Advised not to exercise????? HELP Fitness Minded Folks

dgilner

I have been working with a doctor regarding my diet. I have lost a smidge over 60 lbs in the past 14 months. The first 40 fell off fast - in the first 4 months. Then it took me 8 months to lose 18 lbs. I work out - I work out HARD. At minimum an hour 4x per week. But usually 5 or 6 days. Weights with cardio. Some days are just running. While I understand I have a lot of muscle mass - I still have a crap load of extra fat to lose as well. I am at 196 lbs. and only 5'5". Frustrated with my weight stalling - again - I asked my doctor for more advice. While I respect her soooo much - I am struggling with her answer:

This might be hard for you to hear, but you need to lay off the exercise. Exercising means building muscle... your body will not shed if you are also tearing and repairing muscle. Plus, you have been hitting it hard for many many months now and your body is at a plateau. I know it will be a lesson in surrender, but professionally I believe you need to rest and let your body catch up with you. If you must move - swim slowly or walk in the pool. No lifting, no super sets, no intense cardio.

I am following a "clean" diet - no sugar, no dairy & no caffeine. 3 meals per day of 4 oz protein (chicken, fish or ground lean turkey), 4 oz of fruit and 4 oz of veggies. Snacks are veggies - the unlimited ones like leafy greens, cucumbers, celery - etc. I am frustrated with the stalled weight loss and had it in my mind I would do anything she said - until I read this. I would rather give up more food than surrender the workouts. Its my destress - I gave up cigarettes, alcohol, and SUGAR. Exercise is my out. My question to the gurus out there - is this possible? Can the exercise be holding me back? I have never heard of this before - it seems so contradictory to losing weight. HELP ME!

Roxie65

It is a good idea to take a rest week to let your body recover.

JulieBoBoo

Taking a week and a half off (not just exercise but also dieting) helped me break my plateau and helped me realize that I've got the tools to maintain my weight once I get to where I need to be.

chevy88grl

Your body DOES need a break now and then. I know it seems like it would be counter productive, but our bodies need time to rest, repair and heal from what we put them through (exercise-wise). I don't take weeks off anymore simply because I don't workout as much as I used to - but when I was at the height of my weight loss, I took one FULL week off every 4-6 weeks. I didn't do any kind of exercising - just watched my calories.

I always lost weight after my "break" and I always felt so much better after giving my body a break from working out.

HoopFire5602

Agreed that breaks are good. I maintained for awhile (a month or two), let my body get used to it, then I attacked it again even harder than the last time with a change in my diet (clean eating, like you). I broke that plateau I had and am still losing.

melbaby925

I've been reading Tom Venuto's Feed the Muscles, Lose the Fat - and he talks about zig zagging your calories to fire your metabolism and keep it confused so it doesn't get used to the same level of fuel. So for a few days, eat MORE. Then for a few, eat back where you were.

I saw some posts where people were talking about this guy, so I searched the web for him and then got the book. I like what he's got to say so far.

I think if you like to exercise, you should do it. Maybe change it up a bit so your body isn't too settled into a routine.

noexcuses1218

My go-to response when I get frustrated with the scale, with how I'm feeling, with stress, etc.: Yoga. Specifically, vinyasa or power yoga. It's about using your own body weight to develop strength and flexibility, slow, deep, controlled breathing, even in the midst of movement, and it only takes a mat and a class to get started - after you find a style you like you can get a dvd and practice at home. It sounds like your body might benefit from a shift in gears. Might be worth a shot.

fastbelly

Rest is as important, if not more then exercise itself. Most people neglect rest though (guilty of that one)!! But innapropriate rest can lead to what your doctor told you and can lead to injury and other health problems. Make sure you give your body enough time to recover.

All the best.

