Revving up my metabolism

QueenBishOTUniverse

This is just something I have been thinking about and decided to post because I was curious. It seems like for most people I see posting on these forums, they talk about the first ten pounds being the easiest to lose and then how their weight loss seems to slow down. In my experience this has been the exact opposite of what happens to me, and in some cases that seems to have caused me to give up on my weight loss too soon, so I thought I would post and see if any one else had this issue.

Basically, what I have noticed with me is that it takes about 1 to 2 months for my body to figure out what is going on when I start working out and eating healthy again after a long stint of being lazy. This has caused me to give up on more than one occasion because I will work my butt off for an entire month, be really really good, feel better in general, but there will be NO CHANGE in any of my stats.

Case in point. I started carefully monitoring my food intake in July (minus a vacation visiting family). I'm eating plenty (diary is open if you care to take a look), and have been working out heavily, including (re)starting P90X about six weeks ago. I was seeing some small changes through July and most of August, which I attribute to behaving myself and actually TRACKING my calorie intake this time around, but nothing really significant started changing until the last two weeks, when suddenly the weight just started falling off, and I went from no noticeable change, to even my very obtuse husband commenting that suddenly he could see a HUGE change in my body composition.

Personally, I have decided this is a negative side effect of having been an athlete all through college and that my body has two basic modes of operation; in season, and not in season, so that it just takes me a while to switch back over to in season mode. I could just be pulling that strait from my rear end, but it sort of makes sense to me so that's what I'm going with until I hear a better explanation.

Again just curious if any one else has had a similar experience with their exercise/weight loss and wondering how they dealt with keeping up motivation for that 1 to 2 month stint where it feels like you're not getting anywhere.

Mokey41

People who are obese lose a large amount quickly in the first few weeks because they have a lot of water weight to get rid of and they're usually making a drastic change to their eating habits. If you have a smaller amount to lose you can't expect to see 10 lbs drop off in the first week because there just isn't that much extra water weight to drop.

You can accomplish far more for weight loss with diet than you will with exercise if you're looking for straight lower numbers on the scale. Exercise will help preserve lean body mass and increase your cardio fitness but you can't out run a bad diet.

Lupercalia

I lose fat in stops and starts, as you've mentioned above. I think a lot of it has to do with water fluctuations and such, but I go through long periods where nothing changes on the scale or measuring tape, then I lose steadily and quickly for a few weeks...then it stops again for a period, etc.

I just keep doing my thing. I know from experience that consistency with my diet and training is what pays off and will continue to pay off, so long as I keep my head in the game.

I don't ever let myself believe that I'm not getting anywhere, because I know I am....even if the scale/measuring tape isn't moving, there is a whole lot more that I want to accomplish besides making myself smaller. I have strength and performance goals I am focused on. The body composition changes are a positive side effect of working towards those more interesting (more motivating) goals. I guess that's my suggestion to you--make some sort of strength and performance goals to focus on instead of focusing on the scale/measuring tape.

QueenBishOTUniverse

Just to clarify, I am NOT personally having a motivational issue, at least not this time around. I accepted when I started that it could be AT LEAST 2 months before I saw any change and because of that just stuck with it and got past that point. The weight has started coming off now and I'm thrilled with my progress so far. I'm mostly just curious if anyone else has issues with their metabolism taking a while to get back in gear. I have fond memories of clearing half the McDonald's menu as a late night snack in college..... I know part of that is just age, but I also think a large part of it was being an athlete in training. I did not eat like that most of the year, but man, about a month in to season I suddenly turned in to a trash compactor.

I am a little concerned now with making sure I keep my food intake in line. I can feel my body starting to respond, because what was more than filling a month ago is starting to feel like barely enough to keep me satisfied now....but my plan is to just do my best to behave myself 6 days a week and listen to my cravings day 7 because for me at least my cravings USUALLY have something to do with what my body is needing, eg soda starts tasting nasty sweat, red meat starts sounding REALLY good, and occasionally french fries which I usually don't eat at all get inhaled before I know what's happened...

cmriverside

I go through this every winter/summer.

I was also an athlete when I was younger, but I don't know if that has any bearing on it.

I just don't get out and exercise as much in the winter, plus the sun is in hiding up here in the North. I think it is millions of years of biorhythms in my case. I gain and lose 6-10 pounds every year. *lesigh* It does take about six weeks for the changes to kick in - and I do eat more in the winter.

cmriverside

also. Shark!

(I'm a diver, too :flowerforyou:)







Here, sharkie, sharkie. Nice boy.

QueenBishOTUniverse

Lol! YES, winter is just awful, I played lacrosse which is a spring sport, so maybe that also has something to do with it, but I do know I have to be VERY careful through winter to get enough sun light and get outside enough or I just start trying to hibernate! Russian/British ancestry, I was born in Alaska, but luckily I am much further south now.

