Help please, would love your opinions.
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I highly doubt she has gained enough muscle in a month to call it muscle gain. A woman struggles to gain at lb of muscle each month, she would have to be lifting heavy weights and eating tons of protein to achieve that.
I really don't think this is true. A lot of women just don't have muscle mass at all! I have strong arms and legs so I have more muscle. But my mom (who has stick arms and legs) on the other hand has no muscle, so she always gains a little weight when she first starts working out.
I have to agree with the second. If you read the OP, you'll see she is walking 3 hours holding 7 pound weights. That's not trivial weight lifting. That's definitely enough to gain muscle mass.
It's actually a common practice for women to not do weight lifting for the first two weeks of a weight loss regimen just so they will see some weight loss. Otherwise they frequently do not see it due to the muscle gain. (Read in the Fat Smash diet, used for Celebrity Fit club.)0 -
I highly doubt she has gained enough muscle in a month to call it muscle gain. A woman struggles to gain at lb of muscle each month, she would have to be lifting heavy weights and eating tons of protein to achieve that.
I really don't think this is true. A lot of women just don't have muscle mass at all! I have strong arms and legs so I have more muscle. But my mom (who has stick arms and legs) on the other hand has no muscle, so she always gains a little weight when she first starts working out.
Oh I am not saying a woman does not gain muscle , they most definately do, but they strenghten that muscle and it's harder and stronger, but to actually put on a whole pound of muscle in one month, that's not easily achieved for a woman....... over a few months yes, but not in 3-4 wks.
Another thought I just had, it's possible that if you are walking and carrying those weights that your muscles are sore and water goes to them to help them recover, so you might be holding on to some water weight as well. When I lift , the next day when my muscles are sore, I always gain a lb of water or so, 2-3 days later, it's gone...0 -
the olivia method takes your maintenance goal and with exercise you have to eat more. It really encourages exercising and at the end of the day it is easy to figure out how many calories you have to eat back. If you have 1000 calorie deficit you will have 2lbs weight loss and 500 calories should be one lb weekly weight loss. It is a little complicated but I was always having a hard time figuring out how many calories to eat back. This method makes you eat all your calories back after a certain amount of exercise for me it is if I exercise over 700 calories away. I just switched to this method and I do think my body was starving before.0
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If you have shocked your muscles you are likely retaining water around them for repair. During the first 5 days of 30 day shred I gained 5 lbs, and my muscles killed me, but after 9 days now, I have re lost that 5, and am moving back downward slowly. I have lost a ton of inches in 9 days even when I still had the weight gain I was down around 7 inches and now that that has dropped back off its more
. In your goals area, do you have your activity set to sedentary? I know that you can set it to sedentary, and get a lower caloric intake but then just eat your exercise calories back (hope that makes sense) I would normally set mine to lightly or moderately active, but set it to sedentary so that the days I do not work out I am still at a deficit and the days I do, I just make sure to eat my exercise calories back (or most of them) and it has seemed to be working for me. If you have it set to your fitness level including your workouts, don't eat exercise calories back!
(copied from another post in the sticky thread)
My BMR is 1670 which is the amount of calories I eat every day no matter how much or how little I exercise. I do this for two reason
1. I totally agree you should not eat below your BMR, your body needs to keep functioning
2. I calulated my TDEE, TDEE is the total number of calories that your body expends in 24 hours, including all activities. TDEE is also known as your "maintenance level". I based this on my current weight. Here is a rough way to calculate your TDEE. Take your BMR and multiply it according to your activity level
Activity Multiplier
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)
With my numbers I consider myself between Mod and very active so I multiply my BMR by 1.6, this gives me a TDEE of 2672. So if I wanted to maitain my current weight of 211(which I don't) at my current activity level I would eat 2,672 calories a day. But I want to lose weight. So I am reducing my caloric intake for a 2lb a week weight loss, which is 1,000 calories a day. So, to lose 2lbs a week I eat 1,672 calories a day and wouldn't you know it, that's right where my BMR is! When I actually did all these calculations I was very happy to see the numbers were supported both ways. This is also why I don't adjust my food intake for exercise, I've already worked my activity level into my calculations on my TDEE, now if I really do an extra long workout that's more than my average I'll certainly add some more calories in.
