So glad I found this forum!
I'm a 30 year old female, 5'6", started training almost 3 years ago (Wow!). I have always struggled with my weight, and was once 180 lbs. Went on Weight Watchers, lost about 25lbs and stayed at that weight for a few years, until I started working with a trainer. What a huge difference, it was like a miracle. I went down from a size 8 to a size 4 and was thrilled. Sometimes the size 4 clothes were loose!! I was so proud of myself. My thinnest was 125 and at the time, my life was incredibly active. Now...not as much. Stuck at a desk job and going to school at night. But, I keep up the workout routine- try to go the gym 6 days a week, do weights 3 times a week, cardio for 45 minutes or so each day. Over the past year, I have gained 10lbs! What is the DEAL? I'm stuffing into my clothes and I am not happy. I hear about the dreaded plateau...and I'm trying to get past it. I've started talking all these different classes at the gym to jumpstart it all again. I go to NY Sports Clubs, and they have excellent classes. So I take the weight-training type classes to add some variety to my weight workout, and I'm also taking different cardio classes like kickboxing, cycling and dance-aerobics. Of course with the holidays it's been tough to stick to the class schedule, but I think I can over the next month.
So...what exactly have I been doing wrong that I had to gain 10 lbs over the last few years? I'm thinking it's in my diet but I don't think my diet is that bad! Here's about what it looks like:
Breakfast: Kashi cereal (super healthy and high in fiber)
Snack: If I remember to pack it, I'll have some kind of fruit. (produce sucks here in the city)
Lunch: usually some kind of sandwich- turkey, roast beef, peanut butter and jelly. On multi-grain bread. If I forget to pack, it's usually up to the cafeteria and get egg salad on a roll (I know- BAD!! but it's cheap!) or I go to subway and get a salami/pepperoni 6 inch sandwich (BAD too, but not a very often indulgence)
Snack: usually a Luna bar before the gym
Dinner: It will either just be boring pasta (I can't seem to control my portions though which I know I have to pay attention to), Zatarain's Jambalaya (with chicken) or Dirty Rice (with chop meat- this is surprisingly extremely low in fat). I also sometimes make those frozen stir fry meals- they give you the vegetables, and you stir fry chicken into it (comes in Sweet & Sour and Sesame flavored). I'll sometimes have white rice with that.
Snack: If I snack at night (hell, I always do cuz I come home from school STARVED), I have Utz pretzels or a Silhouette ice cream sandwich (98% fat free and only 90 calories).
On the weekends sometimes it gets out of wack...if I eat out, I always want something bad. Burger/Fries, Chicken Sandwich/Fries, some kind of fancy salad with all those nasty hidden calories and fat. But this is just on the weekends!!!
So what is it? Sometimes I wonder if it's the snacking- I can't seem to stop once I start. Sometimes I wonder if it's just the amount of carbs I'm consuming. I have a very hard time following a specific diet. I pretty much live at work and school and always have to prepare things to eat here. So those frozen meals are great- they leave tons of leftovers so that saves me time.
So wherein lies the problem? Workout? Diet? What exactly is going on? It's really bumming me out because I am trying! At least I think I am!
Thanks for listening to this diatribe and thanks for advance in advance!
I'm a 30 year old female, 5'6", started training almost 3 years ago (Wow!). I have always struggled with my weight, and was once 180 lbs. Went on Weight Watchers, lost about 25lbs and stayed at that weight for a few years, until I started working with a trainer. What a huge difference, it was like a miracle. I went down from a size 8 to a size 4 and was thrilled. Sometimes the size 4 clothes were loose!! I was so proud of myself. My thinnest was 125 and at the time, my life was incredibly active. Now...not as much. Stuck at a desk job and going to school at night. But, I keep up the workout routine- try to go the gym 6 days a week, do weights 3 times a week, cardio for 45 minutes or so each day. Over the past year, I have gained 10lbs! What is the DEAL? I'm stuffing into my clothes and I am not happy. I hear about the dreaded plateau...and I'm trying to get past it. I've started talking all these different classes at the gym to jumpstart it all again. I go to NY Sports Clubs, and they have excellent classes. So I take the weight-training type classes to add some variety to my weight workout, and I'm also taking different cardio classes like kickboxing, cycling and dance-aerobics. Of course with the holidays it's been tough to stick to the class schedule, but I think I can over the next month.
So...what exactly have I been doing wrong that I had to gain 10 lbs over the last few years? I'm thinking it's in my diet but I don't think my diet is that bad! Here's about what it looks like:
Breakfast: Kashi cereal (super healthy and high in fiber)
Snack: If I remember to pack it, I'll have some kind of fruit. (produce sucks here in the city)
Lunch: usually some kind of sandwich- turkey, roast beef, peanut butter and jelly. On multi-grain bread. If I forget to pack, it's usually up to the cafeteria and get egg salad on a roll (I know- BAD!! but it's cheap!) or I go to subway and get a salami/pepperoni 6 inch sandwich (BAD too, but not a very often indulgence)
Snack: usually a Luna bar before the gym
Dinner: It will either just be boring pasta (I can't seem to control my portions though which I know I have to pay attention to), Zatarain's Jambalaya (with chicken) or Dirty Rice (with chop meat- this is surprisingly extremely low in fat). I also sometimes make those frozen stir fry meals- they give you the vegetables, and you stir fry chicken into it (comes in Sweet & Sour and Sesame flavored). I'll sometimes have white rice with that.
Snack: If I snack at night (hell, I always do cuz I come home from school STARVED), I have Utz pretzels or a Silhouette ice cream sandwich (98% fat free and only 90 calories).
On the weekends sometimes it gets out of wack...if I eat out, I always want something bad. Burger/Fries, Chicken Sandwich/Fries, some kind of fancy salad with all those nasty hidden calories and fat. But this is just on the weekends!!!
So what is it? Sometimes I wonder if it's the snacking- I can't seem to stop once I start. Sometimes I wonder if it's just the amount of carbs I'm consuming. I have a very hard time following a specific diet. I pretty much live at work and school and always have to prepare things to eat here. So those frozen meals are great- they leave tons of leftovers so that saves me time.
So wherein lies the problem? Workout? Diet? What exactly is going on? It's really bumming me out because I am trying! At least I think I am!
Thanks for listening to this diatribe and thanks for advance in advance!
