I'm so confused and don't know what to do!

F

fitharp

Cathlete
Hi all!

I posted this question on Ask Cathe and it was suggested to me to post over here also. So..

I am 36 years old. Had my 3rd child 2 years ago and I am still trying to lose those last 10 pounds which are mostly found around my middle. I am watching what I eat and though I could always improve there it is not that terrible. When I read various things on how to lose fat I see that there are 2 theories. #1 - Cardio is good for the heart but to lose weight you should do more heavy weight lifting. #2 To lose fat do more cardio. I'm not sure what it is I should concentrate on. I can see how both are beneficial to a heathly body but for now which one will help me to lose fat the fastest? I am not very strong in either area (cardio or strength) so I am thinking lose the weight first and then concentrate on the other things that need to be strengthened. Sometimes there is just to much information and I am not really sure how it applies to me and what I need. Anyway, thanks for any insight you can give me.
Michele
 
Hi Michele,

It might help if you post the workouts (Cathe or others) you have, or just what type of cardio and weight workouts you prefer. I am certain the knowledgeable people will point you in the right direction. What level exerciser are you, beginner, intermediate, or advanced?

Hang in there, help's on the way.:)
 
Hi there, Michele! Congrats on 3 wonderful children :) My first (and only right now) was 2 in April. As far as those last ten pounds, I want to offer my opinion, especially since the past year and a few months (when I found Cathe) has given me changes I have never had before in all my years of working out. I think weight lifting and cardio and clean eating all go hand in hand. I don't think it's do one, then do the other, etc. To really burn that fat & up the metabolism in order to lose those ten pounds, all have to work together. Each component is just as important in terms as a catalyst to the other.

With that being said, you have to evaluate your goals and assess what you have been doing. Do you want to just become more defined and gain lean muscle? Do you want to gain a bit more mass? You might want to cycle in workouts such as ME, PH, MM which are more enduranced based or GS, S&H for some increased mass. However, I think changing things up consistently is what keeps your body guessing and shocks the metabolism (meaning, just b/c you are not wanting to gain mass, doesn't mean you have to leave out those w/o entirely). So, as an example, you might do a 2 weeks to a month rotation incorporating endurance type lifting then change to circuit workouts or even mix all of the above at once. You have to find what works for you. I tend to like mixing up all types even within the week and then changing the heavier focus as I see fit. I might do 2 endurance, 1 circuit, and a heavy lift day, for example.

As for cardio, find a number of things you like to do and keep it rotating. Try to add in maybe a day or 2 of HIIT to really shock the system. I love doing sprintervals on the treadmill & I also do spinning & take a sports circuit class at the gym. Variety is the key.

Lastly, eating. You said you are doing fairly well, but I am not sure what that means. Never underestimate the effect your diet can have on the whole regimen. Cleaning up your diet just a little bit can really offer drastic changes. Try eating 5-6 smaller meals a day (around 300 cals each) getting a good ratio of healthy fats/complex carbs/lean protein. You can search for threads on lots of great meal ideas, snacks, etc.

Okay, this is a super long winded answer but I hope to have offered some insight. I am certainly not Cathe & there are many wonderful & smart women on this board who can chime in with some other ideas :)


Live with sincerity, love with passion, and dance like you mean it.

Debbie
 
Thanks for the help so fast!

Melody - I have almost all of the Cathe workouts. I have all of Firm, FitPrime (WHFN) and the Tracie Long Videos. I have recently started running with my husband. At running we are pretty much beginners. We can run 3 minutes walk 1 and do that about 10 times. When doing Cathe step I just use the 4 inch step, no risers. Weights I use 3lb to 8lb, can occasionally use a heavier barbell, but not often. Not to fit and this has been where I have been most of my life. I just can't seem to get any better. I workout mostly 6 days a week, sometimes 5. Until my last child I was very thin without having to exercise so I don't have much fitness to fall back on. I have lots of variety but I'm not sure how to use it all. The tapes seem to fit into different catagories and I just don't know how to use them.

Debbie - I understand that weight lifting and cardio should work together but I'm not sure how to put them together I guess. So I get confused when someone says weight lifting plays a bigger part because you are building bigger muscles which then burn more fat because then I think I should be spending more time doing that. As far as my goals - I want to lose the fat around my middle and a little upper thigh. I guess I would probably want the lean muscle look. Except for those problem areas I am pretty petite. I have very small wrists, small face (have a very hard time finding sunglasses, hats that don't slip off my face,head), small shoulders, shirts often fall off shoulders. Not sure what you mean by gaining more mass. Isn't that what we are trying to decrease?
If I was to do a month of endurance would I pick those tapes that are endurance based and do them every other day while running on the other days? Do I concentrate on total body weight training or concentrate on a body part for a couple days or a week? Then after that month do a month of tapes that are weight + cardio in one tape? I think I just have so much variety I don't know what to do with it all with what I need.

