Am I doing something wrong?

[sbagman]

This is another one of those gym questions.

I'm overweight. I've done things on and off for years now and nothing seems to change very much.

For the last five and a half months, I've been working out at the gym. I go three times a week usually. Two of those days I do weights, and one I do cardio (although to be honest the cardio day has just been added in the last month).

I've seen steady improvement in my ability to lift, and in my general fitness. Nothing spectacular, just slow, steady improvement.

One thing that does concern me is that my weight is pretty much constant ie still overweight. I've got a bit more definition than what I used to have, and I've dropped a notch on my belt, but no weight loss. I should point out I haven't changed my diet too much.

Is this what should be happening? Is this too small a timeframe to make a judgement? Should I be doing more cardio and less weights? Something else?

Cheers,
Sbagman.

 

[Squeak]

More cardio perhaps. I started playing football, and lost 5 kg's in as many weeks. I have fallen from 69 to 64 (am 180cm), so it's not like I was big to start with).

 

[Nic]

I've started losing weight and I don't know how! Tis great.

 

[Broadbridge_20]

You can try raising the intensity of your cardio but you won't get anywhere unless your diet's right.

Breakfast: Low fat cereal with low fat milk

Lunch: Sandwich/bowl of pasta with low fat sauce

Dinner: grilled fish/boiled chicken with steamed vegies

Snacks: Fruit

If you can stick to this diet, keep to a good exercise program and stay away from oil/margarine you'll lose it rapidly.

 

[Nic]

Boiled chicken ewwww

 

[vindor]

If your overweight, then you want to improve your aerobic fitness.
If your lifting weights, try doing more repetitions of a lower weight, this will improve your endurance, and tone your body. Doing low reps of a high weight will build muscule and increase power and strength. Building muscle will not necessarily cause you to loose weight, quite the contrary muscle weighs more than fat!
Idealy you want to have a combination of anaerobic and aerobic excercises, but if weight loss is your aim, focus more on the aerobic excercises.

 

[red+black]

Originally posted by Broadbridge_20
You can try raising the intensity of your cardio but you won't get anywhere unless your diet's right.

Breakfast: Low fat cereal with low fat milk

Lunch: Sandwich/bowl of pasta with low fat sauce

Dinner: grilled fish/boiled chicken with steamed vegies

Snacks: Fruit

If you can stick to this diet, keep to a good exercise program and stay away from oil/margarine you'll lose it rapidly.

while simplistic, i think this is good advice that just needs to be looked into with more detail. go to a dietician. learn about GI. get your cholesterol checked, understand what the various figures mean (HDL, LDL, triglycerides) ...

 

[vindor]

Actually now that you mention it, if there are any dieticians out there... I’ve been doing weights for about a year and I weigh 76kg and I’m 187cm tall, but I think my optimal weight would be 82kg. How then do I put this weight on, I mean I eat until I can't eat any more every night, and I get hammered every weekend (drinking beer). I eat heaps of bread and pasta, but the scales always say 76kgs. I do heaps of physical exercise, which I think has a bit to do with it, but I don’t really know!

 

[red+black]

if you have one of those old scales, you could try recalibrating it to start at 6kg rather than 0, then hop on. you'll be pleasantly surprised

 

[DaveW]

Originally posted by vindor
I’ve been doing weights for about a year and I weigh 76kg and I’m 187cm tall, but I think my optimal weight would be 82kg. How then do I put this weight on, I mean I eat until I can't eat any more every night, and I get hammered every weekend (drinking beer). I eat heaps of bread and pasta, but the scales always say 76kgs.

I hate you.

 

[USAEagle]

I am overweight too.

I spoke to a naturopath and got some interesting tips on eating.

Breakfast...HIGH HIGH protein to kickstart metabolism.

Beans on dry toast This is a ripper - you willbe as regular as a clock if you eat this in the morning.

Poached or boiled eggs on dry toast.

Porridge is good for this too, a teaspoon of brown sugar won't add to the carbs.

On your plate

if you think of your plate as a clock, the vegies go from 12 to 6, the meat goes from 6 to 9 and the carbs go from 9 to 12.

Pieces of meat can be as big as and as thick as the palm of your hand.

As was mentioned, muscle is heavier than fat, so you may have been burning a lot of fat, but breaking even because the resulting muscle is the same heavier.

Walking is still the best exercise. It is amazing but true. The reason is because you can sustain it for longer than running or swimming.

 

[red+black]

Originally posted by USAEagle
On your plate

if you think of your plate as a clock, the vegies go from 12 to 6, the meat goes from 6 to 9 and the carbs go from 9 to 12.

That is hilarious! Never heard of that.

