So, I've been working out, but...

[Draft Dodger]

After my most recent doctor visit and seeing that my very low HDL (good cholesteral) numbers are still very low (and still dropping), I decided to finally get serious about my threat to start exercising.

so, I found an exercise show I like - Gilad's Total Body Sculpt on FitTV, and have been very dedicated to it, working out 5 or 6 days a week. I like the workout because the exercises aren't complicated (I'm a clutz), it's relatively low-impact (I have bad knees), it works a lot of different muscle groups (although abs get worked every time), and one of his helpers (Danielle) has humungous knockers.
That part is all good - I haven't had a daily exercise program since, well, ever, and I really am enjoying the workout and the way it makes me feel. The wife has even started doing it too.

But I am surprised at one thing: I've been doing this for 4 or 5 weeks now, and I haven't lost any weight. I've been very careful to watch what I eat to avoid ramping up my caloric intake. I'm not sure I could say that I'm eating less calories, but I know I'm not eating more. I figured that if I kept my intake at around the same level, and started exercising each day for 30 minutes, in theory I'd start to slowly start shedding pounds - and slowly is fine. I'm not so much disappointed about the lack of weight loss as I am surprised. I'm a big guy at 250 lbs, but I'm totally comfortable with the way I look - this is more of a health thing. Although I'd like to ultimately get down to 200, my biggest goal is to get in better shape and hopefully get that HDL up to more reasonable numbers and lower the heart attack risk (bigtime family history of heart trouble - I'm trying to become the first male to live long enough to see grandkids in 3 or 4 generations).

I know the exercise is doing good - I feel a LOT better, and exercises I could barely do a month ago (crunches, for example) are now much easier. But I'm confused about the weight. A few people I've talked to chalked it up to "building muscle" and I went with that for a bit (the muscle groups are getting worked really well), but it seems like after a while I would have seen some difference on the scale as well. Again, the weight loss is the least important part of all of this, and I really do feel (and see) a big improvement - just not on the bottom line. Is there something I'm missing on this? It really seems odd that I wouldn't be losing weight.

[Noop]

Take a turbo exlax that is about 12 pounds of shit you could do without.

[KevinNU7]

The first few weeks are tough. Your muscles have gone from little work to a good amount of work. Your body is spending alot of time building up the muscles for your new workout regime, once your muscles are built to sufficent levels for your workout your body will beginning buring more calories. Keep up the good work the pounds will shed off soon!

Also, keep in mind that working out doesn't always improve your good Cholesteral levels, changing your diet to include more fish and oils is a great way to bring that number up.

[Honolulu_Blue]

PING Indoorsoccersim

[Draft Dodger]

The first few weeks are tough. Your muscles have gone from little work to a good amount of work. Your body is spending alot of time building up the muscles for your new workout regime, once your muscles are built to sufficent levels for your workout your body will beginning buring more calories. Keep up the good work the pounds will shed off soon!


well that makes sense, and is kind of what I was thinking...I just thought by now I would have turned the corner.

[Flasch186]

is there any Cardio at all going on?

[Draft Dodger]

Also, keep in mind that working out doesn't always improve your good Cholesteral levels, changing your diet to include more fish and oils is a great way to bring that number up.

fish? nah, don't like that. :D
I'm going back for more bloodwork in a month. Back at my last visit, my doctor upped my daily niacin dosage to 1500 mg, suggested I drink a glass of red wine every day, and, of course, the exercise thing. Anxious to see if those are enough to improve things, as I think her next recommendation will be drugs, and I'd rather not go down that road if I don't have to. But I'd rather take drugs than eat fish!

[JimmyWint]

Sounds like you are doing what I first did when I got into fitness. I started using a Gilad tape and I did that every day for about a month. Then I got a membership to the YMCA and got serious. I lost 50# in 35 days.

Between Cutting my caloric intake to about 1500 a day and doing 1 hour of either running or eliptical work (It started out as walking and I gradually started running) I was able to shed the weight pretty quickly.

That was 6 years ago...Now I try to lift 3 times a week and do cardio 3 times a week. You can lose the weight it just takes dicipline and a lot of sweat!

