Less In + More Out = Still no weight loss...

[Stylelostinlabour]

Help!

I'm eating less and exercising more but not losing any weight at all. I'm training 4 times a week as I'm training for a swim challenge in July so my swim sessions are a good 1 hour plus of speed, skill and long hard swims,none of that head up, hair dry kind of swimming and then I'm doing 20 minutes twice a week running to build up my lungs etc.

I also do core exercises at home each night but I'm just not losing anything - am i a freak of nature or what am I missing!

Anyone got any ideas/suggestions at what I should look at?

We need more specific info...how far do you swim in how long and how (stroke, sets with rests or continuous? Same for running). Give us a typical (honest) day's food diary and how long have you been doing this for?

OK here goes:

Swimming

I follow ASA Competitive Swimming session from British Gas so something like:

36 Warm Up - Front Crawl
12 Kicks
12 Pulls
12 Pulls with Paddles

Pyramid Sets
2
4
6
8
12
12
8
6
4
2

Then warm down swim of 12 lenghts and thats usually 3 times a week and then one day a week it will be that plus another mile swim on top.

Running on the treadmill, I start will a 5 minute gradual warm up and then run at 9/10 for 15 minutes.

Food taking today:

2 x Weebabix with Skimmed Milk
Banana

Brown roll with chicken salad
Ready salted Crisips

couple of cups of tea, 2 litres of water give or take.

Salmon fillet, Salad and roasted tomatoes.

Glass of wine

So what am i missing? I do eat large portions but eat healthy home made food - I can only think that I eat too much greedy guts here!

So any ideas? Oh and have been doing the swimming since last year and running started in Jan.

I read somewhere that swimming is pants for weight loss but good for toning and stamina..

HAve you measured yourself and done a body fat check? When you say "less in" what have you reduced by?

Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise - so whilst you are doing amazingly with exercise and toning up and and getting fit, if you are shovelling in food it just means you are fat but fit - better than fat and not though!!

too many carbs
and when I say you are fat, I of course mean "one is fat..."

I reduced my portion size. But dont I need carbs for the training? Could you give me an idea of what a daily intake should look like, I've completely gone blind to the food side of stuff.

Swimming isn't the best for losing weight but I was hoping that going from doing nothing to all this exercise and having smaller portions would have had an effect on the scales.

My legs are very toned but big and well lets not talk about the rubber ring I have on the inside

and you are right with fat and fit, I like honesty! - but I want to be slim, healthy and fit and get my BMI into the good range

OK you do need some carbs but I would say that from what you listed today, you possibly had too many? Breakfast and lunch and the wine is a carb fest and from what my trainer tells me, you should have carbs before exercising but then try to reduce them down afterwards .. Also weetabix is not a good one - quite fast release - try muesli..

The effect all the exercise has had is probably very visible except the scales which I really do think are instruments to drive us mad - please do measure yourself and get a body fat thing done - I did this with my trainer and a month later I have gained weight but actually lost inches and 3% body fat and am fitter - had I just weighed myself would have given up!!

Also take photos so you can see the increase in tone and also track your speeds. then you have other measurements to keep motivation going!

my trainer uses quite a simple system where she says have some carbs as long as they are good (brown roll is often white flour with colouring) suggest you look at GI as this is what I follow.. and it is working!

I disagree too many carbs, although porridge with fruit or eggs and one piece of toast would be a better breakfast and crisps obv not the best choice...some protein based snacks and more veg probably wouldn't hurt either.

I would swap at least one swim for a run, preferably two as I think it challenges your body in more ways and the impact involved is better for core strengthening. Also try interval training, for any cardio...the aim of this is to get your body working to almost maximum effort for a short period, then recovering and repeating. So you could swim one length crawl as fast as you possibly can, then breast stroke steadily for one length and repeat to 20 lengths (more as you feel able). Or do one minute sprinting then one minute walking, repeating for 10 minutes and building up to 20. No need to do more than 20 minutes! This is much better for fat burning and boosts your metabolism for a sustained period after you stop exercising, much more than steady state cardio. You will feel wiped out after a session though, if you are doing it right! Made up for by a real buzz that follows however...

I would also introduce weight training. Get a pt for one session if necessary to show you basic exercises. This will make you much more toned and increased muscle means increased metabolism-do not worry about getting bulky, it is very very difficult for women to bulk up like men. 30 day shred at home is supposed to be a great alternative to the gym if you prefer.

So in summary...
2 long swims instead of 4, training for your challenge
2 twenty minute interval training cardio sessions plus 20 minutes weights
1 day whatever you feel like, exercise wise.

Give that a go for 2-3 weeks, bet you see a difference in your body and your fitness (the intervals will speed up your swimming I'm sure!)

Let us know how you get on!

Thanks for that great feedback - food intake today is just a sample I have poached egg on toast about twice a week and yog and fruit the rest. And don't usually have crisips just it was a buffet today so just being honest!

