Thanks so much! By the way, I love your blog!
Bekah

Yeah, this is a hard one, because obviously your trainer has a better idea of what you are doing than I do, and if she’s stumped, I’m probably not going to be much help.

To have your body fat go down 8% (which is huge- congrats!) and there be little weight loss is odd, but not unheard of (and definitly frustrating.) 6 pounds is still a loss, though. I’m not going to be able to give you definite answer, but your weight for your height is quite high, and being at that weight, for what I assume is an extended period of time cause do some damage to your body and your metabolism. It might just take a while for your body to adapt to the changes, or there might be something going on.

The only things I can think of are:

- Are you weighing at the same time everyday- on an empty stomach?

- The calories (as long as they are within reason) aren’t as important as what you are eating. If you are eating a lot of starchy carbs- those stick with you for a while, or salt, which can cause water retention (which is usually in processed foods as opposed to the salt you are putting on top of you food- but that has a big effect, too)

- If you have any medical conditions, those may be a factor

- If you are on any medications, those may be a factor

Like I said, 6 pounds is still a loss. Its only been since October that you have upped your calories to 1500 (good job, 1300 is pretty low) so perhaps the switch will kick up your weight loss a bit. It takes a while for your body to adjust to a calorie change, but I would expect you should see some results soon.

If you trust your trainer, (that’s not a dig at her, some people really don’t think their trainers know what they are talking about, but stay with them anyway) I would go see a doctor just to make sure their aren’t any problems, but if you think your routine might not be intense enough, or the focus you are looking for, then see a different trainer to look over your routine and diet to make sure that its the right program for you.

Don’t beat yourself up,- you are probably doing most everything right, and by picking up an exercise habit, you are already way ahead of the game. Be happy you are making improvements on your body and try and focus on the other positive things that are changing, even if it might not be the fast weight loss you are looking for. Sometimes it takes a while for your body to respond.

I’ve been following your blog for about a month now and I absolutely love it!

I’m in a huge rut right now and really need some help. About a year and a half ago, I made a conscious decision to get healthy and I went from my highest weight of 218 to my current weight of 180. Thus far, I’ve managed to do it all on my own and, while I still have a bit to go (my goal is 130; I’m 5’3 btw), I can honestly say that I’m very proud of myself. For the past year and a half, I’ve been able to find time to exercise for almost every day of the week. But things changed when Fall semester started in August(I’m a college sophomore). For the first time, I’m working while in school and my schedule is jam packed. I’m busy from the crack of dawn to nearly midnight on most days. I didn’t want to my schedule to be an excuse to not be active, so I’ve been trying to find ways to get “mini-workouts” through my day. I use my breaks in between classes to go walking. I usually take the stairs when going to class or my dorm room. When going from Point A to Point B, I try to take the longest route possible. While all of this has prevented me from gaining weight, I’m not losing weight either. I know I could lower my calorie intake (I’m currently eating anywhere between 1400 to 1600 calories), but I really don’t want to eat less to lose weight. How can I get more exercise into my day?

My problem doesn’t stop there (I told you I was in a HUGE rut). On weekends, I go home to spend time with family, do my laundry, and buy groceries for my dorm room. When I go home, my eating habits change completely. When I’m staying in my dorm, I eat plenty of fresh fruits and veggies and make sure I’m eating enough complex carbs, protein, and good fats. I’m even started to dabble with organic foods. But when I get home, I’m practically binging on nearly every over-processed food known to man. Cookies, bread, pastries. You name it and I’ve probably had about 20 servings of it in one seating. My parents know that I’m losing weight and they seem to support it. I’m not sure if it’s because of cultural differences (My parents are from Haiti and I’m their only US-born and raised child), but I’m having an incredibly hard time trying to convince them to change their eating habits. Food is a big deal in Haitian culture and, at least in my family, it’s a little disrespectful to not eat the food that is cooked in the house. My mom, in particular, is having a hard time understanding why I eat what I eat. Often times, she finds my preferences of food to be bland (which they are NOT) and dismisses them because they don’t taste as good as “Haitian food”. And when she tries to convince me to eating something that I know is unhealthy, like fried fish, she’d say things like “But it has protein!” It’s so frustrating because I’ve had a problem with binging my whole life and the things are in my family’s kitchen are the very things that I used to spend hours eating when I was little. How can I convince my parents to, at least, change their habits a little?

