Is it possible to work out too much?
Monday through Friday I keep my calorie count at 1500 and on the weekend I don't count but I would estimate it would be around 2000. Monday, Wednesday and Friday I do 1 hour on the elliptical and 30 minutes strength training. Tuesday and Thurday I bike ride 15-20 miles for about an hour and a half. Saturday I bike 25 miles for two hours and Sunday I do elliptical for 30 minutes and yoga for an hour. Sometimes I walk at an incline instead on the elliptical. I don't want to lose weight, I want to maintain. Should I have to do this much exercise? For the most part I enjoy it but it seems even if I was to consume 2000 calories a day but burn 700-1000 a day I should be losing rather than maintaining. I am concerned if I cut back I will gain. Any ideas or suggestions?
you work out to much, doing that much cardio is actually bad for you, especially on that diet, you are going to blow out your adrenal glands, then you will have alot of problems. If I were you then I would cut out alot of cardio in fact if I were you I would stop doing cardio for a week and eat more, if you don't want to gain weight i suggest you do some weight training, muscle burns fat even while your sitting. by the way you do not eat enough either. you might gain at first, cause your body is probably freaking out right now, you burning all those calories but barely eating. It will go back to normal if you stop hurting yourself~erica
Exercise dosages is entirely goal-dependent; though yours seem a bit much if you've only got recreational goals and you're probably under-eating for maintenance if you're going to continue doing this much.
Cutting back on the exercise will involve some period of adjustment of both intake and output - you're trying to hit a moving target from the back of the horse as it were. The thing to do is to make experimental adjustments with the understanding that it'll take a few weeks before you can tell what the effects of those adjustments are, so once you make a change by decreasing the exercise you'll have to wait until a few weeks later before your body works out what your new energy balance is. In the meantime it's possible to see fluctuations based on water weight due to your body adjusting water and glycogen stores - you'll need to ignore those swings until your body's had a chance to establish a new homeostasis around the new input/output levels you're giving it.
But it comes back to your goal too - with that much biking; are you doing it because you feel you have to, or because you enjoy biking? If it's something you're doing for the fun of it I don't see the need to cut down; if you're feeling like it's a chore more than anything then yes, by all means adjust the dial down some.
Original Post by ericaaxe:
you work out to much, doing that much cardio is actually bad for you~erica
Oh please. 
mcheather71 read what melkor has posted he put it quite well, and asked the important question of why you are doing it. Also depending on what your stats are you might not be eating enough.
UD
Thank you melkor for the informative post. Most of the time I enjoy working out and I enjoy riding my bike. But sometimes, I think to myself (usually when my alarm is going off at 5am), how much longer do I have to keep this up? Or, I think to myself, I should be able to eat a giant chocolate cake and not gain weight right? But since my weight is not changing at all, my conclusion would be that I can't eat a giant chocolate cake. (not that I really want to just an example). Also, I just don't want to lose my exercise routine. I feel like once I slack off it might be a slippery slope. Perhaps I will add some more protein to my diet and up my calories a bit, and cut back my Saturday ride to one hour and see what happens. My stats are I am 5ft6in and 128lbs, 38 years old.
What exactly are you eating? It is impossible, just going from a number, to understand what is going on with your nutrition. But, I suspect something IS going on with your nutrition.
Also, if you start to dread working out..PLEASE take a week off [at least].You will be OK - weight wise, I promise. EVERYONE that is working out CORRECTLY takes a week or two off every 2 mos. or so. Taking that week doesn't mean sitting on the couch. Walks and other forms of casual activity is great. Even leisure bike rides. Also, you honestly should take a least ONE day off a week from vigorous exercise.
Original Post by mcheather71:
Thank you melkor for the informative post. Most of the time I enjoy working out and I enjoy riding my bike. But sometimes, I think to myself (usually when my alarm is going off at 5am), how much longer do I have to keep this up? Or, I think to myself, I should be able to eat a giant chocolate cake and not gain weight right? But since my weight is not changing at all, my conclusion would be that I can't eat a giant chocolate cake. (not that I really want to just an example). Also, I just don't want to lose my exercise routine. I feel like once I slack off it might be a slippery slope. Perhaps I will add some more protein to my diet and up my calories a bit, and cut back my Saturday ride to one hour and see what happens. My stats are I am 5ft6in and 128lbs, 38 years old.
You are answering your own questions, and at the same time you are asking questions that only you can answer.
I think that if you exercise at a high level every day, there will be times when you are getting into the "overtraining" area. You will notice that fitness levels are stagnant or even declining, greater chronic fatigue, maybe general restlessness or an increased resting heart rate. It happens to everyone. You need to listen to your body and not be afraid to take off a day or two if necessary.
Another good idea is to rotate through different training cycles: high intensity, medium tempo, long, lower-intensity endurance. Plan "vacation" weeks where you do alternate activities. These will help keep you fresh if you don't want to take a lot of days off.
I might add that weight is only one gauge on the dashboard of health. What is your energy level, how is your cholesterol, Blood pressure. How do your clothes fit? When you flex all of your muscles and jump up and down do you jiggle? Are you toned? Should you incorporate some weight training in place of all the cardio?
Exercise, at least for folks our age, and unless you are competing for a particular event should be for improvement and maintenance of good health.
Our bodies have a weight they are happy with. I know I would like to weigh 199 lbs. But my body wants to weigh 204. Otherwise I am healthy, active and feel great at age 55. I have learned over the years that the health dashboard has many guages and weight is only one of which I monitor.
Good Luck and enjoy your exercise time.
