# It Takes More Than Exercise



## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Ok for 3 years I have been working out with Weights and doing an hour of Cardio 3X a week.

Thing is I could eat to lose Weight which will amount to me cutting way back on my eating.

I'm going with my Doctor, Gym Doctor and my Trainer.

In 3 years I have not lost a pound but have gained inches in Chest and Arms, have lost Inches in my Legs and Back Side ( To say it nice) My Stomach is a different matter but I have a Hernia which my Doctor tells me that I just need to watch it which I do. I was trying to tighten it up but started having problems.

My Heart rate is way down and so is my Blood Pressure. My Cholesterol is fine. 

big rockpile


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

To lose weight you have to eat less or exercise more. Best way is to cut back eating a little and lose slowly....James


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

jwal10 said:


> To lose weight you have to eat less or exercise more. Best way is to cut back eating a little and lose slowly....James


Losing slowly is fiction. No reason to not lose as fast as you can, if that's what one is comfortable doing.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

I think everybody is different: Losing slowly is the only way I have ever been able to succeed.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Crazy I've been counting calories and not losing but I'm not worried and nobody else is either so all is good.

big rockpile


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I disagree. Hard to maintain. Like a yo-yo. Make it a lifestyle change. Counting calories is like see food, see it, eat it, not cutting back does no good. If you cut calories, you WILL lose weight. Don't have to cut out much if you cut the high calorie foods, you won't miss them so much, easiest is sugar. Carbs are harder but once you do, it gets easier. Your body will crave protein if you cut too much....James


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Well they have me 500 calories less per day than I need to maintain my weight. To lose 1 pound a week.

Have lost weight in past and gained it back. Not wanting to do this. Like I say all is happy so why worry? Not losing weight but gaining muscle.

The most I could set up with on this system is 2 pounds. 1000 less calories a day.

USDA Recommended 18% Protein 29% Fat and 53% Carbs

-450 or fewer Severe calorie deprivation Hunger pains, continuous thoughts of food, very low energy, high degree of moodiness, unable to concentrate, depressed or lack of motivation Eat more and/or considering adjusting your profile to a lower daily calorie deficit
-449 to -300 Under-Eating Severe to mild change in energy, moodiness, ability to concentrate Eat more foods or adjust portion sizes
-299 to -150 Just Under Daily Target Symptoms may range from none to having low energy or moodiness. If this occurs regularly, look into adjusting your nutrition profile
-149 to 100 The sweet spot (pun intended)
101 to 250 Just Over Daily Target Consider additional exercise or restricting food intake
251 to 400 Over Eating Feelings of being tired after eating, weight gain, gas Increase daily exercise and/or restrict food intake / portion sizes
more than 400 Severe Over Eating Weight gain, acid reflux, difficulty sleeping, gas Increase daily exercise and restrict food intake and portion sizes

Right now I'm over -600 Calories short for last two days.

Right now all together I'm lifting over 40K pounds 3X a week and doing 1 hour Cardio 3X a week.

big rockpile


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Being overweight is usually a hormonal problem. When your hormones are right and your body is healthy, extra calories are burned off overnight. Calories in - calories out has been proven wrong over and over again. Heck, you proved it is false over the last year.

Insulin and leptin are the 2 most likely hormonal issues.


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## Polarbearforge (Mar 12, 2016)

I have discovered that it's not really calories that you should worry about, but what you eat. A number of years back I had severe energy issues, as in none. I'm a very athletic and active individual. I worked out a lot and my hobbies also keep me active. They diagnosed me with a vitamin D deficiency, in August, and I work outside a lot. I was up to 295 pounds. Several people asked me in the same week if I had heard of the Paleo lifestyle. I looked it up and gave it a try.

Without changing the quantity of what I ate, I started losing around 5 pounds a week. I'm down to 225 now and have more energy and I know what to do with sometimes! In the process, I have researched a lot of different sources. There are so many bad things that happen with a lot of the food we eat now. I'd learned to mostly ignore the usda suggestions.

I eat meat, fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds, no grains, no beans, no processed food and no dairy. (I will "cheat" with raw milk products from time to time.) Now we eat better tasting food than ever before and feel great. 

There are tons of books out there that talk about this. Two of the most helpful I found were The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf and The Wheat Belly by Dr. Davis.

Jamie


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

MoonRiver said:


> Being overweight is usually a hormonal problem. When your hormones are right and your body is healthy, extra calories are burned off overnight. Calories in - calories out has been proven wrong over and over again. Heck, you proved it is false over the last year.
> 
> Insulin and leptin are the 2 most likely hormonal issues.