[ice4277]

Yeah, you have to do a fair share of cardio to really drop the weight. I did much like JmmyWint and dropped about 75 pounds total. Elipticals are the best cardio way to go IMO.

[CamEdwards]

fish? nah, don't like that. :D
I'm going back for more bloodwork in a month. Back at my last visit, my doctor upped my daily niacin dosage to 1500 mg, suggested I drink a glass of red wine every day, and, of course, the exercise thing. Anxious to see if those are enough to improve things, as I think her next recommendation will be drugs, and I'd rather not go down that road if I don't have to. But I'd rather take drugs than eat fish!

Ahem. Allow me to guilt trip you a bit here.

"Grandma, why isn't Grandpa around to see us go to kindergarten?"

"Because he hated fish more than he loved his grandkids."

Now, please perform the same guilt trip on me because I haven't yet stopped smoking. :mad:

[Desnudo]

How hard are you working during the workout? Are you elevating your heart rate and breaking into a sweat?

[rkmsuf]

maybe he needs to pump harder

[Swaggs]

You had me at humungous knockers.

[rkmsuf]

Gilad

I remember that guy in the early ESPN days and him sprinting down the beach in the opening.

[maximus]

DD, you wouldn't happen to be taking any beta blockers (high blood pressure pills) would you?

[maximus]

But I am surprised at one thing: I've been doing this for 4 or 5 weeks now, and I haven't lost any weight.

It taks the body a good 3-4 weeks to convert from sugar buring to fat burning mode. Once the fat burning process starts then it usually falls off 1 to 2 pounds per week (differs per person).

edit: spelling (man does my typing suck).

[maximus]

is there any Cardio at all going on?

This is a good question. I would image that part of what he is doing is cardio since those tapes he is watching has a cardio section built into it (from what I recall). One think many people fail to do is incluse cardio into their workouts. Rememebr, 3500 cal = 1 pound. People do not like to cal count but the main benifit to this is one can dramatically cut weight/BF down by cal counting. It does take time to get used to but it works.

I too am on a program. However, I weight train a lot. I have yet to see a drop in actual weight in 2 months but since I weight train I can't expect to drop weight. What I can expect is to drop pant sizes. This ,DD, should be what you should be doing imo. Don't use the scale as your way telling yourself if you are lossing weight or not, use the pant sizes you wear. If your pants feel loose - then you're lossing weight. ;)

[Draft Dodger]

Ahem. Allow me to guilt trip you a bit here.

"Grandma, why is Grandpa around to see us go to kindergarten?"

"Because he hated fish more than he loved his grandkids."

Now, please perform the same guilt trip on me because I haven't yet stopped smoking. :mad:

:)
good catch.
truth is, my doctor seems to think that my issue is less diet-related and more genetic and exercise related. my other blood stuff (blood pressure, LDL, etc) are all well within reasonable levels - actually, I have focused on eating better over the last year or two since we first started working on this, and my bad cholesteral has gone down from like 160ish to 135 - which we're happy with. I'm wondering if maybe she doesn't want to risk throwing the other numbers off kilter by trying to fix that one area. But, IANAD, so I don't know.

as a fitness neophyte, I don't know how good or bad the Gilad workout is. I know am definitely working up a sweat and increasing the heart rate, but whether that's "cardio" enough or not I can't tell you. It's not really fast paced...but it is hard, steady work, if that makes sense.

[Draft Dodger]

DD, you wouldn't happen to be taking any beta blockers (high blood pressure pills) would you?

taking 10 pills a day right now, but blood pressure is good...

[maximus]

taking 10 pills a day right now, but blood pressure is good...


You take 10 beta blockers per day? I just want to clear that up because I know that some people take beta blockers but one pill twice a day.

This also may be the reason why you have yet to see a drop in BF (or weight). Beta blockers lower your overall heart rate. This can have an effect on your metabolism which also can result in no weight loss.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

If you want to lose weight fast incorporate some RIPPED FUEL and STACKER 2 to your diet.

[maximus]

If you want to lose weight fast incorporate some RIPPED FUEL and STACKER 2 to your diet.


Not if you are on beta blockers.

