I want to chime in and agree with Nancy. We fling a lot of numbers around here but no one is looking at my actual body, or Clare's. I have long arms and legs, no boobs, narrow hips and shoulders and all my weight in my thighs. My arms and abs and much of my leg, my entire torso, are all firm and cut and I wouldn't change them. There is a big handfull of soft dimply fat hanging back on my lower butt/upper thigh that, aesthetically, I'd love to lose. I have never been able to lose it and probably never will. Healthwise, appearancewise, I'm fine. I'd be fine if I gained 10 or 15 pounds, I'd just have more jellyblubber on my thighs. This is purely a game for me. I am not suffering from eating disorders or a distorted self-image. Clare may have 5 pounds of fat somewhere else that she just hates, I don't know. I haven't seen her and probably never will. If I had a larger frame 130 would be stick thin. If I had wider shoulders, filled a C cup, etc etc etc. But for me, if I lost 5 lbs I think I'd look model perfect and I enjoy the process of tweaking that last bit. But I'm fine. I don't want anyone to think they have to weigh a certain amount at a certain height. Aquajock is right. The weight doesn't matter, it's how you look and feel. It's volume, not mass we are really talking about. Lean volume, bone, muscle, fat. How we look to ourselves.

Edited to add, thank you Nancy for that reminder.
 
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