Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Work Out Woes

As many of you know I started working out about a month or so ago. And lately it has been going.... well... so... so....

As much as I really don't care about the weight issue it is hard not to become a little discouraged when the scale has not shown even one pound of improvement. In fact it seems that my weight has fluctuated between the same 5 pounds. Base weight, five pounds up, back to base weight. Never dipping BELOW the line.

However, that is not my most serious hurdle at this point. My problem now becomes that I'm TIRED!! REALLY TIRED!! So I need some advice from you work out goo roos. What am I doing wrong?

When I started working out my appetite changed. I'm eating less but not necessarily better. If I eat veggies and salads I feel like I'm starving and I tend to splurge so I have generally just been eating less of things that I like. (Which is not much... think eats like a three year old) Is it possible that I'm not eating enough calories? I would guess in a typical day when I bring my lunch and breakfast I probably only eat 1,500 calories.

As for sleep I generally go to bed between 9 - 10 and I get up at 5:00 so I'm getting between 7 -8 hours of sleep which I think should be sufficient. Still, every morning when my alarm goes off I have a hell of a time getting out of bed and most days I'm DRAGGING by the time I get home. I am getting discouraged because I thought working out was supposed to make me feel better but I feel worse.

So, there you have it. Any suggestions you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

10 comments:

Jessica said...

You haven't been working out long enough yet to start "feeling better". Keep at it that part will come and you will notice the days you skip...trust me.

As far as the food....I have seen you eat and if I had to guess I would guess you eat too many calories. Plus the foods you eat are such high carbs they are probably dragging you down and making you tired....tell me if I am wrong Dr. (Heather's sister - doctor in training) :)

The one thing they tell you when you are working out is to STAY OFF THE SCALE. And this is exactly why. You think you have been working out so hard and the discouragement is overwhelming when the scale stares you in the face.

Someone once told me "You didn't put those pounds on over night! DON'T expect to take them off over night."

For you, your extra weight has been piling for about a year in a half now...right? You have been working out for how long? A month?

Keep at....step it up....work a little harder or longer. EAT HEALTHIER - EVEN JUST A LITTLE.

Also remember something Dr.Wimer told me. The first 15 minutes of your workout you are merely warming up. Not burning calories or in your mind losing weight. So if you want to devote a half hour to working out you better make it 45 minutes to alot for the 15 minute warm up.

AHHH...THE JOYS!

electriclady said...

Sounds like you might not be getting enough high-quality food--think about eating not just veggies and salads (which yes, will leave you really hungry if you're also exercising) but whole grain carbs (whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole wheat or partial whole wheat pasta), protein (chicken, lean red meat, turkey, fish), and FAT--not tons of fat, but good fat like olive oil or nuts or salmon will help you feel full and give you more energy.

In other words, reverse the way you've been eating--instead of eating less but not better, eat better but not necessarily a whole lot less. Typical 3-year-old foods are generally high-carb so they burn off fast and will leave you tired.

hope that helps!

Lynanne said...

Ditto the great suggestions above. Remember that muscle weighs more than fat so it might take a while to see the numbers decline. Although a weight loss of several pounds a week sounds good, in reality its usually water weight or a result of an unhealthy, crash diet.

If your energy doesn't pick up after making changes in your diet, you might have your thyroid levels checked. It's not uncommon for women to have problems after they've had a child.

Great job sticking to a workout! Keep up the good work!!

Aunt Becky said...

Protein. And mix up your workout. Mix it up so your body doesn't know what to do, and it starts shedding weight/putting on muscle.

And yeah, stay off the scale.

Anonymous said...

Okay here are my suggestions.
Work out in your target heart rate zone. I think you can get a heart rate monitor at Walmart or Target. Your target HR for your age should be between about 110 and 140. You need to stay in that zone for your 30 min workout to get fat burning effects. If your HR drops below that and you don't want to run yet to get it up, try increasing your incline, you be surprised how much you can burn just by increasing the incline on the treadmill.