[Draft Dodger]

You take 10 beta blockers per day? I just want to clear that up because I know that some people take beta blockers but one pill twice a day.

This also may be the reason why you have yet to see a drop in BF (or weight). Beta blockers lower your overall heart rate. This can have an effect on your metabolism which also can result in no weight loss.

no no, sorry.
no beta blockers.

2 multivitamins
a baby aspirin
3 500 mg niacin
2 relafan(sp?) for my knees
2 glucosimine (also for my knees)

can't wait til I'm really old and can start using BIGGER pillboxes... :(

[maximus]

no no, sorry.
no beta blockers.

2 multivitamins
a baby aspirin
3 500 mg niacin
2 relafan(sp?) for my knees
2 glucosimine (also for my knees)

can't wait til I'm really old and can start using BIGGER pillboxes... :(


Ahh, OK. Sorry for misunderstanding. :)

[dawgfan]

Seems to me that using your scale reading as a measure of your workout routine is similar to using batting average as an indicator of batter effectiveness - it tells part of the story, but it isn't the best metric.

Is the goal simply to lose pounds? Probably not - you're trying to get healthier, and you probably want to look more fit (who doesn't?) - so how much you weigh isn't the best guage of what you're doing. A better thing to look at is your dimensions - are you gaining muscle? Are you losing inches off your waistline? Are you losing fat buildup? Are you stronger? Is your cardio-vascular system improved? These are much better ways of measuring your progress.

[dawgfan]

Dola - too bad you don't like fish. Do you dislike all fish? Even salmon? Too bad if so - salmon is particularly good for you. Lucky for me I think salmon is one of the delicacies of the food world...

[Draft Dodger]

Seems to me that using your scale reading as a measure of your workout routine is similar to using batting average as an indicator of batter effectiveness - it tells part of the story, but it isn't the best metric.

Is the goal simply to lose pounds? Probably not - you're trying to get healthier, and you probably want to look more fit (who doesn't?) - so how much you weigh isn't the best guage of what you're doing. A better thing to look at is your dimensions - are you gaining muscle? Are you losing inches off your waistline? Are you losing fat buildup? Are you stronger? Is your cardio-vascular system improved? These are much better ways of measuring your progress.

yes, and the answer to ALL of those questions (besides my goal) is yes. I can see rather remarkable improvements in all those areas, and I'm incredibly happy with the results - before long I'll be sending naked pics to suicane just like shorty does. Just kind of surprised that I haven't dropped any at all, but, that's why this board is great - I now have a much better understanding of why.

[FBPro]

Dola - too bad you don't like fish. Do you dislike all fish? Even salmon? Too bad if so - salmon is particularly good for you. Lucky for me I think salmon is one of the delicacies of the food world...
Salmon is my fav, OMG is it good. Grilled, broiled, baked and stuffed :)

Yummy.

[Draft Dodger]

Dola - too bad you don't like fish. Do you dislike all fish? Even salmon? Too bad if so - salmon is particularly good for you. Lucky for me I think salmon is one of the delicacies of the food world...

yeah, just not a big fan of fish at all. I could probably eat some if I had to...salmon being the exception. I hate it. go figure.

[dawgfan]

Well, if you do eat fish, make sure it's grilled, baked or broiled. Deep-frying negates the healthy benefits inherent in fish. And unfortunately for you, salmon has the most beneficial natural oils...

[Honolulu_Blue]

After my most recent doctor visit and seeing that my very low HDL (good cholesteral) numbers are still very low (and still dropping), I decided to finally get serious about my threat to start exercising.

so, I found an exercise show I like - Gilad's Total Body Sculpt on FitTV, and have been very dedicated to it, working out 5 or 6 days a week. I like the workout because the exercises aren't complicated (I'm a clutz), it's relatively low-impact (I have bad knees), it works a lot of different muscle groups (although abs get worked every time), and one of his helpers (Danielle) has humungous knockers.
That part is all good - I haven't had a daily exercise program since, well, ever, and I really am enjoying the workout and the way it makes me feel. The wife has even started doing it too.

