workout routine -- tell me if this is a good idea

Dfracassa
Dfracassa Posts: 318 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been lifting weights since middle school, but only recently started doing bench presses, deadlifts and "good mornings." I do these, plus other weight training exercises three days a week. I also just finished 30 Day Shred (took me a bit longer as I only did it Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) and am looking to add a new circuit trainig routine to my weeks. So here's my proposed idea -- please tell me if you agree with my husband that it's "excessive," or if you think (as I do) that I need to be creating a bigger defecit, since I have not lost weight since last summer. Ahem.

Monday: Lifting, Ripped in 30.
Tuesday: RI30, 30 minutes on stationary bike.
Wednesday: Lifting, RI30.
Thursday, RI30, 30 minutes on stationary bike.
Friday: Lifting, RI30.
Saturday: RI30.
Sunday: Rest, for crap's sake.

Does this seem excessive? For the record, I hate exercising, but I have gotten obsessed with getting it done -- to the point where I feel resentful of plans that take me away from my allotted time to work out, like family dinners or invitations to go out with friends. Anyway, it's true that I haven't lost weight since last summer, and I have magically gained 5 pounds this year. I'm keeping at 1700 calories, though I frequently don't meet that mark. Am I giving myself enough rest time? Is this just not a good combination? I also take full responsibility for my sometimes not that awesome diet, and I am continually working harder to make it better, but for the most part I stick to 1700 calories. I checked it out, and that's basically my TDEE minus 30%.

Replies

  • ChrysalisCove
    ChrysalisCove Posts: 975 Member
    What has happened to your measurements in this time frame? Has your body composition changed, the way you feel, the way your clothes fit?

    This seems like a lot to me, but not excessive - if you enjoy it, do it! If you don't, find something you DO enjoy & do that! So long as you don't push your body through injuries & give it enough fuel to handle the workouts, I see no problem!
  • Dfracassa
    Dfracassa Posts: 318 Member
    What has happened to your measurements in this time frame? Has your body composition changed, the way you feel, the way your clothes fit?

    This seems like a lot to me, but not excessive - if you enjoy it, do it! If you don't, find something you DO enjoy & do that! So long as you don't push your body through injuries & give it enough fuel to handle the workouts, I see no problem!

    I forgot to add that! My measurements have gone up. UP. My thighs, waist, hips -- all bigger. Calves and arms stayed the same, which is to say enormous. My clothes feel tighter, and personally, I feel and look flabbier. I don't know how physics are being defied, here, but they clearly are.
  • Dfracassa
    Dfracassa Posts: 318 Member
    just a leeeetle bump.
  • cpusmc
    cpusmc Posts: 122
    if you are at a 30% calorie deficit AND working out that hard that often, something is off. IMO either, by your own admission, your diet is inconsistent and your are not maintaining a weekly calorie deficit or your entries are off.

    take 30 days and be disciplined in your diet and exercise, log everything and no "i frequently dont meet that mark" or "my sometimes not awesome diet" excuses. if you have been at 1700 for a while and thats 30%, your body is likely used to that number and has balanced. if in fact you are doing all that exercise at a high intensity, your body cold also be in starvation mode and holding on to everything, lots of "possible reasons" why you are not losing.

    if you are not gonna be disciplined in your diet, all the exercise in the world wont matter. if you want to keep the exercise, do so, but try upping those calories to say 1900 to account for all that activity and maybe put your body back in fat burning mode. but again, its all about a consistent deficit diet. you may have to play with your deficit numbers over a couple of months to get things going again. good luck...
  • Dfracassa
    Dfracassa Posts: 318 Member
    if you are at a 30% calorie deficit AND working out that hard that often, something is off. IMO either, by your own admission, your diet is inconsistent and your are not maintaining a weekly calorie deficit or your entries are off.

    take 30 days and be disciplined in your diet and exercise, log everything and no "i frequently dont meet that mark" or "my sometimes not awesome diet" excuses. if you have been at 1700 for a while and thats 30%, your body is likely used to that number and has balanced. if in fact you are doing all that exercise at a high intensity, your body cold also be in starvation mode and holding on to everything, lots of "possible reasons" why you are not losing.

    if you are not gonna be disciplined in your diet, all the exercise in the world wont matter. if you want to keep the exercise, do so, but try upping those calories to say 1900 to account for all that activity and maybe put your body back in fat burning mode. but again, its all about a consistent deficit diet. you may have to play with your deficit numbers over a couple of months to get things going again. good luck...