With the swimming it is already interval training (that is just one type of session listed above, I have about 15 different programs that I do)and I do a full med of strokes not just front crawl, fast 100meters 30 second rest and repeat for 8 etc. I have to do at least one long swim a week due to the challenge i'm doing and the sessions have been given to me for the purpose of the challenge. I will change the run to interval training on the runner - do you think I should do three of these a week and weights as well?

I think the food intake is probably my problem area, as I'm trying to get the fuel for the training but also being healthy - all brown rice, pasta etc if I do carbs.

What do you think would be a good daily intake?

Agree re: carbs, you need to add protein to every meal... but also could you be loosing fat and gaining muscle?

How many calories a day? I need to get down to 1200 to loose weight.

What is your BMI and body fat%?

Adding three interval training runs plus weights session to your four swims would be a hell of a lot of exercise.....

Re forevers post, Yes, what is your height/weight? It almost sounds like your calorie intake may actually be too low...your swims must be burning around 600 cals and runs probably 200. The food you describe for one day would struggle to reach 1700 cals I'd have thought. Based on that you should be losing weight, though if you keep your net calorie intake too low for a sustained period your body may go into starvation mode-not good!

Have you tried using an app like livestrong to keep a food and exercise diary? This might give you a clearer idea of food intake and exercise output in respect of calories and will also work out your bmi, but in general I would agree with posters that say more protein, less processed carbs (like pasta and bread). If you are going to stick with 4 swims until the challenge then I would just add a couple of weight training sessions before your runs.

Thanks for all the feedback and help is really helping to refocus my mind.

OK here goes in black and white gulp...

Height: 5.7 (170CM)
Weight: 90KG
BMI: 31
Body Fat - not sure but it was around 38% I think

I keep a log on food with Food Focus, my cals range from 1200 to 2000 depending on what I've eaten but never much over that and sometimes it can be less than 1200 if i've been mad busy.

Think I need to get a book on low GI to help - will ditch the weetabix and have fruit/yog or eggs and up the protein, although tend to eat lots of fish and veg and not much pasta etc

OK Here's my food/exercise plan for tomorrow:

Breakfast
Rachels Organic Low Fat Rhubarb Yog
Banana

Lunch
Salmon Salad (salom fillet, rocket, cucumber, peppers etc, no dressing)
Handful of Grapes
Alpro Yoghurt

Tea
Pork tenderloin with stir fry veg

Energy Drink diluted into ltr of water.
20 minutes Running
20 minutes Weights
1hr swim session (hard training session with sprints etc)

Does this look OK or do I need to add more stuff?

How about porridge for breakfast.
Apple, orange and banana for lunch.
Dinner, sometimes a weightwatchers ready meal, but probably 4-5 days whatever the family have.
Curves gym 4 x per week.
I have lost 3 stones in the last 15 months on this regime..
Have got a bit greedier lately and have got a bit stuck but my BMI is just over 22 now.

Well Done on the weight loss BearCat.

Porridge is good when I have the time to make it.

Not sure ww ready meal is really that healthy, they are quite high in sugar and salt...

Style you would die on bearcats intake, never manage the swims! Starvation-back to my last post.

Do not cut out all carbs! Add porridge or some wholewheat toast to breakfast, some cous cous, cannelini beans or a small baked potato to lunch. A banana before and a protein based snack after exercise. Keep it carb free after 4pm and cut down on wine, just have a glass 2-3 times a week.

You may find this interesting....

figureathlete.t-nation.com/free_online_article/training/the_final_nail_in_the_cardio_coffin

Also protein with breakfast....

Thanks sleepwhenidie that's great - really helping me to focus on my intake - will make shopping list for Friday and stock up on wholewheat bread, is burgeon bread OK? cous cous and beans etc

Wine is on non training nights and will be none when open water starts in April (Gulp!)

Great articul just like how I feel! right interval it is for 8 weeks...

Good luck! What swim are you doing? Sounds tough.

I'm not sure about burgeon bread but if you follow low GI when choosing carbs and keep portion sizes under control then should be fine...

Super - good day diet wise today and off for interval training then swimming session.

It's a channel relay swim a team of 6 so 1 hour in the sea and then 5 out and then back in again...

how about some natural yoghurt with berries, and a sprinkling of oat based granola or muesli for breakfast? Or a boiled egg with a slice of toasted Burgen bread? Both fill me up all morning.

I generally have a big salad for lunch with some kind of protein - grilled halloumi, a sprinkling of nuts or some houmous.

Dinner is roasted veg salad, or a baked sweet potato. I rarely eat carbs for dinner (pasta, rice, bread etc) - probably just once a week. I also allow myself one treat meal per week, such as a takeaway, but still try to go for a healthier option.

Try and go low GI if you can, and the weight will start coming off. There's also a theory that if you exercise too much, it stresses your body and prevents you losing weight.