Why Can't I Break this stall?

No, we do not count the calories we have burned during exercise.  The only time I think it's a good idea to increase calories is when people turn into real athletes and need the calories to power their workout.  To me, a real athlete is someone that regularly exercises 3 or more hours a day.  The rest of us want to burn our fat and that is plenty to power us through the exercise.

Thank you. Lord knows I'm not an athlete !! Maybe when I get these last 40 lbs off I will be!

Aloha K33-

I haven't been on OH in a while since I haven't needed the intense support like I did pre/post op, so this may be coming out of left field at you. You're probably thinking who is this quack.....you may have stopped reading even now!

I think everyone hits a plateau as your body plays catch up - the rate of loss is simply faster in the beginning. But there are things to look at and tweak. The rules my nutritionist and trainer gave me were simple-  while in loss mode, I exercised like a fiend ( weights and cardio), I avoided white carbs ( no bread, rice, pasta or refined sugar),  meals were always and still are protein first, I drank my water, I took my vites, I decreased stress (cortisol is a nasty hormone for weight loss, as is insulin) by getting more sleep ( switched off of graveyards after 20 years of them) -  even started Yoga on the one day of the week that I didn't exercise.

 So....First....Are you truly stalled? The previous poster who said Muscle weighs more than Fat is confused- they weigh the same. A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat...they both weigh a pound. BUT.... a pound of muscle is more dense, in other words it fits into a smaller package than a pound of fat. So as you lose body fat and gain body muscle, the scale might say the same number, but your measurements will be smaller. That's why 2 people of the same height can weigh the same, but the person with less body fat/more lean body mass is a size 4 and the other is a size 10. So if your clothes are fitting better, you're probably changing your body composition to more muscle, less fat- that's why it's important to use other guidelines to measure your success. If you haven't yet done it, take your measurements! Neck, Chest, Waist, Hips, Biceps and Thigh. Write them down and compare them monthly- as you build more muscle and lose fat, these numbers might surprise you even when the scale is unimpressive. And take pictures monthly. Try on clothes that wouldn't fit you in the beginning of the so called stall.

 

http://www.primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/weight/scalelies.htm

http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/underbodycomp.html

 

Second....Are you exercising with both cardio and strength training at least 5 hours per week? Current recommendations by the ACSM say 150 minutes per week for Maintenance but 200-300 minutes per week for Loss- that's 5 hours per week for sustained long term wt loss. And if you are doing the same treadmill routine 45 minutes every day, it's no good  -  your body becomes more efficient at that exercise and conditions itself to burn even fewer calories. Same thing if you decrease your calories to starvation level...it gets by on less, because that's what bodies are programmed to do- survive no matter what the cir****tances are. You gotta mix it up- that's why circuits that combine weights and cardio ( Boot Camps, Gravity,  HIgh Intensity Interval Training eg) work well. Even walking outside up hills or walking with weights while doing bicep curls or walking up steps or logs is a harder workout than the same indoor fixed treadmill or cycle- you've got gravity, wind factors, core activation trying to keep your balance, etc where you can intermittently get that heartrate up ( interval training)- try adding it in 2 X weekly.

http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/acsm-on-weight-loss

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training

 

Third-Are you decreasing your calories to a point where your body actually lowers its metabolic rate ( like survival or starvation mode)? Think of a fire- it needs small bits of fuel all day long, and enough fuel, or the fire burns out and you don't burn any wood. Small meals frequently, protein within 30 mins of waking, 100-125g protein per day,  low glycemic index foods over high GI foods when you can,  eat as whole as you can (ie  less refined or processed foods) and a eat variety of foods. You might actually have to increase your caloric intake to 1000/day at this stage, but only if you can honestly say you are truly working out at least 5 hours a week mixing up your cardio AND some sort of resistance  training  which  builds muscle .  Muscle does have a higher metabolic rate than fat  but muscle also retains more water because it contains glycogen stores. That's a whole other discussion.

 

Bottom line- there are things you CANNOT change about your resting metabolic rate...like your gender ( guys run higher), your age ( youth runs higher), or your genes. But there ARE a few things you can change to jack it up- like your per cent lean body mass ( so build muscle), your exercise level ( increase it and mix it up) , your water consumption ( upping it ups your metabolic rate plus it keeps your kidneys happy),  your vitamins (don't forget your multi-  B complex), and avoiding high carbohydrate, highly processed or refined diets - (decreases lipogenic  hormones like insulin). 

OK, off my soapbox and will retreat back to the land of the fossilized sleeves. ( my surgery was in June 2008). You can do this but you might need to up the exercise, mix it up, add resistance and interval training, and make sure you're not sabotaging the whole process unknowingly. Be strong! XoLori

Thank you so much for your insight. I do not take B complex. I will get some soon. I workout on a stationary bike and walk/jog on treadmill 30 min each. My resistance is 1-2 days for about 10 min. I will switch up things and see what happens. I welcome every opinion. Knowledge is power!!

I am also experiencing a long month stall for the month of Jan- spoke with nurse at surgeon's office- she experienced a 3 month stall and then lost another 100 lbs. I am trying to stayed focused and have decided to not weigh everyday. I might try the 3 day jump start and increase my water. I am exercising 3-4 times a week. Good luck and hopefully our scale will start moving again!

yes and its so hard to not get hung up on the scale! Let's do this!

LOL Ms Shell, No.  My dad always used to ask when we were kids, what weighs more?  A pound of lead or a pound of feathers!  But you know as well as I do that muscle requires more energy to maintain it.  Fat requires nothing.  So more muscle mass = more caloric burn.