Pants tight, Gaining Weight and CELLULITE! - HELP

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1/26/13 10:50 P

Well, one problem with your thighs and rear is that you can't spot reduce fat. You've made a few statements that indicate you're trying to "tone" your problem areas, likely through specific exercises designed to target those areas.

Unfortunately, that plain doesn't work. Fat loss is a total body process. In order to reduce the size of your thighs, you have to burn fat all over! Doing squats will help make your legs stronger and definitely burns calories) but it won't burn fat from your thighs. That is because your muscles draw their energy from the bloodstream, not the surrounding fat stores. Where you lose weight is largely determined by genetics.

Now, in order to move forward, you're going to have to do several things.

1) Start tracking your nutrition accurately. I mean it! Weigh and measure, so you KNOW what you're eating.

2) Accurately update your fitness and weight loss goals to reflect your actual activity. It's important to eat enough for your activity; the kinds of exercises you were doing in the past were likely too much for your 1500 calorie diet. Remember that more is not better; it's a myth that exercise is how we lose weight. ALL weight loss happens in the kitchen. YOu'll probably do better if you cut back the exercise and eat a more reasonable diet.

3) Don't start cutting out foods you perceive as "bad". There is no such thing as a fattening food. With your intolerances, there's no reason to do that. EAt the things you always do, just eat LESS of them. Dieting is not about deprivation. Diets don't work! Skip that mentality.

4) Accurately track your fitness. Cardo and strength are BOTH important; strength doesn't burn as many calories as cardio, so if you're eating like you're doing more cardio, that's probably making you not burn as much as you were before. It's important to find BALANCE.

5) Give it time. 6 weeks is not enough to change your body, certainly not drastically. It can take as much as 6-8 weeks for a new healthy lifestyle change to show up on the scale. Trainers in general should not be consulted for diet advice; unless they're registered dietitians, they should only be giving you suggestions, especially if you have dietary restrictions like yours. I don't think you're giving yourself enough time to adjust; if you're exercising intensely, it isn't even uncommon to GAIN weight, because your muscles absorb water like sponges, which can result in temporary water weight gain AND sometimes even inches gained.

Also, stop using online body fat calculators. ;) They can't tell you how much fat you have.

If you are 5'8 and 138, you're actually smack in the middle of a healthy BMI: 21. This means your weight is not an accurate measure of how healthy you are. YOu can try to lose weight, but you are not going to lose it quickly, and it's going to be a struggle the lower you go. You may have a higher body fat percentage, but you are NOT fat. Not at that low of a BMI!

Because you were experiencing fatigue and coldness, I bet you were undereating severely. The things you've shared make me worry that you've got disordered thinking and eating patterns. Have you talked about all of this with your doctor? You may want to talk to him or her, and find a new personal trainer to work with. You want to work on body composition, not your weight... losing 10 more lbs is going to be tough for you. If you are aiming for a weight you were before having children, that may not be possible nor healthy for you. Having kids changes your body, and it means that in general, you are not going to have your pre-pregnancy body back. :) That doesn't mean you can't be fit and healthy, you just may have to realize that there are things that are different now, and you may need to adjust your expectations and goals to be more reasonable.

Cellulite is one of those realities that women in particular have to face. YOu will likely never completely get rid of it.

www.sparkpeople.com/resource/wellness_arti
cles.asp?id=1632

Basically, you have more cellulite than you used to because you are a bit older now, and you've had kids. You will probably never be able to completely get rid of it.

Edited by: DRAGONCHILDE at: 1/26/2013 (22:55)

current weight: 186.0

211 197 183 169

155

Posts: 796
1/26/13 10:49 P

At 5 foot 7 and 138 pounds...your BMI is 21.6. That means you are not overweight...and I suspect your body knows it (our bodies are very smart machines). It will fight you tooth and nail, because it knows it's healthy.

current weight: 130.0

153 144.75 136.5 128.25

120

Posts: 737
1/26/13 7:31 P

Can I recommend a new type of exercise? I love to do the spin bike, and it ally tones up your legs, hips and thighs. If you find a good class, it works your every part of your body. It's great cardio and toning all in one. You will firm up and lose the pant sizes you want.

In terms of intolerances and food allergies, I can relate. Completely relate. I have been doing some serious tweaking to my diet recently. I was gaining and didn't understand, and it turns out it was the allergies that was the cause. They had gone from intolerances to full blown allergies and the weight was just sticking. But I have been working to modify my favorite recipes, making them over to my new way of eating so I'm never bored and never missing anything. Also, if I don't take a vitamin, I notice a huge difference in my energy levels. You may want to start there.

Feel free to private message me if you need a buddy on your journey. Good luck!

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1/26/13 2:39 P

ARCHIMEDESII -
I currently weigh in @ 138.
I had my last child 5 years ago, lost a ton of weight to only slowly start to gain it back. I know I let my diet slip, I cleaned that up in March of 2012 and still did not lose instead I have been steadily gaining :(....
My legs are disgusting when they used to be firm enough to see the muscle, now they are flabby and gross... After adjusting exercises, and diet with no luck - I am very confused as to what to do next? I understand that weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise - maybe I am getting my carbs/fat/protein out of whack?? GRRRR, its so frustrating and scary to think that I am ballooning back up again - I never wanted to go back to being 160/170...
I appreciate your time and help!

