ADVICE needed: TOM, sodium and exercise machines

gorguslyjealous · March 2012

Hey everyone! I've felt like I've been really kicking things into gear the past month and was successful in losing 3lbs the first week of February after paying more attention to the food I've been putting in my body! We're in the final week of a weight loss competition that we have at work... and I don't think I'll win by any means since I've only lost about 5 - 6 pounds so far, BUT I would like to lose a little more if I can in this last week!!

For the past 3 weeks I've been doing relatively well with my diet (only have gone over my calorie count two or three times in the past month) - but I still haven't lost! I looked back on my food journal to find that I had been induldging in too much sodium content in the food choices I was making! I made it my goal last week to focus on consuming less sodium, but still NOTHING! This week TOM is going to be in town (if you can feel me ladies!) && part of me is really thinking that has to do with some of the weight not coming off of me! For the girls around here... am I crazy, or does this happen with you too?

On another note - I DO work out - I alternate my routines between the elliptical, C25K, walking, weights, etc. - and i do this normally 6 times a week, so I'm definitely in a great routine with that. I'm wondering about what all of you do with your exercise calories. First off... do you feel that machines at the gym (i.e. treadmill, elliptical or even your HRM) give you accurate calories burned? My elliptical at home has a weight loss program that says I burn 500 calories during the 30 minutes that I do it - it's a VERY hard machine and it pushes me, but I know at the gym I never can get that many calories in 30 minutes. (maybe 400 or so if I'm lucky) - do you always put the exact number your machine/HRM tells you that you burn or do you put less?? Also - do you CONSUME all the calories that you use when you work out?

I know some days for me I make sure to get a work out in because I will be going out to dinner, etc. and I know I need those extra calories just to stay on target. But maybe I need to try to not use those calories as much, or maybe input less calories into MFP so that I don't use all that I've "earned"?

Hopefully this all makes sense - I'm just started to get frustrated && I instead of having that get me off track I'm trying to figure out WHAT can be going on && what I can tweak this week to fix it!

SteveTries · March 2012

For the past 3 weeks I've been doing relatively well with my diet (only have gone over my calorie count two or three times in the past month) - but I still haven't lost! I looked back on my food journal to find that I had been induldging in too much sodium content in the food choices I was making!

You sodium intake won't cause you to either gain or lose fat. The relevance to weight is with regard to how much water you are retaining. If your sodium intake has been constant it won't matter a jot whether it's high or low as you'll still be carrying the same amount of water. The only way this is likely to be relevant to your situation is if you have gone from a low intake to a progressively high intake and whilst losing fat you've been keeping the scale in the same place thru extra water. Seeing that you've reduced sodium to no effect I think you've eliminated this as a cause.

A note on sodium - it's impact on these forum's is overhyped in my opinion. First water weight isn't fat, so why do we care (other than the negative health aspect of excess sodium). Second the impact of sodium variance on water retention is nothing compared to the impact of carbohydrate variance and workout variance.

On another note - I DO work out - I alternate my routines between the elliptical, C25K, walking, weights, etc. - and i do this normally 6 times a week, so I'm definitely in a great routine with that. I'm wondering about what all of you do with your exercise calories. First off... do you feel that machines at the gym (i.e. treadmill, elliptical or even your HRM) give you accurate calories burned?

100% not. Every possible "measure" of exercise calories burnt, be it the gym machine, MFP, another internet source or a HRM is an estimate. The gym machines I believe are the worst since they are derived my manufacturers who want to appeal to the consumer. HRM is probably best since at least it is using your personal heart rate as part of it's estimate, but the other factors in that estimate are just statistical average or whatever formula the manufacturer chooses to use.

Also - do you CONSUME all the calories that you use when you work out?

50% works for me.

I know some days for me I make sure to get a work out in because I will be going out to dinner, etc. and I know I need those extra calories just to stay on target. But maybe I need to try to not use those calories as much, or maybe input less calories into MFP so that I don't use all that I've "earned"?

Agreed

gorguslyjealous · March 2012

Thanks for the feedback - I definitely was thinking a lot about that with the machines and maybe since I have been consuming more of the calories when I work out it's causing me not to lose b/c my deficit isn't as big as I think it is (because maybe I'm not burning that many calories!) I will test that theory this week and see!

You sodium intake won't cause you to either gain or lose fat. The relevance to weight is with regard to how much water you are retaining. If your sodium intake has been constant it won't matter a jot whether it's high or low as you'll still be carrying the same amount of water. The only way this is likely to be relevant to your situation is if you have gone from a low intake to a progressively high intake and whilst losing fat you've been keeping the scale in the same place thru extra water. Seeing that you've reduced sodium to no effect I think you've eliminated this as a cause.

