weight loss plateau

[jonypooh]

I have been on a diet through weight watchers for a few months now. I have been on the core plan and my diet has been a strict regimen of raw fruits and vegetables and tofu/tempeh/seitan with limited consumption of whole-grains and absolutely no refined sugars or caffeine. I have been running about 4 miles a day (40 mins) and doing some light weights for 20 minutes after that. After nearly 35 lbs lost, my diet seems to have plateaued. My dilema is: should I increase my cardio workout or try some more weights? I only have an hour each day to workout...any suggestions? :hamster:

[goettling]

I have always heard to increase the distance in the running. 4 miles in 40 minutes sounds good though.

Also have you tried to do the weights before the cardio?

This is just what worked for me when I used to run 6 days a week.:think:

Also, are you close to your goal weight?

[purrpelle]

if you are close to your goal weight start lifting more weights. if you do start resistance training more heavily do your weights before cardio.

or you change up your cardio, 4 miles 2 days a week, 6 miles 2 days, 2 miles one or two days on a higher incline and slower pace.or cut out a running day and do kickboxing or step.

I don't know what the core plan is. how many claories are you taking in per day?

[barrylove]

if you are close to your goal weight start lifting more weights. if you do start resistance training more heavily do your weights before cardio.

or you change up your cardio, 4 miles 2 days a week, 6 miles 2 days, 2 miles one or two days on a higher incline and slower pace.or cut out a running day and do kickboxing or step.

I don't know what the core plan is. how many claories are you taking in per day?

This is very good advice by Purpelle.
One VERY IMPORTANT thing to remember is that when you increase your exercise, expecially resistance training you will become hungrier then you were previsously. Why? I am sure Purpelle can answer this, but I will as well.
You are building more muscle. When you build muscle you body is asking for more energy/fuel. DO NOT ignore this. When you hear the phrase, "You have to eat to lose", BELIEVE IT! I have had over 500 clients in the past 9 years and ALL the clients that had a goal of weight loss, ended up eating plenty of food and reached their goals AND looked healthy.
Many people lose weight, but do not look healthy because they are not eating correctly.
Guess what else? The most important macronutrient you must eat more of is carbs! If you are working out very hard 4-6 days a week, your carb intake should be AT LEAST 55% of your nutitional intake. YES - AT LEAST 55% if not a bit more.
Carbs are needed for energy, muscle building and brain function. Again, ALL my clients have lots of GOOD carbs and are maintaing their goal and YES they all were not very happy when I told them to crank up their carb intake to reach their goal, but they trusted me and it worked!

Good luck with everything and good job on the exercise!

[barrylove]

This is very good advice by Purpelle.
One VERY IMPORTANT thing to remember is that when you increase your exercise, expecially resistance training you will become hungrier then you were previsously. Why? I am sure Purpelle can answer this, but I will as well.
You are building more muscle. When you build muscle you body is asking for more energy/fuel. DO NOT ignore this. When you hear the phrase, "You have to eat to lose", BELIEVE IT! I have had over 500 clients in the past 9 years and ALL the clients that had a goal of weight loss, ended up eating plenty of food and reached their goals AND looked healthy.
Many people lose weight, but do not look healthy because they are not eating correctly.
Guess what else? The most important macronutrient you must eat more of is carbs! If you are working out very hard 4-6 days a week, your carb intake should be AT LEAST 55% of your nutitional intake. YES - AT LEAST 55% if not a bit more.
Carbs are needed for energy, muscle building and brain function. Again, ALL my clients have lots of GOOD carbs and are maintaing their goal and YES they all were not very happy when I told them to crank up their carb intake to reach their goal, but they trusted me and it worked!

Good luck with everything and good job on the exercise!

I very highly suggest circuit training. One hour is plenty to get 3-4 rounds of a circuit in plus a good cardio.
Change your cardio to INTERVAL TRAINING. Meaning, crank up the level to a high intensity for approximately 4-5 minutes, then take it to a slooooooowww pace for 1 minute, then back up again for 4-5 minutes, then back down again. Do this for 20-30 minutes and you will feel and see the difference after a short period of time.
With the circuit training, it is highly recommended to increase the repetition to 20-30 for each exercise. This will get you some nice lean muscle in no time. Throw in a cardio for about 1-2 minutes in the middle of the circuit to keep that heart rate going!

I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Job! :up:

[jonypooh]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm not sure what my total caloric intake is per day, but I don't feel hungry. The core program w/ weight watchers allows me to eat as much as I need to feel satisfied. It only restricts my refined sugar and carb intake and limits my intake of brown rice and whole grain bread/pasta to one serving a day. However, I can eat as much spelt, quinoa, rolled oats, etc as I need to feel satisfied. Obviously, I can eat many fresh veggies and fruit as well.

I am pretty close to my target weight. When I started dieting in January I weighted in at 225 lbs. Today I am down to 193 lbs. My goal is 175. I'm going to try some of your suggestions this week. I know that the closer I get to my ideal weight, the slower the loss will be. I just want to make sure that I'm doing all I can at the gym to maximize my weight loss.

[purrpelle]

some more stuff:

Make sure you are lifting heavy enough. the last rep (12th) should be near impossible.

I like to have clients looking for weight loss superset a traditional exercise with a functional one that targets the same muscle group. for example,
a traditional chest press on a machine, followed by a set of single arm presses useing a stabilty ball as a bench (slight decrease in weight till you get used to it) or a overhead shoulder press followed by free weight presses while standing on a Dyna disc or one leg. just don't compromise form.

functional training fires up smaller muscles as well as the big ones burning more cals, and also improves balance, coordination and body awareness.

Barry's right too, circuts are awesome.

