Question for A-jock and/or educated crowd

[Mariela]

Aquajock, I like your posts as everybody else here does. Please advice me on the following, if you have the time.

Okay, I am a bit frustrated because I have tried to lose weight (fat) only to become hungrier and hungrier. I have read from Aquajock posts and others that when you do very intense excercise and follow a clean diet, you eventually lose fat and gain muscle, even if the number of calories seems somewhat high. But how long is "eventually"? I have also read from other sources that it is best to lose fat first and then concentrate on gaining muscle.

My experience is that when I've exercised very intensely, I have become very hungry. I know that in order to lose weight/fat there must be a caloric deficit. How can I lose fat if I continue to eat about the same amount of calories that I burn. That is, when I exercise intensely and eat clean, according to what my body tells me. Also, if the person has much fat to lose at the beginning, the same advice applies? (That is: To eat according to your hunger (which might be a lot), a clean diet, and intense excercise.)

I take lithium for bipolar disorder, but my psychiatrist doesn't think my hunger is because of the lithium. She told me that there are other options if I think it is because of it, but the other options might not work as well as lithium. It would be starting again and I don't want to be sick again. However I am willing to take the risk if I don't see any improvements in the upcoming months.

Thanks in advance.

Mariela

 

[mogambo]

Stay busy, drink a lot of water, and you might try putting some psyllium seeds in it once a day for bulk. Fill up on low calorie high nutrient raw vegetables, air-popped popcorn and such. Sometimes it is just "munchies" and you have to ignore it, learning to distinguish true hunger from a desire to munch.

The more you avoid sugar and white flour processed foods, the less you will crave them.

All of this is so individualized, you have to see what works for you. These are things that work for me. (Obviously!)

 

[Aquajock]

Hello, Mariela! Thank you very much for your kind words.

I do wish I felt qualified to give you helpful advice or information, but in all honesty I do not believe I am qualified to do so. From what you've written, IMHO your best courses of action would be:

1. Meet with a qualified registered dietician who can evaluate your current nutritional intake, especially in the context of the medication(s) you are now taking;

2. Get a complete physical examination to rule out any other issues that might be affecting your appetite;

3. Meet with a qualified personal trainer who is skilled at individual physical assessment of strength, aerobic capacity and other performance indicators as well as body composition analysis; then

Pull together all the information you've gleaned from all these sources and develop a plan of action.

I can address one of your questions, however: IMHO the dictum that you should concentrate on fat loss first and strength- and mass-building afterward is pure hogwash. The best way to develop a well-rounded life program of exercise that fully encompasses all the majors (cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, endurance and flexibility) and all their attendant benefits is to START with a well-rounded program. I think that piece of nonsense is floated by people who freak that they "haven't lost weight", that they are "bulking up" (as temporary as that "bulk" may be) and who are woefully uninformed about long-term development and maintenance of a healthy vibrant body.

And on that note, I exit stage left. Good luck! Keep us posted on your progress!

A-Jock

 

[clareMc]

Mariela:

don't mess with your medication. Please!!!!!!!

When you are on a fitness program, the change in body composition will not occur overnight. But gradually you notice a little more definition in the abs, a little less jiggle in the thighs, etc, and better than that, you realize you can now do tough interval workouts and get through them, whereas last week you were dying. And you notice you have graduated to a higher set of dumbells per exercise than you were previously using. This is how I chart my progress, ignoring what the scales may say.

It is possible to lose weight without introducing a huge calorie deficit simply because as you grow more muscle and your body composition changes (greater percentage of lean muscle tissue, less fat), your basal metabolic rate will increase. The extra muscle tissue you have grown burns more calories than the fat tissue you once had.

When you are striving for results in a long term fitness program, be patient, but also, don't try and change everything all at once. To see change, you need some stability. If you change everything at once, how will you know what actually works for you, and what was previously blocking progress?

If you mess with your medication, you could introduce an excessive degree of instability and the results for your brain, emotions and general life quality could be unpredictable. That is not a risk I would be comfortable taking. I take Celexa for depression and panic disorder and was thinking recently of changing my medication because of a particular side effect. However, I am working closely with a reproductive endocrinologist to find ways to reduce as much as posible the days when my hormones mess with my brain and cause me depression/emotional instability. Her advice was to try one thng at a time, leave the medication alone for now while I try a new contraceptive option and give it 5 months to let my body and brain get stable before I think of changing medications or making any other changes. Even though I did not want to hear this, I want an end to the unpleasant side effect NOW!, rationally I have to concede that everything she says makes perfect sense. I need stability more than anything else, and I suspect that, as a bipolar sufferer, you do too. So I am practicing incredible patience: I will not ask again to change my prescription medication for depression until I have given the new contraception a full chance to see how it can improve my life for the long haul. Please listen to your doctor and try to be patient also. Tweak the other, lesser things in life. But if lithium works for you: DON'T MESS WITH IT.

Wishng you all the best,

Clare

 

[Mariela]

Thanks to all of you for your replies and wise advice.

Clare, don't worry, I won't mess with my medication. The doctor herself suggested me to change the lithium if I found out that it was making me gain weight. But I don't really want to start again. As you know these medications take about a month or so to show the effects. In the meantime, one could become sick. I don't want that.

Mariela

 

[clareMc]

Mariela:

Yes, I know what you mean, it's awful having to start again with a new medication and it messes up your working out and everything. I am glad. Now, I can relax and not worry about you anymore.

Clare