What would you do? Please help!

C

Cbelle

Cathlete
I'm about to lose, seriously. Since Dec 2004 I've steadily put on 10+. My workouts have remained 75% strong....I wavered for a bit but for the most part I've steadily worked out this whole time. I drifted away from Cathe for a while and am regretting that now and have renewed my dedication to her and her videos since I know she'll give me a great workout. I think I was letting myself be a bit lazy in the workout dept for a while.

My diet though.....its not that its bad so much as...I don't know! My best friend who is similarly shaped and the same height and age as me also works out etc, has been bugging me to eat more for months now. She's convinced that I don't eat enough. she eats around 1600-2000 a day doing about an hour cardio a day and lifting weights several times a week. about exactlyw hat I'm doing only I use CAthe videos. She's lost 15 lbs whereas I've gained 10 lbs doing various diets but mostly sticking with Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, counting calories, Leanness Lifestyle etc.

I'm really at my wits end here. The arguement of eating more I understand theoretically but I also see success stories using WW or LL or whatever, all low calories. And that is what my mind can't seem to understand. How can they BOTH work? Seems to me if you follow the theory they can't both work. Meanwhile, I'm bouncing from one thing to another, with binges in between! Help!!!!

What kind of calories do average Catheites consume a day? And how active are you? I do my wokrouts but I'm a receptionist so I sit on my butt for the rest of the day, including once I get home again.
 
I think I eat about 2200 a day. Sometimes a lot more or less.

I work out about 5 times a week for an hour or so. Cathe cardio and weights, some walking.

That keeps me 120-122 pounds. And I'm not that muscular.

Just sharing for reference.
:) Bella
 
Ok, here i go. I had the same thing with only doing Cathe, couldn't figure out why. Then finally one day I decided to change things up a bit and start running, wammo! There went 5 pounds without even trying, I wasn't even running that far, 3 miles, 2-3 times a week. SO, I geuss what I'm saying is change things up. Try eating a little more, maybe stager your calories, I've heard that working for a few ladies and gentlemen here. And then throw in a few walks a week, or running, or biking. I realize that Cathe has Kickboxing and HiLow and Step, but maybe your body is just so used to moving, yet staying in one place that it needs to change. Just a thought.

Kathy
 
HI

When you say weight gain, are your clothes fitting tighter? Or are you maybe gaining muscle which weighs more than fat? I will say that a clean diet is probably about 80% of the battle.

Stress can certainly play a factor in what we eat and how we store fat. When my diet starts wavering, I take a look at what's going on in my life and therefore with my emotions.

Hang on! Eat well! Work out! Don't stress over how someone else looks or eats. Try to have a little fun, too.



:7
 
Sigh. I DO run.....in the evenings a few days a week. and yes, I've had to buy 2 higher sizes in the past year. From a 6-8 to an 8-10 and now a 10-12....believe me, its not compact muscle.
 
To me this is the trick about eating more...

You should eat "around" your weight X 10 in calories. Example I weigh 148 so I should eat "around" 1500 calories per deay. This is just a good guideline.

Here is the important part of the "eat more to lose more" concept. You need to eat MORE of the good stuff. Eating junk is a problem.

I have found that when I eat "clean" (meaning fruits, veggies, low fat dairy, lean protein, good oils/fats and good carbs, not the white stuff) that my body responds to that. When I am eating clean I tend to eat more calories but b/c I am eating good for me foods it is not a problem and the weight comes off.

I would say keep a food journal for a week and I mean a real true, honest to goodness food journal. Write down every OUNCE of food you put in your mouth. Then evaluate it at the end of the week. You will probably find places to improve your eating.
 
I feel for you Cbelle!!:( I think first off, you need to STOP comparing yourself to your friend. I know it's very tempting to do, especially if she works out like you do, but try not to do it. Personally, if I start to compare myself with others I inevitably end up feeling bad about myself.

Second, it is my opinion that if what you are currently doing isn't working for you, then you need to change it. If you are doing lots of cardio, then do a couple of weeks where you really focus on weight training and vice versa. Maybe you're overtraining a little so it would be best to take it easy for a week or so. Just really sit down and figure out how you're working out each week and completly change it while keeping track of the results. It is possible that you're body needs a break so why not give it one if it's necessary.

