Four pounds

[avram]

I’ve been dissatisfied with my rate of weight loss. I’ve just finished my third week on the Hot Point Fitness plan. Dropped six pounds in the first week-and-a-half, and not an ounce since. Actually, I’ve bounced up and down twice, but still can’t get below 280. What I’ve been doing is just going to the gym three days a week and doing the weights and aerobic exercise thing. The book suggests going the other three days each week and doing just aerobic work (resting one day each week), which is what I used to do in the old days, so yesterday I went in and did forty minutes on the treadmill. I figured that would give me the extra push I needed.

I gained four pounds overnight.

I’m so tempted to chuck the plan. I’m busting my ass for three fucking hours in that gym three days a week, and maybe it’s improving my musculature, but I want to lose weight too, dammit, and that’s just not happening. And there’s no way in hell I’d be able to do even this much if I was holding down a job at the same time. I’ll stick with it through the fourth week, and then make a decision.

After I showered and dressed I walked around Brooklyn for a while, then went to Pearl Paint for a couple of books, wandered around Chinatown field-testing my new digital camera, and walked back over the Manhattan Bridge, pausing to sketch a rather complex rooftop (yes, that’s all one building):

Comments

[almeda.livejournal.com]

The real problem, of course, is that muscle is distinctly heavier than fat.

[avram]

Yeah, I wish it wasn't such a pain in the ass to get my body fat index measured.

I have no problem with gaining muscle as I lose fat. But I need to lose about a hundred pounds, and I don't expect to gain anywhere near that much muscle. And I don't think I gained four pounds of muscle last night.

Actually, I probably didn't gain four pounds of fat either -- I assume most of that is, or was, sitting in my intestines. I could probably do with eating more roughage.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

My sympathies on the plateau, and the gain. I know how demoralizing it is.

Yeah, I wish it wasn't such a pain in the ass to get my body fat index measured.

A tape measure will probably help - most people who are trading fat for muscle lose inches. Pick a couple of significant proportions and measure them every other week or so.

I have no problem with gaining muscle as I lose fat. But I need to lose about a hundred pounds, and I don't expect to gain anywhere near that much muscle. And I don't think I gained four pounds of muscle last night.

Well, as you say, you probably didn't gain four pounds of fat either. It was probably mostly water.

Your metabolism will start burning calories at a higher rate as your increase your percentage of muscle. So eventually, the extra muscle is supposed to help you burn fat while you watch TV.

Do you know about http://www.fitday.com? I've found it really helpful for keeping track of my eating and exercising habits, and calling to my awareness dietary patterns I hadn't realized were problems. (For example, I was routinely - like, every day - not getting enough vitamins or calcium. And things I thought were not that big a deal, like Krispy Kreme doughnuts, turned out to have much greater nutritional liabilities than I'd expected.)