Am I exercising too much?

Scorpiotwinkle

Not sure if this is on the right forum, so I have also posted it in General Diet and Weightloss help because I really need some advice or someone else's experience of my problem.

I am 50, WAS very sedentary and need a knee replacement. I started working out in a gym every day since 3rd Jan 2012. The first 6 weeks I lost 30lb the second 5 weeks 11lb and NOW I AM STUCK at 111kg! My current regime is two day split, one day upper body, next day lower body with my "day off" just 45mins of cardio. I work so hard that the gym staff and even other members have come up to me and commented that I am dedicated and a hard worker.

I see a personal trainer once a week, he also does my nutrition because I wanted to eat right for the amount of exercise I am doing. We have tried different times of day eating carbs, or no carbs - I eat clean and I don't cheat. I eat six times a day as recommended. MFP gives me1340cals and I usually eat my exercise cals back although for several weeks I probably wasnt but when we upped the calories that hasn't helped either. I have not moved one pound for 10 weeks and we are totally confused and disappointed. I have lost 3inches each on my hips, waist and bust and my PT just measured my body fat which he thinks has gone down since 5 weeks ago, but we only measured this tonight and he didn't have last resuts to hand so I am not completely sure yet.
I don't take any meds that would affect weight loss, I drink loads of water, no alcohol and dont take salt on my food.
Does anyone have any other ideas to help me please?

jammiezene

You weigh 111 and want to lose more weight?

Helloitsdan

You weigh 111 and want to lose more weight?

How tall are you again?

Scorpiotwinkle

WHOOPS! I am 111KG not lb doh! I am 5'4".

Helloitsdan

WHOOPS! I am 111KG not lb doh! I am 5'4".

It all makes sense!

Try to maintain a 3-4 day workout routine with ample rest.
That means sleeping like the dead!

Scorpiotwinkle

It all makes sense!

Try to maintain a 3-4 day workout routine with ample rest.
That means sleeping like the dead!
[/quote]

Do you mean I am doing it right but just need to cut back a bit on the gym visits and sleep more?

willyzification

Let me get this right, you workout 7 days of 7 days in a week (including your rest day cardio?) and you eat say 1300 calories roughly? do you do any weight training by any chance.

Firstly assuming you are working out 7 days of 7 days, you are overworking your body. I suggest at the most 6 days a week but 5 days is better (on rest days you do NO WORKOUTS.) Your rest day IS NOT a rest day if your are doing cardio on that day.

Also im sure I wont be the first or last to say this, but you will need to eat alot more than 1300 calories. I weigh 65.5kg and i eat 2500-2800 calories daily.

If you are not doing weight training at the moment, i suggest you start. Tell your Personal trainer, "I want to do strength training and HIITS" If your PT does not know what H I I T S is, then I suggest you find a new PT cause your current one is crappy. HIITs = High intensity interval training, it is not really a cardio, but is far superior to it. 25-30 min of a HIITs workout will be far more effective in terms of fat loss than an hour + on any machine (treadmill elliptical etc). This is the process of HIITS, learn HIITS > hate HIITS > See benefits from HIITS. (I say hate, because within 5 min of a HIITs workout, you will be breathing heavy like you have been sprinting for 15 min straight, you will sweat a river and literally collapse afterwards if you have never done it before)

It is commonly known that to lose weight/fat you need to burn it off. What burns off all that nasty fat/calories? muscles. How do you gain muscles? weight training. In other words incorporating weight training (3 days a week) with (2 days of cardio) = amazing loss. If you are skeptical to do weight training cause you dont want bulgy super big muscles, (its amazing hwo many women think this will happen) it will NOT happen unless you are on roids. Women do not have the testosterone levels to get big shunky super duper muscles (unless they are crazy european bodybuilders)

Scorpiotwinkle

Let me get this right, you workout 7 days of 7 days in a week (including your rest day cardio?) and you eat say 1300 calories roughly? do you do any weight training by any chance.

Firstly assuming you are working out 7 days of 7 days, you are overworking your body. I suggest at the most 6 days a week but 5 days is better (on rest days you do NO WORKOUTS.) Your rest day IS NOT a rest day if your are doing cardio on that day.

Also im sure I wont be the first or last to say this, but you will need to eat alot more than 1300 calories. I weigh 65.5kg and i eat 2500-2800 calories daily.

If you are not doing weight training at the moment, i suggest you start. Tell your Personal trainer, "I want to do strength training and HIITS" If your PT does not know what H I I T S is, then I suggest you find a new PT cause your current one is crappy. HIITs = High intensity interval training, it is not really a cardio, but is far superior to it. 25-30 min of a HIITs workout will be far more effective in terms of fat loss than an hour + on any machine (treadmill elliptical etc). This is the process of HIITS, learn HIITS > hate HIITS > See benefits from HIITS. (I say hate, because within 5 min of a HIITs workout, you will be breathing heavy like you have been sprinting for 15 min straight, you will sweat a river and literally collapse afterwards if you have never done it before)

It is commonly known that to lose weight/fat you need to burn it off. What burns off all that nasty fat/calories? muscles. How do you gain muscles? weight training. In other words incorporating weight training (3 days a week) with (2 days of cardio) = amazing loss. If you are skeptical to do weight training cause you dont want bulgy super big muscles, (its amazing hwo many women think this will happen) it will NOT happen unless you are on roids. Women do not have the testosterone levels to get big shunky super duper muscles (unless they are crazy european bodybuilders)

I am not scared of muscles and yes I lift heavy 3 sessions of upper body per week, 3 sessions of lower body per week both with Elliptical and rower and bike interspersed with the weights. I have done HIIT on the rower which is less painful due to the knee problem and it did seem to work, and to be honest I haven't done that lately so there's a thing to try again! I am gaining muscle tone so I know that will weigh a bit but thought that I should be starting to see more weightloss due to the fact that I am still massively overweight. I have read many forums and advice places and am getting the impression I have to be patient, but most of them relate to people having 3-4 weeks of plateau not 10! My PT and I found I was undereating by around 600cals when taking my exercise into account, but even upping my cals this week hasn't changed anything.

