Exercise Predicament

AmandaHalevan23
AmandaHalevan23 Posts: 4
in Fitness and Exercise
So, I went back to the gym at the beginning of this year, at first only a few times a week until I started to go everyday alternating between 1 hour cardio on a elliptical at increasing resistance every 10 minutes. On the other days I would do the weight loss setting on the elliptical for 32 minutes and then do weights on my abdomen, arms, back, and legs. It is now three months later and realize I have increased my weight by 9 pounds and haven't budged on measurements.

So obviously I am frustrated that my hard work at the gym has not given me any reward other than a slight increase in tone. So this week I haven't gone at all to the gym, but I hate that my mentality has jumped to that. I know that with the increase in exercise per week I also increased my calorie intake because I felt like I was hungry all the time but I still thought that the hard work at the gym would allow room to extend my intake.

Anyways, my question is what difference can I make to my routine where I don't have to worry about needing to take in more calories but will still tone up my body without the bulge and intensity? Please no sarcastic and mean answers, I am really not understanding what is going on.

Replies

  • mumtoonegirl
    mumtoonegirl Posts: 586 Member
    strength training geared to women is amazing... honesty. I was going to the gym for a year and only lost 15lbs, moved to training and ate lean and I have lost over 50lbs and soooooo many inches.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    It doesn't look like you have been tracking, and when you do, you undereat. Under eating by that much shouldn't result in a gain, but you might be overeating when not tracking.
  • nguk123
    nguk123 Posts: 223
    It doesn't look like you have been tracking, and when you do, you undereat. Under eating by that much shouldn't result in a gain, but you might be overeating when not tracking.

    Indeed
  • bokodasu
    bokodasu Posts: 629 Member
    You can't guess. You really need to figure out how much you're burning and how much extra that requires you to eat, because you can outeat an hour in the gym in five minutes. And then you need to track what you're eating to make sure that you're not eating too little or too much.
  • AmandaHalevan23
    AmandaHalevan23 Posts: 4
    Yeah I have been poor at tracking but getting back on the ball but first making sure I do it right this time around, just in need of more information before I start a new exercise routine. I average between net of 1200-1500, I have been lower this week because of no exercise so I don't want to blow my calorie limit.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    The only way to know what is happening is to be exact with it. Weigh and measure your food... use the correct brands and portion sizes in the MFP database. Eat out as little as possible. Track everything. Once you have a good solid month of tracking every bite you take, you'll have a better picture of how much you need to eat to lose fat.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Start looking into compound lifts- hello squat.

    Track your food- be diligent and see what's going on there.

    Get more aggressive about lifting heavier weights- not the little pink ones- do some research and get going on it- it'll help.

    Also check out HIIT training- good place to start is at nerdfitness, thedailyhiit, zuzkalight.com and angrytrainerfitness.
  • sheepiegail
    sheepiegail Posts: 56 Member
    I was in the same boat for the past 1.5 years and was doing all the cardio that you have been doing. I have to say that I was not as strick with logging my food as I should but when I did MFP kept telling me I was eating too little. Although I had read everyone's comments about eating back food and this whole TDEE thing I kept thinking I know myself. I'll eat what I think calorie wise what I should. Since then I have decided to do a half marathon and started reading all the running magazines. One had a diet which seemed easy to follow but holy cow it wanted me to eat 1500 cal!!!!! Are they crazy??? I decided to give it a try and can you believe it that after just 2 weeks the scale started to FINALLY move in the right direction. I actually went and did the whole TDEE calculation and the article was spot on with the 1500 cal recommendation and I was staying at the 20% less range for weight loss.

    turns out that what everyone was recommending was spot on. I kick myself that I didn't listen sooner. go ahead do the whole TDEE - % for weight loss. Bite the bullet and eat the recommended calories even if it sounds a little insane. I admit sometimes I have a hard time hitting my calories but as long as I am "close" the lbs keep coming off.
  • Riemersma4
    Riemersma4 Posts: 400 Member
    you really need to be religious in tracking - food and exercise.

    Re-work/rest your calorie goals and make sure that you have them right.

    Hard weight lifting 3 - 4 day a week. make sure that you hit the big groups (quads, back, chest, etc)
    Hard cardio 2 - 3 days a week. When i say cardio, i mean the kind that makes you want to throw up, not teh kind where you see people cruising on the elliptical at a 3.5 pace for 20 minutes.
    1 day of rest.

    Good luck!
  • freelancejouster
    freelancejouster Posts: 478 Member
    It sounds like you work out all the time! Try and find your TDEE - 20% at that exercise level. It's likely HUGE. You're not eating near enough for how much you work out.

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