I dont wanna workout!

I started working out once before when I wanted to lose weight. I went the whole nine yards, 3-5 times a week cardio for about 45-60 minutes, weight traning, took the 3 free personal trainer lessons, etc. I did this great for almost three months. I never lost ANYTHING.

Now, I know how this works, my fat was being replaced by muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. I did lose a lot of fat according to the scale that you measure body fat percentage on. That's nice and all, but it did not make my clothes any looser, my thighs any thinner, or my self esteem any better. I got pregnant, and all my muscle reverted back to fat.

I have heard not to weight train at my larger size bc I will not lose inches, just fat, but it will become muscle and stay the same size. That is soooo not what I want. Can I just be lazy and lose weight? I can take a walk now and then, but I am actually afraid to do much exercising, because I want to be skinny first, then have muscles. Is anyone else thinking like this, is there any truth to this???

hi

i completely understand. I myself started out 2 years ago at 193lbs. my target was 150. I found myself on the 'body for life' program , which i must say , look VERY appealing!! I wanted that body! Apparently in only 3 months.

Well there was at the gym, running on a treadmill to 'warm up'. Well, i have to tell you that my knees and joints were taking a HUGE beating. Why? I realized i was running with the body and muscle mass of a 150 pound man, but was carrying around 43 extra pounds like a 'saline floppy bag' of fat  jiggling up and down as i went, adding undo pressure on my body that was not designed to carry that extra tonnage.

So i decided i didnt need nor was it probably heathly to chase after this 'greek god' body in 90 days. It can stretch the program out from 90 days to one year. First i needed to lose a whole pile of fat so that i COULD safely work out without damaging my body.

I swithed to light exersize, walking,  and the ZONE diet. I lost 35 pounds in 7 months. Patience and a lifelong commitment to permanent change in eating habits is the key.

too bad i then took it for granted and gained back 20 . I figured i could eat a bowl of honeycombs at 3 am. Then some fried chicken, then some pizza.

So now im up at 173 and back on the path. Oh well. Sometimes you have to try more than once to permanently suceed.

hope this helps.

Meredith...although I empathize with your frustration, I think you have the wrong idea about fat vs. muscle.

Fat is a big mass of flabby stuff...five pounds of fat takes up a lot of space on your body. Muscle is lean and tight...five pounds of muscle takes up takes up a lot less space on your body. Also, an important thing to remember is that muscle helps your body burn more calories...the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism gets to work after you've eaten.

In your post, you only mentioned working out (both cardio and weight training - which is great)...but you didn't elaborate on your dieting plans. It doesn't matter how hard or how much you're working out...if you're not eating right, then you'll never lose weight.

By coupling intense workouts with healthy dieting, you'll be well on your way to a skinnier and more fabulous you. It's really that simple...diet and exercise...diet and exercise.

I'd also like to add that muscle does not revert to fat. Fat and muscle are two different types of cells. Muscle doesnt' turn to fat, and fat to muscle. You either gain or lose the other. When you gain muscle in certain places, and notice a firmer, toner area, it's not that the fat turned to muscle, you have just gained muscle mass, and lost fat in that area. And vice versa.

Okay, everything makes sense that everyone is saying.

No, my diet was not good at the time - I would come home starving after a good cardio workout, and figure I could eat what I wanted. I see the fallacy in that after adding up some activities for the day.

I did not really mean my muscle turned into fat. That was a bad word choice on my part. I just meant that I lost my mucsle and gained fat at the same time. You know, when I first started gaining it back while preg. I realize now that the scale did not move for two months bc I was losing the muscle and replacing it with fat just as fast. Ouch!

I still worry, though, that I should lose fat first. Maybe I should introduce exercise when I hit a plateau (sp?). And I do like to run, too. I was so proud of myself running a mile w/o stopping before. I was starting to get faster and faster. I probably cant run half a mile w/o walking now!

Thanks for the responses, anyone else have anything to add?

I had the same problem for a while.  I was exercising 5 days a week (cardio & light weights, high reps to tone muscle) and I was teaching dance 5 nights a week for 3 hours...and the scale didn't move from September-December.  I was so frustrated.

I went to the doctor, who did some blood tests and found that my cortisol level was high, which was contributing to my "failure" ( I don't like that word).  She also talked about what I was eating and I told her I was sure that I was only eating 1500-1700 calories a day.  She told me to keep better track for a few days and see what I noticed...I noticed that I was really eating 2000-2300 a day.  As soon as I started monitoring my actual intake, the weight has dropped off. 

I have kept the same workout/teaching routine & only modified my diet...I have lost 20 lbs since January.

Look into what you are eating...it may be more than you think.