 

[Docker_Brat]

Originally posted by sbagman
This is another one of those gym questions.

I'm overweight. I've done things on and off for years now and nothing seems to change very much.

For the last five and a half months, I've been working out at the gym. I go three times a week usually. Two of those days I do weights, and one I do cardio (although to be honest the cardio day has just been added in the last month).

I've seen steady improvement in my ability to lift, and in my general fitness. Nothing spectacular, just slow, steady improvement.

One thing that does concern me is that my weight is pretty much constant ie still overweight. I've got a bit more definition than what I used to have, and I've dropped a notch on my belt, but no weight loss. I should point out I haven't changed my diet too much.

Is this what should be happening? Is this too small a timeframe to make a judgement? Should I be doing more cardio and less weights? Something else?

Cheers,
Sbagman.

There is only one thing that you are doing wrong... worrying about losing actual weight as the scales tell you.

You've got more definition and dropped a notch on your belt, that is the important thing.



Forget what the scales say, do a body fat analysis and compare as you progress.

 

[knuckles]

Surgery. Stomach stapling etc.

I cut out meats, stopped eating after 6PM, ate more protein and dropped from 105Kg to 82KG. I'm now 85kg, but I'm aging and body is generally falling apart.

 

[Lockyer24]

I'll lend you my metabolism for a few weeks if you like.

 

[swansrock4eva]

You're probably not actually doing anything WRONG per se SB. As a couple have already said, you're losing the fat and replacing it with muscle. One thing to note is that the muscles continue working AFTER you have finished your weights session, which is good for energy burning, but also means you have to be careful what you eat and when. A simple suggestion is to continue with the three sessions a week, but go with one weights, one cardio and one combined one - make the combined one a bit longer to accommodate a good solid workout.

Also, if your gym has trainers and stuff around, make an appointment to have a bit of a talk with them just about adjustments you can make to your program and your diet - if they are any good they should be trained in both the programming and nutrition components. If not, even a local doctor can give you starting points.

 

[Lensen]

I'm 6'5, and 80kg on a heavy day. Been doing weights for 6 months and only put on around 5kg, with no noticeable improvements in bulk.

This sucks.

 

[Nic]

Why did I always think you were a chick...

 

[Squeak]

His name is Lenny, dudette.

And he's a beanpole.

 

[Nic]

Yes, I noticed, just not until he said he was 6'5 and "my name is Lenny, dude" was written under his name.

Sorry L-Nizzy!

 

[Hawkers_here]

I thought 'his' name was Lizzy

 

[dr nick]

when i first started doing weights in year 12 i put on HEAPS of weight, and it wasnt just muscle either. because i was burning so much energy i was eating truckloads, but not necessarily good stuff (what does boarding school serve that is good after all??). i felt a much greater hunger for fatty foods like chips and pies. but i thought it was ok since i was doing extra excercise every day. BIG MISTAKE!!

did you know it takes an hour of hard running to burn off one meat pie? doesnt matter how much you work out, if your diet is bad, you will never lose weight.



to the guy who said he cant put on weight.. that used to be me. i used to eat heaps but just came out the other end it would seem. when i started the weights i gained 20 kgs.

 

[Baldy#9]

Best way for me is when my boy stresses me out so much that I just can't eat, weight just falls off, which is not a good thing

 

[Renegade]

Dont stress too much about your weight not changing...if you're belt buckle has gone down a notch you know you're heading in the right direction. The reason the weight hasn't changed is because the resistance training has helped add more muscle mass. Muscle weighs more than fat so the fat weight has been overtaken by muscle weight.

If you're looking at speeding up your fat loss, try throwing in another day of cardio.... the ideal program would have 2-3 days with weights and 2-3 with cardio. However we don't all have that kind of time to spend in the gym, if you do, then 3 days of cardio is ideal, and maybe try for 2 weights sessions per week. Doing your cardio first thing in the morning before breakfast is a great kickstart for your metabolism. Your body also won't have carbs to burn so you'll be tapping into your fat stores.

Someone mentioned about carbs in an earlier post. They made a good point about reducing carbs as the day goes on which is a big help in aiding fat loss.

Don't shy away from fat in your diet either, of course you want to limit your saturated fat intake. Essential fatty acids....omega 3 & 6 are healthy fats found in most fish...or you can by it in capsule - liquid form, they are pretty important in your diet too.

Sorry to throw so much info at you in one hit, feel free to message me if you're confused about anything.

 

[Squeak]

I'm screwed when my metabolism goes. Yesterday my day's eating consisted of nothing but a humpty dumpty easter egg duirng the day then a huge carbo and fat laden fettucine with carbonara sauce for dinner, at 7.