Not seeing the benefits from all the exercise

[iwantaz3]

I have been reading all the interesting posts for a long time and finally have decied to seek some advice. I am a 35 and a mother of 2 beautiful girls. My youngest was born 8 months back. I have always been very conscious about my weight. I am 5ft. tall and my weight used to be around 93lbs (NOT anorexic but very light bones ) I never had any problems mainataing my weight, however, knowing what age does to the metabolism and how difficult it could be to loose preganacy weight I joined a gym this time around. I have been at it for 6 months now. My routine is alternating upper and lower body 5 days a week and a min. of 40 mins of cardio in the evenings. I run on the treadmill (at 156 - 166 beats/min - through a heart monitor). Depessingly enough, despite all the exercise I have not seen a significant change. I have gone back to wearing my pre-pregnancy clothes but they are still a bit snug around the hips. I had a PT for 6 mths and most of my exercises ( lower body) were done using the swiss ball or squats, lunges and such with a max. weight of 10lbs - sets 15reps and I generally do 2 to 3 sets per routine. Same goes for upper body with max weight of 8lbs!

So what am I doing wrong here? My meals are: Breakfast - regular oatmeal with 2 tbls wheatgerm and tea. Snack - Apple with 1tbls peanut butter. Lunch - Small soup and salad or Small soup and 1/2 turkey sandwhich ( wheat bread). Snack - balance bar. Dinner - I am Indian so it is difficult to calculate calories for this meal - 2 slices of indian bread ( Like soft Tacos but made with whole wheat), lentils and vegetables.

I have recently changed my routine. For my lower body routine I actually do 4 sets of 10 squats with 20 pound barbell and 4 sets of 10 walking lunges. I also do seated leg curls ( one leg, then both legs - 4 set of 10 reps), supine leg curls, seated hamstring curls ( 4 sets - 10 reps), hip adduction and hip abductor ( all 4sets - 10 reps) weight ranges from 35 to 5o lbs. I am slowly working on increasing the weights.

Upper body includes range of exercise on the cable or free weights- weights range from 5 to 12 lbs ( have increased them after advise from LISA). I also do weghted abs, etc. The routine described above is alternated between lower body and upper body days. AND then I try and get cardio at least 5 days a week.

With all this I was expecting to look like "WOW"- hmmm! NOT!!!!! :confused:

[Timbers]

Have you not lost any of your pregnancy weight?
If you have, then what you are doing IS working. You just need to give yourself more time.
I'm wondering if your diet is sufficient though? Several here can comment on that specifically.

[cursor]

Right off the bat, it looks to me like

• you may not be getting enough food—given the amount of work that you're doing.
• you might not be getting enough protein.
• you may be using weights that are not heavy enough.
• you're doing too many sets.
• you probably should move some of your foods to different times of the day.
• make sure that you get a proper post-workout meal.

I would recommend that you do a nutritional analysis to find out what you are eating ... then make appropriate adjustments. Cut your cardio in half. If you're alternating upper/lower routines 5x per week, then my guess is that you're doing too much. You're body deserves some rest once in awhile.

If you need some help with the nutritional analysis, just ask.

[iwantaz3]

Originally Posted by Timbers

Have you not lost any of your pregnancy weight?
If you have, then what you are doing IS working. You just need to give yourself more time.
I'm wondering if your diet is sufficient though? Several here can comment on that specifically.

Timbers.

Thanks for replying.

Yes, I did loose most of my pregnancy weight, like I said I am back to wearing all my pre-pregnancy clothes, but they are a bit snug, specially around the hips.

You may be right, that I am not eating right. BUT, I have no idea what and how to change.

[iwantaz3]

Originally Posted by cursor

Right off the bat, it looks to me like

• you may not be getting enough food—given the amount of work that you're doing.
• you might not be getting enough protein.
• you may be using weights that are not heavy enough.
• you're doing too many sets.
• you probably should move some of your foods to different times of the day.
• make sure that you get a proper post-workout meal.

