Discouraged with exercise
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Discouraged with exercise
| Tue, 06-14-2005 - 10:17pm |
Joined a circuit gym last November, Contours with weight machines 10 stations alternating with arobic stations (jog pad and steppers)45 sec each. -with 6 min bike warm up, and 10 min stretch cool down. I started slow with low weights and added aerobics after two weeks. Each month I go up five lbs in weights on machines. Worked up to at least 4x week, sometimes 5x. Did not lose any weight first 3 months. Started watching calories and fat using online diet journal to verify protein, fat and calories. Finally lost 4 lbs in Feb cutting back calories more. and then another 6 lbs in April and early May. stayed there. added a day of Work out to 6x/wk. at the gym.(supposed to allow 48 hours between weight workouts, so some days 1-2x wk would just do an hour of bike, steps, spot exercizes) Also Added 10-20 min. situps and crunches each work out. Did not lose any more. but started getting dizzy mid day and evening and did not lose any weight or inches. Went to Dr. blood work and exam showed nothing. She offered me diet pills, which I refused. Felt sick one day and took off weight exercise - no dizzyness! now I workout 3-4x alt days with weight machines and walk 30+ min each day. With the heat I am way way overheated even in a/c gym. No energy to work out, sweating like a pig. I gained back all my weight when I stopped the 6x weight machine regimine. walking seems to do nothing. Always tired. Plus now I have to stop walking at work 1)ruinned 4 pairs of dress pants in two weeks - yes my thighs rub together and wore holes in the pants - not only can I not afford to buy new dress pants every two weeks, I cannot find them to fit or match my blazer tops. Plus work increased the inside temp in a cost reduction effort and 2) my thighs are so chafed I can barely walk. So now I am still 100 lb. overweight, my back still hurts all the time, my knees hurt, and chafed. I still cannot make it in to work (park a football field and a half away + 24 stairs)without being out of breath and huffing. so what good is exercise doing me? what else can I do?

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Well, I don't know if 1200 cal /day would work for a 6 ft woman, but we're only trying to rack our brains to give you suggestions. It seems that for each suggestion we give, you have a rebuttal. I think we're all out of ideas.
We're here to support you and give you whatever help we can. We can only go on what we've been told or what has worked for us.
I hope you find what you need and we're here to support you. It seems your struggles go beyond the scope of our advice, so all we can really offer you is our support.
good luck.
dawn
I was originally going to say that your workouts weren't intense enough, but I decided to stress something else instead.
***I don't think you're eating enough!***
If you were eating a well-balanced diet, you wouldn't get dizzy from your workouts. It is not good to be malnourished, and that's what you are if you're eating 750-1000 calories a day (unless your diet is CLOSELY supervised). Look, most doctors have very little training in med school regarding nutrition, and offering you a diet pill is a flashing red warning sign. You need to see a dietitian to properly assess your nutritional needs. You are short, but I doubt that being 4'10" will have a significant impact on your caloric needs.
My guess is that a 1200-calorie diet (or slightly more) coupled with higher-quality exercise (that is, weight lifting that actually fatigues the muscle) will result in weight loss. Beyond that, I don't know what else to tell you. You seem to make a lot of excuses for why you can't do this or that, but if you really want to lose the weight, you're going to have to change your attitude and re-examine what you're doing. Good luck.
I agree about the exercise - these circuit training programs are definately not worth the money. (although mine is only $18/month). After reading up, I think I will try 2-3 days of the weight machines for 3 sets each instead of circuit, and 1-2 days of just using the aerobic We will see if the mgr kick me out. It would get me out ofthe contract... I will have to give up my volunteer job -maybe go to 1 nite a month
As I have said, over the years every attempt at eating the so called normal 1200 cal diet has resulted in weight gain - weight watchers for 5 weeks , Jenny Craig (these creeps I would never recommend) for 5 wks, and I Seattle Sutton the pre cooked meals -done for 12 wks.
As far as excuses. I know what foods to eat and how much to eat. needed help with exercise. I also am limited by my job, when you are at work in a high stress job for 10+ hrs. each day and only stay there at the whim of crazy mgmt. trying to keep up with the 20 yr old males you have to work 3x as hard. especially, if you are female, and more especially for an over 50, overweight female. (I would love a new job too, have not had a raise in 4 years - but at least I have not been downsized out yet as many others have been. my resume has been out with no bites,)
Well, I really don't know what to tell you. If you want to eat 700 calories a day to lose weight, none of us here can stop you, and apparently none of us can convince you that that's not healthy. I plugged your numbers into a metabolic calorie counter at http://www.room42.com/nutrition/basal.shtml, and its formula spit out a basal caloric rate of about 1450 calories a day. That's what your body requires just to maintain basic functions. Adding just a little bit of ordinary exercise pushes your caloric needs up to about 1800.
I think you've been starving yourself for years. Obviously your plan of eating 1,000 calories a day for 30 years hasn't worked because you're 100 pounds overweight. I hate to be harsh, but your diet hasn't worked for you. It's time to change something. Eating a well-balanced, nutritious diet will probably result in short-term weight gain, but coupled with exercise, that won't last long, and eventually you will lose weight.
You will not get any results with exercise if you're not eating enough to fuel your body. Period. Unless you have a moderately underactive thyroid, you really need to see a dietitian, who will be able to help you with fashioning a diet that will enable you to exercise and consistently lose weight.
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