Strange weight-loss thingie.

[Lauren_]

I've lost 12 pounds now - YAY!! And I'm back to my old 'mid-fat' weight. I've spent a lot of time at this exact weight in the past, should know my body well here.

The jeans that used to be slightly big on me at this weight before now barely come over my thighs & won't comfortably button. I don't look like I used to look at this weight. My jawline is less defined, saddlebags bigger, belly rounder than I used to be.

What could be up with that? If anything I exercise *more* now than I did before, so that's not the answer -- AND I doublechecked my weight on the health club scale.

Anyone ever experience this? Or can think of a possible reason for it?

[danidance]

age is it. things fall and shift. sucks. but there you have it!

[Lauren_]

Oh, Dani, I know you're right. I realized after I posted that DUH! the only possible answer is that I have a higher % body fat this time. And my bod is definitely more interested in storing fat now than it was just a couple of years ago.

I guess I'll need to change HOW I'm exercising. Weight room, here I come!

[danidance]

I used to never gain weight in my tummy - always butt and legs. Now, it's mostly tummy. yuck. Of course back when I gained weight in my legs, I used to think, "gee, I wish it would disperse up to my tummy" RIGHHHHHHHHHT.....

Today is the first day of my giving up candy. Your 12 pound weight loss is motivating me to try harder and eliminate those little sweet tooth indulgences until I get the pounds off.

[Lauren_]

Wow. I followed Sedonia's link from the calorie thread http://www.stumptuous.com & poked around on the site & found this:

One study which I saw years ago showed that women who were put on equal diets (same amount of calories) lost the same amount of numeric weight (i.e. scale weight in pounds), but the group of women who was weight training wound up with much lower body fat than the sedentary group. Some members of the sedentary dieting group even wound up with more overall body fat as a percentage than they had started with, indicating that there was substantial muscle loss as a result of the dieting.
<snip>
Let's say in a second example that our 200 lb. person hasn't been training or eating right, and manages to get down to 160 lbs. through a combo of chain smoking, black coffee, and long hours of low intensity, endurance-based cardio. However, because of her poor training and eating habits, she's only made it down to 25% body fat. This means she's lost 20 lbs. of fat and 20 lbs. of muscle. Same finishing weight, big difference in results...

Um....oops?


No more walking my doggie for 3 miles. We'll do just 30 minutes a day of interval training & use the leftover time to lift some weights!

[ssipes]

This phenomenon is another reason why boosting dietary protein can be good, if you are fighting the battle of trying to lose fat and gain or at least not lose muscle.

You might also want to check out Phil Campbell's book "Ready set go - fitness for time crunched adults". Unfortunately, he doesn't write as succinctly as he could, but his bottom line is that interval training with short anaerobic bursts (e.g. sprinting or its equivalent in biking, eliptical or whatever) promotes fat loss and muscle gain by naturally boosting HGH (human growth hormone -- the elusive stuff that keeps young people slim and whose decline causes the middle aged spread). He recommends a fitness routine, that includes traditional cardio and weight training, but also the anaerobic interval stuff.

The hard part is that you can't just start sprinting -- you have to prepare yourself for it very carefully or you will be getting injuries left and right. You have to slowly build up your fast twich muscle and all that. I have been working on this on and off, and when I get it going it does seem to help alot with weight loss and my blood sugar thing.

He also says a serving of protein immediatly following the interval training, and a supplement of the amino acid L-glutamine enhances the growth hormone. He also talks about how sugars totally undermine all of this.

Sedonia

[Lucinia]

Yea I mentioned this on the old bhuz I think... I know I did on tribe...
Strange weight gain thingy for me...

Was frettin over my slow weight gain since Jan how I've gained eight lbs and was getting very depressed. But when I went to get a new costume altered, found out that I had lost two inches in the chest was 38B now 36B.. and had lost 2 1/2 inches in the hips. was 40 now 37 1/2... talk about being surprised and stunned. Traded fat for muscle....

[Lauren_]

Thanks, Sedonia. When I pull up my past month on Fitday, I'm actually eating 40(fat)-45 (carbs)-15(protein) so it's kinda obvious to me what direction I should be heading, dietwise. Hmmm, I usually have a bit of protein shortly before my workouts, to fuel me, but I can sort that out.

Yeah, my body's idea of intense cardio is a pretty gentle jog. I'm super-fit for low-intensity endurance work (like teaching 4 hours of bellydance & yoga a day!)but throw out anything intense & I'm huffing & puffing.

[Lauren_]

Lucinia -- I guess the scale means nothing, the tape measure is everything!!!

[ssipes]

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Thanks, Sedonia. When I pull up my past month on Fitday, I'm actually eating 40(fat)-45 (carbs)-15(protein) so it's kinda obvious to me what direction I should be heading,

I just checked my fitday report out and I am in the same boat: 23% protein, 34% carbs, and 43% fat. Its those damn lard-laden refritos

[Nisima]

Well, it's not just *age*; it's a combination of body type, diet and exercise program. A troupemate of mine who is only 32 years old put herself on a very strict diet for a month to "slim down for hafla" but the results aren't what she was expecting, not at all. Her arms look well, "loose" and they weren't before and belly is still "pouchy" and she's never had kids. I think she needs to eat a lot more protein and good carbs and not focus on pounds so much as better muscle tone which will make her meaurements look better. Unfortunately, dance alone won't do that! I don't even own a scale, frankly, don't know how much I weigh, I go by how my clothes and costumes fit and how "toned" I am (speaking relatively here, I'm in fifties now ).

You just can't work out effectively if you starve your body of protein to lose weight fast! Last night I watched "Extreme Makeover" and it was a perfect example of this - it was a guy, but even though women have different belly fat issues; he could not stick with workout because he'd had dental work and was not eating enough for a whole month. Once he started eating more protein and reasonable amounts of carbs and fat, his workouts produced results!