A note on sodium - it's impact on these forum's is overhyped in my opinion. First water weight isn't fat, so why do we care (other than the negative health aspect of excess sodium). Second the impact of sodium variance on water retention is nothing compared to the impact of carbohydrate variance and workout variance.

As for the sodium - it's not about focusing on the "fat" persay - it's mostly just talking about the number on the scale. I do not constantly have a high sodium diet, usually I'm under my allowed sodium for the day - but for that week I was over my sodium (and we're talking like 500 - 1000+ over). I feel as though that high of sodium was making me retain more water then usual and therefore effecting the number that was showing up on my scale! When I was under calorie all week and should have seen ANY loss && I didn't, I had to go back and see what I could tweek to see if it made an impact!

)

SteveTries · March 2012

Thanks for the feedback - I definitely was thinking a lot about that with the machines and maybe since I have been consuming more of the calories when I work out it's causing me not to lose b/c my deficit isn't as big as I think it is (because maybe I'm not burning that many calories!) I will test that theory this week and see!

Please send me a message and let me know how you go. I'm convinced this correct from my own experiences but other peoples may vary.

As for the sodium - it's not about focusing on the "fat" persay - it's mostly just talking about the number on the scale. I do not constantly have a high sodium diet, usually I'm under my allowed sodium for the day - but for that week I was over my sodium (and we're talking like 500 - 1000+ over). I feel as though that high of sodium was making me retain more water then usual and therefore effecting the number that was showing up on my scale! When I was under calorie all week and should have seen ANY loss && I didn't, I had to go back and see what I could tweek to see if it made an impact! )

Understood. So if you had an increase over the norm then you probably can expect an increase in water retention.

Daisy374 · March 2012

I actually reset my sodium totals on mfp to the max amount recommended by the American Heart Association. So when I am on track I try to keep it around 17-1800 mg a day. I find when I stick to close to this number and drink at least 8 cups of water a day, I don't wake up bloated/swollen from sodium, and the scale does seem to cooperate. I don't have high blood pressure or suffer from hypertension, but if i go over that amount of sodium, I will be retaining the next day. I don't seem to be able to handle much sodium over 1800.
In answer to your question about machines, I use a HRM and I enter all the total calories it says I burn. But I do find that MFP or the machines at the gym often give me a higher number than my HRM. I don't think any of them are 100% accurate, but I feel that my HRM is the closest.
I don't eat all my exercise calories every day, bu I like having them there as a "safety net" so I usually use some of them each day, and like you said I like having them there to use if I eat out. I have friends who eat all of them and lose, and I have some who don't eat them and lose...so I am not sure if it is best to eat them all or not.
But you also need to remember that when you work out, your muscles are also going to hold some water, and also, you may not be losing on the scale, but you are probably losing inches and gaining muscle. My scale is hard to get to move, so most of the time I periodically (like maybe once a month) take measurements. I also go by how my body feels, and how my clothes fit.
You are doing a great job, and I am proud of you. You also keep me inspired to keep going! Keep up the great work!

gorguslyjealous · March 2012

I actually reset my sodium totals on mfp to the max amount recommended by the American Heart Association. So when I am on track I try to keep it around 17-1800 mg a day. I find when I stick to close to this number and drink at least 8 cups of water a day, I don't wake up bloated/swollen from sodium, and the scale does seem to cooperate. I don't have high blood pressure or suffer from hypertension, but if i go over that amount of sodium, I will be retaining the next day. I don't seem to be able to handle much sodium over 1800.

What is the max amount recommended??

In answer to your question about machines, I use a HRM and I enter all the total calories it says I burn. But I do find that MFP or the machines at the gym often give me a higher number than my HRM. I don't think any of them are 100% accurate, but I feel that my HRM is the closest.

Maybe I will try using my HRM when I work out && see what it says! Because maybe my body is getting used to the machine, so even though it's telling me I'm burning a lot - maybe I'm not burning as many as it thinks I am!

But you also need to remember that when you work out, your muscles are also going to hold some water, and also, you may not be losing on the scale, but you are probably losing inches and gaining muscle. My scale is hard to get to move, so most of the time I periodically (like maybe once a month) take measurements. I also go by how my body feels, and how my clothes fit.
You are doing a great job, and I am proud of you. You also keep me inspired to keep going! Keep up the great work!

I actually do take measurements once a month or so - so that is really helpful! I'll have to do that soon for march so hopefully that will help to encourage me that something is moving!

ADVICE needed: TOM, sodium and exercise machines

Replies

Categories