That being said, I would advise you to take a good hard look at your diet. Do you eat really clean most of the day and then blow it on dinner? I think the problem with a lot of people is that they tend to eat a little throughout the day and then overeat at dinner. Consider having 2(yes 2!!) lunches to curb your appetite for dinner if this is the case. You may also want to look at zig zagging your calorie intake for a few weeks and see where that takes you. It may just be the extra push your body needs to start some weight loss. A website I like is www.freedieting.com. They have a BMR calculator so you can see how many calories you need to sustain your body functioning each day. They also give you your caloric need depending on your activity level with a 7 day zig zag plan.

Just some ideas I thought I'd throw at you. But above all, you should realize that you CAN do this!! I think the best weapon of all in weight loss(or anything for that matter) is to be positive and kind to yourself.

ETA: the website uses the Harris Benedict formula to calculate your BMR
carolyn
 
I don't know if you you have ever tried this, but I used the Harris Benedict formula to figure out my daily caloric intake and it has worked great for me. I eat around 1500-1600 calories a day for 3 days and then eat around 2100 calories on the 4th day. Then back to the 1500-1600 for 3 more days, etc. (This is the zig zagging already mentioned). It really does help the fat melt off. At least it did for me.

Here is the Harris Benedict formula I mentioned:

Harris Benedict Formula for Women - STEP 1
BMR = 655 + (9.6 X weight in kilos) + (1.8 X height in cm) - (4.7 X age in years).

Notes:
1 inch = 2.54 cm.
1 kilogram = 2.2 lbs.

Example of BMR
You are 32 years old
You are 5 feet 4 inches tall (162.5 cm)
Your weight is 185 pounds (84 kilos)
Your BMR is 655 + (806) + (291) - (150) = 1602 calories


Harris Benedict Formula for Women - STEP 2
To determine your total daily calorie needs, now multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:
· If you are Sedentary - little or no exercise
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.2
· If you are Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.375
· If you are Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.55
· If you are Very Active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/week)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.725
· If you are Extra Active (very hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.9


Total Calorie Needs Example
If you are sedentary, multiply your BMR (1602) by 1.2 = 1922
Your total daily calorie requirement is therefore 1922 calories.
This is the total number of calories you need in order to MAINTAIN your current weight.

Use this formula and see how close it is to what you are actually consuming. Try to make what you do consume as clean as possible. It's tough I know. I actually am making up for the weight I gained over the Holiday's when my eating went out the window.

Good luck. Sometimes it takes a lot of hit and misses before you find out what works for you.

Katie
 
I know it's difficult to wrap your brain around but the fact is, we need a calorie surplus to build muscle. When you are focusing on strength training add calories and when you are working on endurance, subtract some. I used to do a rotation where, for six weeks, I would do less cardio and strength train heavy. I would then switch and increase my cardio, use moderate weight and do more reps. My goal was to lose belly fat because I find it difficult to lay down muscle and although I am lean, I am an apple and I store fat very specifically to the belly. By eating more calories and getting more muscular, when I hit the fat burning phase and kicked up the cardio and laid off the heavy strength training using moderate instead I was able to maintain muscle and burn fat. It was very effective and you might try something like that. It is also a great went to circumvent plateaus. People are often taken aback by how much I eat. It's a myth that you have to starve to lose weight because building muscle, which revs our metbolism, requires more calories. You can get the results you want to see. Eat more, build muscle, eat less, burn fat! :)
Bobbi "Chicks rule!"http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/tiere/animal-smiley-032.gif
Tell me what you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver
http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/linie/smiley-linie-004.gif
 
I'm just going to chime in my 2 cents to what everybody else is saying.

First off, if your car didn't have any gas in it, would it run?

Your body's "engine" works similarly. No fuel, no workie. You've got to have the fuel (food) for your body to run properly. Much like a high performance car engine, you need high performance fuel for your body's engine to run at optimum efficiency. Hence the need for "good" carbs.

I am getting ready to start a new workout regimen after coming off an injury that has sidelined me for about two months. Add to that, that we spent the past two months searching for, closing on, and moving into a new house...and I've been out of workout commission for more than I would like. I haven't had a lot of time to prepare meals, either. So....the pounds (and inches) have crept on. With all that said, I went out and did what I usually do when I want to get motivated and back in gear to start working out again - I purchased several fitness magazines, found a bunch of good-for-me recipes, and purchased the big paperback of The Abs Diet.

What does all that have to do with you? Well, I have really learned a lot from my reading purchases that could possibly help you change your perception and way of thinking about weight loss when it comes to food intake. The large paperback version of the Abs Diet has more information than the smaller version I bought over a year ago, and the magazines were great, too.

Yes, you need to eat good carbs! Ditch the white bread, white rice, bottled salad dressings (even the light kind), soda pop (YES, even the diet kind), anything "sugar-free" or sweetened with artificial sweetener, etc. Replace with WHOLE GRAIN bread (make sure the list of ingredients says "whole grain", not "enriched wheat flour"), whole grain rice, homemade salad dressings (I found a ton of wonderful salad dressing recipes in various cookbooks and online), water and herbal tea...and replace your sugar with stevia. Stevia is a natural herb that is naturally sweet. It's classified as a supplement instead of a sweetener, and you can find it at stores that sell natural foods. If you don't have such a store in your area, buy it online. It's expensive, but the amount you have to use to provide as much sweetness as sugar is amazingly tiny!!! So, by the time you by as much sugar to equal the sweetening power of a jar of stevia, you've spent about the same amount of money. And stevia doesn't turn to poison like aspartame does when you add it to hot liquids like tea or coffee...and it doesn't chemically alter to poison like aspartame does when added to cold drinks or stored for long periods of time.

A good rule of thumb I've learned for my new diet plan is to eat a serving of good carbs and a serving of good protein per meal (a serving is about the size of your fist). Snacks can be all protein, or protein/carb mix. Add a serving of veggies to your meals, and eat 5-6 small meals per day to keep the metabolism operating at optimum efficiency. Basically, eat every 2-3 hours.

Lastly, carbs are important for anyone who is doing any kind of weight training, because the body turns to glycogen (a by-product of carbohydrate digestion) first as a means of fuel when you are expending energy. If your muscles are depleted of glycogen because you haven't been eating any carbs, your body will next turn to protein. Since protein is the primary building block of muscle development, you don't want to lose protein when you're trying to build muscle.

More muscle + more frequent (but smaller) meals per day = revved metablism that burns fat more efficiently.

Oh, and avoid HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP (HFCS) like it was the plague!!! The Abs Diet book did an excellent job of explaining why, and I don't want to repeat it all here (I've written enough). Pick up the book at the store if you'd like, but take my word for it...avoid HFCS!!! Read your labels, and if it's listed in the first 3 ingredients, put the item back on the shelf and run! HFCS is one of the absolute worst diet busters on the market, and it's unfortunately found in lots of supposedly "diet" foods...or foods you'd think would be harmless to your weight loss goals.
 
Hey Cbelle!! The posts above mine are so full of great advice...I don't have anything to add because I am right there with you. My weight has been slowly creeping up on me for the past 6 months.....all the clothes that I could wear last year are just sitting in the closet mocking me on a daily basis, so I can understand when you say"it isn't compact muscle". Oh how I know the feelng.....and I am at a loss as well. I know I could eat better, I know I used to work out just a little more often a year ago.....but still I am far more active than most people my age and mt daily diet is not horrible...why oh why am I getting bigger???? Part of my is oh so tired of the daily fight. I decided last week I need another opinion, so I booked an appointment with a certified nutritionist that writes the nutrition newsletter for my gym.

I am really looking forward to seeing her, even if it means showing her my food diary from this past week(UUGGHH). I'll let you know if she enlightens me about our problem........I know how frustrated you feel.

Donna
 
Hi again. All said, just don't give up. You can figure it out and follow through.
Keep posting when you need help and motivation. The people here are a wealth of info and will cheer you on.
:D
 
Hey guys...thank you so much for all the posts! I'm not sure what I'm going to do but I'm not going down without a fight that's for sure! I'm going to faithfully journal and stick with the cathe workouts and just take it one day at a time for now. Sometimes I swear my own body hates me.....thanks again!
 
Cbelle, I have compleel faith that you can do anything your set your mind to. We are rooting for you and we are all in the same boat. You go, girl and keep us posted, okay?
Bobbi "Chicks rule!"http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/tiere/animal-smiley-032.gif
Tell me what you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver
http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/linie/smiley-linie-004.gif
 
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