excercise is my demise.

iamjustcindy

Gaining Weight While Exercising

Gaining weight while exercising is a common problem and can happen for various reasons. In this article we have tried to explore the underlying causes of gaining weight while exercising.
Losing weight by exercising may not be as easy as it sounds. Many a times, it happens that instead of losing weight you may find that you have actually gained some weight. You are taken completely by surprise, "I am gaining weight while exercising!". It is really unbelievable but it is true. In such a scenario, lots of self doubts are bound to jumble up your mind. You keep asking yourself various questions like why am I gaining weight while exercising, is any thing seriously wrong with me, should I exercise more and eat less and many more. I would like to advise you not to get panicked. Here I am trying to unfold all the possible reasons that can lead to gaining weight while exercising.

Wrong Choice of Exercises
Doing any exercise may not help you in losing weight. Suppose, if you are doing walking exercise and end up strolling in the garden for 45 minutes, it is not going to help you anyway in burning any calories. Rather, you have to walk at a decent pace for all through the 45 minutes at least 4-5 times every week. Then you may see some results at the end of , say, 3 weeks. As your fitness level increases, you have to enhance the intensity of your workouts so that more calories can be lost. Walking, dancing, yoga are some of the best forms of exercises that can help in losing weight. Do not focus your exercises on any one particular muscle group. As more number of muscle groups are included, more energy will be burned off. To know more read on fat burning exercises.

Gaining of Muscle Mass
For beginners, gaining weight while exercising and dieting is quite common. This happens because muscle mass is built up due to the exercise program. You may be losing fat but they are being replaced by muscles. Since muscles are heavier as compared to fat, we may find that there is weight gain but it is because of useful muscle mass and not due to the unwanted fat. In this way, your body becomes healthier than what it was prior to exercising.

Eating Extra Calories
When we start exercising many of us stop keeping a watch on the quantity of calorie intake. As a result, it may happen that we may end up eating more calories than we can burn out with the help of exercises. Diet and exercises must go hand in hand in order to succeed in the weight loss program. If you increase the amount of calories taken, then you have to make sure that you intensify your workouts or increase the number of days of your exercise program so that the additional amount of calories can be burned off.

Not Eating Sufficient Calories
When you are dieting for fat loss, it often happens that you end up supplying lesser amount of calories to your body, than what it actually needs. It is a big mistake and hence should be avoided. Due to absence of adequate amount of calories, your body will slow down its rate of metabolism to preserve energy. In the process, the fat reserves of your body increase and you gain weight. Therefore, it is very important that you eat right kind of food. It should include all those nutrients that are required for normal functioning of the body, including fats and carbohydrates. They provide us with useful energy and hence should not be stopped. You can cut down on the quantity of the meals but increase the number of meals accordingly, so that you do not feel very hungry very frequently.

Underlying Medical Problem
There are people who are exercising regularly with full dedication and eating a proper balanced diet, yet there is weight gain. In such condition, the cause of weight gain could be some health problem like thyroid problem or menopause. Even some hormonal problems can make the weight loss difficult. Under all such circumstances, you should consult your doctor for the treatment of your health problems. Some form of medication like birth control pills and cholesterol pills can lead to gaining of weight.

Stress can be another major factor that can prevent loss of weight by exercising. If your mind and body are not free from stress, then it is likely that you may not get enough good sleep at night. Research studies have found that if you catch up with a good sleep then it will help in weight loss. Try to get rid of that stress and catch an extra hour of sleep while you are exercising and it will help you to lose weight .

There is nothing more frustrating for people who are trying to lose weight finding out that they are actually gaining weight while exercising. They are taking so much of efforts to get rid of those extra kilos but those efforts fail to yield any satisfactory results. Form this article, I hope you could figure it out which reason is hampering your weight loss program. Try to improve that condition and carry out your workout program regularly in a disciplined manner and I am sure your efforts will be paid off very soon.

iamjustcindy

Can't Shed Those Pounds?

A lack of zzzzs can affect your ability to lose weight.

By Michael J. Breus, PhD

To lose weight seems to be the number one resolution each new year. However, nearly 90% of these resolutions meet with either little or no success. Some people even gain weight instead. Most people never know there may be a very simple reason why: They don't sleep well.

