Not understanding

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  • cassieoshea
    cassieoshea Posts: 1
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    I worked as a nursing assistant and a dietary assistant at a hospital last year. The best solution they told people is to make sure you eat at least one and a half of your exercise calories, make sure that when you are working out you are focusing on the body parts that you use the least...if you run or walk a lot try to do more of the upper body movements..and make sure that you are eating a lot of whole grain and fruit. you may even want to look into getting your blood work done to see if there is a vitamin you need more of.
  • ThePhoenixRose
    ThePhoenixRose Posts: 1,985 Member
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    try upping your calories. it may sound counter-intuitive, but it made all the difference for me. i upped to 1600 calories a day and started to lose. good luck!
  • zerocalz
    zerocalz Posts: 2
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    Mariholm -

    Thanks for the advice, it's truly noted. It's just that when you see ads for "up to 20 lbs" a month, it's pretty tempting when you've been stuck on a plateau for almost 3.

    I am going to toy around with carbs (< 100g/day) for one week, and eat my exercise calories for another week. Will see if either of these work!

    Thanks again :)
  • lisawest
    lisawest Posts: 798 Member
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    Ok, I'm going to take a shot in the dark here (since I can't find anywhere that says how long you've been doing the exercise routine) that the exercise routine is fairly recent (2 weeks?) Assuming that, here's what I think MIGHT be happening. When you begin a new type of exercise, you reactivate muscles that have been dormant. When this happens, those muscles pull in extra glycogen for fuel. (Glycogen is basically energy for the muscles.) The glycogen has a LITTLE bit of weight to it. There is one little problem with this, glycogen has to have water to be transported in. Water has weight to it. So you may be losing weight from fat, but the extra water is counteracting that loss. Don't worry, this will balance out, but it takes AT LEAST a month on a new exercise plan before your muscles get it all figured out and quit storing so much water. Stick with it for a MINIMUM of a month, drink LOTS of water (it seems to help some), and only step on the scale once a week (in the buff, after using the restroom and before your shower).

    If I'm wrong and this isn't a new exercise routine, then I might suggest you take a look at your sodium intake and your potassium intake. (Sodium should be low, and potassium should be close to your daily goal.) Sodium causes water retention (water again), which is NOT good for weight loss. Now, why I say to look at potassium is because potassium combines with sodium (so water won't) and helps flush the sodium from your body. Also, potassium is found in less processed food and sodium is found in more processed foods.

    Either way, I would suggest increasing fresh foods and water, and decreasing processed foods (this is coming from the queen of frozen lunches, but I am getting better). Good luck on figuring out the right combination for you. Keep us posted!

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