3 months working out, and STILL no results

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  • Steezburt
    Steezburt Posts: 23
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    Be careful in limiting your caloric intake - The initial thought on a lot of people is to immediately cut calories, but that might not give you the results you're looking for, or could even potentially having the reverse.

    If you are indeed diligently logging everything you consume (taste tests in meal prep count, coffee creamer counts, the butter on the dinner roll counts), you might need to reconstruct your workouts into a slower paced low heart rate based exercise (For example, long slow run versus medium/high intensity runs).

    You previously mentioned that you might pick up a Heart Rate monitor - PLEASE DO! I use a Polar FT7 HR monitor which helps keep track of your calories burned and gives you a better estimate of things. These things are a huge helper!.

    http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Heart-Monitor-Watch-Silver/dp/B001U0OFDC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1401814385&sr=8-2&keywords=polar+ft7

    Also, I'm not sure what your diet is consisting of - Are you consuming empty calories such as sodas or high sugar fruit juices? While it might be tough, try and stick to water or non sweetened iced tea. I know this is an easy thing to say, and might not be an easy thing to practice - One thing that helped me kick the soda / juice habit is using Crystal Light Single Drink Packs (My favorite is Peach Tea). I found these to be very helpful in the transition to water only.

    It sounds like you're doing a good thing in avoiding the middle aisles of the grocery store, and I recommend keeping it up - But also, maybe toss in a cookbook to help give you healthy ideas to make meals fun - My wife and I recently added this to our collection of recipe books: http://www.amazon.com/Biggest-Loser-Cookbook-Healthy-Delicious-ebook/dp/B000QXCZV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401815294&sr=8-1&keywords=biggest+loser+cookbook

    Another consideration: While I don't advocate using a diet that is "no-carbs" or "no-fat" or "no-protein", consider the nutrients your using as a primary source of fuel. Proteins and Carbohydrates both contain 4 calories per gram while lipids (Fats) contain 9 calories per gram - You might see better results if your reducing your carbohydrates (again, not eliminating them - that's not sustainable) and increasing your protein intake. Just make sure you listen to what your body is telling you.

    Make sure the healthy habits of weighing yourself once a week are in place - your body will naturally fluctuate a few pounds depending on bowel movements and water retention. Pick a day and weigh in only on that day and at the same time (preferably in the AM). This can help you get a solid baseline, and the fluctuations won't dishearten you nearly as much.

    I hope this helps somewhat - Be sure to keep up the good work!!

    Thanks so much for your help. I definitely will be purchasing a watch to keep track of my calorie burn. I know they aren't 100% accurate but it's a better ballpark than I have been estimating. And thanks for the advice of macros also. I will try to lower my carbs by a bit and add more protein to my diet as well. I estimated about 150-160 grams of protein per day so I will do my best to reach that goal each day.
  • Steezburt
    Steezburt Posts: 23
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    One major thing I can tell you is that doing the same thing every week is not good for your body. It gets used to it and it will not be helpful. You should switch up your work out and add in different workouts, like spin for example or other intense cardio exercises. The other thing is what are you eating, the calories can only do so much, its more about the balance of food and nutrients. In addition when you gain muscle it doesnt necessarily mean that you have lost weight, but you will see it in how your body looks, and muscle is more compact, so you are probably healthier than you were before.

    Also what time of day do you weigh yourself?

    I'm not doing the same exercises each week, I switch up the areas I focus on each week, I was just giving an example of one week of workouts. But I follow the same pattern of upper and lower body and full body on various days throughout the week and switching up the exercises I do for each muscle group. Also, I'm
    Not eating back all my exercise calories, but sometimes I eat back 1/2.

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