"So Gingy and I have been weight-loss buddies for quite some time now. We’ve both lost about the same amount of weight, we’re in the same Points range on WW, we do the same things. So we talk about this a lot. And we’ve noticed something odd lately, and I’m wondering why.
A few weeks ago, I did nothing but gain weight, even though I was trying to eat right. It started about a week and a half before my period was supposed to start, and continued for two weeks, when my period actually did start. At that point in time, I got a cold, and could no longer work out. I haven’t been back to the gym since, because I’m still having issues with congestion and exhaustion. It’s been exactly a week since I stopped working out. In that week, I have lost three pounds. I’ve still been eating the same as I would normally do, although sometimes on days when I work out, I’ll eat maybe 150-200 calories more to make up for it (maybe 3-4 points more, on average). When I was working out and eating right, I consistently gained about a pound a week. When not working out and eating right, I lost more than I’ve lost in one week since I first started. It makes me want to not work out, although I know that’s not an option, and I’ll be back in the gym 3-4 times a week as soon as I feel better. So here’s what I do in an average week when I’m working out.
Friday: That’s my weigh-in day. On Fridays, I eat 25 points, which is approximately 1250 calories. I then will eat anywhere from half to all of the activity points I earn that day, which is usually about 7 (350 calories worth). My activity at the gym consists of 40 minutes of weight training and 30 minutes of cardio.
Saturday: Saturdays are my super-high points day. I eat 39 points that day, or about 1950 calories. Usually, I will go to the gym and do an hour of yogilates and an hour of boxing. That’s 10 AP, or about 500 calories if I translate it into food.
Sundays: I eat 24 points, about 1200 calories. I do not work out.
Mondays: I eat 28 points (approximately 1400 calories). I work out at the gym, doing 40 minutes of weight training and 30 minutes of cardio. (again, about 350 calories worth of AP) but I only eat half of those.
Tuesdays: I eat 26 points (1300 calories) and do not work out.
Wednesdays: I eat either 24 or 29 points (1200 or 1450 calories), and do 30 minutes of cardio and 40 minutes of weight training. If I eat 24 points, I’ll eat up to all of my 350 extra calories. If I do 29 points, I will eat no more than half.
Thursdays: Same as Wednesdays, only without the gym, so I eat either 1200 or 1450 calories with no extras.
I should probably say what I do when I work out. I do 2 sets of 15, using 60 pounds on the leg press–it’s a machine that involves using my legs to push my body up an incline, so I guess there’s some body weight factored into that as well. It’s like squats, I guess. Then I do 2 sets of 15 on the leg extensions (quads), using 15 pounds, 2 sets of 15 using 50 pounds on the leg curl (hamstrings), 2 sets of 15 on the outer thigh machine using 50 pounds, 2 sets of 15 on the inner thigh machine using 70 pounds, 2 sets of 12 using 30 pounds on the rotary chest, 2 sets of 12 using 30 pounds on the horizontal row (upper back), 2 sets of 15 on shoulder raises using 5 pound dumbells, 2 sets of 30 on bicep curls using a 15-pound long bar, and 2 sets of 15 using 30 pounds on a tricep pull-down bar on the universal machine. Then I do 2 sets of 12 on the vertical crunch machine and 12 crunches per set on the ab bench–2 sets with my feet on the floor, 2 sets with my feet on the bench, 2 sets with my feet on the bar, 2 sets with my feet directly in the air, and 2 sets while lying on each side. The ab bench alone takes me about eight minutes. My cardio consists of 30 minutes of either jogging or elliptical, although every now and then when I feel like taking it easy I’ll get on the recumbent bike and do about 40 minutes of hill programs instead.
So that’s my week. This week, I didn’t go to the gym, and ate exactly to my Points target on every day. I’m down 3 pounds. If I follow the regimen I listed above, I gain about a pound a week. I’m 5’11", weigh 177 (after the three-pound loss), am 25 years old, female, a law student, and on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays I work at a job that requires a fair amount of standing and walking for about 3-4 hours a day. The rest of my time I spend either in class, studying, cooking meals, or vegging in front of the television/computer. I weighed 241 in January of '02, so I’m pretty happy with what I’ve managed to accomplish. I just wish I could lose these last 17 or so pounds.
Gingy has a common problem. She wants to lose about 30 more pounds. She has been stuck on a plateau for the last month. She eats the exact same amount of food as I do, and works out about as much, although she does a lot more cardio and less weight training than I do. She could probably give more accurate details about what she does every day. Suffice it to say that we both get frustrated when we follow a program precisely as we’re supposed to and we gain weight or stay the same, when it worked so well up until now.
So this is why I wish I knew a nutritionist. I want someone to let me know what I should be doing differently in order to see results. It’s stupid that this plan works better when I’m not working out. I want to be healthy and fit, not just thin, but it seems as if what I am doing won’t allow for both."