Do I need a break from Exercise??

kimi233

I'm looking for any opinions or suggestions you all may have for me. I can take the brutal honesty also! I don't want to sound like a whiney person but I am very frustrated, I've been working my butt off, and not seeing any results recently. I finished Turbo Fire less than a month ago, and have been doing Insanity 6 days a week, and adding in ChaLean Extreme when I can (usually 2-3 days a week on top of Insanity) My weight has been the same at 146 (-/+1 pound) for over TWO months!!! I am 5' 10, I can loose more weight and still be in my healthy weight range, but for some reason, I'm not loosing. I have increased my calories to 1340 calories a day, and I've been eating my exercise calories back also. I do understand I have not been eating the "good" food that I should, I will have my oreos when I need them, and I do have to eat out occasionally, but I did all of that and more when I lost the 17 pounds that I've lost. Well, I was venting my frustration on Facebook also, and one of my friends told me that he was told by a trainer that he needed to take a break from exercise for TWO WEEKS!!! Is this true, does my body really need that long of a break?? I always have a rest day during the week. I don't know if I should believe him, I can't see what taking that much time off will do for me except make me gain weight?! Or is this just an ex that is trying to sabotage my weight loss?? What's your thoughts on taking a break from working out, is it helpful or hurtful?? And any suggestions to break my plateau would be appreciated also!! I'm beyond frustrated today since I've gained a pound this week!! Thanks in advance!

Mike523

Sounds like a normal plateau... It happens to pretty much everyone, especially once your body gets closer to your ideal weight. The pounds come off easy in the beginning, but then it gets harder as you get closer to your goal.

Some things you can do to shake it up and push past a plateau are

Change up your workouts, make them more diverse - weights one day, running another day, biking another day, walking/jogging intervals, yoga, etc.

Change up your nutrition - cut out the Oreos and other sweets for a while, no alcohol, if you need to go out to dinner order a big salad with grilled chicken or shrimp or lean beef, and an olive oil based dressing. Eat lots of fresh veggies, and when it comes to carbs stick to the whole grain stuff.

Sometimes it just takes time for your body to start responding again - don't give up.

I don't think you should take 2 weeks completely off from exercising - if you are fatigued you could do a "recovery week" where you still exercise 5 or 6 days, but at a lower intensity. Yoga, stretching, walking/light jogging, etc.

Goal_Seeker_1988

I am 5'7" weigh 145 and I don't need to lose anymore weight. I could drop down to 135 and still be considered healthy. You said you are 5'10" and weigh 146. Maybe your body is tryin to tell ya that it don't have anymore weight to lose. My body doesn't allow me to go below 142 without gainin it back within a week or so. If you are tryin to lose fat, that's totally different then losin weight, which is what it may be doin without you even realizing it. That is only my opioion I am not an expert. So I hope that helps.

hpsnickers1

Check out the link in my signature: Relatively light and looking to get leaner. It might apply to you. When you are in a healthy weight range and want to shed some more body fat heavy weight lifting is the way to go. You can also message him with your goals and what you are doing and he will respond.

Losing weight is hardest when you are already in a healthy range. (BMI below 26).

I don't know if it will apply but he has some great information when you are already "relatively light".

ramseyrose

My gym instructor said take two days off a week, as your muscles need to repair themselves. It does seem to be a common factor on here where wait sticks. My scales didnt move for two weeks. Muscle does weigh more than fat so you are probably still losing but building muscle. Your body can get used to certain exercises. Try something different like a walk, swimming or a good old boogie and see if it helps.

Good luck, you are doing so well.

roebuck1908

Hi I was told a similar thing at my gym overview and stopped going for 10 day gained half a kilo. started again and lost 1 kilo in two days. So maybe a break could help you.

erickirb

I'm looking for any opinions or suggestions you all may have for me. I can take the brutal honesty also! I don't want to sound like a whiney person but I am very frustrated, I've been working my butt off, and not seeing any results recently. I finished Turbo Fire less than a month ago, and have been doing Insanity 6 days a week, and adding in ChaLean Extreme when I can (usually 2-3 days a week on top of Insanity) My weight has been the same at 146 (-/+1 pound) for over TWO months!!! I am 5' 10, I can loose more weight and still be in my healthy weight range, but for some reason, I'm not loosing. I have increased my calories to 1340 calories a day, and I've been eating my exercise calories back also. I do understand I have not been eating the "good" food that I should, I will have my oreos when I need them, and I do have to eat out occasionally, but I did all of that and more when I lost the 17 pounds that I've lost. Well, I was venting my frustration on Facebook also, and one of my friends told me that he was told by a trainer that he needed to take a break from exercise for TWO WEEKS!!! Is this true, does my body really need that long of a break?? I always have a rest day during the week. I don't know if I should believe him, I can't see what taking that much time off will do for me except make me gain weight?! Or is this just an ex that is trying to sabotage my weight loss?? What's your thoughts on taking a break from working out, is it helpful or hurtful?? And any suggestions to break my plateau would be appreciated also!! I'm beyond frustrated today since I've gained a pound this week!! Thanks in advance!

