Finally

sunshine79

So, the last few months have been very difficult. I was gaining weight consistently even though I was dieting and exercising. (I later found that I had an underactive thyroid). I also became obsessed with every single mirco calorie that passed my lips and also fell into the cardio, cardio, cardio trap to the point where I was working out twice a day to 'burn' as many calories as possible. All of this amounted to almost nothing and my weigh stayed pretty much the same even with so much effort. I was exhausted and mentally tired.

I started reading all I could about nutrition, fat loss and fitness and as a result changed my approach.

I stopped obsessing about calories, increased my ridiculously low calorie intake, zig zageed my calories, increased my metabolism by eating every 3(ish) hours), ensured that I had lea protein with every meal, reduced the amount of processed foods I ate, swapped the endless cardio for resistance training first and foremost and also HIIT (high intensity inteval training) and do you know what? I've finally started to see results.

My point? There is no need to obsess about every milligram of food you eat, nor is there any benefit in trying to 'burn' as many calories as you can for hours on end on the treadmill/cross trainer/stationary bike. We don't need to try to work out how many calories we burn 'doing th ironing' or any other regular household chore for that fact. It's all about increasing your RMR and that is done through resistance training, being active in general and eating the right foods every few hours

Even though I have 9lbs more to lose I cannot begin to tell you the difference in how I feel. I'm not exhausted from all the cardio, I'm never hungry, I can have the odd treat now and again and most importantly I can feel the difference in my clothes. I know that I can sustatin this and I am happy too.:laugh: :laugh:

fitgirl4life

Way to go girl!! What an inspiration...I'm going to bookmark this so if I ever fall into the "obssessing over every calorie" trap, along with the "cardio, cardio, cardio" trap (guilty on both counts!), I'll remind myself what I MUST do instead.

You sounds so much happier now, and back in control. Awesome...you rock!

Lisamarie1226

Wow! Amazing. I fall into the cardio trap. I know I have to do more resistance training. I currently take a toning & sculpting class twice a week and try to strength train on my own at least once a week. I know I need to add more. You may have given me the push I needed. Thanks!