[barrylove]

VERY GOOD ADVICE FROM PURRPELLE!
It is great to see trainers who are up to date on the current trend. Training the way purrpelle suggested is a great way to recruit lots of muscle fibers to increase lean muscle, therefore increasing your metabolism and burning more fat and calories throughout your day.
This is my favorite way of training. People will look at you funny, but they have no clue how good this type of exercising is for you.

Good Luck!

[jonypooh]

Thanks for all the help.

I do have a few more questions though.

I have been told that I should only lift weights once or twice a week (high weight/low reps) and then allow my muscles to "rest" for at least 48 between these sessions. The person who gave me this advice told that if I lift too often, my muscles won't have the time to recover and grow. Is this good advice?

Also, I have been told that I may be exercising too intensely. One friend told me to use the "180 formula" (180 minus my age) to figure out my optimum heart rate during cardio (144-155). He told me that if my heart rate is too fast, I will start burning sugar instead of fat (or something like that). He said that if I can't carry on a conversation while running, it's too intense.

Finally, another friend told me that I may have slowed my metabolism to the point of putting my body in "starvation mode." I previously mentioned that I really don't feel hungry, and I would think that my body would tell my brain if I was starving!

For what it's worth, the advice you guys have given so far feels great! I especially enjoy the supersets (functional-traditional). The circuit training is kicking my butt!

Thanks again for your advice!

[purrpelle]

Thanks for all the help.

I do have a few more questions though.

I have been told that I should only lift weights once or twice a week (high weight/low reps) and then allow my muscles to "rest" for at least 48 between these sessions. The person who gave me this advice told that if I lift too often, my muscles won't have the time to recover and grow. Is this good advice?

Also, I have been told that I may be exercising too intensely. One friend told me to use the "180 formula" (180 minus my age) to figure out my optimum heart rate during cardio (144-155). He told me that if my heart rate is too fast, I will start burning sugar instead of fat (or something like that). He said that if I can't carry on a conversation while running, it's too intense.

Finally, another friend told me that I may have slowed my metabolism to the point of putting my body in "starvation mode." I previously mentioned that I really don't feel hungry, and I would think that my body would tell my brain if I was starving!



I will answer, and i am sure barry will chime in which is cool since we are pretty sympatico here, but I have a question:
are you male or female?
what are your muscle strength goals? size? endurance?

1. 24 hours is fine, IMO, unless your seriously lifting heavy weights with the intent of gaining size. generally , 3 sets of 8-12 is fine for almost everyone.

you can find out how many calories to eat per day by using this BMR calculator:http://www.preventdisease.com/healthtools/articles/bmr.html

put in your current weight. don't forget to add in activities, then subtract 500 calories from each day for 1lb a week loss. you are also building muscle, so your weight my only go down slightly but you will lose inches and look leaner.
Weight watchers tends I think to go to low in calories initially so the client loses weight quickly, keeps shelling out money, and then eventually gets so hungry they have to go back to eating a normal amount and gain back the weight. insure you are eating enough, and 5 times a day.

as far as cardio,

75%-85% of Max HR is the "fat burning zone", but that's debateable.
my suggestion to train low, moderate and high intensity is the way to go to build endurance, burn fat and have a healthy heart. IMO.
More Math:
220- age =Max HR. Max HR x .75 = 75% of Max HR

do that for 65%,75%,85% and 92%.
high intensity 85%-92% short duration
mod intensity 65% -85% intervals
low intensity 65% to 75% long duration.

now, let's go to Barrylove. Barry?:cool:

[purrpelle]

VERY GOOD ADVICE FROM PURRPELLE!
It is great to see trainers who are up to date on the current trend. Training the way purrpelle suggested is a great way to recruit lots of muscle fibers to increase lean muscle, therefore increasing your metabolism and burning more fat and calories throughout your day.
This is my favorite way of training. People will look at you funny, but they have no clue how good this type of exercising is for you.

Good Luck!

why thank you.:o

[jonypooh]

I will answer, and i am sure barry will chime in which is cool since we are pretty sympatico here, but I have a question:
are you male or female?
what are your muscle strength goals? size? endurance?:


Male. Frankly, I'm not sure what my muscle strength goals are. My original goal was simply to get to a healthy weight (175 lbs). The strength training entered the picture when I plateaued.

However, I've only been following your advice for a week and a half and I'm already seeing results. My arms are getting all veiny and my muscles are getting bigger. So, for now, I think that I'm going to go for size as a muscle strength goal, then when I get to my target weight (or to a point where I look good...i.e. no more beer belly) I'll start working on endurance.

Right now my gym schedule is: M/W/Th--60 minutes cardio (approx 6 miles), Friday Racquetball Singles, Tues/Sat weights +10 min. cardio.

Thanks again for all the help!

[purrpelle]

Male. Frankly, I'm not sure what my muscle strength goals are. My original goal was simply to get to a healthy weight (175 lbs). The strength training entered the picture when I plateaued.

However, I've only been following your advice for a week and a half and I'm already seeing results. My arms are getting all veiny and my muscles are getting bigger. So, for now, I think that I'm going to go for size as a muscle strength goal, then when I get to my target weight (or to a point where I look good...i.e. no more beer belly) I'll start working on endurance.

Right now my gym schedule is: M/W/Th--60 minutes cardio (approx 6 miles), Friday Racquetball Singles, Tues/Sat weights +10 min. cardio.

Thanks again for all the help!

well, If you are pretty close to your goal(15 lbs if I remember correctly) I would continue what you are doing now for 4- 6 weeks; then drop the cardio down to 40 minutes and add in another training day on thursday.
If it's easy for you to bulk then you will do really well when you add in more weights...you will build mass fast and that will make you look tighter and leaner and burn more calories without killing yourself with cardio. rest a minute between sets and lift to fatigue by the 12th rep.

ps: veiny is good.:wayne:

you can always PM me if you have questions.:D