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1/26/13 1:52 P

AROMKEE,

What is your current weight ? One thing you have to realize is that a woman's body does change after giving birth. Very few women have the body they had when they were in high school. Pregnancy can add weight to a woman's body and that's not always a bad thing.

At 170 pounds and 5 ft 8 inches, that's a BMI of 25.8. That's considered overweight, but just by a hair. At 128 pounds, your BMI was 19.5. That's a low end of healthy bordering on unhealthy. A woman can be too thin for their frame. We may want to be a particular weight, but that weight might not be healthy for our body.

Here's the thing, depending on your current weight and how much you want to lose, the reason you might not be losing is because you don't have a lot to lose. The closer a person is to a healthy weight for their height, the harder and longer it takes to remove any excess. Ask any member trying to lose that last 5-10 pounds and they'll tell you it's slow going. Someone who is morbidly obese could lose 1-2 pounds per week. Someone trying to lose 10 pounds MIGHT lose .25 or less a week. And that doesn't mean they are doing anything wrong.

Because you've had a child, your body will resist losing fat. That's because a woman is supposed to carry some body fat to be healthy. We don't want to be too lean or we do risk a number of medical issues.

Also, if you were eating 1500 calories a day combined with the intense exercise you were doing, that's another reason your loss would slow down. Eating too little and exercising too much can hinder a person's weight loss, not help it. I know this is going to sound strange, but a person has to eat in order to lose weight.

Now why are your pants getting tighter ? Like I said, pregnancy does change a woman's body. Also, you have to accept the fact that you have cellulite. Why ? Because 90% of ALL women have cellulite !! Even the skinniest supermodels have cellulite. You can't see it because it's been airbrushed out of the photos. Don't believe me ? pick up an issue of the National Enquirer. They love posting photos of super models cellulite.

So, don't beat yourself up because you do have cellulite. Most women do and that's okay too. No one is perfect. You don't have to be perfect to be healthy.

To me, when someone says they are gaining weight, I wonder that they've been eating. If you've been eating right and still gaining, then you need to consider if there is a medical reason. Do you take birth control ? Not to get nosy, but I do know women who changed their birth control and gained weight. It wasn't because they were eating too much. The shift in hormones caused water weight gain. Which could cause your pants to get tight.

Are you on any medications ? There are medications which can cause weight gain. Have you ever had your thyroid checked ? If not, worth considering.

Mostly, you need to relax. Even though you may be up a size in pants, that's NOT the end of the world. Good health really does come in many different shapes and sizes.

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1/26/13 12:13 P

Don't give up! You have come so far and are doing great! Maybe you just need a readjustment. One thing that worked for me was to vary my calories over the week. If you want to stick to the 1500 calorie range, make it average out to 1500 but eat different amounts each day. For example, 1300 on one day, 1600 on another. I liked doing that because I would "save" calories from weekdays for Sunday, when I would get excited to eat a few comfort foods.

From the symptoms you described, sounds like you might have been experiencing iron deficiency. I'm no doctor, but I sometimes have low iron and that's how I feel. Sluggish, tired, I can't THINK. I start feeling like I'm stupid! I just take a multivitamin with iron and also make sure I get some red meat that day. You might look into it.

Are there any new exercises you've been wanting to try? Shaking things up might be the ticket!

In any event, don't let this get you down! Look at how far you've come! I am 5'8" too and someday I hope to say I weigh 138. I'm trying to do just what you have ALREADY DONE. You're a good example.

Have a great day!

current weight: 162.0

168 160.5 153 145.5

138

Posts: 8
1/26/13 11:27 A

I am in serious need of some pep talk/advice/HELP.
5 years ago I started to diet and exercise for the first time (this is after I had my second child) I was weighing in at about 170 lbs @ 5' 8.5". 15 months ago I weighed in @ 128 lbs and was wearing a size 3/4 in jeans (all from a size 36x36 501 levis). I never did reach my goal of being fully toned ( I am a pear frame) but I was "skinny".. I started to have side effects of feeling like my mind was chugging through mud, I couldn't think, I was always very tired and super cold. I have always had gluten intolerance, fructose intolerance and lactose intolerance, so my diet was already limited - then I limited it even more to lose weight. I did an hour of intense cardio 3 times a week and weight training/lifting the other 2 days of the week. I did the P90X program, Cathe Friedrich workouts, Tabata Drills and mens weight lifting programs like the Spartacus workout etc. I plateued and could not lose more fat/ tone my thighs/ rear end. I got tired of the 1500 calorie diet so I stopped counting my calories so religiously and then I started to gain weight, but the side effects of my mind feeling like it was chugging through mud, being tired and super cold all went away! Then I started to gain weight, my pants started to get tight, I even went up a pant size! I went to a personal trainer, did his workout routine and eating plan for 6 weeks and NOTHING. I was then told to stop doing so much cardio and start doing more weight lifting and eat 1700 to 1800 calories a day. I have been doing that and now I weigh in @ 138 and have more dimples on my thighs and rear end as well as a little layer of fat on abs! My pants continue to get tighter. I dont want to diet the way that I did in the beginning - but I don't like how fat I have become :(...
I did an online Body Fat Calculation last night and it came back as 26%!!!! I was at 17% months ago.. Any advice or insight/help would be much appreciated...