    You're absolutely right on all of that. I am working hard at this, and it's not easy (or much fun, for that matter), and I don't plan on giving up. But wouldn't it make sense for SOME progress to have been made by this point? I don't know. It's never been easy for me, so I can't expect it to be easy the older I get, right? I think my remark about frequently not meeting my 1700 calorie limit was taken incorrectly -- if you take a look at my diary for the past few weeks, you can see that I hardly ever eat 1700 calories; it's more like 1400-1600. Which is why I figure that by this point I should have lost one, maybe two pounds. But again, I don't know. Perhaps I'll add a couple hundred to the day and see what, if anything, that does!
  • cpusmc
    cpusmc Posts: 122
    take my comments with a grain of salt as it is impossible to give much more than generic advice in the vacuum of the internet. how many calories/day are you burning on average through exercise? lets say you are eating 1500 but burning 500 through exercise and not accounting for those exercise calories, you really could be in starvation mode as your body needs roughly 2400 to exist and you are giving it 1000 so it is holding on to everything. are you eating back your lost exercise calories?
  • Dfracassa
    Dfracassa Posts: 318 Member
    take my comments with a grain of salt as it is impossible to give much more than generic advice in the vacuum of the internet. how many calories/day are you burning on average through exercise? lets say you are eating 1500 but burning 500 through exercise and not accounting for those exercise calories, you really could be in starvation mode as your body needs roughly 2400 to exist and you are giving it 1000 so it is holding on to everything. are you eating back your lost exercise calories?

    I burn an average of 300-500 calories a day, depending on what I'm doing. I did 5:2 for a few months last year, and so I try and keep Tuesday and Thursday at 1000 or below (not the traditional 500, that crap is haaaard), and the other days I try and get up to 1700. I never could wrap my head around "eating at maintenance" on the other days, as it seems like I'd be eating ALL day, so maybe I'm sabotaging myself, I don't know. I only eat back exercise calories when I know I have an indulgence coming up, like tonight -- my husband bought these mint chocolate chip Klondike bars, and I NEVER eat those. But one won't kill me, and if I make us a healthy dinner, do a great work out and earn it, it'll fit into my other numbers. Is that crazy? It seems pretty rational to me, but yeah...I don't really know.
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
    I burn an average of 300-500 calories a day, depending on what I'm doing. I did 5:2 for a few months last year, and so I try and keep Tuesday and Thursday at 1000 or below (not the traditional 500, that crap is haaaard), and the other days I try and get up to 1700. I never could wrap my head around "eating at maintenance" on the other days, as it seems like I'd be eating ALL day, so maybe I'm sabotaging myself, I don't know. I only eat back exercise calories when I know I have an indulgence coming up, like tonight -- my husband bought these mint chocolate chip Klondike bars, and I NEVER eat those. But one won't kill me, and if I make us a healthy dinner, do a great work out and earn it, it'll fit into my other numbers. Is that crazy? It seems pretty rational to me, but yeah...I don't really know.

    Hints at how to eat higher calories on days you needed to eat at maintenance: non-diet Ranch Dressing, a cookie or 2, some real ice cream, a little more wine. In no time at all you can cover that extra 200-300 cals, and enjoy it.
  • Dfracassa
    Dfracassa Posts: 318 Member
    I burn an average of 300-500 calories a day, depending on what I'm doing. I did 5:2 for a few months last year, and so I try and keep Tuesday and Thursday at 1000 or below (not the traditional 500, that crap is haaaard), and the other days I try and get up to 1700. I never could wrap my head around "eating at maintenance" on the other days, as it seems like I'd be eating ALL day, so maybe I'm sabotaging myself, I don't know. I only eat back exercise calories when I know I have an indulgence coming up, like tonight -- my husband bought these mint chocolate chip Klondike bars, and I NEVER eat those. But one won't kill me, and if I make us a healthy dinner, do a great work out and earn it, it'll fit into my other numbers. Is that crazy? It seems pretty rational to me, but yeah...I don't really know.

    Hints at how to eat higher calories on days you needed to eat at maintenance: non-diet Ranch Dressing, a cookie or 2, some real ice cream, a little more wine. In no time at all you can cover that extra 200-300 cals, and enjoy it.

    I am a big fan of ALL of those things! :-)

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