Why are the scales not shifting despite loads of cardio exercise???

[PussinJimmyChoos]

Been doing a 30 min Tae Bo DVD 4/5 times a week, plus press ups and weights....although I've lost inches, clothes feel better etc. The scales are not budging!!

When can I expect to see something? I am not dieting but I have drastically reduced my junk intake and don't smoke or drink

Wow! loads more replies! Had home made chicken curry tonight...normally would eat with white rice but this time I left out the rice and just had it with steamed brocoli and carrots...and you know - was yummy! In the past I would have had a whole naan but this time I thought nope, just a little taster and tore off a tiny piece as a treat and left it at that....

Not a bad compromise methinks

Thankgod for that cote! I have lost plenty of weight (OK inches but that's good enough for me!) through running. But only since I started running for an hour plus 3 or 4 times a week. Eating less but still more or less what I want. I was beginning to think I was going mad, or worse imagining it and that in fact I was still a porker

sorry, was responding to the 'can't lose weight through running' - didn't want people to be misled. Absolutely, not many people new to exercise can run very far, if at all, but it only takes a few weeks to get going on a running programme. Getting out of breath is fine, as long as you can still talk - being out of breath shows that you're working your cardiovascular system.

Cote - please can you ask what the resting heart rate and maximum heart rate of a person is and their age before you tell them what their heart rate should be when they excersise. It could be dangerous otherwise if you dont take these factors into consideration.

If you are 20 years old there will be a great deal of difference between your maximum heart rate and a person of 50/60 or even 70.

It is better to use % of maximum as this will then apply to everyone.

dinny - Unfit people can't run for long. I managed 10 minutes when I first started going to the gym (I was 26) and before personal trainers told me what cardio was about. And the last couple of minutes of that were torture, with pain in my side.

Even if a hypothetical unfit person were to run 45 minutes on a treadmill, his heart rate would be over 160, he would be using blood sugar (glucose) and then muscle glycogen. Very little fat would be burned.

This glucose/glycogen that is burned breaks down into lactic acid which builds up in your muscles and causes fatigue & pain in the muscles you exercise in this way.

this gives % for running

I am 37. Is anybody older?

Nobody here is 70 years old - what are you talking about?

I am older. A little....

im 51 lol

i have not done anything related to heart rates that is a science too far for me

but i dont run

well i did run across birmingham a few weeks ago to try and make the last train home so i can actually run

Aww, Orm, you don't look it

Just out of curiousity, what is your heart rate when running?

thats why i was impressed by my current blood pressure preen

zippi - you are amazing! How on earth did you get the motivation to lose so much weight in your late 40s?

realising i didnt like beeing an old unfit frump

and i was with a partner 11 years younger then so he was 39 and i was 49

and i was getting agrophobic

and drinking too much as dp worked nights every night from 6 till sometimes 6 am

Yes I am older Cote. I thought there were various ages on here and it is much safer to use % as it then applies to everyone.

I don't know. When I used to go to the gym I think it used to reach about 140 on the treadmill but not at all sure about that. I am a great deal fitter now than I was then though.

hi ladies. Can i join in? I just started another thread similar to this.

I go to the gym 3-4 times a week, do 30 minutes cardio and 30 minutes heavy weights. I want to loose a few lbs as feel I have put some on but think it is more down to muscle. I also ride 2-3 times a week and am very active.

Can anyone give me some advice on loosing weight please? I have tried to cut out rubbish. Today I had....
weetabix with skimmed milk.
digestive biscuit
jacket pot with tuna and salad
piece of choc cake
2 slices of toast with beans for dinner. I also drink quite alot of tea and coffee and don't drink much water!

Cote, I am 35 years old and run for 45 mins minimum-90 mins max about 2-3 times a week(most often 1 hr 10) and my HR is always between 128-140 max, is that an OK, fat-burning level of running or should I stick to gentler exercise like X-trainer?

Oh and I was running, this really made a difference in how my clothes felt but had to give up as got shin splints. Rested for 6 weeks ad started again last week and the shin splints came back so not doing tht anymore

interesting strawbeerries

i would say biscuits and cakes were rubbish

on your list all i would eat would be the tuna beans and salad

maybe a small baked poatato but no butter

it is partly down to taste tho

do you use salda cream or mayonnaise with your tuna

i wouldnt i would have natural yogurt instead

i would have more fruit and veg and no weetabix bread cake and biscuits

Strawberries - shin splints can often be helped by a change of running shoe.

Re your weight - probably increasing the amount of cardio you do would help. Heavy weights presumably increase muscle mass and so you would weigh abit heavier. Or just ditch the scales.

I'd have had the baked spud with the beans

tuna with the salad - no mayo etc

I have one shredded wheat with semi skimmed or poached egg on rye bread (no butter) or small 30g serving of good quality muesli or porridge.
and a fruit smoothie or piece of fruit.

I snack on seeds/nuts and fruit.
Blueberries ideal for little nibbles and just 2-3 grapes cure sweet cravings!

I tend to avoid too much bread or cereal, once a day really and eat very few potatoes.

dinny - Your cardio sounds fantastic. I wish I could run for more than an hour and keep heart rate at 130 bpm or so.

I am going to have a go at finding my heart rate. I know my resting heart rate, I will take it whilst running, and just after I stop as well.

Strawberries - I think you should stop eating toast, cake, etc. Try to eat meat/fish & vegetables/salad for most meals. Half way between lunch and dinner, have a fruit.

This calculates what your individual heart rate for each running session. You enter your resting heart rate and maximum heart rate to get your own rates.

www.runningforfitness.org/calc/hrtp.php?minHR=55&maxHR=186&Submit=Calculate