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lmrcox
New Member
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Posted: 26 Feb 2006 01:05 pm |
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A few years ago I made a lifestyle change. Little changes in my life that I committed myself to. In a little over a year I lost 50 lbs. Kept it off for a year, but broke my ankle and put on 20. I have since gotten the 20 back off. My problem now is that I am back on track, but my weight is barely coming off. I still have a long way to go. (I am being patient and sticking to my guns...or trying to, anyway.)
In exercising, I'm wondering if one order of doing my videos would be more effective than another. I know about calories in vs. calories out and it shouldn't matter. But I am confused as to if I should be doing my cardio video first, and then my core training (using the ball and weights) or other strength training? Or should I do the opposite? I usually do 2-3 videos in a row and don't know if getting my heartrate up first will help me burn calories more effectively when I move on to less vigorous videos. Sometimes when I feel less energetic, I start with the less vigorous, and by the time I'm done, I have energy to move on to something more challenging. I try to listen to my body, but if I feel up to everything, which should I be doing first?
Thanks!
Last edited on 26 Feb 2006 01:06 pm by lmrcox
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Peter
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Posted: 27 Feb 2006 04:33 am |
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You may get some more helpful responses, but here's my standard reply:
Go to a hospital or university library and study the medical journals. You'll find studies telling you how to burn more calories as relates to time of day; time before/after meals; length and intensity of exercise. And who knows what else.
I've never done this, but I see the headline reports in magazines all the time. It sells magazines!
I suspect that you would have to practice a specific "calorie burning" technique for a long time to burn the calories in one extra slice of Grandma's apple pie.
It is my unscientific opinion that none of these factors are as important as doing what you enjoy and doing it when you enjoy doing it... so you keep doing it.
Peter
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lmrcox
New Member
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Posted: 27 Feb 2006 10:50 am |
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Thanks for the encouragement...I've read your response several times in other topics. I guess I'm just getting frustrated because I seem to be doing everything and losing nothing...but I look at it positively...I'M NOT GAINING!!! (Weight, that is, but I am gaining better health!)
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NevD
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| Joined: | 26 Oct 2005 |
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Posted: 27 Feb 2006 11:16 am |
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Like Peter, I don't think tweaking exercise order is likely to provide any significant progress.
When people reach sticking points, I generally suggest that they change something. But that wouldn't include (to parallel your question) changing the order in which they eat their meals.
Rather, I would look at eating patterns and actual foods (especially the ratios of carbs/protein/fat).
You mention lifestyle changes but don't specify what they were...
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lmrcox
New Member
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Posted: 27 Feb 2006 09:37 pm |
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Basically I stopped drinking any soda (diet or regular) except on the occasion we go out for Chinese food...gotta have 1 coke, but no refills. Turned to water, crystal light, and lemon seltzer. I started using smaller dinner plates to get my portions under control. Don't go back for seconds. I have to make sure I am on a regular eating schedule of something little every 2-3 hours. Plus, I started eating breakfast. (1 pack of plain instant oatmeal/nothing added) Where I had worked for the past several years was tough because I was always around all sorts of food and candy. So, if, on occasion, I wanted a candy bar, I would buy it and give half to somebody else...it was a way of just having what I wanted and not having too much of it. (Never really happened more than once a week, but that was much better than a whole candy bar several times a week!) I got off of white bread as well. Now I but light oatmeal or light wheat. That was one of the easiest changes.
Lastly, I committed to exercise...even if it was only 20 minutes on some days...I consistently walked every weekday morning. Also, last year I joined a gym at my local hospital (ended up starting for physical therapy after I broke my ankle) and use the ellyptical machine several times a week, and 1-2 times/week I hit the machines. I also have use of their pool and I try to do 20 minutes of laps once or twice a week.
Right now, I am very careful with my carbs and choices. I think I don't always stick to eating enough throughout the day (frequency, not quantity), but I am getting back on track with that. So what i am doing now to try and break this plateau is I'm trying not to eat anything after 6pm. It seems I like to snack at night (even with healthy choices) and I think that's not too good. So far I have made it 1 & 1/2 weeks and I think the habit is starting to break! I just try to busy myself with other things and the time just passes. Usually I'll do an exercise video if I'm feeling I'm going to lose it and suck down an extra bottle of water.
