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[Doug56]

I have done very well to reach my weight loss goal. However, several monthls of traveling (which translates to not following good eating habits) have stalled my progress.

I have restarted my vigorous workout routine with my trainer but would like some advice on how to get my weight loss program jump started. I am within 10 pounds of my goal.

[cassiegose]

Thats a bummer! I'm also experiencing a serious lull in my progress right now. Its very frustrating to make gains then see your progress stall or feel like youre going in the opposite direction (which is where I am!)

What are you currently doing for your workouts and diet? Post an example of each please...

[Doug56]

My weekly workout schedule is as follows:

Monday: 30-40 minutes of cardio on an elliptical machine in the morning. One hour Pilates class in the evening. THese take place at a fitness club which I belong to.

Tuesday: walk one mine on the treadmill, 30 minute workout with personal trainer (mixture of weights and cardio) followed by 45 minute spin cycle class.

Wednesday: Repeat of Monday's routine. When time allows, one hour spin class at noon.

Thursday: Repeat of Tuesday's routine.

Friday: 30-40 minutes of cardio either on treadmill or elliptical machine.

Saturday: Spin class in the morning.

Sunday: Weights for 45 minutes to one hour

[Doug56]

My diet plan has been with a local LA Weight Loss franchise which has since gone out of business. I am essentially on my own now, following the routine in the LAWL diet plan.

I find myself not as regimented so part of this is a momentary lack of discipline.

[cassiegose]

Hmmm... You might try bumping up your weight routine a bit and try doing more intense cardio. I would also try having designated "cardio" and "weights" days so you can get more out of each workout. It seems that 30 minutes of weights and cardio combined might not be quite enough time to get in a real effective weight routine. What if you did 45-60 minutes of just weights on Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday and did 30 minutes of INTENSE cardio on Monday/Wednesday/Friday. Then you could take Saturday off completely to let your body recover. For the intense cardio I would recommend switching from the elliptical to maybe sprints, intervals, or stairs. These are great for burning fat! Or you could stay on the elliptical but do 30 minute intervals to really get your heart pumping.

What do you think? It seems like you're doing an awful lot of cardio and you might benefit from cutting back on the long slow cardio sessions and replacing them with shorter, more intense workouts.

For your diet... I'm not familiar with LA Weightloss. What does a typicall day look like for you?

I hope this helps! :)

[Doug56]

First, LA Weight Loss is a franchise diet plan much like Weight Watchers and other programs. The essence of my program is to stick to a lower carb diet (not necessarily a low carb diet) but wtih lower glycemic carbs.

Also, plenty of veggies (preferably dark green but others are allowed too), fruit and protein (fish, chicken and turkey while mostly avoiding red meat).

Your workout suggestions are very good. I saw from your background you have a lot of expertise in this area. And you are a spin instructor which I enjoy doing 3-4 times per week.

I have not tried the stairs but they might give me a more intense workout than I am getting out of the elliptical machine. In fact, I may be hitting a plateau on that machine so a change might be in order.

I have upped my cardio somewhat in order to burn more fat and calories. However I do need to do this in the most effective way to get the optimum benefit out of these activities.

All I do on Saturday's is my morning spin class. What if I add either a weight workout or possibly a powerflex exercise class to Saturday and leave Sunday as a rest day?

I average around 6 hours per night of sleep which may not be nearly enough given my workout routine. Should I make it mandatory to increase this?

Thanks again for your great advice.

[cassiegose]

Hi Doug,

Yes I've heard of LA Weight Loss... Just wasn't familiar with what the diet entails. That doesn't seem to bad at all. I don't really believe that you need to stay away from red meats... there are lots of very healthy varietys of red meat on the market. If you stick to lean cuts I don't see why you'd need to mostly avoid it?

Its great to hear that you partake in and enjoy spinning! I've been a spinning instructor for over six years now. Its is a wondeful class!... great souce of low impact cardio!

It does sound to me like you've hit a platue. I've found that there comes a point where its much more benefical to change the type of cardio instead of simply adding more. Changing up your slow steady cardio for instense shorter sessions might definitely help to get you off your platue. Stairs are a GREAT fat burning exercise! I go down to the local high school track and run repeats up and down the bleachers. It is an amazing workout! I also like to run sprints up and down the football field and do intervals around the track to switch things up. Its also great because it gets me out of the gym and into the sunshine and fresh air!

For Saturday mornings... You could keep that morning spin class if you really enjoy it. Its your call. I would recommend 3 days of weights only and 2 or 3 days of intense cardio. So you could do something like weights on Mon/Wed/Friday with intense cardio on Tuesday/Thursday and then spinning on Saturday and take Sunday off. Would that work with your schedule?

