so frustrated :-(

[asrgal]

OMG...I am so frustrated and discouraged.

I have been working out daily, eating very healthy about 1500 cal a day etc. changed my lifestyle in the last month.

Than this morning I was about to put my shorts on, which always fit fine, and can't get them even buttoned :-( WTF...I am getting bigger, not slimming down :-( feeling just horrible....

What is wrong? I think I stop working out and just eat way less, I don't know anymore...

[Lecturer]

If you can't get the shorts on for a whole month, then you can be frustrated - sure. You're a woman and, as you know, you tend to retain water throughout your cycle.

 

Yes, it is possible that you added some muscle if you were seriously lacking it before, but it shouldn't be too much. Are you sure your calories are lower, and your workouts are not being compensated for by less activity in other parts of the day?

 

Your solution actually would work for this problem. Diet has a much larger effect on weightloss than exercise - exercise is more for the hidden benefits, such as improved cardiovascular health, increased energy, hormone regulation, etc, with the added bonus that it burns some calories.

[tman666]

My opinion is that exercise is just as important (if not more important) than diet.

 

Think about it. There's a ton of guys in prison that eat tons of low quality, processed food, but they train hard in the yard and look absolutely scary (lean and muscular). I'm not saying diet isn't paramount (it is), but if a great diet is premium racing fuel, training is the Lamborghini. If you have a great diet and don't train hard, your results aren't going to amount to a hill of sh*t compared to the person who trains their butt off and has an ok diet. I know it sounds like I'm downplaying the importance of a good diet, but I think that some people would like to think that they can change their body composition without hard training. It's a weak excuse.

 

Also, everyone fluctuates a little bit depending on a lot of factors. Since the OP is a woman, she can expect to see larger fluctuations than a male due to hormonal factors. I'm not saying that this is the reason you couldn't fit into your shorts, but it's a possibility. Another possibility is that you're taking in more calories than you think you are. Don't forget to look at liquid calorie intake.

 

Overall don't stress about it. If you're not seeing the results you want and you already have a clean diet (which from your other posts, it sounds like you're doing ok), then you need to look at your training. Intensity, not duration, is the key. There's no reason (especially for weight loss) that you should have to train for more than 35-45 minutes per day, possibly even shorter. The key is that you have to bust your a** when your training. You have to push the envelope and keep the intensity high. High intensity training has a greater effect on weight loss because it ramps your non-exercising metabolism up, which equates to a "fat burning" effect for long after you're done training.

 

Try an experiment: keep your current diet, but ditch steady state cardio sessions. Instead go out to a field and sprint (all out, like you're going to tackle someone or like you're running from ManBearPig) for 40 yards, 8 times. Take as long of a rest as you need between each sprint so that you can go as hard as you can on each. The whole session should take no more than 20 minutes. Do this 3-4 times per week for a month, and try to get faster at each sprint session.

[Shakz]

Try an experiment: keep your current diet, but ditch steady state cardio sessions. Instead go out to a field and sprint (all out, like you're going to tackle someone or like you're running from ManBearPig) for 40 yards, 8 times. Take as long of a rest as you need between each sprint so that you can go as hard as you can on each. The whole session should take no more than 20 minutes. Do this 3-4 times per week for a month, and try to get faster at each sprint session.

 

Whoah, slow down champ. Unless you know something about arsgal that the rest of us don't, windsprints at this spartan level without proper preparation can lead to serious injury.

[tman666]

Whoah, slow down champ. Unless you know something about arsgal that the rest of us don't, windsprints at this spartan level without proper preparation can lead to serious injury.

 

This is true, I don't know anything about her other than the words she's typed. I should add that I'm assuming she is a healthy individual with a relatively healthy joint history.

 

Asrgal, if you have some sort of reason that you cannot exercise at high intensity, please consult your doc or physical therapist before trying anything. Also, even if you are in good health, but unaccustomed to this kind of exercise, maybe start with 1 sprint day per week to get yourself and slowly increase your frequency as your recovery times get better.

Edited June 11, 2010 by tman666

[Lauriebell82]

Generally when you don't wear clothes for a period of time, they do not have the chance to get loosend, as they do when you wear them a lot. Have you noticed that when you go try on clothes in a store they are always tighter? One time I bought a pair of jeans in a size that fit and wore them all the time and they fit fine. I loved them so much that I went to the same store and tried on the same pair of jeans in the same size..they were SOOOO tight!!! I had not gained any weight at all, but because they had not been worn they were not stretched out.