Sharks are my absolute favoritest! I'm teaching right now, but my master's was in shark research and when I go back for the doctorate it will be mostly just so I have an excuse to get back out in the field and swim with the BIG fishies!

QueenBishOTUniverse

Also, that's not 6-10 extra pounds, that's insulation and extra buoyancy control, or at least that's what my dive master always said....

cmriverside

Also, that's not 6-10 extra pounds, that's insulation and extra buoyancy control, or at least that's what my dive master always said....

Yes, well that sounds good. I'll keep telling myself that

Are those NC sand tigers? I'm not very good at identifying sharkies. They're beautiful, good for you for choosing to study these majestic creatures. Maybe you can save them from us.

edit 'cause can't type

QueenBishOTUniverse

Those are mostly silkies, there might be a few greys in there as well. I was in South Africa at the time. The team was mostly studying tigers and bulls, but unfortunately it was still a little too cold for those particular species while I was there.

I'm teaching Aquatic Science right now so I have a wonderful platform for educating people about these animals and counteracting all the negative stereotypes out there. The students always get a big shock when I show them footage of the owner of that dive shop/research team taking his 9yo daughter out with him to swim with sharks 4-5 times here size.

cmriverside

Very cool, I will never see a silkie if they're S African! Keep fighting the good fight.

QueenBishOTUniverse

Their habitat range is very broad so we have them in the US as well, they're usually a bit more open water though so they're not a shark you're very likely to see on a standard dive. Also, you can't see it in the picture but we have a big chum drum out which is why there are so many sharks coming in to investigate.

chad_phillips1123

You can accomplish far more for weight loss with diet than you will with exercise if you're looking for straight lower numbers on the scale. Exercise will help preserve lean body mass and increase your cardio fitness but you can't out run a bad diet.

"You can't out run a bad diet." Never heard it put that way, but I love it and may start quoting it.

QueenBishOTUniverse

Ok, I get that, but look at my diet and tell me how its bad... I'm actually probably eating at a little under TDEE -20% and have been eating that way the WHOLE time, but its only in the last 2 weeks that the weight has really started to change. Again, I'm very happy with my progress so far, and I've only got maybe 20 more pounds to go anyways. I'm just pointing out that FOR ME I've had to accept that the first two months or so, I'm just not going to see a big change no matter what I eat or how much I exercise.

And again, it was mostly the age range, but my diet was HORRIBLE in college, I just ran it off..... Ah, when an entire big new yorker from pizza hut constituted dinner....

Deborah100660

I have the same problem. Usually I want to see results quickly. I experienced weight gain in the first month and wanted to quit. I realized that it was muscle gained. I felt better when I exercised. I think since you know your body takes a while just persevere. I bet you also feel better when you exercise and eat a clean diet. I also have been very fit in the past. Eventually, I began to lose. I have dedicated myself to exercising aerobically for a minimum of 1 hour a day for a minimum of 5 days a week. I feel this is a modest goal. I am 5'5, 160 pounds, 22% body fat, and a size 8. At my fittest, I was a size 4 and 16-18 percent body fat, weighing 135. I use body fat as my goal not weight. I combine cardio and strength training. My goal is 1 hour of cardio in the morning and 30 minutes of weights in the evening. I sometimes miss the weights, but never miss my cardio. I purchased an inexpensive fat caliper over the internet to monitor my body fat. It is fairly accurate and is very accurate as to the changes in body fat.

geekyjock76

People who experience huge losses early are either losing a lot of water weight and/or begin at a high body fat percentage. The amount of body fat that can be oxidized in a 24-hour period depends on degree of adiposity. Thus, the person with a high body fat percentage will be able to handle a larger deficit and experience greater daily fat loss compared to someone reasonably lean.

It also depends on the state of ones Resting Metabolic Rate/TDEE relative to how much they are eating. People who suppressed their RMR by chronic calorie restriction will have a much harder time as well compared to one whose RMR is optimal because of eating at true maintenance before restricting.

In general, though, I believe it's wise for everyone to give their intervention at least a month or two before they see any appreciable changes.

QueenBishOTUniverse

Yea, I think maybe for me its just taken me a while to accept that I CAN get my metabolism back up where it used to be, it's just going to take a little longer to get there. I think maybe people who grew up never having an issue with weight sometimes hit that point in life where their weight starts inching up and then get frustrated too quickly when they make all the right changes, but nothing happens, because in the past, they never had that issue. As long as they were being healthy and staying active, they were good.....

I know I always used to say that I would never diet, just stay active. I would still argue that I'm not really dieting, just being more careful.

I just thought I'd share my experience, because while I knew I wouldn't see HUGE changes in numbers right off the bat, I still felt like my weight loss was always WAY slower than it should have been and what everyone else seemed to get during their first month or two and that definitely DID get frustrating.

So yes, I would definitely agree, give it AT LEAST a month or two, but it will get better!