2. Try not using the scale but a tape measure to measure your success. Measure your waist, hips, thighs, and arms same day, same time, each wk and record your measurements. That will tell you if you are improving by losing fat and gaining muscle.

3. Eat 5 sml meals a day, if your body thinks it is constantly getting food, it doesn't store it. and stay away from high carb, it turns into stored sugar. Drink plenty of water. Yoplait has yummy yogurt flavors in fat free that you don't even think it is diet. Sugar free jello fills up without adding calories. You'd be amazed how much you can start to lose by just cutting carbs from just your dinner. You don't go to bed with all those carbs in your belly. Don't skip breakfast. Have 1 cheat day a wk where you don't eat more, you just eat what you are hungry for. That will help the cravings and you don't overindulge the rest of the wk because you know you can eat what you are craving later.

Its going to take time. This isn't the biggest loser. It took me 2 months to lose only 8 lbs when I was training for the triathalon and I ate everything fat free or low fat and no carbs for dinner and was running 3miles in 25 minutes a day, then attending an hr toning class a day. I wasn't losing the wt but putting on muscle but my tape measure showed the best results.

You just have to stick with it and not give up. And Jess is right, High carb is just another name for high sugar. Burst of energy, but then you crash hard. You need fiber foods that are harder to break down so take time and constantly give you energy over time. Benefiber is great since I know you hate your veggies. You just mix it with a drink and it dissolves tasteless and gritless and makes you think that you are full but not giving you the calories.

Whew that was a novel.

Anonymous said...

I suggest that you try Dr. Ian Smith's book the Fat Smash Diet. It is the diet that they do on Celebrity Fit Club.
It might sound stupid but it really works! I did this diet before I got pregnant and dropped close to 15 pounds and felt better than I had in my whole life.
It is based on phases and you eat like 5-6 small meals a day so your metabolism is constantly working and you never feel hungry because you get to eat something like every 3 hours....
It is worth a try. Will and I loved it.
- Amy

Anonymous said...

This is what works for me... the only problem that I've had is if you stop doing everything, you do gain the weight back, but you feel so much better doing it that you don't want to stop!!!

1. Never step on the scale. Ever. Don't judge how you're doing by a number, judge it by how you feel. When your jeans get loose at the waistband, it feels a lot better than say a number 5 less than the original. I couldn't even tell you how much I weigh, that's how little I'm on the scale!

2. Portions!!! I found when I started paying attention that yes, one serving of my cereal may only have 80 calories, but the bowl I'm puting it in holds 3 servings! Measure what you eat and seriously count your calories. 1500 should be plenty of calories, I believe a normal grown woman needs 1200-1400 for daily activities. I eat my food on the smaller sized plates now too. When you can fit less food, a full plate seems more filling to me!

3. Try to cut back carbs, but don't cut them out, and protein is key, especially if your work out includes any weight lifting. In your salad, cut up some turkey and mix it in or some grilled chicken breast.

4. Water. Lots and lots of water. Not only does it make you feel fuller so you won't eat more, it's just good to drink water, flushes some bad out, and helps keep you hydrated which may be part of your draggy feeling!

Hope that helps!

Anonymous said...

What they all said is good advice. Remember, its a marathon, not a sprint. I think once you get your diet squared away and keep up with the excercise, you will notice a big difference.

Anonymous said...

So much good advice. I concur... especially wioth the smaller meals/better foods/more meals a day. I've never had luck with counting calories... I always count the carbs. 15g= one serving... and just a few at a time.
It will take a bit to show a loss... muscle weighs more than fat, so go figure.
And... as an afterthought... Have you gotten your yearly physical lately? Maybe there is more going on with the tired/ run down feeling. I always suggest the thyroid check... because I had no idea why I was tired when I was being so good, and it was just enough off to make me miserable!

Jessica said...

For you non-counters...here is a little trick I have learned....

You should eat one protein the size of your palm in thickness and area. AND one carb the size of your fist, per meal.

Heather - the carb doesn't mean how many fries you can resize to get that small or how many chips you can crumble to equal a fist either. :)

That should help.