I hope this will help start losing again!
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NevD
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Posted: 28 Feb 2006 11:29 am |
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Don't leave yourself hungry in the evening - it just builds up cravings.
Like I wrote earlier, what you eat matters. Your exercise schedule looks good.
Check that your fat intake is 20% or less of your calories. Keep that up for a week and see what happens.
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snussster
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 28 Feb 2006 08:23 pm |
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I'm no expert on this, so I can only speak from experience:
I used to do free weights first, 6 days a week, alternating upper/lower body, and then I'd go run 3 miles. That was easier for me because I'm a smoker and didn't have the lung capacity to run and then do the weights.
Now, I do the opposite -- cardio first, then weights and strength training. It took my quite a while -- I'd say 10 weeks or more -- to not be totally out of breath while I was doing the strength portion, but I'm ok with it now.
The differences I noticed between the two methods:
- I injured myself by lifting weights without being warmed up. I suffered horrible sciatica (which may or may not have been caused by that, but I suspect it was) and my shoulders are "crunchy" now, because of those days. I haven't suffered any injuries since I switched to doing cardio first.
- I'm older now (was 31 when I was doing things the old way, and am now 41) and have more weight on my body, but a fair comparison of me then vs me now doesn't show any difference in how quickly I lost weight or how quickly the muscle definition started to show.
So the lessons I learned are 1) do a warm up of some sort to protect yourself from injury, no matter what, and 2) the quality of your workouts is the most important thing. You can lift weights all day long, but if you don't focus on the muscles and what you want to accomplish, and if you don't make sure you're safely challenging yourself, it'll take you that much longer and you'll only have injuries and confused muscles and bones!
Susan
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Javan
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 28 Feb 2006 08:37 pm |
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I used to do cardio and strength on the same day, 3x a week. Now that I do Pilates, and strenght, I can not do Cario, Pilates, and strength on the same day (it just kills me), so I do Cardio one day, then the Pilates & Strength on the following day. It works so far. Of course, my strenght is nothing more than push-up and sit-up, and variations thereof!.
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lmrcox
New Member
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Posted: 28 Feb 2006 10:29 pm |
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nevd wrote: Don't leave yourself hungry in the evening - it just builds up cravings.
Nevd, If I seem to be doing okay and adjusting fine to the schedule, do you think it will still be bad in the long run? I'm approaching the 2 week mark, and it doesn't seem to be as big of a deal to myself anymore. I almost think it was more of a habit than anything else. I'm not going to bed hungry. That would drive me nuts!!!
As for watching the particular foods, it is very difficult for me to take the time to actually do the calculations...which is what I will be aiming at doing more of now that I found this helpful site. I just know that I have my portions under control and usually make very good choices. (Also good choices in the way I prepare my foods!) I just returned to work from a week off and today had 3 people (from different parts of the school I work in) comment to me how good I look and asked me if I've been losing weight! What more motivation do I need than that?!?!?! But I do notice I am losing some inches. Could it really be that I am finally building up more muscle? I have been getting a little more aggressive with using the weights and bringing the pounds up little by liitle. Also started with freewights in some of my at home videos.
Susan, Thanks for sharing your order of doing things. I always do my cardio first when I go to the gym because I feel that my muscles have had time to warm up. I see people all the time that come in and do weights first...I would be more afraid of pulling a muscle. I've asked them why they do it that way and the most common response I've heard is that if they do the cardio first, they are too tired to do the weights or they can't do the same amount of weights and end up going lighter or cutting their reps. As for me, I'll stick to the cardio first and then hit the weights. Sounds like you found out the hard way that it was doing damage to your body. I will share that with a few people and see if they can learn from it.
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NevD
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Posted: 1 Mar 2006 09:08 am |
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Nevd, If I seem to be doing okay and adjusting fine to the schedule, do you think it will still be bad in the long run? I'm approaching the 2 week mark, and it doesn't seem to be as big of a deal to myself anymore.
Sorry - I thought you were trying to break a 'plateau'. It didn't sound like what you were trying was working.