Sorry for the long-ish email!!

Marsha

Part One: Schedule

This one is hard. Most of the time, when people say they don;t have time to work out, its an excuse because they can make time to workout. I’m going to assume you aren’t exaggerating and that you really truly are that busy- for which, holy cow girl, you poor thing. first of DO NOT CUT DOWN ON YOUR CALORIES you aren’t eating very much as it is, and anything less will halt your progress even more.

So the first thing you need to do is see if there is anyway you can consolidate any of your activites- work and school you obviously have no control over, but are there random errands you do throughout the day that can all be done in one trip at the end of the week? Things you can put off until the weekend? Then, see if there is anything you can do while you workout. Study your textbook on the treadmill? Listen to lectures on your iPod while you walk or lift weights? I find I actually remember material better when I read it while working out- and its harder to get distracted. Next- since your weekend activites aren;t time sensitive, this is when you should be getting in your killer workouts. What you lack in frequency has to be made up with intensity, so find a gym, take some cardio and strength training classes, hire a personal trainer, something that will garantee you get your ass kicked.

Which leads to Part 2: Family

I don;t mean to sound critical, but you are an adult now and your parents have no control over you. This is something that it took me a LONG time to figure out, and actually had to have a counselor scream it in my face because I was always wracked with so much guilt over EVERYTHING when it came to them- even though, at the time, they were toxic for me (which is basically the stem of my past eating disorder and sounds like could be the root of your issues with binging.) Your parents actually sound quite nice, which trust me, even though they can seem overbearing, it could be WAY worse.

You parents raised you and from what I can tell they did a good job. You are responsible, hardworking and can take care of yourself. You do not need to change their habits in order to uphold your healthy ones. They actually sound pretty nice, and not too pressuring, although I know when they are your parents, its harder to stand up to them. Be polite, and just say no thank you. You are going to run into plenty of fituations where people are going to push food on you, and if you cant stand up to the people that love you and support you no matter what, you are going to have a tough time with the people that make fun of you, or roll their eyes.

Just say no. Politely. Say, “thanks mom, and I appreciate you making this food for me, but I’ve told you I am trying to take care of myself and eat better, so I am going to eat what I have prepared for myself.” Make it clear you arent trying to change them, so they shouldnt try and change you.

I’ve been through this. Not so much with unhealthy foods, but with life in general. If your parents are not healthy for you, and they do not help you make wise deicisons for yourself, or make you feel guilty- whether directly or indirectly, don’t see them as often. It didnt even occur to me that I could do that before, but my couselor taught me that you have to look out for number one, which is you, and if anyone, ANYONE, be it family friend or aquaintence, does anything that brings you down, or triggers you to make bad decisions you know you cant afford to make, remove yourself. And trust me, they learn quick. There were many times I would have to stop one of my parents mid sentyence during a visit and say “this situation is not good for me or my health right now and I need to leave. When you can remember to respect that, I’ll come back.” Do that a few times and those critical remarks, backhanded compliments and food pushes will stop quickly.

You need to take care of yourself. You are an adult and no one has control over your life but you. You need to make a change- both in your schedule if its running you ragged, and how you choose to spend your free time if its making you make bad decisions. That doesnt mean you cant see your family, but you may need to teach them that you are an adult and can control how you are treated.

Who’s Coming to Costa Rica With Me???

Thanks,
Jean Love

This is a harder question than I usually answer, because it has less to do with the science of how your body reacts to fitness and more to do with motivation, which is all in your head. Its not so much about finding the time (you know your daily schedule and if you had a random 2 hours of nothing to do you it would be obvious to you you could use that to work out) its about MAKING the time.

