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2010/04/16, 09:19 AM
For four months I have done weight training (with trainer) three times a week, cardio 30 - 90 minutes (with heart rate monitor at 80%) six days a week, and followed a meal plan very precisely (no cheating). I have not lost any weight nor have I lost any inches. i need to lose 20 lbs and am desperately losing motivation. No thyroid issues.
I'm 51, female, no health problems. Cardio consists of elliptical, treadmill, outdoor cycling (again, with heart rate monitor to stay in zone). Any advice is appreciated as I'm ready to just throw in the towel. I'm chronically tired and I'm now also very down in the dumps from working so hard and not getting results.:(
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2010/04/19, 09:19 AM
Gigglerat,
You may not be eating enough calories or too many calories. Sometimes when you increase your activity in order to lose weight, you need to increase your calories or because of the way your body responds you actually have to eat less calories. Another idea is caloric cycling, which is changing the amount of calories you eat each day. Say your target calorie intake is 1200 for weightloss. You could do the following calorie cycle:
Day 1 1200 Day 2 1300 Day 3 1100 Day 4 1200 Day 5 1400 Day 6 1000 Day 7 1200. This "confusses" your body and prevents it from going into "starvation maintainence".
I would try each different method for a week and see if increasing your calories results in a weight loss or if reduced calories results in a weight loss. Me personally, I have to consume fewer calories than the "average" person to see a weight loss. Good luck! Don't get discouraged!
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2010/04/23, 05:04 PM
I agree with Missyaline, you may have to increase or decrease your calories if you aren't seeing results. Also
have you made sure to vary your weight training and also does the personal trainer push you (with weights it's obvious that you are there cardio wise) to consistently put it more effort? For example people who are at the top health wise and want to make sure they stay there will create a workout cycle. Basically the cycle goes from working out your whole body at a moderate tempo for an in shape person then steadily increasing the intensity to where you get to the point of exhaustion at the end of the work out (weightlifting not cardio)because of the amount of effort put in. I don't know if that made sense to you. Also as far as weight lifting goes, some trainers mistakenly believe that you can just spot train and get the results that you want when if you are going for total weight loss is not true. What you would need to do is start with weight lifting exercises that work out all the muscle groups, do this consistently for a while and you should be able to see the difference especially when you keep up the cardio. Then after you lose some of the weight and build up more muscle (when you build more muscle you will also burn more fat easier, but if done right you will not gain mass)you can target certain muscles in places you may think of as 'problem areas'. Just make sure to at least workout the whole muscle group first this will prevent injury in the long run. Also another key thing is making sure that you are resting you should have at least like two days a week where you are not exercising at all. Rest is an important part of working out especially with weight lifting. Giving your body time to recuperate after exercising is when your body will start healing the small tears that you create in your muscles when you exercise (this is perfectly normal) when your body does this it helps to basically create new muscle and the more you build up muscle the more fat you will burn. Also if you are doing these exercises at a high intensity then you may need more time to recuperate, like I week in between exercises. And lastly, if you only have a few extra pounds that are not going away but are other wise healthy then it may be that you should not get rid of the extra fat. I know that when women get older they tend to gain more weight, this is a healthy thing, your body does it for a reason. If you feel that is not the case then trying something else like a new trainer is certainly in order. Good luck and I hope that this has helped you.
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2010/04/23, 05:13 PM
*Edit*
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Quoting from jadeworker:
I agree with Missyaline, you may have to increase or decrease your calories if you aren't seeing results. Also
have you made sure to vary your weight training and also does the personal trainer push you (I mean with weights, it's obvious that you are there cardio wise) to consistently put it more effort? For example people who are at the top health wise and want to make sure they stay there will create a workout cycle. Basically the cycle goes from working out your whole body at a moderate tempo, for an in shape person, then steadily increasing the intensity to where you get to the point of exhaustion at the end of the work out (weightlifting not cardio)because of the amount of effort put in. I don't know if that makes sense to you :).
Also as far as weight lifting goes, some trainers mistakenly believe that you can just spot train and get the results that you want when if you are going for total weight loss is not true. What you would need to do is start with weight lifting exercises that work out all the muscle groups, do this consistently for a while and you should be able to see the difference especially when you keep up the cardio. Then after you lose some of the weight and build up more muscle (when you build more muscle you will also burn more fat easier, but if done right you will not gain mass)you can target certain muscles in places you may think of as 'problem areas'. Just make sure to at least workout the whole muscle group first this will prevent injury in the long run.
Also another key thing is making sure that you are resting you should have at least like two days a week where you are not exercising at all. Rest is an important part of working out especially with weight lifting. Giving your body time to recuperate after exercising is when your body will start healing the small tears that you create in your muscles when you exercise (this is perfectly normal) when your body does this it helps to basically create new muscle and the more you build up muscle the more fat you will burn. Also if you are doing these exercises at a high intensity then you may need more time to recuperate, like a week in between exercises.
And lastly, if you only have a few extra pounds that are not going away but are other wise healthy then it may be that you should not get rid of the extra fat. I know that when women get older they tend to gain more weight, this is a healthy thing, your body does it for a reason. If you feel that is not the case then trying something else like a new trainer is certainly in order. Good luck and I hope that this has helped you.
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