Diet and Exercise Accountability Thread

[bizzokiki]

I've had a setback and I'm soooo frustrated! I gained 1 lb this week! Now, if I had been lazy and pigged out, I wouldn't be mad, but I have worked out 6 of the last 7 days, and watched my calorie intake with the acception of 1 day. I have lost weight in the past doing exactly this, so it really bums me out. Ughhh, guess I gotta start doing something different, just not sure what yet.

[TnTWalter]

It might not be a setback if you exercised and didn't overeat to compensate for the exercise. I am always so hungry when I'm working out hard. It really could be muscle mass gain. How are your clothes fitting? That's sometimes a better indication. Or you could have had too much sodium so you're retaining, etc. Don't throw your hands in the air and pig out [like i want to do sometimes LOL].
Hang in there. Next week it will probably look different.

Roni...thanks for the compliment. I will never have a supermodel body [sigh] but I was really happy with my body in that pic hope to be back there this Spring. And I agree...I'm a SAHM and it's so hard...the food is all around me. I always do better when I have lots of errands to run while kids are at school.

[Rissask]

Originally Posted by Randyse

I'm not a fan of the Atkins' idea of complete carb avoidance. It's basically a systemic thing where you start jacking with one area and the unintended consequences are not so good for you.

But changing to non-processed grains and avoiding like the devil anything with high fructose corn syrup, and eating fairly small amounts of even the good carbs works really well.

The thing that's always worked really well for me is resistance training to increase muscle mass, which is the main tissue that actually uses energy (burning calories). And, if you weight train first, then do a 20-30 minute cardio workout right after, you get a great fat burning bonus because weight training uses up your stored glycogen (carbs) and cardio makes your body burn glycogen first, then fat when it's out. So you basically start your cardio with low glycogen, getting a similar fat burning effect to a much longer cardio workout (45+ minutes).

If you do it the other way, you can screw yourself up because anaerobic exercises like weight training burn glycogen and I believe protein for energy. Not sure of the exact mechanism, but if you do anaerobic exercise when you're starved for glycogen, your body will basically eat itself by breaking down muscle tissue to burn for energy.

That sucks, because for years and years I did it the second way, just thinking that if I got my heart rate up by doing cardio, it would stay high during lifting and I'd get some kind of boost - not the case.

So, you might ask, with this knowledge why am I carrying around a bit extra. Two reasons - one, I'm lazier than I should be and beer tastes GOOD, margaritas taste GOOD, nachos taste GOOD, cheese enchiladas taste GOOD. And two, if Al Gore is right and global warning leads to a new ice age, I'll have an edge over all the twigs out there, unless they decide to eat me because it'd take 6 of them to provide the same amount of dinner. Who knows?

I do it like you used to.

I work out about 4 times a week, twice cardio only and 2 times cardio and weights.been doing it pretty regularly (with a couple months of laziness here and there) for about 9 years now.

I always have done my cardio first, thinking the same thing you did.

BUT- what I do is I do my weight lifting portion aerobically....so, 45 minutes on my recumbent bike, or jogging/speed walking with light hand weights outside- then another 30 minutes lifting- but I do one upper body set to failure, then one lower body set to failure, one upper, one lower, etc etc. (I have more upper body exercises, so I do crunches in between too.) I do them fast enough that my heart rate stays high the whole time, if it falls I do jumping jacks for a couple minutes.

It seems to work. *shrug*


My biggest problem preventing me from a truly killer body is sitting at a desk 8 hours 5 days/week, beer, not enough workout sessions in a week, lack of an iron will to work out daily, beer, cheese, pina coladas on vacation, laziness, red wine, beer, not wanting to lose what little BBs I have, pasta, and what was that again, oh yeah, BEER.


I do like your theory about extra padding and global warming.

[Randyse]

Rissask,
Just for grins, you might try switching the order of the lifting and cardio and see if you notice any difference. I generally do my lifting in a way that keeps my heart rate pretty high by doing a set that hits one muscle group, then immediately doing a set that hits an opposing muscle group - set of chest followed immediately by a set of back followed by a set of chest, etc, so your muscles are resting while you're busting the other ones.

So much can be accomplished by just getting more active and the desk jobs are hard for that. Just quit your job and join me in Playa for a month and walk everywhere with me. :-) Nothing like unveiling the ol' gut on the beach to provide motivation, fo sho.

And by the way, I've switched to primarily red wine except for a day per week for my beer fix. It's supposedly the best alcoholic drink you can have - antioxidants, low carbs, and all that, and its complexity means the body has to work harder to break it down as opposed to liquor, which hits the blood stream quickly and triggers the insulin response.

Unfortunately, it also comes down to simple math. No matter the quality of the calories, the ones not burned tend to stick around. :-)

Want to commit to starting some kind of regular workout with me? I will if you will.

