Your going to think I'm crazy!

lcain25 · 03-27-2008, 09:35 PM

Okay this will be a crazy & weird question to ask, but I'm curios to see if it's happened to anyone else. I work out at least 4-5 times a week for an hour . And I mean i "work" out!!! I do spinning twice a week and then I do a crossfit training class(kind of like bootcamp) well, for the last month I didn't loose any weight. i chalked it up to gaining muscle. I have been unable to go to the gym for two weeks (sick children) and i have lost 3 pds this week!!! Whats up with that. I've noticed when I DON'T work out as much i start to loose more weight? make any sence??? would love to hear if this has ever been a "problem" for you!

Jachut · 03-27-2008, 10:10 PM

Hmmm, I have at times noticed that I've lost a pound or two during a quite couple of weeks - havent run ALL this week for example, am scarfing down carb foods because I'm resting and carb loading for a longdistance run on Sunday. I've lost 2lb.

I think there's a few things to it - but the main one I find is that unless I'm very careful to keep up my carb intake with good wholegrains, running makes me hungrier and I eat more crap. It does burn a lot of energy and your body needs to fuel it, I find emptying out the tank completely and not replacing it jsut leads to sugar cravings, and bad food choices. I can eat and eat and eat cookies seeking energy for example.

And perhaps you do let go of a little water or something when you take a break from exercise too? I'd hardly think you'd lose 3lb of muscle in a week or two.

I always marvel at the Biggest Loser how they work and work and work to win the week's weigh in. I would think that if you're talking pure "weight" loss then to avoid working out (and gaining muscle) just starve on some Atkins type diet and let all your lean muscle melt away with your fat? I reckon anyone who did that for a week would probably win the weigh in!

Bel · 03-30-2008, 10:00 AM

Hey,
The same thing happens to me, i personally think its because since getting the band the muscles in my stomach swell like crazy and i look preggers for days on end, weird huh.
It may be that you not getting enough water? the band can make it hard to get enough water to feed your muscles while they are working out ... i know i find it hard to get my 3 litres down everyday because it usually makes me too full to eat.
hope this was of some help, hang in there.
Bel

renewedhope · 03-30-2008, 01:34 PM

Jachut, I find your response very interesting. I am always interested in your replies in threads. What you have done is very close to my goals with my band. To me, you really are a picture of health. I have recently begun to exercise seriously and routinely. Since my banding I have low carbed it on and off. Since beginning to exercise I find that I am starving, so like you mentioned I am hunting food, any food. What does your diet look like???? Do you count carbs????? What do you consider healthy carbs???? Do you eat differently on workout days????? I plan to train to run a 5k in September. What is carb loading??? Thanks,
Amy

Turler · 03-30-2008, 07:16 PM

When you work out regularly, especially with any weight training, you are increasing your muscle mass. That is a wonderful thing. {That is where it doesn't matter what you weigh (muscle weighs more than fat), but the size you wear and how you look and feel will be amazing. So after you've started to build these muscles, they are constantly burning fat, even at rest. Increasing your calories/carbs doesn't change your metabolism immediately. You can get away with a break and still lose a little weight. Obviously if you continued to eat and not work out, you'd gain weight, but initially you will still lose because your metabolism is in high gear.

Jachut · 03-30-2008, 09:28 PM

My average daily diet is mainly BASED on carbs. I do not cut them out, count them or avoid them in any way. All I avoid is white, sugary carbs like white bread, rolls, processed cereals, biscuits and cakes, muffins and I dont really drink fruit juices and definitely never soft drinks like coke etc.

An average day for me would be:

Breakfast - oatmeal, muesli or wholegrain toast with peanut butter
Mid morning - some fruit or yogurt
Lunch - a sandwich on wholegrain bread - tuna, chicken or cheese, salad vegetables. Hard to eat, takes a long time, high danger of getting stuck and I usually dont finish it.
Mid afternoon - this is often when I'll have a bought coffee like a skim milk latte
Dinner: often meat and 3 veg type meals, the other night we had corned silverside, mashed potato/sweet potato (I just mash without butter) and steamed broccoli and carrots. We often eat things like a lamb curry on brown rice, or pasta meals such as spaghetti bolognaise or a home made lasagne (which I make a low fat version of). We would hardly ever eat fatty, creamy pastas and would only eat take away like pizza or fish and chips maybe once a month.

I find all that bread/grains during the day REALLY keeps me full and keeps me going. I cannot function without carbs, I get lethargic and slow.

Carb loading is not really anything scientific and its something you would do mainly for really long distances like a half marathon, it simply means the night before you eat a meal of something like pasta, and early before your race make sure you have some toast and jam and a banana or something. It fuels your muscles full of glycogen, to provide lots of energy for your run. It really doesnt follow that if you dont do this, then your body will burn fat instead, your body always uses a mix of fuels.

I also tried in my long race yesterday (14kms) a gel at the 10K mark, which is really only 100 calories of sugar/amino acids but it REALLY worked for me, it was amazing. I finished the race strong and felt I could run more (which is good coz I want to do a half marathon in July) whereas at the end of races I'm usually staggering!

renewedhope · 03-30-2008, 11:27 PM

Thanks Jachut, that really helps a lot.