HELP-Lots of exercise - weight still not shifting.

[FFFS]

Since mid Jan, I have been going to the gym religiously 3 times a week, swimming twice a week (alternate days) and also walking for an hour (with 8 month old DS in pushchair) every day apart from Sundays.

I have also changed my diet (am a veggie) in that I am having porridge with berries and nuts for breakfast, omelette with mushrooms/peppers/onions and toast for lunch and either a very large salad with cheese/nuts/seeds or a veggie/lentil/bean stew for dinner. I also have fruit/nuts between meals and OK the occassional choc bar/biscuit as well but all in all it is massively different from before when it consisted of lots of bread and potatoes. Oh and I drink around 3 litres of water as well as herbal tea as well. I really thought I had got the nutrition right (take a B vit/fish oil supp as well as not eating meat).

I have lost a grand total of 6lbs from my mahossive 16 stone frame!!

What am I doing wrong?

The gym work is 30 mins crosstrainer (which I love and hate all at the same time!) and a good hour lifting weights working all muscle groups and finishing with 10 mins on the Powerplate. I work hard and challenge myself, especially on the crosstrainer and have definitely improved my cardio stamina. The swimming I have got up to 60 lengths (first time today -woo hoo)in 45 mins which is a massive improvement from the 6 lengths I could manage 2 months ago . The walking is a lot of up and down hill and fast enough that I end up with a red face and a lovely sweaty sheen!

Now I feel much better in that my body feels much stronger and a bit leaner but have not even dropped a dress size yet!

So is it too much exercise or do I need to further reduce calories which will be hard as I am bloody starving after the exercise? Or do I need to increase the calories as I know that not eating enough can stall weight loss but I feel I am eating enough. I enjoy the exercise as it improves my mood.

What else do I need to do? I really, really need to shift this weight!

Fat turning to muscle?

Also, although you are eating more healthy food, could you be eating more calories than when you were eating the bread & potatoes?

Hopefully an expert will be along in a minute to give you a properly informed answer.

After I had DS1 it took me over 6 months of doing anything before any weight came off what so ever. I was massively frustrated and was back and forth to the doctors having tests done with no result. Suddenly I then lost 3 stone. Nothing changed I was doing exactly what I had been for the previous 6 months, but my body suddenly realised it wasn't pregnant any more and once all the hormones had gone completely the weight came off.

Same thing happened with DS2. I lost a stone last year and that was it. Hugely pissed off and starving myself. Then suddenly since Jan I've lost 2 stone. Again I had tests and everything done with nothing showing up in any results.

DD was inbetween these two, and the odd thing is the baby weight came off with her straight away! I believe that my body is different after having a boy and I think it's all down to hormones. I'm massively sensitive to hormone levels generally.

I sympathise with just how fucked off you must be but stick at it and eventually it WILL come good. Maybe get checked out at the doctors too though just to rule out thyroid problems?

Gosh, that sounds very frustrating.

As Turkeyburger said it could be that your body is holding onto fat post-pregnancy, otherwise are portion sizes too big? Do you know roughtly how many calories a day you are eating? Even with intensive exercise in the gym I'd need to get down to 1200-1300 before I loose.

Diet sounds healthy but nuts and seeds (and normal cheese) very calorific. Again not sure what sort of cheese is in your lunch but normal cheeses also v calorific. Obviously some of these things are good, esp as a veggie. Try logging food and exercise on myfitnesspal?

I think try something different dietwise maybe - I really recommed Tim Feriss's 4 hour body, his slow-carb diet recommends lots of eggs and pulses so good for veggies. He has other good ideas, worth a read.

OR try the paul mckenna weight loss programme You can eat ANYTHING on it .Google Paul Mckenna I Can Make You Thin; there are books and C.Ds I've just lost 2 stone on it and will do it forever it's FAB.

cut your portions

cyb - I got a massive wake up call when I started using tesco diets totaller. I hadn't realised but my portion sizes were far too big - thats why I asked what total calorie intake was. I know I loose weight quicker when I write down everything.

BTW I have thyroid probs and I can't believe anyone would have and no realise, I was so tired I couldn't stand up, but was only 1 stone overweight when diagnosed.

It is so frustrating isn't it? My body clung onto the babyweight for ages, then it all dropped off very quickly.
I'd say do more cardio and less weights at the gym, I always aim for at least 45minutes cardio.
Decrease cheese/nuts and top up with green veg instead? Watch how much fruit you're eating, I don't lose weight if I eat too much fruit.

I'm veggie too and following a low GI plan. Try to lose the toast with your omelette and replace with a big green salad. Keep cheese and nuts to a minimum - I love grilled light halloumi, which is filling but not too bad on the calorie front.

It might be you're doing too much exercise, stressing your body and storing cortisol which makes you hang on to weight. I'd cut down your weekly sessions by a couple (I know this sounds counter productive but I'm reading it everywhere atm)

Get some chromium and korean ginseng supplements, they are great for metabolism. I also take flaxseed oil, a multi vit, vitamin c and zinc. I rattle but feel great

Exercise sounds perfect - I'd disagree with Lizzylou and say that resistance training is actually good for calorie burning.

I have a sneaky feeling that your portion sizes may be out of whack. Weigh everything, enter it into foodfocus.co.uk and keep a religious log of it. Watch yourself like a ninja hawk. It will tell you what you should be aiming for every day. Do it - I find it grand.