[TnTWalter]

I love my red wine...I do better when I hold off during the week and enjoy a couple glasses on the weekends...
I'm a Trader Joe's fan...not the TWO BUCK CHUCK that they're famous for....but they have good wine for less bucks....they have a good Malbec that I enjoy a nice Pinot Noir...mmm mmm.

I'm not allowing myself wine until I reach my mini-goal and then I'm buying the good stuff! $12 Estancia Pinot Noir....I should buy it and leave it out.

Randy...I followed your rule this am...it was harder to get the cardio all in after doing weights [I normally sandwich weights between cardio] but I did it. Weights then ran and eliptical. My heart rate goes up during my weight routine [I also incorporate squats and lunges] will that affect me? Thanks.

[Kellyk]

Originally Posted by Randyse

I'm not a fan of the Atkins' idea of complete carb avoidance. It's basically a systemic thing where you start jacking with one area and the unintended consequences are not so good for you.
But changing to non-processed grains and avoiding like the devil anything with high fructose corn syrup, and eating fairly small amounts of even the good carbs works really well.
.........
So, you might ask, with this knowledge why am I carrying around a bit extra. Two reasons - one, I'm lazier than I should be and beer tastes GOOD, margaritas taste GOOD, nachos taste GOOD, cheese enchiladas taste GOOD. And two, if Al Gore is right and global warning leads to a new ice age, I'll have an edge over all the twigs out there, unless they decide to eat me because it'd take 6 of them to provide the same amount of dinner. Who knows?

I could have written this post...especially the last paragraph!
I can't do Atkins either. The whole food and nothing processed works like a miracle for me...now I just have to get off my bum and shake the excess off.

I'm dealing with a 25 lb weight gain over the last year..as it turns out my hormones have bailed on me At least now I know I have an idea of how to combat it. I've lost 3 lbs in 2 weeks just changing my diet!!

(to my chicas...I know I said I was working out more...but I'm not...but I am NOW!!!)

[Randyse]

Trish, I don't believe so. Your heart rate goes up under any stress - anxiety, anaerobic activity, aerobic activity, etc. The real difference is how you body uses oxygen - anaerobic vs aerobic. Basically, if you're doing both anyway, it's just a way to cheat a little and get some extra benefit by ordering them properly. I followed a program called Transform which is pretty similar to Body for Life. Basically, they both you have you lift more, do some weeks of high rep/low lifting and some weeks of low rep/high rep lifting to build your muscle mass, doing cardio for 20 min or so at the end of your workouts. The Transform program warns about doing more than an hour or hour 15 total between lifting and cardio because you get into diminishing returns and run the risk of overtraining and setting yourself back.

And don't worry about looking like those girls on the weight lifting magazine - women's bodies just aren't wired that way. They have artificial help. Why they'd do that, I have no idea.

Plus, lifting helps you increase bone mass, or at least reduce the chance of osteoperosis - lots of good stuff.

[Susie Q Roo]

I think a good point to be made here is that, to consistently see results, you have to consistently change what you're doing, workout-wise and maybe to a lesser extent food-wise. Gym routines should be changed every 4-6 weeks, for example and, if you've been doing the same thing over and over and over, you may be surprised at the difference if you just change 'em up a bit.

Same thing with food. Variation is necessary, not only in the different foods you eat, but the # of calories you eat each day. It's a good rule of thumb to have a couple low cal days each week, offset by a couple high intake days- with one of those still sticking to only healthy foods and the other more of a splurge (though not insane) day.

The body is a pretty efficient machine and doesn't give up its fat protection against potential starvation easily. It will adapt to, as closely as possible, survive on exactly what it's given without giving anything up. One reason long term extremely low calorie (or low carb) diets will never work long term and will instead f up your metabolism for the rest of your life.

[jmac]

Hey!!! I finally managed to drag my exhausted butt out to my treadmill. Did 30 minutes, also with a 17 minute mile in there. I'm gonna do my half marathon walk this June in Winnipeg, our friends I was supposed to do it with in San Antonio are coming up from Texas to do it too. With all that has been going on, been a bugger to exercise but the exhaustion is disappearing each day more & more. Exercise now will help get me some more energy.

[Tommygurl]

TNT I hate you. Just kidding! You look fabulous! Keep it up wow!

I am up 4lbs again. I am yo yoing...I am a stress eater.

[Rissask]

Randy- I am going to try that and see if it makes a difference!

I think I have always thought that by doing the cardio first, your muscles are 'warmed up', and you might be less likely to do yourself an injury possibly? It just seems logical to me....I know I have never torn a muscle or anything in years of workouts, while I watch others get injuries much more often- but I don't know how scientific that is. (and I lift heavier weights too- 15 pounds for bicep curls for example).