 

Basically you need to wear them in order to stretch them out. It could also be water retention also, on sometimes I can tell my stomach is a tad bigger then on others. When is the last time you weighed yourself? Yes, I realize the scale can sometimes be decieving, however you will be able to tell if you have gained weight or not if the scale is going up.

 

A trick that I do is bend down on my knees and bounce up and down, and swing my legs out and in. It tends to loosen the jeans/shorts up somewaht so they are more comfortable. Then when you start wearing them around they will stretch again.

Edited June 12, 2010 by Lauriebell82

[doublescorpio]

OMG...I am so frustrated and discouraged.

I have been working out daily, eating very healthy about 1500 cal a day etc. changed my lifestyle in the last month.

Than this morning I was about to put my shorts on, which always fit fine, and can't get them even buttoned :-( WTF...I am getting bigger, not slimming down :-( feeling just horrible....

What is wrong? I think I stop working out and just eat way less, I don't know anymore...

 

People build muscle before they burn fat. Please don't get discouraged, because your body may be responding positively to the changes you have made. What happens is you get larger muscles under the layer of fat, muscle weights more than fat, and it looks and seems as though you are getting fatter but you really are not. Before you know it the fat should start to thin out all over your body.

 

When you think about it, someone with mostly fat and no lean muscle would have no problem getting into a small clothing size. The fat just moves around to fit into the clothes, AKA the famous muffin top or back cleavage. But muscle is firm and has no where to go so clothes may seem temporarily tighter. Maybe wear any bigger clothes you have right now so that you don't feel as bad, then try on your regular ones in another month. I bet you will be pleasantly surprised

 

Also to burn significant fat you need to get your heart rate over 140 for at least 45min 3x a weeks. Please don't eat any fewer calories than you already are, I don't know your situation but 1500 is already on the acceptable/low side. Actually, if you start eating any less your body will starve and start feeding off all that wonderful muscle you have worked so hard to build. And under eating slows your metabolism in the long run, which WILL lead to increased fat gain in the long run. One of my former coaches stated that there were some people she trained over the years who were deliberately withholding calories from themselves and some were borderline anorexic. Those people went on to have problems throughout their adulthood with weight gain compared to those who were on a healthy balanced diet. Something to think about.

[kiss_andmakeup]

You could just be bloated or retaining water. During certain parts of the month I am that way too. Or perhaps if you just washed the shorts they tightened up a bit? I have a pair of jeans that fit me like a glove, but right after I wash them getting them on is a little bit of a struggle! Haha.

 

I wouldn't say cut out the exercise. Cut more calories if you have to. Try to reduce sodium which can cause you to retain water (if you're eating a lot of frozen foods this could be the culprit - lean cuisines brag low calories but look at the sodium content!). If you're worried that you're gaining too much in muscle which I doubt is the case, just cut out strength training for a while and do cardio only.

[marsle85]

Tman, you sound pretty intelligent.

[USMCHokie]

Tman, you sound pretty intelligent.

 

 

Tman is our resident nutritionist and fitness consultant!

[WintersNightTraveler]

Err, at the risk of sounding really stupid... you didn't just take the shorts out of the high heat dryer cycle or anything did you? Serious question...

 

Fitting into clothes is a pretty bad way to measure progress just FYI, as very short term and meaningless water retention, swelling, weather, clothes shrinking etc can make a difference here. I hope you're doing long term weight tracking, fitness goals (i.e. can run x miles in y time or whatever) and maybe body fat % tracking if it's really important to you.

 

But if that's all true then listen to tman.

 

PS to tman, "running from ManBearPig" cracked me up!!!! thanks for that!

[asrgal]

Thank you to all for the replies and advice.

 

Haha...no the shorts did not come out of the dryer, they were just too tight all of a sudden.

 

I stopped some of the weight training and I am doing now the running sprinting everyday.

I also started going to our football stadium at night climbing those stairs. Seems to be good for my back side ;-)

 

I actually am starting to slim down, I can feel it and see it - HURRAY!

 

I guess I had no patience.

 

Thanks again.

[tman666]

Tman is our resident nutritionist and fitness consultant!

 

Haha thanks for the props guys.

 

I am far from being an expert in anything, but I've made enough mistakes over the years with my own training to know what not to do.

 

I feel that my forte is on the training end of things. I know just enough about nutrition to keep myself from getting tubby and to build muscle, but it's a subject that I have a lot of experimenting/exploration to do within.

 

Trying to answer fitness questions on L.S. is a huge learning experience for me too, because it forces me to think about what is relevant info vs. BS, which helps my own physical pursuits immensely.