Oh and one more thing - you may be doing loads of exercise, but you may only be burning 400-500 calories in one gym session, less for swimming. Which means that if you are eating 2200 calories or so whicdoesn't sound outside of realm of possibility) then your net intake is 1700-1800, which may be what your body can run on without losing body fat.

Really, 30 mins cardio and an hour of weights is right???

I agree you need weights in a workout but that is the wrong bias for someone who needs to lose weight.

When I started my diet I focussed on cardio interval training. As the weight came off I added weights, but more like 45 mins cardio and 30 mins weights.

An hour of weights does sound like a lot, and I think better to vary workout not just do crosstrainer. Why not change to something like:

20-25 mins cross trainer interval training
15 mins interval training on treadmill
15 mins rowing
30 mins weights & abs
10 mins powerplate

Lizzylou, I have gone from a 16 to a 10 doing one hour of weights and 15 minutes of cardio (HIIT) 3 times a week. Resistance training (providing you are doing it properly and using heavy enough weights to make it effective) is far better for changing your body composition than cardio.

FFFS can I suggest you take some measurements of yourself, and even a picture in your underwear or swimming costume. Remeasure and take a new photo every couple of weeks / once a month. Even when the scales aren't moving then you may find that you can see changes this way. Congratulations on the weight loss so far by the way, and on making exercise a regular part of your routine, that's the hard bit done, now you need to tweak what you are doing to keep seeing results. As others have said, with regards to your diet, check your portion sizes, especially the nuts. These are a great food, high in protein and good fats but it is surprising how few of them constitute a portion!

You say you do 30 minutes on the cross trainer and then an hours weights... what exactly are you doing during these times? Is it 30 minutes on the cross trainer at a constant steady state or do you do intervals? What type of weights do you use? What sets/rep ranges are you working in, how long are your rest intervals etc? With exercise the key thing to remember is that your body adapts very quickly, and to keep seeing changes you have to keep challenging it in new ways. For example, if you started in April doing 30 minutes on the cross trainer at level 5 three times a week then by the end of that week your body would have adapted sufficiently to be able to cope with this so then each time you did the 30 minutes at level 5 it will actually be able to do it whilst burning fewer calories.

Blimey Lostgirl, I prefer doing the weights rather than getting all sweaty and red faced
Have you a personal trainer? How did you know what to do?

Sorry Lizzylou, if you do are lifting heavy enough to make the weight training effective and getting your set/rep/rest intervals right than chances are you are definitely going to be getting red faced and sweaty, whilst making strange faces and grunting noises occasionally as well

No, I haven't had a personal trainer, I just read a couple of books which focused on the benefits on women lifting free weights and trying to move away from the idea that women should not lift heavy because they will 'bulk up'. I followed the workout in there for the first six months and since then have found different things on line. I try and change my workout every three weeks as this way my body keeps having to adapt, and it also stops me from getting bored! I'll find the links to the books if you are interested in having a look. Does your gym have a free weights section?

Yes it does have a free weights section, it scares me though!
I know what you mean about getting red faced and sweaty lifting weights, for some reason when I do the Hoist chest press thingy I am the same. I have no strength in my chest at all and my arms could do with being stronger.

I'd love to know how to tone without bulking up please!

First of all just rest assured that you will not bulk up. It is hard for anyone to build muscle it takes a lot of work in the gym and a lot of work with your diet, and it is double hard for women to build muscle because we don't have the benefit of testosterone like men do. However, when you first start lifting properly you may notice an initial 'swollen' look to your muscles so they do appear bigger. This is simply because they use water to repair and rebuild the damage after weight training breaks down the muscle, when you have not lifted before then your muscles retain extra water to be prepared for the next time they need it. This can lead to what many women perceive as looking 'bulky' and of course the water retention will show added weight on the scales. Ignore both, keep drinking plenty of water and your body will recognise it doesn't need to retain extra fluid and this swollen look will disappear after a couple of weeks. Also, remember that the shape of your muscles is determined by your genetics; there are no exercises that will will give you long and lean muscles, as opposed to short and bulky ones. Anyhow, this explains it all far better than I can, and has a 6 month program you can follow based around things such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, chest press etc. The workouts in this book are obviously suitable to any gender but the text is aimed at encouraging women to lift, what the benefits are and debunking the myths surrounding women and weight training. Schuler and Cosgrove have worked together on two other books as well which both contain good workouts and the one aimed at strengthening the core contains the most up to date ab work which stays away from anything involving spinal flexion (ie any crunch based work), the other two books still contain those type of exercises.
This is also a good reference book. It has hundreds of clearly illustrated exercises using free weights and cables, grouped together by which muscle group they primarily work. It has programs you can follow at the book but also talks about how to put your own together.

Wow!
Thanks Lostgirl, I think I may purchase and have a look. I can't do a full press up, my legs are strong but my upper half is not. It says in the reviews that the book caters for beginners who can't do a full press up, so should be good.

Do you have a protein shake after lifting? Are they nice? Where do you get them from/how do you make them? I really dislike milkshakes, so am hoping they're not like those!

I couldn't do full press ups before buying the book, I could within about a month of starting. I do generally have a protein shake post workout, unless DH has dinner on the table for me as soon as I get home! I am not keen on them at all tbh and just buy whatever is on offer at Holland&Barretts. I tend to drink it as fast as I can and chase it with a banana to help take the taste away! I've been told that if you blend the banana with the shake it tastes really nice, but that sounds like too much washing up for me