Studies published in TheJournal of the American Medical Association and The Lancet suggest that sleep loss may increase hunger and affect the body's metabolism, which may make it more difficult to maintain or lose weight.

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Sleep loss appears to do two things:

Makes you feel hungry even if you are full. Sleep loss has been shown to affect the secretion of cortisol, a hormone that regulates appetite. As a result, individuals who lose sleep may continue to feel hungry despite adequate food intake.

Increases fat storage. Sleep loss may interfere with the body's ability to metabolize carbohydrates, which leads to high levels of blood sugar. Excess blood sugar promotes the overproduction of insulin, which can lead to the storage of body fat and insulin resistance, a critical step into the development of diabetes.
Why would an overweight person tend to have sleep problems? There appear to be several reasons why this may occur:

Many people who are overweight have sleep apnea, a disorder in which breathing starts and stops during sleep, consequently causing numerous awakenings. This may occur hundreds of times a night, without your even knowing it. So you can imagine how sleepy you could feel the next day.
Some who are overweight have low back pain, making lying comfortably in bed and getting a good night's sleep difficult.
People who are depressed or otherwise worried about their weight may have insomnia, or the inability to fall asleep.
Losing weight can improve sleep. An Australian study of more than 300 obese people showed they had significant sleep problems that were reduced after weight loss surgery:

14% reported habitual snoring, down from 82%
2% had sleep apnea, down from 33%3)
4% had abnormal daytime sleepiness, down from 39%
2% reported poor sleep quality, down from 39%
It is also important to realize that the quality of sleep (that is, getting the right amount of "deep sleep") is just as important as the quantity of sleep. For example, decreased amounts of restorative deep or slow-wave sleep have been associated with significantly reduced levels of growth hormone, a protein that helps regulate the body's proportions of fat and muscle during adulthood.

Sleep Tips to Help You Shape Up

Specialists recommend that people who vow to lose weight should adjust their sleep habits as well as their eating habits. The following are useful tips to help shape up.

Don't go to bed feeling hungry, but don't eat a big meal right before bedtime.
Exercise regularly, but no sooner than three hours before bedtime.
Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol in the late afternoon and evening.
If you have trouble sleeping at night, don't nap during the day.
Establish relaxing pre-sleep rituals, such as a warm bath or a few minutes of reading.
Create a pleasant sleep environment. Make it as dark and quiet as possible.
If you can't sleep, don't stay in bed fretting. After 30 minutes, go to another room and involve yourself in a relaxing activity until you feel sleepy.
If you have trouble sleeping for more than a few weeks, or if sleep problems interfere with daily functioning, speak with your doctor.

iamjustcindy

If you want to lose weight, experts say you need to get enough sleep. Specifically, researchers have reported that women who sleep 5 hours or less per night generally weigh more than women who sleep 7 hours per night.
These findings, presented at the 2006 American Thoracic Society International Conference, showed that women who slept 5 hours per night were 32% more likely to experience major weight gain (an increase of 33 pounds or more) and 15% more likely to become obese over the course of the 16-year study, compared to those who slept 7 hours a night.

Those women who slept 6 hours per night were still 12% more likely to experience major weight gain, and 6% more likely to become obese, compared to women who slept 7 hours a night.

This is the largest study to track the effects of sleep habits on weight gain over time; it included nearly 70,000 middle-aged women.

The women were first monitored in 1986, and they reported their weight every 2 years for 16 years. At the start of the study, the women who slept 5 hours or less per night weighed an average of 5.4 pounds more than those sleeping 7 hours. They also gained an additional 1.6 pounds more over the next 10 years. While that doesn't sound like a significant amount, it adds up. That's 16 pounds in 10 years, and 32 pounds over a 20-year period.

"That's an average amount -- some women gained much more than that," says lead researcher Sanjay Patel, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. "Even a small difference in weight can increase a person's risk of health problems, such as diabetes and hypertension."