(Okay I have had a sore tennis elbow of and on lately....but I digress. That might be just old age.)

My husband is a bad one for working out only sporadically and then he goes full speed ahead and ends up with an injury- it never fails. he is just a little guy too (5'7" on a good day, 155 pounds) so I think he overdoes his weights too, plus don't get me started on his poor form...ay yi yi - and he will not listen to me when I try to 'help' .

I am pretty good at working out regularly, but I am going to post in here more often to keep me motivated.
I quit smoking about three months ago now and I have lost ten pounds, partly because I am on Zyban and it helps kill cravings a bit, but I also replaced my evening smoking in my garage with exercising and it has worked well for me. Although I seem to have stalled out here at 129 pounds. I need to watch those portions and stay away from desserts!

Yeah, a desk job is really bad for your butt width.

We had a group of us who would go for a ome mile speed walk two times a day, outside in spring/summer/fall, and inside in the factory in winter...but this winter that got kyboshed because the plant is a big disorganized mess and WAY behind in the schedule and the forklift drivers complained we were getting in the way. So until that improves and/or spring, we are outta luck.

mmm red wine! I so love it too, TnT. But I bleach my teeth and it's terrible for that. So I try to limit myself.

Susie- I know you are right....I KNOW variety is good....but I am such a creature of habit, I have basically the same routine I had when I started working out 9 years ago. Awful I know. I do change up exercises here and there but I have the same basic repertoire of about 20-25.



I read somewhere, I think Prevention magazine, about some really common exercises that do virtually no good at all...I will take a look tonight for it. I know one of them was calf raises with a weight in each hand.

[PlayaGroom]

Originally Posted by Rissask

I read somewhere, I think Prevention magazine, about some really common exercises that do virtually no good at all...I will take a look tonight for it. I know one of them was calf raises with a weight in each hand.

Men's Health has also been publishing about many "traditional" exercises that almost do more harm than good, mostly weight machines like the leg press, leg extension/quad extension, hip adductors, chest press/squat rails, and "ab-twisting" machines. They note that many machines focus so much on one specific set of muscles (your groin for example) that don't typically work by themselves, and they don't allow your body's natural movement, thus causing unnecessary strain.

[Shammy]

I'm still doing my thing - 6 days in the gym doing step and running and 2 days with a trainer lifting but my cardio is suffering because I have something not quite right with my shin. I went to the ortho last week and I'm having a triple phase bone scan tomorrow - whereby they inject me with radioactive dye and take photos of my leg over the course of the day. Ugh........ The docs wants to rule out or confirm a stress fracture and if it IS a stress fracture, I'm screwed! If it's not, then it's tendonitis and maybe I can get a cortisone shot for that or something. Not sure what they plan to do. At least I know if I continue to work out through the pain, my shin won't snap!

I go up and down a few pounds every time I get weighed, and it's water I hold on to. One day I can be down, the next I can be as much as 4 pounds heavier. It's weird, but normal. I have 10-15 pounds to go, would be MORE than happy with 10 off but at this point, my trainer says I'm more muscle than fat so it's much harder to drop weight. Figures......... I just signed on for 27 (pay for 20, get 7 free if you're a lifer like me! ) more sessions with her (already did about 100) so not like I'm giving up! There's a certain number I'm waiting to see on that scale and I'm hoping it will be this Friday. If not, I'll just keep trying!

[TnTWalter]

Ugh I had a setback yesterday...binge attack....I don't know what came over me. So I'll chalk it up to my 'cheat day' and move on but it's frustrating. UGH.
Shammy good luck with your shin. It stinks working so hard and then having a setback. I know because I went through it with my knee. Finally had surgery LAST September and am just now able to work out almost to the intensity I was used to. This is when diet is crucial. I also know because I have fought the weight even more since my body was used to much more aerobic workouts so my metabolism suffered. UGH.
So I'll wipe myself off and start today with a fresh start....no binging...no binging....LOL.
Tommy....I don't look like that now. Trying to get back to that.
Randy...I have been consistently weight lifting for >4 years and haven't gotten bulky...there was one spring where my arms were a tad bigger than I like but not like the magazines. LOL.
Rissak ..... use a Straw! LOL. I definitely need to whiten my teeth...between coffee and wine...yikes. I am also a creature of habit especially with food...I have prett much had the same breakfast for years...some variation of egg substitute [omelet, egg pancake w/ quick oats and egg whites & jam].
Susie Q ... great advice.
jmak...yipee for you!

[roni]

Originally Posted by Randyse

I'm not a fan of the Atkins' idea of complete carb avoidance.

I am not a big fan of Atkins either, but I do not believe that this is an accurate description of his idea.

For some of us the standard carb diet is poisonous (I know BonnyW may disagrees with this ).