Also try this link
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions?page=1
and this one has a lot of good links you can check out.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/8199-off-to-a-slow-start-actually-still-at-starting-gate
Are you eating your exercise calories back? Or are you already set to your activity level?0 -
maybe it is water, not sure. I drink a lot!!! Actually when I took off from tracking this weekend I realized that I was still craving the water intake. My body and skin are getting used to it!!0
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Saved0
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If you have shocked your muscles you are likely retaining water around them for repair. During the first 5 days of 30 day shred I gained 5 lbs, and my muscles killed me, but after 9 days now, I have re lost that 5, and am moving back downward slowly. I have lost a ton of inches in 9 days even when I still had the weight gain I was down around 7 inches and now that that has dropped back off its more
. In your goals area, do you have your activity set to sedentary? I know that you can set it to sedentary, and get a lower caloric intake but then just eat your exercise calories back (hope that makes sense) I would normally set mine to lightly or moderately active, but set it to sedentary so that the days I do not work out I am still at a deficit and the days I do, I just make sure to eat my exercise calories back (or most of them) and it has seemed to be working for me. If you have it set to your fitness level including your workouts, don't eat exercise calories back!
(copied from another post in the sticky thread)
My BMR is 1670 which is the amount of calories I eat every day no matter how much or how little I exercise. I do this for two reason
1. I totally agree you should not eat below your BMR, your body needs to keep functioning
2. I calulated my TDEE, TDEE is the total number of calories that your body expends in 24 hours, including all activities. TDEE is also known as your "maintenance level". I based this on my current weight. Here is a rough way to calculate your TDEE. Take your BMR and multiply it according to your activity level
Activity Multiplier
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)
With my numbers I consider myself between Mod and very active so I multiply my BMR by 1.6, this gives me a TDEE of 2672. So if I wanted to maitain my current weight of 211(which I don't) at my current activity level I would eat 2,672 calories a day. But I want to lose weight. So I am reducing my caloric intake for a 2lb a week weight loss, which is 1,000 calories a day. So, to lose 2lbs a week I eat 1,672 calories a day and wouldn't you know it, that's right where my BMR is! When I actually did all these calculations I was very happy to see the numbers were supported both ways. This is also why I don't adjust my food intake for exercise, I've already worked my activity level into my calculations on my TDEE, now if I really do an extra long workout that's more than my average I'll certainly add some more calories in.
Also try this link
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions?page=1
and this one has a lot of good links you can check out.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/8199-off-to-a-slow-start-actually-still-at-starting-gate
Are you eating your exercise calories back? Or are you already set to your activity level?
Thanks so much for taking the time to write that. I am doing that and I guess I never took into account that my activity level has changed since I started this. Maybe since I am so active, I shouldn't think of myself as a couch potato anymore hehe. I am basing it off my TDEE what I should be eating but if I am active instead of sedentary, maybe I am not eating enough. I will have to sit and rework things tonight. Thanks so much.0 -
As long as you are losing inches, I would definitely not worry about what the scale says.
On the other hand, I have a scale that measures my body fat and water percentage. If you don't have one of those, I would consider investing in one (mine was about $30) and work towards making the body fat percentage go down.
As far as cortisol, check with your doctor if you are really concerned about it. It never hurts to ask a professional!0 -
As long as you are losing inches, I would definitely not worry about what the scale says.
On the other hand, I have a scale that measures my body fat and water percentage. If you don't have one of those, I would consider investing in one (mine was about $30) and work towards making the body fat percentage go down.
As far as cortisol, check with your doctor if you are really concerned about it. It never hurts to ask a professional!
Oops, meant to ask where you got your scale and if you feel it is accurate?0 -
Cortisol is real and it can play a role in weight loss! It's really real, from personal experience!
Include stress reduction techniques in your life to minimize cortisol levels. The less stressed you are, the better! I use yoga, meditation and sometimes tai chi. All help me center and ground out the stress.
Too much cortisol makes it hard to lose weight around the waist and in the tummy. Too little cortisol makes you sluggish all the time. Both situations are bad. I've been on the too little side for too long, but my doctor has me bouncing back now! Trying to avoid the too much level!
Sounds like you are doing everything else right. And I must say, your profile picture is beautiful! You're doing a great job, keep it up!0 -
I should have explained that I am doing the Olivia method and leave between a 500 and 1000 calorie deficit every day.
If that is the case then maybe you are not eating enough ..... maybe it's just the opposite ??? What is your "true" daily calorie consumption ?
If she is losing inches but not weight, she is eating enough. Losing inches is the important thing. The scale is fickle beast.0 -
I could also mention in November I had the Mirena IUD put in and my doctor said it is about a 4 month adjustment. That might be the reason why my body may be holding on to the extra weight too. I will definitely get my cortisol checked Friday. I did get my thyroid checked and that is fine. I feel a lot more energy since I have been taking iron supplements. I hope I am not anemic anymore.0
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Cortisol is real and it can play a role in weight loss! It's really real, from personal experience!