The theory is (I'm talking sustainable progress here) that if you go from say 5 pm through to breakfast, you deplete all your body's energy stocks and end up ravenous. If you then don't have a 'proper' breakfast, you get a bad start to the day, nutrition-wise, and start to build up cravings.
On top of that, if you're exercising a lot, you don't have available protein in your system for most of the day, so your muscles don't regenerate tissue after exercise.
But if you're making the progress you want, then none of the above matters (except in the long run).
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lmrcox
New Member
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Posted: 1 Mar 2006 10:24 am |
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Nevd, You are right! I am trying to break this leveling off...that's why I was trying to cut out the late day eating. I figured it would be worth trying something different. I didn't realize that you meant the cravings might affect me the next day. I thought you meant I would start craving foods at night. My apologies for the misunderstanding! So if I am completing my workout around 3:30/4:00 and then having my dinner, I should still give my body that evening (healthy) snack? I didn't think about the next day. I was taking one day at a time.
My eating schedule is usually:
7am-breakfast (1 pack plain oatmeal)
9am-snack (fruit-apple/clementine/plum/or something similar)
11am-lunch (8oz soup with bowl of raw veggies...no dressing and 1 sugar free chocolate pudding))
2pm-snack (1/3 cup tuna -unfortunately with mayo- and 4 saltines)
[2:30-3:30/4:00- workout at gym (35 minutes ellyptical + nautilus equipment 2 days a week and 1 time or so 20 minutes laps in pool) Then at times I also add 20 min. walking in the morning, and also other exercise videos at home if I don't make the gym.]
5:00-dinner (meat, vegetable, and a starch)
My question would be: Is this unreasonable? I still have to properly enter all of the info into this website and figure out my exact calories/fat grams/etc., but overall, I don't think it's too bad. I am wondering if I am not eating enough at breakfast. (I was never a breakfast person at all, so eating 1 pack is really part of my committment to myself and my lifestyle change.) Sometimes I will eat 2 packs of oatmeal to see if I feel more satisfied throughout the day, and I do (atleast in the morning hours), but I don't know if I add the second pack if I need to cut something else out along the way. I don't even know how many calories I should be consuming just to maintain, or how many to lose. I am 36, 5'6.5", and 200 lbs. I know I have a long way to go, but I really want to continue to do this right. I'm afraid if I get too aggressive with diet/exercise, it may help me lose weight, but I won't have changed my habits and will put it right back on. I truly appreciate your honest feedback. Thanks !!!
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NevD
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Posted: 1 Mar 2006 06:28 pm |
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If you're exercising regularly, you could have 2000 to 2100 cals a day (at your present weight).
Try to make sure that not more than 49 grams of fat are consumed (that's 20%) and try to keep protein around 25% (around 180 grams) spaced throughout the day.
Re. breakfast, put some low fat yoghurt on your oats to up the calories?
Good luck!
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summer
New Member
| Joined: | 17 Feb 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 8 |
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Posted: 1 Mar 2006 08:54 pm |
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Advice that was given to me was that the order of exercise doesn't matter too much, just be consistent. Day after day, week after week, month after....well you get the idea.
If you have the option, cardio in the morning gets the metabolism reved up for the day.
I'd also eat more for breakfast, it helps keep my energy level up for the day!!
Sounds like you have a pretty good plan that is working for you! Keep up the good work!!
Cheers, Summer :)
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lmrcox
New Member
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Posted: 2 Mar 2006 11:36 am |
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nevd wrote: If you're exercising regularly, you could have 2000 to 2100 cals a day (at your present weight).
Is that an amount I can have and still lose, or would that be a number to aim at for just maintaining?
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NevD
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Posted: 2 Mar 2006 04:31 pm |
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that was 15% below the 'maintenance' calories I calculated - so that would allow a safe rate of fat loss.
As the weight goes down, you just reduce everything by a bit (use the calculators)...
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lmrcox
New Member
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Posted: 3 Mar 2006 09:41 am |
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| Thanks...I would have thought it should be much lower. Later today I'm going to put in all of my info and figure it all out and see exactly what my numbers are for intake. I think I'm stalling because I almost don't want to know. Shame-shame!!!
