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Fueling vs. Losing Weight
These last 14lbs are just so stubborn. The scale hasn't moved in 3 weeks, despite a lot of intense workouts. I guess the problem is that I don't know if I'm not eating enough or if I'm eating too much...
Prior to these last three weeks I was doing Paleo/Low carb, but ended up in the hospital from dehydration. I also felt very tired and my workouts were mediocre. So I then added some some crackers and wheat bread into my diet to get some salt (the cause of the deyhdration) and some energy.
Since the dehydration, a lot of people have questioned if I am eating enough, and my trainer has been talking to me about fueling enough to have better workouts. I do know that I was eating more, about 75lbs ago, but had to trim that down to keep losing weight.
I workout 2x a day usually (4-5x a week), on a good day 2.5 hours total. Today for example, I ran for 30 minutes, then had personal training. Tonight I will go to a spin class. So you would think I should be able to eat more than what I do. But every time I eat more, I don't lose weight.
I am working on getting my thyroid checked, since my last blood test showed my levels at 5.42, which is almost out of the normal range. Could this be the problem?
I have had an eating formula that worked pretty well for the last 150lbs, but apparently my body is not as easily able to dip into fat stores now for energy, which is why I need to fuel more. But if I fuel more, then I'm not losing the last 14lbs. I'm stuck...help...
Also - I don't count calories, because I believe in "good calories vs. bad calories" but I can post a typical day of eating if that would help.
Re: Fueling vs. Losing Weight
Is your final goal realistic for your body type?
When I lost weight, I was hellbent on being 130. I'd never been anywhere near a normal weight, so I just sort of picked an arbitrary number in the middle of the BMI range. Then I got to 150, and the scale would not move. And I realized that I was really happy with how my body looked at that weight. I could do everything I wanted to, physically, and it was simply not worth it to try to batter the hell out of my metabolism to get those last 20 pounds off just to hit a number.
ETA: You look fab in the pictures I've seen of you. I don't know where those 14 pounds would come from.
two years!
after two losses, now happily expecting baby #1 09.16.12
Brie Fit Blog | BFP Chart
as a lower carber, I think you need to count calories for a couple of days to make sure you're eating enough food. you don't have to do it all the time. just for a few days.
I'd also pay attention to when you are eating in addition to what you are eating. note what/when you ate before workouts where you felt good vs. workouts where you felt awesome.
it also might be that your body just likes this weight and doesn't want to be 14 pounds lighter. how did you pick your goal weight? is there any reason why goal weight +15 isn't good enough? it sounds like you are very fit and making healthy food choices.
Well, my legs definitely are carrying the majority of the excess weight. I am 5'3" and weigh 150 but very muscular. Normal BMI would be 140. 136 was kind of arbitrary. However, I would like to be less, so I have less to carry when I run!
A couple of things:
Are you eating enough? You are working out a lot and your body needs fuel to get through those workouts. I would track your calories for a while to see how many calories you are eating.
I know it is counter intuitive, but I might try scaling back on the workouts a bit a couple days during the week. This is from personal experience, but the scale actually goes up for me the day after an long (hour + run) workout. I also frequently read posts from people who are marathon training and find it difficult to lose weight.
Lauren, pardon me if this is too forward, but do you have excess skin? If you do, that is weight that you're not going to be able to lose without a surgical procedure. FWIW, my cousin had a similar weight loss journey in terms of the amount of weight lost and got "stuck" at a certain point because, in a manner of speaking, the weight of the excess skin was the difference between where she was at that point, and her goal weight. She eventually got to the point where she learned to live with it because she was not going to have surgery for something that was largely cosmetic.
That said, I'd listen to the PPs and take an inventory of what you're eating in terms of caloric intake to start, and adjust from there.
I know there is a lot of controversy about TSH #s, but I will tell you that I am hypo and when I was around a 6 I couldn't drop much weight and felt pretty crappy.
It may be worth another look. My endo prefers TSH to be under 3, optimal is right around 1.
do you ever take breaks? not a day, but a week?
do you do cut back weeks?
i admit i dont know much about losing weight, but i do know a lot about pushing myself as much i can. 2 workouts a day is a lot. i find that if i push and push and push, i end up having a negative effect on my overall performance and how i feel in general. i need to push and push - relax - push and push - relax. it helps when you race like i do because you taper for each event (do less) and recover (again, do less). its very cyclical and i think that is important.
if you have been dieting and exercising hardcore for an extended period of time, you should try giving your body a week to recover and re-energize.
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I just want to say I commiserate. My stats are very similar. I'm 5'3 and go between 145 and 150, while being very muscular. I've done the low carb thing for almost 3 months now and I've always been pretty active and nope, no amazing weight loss results.
I haven't been on the scale in a couple of months now but I know I'm getting stronger since I've started NROLFW. Sometimes I think the scale is the devil
Continue to work on being healthy and not a certain number. Also, other measures I'm going by are how my clothes are fitting and my waist and arm measurements.
You could talk to your personal trainer about a different style of workout to see if that would help get over a plateau if you want to try something new.
You are working out a LOT are you sure you are eating enough? Have you done the BMR test to see what your resting BMR is (not calculated on the computer?)?
When mine was calculated on the computer, it came out to 1450. When I did the actual breathing test it was 2050 calories at rest. I was never eating enough to lose weight so my body just kind of hung around the same weight.
Also - I agree w/ Brie. I have always tried to get to 135 (I'm 5'4"), but my body never would go below 145-147ish. I tried and tried and just gave up assuming that's where I am meant to be. I also carry the bulk of my weight in my thighs.