Exercise 4 days in a row...

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I am a somewhat structured person. Usually I work out for 4 consecutive days (Mon-Thurs) at my gym at work (free :bigsmile: )and then take Friday as an easy exercise day and do mostly non-cardio stuff on the weekends.

I have managed to lose 40lbs.. go me!! :glasses:

I have hit a plateau for almost the past month... only losing about 3-4lbs in a 30 day period :sad:

I have upped my calories from 1200 to 1350. I eat my exercise calories and rarely go over my limit. i have cut our artifical sweetner and I am working on my sugar and sodium intake. This has helped a little bit.

I am thinking about putting a rest day in between my 4 cardio days to shake things up.
I typically do the elliptical and sometimes the treadmill on an incline for my cardio. I can't jog or run much as I am still healing from plantar fascitis. On my lighter cardio day, I typically walk at a moderate pace or do the stairs at my work. I am thinking my body is getting used to the same ole routine although I am trying to switch it up a little bit with no sucess.


Any thoughts or suggestions to help me get over this hump!

:drinker:

Replies

  • aschultz9
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    Do you do any interval training? I would add some of that, or increase the time spent on cardio by 10 minutes. Do you strength train? Adding some weights/resistance training may help as well.
  • judy02
    judy02 Posts: 19
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    Hello my name is Judy. That is impressive keep it up. If i my suggest something, try lowering your carb intake, like breads, rice, etc.. congrats on ur wedding! You can do it girl!!
  • siriusciel
    siriusciel Posts: 234 Member
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    I do intervals on the elliptical usually spend 40 minutes total. I def need to incorporate more strength training.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    Definitely start changing your routine around some. Our bodies are so good at adjusting to our routines.

    It's not a plateau if you are still losing some weight! That's still progress! Upping your calories is probably a good thing. I've seen a lot of people on here adjust their weight loss goal (like from 2 lbs to 1lb) and start losing again.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    I am a somewhat structured person. Usually I work out for 4 consecutive days (Mon-Thurs) at my gym at work (free :bigsmile: )and then take Friday as an easy exercise day and do mostly non-cardio stuff on the weekends.

    I have managed to lose 40lbs.. go me!! :glasses:

    I have hit a plateau for almost the past month... only losing about 3-4lbs in a 30 day period :sad:

    I have upped my calories from 1200 to 1350. I eat my exercise calories and rarely go over my limit. i have cut our artifical sweetner and I am working on my sugar and sodium intake. This has helped a little bit.

    I am thinking about putting a rest day in between my 4 cardio days to shake things up.
    I typically do the elliptical and sometimes the treadmill on an incline for my cardio. I can't jog or run much as I am still healing from plantar fascitis. On my lighter cardio day, I typically walk at a moderate pace or do the stairs at my work. I am thinking my body is getting used to the same ole routine although I am trying to switch it up a little bit with no sucess.


    Any thoughts or suggestions to help me get over this hump!

    :drinker:

    Definitely throwing in your rest day on a day you normally would work out is a change to shake things up. Any changes outside of the norm will make a change one way or the other. Experiment with it. At the same time, enjoy the plateau. While your body may not want to lose weight, I'd take it as the opportunity to give it a little more fuel, and though there might be the "risk" of it fluctuating up a little bit, once it starts moving in one direction, it can just as easily move in the other.

    Edit: Just to add to changing things up, once you start noticing changes in weight [up or down], as already mentioned, you can also include HIIT routines, into your workouts. Granted you're dealing with plantar fasciitis, so on the elliptical you can pedal backwards randomly throughout your session. It will allow for muscle confusion of your muscles not to get used to moving in one direction all the time, also using your arms to propel you can be incorporating somewhat of an upper body strength training exercise.