Again, I appreciate the input from everyone. I dialed back my bike ride this morning and went a route that wasn't quite as challenging (less bridges). According to my fancy dancy Garmin 405CX I burned 600+ calories as oppsed to my usual 800+ calories. I will eat my normal 1500 calories today and see how I feel. To answer wattdaddy, no don't jiggle (much) when I jump up and down, and my others markers are great (no high blood pressure, cholesterol etc).
To answer fitnessgirl - I am a vegetarian and try to eat "healthy" - usually a 1/2 cup of Kashi go lean ceral with a 1/2 cup of milk before my exercise, then a protein shake with 20 grams protein, blended with a few blueberries, cranberries and a bit of papaya after exercise. Morning snack of 1/2 c of greek yogurt or a half scoop of protein powder in water. Lunch usually consists of a couple veggie dogs and some salad, veggies or soup. I eat a piece of fruit on my hour long commute home - grapefruit, peach, or papaya. Dinner is a veggie burger or tofu and some kind of vegetable or squash. I usually eat alot of veggies at dinner. Then a snack size snickers or jello pudding for dessert. Every so often I have a chip or two when someone at the office has a bag, but I am usually pretty good during the week. Friday night is always pizza night!! I splurge and have a good salad then two slices of pizza and some friday nights a scoop of ice cream. Saturday and Sunday I am not as strict and do eat more than I eat during the week, but I don't go crazy.
I am just concerned that I am sabotaging my workouts and/or my diet in that if I am too extreme in one or the other I am shooting myself in the foot and actually causing my body metabolism to slow, like melkor said, shooting a moving target from the back of a horse (something like that anyway) On the other hand I don't want to change one or the other and gain weight.
Thanks again for everyone's feedback. It is much appreciated.
I was looking at some information on the internet because I was wondering the same thing. Based on what I read, your body will let you know if you are over training. The typical things the trainers mentioned were lack of motivation, more fatigue, more colds, muscle strains and soreness above the norm (easier to be injured because of not enough down time) etc. You sound like you're pretty good at listening to your signals. One of the problems with too few calories is that the body goes into 'starvation' mode and will try to store everything it gets. If you change things up a bit there might be some fluctuation but once things get balanced it should be good.
Have you talked to a trainer, nutritionist or your doctor? They might be able to give you some more specific pointers that are a better 'fit' for you so you can find a way to put it all together and keep you at your healthiest and happiest.....
I have had to adjust my workouts because I would go a little crazy if I didn't workout for a week. I typically climb 3/4 times a week, so instead of not working out I have changed the intensity and duration. It sounds like that's where you're headed.
Good Luck and happy cycling!
Original Post by mcheather71:
Again, I appreciate the input from everyone. I dialed back my bike ride this morning and went a route that wasn't quite as challenging (less bridges). According to my fancy dancy Garmin 405CX I burned 600+ calories as oppsed to my usual 800+ calories. I will eat my normal 1500 calories today and see how I feel. To answer wattdaddy, no don't jiggle (much) when I jump up and down, and my others markers are great (no high blood pressure, cholesterol etc).
To answer fitnessgirl - I am a vegetarian and try to eat "healthy" - usually a 1/2 cup of Kashi go lean ceral with a 1/2 cup of milk before my exercise, then a protein shake with 20 grams protein, blended with a few blueberries, cranberries and a bit of papaya after exercise. Morning snack of 1/2 c of greek yogurt or a half scoop of protein powder in water. Lunch usually consists of a couple veggie dogs and some salad, veggies or soup. I eat a piece of fruit on my hour long commute home - grapefruit, peach, or papaya. Dinner is a veggie burger or tofu and some kind of vegetable or squash. I usually eat alot of veggies at dinner. Then a snack size snickers or jello pudding for dessert. Every so often I have a chip or two when someone at the office has a bag, but I am usually pretty good during the week. Friday night is always pizza night!! I splurge and have a good salad then two slices of pizza and some friday nights a scoop of ice cream. Saturday and Sunday I am not as strict and do eat more than I eat during the week, but I don't go crazy.
I am just concerned that I am sabotaging my workouts and/or my diet in that if I am too extreme in one or the other I am shooting myself in the foot and actually causing my body metabolism to slow, like melkor said, shooting a moving target from the back of a horse (something like that anyway) On the other hand I don't want to change one or the other and gain weight.
Thanks again for everyone's feedback. It is much appreciated.
In the grand scheme of things, it does sound a little bit like the combination of high exertion and insufficient intake so your body's trying to conserve what it has and what it gets. I really don't think the pizza's gonna kill ya, though, considering the workouts that you're putting in :)
But it might be worth adding another snack or increasing the volume of your meals ever so slightly (maybe another 100-200 calories) to reassure your body that you're not in the middle of a famine and you're not being chased down by packs of wild hyenas ;)
:) I thought I heard some crazy anilmals laughing at me.....I love the hyena comment! Maybe adding a bit of lean protein would do the trick. Thanks!
Yep - to mangle another metaphor, now you're slowing down your galloping horse so it's easier to hit that moving target that's your maintenance level of calories. Keep both adjustments constant for a couple weeks - slightly lowering output by a predictable amount and increasing intake by a predictable amount (and more protein is always good, most dieters fail to reach the recommended 1.8g/kg bodyweight) and keeping everything else the same for a couple weeks should give you some interesting indications for your body's reactions.
My suspicion is that it will take a couple weeks for your new homeostasis to settle around a new state of balance - it always takes a while to work itself out when you alter the inputs to the feedback loop of your metabolism. So right now it's mostly a matter of sticking with the experiment to the end and not wibble out over some temporary fluctuations while your body works out that the hyenas are gone :-P
