Metabolism question

monnie32 · Post by **monnie32** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 1:17 pm

I have gained a little weight and believe that I have basically slowed down or ruined metabolism

. I believe it's due to stress and not eating enough. Somehow I have it in head thinking that eating around 1200 calories and working out for an hour to two hours will help me lose weight. But now, since I gained some weight, I am afraid to increase calories because I think I'm going to gain even more weight.

question is, how can I get metabolism back on track so it starts burning calories faster again? Since Feb. I gained about 8-9 lbs and went from 120 to 129ish

. I can still fit into most of the same clothes that I wore at 120lbs (just not as comfortably or confidently). During feb-midmay I rarely worked out due to school and I def. know I lost muscle during that time frame and gained more fat then I want. Since starting to workout again, I think I gained a tiny bit of muscle back even though the scale has not really gone down. How do I know this? because I can get butt into a pair of jeans that I could in June.

Anyways, I don't want to just wake up tomorrow and start eating 1500-1600 calories because I feel as if I'm going to gain weight and I don't want to do that. Right now I am eating about 1200 calories which I know is most likely too low for the amount of exercise I do and instead of losing the weight I think I did the opposite and put it on by restricting calories so much. what do you think?

But, how should I approach all of this? Should I gradually increase the amount of calories I eat each week? Bossman or swanso what do you suggest I do?

Boss Man · Post by **Boss Man** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 3:04 pm

Increase cals. You need more. You're burning calories doing 2 hours of cardio, and it's

A: potentially too much Cardio.

B: not a high enough calorie intake, to allow for such Cardio levels.

This is what you could do.

Increase cals to about 1,600, and restrict Cardio to 40-45 minutes interval.

I think these will help you. Initially you may possibly get a little gain as the body gets used to the calories, but I'm hopeful the scale would soon go the other way thereafter.

Definitely it's the cardio duration, and calories letting you down I'm 99% certain of that.

SarahPT · Post by **SarahPT** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:08 pm

Eating 1200 cals and working out 1-2 hours a day is NOT a good idea. It will not help you lose weight, just kill your metabolism.

You do need to eat more, but it's important to raise calories very very slowly. I work with women on metabolism recovery, and most commonly I recommend increasing by 50 calories every 1-2 weeks, but it depends on individual factors.

I agree with bossman that 45 minutes cardio is plenty. Strength training should be incorporated as well.

Please let me know if I can help more.

felguard · Post by **felguard** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:08 am

Eat every 3 hours. Instead of eating 3 big meals a day, try splitting them into 4-6 smaller meals throughout the day.

Boss Man · Post by **Boss Man** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 6:56 pm

I'd say 5-6. I still think 4 is not adequate enough.

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 7:50 pm

metabolism is increased by:

- frequent meals
- eating at maintenance or above maintenance cal levels
- intensive exercise
- maintaining or building muscle

step 1 - 6 meals a day...i don;t care what you have to do but this needs to happen...protein everytime you eat...that's food protein not drink protein

step 2 - increase cal's about 250 every 3 - 5 days until at 1800 - 2000...you may need to stuff yourself a little at first but it needs to be done

step 3 - have breakfast as soon as you get up...before showering or anything getting up earlier if need be...i'll allow the morning wee beforehand though

step 4 - do wts 3/week using free wts only and multi joint exercises only...no curls, extensions or raises

step 5 - 2 cardio sessions a week doing 5 x 50m 1 session and 3 x 100m another...yes these are sprint sessions...sprint as hard as you can for these and rest as long as you need to get about 90% recovery...should be about 3mins i'd think, if that

sample diet
1 - fruit, high fibre cerial, 1/2 serve protein shake
2 - fruit, protein, salad
3 - fruit, protein, salad, veg
4 - protein salad, veg
5 - protein, salad, veg
6 - protein, salad, veg

- doesn't matter what sources you have of each food type, just make sure they're there...a good calorie dense food is avocado which has plenty of healthy fats in them so try and have some everyday...a good idea is to cook big meals and split them up over 2 meals which you'll need to do with your small cal increases as we build up

sample training week
mon - wts
tue - 50m sprints
wed - wts
thu - off
fri - wts
sat - 100m sprints
sun - off

how does this look??

monnie32 · Post by **monnie32** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 10:57 am

that sounds good thanks so much for all the information! currently i am eating more (at least I seem to think so) and eating every 2-3 hours maybe 4 at most! but if I am hungry and I ate 2 hours ago I will eat it anyways regardless of this. I also try to incorporate protein at each meal and have been working out 3x a week mostly doing a strength tape that includes weights and cardio so i can kill two birds with one stone. I haven't really lost weight on the scale but i can feel it in clothes.

I am, however, exhausted everyday could this be a way of body telling me that I am not eating enough?? hmm.. maybe I have CFS? I dunno are there any OTC medications I can take to give me more energy or any vitamins? I take fish oil and calcium for vitamins. any other suggestions??

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:01 pm

- initially females will lose fat and gain muscle at the same rate so scale wt won't change but as you said you'll see a difference with how clothes fit etc
- your tired from either training to much and / or not eating enough and obviously sleep (duration and quality) needs to be addresed
- maybe a good female multi vitamin tabled is what you need and keep with the fish oil at least 3g/day

SarahPT · Post by **SarahPT** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:25 am

great job with your progress. How much do you sleep? Also, how much water do you drink? Those are two things that could be factors in you feeling tired. If those aren't it, very slowly introducing a few more calories may help.

littleshelly · Post by **littleshelly** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:14 pm

favorite supplements are
Multivitamin. Half of one a day. One is too much for me personally
Fish oil-2 a day
Flax oil-2 a day
Salmon oil-2 a day
Cayenne pepper-2 a day
Ginger-2 a day
Calcium, magnesium, zinc, vitamin E
Chromium
Apple cider vinegar-2 a day

icharlee17 · Post by **icharlee17** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:37 am

I did exactly what you did. So, I stopped training for 2weeks, ate exactly 60% carbs and 25% protein and 15% fats for personal BMR and body weight and I lost 8lbs.

Your body is clinging onto every calorie it can get, basically going into a different type of Starvation mode, plus if your exercising THAT much, 1200kcal is no where near enough.

Add more carbs and eat protein with every meal and decrease your exercise a little. It worked for me. Hopefully it would for you too.

xx