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lmrcox
New Member
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Posted: 4 Mar 2006 11:35 am |
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Nevd,
I just finished doing my calculations. Seems low for calories...I was pretty sure I was accurate in fixing the serving sizes before I calculated. (Changed a few to 2 servings and some to .5 servings) I'm not eating nearly as many calories as I thought, and my numbers were pretty close to what you suggested. My protein is 25% (95.4), fat is 18% (31.1), and carb is 57% (215.5). (Total calories were 1522.6) So even thinking I eat 500 calories more than that, at least I can see that I am making good choices throughout the day.
I am going under the assumption that maybe I am not eating enough to lose with my activity level. Is my body hoarding my fat? I would have thought overall I would be losing at a faster pace than 1 or 2 pounds maybe every month.
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chris302
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Posted: 12 Mar 2006 02:24 pm |
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I think the key to breaking a plateau is to make changes in your diet.
My thought is that you should try to eat a more substantial breakfast, and eat more in the morning. In my experience, if I satisfy my hunger early in the day, my cravings taper off in the afternoon and evening. I am seldom hungry after dinner--don't even think about snacking then. I eat six small meals a day--6:00 a.m. (after cardio), 8:00, 10:00, 1:00, 4:00 and 6:30. You can see that in the morning I'm eating every two hours! It's also helpful to beef up your meals with foods that "fool the eye" and make you think you're eating more calories than you actually are--things like soup, veggies, and salads. If you eat a tiny little granola bar or 2 T of nuts as a "meal", even though they may be 300 calories each, your brain feels cheated! I always figure out a way for my 300 calories to fill up a plate so I feel as though I've really eaten! My friends all think I am a bottomless pit, an eating machine, and think I am lucky that I can "eat all that and stay thin". But I'm not actually eating more calories, I'm just eating often and choosing the right foods.
I used to "save" my calories for later in the day. When I did this, I thought about food all day long, was always hungry, and ate too much later in the day because I was starved. Now, by early afternoon, I forget about food and get involved in my day. Before I know it, it's late afternoon and time to eat again.
I also don't think the order of your exercise matters--just mix it up. Do it differently from week to week. With exercise, change is good!
These strategies have worked for me, as I have maintained my target weight for many years.
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NevD
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Posted: 12 Mar 2006 03:43 pm |
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lmrcox -
If you can keep those fat calories below 20% and keep your exercise up to 3 or 4 times minimum per week (including some weights) I think you'll do fine...
The body doesn't seem to give a constant rate of loss. That's why I advise using skinfold callipers rather than just the scales. If your body fat has gone down, but your weight hasn't, you know you're still on track!
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lmrcox
New Member
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Posted: 13 Mar 2006 10:44 am |
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Thanks for the helpful information and for sharing Chris. I have been doing the 6 meal a day plan for a while...I just started cutting out my last snack. I believe in the frequency of meals...spread out throughout the day. Actually, I have changed up my diet a little bit over the last almost 2 weeks...and I am getting more results. But I think the other most important thing is that I have returned to walking in the mornings. I'm tired of working my butt off on the elliptical machine for 30-45 minutes (which I do enjoy) and not getting any results. I think I work my body too hard, and it has become very efficient at what I give it to do...it's not challenging my body. Plus, it's very time consuming, and if I do my walk right in the morning...I can choose to be done for the day or just do a fun video at night and relax! So far, I will go with this for a bit...see if I can get myself back into my old habits of a daily walk. I had only stopped because I had broken my ankle. But now that it's been over a year, I'm almost fully recovered.
Nevd...I have had several comments from people at work recently that I look great! I am really happy with that...not that I need that to function, but it is a nice motivator...it means I'm doing something that works again...WALKING!!! Plus, I am starting to see a bigger difference in the way my clothes feel. I think I mentioned already that I have been tring to do more with weights...something I never used to do...hoping that I can build a little more muscle to boost my metabolism. I think it's finally paying off!!! I am really toning up and seeing some results. This has been tough, but I'm worth it!!!
I appreciate all of your feedback and I am so happy I have found this site!!!! Real people, real support!!!
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