My eating - I eat about 1500 calories a day. try to include carbs and protein with each meal. A day might look like this
Breakfast - egg, toast or cereal with skim milk, fruit or low fat vanilla yogurt with fresh fruit mixed in.

Mid morning snack - dried fruit, fresh fruit (often not hungry so don't have snack, depends on when lunch is)

Lunch - salad with either black beans or chicken

Snack - veggies, cheese, nuts If I cheat this is usually when it is. I might have chips and salsa, popcorn or 1 cookie. Don't really struggle with sweets but more salty foods like chips

Dinner - grilled fish, chicken or steak with fresh veggies or salad. Or, Whole wheat pasta with veggies.

Sorry I am so confused. This can all seem like a foreign language to me! Thanks for your ideas.
Michele
 
Debbie is right! You cannot do just one, unless your not concerned with the results. Cardio burns tissue...fat and muscle. If you do only cardio, you will be burning muscle tissue and the loss of muscle will decrease your metabolism. You need to do weight, too.

Build the muscle from the inside with weights and burn the fat off from the outside with cardio. The strength work will help maintain and build muscle will doing cardio.

Try alternating each day, one day of weights, next day cardio, next day weights, next day cardio, next day weights, next day cardio, next day rest. Start all over.

Diet is huge! 82% is diet. Yours looks pretty darn good!!

So, every week you do weights, cardio, eat right, drink tons of water, sleep (good luck with 3 kids;-) ), have fun in the process!
 
Hi again, Michele :) Sorry if I was too confusing before. When I said "gain mass" I meant that some women do want to increase muscular size while still decreasing body fat...so a lean look, too, just bigger muscles ;) Check out the rotation board and their is a pinned topic with a good chunk of Cath'e previous rotations. She labels them all depending upon what your goals are so it is a great starting point. As Sarah said, your eating is looking pretty good. You're on the right track! I hope we are helping some :)


Live with sincerity, love with passion, and dance like you mean it.

Debbie
 
I agree with the diet equation - those chips calories can really add up - you may be scarfing down a lot more calories than you realize, and that can make a big difference. And don't eat just to eat - I was eating Smart Pop popcorn every night, and stopped because I was not hungry when I was eating it. That's a lot of calories saved over a six day period.

"You can't win them all - but you can try." - Babe Zaharias http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/musik/music-smiley-004.gif[/img]
 
I agree, your diet looks good. For workout suggestions, I'd check out the Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced 12 week rotation posted by Fitnessfreak over at the Rotations Forum. Good Luck!

I'd also invest in heavier dumbells if you havent already. When trying to increase strength, it's better to do even 2 or 3 reps with a heavier weight then decrease your weight for the rest of the set than to continue using the same weight for the entire set. Slowly you'll be able to lift heavier and heavier.

Based on your body description you may see better results using Gym Style or Slow&Heavy more consistently than an endurance type of lifting, but if you're just starting out check out the rotation I talked about above.

Stacy
 
Hi Michele,
You've already gotten great information above. I'll just add this -

When I started with Cathe, I had no idea what to do or how to get where I wanted - heck, I wasn't even sure what I specifically wanted other than to "look better". I started alternating cardio one day, weights the next. It didn't take very long to see a difference - four to six weeks - I only lost 2 lbs, but I lost an entire pants size!

Then I decided to focus on building specific muscle groups, that's where I started following some rotations. I did this somewhat loosely, since I don't own nearly as mnay workouts as you do. But I'm really seeing a difference in how I look - even DH is commenting on my biceps. As time goes by, I continue to learn and streamline my workout routine.

I suggest you just start with the alternating cardio and weights and see where you get in a few weeks. Then use what you learned during that process to get more specific. It's an evolving process, just keep at it and keep learning.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions.

I have looked over the rotations. There are just so many! Not sure what to start with! I think I will do cardio one day and strength the next. I have a couple of questions though. When is it that you want to use endurance type of tapes and when do you want to use more building mass? Do you ever mix up endurance and building? Also, how do tapes that combine strength and cardio fit in? Are they more for maintance?
 
After my DD was born, although I did not gain much weight, I could no longer fit my old clothes. That is what happens when we gain fat and lost muscles. So I decided to start focusing on gaining muscles first.

When I first started out with Cathe, I kept it very simple and did only one hour per workout.

I used Slow and Heavy for strength gain. On M, W, F, I did S&H and T, TH I did one-hour of cardio. On the weekend, I did one circuit, endurance type so my muscle would hit twice a week. For diet, I did mostly in moderation but always had protein shake after work out and tried to add lean protein on all my food intakes. My calories were around 1500.
I did this for three to four weeks.