My Doctor says I'm just fine. Said that using Height and Weight saying a person is obsessed is outdated.

He checked me over Cholesterol is Good, Blood Pressure is Good, Heart Rate is Good and Body Mass is Good. 

big rockpile


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

You're the one that said you have gone 3 years without losing weight. I explained why!

The reason Paleo works well for so many people is because it controls glucose and probably leptin.


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## Polarbearforge (Mar 12, 2016)

MoonRiver said:


> You're the one that said you have gone 3 years without losing weight. I explained why!
> 
> The reason Paleo works well for so many people is because it controls glucose and probably leptin.


It's more than that. One problem with SAD (Standard American Diet) is that it is very poor in nutrients. One thing that Paleo advocates is nutrient dense food. This lack of nutrients causes all sorts of things in the body, and weight gain can be one of them. Start reducing calories and many times you reduce the nutrition that you get from an already substandard amount.

It does stabilize blood sugar levels. My energy would go up and down alot before I switched, and after wards it pretty much went to high energy and stayed there. I also don't get the weight fluctuations I used to and everything stabilized. I got off of blood pressure medicine and cholesterol medication. 

Jamie


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## MoBookworm1957 (Aug 24, 2015)

You're right Big Rock pile,
I have struggled with my weight most of my life.
But I changed my eating habits, cut out pretty much all processed foods. Changed my plate size went from 12 inch plate to bread plate 8 inch size. I bake, grill,stir fry with little oil or no oil,make my own bread,pasta etc. Cook from scratch mostly. I do Aerobics 3 days a week, cardio 3 days a week. At least once a week I put a pack on my back climb hill at 47.5 * angle just like I did in the Army. Cut out sugar completely, cut out soda completely. Blood pressure is wonderful. My blood pressure 3 years ago was 297/197. Now my blood pressure is 97/68. A1C's perfect. Completely off Cholesterol medicine. I eat more vegetables, fruit, but still meat,lean meat chicken,(no skin) turkey, pork some beef.


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## melli (May 7, 2016)

They say one with a few extra pounds actually fare better if confronted with a disease or the dreaded 'C'. 
The only way I've lost weight is by diet...one where you do feel hungry. No way around it. I exercised like no tomorrow, but until I bit the bullet and calorie restricted my diet, I wasn't going to lose weight. Didn't matter what I ate, just as long as I kept under 1500 calories a day (some days near 1200). It is hard. Obviously, I made an attempt to eat bulky, healthy low calorie food, but my bod demanded a slice of bread and/or a tablespoon of peanut butter etc. I would eat many mini meals so I didn't go crazy. 
Eventually, I started to lose weight, and once I made my goal, I could ease off the pedal, but I couldn't ease off the exercise...do that, and your back where you started. Thankfully, I've never gone way off the deep end, in terms of weight gain, but losing 40pds off an average frame is sooo tough. 
I agree with many here, that if can't lose the weight, getting in good cardio shape is always a good thing. Cardio is my main exercise...flushes system of bad stuff.


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## melli (May 7, 2016)

MoBookworm1957 said:


> You're right Big Rock pile,
> I have struggled with my weight most of my life.
> But I changed my eating habits, cut out pretty much all processed foods. Changed my plate size went from 12 inch plate to bread plate 8 inch size. I bake, grill,stir fry with little oil or no oil,make my own bread,pasta etc. Cook from scratch mostly. I do Aerobics 3 days a week, cardio 3 days a week. At least once a week I put a pack on my back climb hill at 47.5 * angle just like I did in the Army. Cut out sugar completely, cut out soda completely. Blood pressure is wonderful. My blood pressure 3 years ago was 297/197. Now my blood pressure is 97/68. A1C's perfect. Completely off Cholesterol medicine. I eat more vegetables, fruit, but still meat,lean meat chicken,(no skin) turkey, pork some beef.


Wow! That is truly amazing....quite honestly, surprised you didn't buy the farm with a blood pressure reading like that! 
Didn't know one could have a reading like that and still be breathing (your old BP reading). Glad to hear you took control and now your cruising. Excellent blood pressure reading!...hmmm, wonder what mine is...112/72 66BPM (Doc friend gave me one of those Lifesource home BP units...sweet person she is...)
I just had a cigarette...lol. I'm a jogger, usually a treadmill hamster...only thing that is easy for me (and cheap). Cardio cleans the soul. Knock on wood...haven't had a serious cold in decades, and the couple I did get were minor (I think a person recovers super fast if their arteries are clean...). 
Keep up the good work. Best.


