Kicking my PCOs to the curb!

[stingo]

Originally Posted by Kirjava

My eats over the weekend weren't great, unfortunately--too much socalizing.

Originally Posted by Kirjava

I have to admit I'm starting to think about changing exercise programs, from NROL4W to the NROL' s fatloss (the book is on the order). It's just that this program isn't a weight loss program and well, I need to lose weight....

Putting these quotes together, is it possible that you might want to look at your food intake, rather than your exercise program? I don't have the NROL4W book in front of me, but from what I remember the programs in it are roughly similar to NROL's fat loss programs in that supersets work unrelated muscle groups.

And as for stretching, perhaps some mobility exercises might help.

[Kirjava]

Originally Posted by stingo

Putting these quotes together, is it possible that you might want to look at your food intake, rather than your exercise program? I don't have the NROL4W book in front of me, but from what I remember the programs in it are roughly similar to NROL's fat loss programs in that supersets work unrelated muscle groups.

And as for stretching, perhaps some mobility exercises might help.

Tom, thanks a lot for the thoughts. You're right--diet is an area of struggle for me, always. I don't usually have problems with the exercise bits; it's the food that I fight with.

My only concern with NROL4W is that there is not enough cardio in it, and that I need cardio to loss fat. So doing the weights workouts in it, but with more cardio in between weights might work:

Sample:
Monday:NROL4W workout A
Tuesday: HITT followed by s.s cardio
Wednesday:NROL4W workout B, HITT
Thursday:s.s cardio
Friday:NROL4W workout A
Saturday:HITT followed s.s. cardio
Sunday: off

I also think I might need to go back to weightwatchers. It's the only program that has helped me lose weight in the past. However, I would be following the Core program, which means that you can eat until satisfaction approved "core" foods, and have to count points for non-core foods. That means I could eat until satisfaction stuff like like protein, fruits, veggies, legumes, etc, and would have to count points for stuff like breads, nuts, full-fat dairy, protein powder, etc. The difference is primarily core foods are unprocessed and have a low calorie density, versus non-core foods are more processed and more calorie dense. The good thing about the core program is that it emphasizes the need to learn your body's hunger cues, and you really can only eat until satisfaction. I did it in the past and it made me pay more attention. So I am still thinking about it, but think I might want to go back to the that program for a few months.

[ledove]

If you're going to change your food to WW, then perhaps you don't need to add to the workouts yet or change to NROL. It may be that only the diet is slowing down the results you want to see.

And I think 3 sessions of HIIT may be too many and may not give your body enough time to recover. Perhaps stay with HIIT the days after workout B and use only steady-state cardio on days after workout A? (Maybe add one more HIIT session in weeks with two "A" workouts?)

[missjane]

Cardio isn't the solution. It's diet.

Before NROL4W I was doing NROL. I did FLI and FLII and had very little weight change. It wasn't until I was really dialed in on my diet did I achieve fatloss, which was in January when I started NROL4W. Diet is KEY.

[climban]

I don 't know the programs of NROL, but I think the women's version should work for fatloss! I just builds up quite steadily. I finished stage 1, and already see changes in my body. In stage 2, some HIIT is added, which is a good thing. You 're already arriving at stage 3, and from what I heard, that 's quite tuff on the "cardiovascular" side... You surely can add some more cardio if you need to, but be careful not to overtrain yourself!

Diet is a major key in losing fat. I know for myself, that if I would be stricter, I would lose fat (and weight probably too) much quicker. So cleaning up your eats could help a lot! I never heard of this core program of WW, it sounds good!

Lots of luck, and let us know what you decided!

[tkinsley]

Originally Posted by missjane

Cardio isn't the solution. It's diet.

Before NROL4W I was doing NROL. I did FLI and FLII and had very little weight change. It wasn't until I was really dialed in on my diet did I achieve fatloss, which was in January when I started NROL4W. Diet is KEY.

ONE THOUSAND percent agree. 90% of your results, or thereabouts, can be traced back to diet.
Sucks.

[stingo]

Originally Posted by Kirjava

My only concern with NROL4W is that there is not enough cardio in it, and that I need cardio to loss fat.

Or, you could just take in less calories. The only way I could justify cardiovascular training is for exactly that - training your heart and lungs - not for fat loss.

[Kirjava]

Originally Posted by missjane

Cardio isn't the solution. It's diet.

Before NROL4W I was doing NROL. I did FLI and FLII and had very little weight change. It wasn't until I was really dialed in on my diet did I achieve fatloss, which was in January when I started NROL4W. Diet is KEY.

Jane, how did you make your diet work? What are your guidelines?

[missjane]

Originally Posted by Kirjava

Jane, how did you make your diet work? What are your guidelines?

I am doing TNT and averaging a little over 1 lb of fat loss per week.

However, the key is choosing a nutrition plan that is right for you and STICKING to it! That's why I truly feel I've been successful. It's been my ability to stay true to my nutrition. The lifting is supplementing all of that and is icing on the cake. Plus, I feel great.