TheDeviation

A week off is nothing bad. I'd also use that time to re-evaluate your exercise routine/schedule. Overtraining won't help you at all either.

tramaine81

YOUR DOCTOR IS RIGHT. People think weight loss is so "easy calories in and calories out" and IT IS NOT. Your body is equipped to make sure that you survive. When I was doing circuit training, strength, and cardio, it seemed like it was taking forever to lose weight AND I was soooo hungry. I decided to stop (because insanity is doing something over and over and expecting a different result) and relax. Now I walk (leisurely) for an hour a day and watch my calories 5-6 days a week. I broke through the plateau and now people are commenting on how I look like I am in shape. In addition, I am not as hungry anymore because my body doesn't need that much food. If you are too hungry, that is a sign that your body doesn't want you to lose weight and you may be exercising too much. I think if we treat our bodies like we are training for war, it will respond by making sure we are bulked up. However, if we relax and do moderate exercises, our body will assume that we don't need all that weight and start shedding. Listen to your doctor (they have a couple of classes of anatomy on their side).

RippedNShredded

I took a week off from training and i've noticed better gains. Let your body reset.
Your gains are noticed when you have more rest.

windybaer

My goodness. What have you got to lose? What do you want most? Unless you are a trained professional, I think you should follow the trained professionals advice. Chill out, but don't develop any bad habits. Kicking nicotine is quite an accomplishment, and you should feel great about that. Please at least try, and good luck.

ncgatorfan

Your doc is correct. You body is saying "ho hum, not this again?" It's bored. You need to shock your body and the way to do that is to trick it and rest. Then get back into it. You will see the plateau end. Promise. Not only that, sounds like you're not eating enough carbs? If so, that might be a problem too. When that happens, your body goes into starvation mode and will not take what it needs from stored fat. It will take it from lean muscle mass. Enjoy yourself swimming leisurely in this heat and remember - a week and half is peanuts compared to 14 months! Congratulations on busting you butt and doing so well!!

silkysly

I think your mind is in tunnel vision about your goal. Take some time off & regroup. It really can’t hurt you. Best of luck…

1nsands

Well... a week off isn't any big deal... most of us end up doing that because of one life thing or another. A break is one thing... an extended period of time not working out doesn't make much sense.

Let's look at this from the scientific perspective that your doctor is looking at it from. You've recently, and quickly, undergone a radical change in your body. Your body is used to being at a much higher percentage body fat, and it's reached a place where it's being stubborn. You will have to make a change in order to move from this plateau. It is not done losing fat, you will be able to lose more. Also, as you add muscle mass, which your body is very willing to do when it's at a high percentage body fat, it's going to be a little more stubborn about dropping fat.

If I were in your shoes, I would probably not take more than a week off. I would start with 3 days, and eat less protein. I know that sounds backwards, but the protein helps you build muscle and if you're not doing weight training, then you don't need as much. After 3 days, I would try different workouts. I've had a LOT (A LOT!!!!) of success with walking, as fast as I can. It's a lower intensity cardio which is more in the fat burning zone... I also like @ noexcuses1218's suggestion of yoga! Personally, I haven't tried very many types of yoga, but Bikram yoga (hot yoga) is a favorite. It helped me move off a plateau and it definitely stlil feels like a workout.

The key is change. You will probably have to do something different to go from 196 to your goal weight than you did for the first 60lbs. You shocked your system, and now it's used to the routine. Change is the answer, not necessarily weeks of rest.

Wimpey

Not knowing if you may be affected by any health issues that your doc is aware of (and of course this is not the place to hang your medical records I understand) is difficult to understand the reason for the "only very light exercise"

I think one important factor that is not in your post is "how long for" if doc says 1 week or 2 max then it may be ok.

If you have been working really hard for a year then you will benefit from a recovery phase. Most athletes do take a 2-4 weeks vacation from the year plan, and then start to build up gently again. So even if you might not be up there with the Olympic Champions (yet) if you have been working hard it may benefit.

I have noticed that for some "new" serious adult athletes body changes happened in theirs second year of though training when returning to competitive life. I do not know enough to comment on that but it may be a point valid for you too?

You can try and then if it works good, if not... well a short period of time of rest is not the end of the world? You might be even stronger and more motivated to train well after...