Of course, as we age, it's a lot easier to gain weight than lose it, but it's also true that regular cardio workouts 'rev' up the metalbolism AT ANY AGE, and that's a huge, just huge factor in how our bodies shape themselves.

[kina]

I know someone who had their jaw wired shut (accident, not really looking to loose weight) and she lost 20 pounds. Under 30, didn't exercise, etc, very loose sking, loss of muscle tone, looks lumpier than before she lost weight.

Lauren, your plan is excellent. You have to ramp up the intensity if you want faster results, in terms of cardio-vascular fitness as well as weight loss. Increasing the weight training is a must, you'll build muscle, which will increase your metabolism which will cause you to lose fat faster. You'll initially put on wieght, because muscle is heavier than fat, but will lose inches, look and feel better.

[*Shira*]

You said you exercise more than you did when you were that weight before. So I'm guessing you've got a higher % of muscle mass contributing to your total weight than you did before. Muscle mass is good, but it sounds like you need to lose more fat to get down to being equal to the fat level you had before.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

The jeans that used to be slightly big on me at this weight before now barely come over my thighs & won't comfortably button. I don't look like I used to look at this weight. My jawline is less defined, saddlebags bigger, belly rounder than I used to be.

What could be up with that? If anything I exercise *more* now than I did before, so that's not the answer -- AND I doublechecked my weight on the health club scale.

[Bellydancingcaroline]

So Lauren, when do we see you new profile pic with the new figure??? Huh huh???

[bul_bul_ksa]

if you go to oxygenmag they have some really good links to articles which can help you get an effective routine and understand the science behind those routines. t-nation is another particularly good site.

for it to be true HIIT you really need to be going -all out- so much so that you feel exhausted after only doing a 20 min session...i haven't tried it yet for various reasons but totally intend to

with weights - lifting heavy is optimum. i know yoga does some great strengthening exercises but you would be best to use heavy freeweights and do traditional weight lifting. this way you can isolate particular muscles and not use joint strength instead of the actual muscle.

with extreme makeover that is a great example...sure, the guy on there has people doing a little cardio but he mainly focuses on clean diet and lifting weights. ok, his background is in weight lifting but he uses diet and weights because he knows they give a quick and effective result in a reasonable timeframe (I think it is 6 weeks they have in the makeover house isn't it?)

[kirsten]

Hi,

I know this is a little off topic (but still on at the same time), but a lot of ladies on this board are right. A tape measure is key in determining weight loss and body fat. However, if you really want the skinny (no pun intended) I highly recommend a body fat monitor scale. Once you know your true body fat, you will really know what you are working with.

Just a thought and suggestion.

-Jade

[annwyn]

I agree with the body fat test. calipers are the best way to test this electric scales can be off by 3%. Expecially if you are weight training this is the ony accurate way to test if you are loosing fat. For instance for 3 weeks the scale was tuck at the exact same weight, which is impossible considering the hard training and dieting i was doing. One morning i woak up and pulled out my fav pants pulled them on with out unbuttoning them, then they fell off, just 3 weeks ago they were tight. but not one pound was lost on the scale. a caiper test showed that i had lost 5% bf. That is amazing progress.....I just posted this info on another thread but ill post it here too. if anyone is intrested

Im training for a figure competition, it has turned my body in to a fantastic one almost over night. It is hard work but if you stick with it you will look fantastic. If anyone whats to know exactally how to achieve a body like this (look at link below) let me know i can help.....

http://www.nancygeorges.com/

[urbana]

Originally Posted by Lauren_

I've lost 12 pounds now - YAY!! And I'm back to my old 'mid-fat' weight. I've spent a lot of time at this exact weight in the past, should know my body well here.

The jeans that used to be slightly big on me at this weight before now barely come over my thighs & won't comfortably button. I don't look like I used to look at this weight. My jawline is less defined, saddlebags bigger, belly rounder than I used to be.
r it?

Once you think you know the game they change the rules!
It isn't bad it is just change.
Plus this means new clothes that is good right?

I just love knit.

[bul_bul_ksa]

Annwyn I'd be interested to know more about your training...not that i'm going to train particularly hard or follow a strict diet but I'm always interested to know how people achieve what they do...have you been blogging or is your training written down anywhere?

[annwyn]

it isnt but if you like i can send it to you in an e mail....just pm me

[Lauren_]

Originally Posted by Bellydancingcaroline

So Lauren, when do we see you new profile pic with the new figure??? Huh huh???

Ummm, you mean the new, improved, rearranged droopy squishy pudge?

I think it'll be a few months before I've got anything to 'unveil.'

[Lauren_]

Originally Posted by *Shira*

You said you exercise more than you did when you were that weight before. So I'm guessing you've got a higher % of muscle mass contributing to your total weight than you did before. Muscle mass is good, but it sounds like you need to lose more fat to get down to being equal to the fat level you had before.

Nope, just the opposite. Less muscle mass, more fat.

I'm exercising *more* but it's mostly low-intensity cardio, and yoga which *can* be very strengthening -- but not when you're teaching beginners.

I'll teach four hours of bellydance + yoga today, and I might also walk/jog with my doggie -- that's 5 hours of exercise. I'll burn more calories than I would Bhuzzing, and the jogging bursts will help boost my metabolism. But nothing there that requires more muscle mass from my body, it's all stuff I'm very capable of.

[acmcgraw]

Maybe add ankle and wrist wieghts to your beginner routines? (Like walking the puppy) I don't know if that would throw off the yoga poses, but with the walking you'd be getting a more weight bearing activity in.

I love Krista's blogs too!