Jsbrook, thank you! I forgot to mention that…wait, no I did say that a ways back in this thread. That my husband asked me if someone said to me “hypothetically, if you stop running today, you would drop 10lbs immediately, would you?” My answer was no, I’d have to find another way. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs, I am a very happy, upbeat person. I coach 5 year old, basketball, baseball and soccer. I am highly active in my church and people always comment about how happy and upbeat I am. I run because I love the challenge of ticking off the miles. I love the way I feel when I run long distances, me and my headphones. It helps make me a fun and relaxed mom. My husband “gets it” everynight and my stepsons think I’m cool and some of their friends have even told them that they think I’m hot. I love my life and have been blessed since the day I was adopted. So, no, I’d say TNT, your fairly innaccurate. But, as always, I appreciate! 
[quote]chubbychick wrote:Anyway, my plan is to maintain the lower calorie moderate exercise (i think what Im doing would be considered moderate=4-5miles running 5x a week with weights 3x, sometimes an additional 30min hilly walk on the tmill) for another week or so and see where it takes me.
[/quote]
It’s your body and your choice. But to ignore long-term effects of the diet you choose can be quite dangerous.
You may find yourself stuck in a corner where nothing but a continuously very low calorie intake can make your weight stick at the point where you want it to be. I think you are there already in a sense, since 1800 kcal with plenty of running didn’t help.
What do you think will happen when your start to feed your body properly again? The survival instincts would probably be to just rebuild the fat stores you might have been able to shed. And how do you think your muscle mass will like the low calorie diet?
every once in a while i glance over message boards and will reply to 3 or 4 people at a time. im very educated on weight loss as my majors include physical therapy and nutrition. to find your maint. cal take your body weight in lbs times 16. this will give you your maint. minus 500-750(3500 calories in a 1 lbs of fat/7days*-500 calories a week= 1lbs) calories from this and stick with that for 3 days. at about that time you will lose about .5 to 1lbs of fat. deduct another 100cal for every lbs of fat lost. keep this up till you reach a desired bf%. you should get a good diet software program that you can make 2-3 menus to cycle through the week. dont forget to deduct calories for every pound lost. stick strong for 2 month and i promise you 8 lbs of pure fat makes a BIG diff. as far as your running goes id cut back to 2-3 20 min sessions a week with 2 full body weight sessions consisting of 3-6 multi joint exercises as these will build more muscle and burn more calories.
running is hard on knees so you might want to change to an elliptical machine if possible. make sure you use good slow form on the weights also. remember that for every new lbs of muscle you gain you eat up an xtra 100 cal a day to maintain it. thats more towards burning fat. it is a bit harder to gain muscle on a calorie deficit though unless your new to lifting so i dont know if youll gain. dont be startled though if you dont lose a lbs every 3-7 days as you might have some new muscle. i assure you that if followed to a t you will succeed. hope this helps. pm me if you have any questions.
Fred, hi, I didnt think 3 weeks of this would have negative long term affects? I plan on upping slowly at the end of this time. Kinda a long
term zigzag I guess. I am aware that
fat stores can be very active when
cutting way back and than “rebounding”
So, I will be very careful about re-entering the caloric world. Kinda like
the re-feed after a V-diet, I guess.
cc
the v-diet is not where you want to go here.
Look up T-Dawg and read up on its priciples. This is what you want to be looking at. It’s geared to guys, but certainly is an effective nutritional lifestyle for anyone.
As I’ve previously stated, the V has its place, this is not it.
Let’s get you away from swings in your diet and focus on a long term change that you can live with.
e-mail on way
CC - I’ve been following this thread with a lot of interest. As a woman with 2 kids, too, I “feel your pain” LOL! I don’t have tons of experience, but I’m really wondering if trying something completely different like CT’s carb cycling diet or the Anabolic Diet might shake things up and give your body a good nudge.
I also wonder about giving up running for one month and substitute a totally different cardio like rowing, elliptical, biking - just another nudge to get some change going. What about tabata thrusters a few days a week?
Just some thoughts… I’d love to know what you do and how it works for you - please keep updating this thread with your progress. I’m looking to drop those last few extra lbs of fat myself Good luck!
Hey Sas, no, not interested in the V AT ALL! Just referring to how he slowly ups his cals, thats all. Thanks.
Jillybop, hi, yup absolutely will keep updating. This thread has illicited alot of great back and forth!
Feel free also, to PM me!
I have decided one thing. After this last bout of verrrry strict calories, etc…and reintroducing more food and such, I am done.
I will eat fairly clean during the week, enjoy my “treats” on the weekend and just train for my marathons. Period end of story. If I am lifting strong and running lots and it happens to be at 130 or so, so be it. I have a strong feeling though that I’m gonna finish this bout a bit lower than that.
I will slowly up cals and up my running again and destiny, etc…blah blah. LOL. Oh by the way, I did stop running this summer for a month or so. I “clammed” everyday for at least an hour which is like shoveling heavy snow. Interestingly enough, I did NOT gain or lose.
[quote]chubbychick wrote:
Hey Sas, no, not interested in the V AT ALL! Just referring to how he slowly ups his cals, thats all. Thanks.
Jillybop, hi, yup absolutely will keep updating. This thread has illicited alot of great back and forth!
Feel free also, to PM me!
I have decided one thing. After this last bout of verrrry strict calories, etc…and reintroducing more food and such, I am done.
