We’ve had a reader question come in on the subject of weight loss. Let’s take a look:
Question: Back in June, the wife and I realized we were terribly out of shape. Both of us started a new diet program, and I exercise on a daily basis. I now drink a lot more water, rarely ever drink coke, and only about once a month do I enjoy a light beer. My diet consists mostly of fruits, vegetables and healthy lean meat. Since my wife has been diagnosed with a gluten allergy, we no longer have bread in the house, and I only eat it about once a week (usually wheat). I work out at the gym almost every day, where I do some light weight lifting with the machines for muscle tone, and spend about an hour on the elliptical machine. Afterwords, I go sit in the sauna for about 30 minutes, and then swim in the pool for the same amount of time.
The good news is, since June, I have lost 75 pounds and three pants sizes. But, I still need to lose about 30-35 more pounds to be in the shape I want to be at. I have only been able to lose five pounds since the beginning of the year, and have been stuck on the weight I am currently at for the past month. I am still watching my diet, and exercising regularly. What can I do to start seeing the weight come off again?
Answer: Weight loss plateaus generally mean that your body has adapted to everything you’re throwing at it. It also means your body isn’t sure about letting go of so much fat, since fat storage is a survival mechanism. Our bodies don’t know that in first-world countries, we are unlikely to starve and don’t need to store fat so carefully.
So the answer is to change something. Eat slightly more or less calories. Rearrange your meals. More importantly, address your workout regimen. Say good-bye to your friend the elliptical and take up running. Go to spin class. Take a martial arts class. Try a weight-lifting class, and go on the heavy side when they have you load up your bar. Or at least increase the weights you use in the gym. Switch to free-weights instead of machines. Free weights force your body to also use stabilizing muscles in your core to keep you upright, which burns more calories and tones you all over.
I personally have a list of things I want to be physically able to do. Every time I master one, my weight loss plateaus, and I switch to something else. Elliptical machine was an early one for me, since I was 60 lbs overweight and very inactive. Eventually, elliptical workouts (even on high resistance and high incline) became too easy. I switched to running, gradually running longer intervals. The weight melted off again. My next things are spin class and kick-boxing.
Change it up and you will see results again, I guarantee.
A tough weight loss question this week. Let’s dive straight in
Question: I had a baby 3 1/2 months ago. I gained a lot of weight but have lost half of it already. I still have 25 pounds to lose, even though I look pretty good for just having my third baby!
I want to lose the extra fat, strengthen and tone my muscles (tummy, arms and legs) and hopefully get my hips to go back from being spread.
This is what I currently TRY to do everyday.
20 minutes of elliptical training
7-10 min stretching routine that targets the arms, legs, back and sides
40-45 min toning routine that targets the arms, legs and tummy using no more than 3 kg weights.
5-10 min of various crunch exercises on the ab lounge
Is it ok that I do all of this everyday or should I do something else? What could I do differently? How long before I start to see results? Losing inches? Seeing muscle tone?
*My legs were pretty sore yesterday after woking out Sunday but I did my routine yesterday anyways. They are still sore today. My tummy and arms feel just fine. I have also adjusted my diet and calorie intake to help shed the pounds.
Answer: Do 30 to 45mins of cardio at least 5 times per week instead of 20mins, as fat burning normally doesn’t kick in until after 20mins of cardio.
Toning routine ok but you need to increase the resistance (weight) over time to force muscles to grow more. Remember the more underlying muscles you have the more calories you burn to maintain the muscles. Fat is also burned in muscle so makes sense to build your muscles up. They are not sore as you are too used to the 3kg weight. Don’t worry about increasing the weight upwards as you won’t grow like a man! You haven’t the testosterone levels to do so.
Crunches ok but also do some deep core muscle work such as the plank, side plank etc
You shouldn’t train any muscle which is sore as you are hampering the recovery of the muscle. This leads to overtraining, exchaustion etc and is the main reason why people do not stick to a routine. When using weights it is not advisable to train any muscle group more than once per week. So if you are doing squats or lunges for legs today, you wouldn’t do them again until 1 week from today. You need to split your routine up so that you are covering your whole body and not just your arms, legs and tummy. Do some work for your chest, shoulders, back etc as well. So on rest days from legs you would do one of these instead. Also take a rest day every 2 or 3 days to help you recuperate. Eat healthily as you are doing and you will see the benefits soon. Good luck