 

 

_______________________________

 

Asrgal-

 

I admire your drive with sprints and stairs every day! Please be careful though. That's a lot of high impact exercise in a week, especially if it's something you haven't been doing regularly. Remember that injuries to joints and connective tissues will stop your training dead in the water.

 

You may want to vary it up a bit by alternating upper body and lower body with your calisthenics. This could entail a schedule such as:

 

Monday: Sprints

 

Tuesday: push ups/pull ups/dips/boxing (upper body concentration)

 

Wednesday: Stairs

 

Thursday: Rest

 

Friday: Sprints

 

Saturday: upper body concentration

 

Sunday: Rest or lower impact exercise such as dynamic stretches/yoga/swimming

 

That's just a rough example, but you need to keep in mind your body's need for recovery. The longer you can stretch your training out (think months and years) without mishap or having to take extended time off, the better your long term results will be.

[Major]

Hi, Soloslim.com. I know you probably never heard of it, neither did I. To give you an example, last month I was a size 12, May 1, 2010. Today, June 19, 2010, I fit into my size 10's. It is totally herbal and natural. No stimulants or jittery, crazy side effects. It just controls your appetite so you can control your portions. In researching supplements, I have found that most stuff in the health stores are just junk and hype. This is the real deal. You don't even feel it working. You just eat less and less. Again, it's all natural so you can't harm yourself. It is so potent, you only take one a day, 20 minutes before eating. Let me know what you think and good luck:)

[D-Lish]

OMG...I am so frustrated and discouraged.

I have been working out daily, eating very healthy about 1500 cal a day etc. changed my lifestyle in the last month.

Than this morning I was about to put my shorts on, which always fit fine, and can't get them even buttoned :-( WTF...I am getting bigger, not slimming down :-( feeling just horrible....

What is wrong? I think I stop working out and just eat way less, I don't know anymore...

 

How old are you A?

[girlygirl25]

Don't stop working out, you will GAIN weight!

 

Your shorts may be tight because you haven't worn them. Keep working out and wearing them more often and see if they stretch out.

[Green]

Frustrated? Really a useless emotion to have in your situation. Just try to keep yourself MOTIVATED.

 

You shouldn't be on a DIET as in something that is temporary.

 

I would suggest working out harder and NOT counting calories. Instead try not to eat processed foods. Eat 4-5 meals a day instead of 3 or less and stop eating 4 hours before bed. Also drink only WATER as soda's and juices are an easy way to get sugar and empty cals.

 

Make sure you ENJOY your work outs and do them regularly unless you are SORE or INJURED. A work out can be something like taking a brisk 40 minute walk every day. Push ups, squats, crunchs, and pull ups will also do wonders.

[Secure]

Frustrated? Really a useless emotion to have in your situation. Just try to keep yourself MOTIVATED.

 

You shouldn't be on a DIET as in something that is temporary.

I would suggest working out harder and NOT counting calories. Instead try not to eat processed foods. Eat 4-5 meals a day instead of 3 or less and stop eating 4 hours before bed. Also drink only WATER as soda's and juices are an easy way to get sugar and empty cals.

 

Make sure you ENJOY your work outs and do them regularly unless you are SORE or INJURED. A work out can be something like taking a brisk 40 minute walk every day. Push ups, squats, crunchs, and pull ups will also do wonders.

 

 

Exactly. Playing on tennis teams are great for me because I am socializing AND burning calories at the same time. I ride bikes with my children and run sprints while playing "tag" and having them chase me. Spending quality time with the family while including exercise. And YES, we may eat ice cream afterward. I do not count calories, eat as healthy as possible during the week, and eat what I want on weekends. Not skinny, not fat, healthy, and loving my body. Have a minor heart condition, yet ladies half my size cannot hang with my endurance.

[Secure]

Do not eat less! That is going to slow down your metabolsim.

If you want to loose fat (instead of loosing weight) you have to speed up your metabolism. You do that by eating MORE (and healthy) food, and most important by building muscle mass. Each lean pound you gain, will burn calories, even iof you do nothing! That is what most girls don't get, because they are too afraid of building muscles.

 

 

I stayed away from weight training for years due to someone telling me I had "a great body for body building." Terrified that weights would cause me to bulk. In the past year, I have become more toned and have lost inches due to the weights. Better than my success with cardio workouts only.

[Honorable_Venerable]

 

Make sure you ENJOY your work outs and do them regularly unless you are SORE or INJURED. A work out can be something like taking a brisk 40 minute walk every day. Push ups, squats, crunchs, and pull ups will also do wonders.

I always laugh when I read something like this - it's like being told "make sure you enjoy your punishments" or "the beatings will continue until morale improves".