Life getting in the way is an excuse. Everyone has a life, and while they may very a bit, everyone is busy. I work 5:15-12:00 as a trainer, come home and write an average of 4 articles a day, blog, grocery shop for clients, which takes me to about 5 pm, sometimes later, so I basically work 12 hours a day. I don’t even consider myself on of the busiest: I have a short commute, and I don’t even have kids which are a huge a time suck- yet I work out almost every day. I know mommies that work out almost everyday while having families to take care of. Busy executives, people that work the night shift, double shifts- I know many of them that work out consistently. I know people that hold down full time jobs and have families still train hours a day for marathon s and triathlons. My point is, everyone has to deal with life- the difference is, these people make working out a priority. Its nonnegotiable. So how do you get to this point?

Dave Fannin has a great blog for his gym in Texas, and he writes about this kind of stuff a lot. He’s pretty no-nonsense/no excuses which is what is needed when it comes to motivation, so Im going to be linking to him a lot in the rest of my answer.

You need to make working out a priority. It needs to be a To Do item, and not a To Do If I Have Time item. The best way to do this is work out in the morning, and get it out of the way. You say you aren’t a morning exercise person, nor am I, but I have the luxury of not being one: I still fit in my workouts. If you don’t fit them in later, you have to become a morning exerciser. The good news is, you can totally do this. Here’s one of Dave’s articles on how to actually get up early, and here’s an article about freeing up more time within your day to exercise if you absolutely can’t.

So now you have the time, but a workout isn’t going to help you if you don’t actually go. The only way you are going to get out of the house and to your workout is if you love your workout. You love yoga, which gets you there more often than anything else, but you need weights and cardio. You said you work best with appointments, so if you have the funds, get another trainer that you really like. If that’s too expensive for you, get a gym membership that offers a lot of classes. Classes and group workouts are going to be more motivating for a lot of reasons.

You also need to set some clear goals. If you dont have a vision of what you want to do, there isn’t going to be anything that will pull you into the gym, even when you dont want to go (which is going to happen.) Here is a list of 50 reasons to never miss a workout, but you are also going to need to set concrete goals just for you. You want to lose 50 pounds, which is great, but thats not a very motivating goal, since its not specific. This post will teach you how to set realistic and motivating goals.

I know that’s a lot of reading, but that’s because motivation is something you have to teach yourself. No one is just naturally motivated to work out. Some people may seem that way, but its just because they know the importance of working out and how it makes them feel, so its a no brainer to take a break and get sweating. You can be one of those people, too, you just need to find a way to enjoy it.

Christina

I can tell by the tone of your email that you are freaking out about this, but remember you dont even know what it is. Go see your doctor. If its a strain, it should heal fairly quickly, so as long as you listen to what the doctor says and dont do anything to aggrevate it, it should heal in a couple weeks and you can go right back to what you were doing.

Endurance and muscle don’t go away over night- in fact, the average rate of losing muscle mass is about half the rate it took you to put it on. so however long it took you to gain that muscle it will take twice as long for it to start to atrophy. And even then, its not like it all dissappears at once- chances are you wont even notice it. You might be sore the first few workouts after healing up, but that happens anytime you take a break.

If you continue to workout the muscles you use when you run with weights, or other cardio activities, of course you won’t lose muscle mass. Chances are, you’ll see better results because you’ve mixed up your routine a bit, which everyone needs to do.

I always get clients that call in and say, “doctor said i cant use my knee for a while, so ill see you in two weeks,” to which i reply, “nice try- there are always ways to make modifications to workouts that no matter what your injury, you can work all your muscles. Get your ass in here.”

Unless your legs need to be amputated, Im quite sure you will run again. Breathe. Everyone gets injuries. Hell, avid runners break their legs sometimes, and get right back to running after they heal up. I realize you put a lot of work into your training, but put it into perspective: you don’t have to run constantly in order to stay in shape. I never run, and I’m in shape. Just find something else to do, like spinning, which you mentioned, until the doctor gives you the go ahead.

Every Gym’s Nightmare, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog,

Enjoy!

Hi Everyone!

If you guys like it enough- I’ll do more I promise! : )

OMG, everyone has to promise to do that sometime today right along with video. I already did. I’m not kidding.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

If you would like to share why you are every gym’s nightmare, email me your story at kelly@everygymsnightmare.com, and I will post your “I Am Every Gym’s Nightmare” here on the site.

Every Gym’s Nightmare, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog,