Wieght Loss/fitness Question from my Wife for all you WF Challengers!

[writtenstyle]

First, thanks to the WF challenge over the summer, I decided to join a local fitness bootcamp and get in shape. Since July, I have lost 13 pounds and 8 total inches from my body. Last Sat. I ran my first 5K and finished 9th in my age group at 28:53.

Here is the problem. My wife is doing the same prodgram. We are doing the bootcamp an hour a day three days a week, eating according to a meal plan, keeping calories in check and drinking lots of protien shakes. We also run 3 miles two to three times a week.

The problem with my wife is that she is gaining weight and gaining inches. I have lost 5 inches around my belly. She has gained 3 inches.

For you guys that are into fitness, why cant she lose wieght? She has a heart rate monitor and she can monitor how many calories she burns. She burns around 600+ every day, either at bootcamp or running.

What sucks is, she works her butt off. She doesnt sit on the coach eating pizza complaining about how fat she is. She is working her butt off and eating sensible.

Why is this working for me, but not for her? (The bootcamp is designed for women).

 

[JoseArmando]

More cardio, less carbs - overall she should lower calorie intake if she's gaining weight... Only drink protein shake after exercising.

 

[megatabbers]

1) Has she gotten bloodwork recently to make sure everything's in check?

2) Start a food journal and keep track of everything she eats for a week (every last bite of food, snacks, etc...). Then take the amount of calories consumed and see how it compares with what she should be consuming to lose weight.

Use this formula to determine the above:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Katch-McArdle[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Formula[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The Katch-McArdle formula differs from the Harris-Benedict formula in that Katch-McArdle takes lean body mass into consideration. This calculation is therefore only possible if you know your percentage body fat. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Generally speaking, this is a better measure of caloric need for the obese than Harris-Benedict because it represents your actual body composition and is not based of assumptions about what one "should" weigh.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The formula is as follows:
BMR = 370 + (9.79759519 X Lean Mass in pounds) [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]TDEE is calculated by multiplying your BMR by your activity multiplier from the list below: [/FONT]

• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job) [/FONT]
• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)[/FONT]
• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) [/FONT]
• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) [/FONT]
• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]

 

[dchuk]

She burns around 600+ every day, either at bootcamp or running.

she needs to lower calorie intake or increase calories she burns. You will gain weight if you consume 500 more calories than you burn in a day, likewise in the other direction.

you can probably drop the protein shake consumption down, and make sure she just drinks water, no soda or anything. maybe some tea...helps with calorie intake.

Also, eat a ton of greens, brocoli, green beans, lots of huge salads. Fills ya up, pretty much neutral calories wise.

 

[1yerrot]

1) Has she gotten bloodwork recently to make sure everything's in check?

2) Start a food journal and keep track of everything she eats for a week (every last bite of food, snacks, etc...). Then take the amount of calories consumed and see how it compares with what she should be consuming to lose weight.

^First this, make sure everything is OK with her health.

Then if it is, she is still taking in too many calories, the journal works great because you can then evaluate how all the little snacks and stuff add up. We are often surprised at how much we take in when it's down on paper.

you can probably drop the protein shake consumption down, and make sure she just drinks water, no soda or anything. maybe some tea...helps with calorie intake.

Also, eat a ton of greens, brocoli, green beans, lots of huge salads. Fills ya up, pretty much neutral calories wise.

^Agreed. Also check the timing of WHEN she is eating, eating late even if it is healthy foods has a tendency to not be burned off as efficiently. So she needs to tread very lightly with late foods. The heart rate slows in the evening preparing for slumber. When I'm going hard at weight loss I keep "after 7" snacks to a minimum. I opt to fill up on water and maybe grab a handful of mixed nuts to give my stomach a fuller feeling.

The key is, if she is going to grab a snack, she must stick to the amount she has decided to eat before she started eating. I always want to change my mind halfway through the snack, lol! But only WANT not DO.

That is where water helps, helps add to the full feeling. Drink 16 oz or MORE of water and then nibble at the snack and start getting ready for bed QUICK! Lol...

Also, if you are eating salads for health watch the dressing, even the "light" dressings usually pack a punch with calories. They are just "light" compare to normal dressing, but not "light" for someone in need of avoiding alot of calories. Women tend to go salad dressing crazy, especially when it says "light".... Just throwing some stuff out there to see what may stick for ya bud.

 

[avatar33]

Pu Erh Tea: Pu-erh Tea

I discovered this tea while in Hangzhou, China. Drink it first thing in the morning, then don't eat anything for an hour. It'll clean everything in your system, destroy every bit of cholesterol and toxins.

I've lost a lot of weight doing this despite the fact that I was eating fast-food during the day. Really an amazing herb...

You can also try fresh Green Tea, but Pu Erh Tea is just so much more powerful.

 

[onkelmicha]

So you two, A man and a women are doing he exact same thing??? You def have different needs when it comes to nutrients and maybe different speeds at burning stuff.



OR She may be cheating!

 

[Tamra]

Men and women lose weight differently. Unfortunately (I guess it depends on your point of view), men tend to lose weight faster and easier than women especially belly fat.

Do you two weigh yourselves weekly? Is she consistently gaining weight or is it a net gain of weight? She maybe building muscle which would account for the weight gain. Has she lost a dress size or two? Is her body tighter? Sometimes, these things occur before the weight drops off.

I do agree about watching what she's drinking...especially those "healthy" drinks and even fruit juices. A couple of those and one can easily add 500 to 750 calories to your daily total.

Avatar: Thanks for the tip about the tea. I wonder if I can buy it locally at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods.
T

 

[1yerrot]

OR She may be cheating!

I thought this but didn't wanna say it. If she is GAINING weight AND inches she either has something medically wrong with her or she is eating more than she lets you see. (exercising can make hunger STRONG!!!)

Even putting on muscle will not show a significant amount of weight gain, men don't pound on POUNDS of muscle in a few months with optimal nutrition. A woman would never gain THAT much muscle buy exercising and cutting calories. Muscle is heavier than fat, but in a scenario like that it is not a factor.

 

[avatar33]

Tamra, you can find it in any tea store. It's dark like coffee.

 

[RockDiesel]

Muscle is heavier than fat

So you're saying a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat?

 

[BigWill]

What are you guys eating? Break down your meals for the week. I'll tell you what the problem is. Sounds like your meal plan is not on par...

 

[onkelmicha]

So you're saying a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat?

NO he's saying that one cubic foot of muscle ways more than cubic foot of fat

 

[1yerrot]

So you're saying a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat?

Thank you for your idiotic question.

I'm not saying ANYTHING, the FACTS and BIOLOGY SAYS that muscle tissue is far more dense than fat tissue.

If it were possible to have a person who had a body consisting of completely muscle tissue and another person whose body consisted of 100% fat tissue, even though the SAME SIZE and SHAPE the man made of muscle would weigh considerably more the the man made of fat. Read a book.

 

[1yerrot]

I thought this but didn't wanna say it. If she is GAINING weight AND inches she either has something medically wrong with her or she is eating more than she lets you see. (exercising can make hunger STRONG!!!)

Even putting on muscle will not show a significant amount of weight gain, men don't gain POUNDS of muscle from a few months of hard lifting even with optimal nutrition. A woman would never gain THAT much muscle by exercising and cutting calories. Muscle is heavier than fat, but in a scenario like that it is not a factor.

Corrected my previous post of the misspellings and incomplete sentences, don't drink and type boys and girls....

 

[RockDiesel]

Thank you for your idiotic question.

I'm not saying ANYTHING, the FACTS and BIOLOGY SAYS that muscle tissue is far more dense than fat tissue.

If it were possible to have a person who had a body consisting of completely muscle tissue and another person whose body consisted of 100% fat tissue, even though the SAME SIZE and SHAPE the man made of muscle would weigh considerably more the the man made of fat. Read a book.

Lol, my "idiotic question" was just sarcasm. I like asking it when people say muscle is heavier than fat, so they go on to unnecessarily explain density (kind of like you just did).

I've read plenty of books (but thanks for the suggestion), have my degree in Physical Education, and have my NSCA-CSCS. I was a personal trainer for 3.5 years, but finally got sick of waking up at 4am every morning to train people even though I had some really great clients early in the morning.

 

[juntao65]

Duno how this applies to chicks, but I was having the same issue.

take a look at this article : Bodybuilding.com - The Stomach Vacuum Exercise - Pics And Video. - Karen Sessions

i just started doing those vacuums 2 days ago, and shit i feel so much better. my distended belly was fking pissing me off cause i couldnt sit down comfortably since it was just lobbing around. the ridiculous thing was that it'd literally disappear after my food digested and went out the shitter. but come around next meal, it was back.

i think it was cause i used to do a shitload of meditation and my abs became overly relaxed.

the point is, tell her to give that a shot and see what happens.

 

[1yerrot]

Lol, my "idiotic question" was just sarcasm. I like asking it when people say muscle is heavier than fat, so they go on to unnecessarily explain density (kind of like you just did).

I've read plenty of books (but thanks for the suggestion), have my degree in Physical Education, and have my NSCA-CSCS. I was a personal trainer for 3.5 years, but finally got sick of waking up at 4am every morning to train people even though I had some really great clients early in the morning.

Lol, you definitely got me. Had flashbacks to guys in the gym that would say that and be dead serious. My bad.

Yeah I can imagine that being a personal trainer is a Mutha... But atleast you get to teach hot chicks "proper form" and not get slapped for it, lol.....

 

[RockDiesel]

Lol, you definitely got me. Had flashbacks to guys in the gym that would say that and be dead serious. My bad.

Actually, there were plenty of "trainers" I encountered who truly believed 1lb of muscle is heavier than 1lb of fat. I would ask them how is 1lb not equal to 1lb, and some of the answers I would get were full of lulz.

Anyways, back to the originally scheduled topic.

 

[Deliguy]

wow, normally i would assume she's in her first few weeks of the program and that would account for the gain in water and muscle weight but if she's been in it since july and hasn't lost anything she might have to talk to a doctor. Possible thyroid issue.