Include stress reduction techniques in your life to minimize cortisol levels. The less stressed you are, the better! I use yoga, meditation and sometimes tai chi. All help me center and ground out the stress.
Too much cortisol makes it hard to lose weight around the waist and in the tummy. Too little cortisol makes you sluggish all the time. Both situations are bad. I've been on the too little side for too long, but my doctor has me bouncing back now! Trying to avoid the too much level!
Sounds like you are doing everything else right. And I must say, your profile picture is beautiful! You're doing a great job, keep it up!
You are sweet, that is so nice to hear thank you!!!0 -
I dont see what the problem is! You are losing fat! The scale just takes a while to catch up. Just keep plugging away.... You are doing great!! Scales should be thrown away. Just go by how your clothes are fitting! Also when u increase your exercise by such a great amount what happens is is that your body retains fluid inside your muscle! The fluid is attached to the glycogen stores u have built up. So that is the reason the scale hasn't moved down yet. Just keep being patient & eventually the scale moves! The important thing is..... You are losing body fat!!! U have been successful.
. Well done!!! 0 -
I dont see what the problem is! You are losing fat! The scale just takes a while to catch up. Just keep plugging away.... You are doing great!! Scales should be thrown away. Just go by how your clothes are fitting! Also when u increase your exercise by such a great amount what happens is is that your body retains fluid inside your muscle! The fluid is attached to the glycogen stores u have built up. So that is the reason the scale hasn't moved down yet. Just keep being patient & eventually the scale moves! The important thing is..... You are losing body fat!!! U have been successful.. Well done!!!
I agree totally with this statement 0 -
Hi Lara, I just came back from my daily exercising routine and logged in my numbers. Then I noticed your topic. Everyday I see something hew here due to you as I am not a big fain of exploring all the resources here.
Internet is full of misleading info regarding weight loss, exercising, miracle recipes so I try to keep my reading to trustworthy places. Forums, blogs and so on are a little dangerous I would say, it can open your eyes to new things you never heard of before, but not a guide for me at all.
Back in the past I used to have a special personal trainer. He was a nutritionist, specialized in sports nutrition, health and so on.
1 - First of all, women don't get loads of muscle weight in month if they are not working out heavy weightlifting, what happens when we start exercising, meaning, coming from a total sedentary life is that in the beginning your muscles will be sore, meaning, they will retain a bit of water, that is why many people believe that they are gaining muscles, but it is only water retention (in the beginning). This is quite normal on the first 4 weeks, this can lead to increase in "false weight". I hate listening to this bull**** that "oh, I put on weight when I started exercising, I am increasing my muscle mass". No, if you are not taking loads of supplements and spending hours weightlifting this is just a reaction from your body that now you are using muscles that you have never used so much before.
2 - Dieting is essencial in this weight loss battle, you are doing your part. We need all nutrients, carbs, proteins, vitamins, and so on. Don't think that carbs are the devil... actually it is essential once you start doing cardio.
3 - One thing my doctor back then made very clear. You have to start slow, don't put your body into a stress test. THIS is what makes you release cortisol We do release it into the bloodstream in larger quantities when are "mentally" stressed and/or physically stressed. The way of avoiding and managing that is learning how to train and what to eat. Basically, when we train, meaning, walking, running etc we do release more "trash" our cells are put to work, breaks down energy and produce a lot of waste. So, eating loads of antioxidants is a key to help against cortisol and oxidants.
4 - Doing a two hours exercise doesn't necessarily mean that you can eat more. One dangerous thing that many people aren't aware of is that after the 1st hour you need to eat carbs in order to send a message to your body to keep on levels of glycogen. If not, you will start to burn muscles, not your fat stocks and we don't want it, right?
5 - I used to think that running for an hour would be a GREAT work out to lose weight. This is partially untrue, what matters the most when you exercise is not how long, but how much your heart rate is challenged. Hence why a while ago I suggested you interval trainings. Back then you said you hated it because you don't like the sensation of your heart beating faster, fair enough, I am not telling your to start running a marathon, but to apply interval training in your own walking, to push yourself to walk faster as if you are going almost to run for 1 minute, then go back to normal rhythm for 3 minutes. These "intervals"will help you burn faster than a continuous paced walking. (hope you understand this, my english sometimes plays tricks on me).