Women Who Sleep Less, Eat Less...and Still Gain

The researchers looked at exercise habits to determine if they could account, in part, for the findings. But they didn't discover any differences in exercise levels or physical activity that would explain why the women who slept less weighed more.
Were the women who were getting less sleep also eating more?

The answer was no. In fact, the opposite was true.

"Prior studies have shown that after just a few days of sleep restriction, the hormones that control appetite cause people to become hungrier, so we thought that women who slept less might eat more," Patel says. "But, in fact, they ate less. That suggests that appetite and diet are not accounting for the weight gain in women who sleep less."

Understanding the Reasons

The study participants did not identify the specific factors that contribute to weight gain in women who had less sleep.
"We don't have an answer from this study about why reduced sleep causes weight gain, but there are some possibilities that deserve further study," Patel says. "Sleeping less may affect changes in a person's basal metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn when you rest). Another contributor to weight regulation that has recently been discovered is called non-exercise associated thermogenesis (involuntary activity, such as fidgeting.) It may be that if you sleep less, you move around less, too, and therefore burn up fewer calories."

Another important factor to consider, as discussed in my book, The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss, , is the impact of sleep on cortisol levels. Insufficient sleep can cause the release of additional cortisol -- the stress hormone -- and can stimulate hunger.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, the average woman gets only six and a half hours of sleep per night. Chronic sleep deprivation can have a variety of effects on the metabolism and overall health.

Inadequate sleep:

-interferes with the body's ability to metabolize carbohydrates and causes high blood levels of glucose, which leads to higher

-insulin levels and greater body-fat storage.

-drives down leptin levels, which causes the body to crave carbohydrates.

-reduces levels of growth hormone--a protein that helps regulate the body's proportions of fat and muscle.

-can lead to insulin resistance and contribute to increased risk of diabetes

-can increase blood pressure

-can increase the risk of heart disease



Even in young, healthy people, a sleep deficit of three to four hours a night over the course of a week has a triple-whammy effect on the body.

Just this limited amount of sleep deficit interfered with the ability to process carbohydrates, manage stress, and maintain a proper balance of hormones. In just one sleep-restricted week, the study participants had a significant loss in their ability to process glucose and an accompanying rise in insulin. Insulin levels were so high, in fact, that the men were considered to be in a pre-diabetic state.
Weight Loss Action Point

If you want to lose weight, you should make sure that you are getting sufficient sleep in addition to following a healthy diet and exercise program. For most of us, that means, you'll need 7 hours or more a night.


Sources:

American Thoracic Society, International Conference, News release, San Diego, May 19-24, 2006.

Patel SR, Malhotra A, White DP, Gottlieb DJ, Hu FB. Association between reduced sleep and weight gain in women. Am J Epidemiol. 2006 Nov 15;164(10):947-54. Shomon, Mary. The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss, HarperCollins. 2004.

Spiegel K, Leproult R, Van Cauter E. "Impact of sleep debt on metabolic and endocrine function." Lancet. 1999;354:1435-1439.

iamjustcindy

Weight Loss Stopped or Slowed Down - Tips To Break A Fat Loss Plateau



Are you wondering why your weight loss has slowed down or totally stopped even though you think you are working out harder then ever and watching your diet closely? Well, there could be a few small but important things you need to watch out for to break out of your fat loss plateau and jump start your weight loss to get it back on track. Below are 5 tips to break through your weight loss plateau!

Weight Loss Plateau Breaker Tip #1
Always include weights and cardio. These should go hand in hand in a solid fat burning, muscle building program. Lift heavy and intense to increase muscle tissue and use cardio to burn excess calories and fat.

Weight Loss Plateau Breaker Tip #2
Do your cardio in the morning on an empty stomach, This is something I stick to and it seems to work better than anything. Do 45-60 minutes of cardio first thing in the morning and make sure to choose an exercise that makes you sweat. This includes jogging, jumping rope, elliptical trainer and even the stationary bike if it makes you sweat. By doing cardio in the morning, you will tap right into your fat stores instead of burning carbs. You have fasted for about 6-8 hours before the cardio session (during sleep) and your body is depleted of glycogen (carbs). The only thing you need to be aware of is that your body is in a very catabolic state in the morning, so its important to consume either some BCAA's or a scoop of whey protein powder (in water) to kick your body out of a catabolic state and get protein to your muscles. A great BCAA supplement is Xtend and it tastes great with zero calories.