For weights I like to do full body workouts incorporating things like lunges, squats, deadlifts, and goodmornings for legs, pullups, lat pull downs (close and wide grip), military press, inverted rows, dumbell rows, barbell rows, and lying overhead extensions for back, and pushups (incline, flat, and decline), bench press (incline, flat, decline), and dips for tris and chest. I usually do about six different lifts (2 legs, 2 back, and 2 for chest/arms) per session and use heavy weights that allow me to do no more than 10 reps at a time. Upping or altering your weight routine is also a great way to get off of a platue.

For sleep... I highly recommend trying to get more sleep if possible. You need atleast 7... preferable 8... hours of sleep a night. I would definitely make it a priority to get to bed a little earlier or sleep in a bit later if possible. Rest is important for mucle recovery and repair, stress managment, metabolism, memory, altertness, and can even help prevent some diseases. If I were you I would make it mandatory to get more.

I hope this helps! Post more questions if you have any. :)

[swanso5]

we need plenty more intense workouts doug, plenty more...intensity is what counts not how much you can do...you can train hard, but you can't train hard for long

i'd go for a slightly different schedule as suggested:

mon/wed/fri - full body wts (search the waterbury method)

tue/sat - intense cardio (20mins max)

thus/sun - off...your "workout" these days is to make sure your food is all prepared, brought etc

cardio needs to be as varied as possible...doing spin classes (no matter how much you love them) will only stall your progress as has happened and is the biggest problem with "classes"

get out of your comfort zone or you won;t change

[Doug56]

Cassie, you mention in your profile protein powder as a good supplement. I have heard a lot about whey protein and CLA.

Do you favor one of these over the other or have other suggestions for me?

I really appreciate your advice. Great stuff! This makes me more pumped for ratcheting up my workout routine to get greater results.

Thanks.

[vamp]

Whey protein is great for after workouts as it metabolises fast and thus is quicker to get to where it needs to go-your muscles for repair and growth. Cheapest for the most of any brand (watch serving sizes vs container volume as some of the really cheap ones require 2 scoops to equal 1 of another brand.)

I read you think you are plateauing on the elyptical, the easiest way I can see from what you've written to help with this is to: change the intensity, speed it up, change the level to higher, change to interval work instead of steady pace.

Cheers

[Boss Man]

Just get a cheap Whey Concentrate with high GI complex Carbs, and you're good to go.

CLA, (Conjugated Linoleic Acid), is a Fatty acid which is healthy, and does have some effects on body Fat reductions and woud be something worthwhile for you to consider as a supplement.

[cassiegose]

Hi again Doug,

I would recommend purchasing some whey protein powder if you're not currently using it. It is a great source of protein for after workouts as it gets to your muscles quicker then other sources of protein.

I've heard really good things about CLA but haven't actually tried it. If you do try it please keep me posted on what you think about it. ;)

How are those workouts going so far? Have you been able to try the stair running yet?

I'm glad to hear that you're so motivated to step up your workouts a notch! Thats great to hear! :)

Take care!

[Doug56]

Hi Cassie,

Out of town for a couple of days so back to my workout routine. I plan to do the stairs tomorrow. Actually looking forward to a new challenge apart from what I have been doing. Thanks again for suggesting it.

I see the whey protein mostly where I buy most of my other supplements at GNC. There are several brands on the shelf so there probably is not a functional difference between them.

CLA still intrigues me though. I will ask the guy there to see what he suggests because he lifts weights too and is more of an authority there than the others.

I will let you know what I choose.

Again, I genuinely appreciate your help as you obviously know what you are talking about.

Doug

[cassiegose]

Hi there Doug!

Great to hear from you!

Yes do try the stairs and let me know what you think! I usually do a lap then run 10 sets of stairs... then run a lap... 10 sets of stairs... run a lap and so on. Its nice because running the lap in between helps me catch my breath and breaks up the workout a bit. You could also just run the stairs all in one set. Either way... keep me posted. :)

For the whey protein... I usually try to go for the cheaper brands that offer the highest amounts of protein and lowest amounts of carbs. I've found you have to be kinda careful picking it this way though as some of the cheaper stuff can be pretty nasty. I got some a while back that wouldn't stir together well at all and was full of chunks even after I stirred it for several minutes. Plus it tasted disgusting. You might ask the guy at your supplement store what he prefers (hopefully he doesn't try to pull a fast one and you and get you to buy the most expensive kind).

Yeah.. you might look into the CLA. Like I said before.... I have heard positive feedback on this. Although... if you're changing up your fitness routine at the same time that you begin taking the product it might be hard to tell if any changes are the result of the workout changes or the supplement. :(

Keep up the good work Doug!

Cassie :)

[Doug56]

Cassie, I did the stairs this morning for 30 minutes to start out with. Kicked my tail! A totally different workout than the elliptical machine. I think I will alternate between the two as part of my cardio on the days I don't do spin class.

I am going to GNC today to stock up on some of my supplements so I will check out the varying brands of whey powder. I will let you know what I find. I will also ask about CLA.

Thanks

Doug