Disaster - I am so upset

[Lisav]

I decided last week was going to be amazing for me and went on a complete fitness routine. Every night I swam or went to the gym and one night I went to the gym then a body pump class - I even went to the gym before my weigh in - what do you think happened??

I stayed the same - I had to leave the session cos I was so upset and couldnt get my head around why - I had stuck to the diet 100%

I know one of the reasons is its my totm, but i have seriously never done this much exercise in my life and just felt like what is the point? I have to get over it and am not going to cheat, but feel so disappointed

 

[Kate]

If you're in abstinence you almost certainly did too much. What's your usual fitness routine like?

 

[Sweetpea]

I agree - you probably overdid it on the exercise. You'll probably be retaining fluid because of the TOTM and you may have increased your muscle mass as a result of all the exercising.

I'd cut down on the exercise until you're well into the diet and up the water intake.

Brilliant that you're sticking to the diet - well done!

 

[Kate]

you may have increased your muscle mass as a result of all the exercising.

Sorry, I agree with the rest of your post but this is actually not physically possible on a VLCD.

 

[Sweetpea]

BTW - disasters are the result of earthquakes, Tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, major accidents.

When your weight hasn't gone up or down after a week on a diet it is not a disaster. Get things in perspective Lisa. LOL

 

[Sweetpea]

Sorry, I agree with the rest of your post but this is actually not physically possible on a VLCD.

Isn't it? What happens then when you exercise your muscles and expend more energy than you are taking in on a VLCD?

 

[Kate]

Isn't it? What happens then when you exercise your muscles and expend more energy than you are taking in on a VLCD?

You've answered your own question - to build muscle you need extra energy, and because you create a massive energy deficit on a VLCD, it's not possible to build muscle.

However, what you can do - and the reason it's well worth lifting weights while dieting - is maintain the muscle you already have, and reduce lean tissue loss.

Any time you diet, no matter which plan you follow, some of your losses will be lean mass. You can minimise that by doing resistance exercise.

 

[Sweetpea]

Thanks for the info Kate - so if I'm not doing resistance exercise will I be losing lean musle mass? and, if so, can that be dangerous as it could be muscle from around the heart?

 

[Kate]

No, it's as I said - anyone on a diet, regardless of what the diet is, will lose some lean mass as well as fat. Don't worry about it. Of course, lifting weights would be a great habit to get into, and maintaining the muscle you have and keeping it active is definitely going to help you maintain your weight in the long term. I'd strongly recommend doing some resistance exercise for a healthy lifestyle, whether or not you are trying to lose weight.

I'm a bit concerned that we've hijacked the original thread with this tangent so it might be best, if you want to discuss it further, to start a new thread in the Exercise and Fitness section?

 

[Sweetpea]

Okey dokey - thanks for your help Kate.

 

[Lisav]

Thanks for your comments, I have been back on LL since the end of september and lost three stone ten and have been swimming once a week and going to body pump once a week up until now, but I joined a gym this week so have been making the most of it but I dont feel I have overdone it, just done more than normal.

In my eyes VLCD + Exercise = more weight loss not no weight loss which is why I was upset, and I know its not a disaster to everyone but it meant a lot to me. Interesting to read about muscle use on a VLCD though

 

[Kate]

To be honest, Lisa, I wouldn't advise you try to speed up your losses with exercise. If you're doing so much exercise that it would make a difference to your weekly loss, then you should be eating. It's better to exercise for all the other benefits and accept any increase in your weight loss as a lovely bonus.

The fact that you've stayed the same this week will be due to water retention, and it will average out.

As for the exercise - you might not think you've done much more than normal, but you say you usually do two sessions a week and this week you've done - correct me if I'm wrong - eight (one each day plus two on one day). That's four times what you usually do. That's a lot.

 

[htpink]

Sounds to me like your body has gone into "starvation mode" where its not getting enough calories as you are expending so much energy - therefore your body is clinging onto every bit of energy it can as it doesn't know when its going to get some more!

My advice would be to have an extra pack and see if that makes a difference or maybe go onto the 790 and see how you do. Or of course go back to your previous routine for the time being.

Excellent effort though!!!

 

[SafcGirl31]

I've been doing some exercise dvds and as someone who is on and off the scales every 10 mins!!! you do put (false) weight on directly after exercise, I don't know why, it doesn't make much sense because you would have thought the fact that you sweat would have done the opposite. Maybe lay off the exercise just a little bit but keep going on the diet, I'm sure it'll be a better result this week x

 

[Lisav]

Thank you all I am much more positive this week!