Hi there... I'm a newbie to posting at 3FC, but I have been reading and getting inspired by the posts here for about 2 years.

At my highest weight, I was probably around 245 (ouch). I lost about 17 pounds doing Carbohydrates Addicts, then switched to WW's and lost another 50 odd. But guess what I wasn't doing enough of??? Exercising....

Which lead me to a major plateau, frustration, self pity, yada yada... Long story short, I gained back about 10 pounds, and decided I needed to do something to get back on track.

I started reading your posts here on 3FC, and then I picked up Bob Greene's 12 week body makeover. I have been exercising 6 days a week since January 31 (cardio & weight training). What a difference! It probably took a month for anything to register on the scale, but my clothes have been getting looser and looser, and I've lost 7 pounds. Which makes me very happy!

But I have a couple of questions I was hoping someone could help with. First, I have modified my workout routine a bit from the book so it fits better for me. It's supposed to be cardio 5 x a week, one double cardio session, and weights 3 x a week (upper and lower combined). I haven't been doing the double cardio session - I prefer to add more weight training. I have been splitting the weights - legs & abs on one day, upper body the next, but cardio still on each day. Legs are squats and lunges (I do 3 sets of 10 with barbells) , but I think this is fine, I have very strong legs, and weak upper body.

Whew. Sorry if this is getting long winded. I was also wondering about food. I have always eaten "clean" on WW's, but I have been adding more protein and eating more on workout days. It actually seems like I can eat more than I could before and lose weight. After being stuck in a plateau for SO long, I keep expecting the weight to come right back. Part of me thinks that if I eat more I won't be creating the calorie deficit, but it seems to be working so far. Which is great, I want to eat as much as I can and still lose weight, but I have a hard time believing it.

Thanks in advance for any help. You have all inspired me more than you know!!!!

Sue
(245 HW/185 Restart/177 Current)

I'm not really sure what your questions are, but hi there!

It sounds like your modifications are working fine for you. You will be able to eat more and still lose weight, because you are building muscle which is metabolically more active than fat, and you are just plain using more calories both during your exercise sessions and every minute of every day...even while you are sleeping.

Eating a little more protein than the standard WW program is a good idea. Also, try to get as much of your nutrition from unprocessed, healthy foods rather than just the lowest points foods.

It sounds like your split is working for you. If you are just alternating days between upper and lower, you might want to break it up a bit more (see today's other thread about how often....) so you don't overtrain. As a newbie, it's easy to get excited and train too much. I did it, and in the long run it slows you down because of inevitable injuries and burnout.

Congratulations on all your changes and busting that plateau!

Mel

Thanks Mel! Re-reading my original post - It's almost like I wrote the pre-amble and forgot the questions! Whoops.

But you answered them anyway. Mostly, I was worried I was "cheating" the program by not doing everything in one day - cardio, upper, abs, lower. But the days I did that, I felt burned out. I want to enjoy the exercise, not dread it. I'll check out some of the other posts for good ways to split things up.

With the food, I was wondering how this is possible to eat more and lose? And you answered that one, too. I guess I thought it was too early into my program to have gained much muscle.

I think both questions came from a bit of anxiety on my part over messing up something that has started to work. Nothing has worked for so long, I'm afraid to be "less than perfect" and mess with the results. Don't know if that makes any sense.

I'm going to do some more reading on what consistutes over training, because I don't want to burn out.

Thanks again.

Sue

Sue -
Welcome, I just started posting over here. Sounds like you're doing great.

I personally had to significan't boost my protein to about 150 grams a day in order to get to a point where my body was fueling in a way that was working for me.

Body for Life is an excellent book, and quite inspirational if you're looking for more good reading. Great information about food for the type of journey you're making.

Thanks for the tip about Body For Life. I had been tossing around the idea of checking it out, and I just finished reading up about it on the web. I think it's definitely my next book purchase, as I have one month left on my current program, then I want to transistion into something else.

This sounds like more what I am looking for - back off the cardio a bit (I've been doing 34 minutes 6 days a week), and add more weight training.

hi, i've been doing bob green's 12-week plan as well and this is my 3rd week... i have yet to notice any changes in my clothes and/or my weight but i haven't been focusing on the food aspect as much since he says not too in the book... i'm going to start WW next week and wanted to know if anyone has been doing both as well... i know it takes a while for your body to catch up to the workouts but i was hoping to feel something by now... i'm trying not to be discouraged but when you work so hard, almost daily, its easy to get bummed... thanks for listening...

jodi

jody -- You are only in your 3rd week of the program... Did it take you 3 weeks to gain all the weight you have to loose? Probably not... Hang in there an be patient...if you are truly doing the right things, you will loose weight, eventually... be patient...

I just found this really informative site:

http://www.fitfaq.com/index.html

It answers a LOT of the questions we have here...

Wow, that website above is great. It really almost answers everything. I definitely recommend visiting it!