Not sure what direction to go now...

Electrikat

Hello all. My story is quite a long one, but to shorten it up I'll just say that I never could gain a pound over 120lbs at 5'6" until about a year and half ago. I've always been a small girl, but active; always running, or hiking, or snowboarding or something. I then came off the birth control - DepoProvera shot in April of 2010 and 8 months later I gained over 30lbs in just a couple months and my body shape completely changed even though I hadn't changed my lifestyle at all!! It was unbelievable and terrifying and I'm still fighting to get my body back to how it was. I will never be back down to the 117lbs that I felt most comfortable and healthy at, but I'm shooting for 125-128lbs, which means I have 7-10lbs that won't budge.
I had to completely take out carbs a few months ago because I would eat one small piece of bread or something with wheat and I'd gain 5lbs or more literally overnight. I had a million blood tests done and all my hormones were normal and i was not a celiac. I only had slight reactive hypoglycemia. I'm still convinced something was (and probably still is) wrong with my hormone balance but I was tired of paying doctors to tell me nothing is wrong and I gave up on finding a medical answer.
I worked with a personal trainer for three months and went down 4% body fat but didn't lose more than about 4lbs. I've been doing strength/resistance training at the gym at least twice a week if not three times. I run 3-4 miles or bike 15-20 miles 5 days a week. I usually alternate running and biking to mix things up. I have been doing this for the past couple of months and I eat small meals throughout the day. I just can't get any fat off my belly or my thighs to budge now. I'm actually afraid the biking is making my thighs bulkier and my pants fit tighter, so I've eased up on that and have just been doing long distance running. I know, I know women can't get bulky, but that is not the case with me. When i was doing lots of squats in the gym my pants stopped fitting me, it wasn't in my head...for some reason I can bulk up so I have to watch what I do.
I really miss my long lean legs. I've come to despise my legs now, my thighs are so gross and BIG! But I can't stop doing alot of leg based excersize because then I definitely won't lose this last ten pounds. I just don't know what to do next to slim down with out putting alot of muscle weight on. I wouldn't mind breaking down some of this extra muscle I put on so I can fit in clothes I want to wear again (I know I sound crazy right? I'm not used to bulky muscle)
Anyone having this sort of issue?

thanks,
Kat

GinaH3

I saw you posted this late June. Have you made any progress? If so, what has worked for you?

I did the entire 60 days of Insanity. I noticed after the first three weeks my pants were tighter. I researched online and kept reading to press on because it falls off in the second month. At the end of the 60 days (ok, 65) I was 3lbs heavier and none of my jeans fit (thank goodness it's summer and I was in shorts). My waist was the only thing that was smaller. My tops were even a little tighter.

Regarding diet, I track mine. I stayed within my range the majority of the time. I have Graves' Disease (overactive thyroid- which I take medicine to slow down....thus slower metabolism) and I adjusted my calories and consulted with my endocrinologist on this. In short, the diet may not have been perfect, but it was much better than what it had been prior to Insanity. I'm 5'2". I averaged 114-116 before the thyroid went rogue. Now it's 120-125. My highest has been 128 since I started Insanity, which is the most I've been my entire life. I'm pretty active too.

So, my legs were the thinnest when I was jogging 3-5 days per week. As I was jogging this morning I came up with a new plan:
1. Jog 2-3 days week
2. Jillian Michaels DVD 1 day per week (3 minutes strength, 2 min cardio, 1 min abs...24 minutes total)
3. One Insanity DVD per week (for stamina)- probably the pure cardio and/or cardio resistance.

We'll see. I'll be wearing jeans soon since fall is around the corner. I'm in crisis mode!