I would recommend that you do a nutritional analysis to find out what you are eating ... then make appropriate adjustments. Cut your cardio in half. If you're alternating upper/lower routines 5x per week, then my guess is that you're doing too much. You're body deserves some rest once in awhile.

If you need some help with the nutritional analysis, just ask.

Thanks for replying and I do appreciate your help.

A few questions:
1) Are you advising that I reduce cardio to 3 days a week for 30minutes?
If I do so, wont I be comprimising on burning fat? Mos magazines I have read advise on atleast 5/6 days of cardio for atleast 40minutes, if weight loss is the target.
2) How should I cut down the number of sets that I am currently doing? Currently I do 2 days of lower body and 2 days of upper body.
3) Please do advise on nutrition. This is where I am most confused, since I have never focussed on eating much, and then again the theory of eating less to loose weight is proselytized every where.

Again, thanks a bunch, looking forward for your reply.

[Timbers]

Originally Posted by iwantaz3

Yes, I did loose most of my pregnancy weight, like I said I am back to wearing all my pre-pregnancy clothes, but they are a bit snug, specially around the hips.

See! You really are doing much better than you think

[cursor]

Whatever exercise program you adopt, it needs to be balanced with your nutitrition. For the amount of physical work that I see you doing, I have to wonder if you're consuming enough constructive fuel to effectively get the job done. If not, then you're spinning your wheels.

Weight training is more important for muscle maintenance (and development) than is aerobics. "Yeah, but what about fat-burning?" It just so happens that muscle is the engine that burns your fat. The more muscle you have, the better your fat-burning abilities.

With respect to the nutrition study, list out the foods that you eat (item by item). Look up the nutritional values (protein, carbohydrate & fat) for each component. Add them up by meal ... then generate a sum for the whole day. As an example of such an effort, see Gaffer's Food Experiment. Once you have your study completed, you can get some meaningful input as to how it might be improved.

[iwantaz3]

Originally Posted by Timbers

See! You really are doing much better than you think

Gee Thanks for the encouraging words Timber!

However, I had gone back to the petite 2 dress size after 2 months of having my baby, with no exercise.

Now it is eight (close to nine) months and they are still snug (previously were a bit loose)

[iwantaz3]

Originally Posted by cursor

Whatever exercise program you adopt, it needs to be balanced with your nutitrition. For the amount of physical work that I see you doing, I have to wonder if you're consuming enough constructive fuel to effectively get the job done. If not, then you're spinning your wheels.

Weight training is more important for muscle maintenance (and development) than is aerobics. "Yeah, but what about fat-burning?" It just so happens that muscle is the engine that burns your fat. The more muscle you have, the better your fat-burning abilities.

With respect to the nutrition study, list out the foods that you eat (item by item). Look up the nutritional values (protein, carbohydrate & fat) for each component. Add them up by meal ... then generate a sum for the whole day. As an example of such an effort, see Gaffer's Food Experiment. Once you have your study completed, you can get some meaningful input as to how it might be improved.

Thanks Cursor. I will try and manage my diet and see if I have different results.

[jiggss73]

Originally Posted by iwantaz3

Gee Thanks for the encouraging words Timber!

However, I had gone back to the petite 2 dress size after 2 months of having my baby, with no exercise.

Now it is eight (close to nine) months and they are still snug (previously were a bit loose)

I’m new to the board and I just wanted to say “Thanks” cursor for helping that lady, because it helped me too. I have just started working out and I’ve been sitting at my computer looking for a site that can help me stay with my program (well I don’t have one yet). I’m 21yrs old full time college student.

The food on campus is really starchy (fatty foods)… Pizza, Pasta, Broclli, Burgers, Fries…. But there is a salad bar that I have been eating from very often.

I’m not very good at expressing my self so I’ll cut to the chase. I weight 245lbs and I’m 6’2” what weight should I be shooting for (loss)? I want to tone my body up and I take Whey Protein (Designer Whey right now). I plan on going to the gym M-F.

M/W/F Upper Body

T/TH Lower Body

Sat/Sun off

I’m not sure where I can fit cardio into this workout; this is my first time really thinking about getting in shape. Any help will do.