I guess I should allow myself a non exercise day off and might even try IF (intermittent fasting) to see what happens. I do have 1340 cals but after exercise (which uses up to 800 cals) I have a dinner of about 500 - 800 cals depending on the meal so consider I am eating my exercise cals most of the time so shouldn't go into "starvation mode".

I don't want to lose my momentum and enthusiasm because I truly am hooked on the exercise, also how I feel and am beginning to look, but I fear that if this goes on too long I may falter.

Thanks for everyone's input, I really appreciate it and need it. Keep the comments coming please!

Helloitsdan

It all makes sense!

Try to maintain a 3-4 day workout routine with ample rest.
That means sleeping like the dead!

Do you mean I am doing it right but just need to cut back a bit on the gym visits and sleep more?
[/quote]

Yes.
Your body heals itself when you rest and sleep.
It uses the nutrients from proper diet to do this.
So making sure you eat correctly first, you rest second then worry about working out.

In that order.

scorpio516

I have not moved one pound for 10 weeks and we are totally confused and disappointed. I have lost 3inches each on my hips, waist and bust and my PT just measured my body fat which he thinks has gone down since 5 weeks ago, but we only measured this tonight and he didn't have last resuts to hand so I am not completely sure yet.
I don't take any meds that would affect weight loss, I drink loads of water, no alcohol and dont take salt on my food.
Does anyone have any other ideas to help me please?

Because of the inches and BF% lost, I wouldn't worry too much about not loosing mass.

I know it sucks, the scale is easy and always there.
You are probably building muscle while loosing fat, and because of the higher density of muscle, you keep the same mass but less volume. IMHO, you are either going to end up huge and ripped (VERY unlikely) or your weight loss will catch up.

therealangd

my PT just measured my body fat which he thinks has gone down since 5 weeks ago,

If your body fat % has gone down, then you are doing things right. Not all of your results are going to come from weight loss. Especially if you are strength training as part of your program.

If you are working out 7 days a week, then yes, in my opinion, you are working out too much. You need a rest day. Again. In my opinion.

I think your food is ok. You are netting 1340? Eating back all your exercise calories, then yes. Good. You could probably up that a little more with all the working out you are doing and your current weight, but as long as you are eating all your excals, then you are fine.

You could analyse your counting procedures. Are you counting your calories correctly. From food and exercise.

But to tell you the truth, if you are losing BF%, you are doing a great job. You just need a few tweaks.

jamie1888

Something else to keep in mind, you mentioned that you keep trying different diets/timing, etc. But, you've only been at this for 4 months. When you try to follow a new way of eating or make adjustments to the amount of calories you eat, you have to give your body time to adjust to that. I would pick one program and stick with it for 3 - 4 weeks and then see if things change. And you wont turn into a Gremlin if you eat carbs after 3pm (or whatever). What matters is at the end of the day, did you stay within your calorie goal and stayed close to the macros you are trying to following (the percentage of carbs/protein/fats)

jennifermcornett

Give the higher calories more than just a week to do their magic.
Also, I agree that you need to have at least one rest day.

penpen96

Have you had some lab work done recently with your doctor? Certain things can slow your metabolism...like low thyroid levels?

Scorpiotwinkle

Have you had some lab work done recently with your doctor? Certain things can slow your metabolism...like low thyroid levels?

Yes, just checked with the surgery this morning, I had thyroid function last Feb (2011) and it was normal. I am not tired, stressed or sleeping badly, in fact I am sleeping much better since starting at the gym.

You are all brilliant, thanks for your comments, it's nice to see I am not going mad or doing anything wrong, it's just me and my body's way of doing things - and who wants to be predictable anyway LOL.

willyzification

Have you had some lab work done recently with your doctor? Certain things can slow your metabolism...like low thyroid levels?

Yes, just checked with the surgery this morning, I had thyroid function last Feb (2011) and it was normal. I am not tired, stressed or sleeping badly, in fact I am sleeping much better since starting at the gym.

You are all brilliant, thanks for your comments, it's nice to see I am not going mad or doing anything wrong, it's just me and my body's way of doing things - and who wants to be predictable anyway LOL.

Yes, often your body is like a immature child, just saying no to everything you say and end up having a tantrum, kicking and screaming. Be serious, be consistent and do not give up. Try doing this split:

Day 1: chest/triceps
Day 2: shoulder/biceps/back
Day 3: back/Legs
Day 4: cardio day (HIITS can replace any treadmill or elliptical workouts)
Day 5: either start back on day 1 or have a rest day
Day 6: If you rested then start on day 1, otherwise start on day 2
Day 7: If you still havent rested in the last 6 days, do it here, otherwise keep on with your days.

This is pretty much a 3 day split with cardio added on an xtra day, so a 4 day cycle in a 7 day week. In any one week you want at least 1 day of rest. Do not try to do Monday is this, and tuesday is that, as it is easier for your body to get used to what your doing and plateou. Cycling your workout days creates more unpredictableness (not sure thats a word) and is more fun in general