Since you don't have much to lose and are very close to your goal and already in a healthy weight range, try changing your goal to 0.5lbs/week, you probably need more fuel.

McKayMachina

I really think you look incredible and you might want to consider chilling out on the numbers game. 146 at 5'10"? Good heavens, child. I'm 8" shorter than you and my goal is 135! That's 10 lbs. more than I was in HS when I was a little twiglette.

I am not trying to talk you out of anything. That'd be futile. But, step back for a moment and consider how you look and feel. Are you maybe actually totally happy with where you're at? Just a thought.

Again, you look fantastic. Amazing, really.

kimi233

Check out the link in my signature: Relatively light and looking to get leaner. It might apply to you. When you are in a healthy weight range and want to shed some more body fat heavy weight lifting is the way to go. You can also message him with your goals and what you are doing and he will respond.

Losing weight is hardest when you are already in a healthy range. (BMI below 26).

I don't know if it will apply but he has some great information when you are already "relatively light".

AH-HA!! I've been looking for this thread, I've searched it and I also thought I had it in my topics but couldn't ever find it, I started to look at it one day, but there were like 15 pages, so I stopped and could never find it again.... THANK YOU!!

kimi233

Thank you for all the support and suggestions. I know not to worry about the number on the scale, but I have also not seen my measurements drop either. And I do understand that I am thin already, but I really want to get rid of that layer of fat on my hips and waist, its driving me crazy that I am so close to having the body I want!! When I got married I was around 135ish.. maybe a little more, and that was the skinniest I have ever been in my life, and I do understand that I've had three kids, that my hips are going to be wider than they were before, but I just want that muffin top gone dang it! LOL Thank you for all the compliments too, I really appreciate it!!

ncahill77

I hit a hard plateau not long ago that I couldn't break through, i had a bad week at work where I couldn't get in much working out and got 2 light workouts in during a 7 day period, I dropped 2 pounds that next week. I think sometimes while you might not want to skip working out altogether, you have to cut it back and give the body a chance to rest.

shaunshaikh

Maybe just go back to maintainance calories for a week and start over. You may need to jump start your metabolism.

dieseljay74

Sounds like you are overdoing the exercise. Remember if you reduce available calories too much whether it be extreme calorie reduction through food or excessive exercise it will trigger the starvation response from your body. I would say if you love to do that much cardio which is good for your heart anyway, then you should definitely up your food intake more. Helped me out doing it this way. I only have about 15 lbs. to lose to be pretty cut, but started going crazy with cardio on top of heavy weight training to expedite the process and stopped my steady weight loss completely. I scaled back on the cardio to a few times a week and started to lose fat again. Something to think about. Besides, you look great now as it is!

Oh as a side note, also try calorie zig-zagging a little. More one day less the next and alternate that way to keep the body guessing and not adapting to the same calorie intake daily. Our bodies try to adapt quickly to be the most efficient at using what's available and that's usually when progress slows or stops.

kmparks24

You may not be losing weight, but are your measurements changing any?

myofibril

Read this thread if you haven't already:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/113609-relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner

I appreciate that it's rather long but it will save you a lot of frustration and months of wasted effort if you read all of it and apply the knowledge contained within it. The points by Steve about accumulation of stress over time leading to the outstripping of your bodies ability to recover near the end of the thread are very valid points for you.

The trainer's advice about taking some time "off" exercising is good not just for you but many people especially if you have been going hard for some time. You don't have to stop exercising altogether but rather change the nature of your exercising to lower intensity to give yourself a physiological and psychological break. Essentially this is the transistion or recovery cycle of a good sports periodisation programme which can have numerous benefits. For the average person building this in every 8-12 weeks or so is a good idea.

kimi233

All very great info... and I'm going to go through all of that thread, there is a lot of great information on there, in ALL of those pages haha!! I will keep trying out these suggestions until I find something that works!! I did read about the zig-zagging, and was going to try that, and honestly forgot about it! I really appreciate all of your advice and support everyone! And I do know that one of my fault's is being a SLIGHT bit of a perfectionist, and I know I look good... but I always think I can be better! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

kdiamond

I also agree with most of the above. You're definitely not eating enough in my opinion. I am 5'4" 108 pounds and I eat 1800 a day for maintenance! I'm pretty active but still, I couldn't survive on 1300 a day with the exercise you're doing. Your body is holding on to whatever nutrition it is getting, thus you're not losing.

Take 4 weeks, add in 250 calories daily (make them good, nutritious calories) and see how you do at the end of those 4 weeks. I'm willing to bet you'll drop a few. Keep the exercise going, that part is great and you shouldn't stop! (I've maybe taken a week off in 6 months, so as long as you're not overtraining you're fine)