Best of luck and let us know if it worked!

littlebethann

I would have a hard time not exercising too. I actually start to feel depressed when I don't work out for a week or more. Have you tried changing up your workouts? I was doing a similar exercise program 5-6 days/week cardio and weights with a few days a week of running. I recently started training for a triathlon and it is keeping my workouts interesting mentally and physically. The combination of swimming, biking, and running keeps all your muscles working but on a rotating basis, so there seems to be less likelihood of boredom (for mind and my body) and injury. There are tons of great beginner and/or women only sprint triathlons. Mine is a pool swim of 400 meters, an 11 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run. The "rules" are relaxed. You can stop and hang on to the wall or lane line during the swim if need be. If you're not up for a tri, maybe just adding some totally different exercises into your workout routine, a different class or video, or maybe some speed work or hills in your running. I'm no doctor, but if my doctor told me that, I think I would try varying my workout before I stopped working out. Sometimes having a goal to focus on that is not weight related, like finishing a race, helps take the pressure off a little and shifts your attention to something besides the scale, which is always a good thing! Best of luck with your journey!

sesecat

Ack! I'd feel guilty if I didn't exercise. I've become so attached to it, and it makes me feel great, and makes my hair silky and skin soft. When I take a single day off, I feel like a fat slob. If my doctor told me this, I'd be in freak out mode. So I'm right with you. But it seems like everyone above me does rest weeks? I just can't do that. But maybe out of fear I will lose the habit of keeping it up. I'm an ex-yo-yo dieter, so I fear making fall backs and mistakes that have gotten me as fat and flabby as I am today.

Good luck with whatever direction you go. I'm curious on how it will all work out for you. Way to go on being so structured in the diet. I try, but the factors of business meetings and my husband cooking have made that difficult. But when I eat less sugar, I do feel better. :-)

Twasney

I was told by the kinesiologist on my team that you really do need to rest and if you inisit on working out every day you have to do weights and "muscle tearing" type exercises on one day and then light swimming, water walking etc the next day. Or alternate what you are working on....1 day arms only, next day legs only, next day abs etc, then arms again...you just gave your arms 2 days to relax and repair.

I know its not what you wanted to hear but if you follow her advice you will actually get better results.

Good luck!

dgilner

The one thing that you all picked up on that I did not was A WEEK OF REST. See in my head I was hearing "you need to stop working out period." I can easily rest for a week - but not forever. Thanks for the support, time, answers and now I will go to her for clarification!!:blushing:

dgilner

Ack! I'd feel guilty if I didn't exercise. I've become so attached to it, and it makes me feel great, and makes my hair silky and skin soft. When I take a single day off, I feel like a fat slob. If my doctor told me this, I'd be in freak out mode. So I'm right with you. But it seems like everyone above me does rest weeks? I just can't do that. But maybe out of fear I will lose the habit of keeping it up. I'm an ex-yo-yo dieter, so I fear making fall backs and mistakes that have gotten me as fat and flabby as I am today.

Thanks for saying that - this is hard for me!

dad106

Def. take a rest... Right now, I'm a resting phase.. not because I want to be but because its over a hundred degrees outside and I can't go outside without being cooked to a lovely crisp.

When it cools off, I will get back to my normal activity of going to the gym about 4 times a week... but until then I'll just watch my calories and make sure I'm not going to crazy.

Mentzerj

When did you give up smoking? You may be on less of a plateau than you think. There is a lot of science, not just the 'ugh, I quit smoking so I eat more' bunk regarding nicotine and weight gain/loss.

YukonJoy

You need to actually research this, not just post it on a thread. I wish people would stop doing this.

dgilner

When did you give up smoking? You may be on less of a plateau than you think. There is a lot of science, not just the 'ugh, I quit smoking so I eat more' bunk regarding nicotine and weight gain/loss.

I actually quit back in 1998 - picked it up again when my son died in 2006 and quit again later that year. I still miss it