But I am surprised at one thing: I've been doing this for 4 or 5 weeks now, and I haven't lost any weight. I've been very careful to watch what I eat to avoid ramping up my caloric intake. I'm not sure I could say that I'm eating less calories, but I know I'm not eating more. I figured that if I kept my intake at around the same level, and started exercising each day for 30 minutes, in theory I'd start to slowly start shedding pounds - and slowly is fine. I'm not so much disappointed about the lack of weight loss as I am surprised. I'm a big guy at 250 lbs, but I'm totally comfortable with the way I look - this is more of a health thing. Although I'd like to ultimately get down to 200, my biggest goal is to get in better shape and hopefully get that HDL up to more reasonable numbers and lower the heart attack risk (bigtime family history of heart trouble - I'm trying to become the first male to live long enough to see grandkids in 3 or 4 generations).

I know the exercise is doing good - I feel a LOT better, and exercises I could barely do a month ago (crunches, for example) are now much easier. But I'm confused about the weight. A few people I've talked to chalked it up to "building muscle" and I went with that for a bit (the muscle groups are getting worked really well), but it seems like after a while I would have seen some difference on the scale as well. Again, the weight loss is the least important part of all of this, and I really do feel (and see) a big improvement - just not on the bottom line. Is there something I'm missing on this? It really seems odd that I wouldn't be losing weight.

http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/060405/pure-tacos-here.gif

[DanGarion]

yeah, just not a big fan of fish at all. I could probably eat some if I had to...salmon being the exception. I hate it. go figure.
The Omega-3 in fish is really good for you, there are also eggs with added Omega-3 in them.

[Draft Dodger]

nice HB.
it's a heck of a lot more than tacos, I can tell you that...

[Draft Dodger]

well, I thought I'd give a little update...

ran into a bit of a roadblock on the 4th when I bruised my ribs pretty badly climbing onto a diving platform in a lake (yep, I'm a clutz). At first I thought they were broken, and for about 7-10 days I couldn't do any sort of exercise (or sleep on my stomach, for that matter). Anyway, they've improved substantially, and now I'm back to my routine, and have added about 10 minutes of crunches to whatever is on the show.

Overall, I'm down about 7 pounds or so (our scale is a bit flaky), which is nice results for the 8 weeks I've been doing this. Saturday I attended a funeral, and was shocked and pleased to find that my pants now fit perfectly again (when I wore them in May, there were really too tight to wear, but I didn't have another option). Being able to fit into pants that really haven't fit properly in 3 or 4 years is much more substantial to me than what I'm seeing on the scale. So yeah, things are good.

Whether any of this does any good for my cholesteral, I wont know until Monday, but in the other areas, it's been great

[MizzouRah]

Way to go DD! I'm pulling for you. Cholesteral is a weird thing. I'm on medication, drink 2 glasses of Tropicana's cholesteral lowering OJ, use Smart Balance butter, and well.. I'm hoping for a good report come December.

[Eaglesfan27]

Congrats DD!

Yeah, Cholesterol is odd. I'm overweight, don't really exercise much (I ride a stationary bike for about 40 minutes 3 times a week), eat quite a few foods that I shouldn't eat, but my cholesterol is excellent. My Dad's side of the family has always been overweight, but always had very good cholesterol levels. My mom's side of the family is generally overweight with bad cholesterol levels. Hopefully, I keep taking after my dad on this issue.

Anyway, keep up the great work DD :)

[WrongWay]

First. Water, Water, Water. Where is the water intake numbers?

Second. Look at buying some Flax Oil softgels. I swear buy this stuff for weight loss. I also do not eat fish, but use the softgels morning and night and I add the regular "Refrigerated" Flaxseed Oil to my shakes.

EFAs will be the next buzz word in dieting. Essential Fatty Acids.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

What does flax oil do?

[gstelmack]

What does flax oil do?
Apparently it makes you want to attack independent software developers because they can't turn out product fast enough to suit your tastes...

[Cringer]

I had a bad finish to my workout Sunday. Ran/walked my ass off, then put in some good time on the weights. Afterwards I take shower, and being a guy a go ahead and take a piss. It was pretty dark red. Woohoo. First sign of my stones, which I think I mentioned before... :p