After this rotation, I started endurance type rotation. M, W, F, I did all circuit workouts and Tu, Th, one hour of cardio. I did this for four weeks.

The results were incredible and I have been hooked on Cathe ever since. I am at where I wanted to be. Most of my workouts are now maintenance purpose but always do weights and cardio each week. It can be done together or separately. After so many years, I kind of know how my body will response on which Cathe’s workout.

We can give you our testimonies but it is up to you to find out. I am sure many of us here did not know everything when we first attempted Cathe. Everyone’s results will be different as we all have different genetic types. It is untimely up to you to find out what works best for you by just trying out and make necessary change.

Good luck.:)
 
>Babybird
>
>What videos did you use?

It was so long ago when I first stared we did not have that many strength tapes at that time as we have now.

For the first three weeks, I used Slow and Heavy for strength and Power Hour for endurance. For the Cardio, I did two to three per week and always included one type of Kickboxing and one Interval. I used Cardio Kicks and IMAX.

During the Endurance rotation, for the first week, I did Power Hour on M, W, F and two or three cardio on Tu and Thus and Sat. I rested on Sunday.
Second week, I used ME for M, W, and F and two to three cardio other days.
Third week I switched to MIS.
For the forth week, I did one each, Power Hour, ME and MIS and cardios.


We have so many selections now since than so the choice is endless.
 
Michele --
Just a thought:
You could try to head off the craving period by having a complex carb at lunch and eat half of it, say a sweet potato, and then have the other half at your snack time when you feel more cravings and add some of your dinner protein then if you can.

You might need a little more complex carb mid-day??

good luck and congrats on enjoying your kids!
Barb
:) :) :)
 
Thank you everyone for your help. I neglected my family yesterday and did alot of research with the Cathe search engine on strength and endurance. I think I have it figured out. Strength training builds muscle and includes the more body part type of tapes (Pure Strength, Slow & Heavy, Pyramids, Gym Style) they are a slow and controlled count. Endurance maintains what you built, does not build, the counts are faster and vary, includes the tapes that have all body parts in one tape (Body Max, Power Hour, MIS, Supersets, Push Pull) I'm not sure but I think High Step, Cardio & Weight, How to Gt In Shape for your Wedding 2, the Firms would all be endurance.
I have very rarely done the strength tapes, maybe one day of one of the Pure Strengths every 3 months. So though I have done weight tapes I was mostly maintaining the little muscle i had not really building new which is why I haven't been able to progress. I am beginning to see how you need to build muscle and how that increases metabolism and help burn fat. Though there is still a part of me that doesn't quite see how lifting weights for biceps is going to get the fat off my middle. But I am willing to give it a try since whatever I tried in the past didn't work. Thanks to all for your help. I am beginning to see how to use all the tapes I have gotten for my benefit, not just to use them. I started today and did Pure Strength Chest, Shoulders, Triceps. I lifted as heavy as I could and though I usually had to drop down at least I took the muscle to the max for a couple of reps. Wish me luck and hopefully I will soon be able to write with my own success story.
Thanks again,
Michele
 
>to progress. I am beginning to see how you need to build
>muscle and how that increases metabolism and help burn fat.
>Though there is still a part of me that doesn't quite see how
>lifting weights for biceps is going to get the fat off my
>middle.

Hi Michele,

During your weight training, always focus on proper forms and hold your abs tight. Breathe out when you lift and in when you are down. Holding abs tight not only helps build stronger abs but also will stabilize your back, which is one of the common pain people experience when they first start out the strength training.

I recommended add one complete abs training after each weight session and add more lean protein and complex carbs in your diet.

Cathe’s Core Max will hit your entire abs.

Before you know it, you will see your middle shrink in no time. :)
 
>Diet is huge!

I agree. It seems to especially be the key for those 'last 10 pounds."

I also agree that a combo of cardio and weights is essential.
You can either do circuit types workouts every other day, with cardio in between, or alternate cardio and weight workouts. Be sure to include an interval workout once a week, which will help break plateaus and boost the metabolism. By mixing things up, you'll keep your body somewhat "inefficient' at workouts, and you will burn more calories that way.
 
Also remember that your body won't lose fat in the areas you are specifically training.

As you add muscle, you burn more calories. As you burn more calories, your body will decrease the fat cells. And, unfortunately, from what I have read, the last fat added is the last to disappear.

Basically, you are looking at losing your midriff because you will eventually be burning more calories since you will have more muscle from the strength training of your biceps (and of course all your other muscles).

Hope that makes sense!
 
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