| Cyster
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LOL! I'm finally admitting! Jams, are you reading this? Are you ready to say "I told you so."
After 2.5 months of not only a plateau, but of a plateau such that my number was STUCK on 184 no matter what I did, I took this past week off from dieting and off from exercising! I stuck to MOSTLY SBD principals, but much more of a P3 style if not P4. LOL! I ate anything I wanted, within reason. I did NOT eat any past triggers like chips or pop, but I had a delicious greek gyro and I did not ditch the incredibly delicious butter soaked flat bread. I had cookies, ice cream, white homemade fried potato chips (the real kind) and all kinds of good things and I did not exercise. And every day the scale was 184, which I thought was pretty funny.
Then yesterday I ate on plan the entire day, but still no exercise.
This morning, 183!! Now that doesn't mean the plateau is over, but at least the scale moved!
So, tomorrow I am heading back to the gym but I am backing off of the intensity. I don't think I eat enough to support it. It's taken me a while to realize this. But I eat and exercise as if I weight 135. :lol: But I don't! I need to eat to support a body of 183 lbs. That's hard for me to do. But I think perhaps if I start where I am and cut calories a little bit, then a little more and a little more and increase the exercise a little over time, I will be better off in the long run. Where I was, there was no increasing exercise. I was at my limit. |
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Sun Mar 25, 2007 7:04 pm |
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| luvs_torun
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The thing with exercising and taking even "a short vacation" from it......
you lose muscle and that registers as a loss...... but in the long run, is counterproductive....
The frustrating thing with muscle.. takes so long to build it... takes almost no time at all to lose it.
Keep at the exercise... you may have been at your limit with HIIT.... now work on building endurance. (trust me, it is equally exciting!) Throw in HIIT on occasion.....
Go you!
(and I don't mean to be a buzz kill here! :D Just "been there and done that"! |
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Sun Mar 25, 2007 7:22 pm |
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| oldpjams
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| It sounds like you're making progress -- that's good! There's no separating one part of this from another. Diet, exercise, rest, etc, they all play a part. The best advice you can follow is also the most simple -- eat a reasonable number of healthy calories and do moderate exercise. Adjust from there. :D |
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Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:02 pm |
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| maltby_gardner
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Here's an interesting article that addresses plateaus, including determining your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and exercise. I thought it was interesting.
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/article/0,6176,s1-11-66-1524-1,00.html |
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Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:34 am |
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| pookiebear
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I kinda agree with Loves Torn. :)
You also could have called this thread "not eating enough to support my habit".
It takes a lot of switching up, trying new things, etc. to find our nitch. It's good that you're willing to take a chance and try new things! :D If I had a choice to switch things up a bit... I think I would choose to eat whatever I wanted AND exercise. :) I agree that it's very easy to lose muscle... :(
What is your next step exercise-wise, hun? I know you said you wanted to back off on the intensity... so what will your new exercise plan look like? :D |
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Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:03 pm |
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| Cyster
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What will my new exercise look like? I don't know! :lol: This morning I did regular intervals on the elliptical for 55 minutes. (Time constraint...couldn't do 60) Nice and boring. :roll: Tomorrow I will do strength with the weight machines and ball. I won't mess around with that too much. I think what I was already doing is good enough.
I'm thinking about throwing swimming into the mix. I may wait until summer. I don't know.
Basically, I'm eliminating HIIT. |
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Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:11 pm |
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| pookiebear
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Cyster wrote: I did regular intervals on the elliptical for 55 minutes.
Tomorrow I will do strength with the weight machines and ball.
I'm thinking about throwing swimming into the mix.
Basically, I'm eliminating HIIT.
Sounds really good!!! :) I don't think you have to eliminate HIIT. That's just MHO. I think you were mostly doing HIIT though, right? So if you just give yourself a little variety, I think you'll find it'll work out nicely - Your muscles won't know what's coming next. ;) And I think you'll find your overall fitness level rising... |
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Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:26 pm |
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| bkro9
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| What about keeping HIIT in once or twice a week? Instead of all or nothing. If you mix that in with some longer cardio and some strength your body won't know what hit you! :) |
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Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:29 pm |
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| Cyster
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I'm kind of in uncharted territory at the moment. I don't know what it means for my overall fitness level to rise from this point. :lol: I've never been as fit as I am now, not even when I weighed 113 lbs in college!! I'm amazed at what I have accomplished fitness-wise. It's the darn weight that makes me a crazy person.
Yes, I can see doing HIIT once a week maybe, but I'm not going to expect anything from it. I got into it because someone told me I could lose 2 dress sizes in 6 weeks. :roll: Ha!! Didn't work for me. Perhaps I'll do HIIT in the pool once a week. That actually sounds like fun! |
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Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:11 pm |
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| luvs_torun
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bkro9 wrote: What about keeping HIIT in once or twice a week? Instead of all or nothing. If you mix that in with some longer cardio and some strength your body won't know what hit you! :)
Yup.... once or twice a week would be good............
You'll also find that the longer you are able to exercise at a moderate pace....... that you'll be able to handle a higher level of HIIT (or regular intervals). |
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Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:11 pm |
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