[Kirjava]

Originally Posted by ledove

And I think 3 sessions of HIIT may be too many and may not give your body enough time to recover. Perhaps stay with HIIT the days after workout B and use only steady-state cardio on days after workout A? (Maybe add one more HIIT session in weeks with two "A" workouts?)

I agree--even as I was typing it out, I felt like that was too much HITT. After all, my body gets really sore from those workouts! It was the feverish, "must lose weight before summer" part of me that was typing it out.

Originally Posted by missjane

Cardio isn't the solution. It's diet.

I know--it's just that I was looking over my old workout/exercise logs last night and the times I was at my leanest I was doing a lot of cardio. But I think I have been letting cardio mask my bad eating habits. Now that I've cut back the cardio, the bad eating habits are standing exposed.

Originally Posted by climban

I don 't know the programs of NROL, but I think the women's version should work for fatloss! I just builds up quite steadily. I finished stage 1, and already see changes in my body. In stage 2, some HIIT is added, which is a good thing. You 're already arriving at stage 3, and from what I heard, that 's quite tuff on the "cardiovascular" side... You surely can add some more cardio if you need to, but be careful not to overtrain yourself!

Yes, I'm looking forward to stage 3! I like the workouts, I don't really want to change exercise programs. If it worked for fat loss, then I'd really love it.

Originally Posted by stingo

Or, you could just take in less calories. The only way I could justify cardiovascular training is for exactly that - training your heart and lungs - not for fat loss.

I guess I haven't been sure that less calories is key--I keep hearing these dire warnings about dropping too low. After all, according to NROL4W I should be eating 1700 cals on nonlifting days and 1900 cals on lifting days. Right now I am averaging between 1500 and 1900 cals a day, and thats with a lot of activity--miles of walking to and from work, walking my dog, doing the weights workouts with HITT afterwards, and was leery of dropping it too low. But I guess that's what I really have to do. I just find it very hard to stick to a target. I find if I don't eat I get dizzy and nausous, and it is difficult to scale back my intake. However, maybe I should aim for 1400 cals for non lifting days and 1600 for lifting days. Yes, that's really low, relatively speaking, but maybe that's just what my body needs. After all, I do have PCOs and women with this condition seem to just need to eat less food, unfortunately.

Originally Posted by missjane

I am doing TNT and averaging a little over 1 lb of fat loss per week.

However, the key is choosing a nutrition plan that is right for you and STICKING to it! That's why I truly feel I've been successful. It's been my ability to stay true to my nutrition. The lifting is supplementing all of that and is icing on the cake. Plus, I feel great.

I have been having difficulty in sticking with anything. Especially on weekend nights. I am pretty good during the week and have been been caving so badly. I mean, it's not like I'm doing anything crazy like eating huge slabs of cake or anything--my highest cal intake would still be no more than 2200, but clearly that is just way too much for me.

I appreciate everybody's input on this--thanks so much. Amazing how even though I lose the bulk of my weight four years ago and thought I was "done", this is clearly a lifelong battle.

[GinnyLou]

You know, you may need to tweak some things to get to your goal. I'm not saying you can't get to your goals, strictly following this plan but I think that as long as you are listening to your body and not overtraining, you can add in some cardio. I do agree that diet is a huge part of this process, but I am also adding in some more cardio than what is laid out in the book and I don't feel like I am hindering anything.
Just thought I would throw in my two cents, too.

[stingo]

Out of curiosity, how far do you stray from your food plan when you do stray? One big binge could undo a good part of the week's work.

[Kirjava]

I'll use this weekend as a good example, because I was socalizing every night.
Friday night:
The plan: a good dinner of grilled chicken, big salad with walnuts, feta, avocado
The extras: a small handful of potato chips, two big handfuls of popcorn, two squares of dark chocolate

Saturday night:
The plan: baked pesto chicken with roasted potatoes, a glass of red wine, big salad
The extras: probably 4 squares of dark chocolate, a handful of tortilla chips (maybe 10?) and salsa, another glass of wine (or two?)

Sunday night:
The plan: thin crust pizza topped with feta and ground turkey
The extras: a light beer, about 1/2 cup of pistachio nuts (!), two small slices of baguette with hummus, two squares of dark chocolate, a handful of tortilla chips

[stingo]

All of your extras are carb-based. Carbs raise your blood sugar levels, which causes your body to produce insulin to move it out of the blood stream. If your muscles have all the glycogen they need, the carbs get converted into fat. Additionally, I understand alcohol is a priority call - the body takes care of detoxifying first before other activities.

[kfisherx]

My bet is that you are understimating how much you are eating now. If you aren't measuring everything it is most probably the case that you are eating more than you think. I agree with what everyone is saying here. You need to hone in the diet. It took me a few months but I have mine very accurately dialed in right now and as such I am now empowered to loose or gain weight depending on what I want to do. This whole "bulking" thing was the best thing I could possibly have done to help me figure this stuff out.

[marygrace]

But I think I have been letting cardio mask my bad eating habits. Now that I've cut back the cardio, the bad eating habits are standing exposed.

I understand exactly what you mean. When I used to run 30 miles a week, I took it as permission to eat whate