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## MoBookworm1957 (Aug 24, 2015)

melli said:


> Wow! That is truly amazing....quite honestly, surprised you didn't buy the farm with a blood pressure reading like that!
> Didn't know one could have a reading like that and still be breathing (your old BP reading). Glad to hear you took control and now your cruising. Excellent blood pressure reading!...hmmm, wonder what mine is...112/72 66BPM (Doc friend gave me one of those Lifesource home BP units...sweet person she is...)
> I just had a cigarette...lol. I'm a jogger, usually a treadmill hamster...only thing that is easy for me (and cheap). Cardio cleans the soul. Knock on wood...haven't had a serious cold in decades, and the couple I did get were minor (I think a person recovers super fast if their arteries are clean...).
> Keep up the good work. Best.


Damn near died. Old blood pressure was in high stroke range.
Experience like that changes your thinking.
Got put on medical leave till they got my blood pressure down safely.
Working 2 jobs, full time, going to school full time, single parent of 2 teenage sons. Slowly killing myself.
Jobs: Wal-Mart 25.5 years, Army National Guard 32 years, but now been retired 8 years.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

With out working out I'm to consume 2,224 Calories, today worked out I'm allowed 3,221 calories.

Was doing extra Cardio and was told to stop and eat more. I wasn't taking in enough calories.

big rockpile


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

If your weight is unchanged but you gained muscle, then you have lost fat weight. Since muscle is more dense than fat, you lost more fat than you gained in muscle. ie. you are trimming down, and in a good way! Don't go by weight alone. Also, your lower pulse is an indicator of a stronger heart. You are on the right track!

I always get a bit annoyed when medical people tell me I am overweight - I feel like stripping down completely so they can see that I have a lot of weight in my legs from the workouts I do. I guess they would tell the average NFL running back that they are near the stage of morbid obesity! If I stop working out I lose 5 pounds within a few weeks. 5 pounds of muscle.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

lol, dietician same people that give insulin resistant type 2 diabetics a high carb diet. Want to lose weight? Eat less carbs. Want to be thin and muscular? Eat less that 50 grams of carbs a day. Want to live long and not suffer "modern" disease (stroke, heart attack, cancer and many others) ? eat less than 20 grams of carbohydrates a day. Simple and impossible for the average carb addict.

" But I like... Whole grain Bread, Fresh Fruit, Starchy vegetables." 
Well I'll miss you when your disease of civilization takes you.


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## DryLandFish (May 13, 2017)

Brand new to the this forum. Hello!

A lot of sentiment here I can relate to. I lost 115 lbs (in fact my wife and I lost 170 lbs together) and we've been fortunate enough to keep it off with only minor variation for 16 years next month. 

I had some serious health crises that prompted me to take my problem apart and generally wrap my life around the goal of living for the best health I could. The practices that worked for my weight loss also resulted in the resolution of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. In addition to vastly improving some other chronic problems. 

I've come to believe there is not a one-size-fits-all solution for lasting weight loss. But basically what worked for me was a general overhaul of what we ate. With much trial and error, we settled into a low-glycemic, minimally processed diet. We quit sugar and other quick-digesting starches. Weighted choices for lower caloric density. We eat lots of salads, stir-fries, stews and soups. We do eat some lower-glycemic carbohydrates like some legumes, various vegetables, some fruit, etc. We exercise pretty much daily. Mostly hiking -it's convenient when you already live in the hills.

I've come to believe that it is practically about a lot more than calories in/out. What I eat now has a large impact on what, how soon and how much I'll be compelled to eat later. 

Just my 2 cents. Always happy to talk about our experiences.


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## 382695 (May 29, 2017)

big rockpile said:


> Crazy I've been counting calories and not losing but I'm not worried and nobody else is either so all is good.
> 
> big rockpile


I found a wonderful mindful approach to eating. The book is called _Intuitive Eating_ and it is all about how to make peace with food and end the dieting, which does not work for the majority of people long-term.


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## 382695 (May 29, 2017)

jwal10 said:


> To lose weight you have to eat less or exercise more. Best way is to cut back eating a little and lose slowly....James


There is a little more to it. Stimulating your metabolism through eating high nutrient-dense food quite often works and you don't feel deprived. There's a book called the Fast Metabolism Diet. It was at my local library.


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