I will eat fairly clean during the week, enjoy my “treats” on the weekend and just train for my marathons. Period end of story. If I am lifting strong and running lots and it happens to be at 130 or so, so be it. I have a strong feeling though that I’m gonna finish this bout a bit lower than that.
I will slowly up cals and up my running again and destiny, etc…blah blah. LOL. Oh by the way, I did stop running this summer for a month or so. I “clammed” everyday for at least an hour which is like shoveling heavy snow. Interestingly enough, I did NOT gain or lose.[/quote]
Just remember that “training for marathons” sends the message to your body to store fat. Low intensity, long distance anything (running, rowing, swimming) requires a fair bit of fat.
Train like the warrior that fights the battle, not the messanger that delivers the news of the victory.
The East African distance runners do LSD (long slow distance) for recovery. For training they do short INTENSE intervals. As short as 60m. This enables them to use lees fat as a fuel source and also sends the message to the body to store less fat. They are becoming leaner and stronger. Same thing happened to Lance Armstrong.
I work with a 48 yr. old female marathoner that was training for the Philidelphia marathon and a rowing regatta at the same time (can you say, overtaining??) She couldn’t understand why she couldn’t get below 28%BF. An hour and a half of rowing (LSD) and on alternate days the same amount of running. She ended up with achilles tendinitis and didn’t make the Philly marathon. Up the intensity and lower the volume.
TNT
TNT-Now THAT’s educational! Thank you.
See, I get that. When you explain it like that it makes total sense to me!
Matter of fact. I have lowered the “time” I run on the tmill, (connecticut is cold,cold right now)
and am doing a bit faster, but for half the time. Its not really intervals or HIIT, but its faster that what my body is “comfortable” with. I will do faster bursts, when my bod is fully recovered from my 2 week bout of this darned cold I’ve had.
So you said you “trained” this women, are you a coach?
Anybody who runs for performance reasons should be incorporating intervals, threshold, and tempo running as well. Beyond one long run a week and recovery day/‘junk mileage’ tossed in, there’s not much need to do more slow runing. LSD teaches your body to do just that. Run slow.
Hey Js, yup, I’ve heard that about running slow teaches your body…to run slow. I’ve also heard the disputes on that. As with everything, you can always find the opposing opinion. I love marathons and so there is a “need” for some significant distance in the future. But I am thinking that until than, if I incorporate said tempos’, fartleks, speedplays and such that I can burn some of this fat off. Once thats done, I can add back in some mileage without having to worry about the fat.
Also, for what its worth, I don’t do marathons for time, well, I like to pass the line before they break down the barriers, but other than that, I just like the distances. I hope to do an “ultra” some day, like a 50 miler.
One “trains” dogs. I just offer advice.
Take it or leave it. I usually leave them with, “So how’s it workin’ for you? If you’re satisfied with the results, then stick with it.”
Judy (the marathoner) has an 11" vertical jump. That will give you an idea of how power she can generate.
She is still convinced that she has to do her “miles”.
Be careful with the t-mill. The running mechanics on it are not the same as on the ground. If you’re serious about running well, minimize the use of it.
TNT
in regards calorie counting, do you actually keep a log of everything you eat?
what do you eat? can you give us a typical day’s diet
get more sleep, and beware of calorie counters on treadmills, they are pure fiction.
Hey CC I’ve been following this thread and it does seem you’ve tried nearly everything. Now I’m no expert but here is my personal experience that may help you.
My wife and I have 2 kids as well. My wife was having a similar problem as you are with post partum weight loss. She just couldn’t shake those last few pounds and get her bodyfat where she wanted.
After trying nearly everything with diet and exercise, out of sheer frustration she went to an endocrinologist and had a thyroid level drawn and a complete hormone profile run. Low and behold there was the problem. Her thyroid T-4 levels were below normal limits. The doc prescribed her Cinthroid. Since then she got her thyroid levels back to normal and was able to meet and then exceed her goals and has made amazing changes in her body composition.
So maybe having your Thyroid and hormone profiles checked may not hurt you either.
I wish you the best of luck with your efforts. I’m rooting for your success.
A.B.
TNT, thanks and your marathoner sounds as hard headed as I. lol. I do the tmill in the winter here when its too nasty out, otherwise I looove running outside.
I don’t pay too much attention to the machines calorie counter. I have a Polar rs200sd that gives calorie counts. Even than, I try and underestimate those.
Yes, I use Fitday and if you look towards the beginning of this thread I give an example of a days meals.
Assbuster-thank you so much for your support! I have had my thyroid checked, came back “normal” not sure if they did T4 but I think the T3 came back fine. sigh…
Things right now are actually going pretty well. I’ve cut back on my cardio time and just trying to go harder. I continue my weights which I love and right now I’m around 130 and my bodyfat has actually decreased a bit according to my Tanita, which yes, I only use as a relative measure.
Apparently all of “your” advice out there is helping. THANK YOU
CC, I wouldn’t suggest that you drop all base pace, long runs, and slower work. But all of the most succsseful runners I’ve known also incorporate intervals, lactate threshold runs, etc… I ran at a pretty high level for awhile
Aerobic training will improve your aerobic capacity to do work and the body will store enough fat to fuel that work. Anaerobic training will also improve your aerobic capacity to do work but it will tell the body to store less fat and to build more LBM.
At some point you are going to have to decide if you want to run WELL (improve your competitive times) or if you just like to run. If you just like the feel of the sun and wind in your face and moving across the countryside, then for God’s sake just get a Harley.
TNT