6 - Working out in gym is definitely very important, I also don't like it, but as I am looking forward to run 10k I need to make the rest of my body strong. In your case, light weight lifting with more repetitions are the ideal for toning your body, helping you build up muscles that will afterwards spend much more energy even when you are not exercising. I am not working out heavily, I do lots of repetition because I just need toning. This one, I promise you, gives you lots of difference is a short period. it is very good to see your body reshaping for better. Of course that it is not like a miracle, many people expect to have a very fit body after one month of exercising, but they forget how many months or years they were inactive
7 - Another concept this doctor told me and makes a whole lot of sense. When I complained that I was losing weight slower than what I expected or slower in comparison to my huge efforts. He said: How many months/years were you overweight? How many kgs do you want to lose? Don't push yourself too much, follow a diet, keep your exercises and results will come, there is no way that your body will not react. As per his program I needed to do 30 min cardio work out, whatever I liked, jogging, cycling but I needed to make sure that my hear would race fast at time (using interval). Second, in order to do that, you need muscles, if you start running or cycling on a weak knee chances are you will have injuries - 1 more point to strength training.
You are already doing a good job, just need to adjust here and there in order to get an optimal training suitable for you. I also recommended you to eat more protein because it helps you feel "full" and it is rather slowly digested than carbs for instance. Did you give up on fish as well? I eat for instance mushrooms, super low caloric and loads of protein!
I know you are very determined, but too much determination can kill your motivation. Build small goals, like, today I will walk 10% faster than yesterday. What am doing is, I keep the same training for a week and on the following week I increase 10% on the speed. So I started as a normal pace walker, to a fast paced one and now jogging and looking forward to run 10k! Everyone needs a higher goal rather than losing weight to keep it going. It is painful, it sucks, sometimes all we want is to cuddle up in the sofa and watch TV or spend time with the kids/family/friends... But if you have a higher goal, like being healthier, lighter feeling better in your body, this can motivate you! In my case, my motivation is run small races, I will also start cycling but indoors for the time being, it is way too cold to have lots of cold wind on my face right now!
Bottom line from my humble perspective. You are ready to move a step closer to walk less time and maybe try do that that thing which is in between walking and jogging, you know? Don't know how it is called. Start slow, 1 minute of this, to 9 minutes of walking. I would also recommend the gym, for all the reasons above, and eating more protein. AND if you do work out for more than 60 minutes have a fruit with you to gear up on carbs with low glicemic index.
Keep on! I keep an eye on my target and according to my program it is a 8 weeks work! I am already tired just to think about it, but I am sure that after these 8 weeks I will be so happy to run what I have always dreamt of. I am not at all saying you need to run, I am just comparing my dream of running to your dream of losing weight, FOCUS, FOCUS FOCUS,FOCUS.
We all have advices, we all say what works for us, but in my opinion, only you and a good physician can determine the best way! I don't know about any such here in Dk, I loved the one I had back then. I reached my goals being very healthy! That is why I am sharing my "knowledge" with you. 0 -
Hi Lara, I just came back from my daily exercising routine and logged in my numbers. Then I noticed your topic. Everyday I see something hew here due to you as I am not a big fain of exploring all the resources here.
Internet is full of misleading info regarding weight loss, exercising, miracle recipes so I try to keep my reading to trustworthy places. Forums, blogs and so on are a little dangerous I would say, it can open your eyes to new things you never heard of before, but not a guide for me at all.
Back in the past I used to have a special personal trainer. He was a nutritionist, specialized in sports nutrition, health and so on.
1 - First of all, women don't get loads of muscle weight in month if they are not working out heavy weightlifting, what happens when we start exercising, meaning, coming from a total sedentary life is that in the beginning your muscles will be sore, meaning, they will retain a bit of water, that is why many people believe that they are gaining muscles, but it is only water retention (in the beginning). This is quite normal on the first 4 weeks, this can lead to increase in "false weight". I hate listening to this bull**** that "oh, I put on weight when I started exercising, I am increasing my muscle mass". No, if you are not taking loads of supplements and spending hours weightlifting this is just a reaction from your body that now you are using muscles that you have never used so much before.
2 - Dieting is essencial in this weight loss battle, you are doing your part. We need all nutrients, carbs, proteins, vitamins, and so on. Don't think that carbs are the devil... actually it is essential once you start doing cardio.
3 - One thing my doctor back then made very clear. You have to start slow, don't put your body into a stress test. THIS is what makes you release cortisol We do release it into the bloodstream in larger quantities when are "mentally" stressed and/or physically stressed. The way of avoiding and managing that is learning how to train and what to eat. Basically, when we train, meaning, walking, running etc we do release more "trash" our cells are put to work, breaks down energy and produce a lot of waste. So, eating loads of antioxidants is a key to help against cortisol and oxidants.