Everyone on here is exactly right, Meredith.  It doesn't matter how hard you work out, if you go home and put JUNK into your body with the excuse of "oh well I ran a mile today, I can eat more" then you are doomed to failure.  About 2 months ago I got fed up with being fat and joined a gym and COMPLETELY changed my eating habits.  I went from a lifestyle of sitting on the couch watching tv and eating around 3500 calories a day to an hour of exercise 5 times a week and 1500 calories a day.  You know what happened?  I've lost 45 lbs and just FEEL a whole hell of a lot better.  You can't look at it as a temporary diet...you need to change your lifestyle or you'll never lose it and keep it off.  So to sum up, the old addage holds true.  Diet + Exercise = Slim Happy You!

No - I want a change in my eating habits totally. I was so out of control before I came here. 3500 a day easy, binge eating as well. No excercise to speak of.

I just want to fit into the clothes I used to wear. I have a closetfull doing me no good. I am just afraid that I will gain too much muscle and be bigger than I was before when I weighed less.

I do not want to push myself too much too fast, and decide it is too hard and give up either.

That is exactly what I told the nurse in Dec. I have worked out for 20 years and I am tired of doing it. This time counting the calories made a difference and I'm finally glad I'm back to working out. I feel better I look better I even sleep better. There just isn't any easy way to do this. Move and count calories is the only sure fire way to get to your goal. It takes time but it is worth it.

guys.

i see the benefit of working out. But from my experience, patience is the key. Working out when we over 25 pounds overweight puts a huge strain on the real frame we have underneath all that blub.

light exersize to get the metabolizm working and permanent diet changes is what worked for me until i was light enough to take the pounding of lifting weights and heavier exercise.

i guess for me it came down to a choice. Knock myself in my insatiable zeal to look fantastic in 3 months and probably hurt myself , or take it easy and realize this is a life long commitment. The great body will come in due time.

tom- i agree with you.. i've got a huge ton of weight on me right now and i'm just walking at a brisk pace for me (3.4 mph) i know it's not fast for most people but believe me it's fast for me especially when i started i was at 2.8!   I think the best thing to do when you are seriously over weight is to get more of the flab off before seriously lifting weights which means cardio and am doing really well just walking right now.. i plan to start on the eliptical when i get down further but right now i'm losing a bunch just walking and i feel soooo much better. start off small and work your way up.. i think that that is what works!  :) 

This is a really good thread!
It's good to hear that slow and steady wins the race, mostly because it has never worked for me the other way. Now, I too got fed up with being fat so I am counting the calories and walking knowing that this is a for life change.
It's only been a little under 2 weeks but I already feel better. The real funny thing is I don't think I've every eaten this well! Having to eat healthy forces you to try new dishes, use better more wholesome ingredients and I've found that I really enjoy it.
Before starting this I was in a food rut. Same things every week... it was boring.... This is much better :)

hi

thankyou. I am VERY GLAD we can look at it as a journey. We all want that fabulous bod that we want others to oogle over. We all want more confidence , and to feel and look better.

What we dont want, is to have unrealistic timeline expectations -aka 'lose 30 pounds in a month' fab diets we have all tried and ended up fatter and or sicker then when we started. Frustrated, we just give up and chow down. We dont want to exersize so much as to injure our out of shape bodies that we give up in pain and frustration -and chow down.

I know we will all get that fab body, but honestly, we need to concentrate on permanent lifestyle changes with our diet and activity . If we concentrate on that, the rest will follow.

hi guys,   I have to say that I do feel better that I'm not the only one getting frustrated about that darn scale!!! I have been doing 5 days a week, 3 days cardio usually 2-3 days weights. I was told that you have to gain muscle so that your metabolism will increase. I started in the beginning of jan. and my weight has gone up and down , only give and take 4 pounds!, but I have not lost a grerat amount of weight. I have also been eating great too!!! Every time I get frustrated, I just keep thinking that I have to stick with it!!! I know it can be really hard. I have noticed I'm getting leaner, thank god. patience, and an occational good treat will help.   DARN THAT SCALE!!!!!!!

I have lost 8 pounds since starting on March 5 (? I think) I have not overly restricted my calories, 1600 at first, 1250 now, nor have I started a big workout plan, I have even (horrors) went over my calories a couple times, one time 2500!

I do not care if it takes a year to reach my goal weight, but I am not going to try to change everything at once. I have controlled my eating and I think that is the biggest step, followed by being more active. If it took a more than a year to put on, it is going to take time to come off.

58 pounds to go!

hi

congrats to the guys working out. I know it is the fast track to a better you.

congrats to you meridith for losing 8 lbs in less than 2 weeks!! wow.