Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Sunday, July 20, 2008 kkmama asks

Q: I am not able to lose weight despite drastically increasing my exercise and eating "clean". What ca

I am 5' 10", 41 years old.  And weigh 234 right now.  In January I started working out with a personal trainer 3 times a week.  We had to start pretty basica and do some rehab as I was/ am dealing with old injuries and a left knee that doesn't do what I want it to!  And I have been journalling my food and for the most part eating clean.  And a couple months ago I started Urban Poling, aka Nordic Walking to increase my cardio and to enhance weight loss.  I had body composition done last week and my measurements have not changed since January.  My muscle mass has increased by 16 pounds and I have lost 4 pounds of body fat.  And my scale says that I have actually gained 10 pounds. 

 

What is happening.  I don't understand.  I have been putting forth great energy towards losing weight and getting healthy and I am getting no results.  I am ready to just give up and accept that I am going to be fat forever.

 

Please help.

 

Sincerely,

 

Christina Vernon

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Answers (2)
The HealthGal, Health Guide
7/30/08 7:43pm

Did your trainer do some physical assessments to determine that the weight gain is muscle??  Are you doing that much weight training and do you see or feel "frank muscle development?"  Has your trainer looked at your journals and approved your menu plans in terms of calories, amount of protein, carb choices and portions sizes and daily frequency?  Are you checking your pulse several times during the workout to see if you are truly hitting aerobic rates of calorie burning consistently??

So many of us just make assumptions on all the above and the "fragile balance" of creating calorie deficit or burning calories with exercise really has to be objectively determined and observed.  In plain lingo - that means that most people innocently think their journal is clean -and sometimes it isn't, or they are eating bigger portions than they realize or they think they are burning alot more calories than they are - it is truly human nature.  So the best way to get to the root of the problem  - is to possibly involve your trainer more AND think about a consult with a nutritionist or dietician.

I've been helping people for more than 20 years and by and large it is troubleshooting what they are doing -really dissecting it - that often helps to shift the situation.

 

I do tell clients to do different aerobic exercise daily so your body constantly remains challenged - I run 2 days a week, use the elliptical once a week, play tennis for 2 hrs once a week, use the stairmaster once a week - so I really have it "hard" everyday. My daily aerobic exercise is 50-60 minutes plus 2 days a week I do 30-40 minutes of weight training.

I also tell clients to measure every portion of food for 7 days and take note of total daily calories  -  so we can really analyze.  that's what a nutritionist can help you with.

 

Hope some of those suggestions help.

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8/ 5/08 7:02pm

no

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By kkmama— Last Modified: 11/16/10, First Published: 07/20/08