4 - Doing a two hours exercise doesn't necessarily mean that you can eat more. One dangerous thing that many people aren't aware of is that after the 1st hour you need to eat carbs in order to send a message to your body to keep on levels of glycogen. If not, you will start to burn muscles, not your fat stocks and we don't want it, right?
5 - I used to think that running for an hour would be a GREAT work out to lose weight. This is partially untrue, what matters the most when you exercise is not how long, but how much your heart rate is challenged. Hence why a while ago I suggested you interval trainings. Back then you said you hated it because you don't like the sensation of your heart beating faster, fair enough, I am not telling your to start running a marathon, but to apply interval training in your own walking, to push yourself to walk faster as if you are going almost to run for 1 minute, then go back to normal rhythm for 3 minutes. These "intervals"will help you burn faster than a continuous paced walking. (hope you understand this, my english sometimes plays tricks on me).
6 - Working out in gym is definitely very important, I also don't like it, but as I am looking forward to run 10k I need to make the rest of my body strong. In your case, light weight lifting with more repetitions are the ideal for toning your body, helping you build up muscles that will afterwards spend much more energy even when you are not exercising. I am not working out heavily, I do lots of repetition because I just need toning. This one, I promise you, gives you lots of difference is a short period. it is very good to see your body reshaping for better. Of course that it is not like a miracle, many people expect to have a very fit body after one month of exercising, but they forget how many months or years they were inactive
7 - Another concept this doctor told me and makes a whole lot of sense. When I complained that I was losing weight slower than what I expected or slower in comparison to my huge efforts. He said: How many months/years were you overweight? How many kgs do you want to lose? Don't push yourself too much, follow a diet, keep your exercises and results will come, there is no way that your body will not react. As per his program I needed to do 30 min cardio work out, whatever I liked, jogging, cycling but I needed to make sure that my hear would race fast at time (using interval). Second, in order to do that, you need muscles, if you start running or cycling on a weak knee chances are you will have injuries - 1 more point to strength training.
You are already doing a good job, just need to adjust here and there in order to get an optimal training suitable for you. I also recommended you to eat more protein because it helps you feel "full" and it is rather slowly digested than carbs for instance. Did you give up on fish as well? I eat for instance mushrooms, super low caloric and loads of protein!
I know you are very determined, but too much determination can kill your motivation. Build small goals, like, today I will walk 10% faster than yesterday. What am doing is, I keep the same training for a week and on the following week I increase 10% on the speed. So I started as a normal pace walker, to a fast paced one and now jogging and looking forward to run 10k! Everyone needs a higher goal rather than losing weight to keep it going. It is painful, it sucks, sometimes all we want is to cuddle up in the sofa and watch TV or spend time with the kids/family/friends... But if you have a higher goal, like being healthier, lighter feeling better in your body, this can motivate you! In my case, my motivation is run small races, I will also start cycling but indoors for the time being, it is way too cold to have lots of cold wind on my face right now!
Bottom line from my humble perspective. You are ready to move a step closer to walk less time and maybe try do that that thing which is in between walking and jogging, you know? Don't know how it is called. Start slow, 1 minute of this, to 9 minutes of walking. I would also recommend the gym, for all the reasons above, and eating more protein. AND if you do work out for more than 60 minutes have a fruit with you to gear up on carbs with low glicemic index.
Keep on! I keep an eye on my target and according to my program it is a 8 weeks work! I am already tired just to think about it, but I am sure that after these 8 weeks I will be so happy to run what I have always dreamt of. I am not at all saying you need to run, I am just comparing my dream of running to your dream of losing weight, FOCUS, FOCUS FOCUS,FOCUS.
We all have advices, we all say what works for us, but in my opinion, only you and a good physician can determine the best way! I don't know about any such here in Dk, I loved the one I had back then. I reached my goals being very healthy! That is why I am sharing my "knowledge" with you.
Absolutely wonderful post and I completely agree 100%.0 -
Thanks Camila, I actually do push myself to run and walk with the lighter weights but when I hold the heavier weights that seems to get my heart rate up too just by holding them since they are so fricken heavy
. I do push myself in different ways each time I am out there just because doing it the same way each time would get boring. I also search out staris and go up them whenever I see them. I will join a gym next month just to vary the way I exercise and to keep it new. This is the last time i will be losing this much weight again and I know that is the truth!!!. Thanks so much. I actually took your advice today and ate a banana half way through my walk today, hoping it works. Water in the muscles could explain the gain and the pain each time after a long walk. I imagine that will go away over time. Patience is not my strong point. I just needed confirmation that I am heading in the right direction. I appreciate all of your responses more than you could ever know!! 0
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