Weight Loss Plateau Breaker Tip #3
When in doubt, check your diet. Your diet is absolutely key when you're having issues losing fat. Try to really watch your carbs at night (after 6pm). Try to stick with lean protein and veggies later in the day and you should see a great improvement in your physique.

Weight Loss Plateau Breaker Tip #4
Increase your cardio to 5-6 days per week. If you're not losing fat and hit a plateau, increase the sessions per week. However, don't increase the time per session and avoid doing cardio for over 1 hour. Hit it hard for 45-60 and then let your body rest and recover.

Weight Loss Plateau Breaker Tip #5
Cut back on the portion sizes and increase meal frequency. If you're still eating 3 large meals per day, break them up into smaller meals and it 5-6 times per day (every 2.5 to 3 hours). Focus on grazing throughout the day on smaller meals vs. eating a huge lunch or dinner thinking its going to make you feel fuller, longer. Eating smaller meals allows your metabolism to run better and keeps your blood sugar levels in check. Its also works wonders on your mind since you know you will be eating every 3 hours throughout the day, so your next meal is just around the corner.

I hope these tips help break your weight loss plateau and I wish you success in reaching your fitness goals!

By Kris Bierek

iamjustcindy

Please read the articles I posted! I am confident they will help you if take what applies to you and see if you can tweak what you are doing to achieve more weight loss. I think you are not getting enough sleep or exercising too close to bed, drinking too much water and exercising too much during one day instead of spreading it out evenly throughout the week. Slow and steady weight loss is healthy weight loss and losing weight slowly while building muscle means less excess skin, which is my goal!

iamjustcindy

To Weigh, Or Not To Weigh...That Is The Question

Medical Author: Melissa Conrad Stoppler, MD
Medical Editor: William C. Shiel, Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

If you're trying to lose weight or simply don't want to gain unwanted pounds, how often should you weigh yourself? Many popular weight loss plans, such as Weight Watchers, do not recommend weighing yourself daily. Instead, they recommend stepping on the scales once per week or even less frequently. Our weight fluctuates somewhat from day-to-day, and daily weighing can lead to discouragement and potential diet sabotage if you see a higher number on the scale than you saw the day before. Most diet experts believe that a once-weekly or even monthly weigh-in is a more accurate reflection of weight control progress.

But a group of doctors who studied obese and overweight adults who were trying to lose weight as well as overweight adults who were trying to prevent weight gain found that those who weighed themselves more often lost more weight and prevented more weight gain over two years than those who weighed themselves less frequently. Contrary to the advice given in many popular weight loss regimens, this study suggests that at least some people can benefit from the accountability brought on by daily weigh-ins. Potential advantages of daily weighing include recognition of slow patterns of weight gain that may not be immediately apparent and the chance to modify lifestyle habits before the total weight gain becomes extreme and difficult to control.

The personality of the individual dieter likely plays a role in deciding how often to weigh oneself. If you're easily discouraged, daily weighing might cause you to give up your attempts if you don't see rapid progress. On the other hand, if you crave control and feedback, daily weighing might satisfy more of your needs and fuel your motivation. Whatever weigh-in frequency you choose, keep these tips in mind when stepping on the scale:

Weighing yourself first thing in the morning is usually best. Because of variations in food and fluid consumption, we often "gain" different amounts of weight throughout the day.
If you're weighing frequently, remember that daily fluctuations in weight are common. Just because you're heavier today than yesterday doesn't mean your weight control program isn't working. Don't become a slave to the numbers.
Monthly variations in weight are also common in menstruating women.
"Plateaus" in weight loss aren't necessarily bad. If you're exercising a lot, your weight may remain constant for a time even though you're still decreasing your body fat content and getting healthier.
Finally, cues other than the numbers on the scale are equally important. How do you feel? Are your clothes getting looser or tighter? Do you feel stronger, healthier, leaner? Your own perceptions can be the most valuable tools to help you track your weight control progress.