willowtree444's Journal, 30 January 2016

I didn't weigh myself this week,so discouraging not to see a drop on the scale.I am really trying but it getting motivated to go on the treadmill.If I did ecercise I know the weight would come off faster.On the other hand I have lost 7 pounds this month,I hope that this month I can do the same.I'm 69 years old and still trying to exercise and diet.Hang in there and lets see what this week does for us 

I get frustrated with scale too. I've been working out 6 days a week, eating clean (nothing packaged or processed), no sugar, flour, grains, wheat and limited dairy... and I weighed today....down ONE lb...in 5 weeks! WTH?!?  

Lean mass and lifestyle determine metabolic rate. There's really no such thing as a slow metabolism. You can cause metabolic damage from extreme exercise coupled with restricted calorie intake, or just straight up starvation diets. But there's no such thing as inherently slow metabolism. I recommend you guys look in to learning about your metabolic rate. The only trick in not gaining weight is not consuming more calories than you burn. Whether you eat junk food or completely clean, if you consume more calories than you burn, your body will convert the excess glucose in to triglycerides(fat). You don't need to run huge deficits to lose 1 lb a week, all it requires is you figure out your metabolic rate, and run a 15% deficit or so, giving yourself breaks(eating at maintenance calories) every 7-10 days to prevent metabolic damage and reset leptin/insulin sensitivity. As for weigh ins. I recommend that you only pay attention to a fixed weigh in schedule. If you weigh yourself every day, you can go crazy. You can easily experience 5 lb swings based on diet. If I have a big carb day, the next day I weigh myself I can gain 3-4 lbs purely on the fact I am retaining water and have filled my glycogen stores. It's not fat gain, just water weight. So if I know for example on fridays my glycogen levels will be more regular, or low, I will count that for progress. Or you could just go with weekly lows. Don't get bogged down by the day to day, because diet can cause those massive swings, and it's not fat gain. Don't worry about extreme exercise. Ditch the mentality that you need to "get serious". That's an unsustainable lifestyle, and leads to thyroid supression(depression, decreased sex drive, etc.). Do the exercise you enjoy at the frequency you enjoy, eat the foods you enjoy, but make sure that you are consuming slightly less than you burn in a day, and you will lose weight. That's the key to sustainable healthy lifestyle changes. I hope that helps. 

Well I beg to differ on the last comment. Age definitely plays as role. Metabolism Does in fact start to slow down every year after the age of 30, menopause also is a factor . I have muscle mass ( can leg press over 400 lbs, and my last shoulder workout my db shoulder presses were with 30 lb db's for 8 reps. My Dr feels women going through menopause suffer with this lovely slowing of metabolism and suggest to cut calories by another 20% ,,,so yeah fun times are had by all. :)