    If you're on the treadmill, increase the incline higher to a point of slight discomfort [to jack up your HR], but not to the point where you're exacerbating the plantar pain. And as with all HIIT routines, do them in bursts of increased intensity, then immediately followed by a moderate to slower recovery period, then repeat for about 20 - 45 minutes, depending on how long you can handle them, and then do a 5 - 10 minute cool-down.
  • superninjatam
    superninjatam Posts: 44 Member
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    Try this for a calorie burner. It's called the "Cart". Basically get on a treadmill at 15% and walk at 3-3.5mph for 40 minutes. You'll burn a phenomenal amount of calories without the exhaustion.
  • RoniDoll
    RoniDoll Posts: 262
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    Don't eat back your work out calories. Thats only if you are wanting to maintain weight. You have to burn 3500 calories on top of what you eat a week in order to lose 1 pound.
  • albragg
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    Don't eat back your work out calories. Thats only if you are wanting to maintain weight. You have to burn 3500 calories on top of what you eat a week in order to lose 1 pound.

    No, that's not true. MFP calculates a calorie deficit for you so that by the end of the week, you will have a deficit of 3500 if you are aiming to lose 1 pound a week. If you exercise, you will have extra calories to eat, as long as your NET calories are at your specific goal (for example, 1200) then you will still have a 3500 deficit by the end of the week. Its all about the NET calories, not how many you eat/burn. Keep your net cals on target, and you're good.

    In regards to hitting a plateau, I've heard that you should try "maintenance" for 2 weeks. Set your "goals" to lose 0 lbs a week, and give your body the calories it needs simply to maintain. Give it a rest. Still exercise. Then after two weeks, you may have lost 0lbs, lost a few, or gained a few. Either way, it will be easy for your body to get back into weightloss mode after resting a bit.
  • foreverjade
    foreverjade Posts: 213 Member
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    You need to do some strength training for sure. Muscle burns more calories than fat. The more muscle you have in your body, the more calories your body will burn when exercising or when doing nothing. If you can muscle train before you do cardio, you will burn more that way also.

    Edit: if you already ARE muscle training - you may see less pounds coming off because you are increasing your muscle mass! Muscle also weights 2x more than fat! So, track measurements instead of the scale!
  • backinthenines
    backinthenines Posts: 1,083 Member
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    Firstly, you've done fantastic so far! :drinker: Go you indeed. :glasses:

    I agree with those people who suggested more strength training. Proper strength training, not 2kg princess dumbells, but proper hard weights. Build some lean mass and your metabolism will hit the roof.

    In terms of shaking up the cardio... the body gets used to things it does very frequently, it adapts and becomes very efficient at that particular thing. As a result you burn fewer calories. So... introduce something you've never done before, and give your "usual" things a miss for a bit. For example if you're normally using an elliptical, get on the C2 rower instead, or do a spin class, or try some circuits.

    For me it can also help to vary the time of my workouts. When I normally work out after work and find that the routine is slacking, I'll throw in some fasted cardio early in the morning like 6:30am before breakfast. That can shake things up a bit as well.

    Good luck and keep at it. :flowerforyou:
  • aschultz9
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    " Muscle also weights 2x more than fat!"


    Muscle and fat weigh the same. Muscle takes up less space, however, so measurements will show the difference rather than the scale.:smile:
  • RoniDoll
    RoniDoll Posts: 262
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    Don't eat back your work out calories. Thats only if you are wanting to maintain weight. You have to burn 3500 calories on top of what you eat a week in order to lose 1 pound.

    No, that's not true. MFP calculates a calorie deficit for you so that by the end of the week, you will have a deficit of 3500 if you are aiming to lose 1 pound a week. If you exercise, you will have extra calories to eat, as long as your NET calories are at your specific goal (for example, 1200) then you will still have a 3500 deficit by the end of the week. Its all about the NET calories, not how many you eat/burn. Keep your net cals on target, and you're good.

    In regards to hitting a plateau, I've heard that you should try "maintenance" for 2 weeks. Set your "goals" to lose 0 lbs a week, and give your body the calories it needs simply to maintain. Give it a rest. Still exercise. Then after two weeks, you may have lost 0lbs, lost a few, or gained a few. Either way, it will be easy for your body to get back into weightloss mode after resting a bit.

    when I ate back my workout calories I maintained... and my personal trainer said that its counter productive to eat them back