I've been running 5miles, 4 days per week and doing the eliptical machine for 1 hour, 2 days per week and I'm gaining weight! What in the heck is going on? I have to be buring at least 700-800 calories during each workout. The downside is that I'm a chocolate freak and I've been eating a lot of sweets lately. Could the sugar be the hinderance for gaining weight in spite of exercise? Your thoughts?

of course chocolate is a huge part of the problem. also, how long have you been working out like that? it takes a while to build up your metabolism and to see results in general. especially with a big sugar intake.

You can pack calories in faster than burn them off - your diet is where the problem lies.

Thanks. I should know better! Diet is the number one factor with weight loss. Exercise is a close second.

BTW - I've been an avid exerciser for a long, long time.

I have recently found out that Metabolism has a difficult time increasing if it isn't wroking correctly in the first place...You can exercise and eat right, and for many that will work wonders, however, for some, infact most, our metabolism is extremely out of whack to the point We can't even metabolise the right foods.

For the past year I was losing and gaining and losing and gaining, just couldn't seem to get it off permanently, but then three months ago I figured it out...I needed to reconfigure My metabolism...It, much like a computer, needed to be rebooted...So in the first 10 days I lost 9 lbs and 13 inches...And now I have lost 20 lbs and 27 inches...

It is truly the answer...

For the past year I was losing and gaining and losing and gaining, just couldn't seem to get it off permanently, but then three months ago I figured it out...I needed to reconfigure My metabolism...It, much like a computer, needed to be rebooted...

What do you mean about reconfiguring it? How'd you do that? I'm curious....

Yeah...you left out the most important part...how did you 'reconfigure' it? :bouncing:

Heh, wow, Im kinda glad I found this post cause now there is someone out there that knows what I know about the metabolism. Ifoundhope is correct about "reconfiguring" the metabolism, and the major reason, from what I think is that the only time that someone would gain weight is because of improper functioning of the metabolism. Im not sure if Ifoundhope has the same ideas as me but it sounds like it, so I think is what she means is that there are certain factors that can effects the metabolism, and that they need to be corrected. Good examples of things that negatively effect the metabolism are genetic disorders, chemicals such as brominated flame retardants, arsenic, and teflon, even perscription drugs can impair your metabolic functions, like prozac, and anti-diabetic drugs. There are unique answers to any affliction, for example, Brominated flame retardants cause problems with thyroid hormones, the only way to fix this problem is elimination and avoidance of the chemical, which can be a very serious project, since it could be in the carpeting in your house, this is a very serious one though. For genetic disorders its still pretty tough, but the hard part is discovering and locating the exact metabolic/genetic disorder. Once you have discovered the disorder treatment is easy if you have a good understanding of metabolic pathology, if you dont your doctor that did the testing most likely would. Other things like prozac are really easy, just stop taking it or find a substitute that has less effects on the metabolism, like celexa or lexapro. Ifoundhope also said a good point, she/he stated that for most of us our metabolism is out of whack, personally with my experiences with brominated flame retardants, everyone in america would have something wrong with there metabolism, due to the fact that everyone in america with come in contact with the chemical(BFRs) repeatedly as they go through life, be it on a daily basis, or a weekly basis, basically cause its in computers, carpets, drapes, furniture, electronics, and others(There are other flame retardants than just brominated ones, so its not in ALL carpets, or ALL electronics). The trick with brominated flame retardants is just limiting your exposure to it, kinda rough egh? It gets worse, but ill stop there. I hope this explained what Ifoundhope meant, if anyone has any questions or didnt understand anything just let me know and ill explain, or answer your questions.

Qaiphyx

Edit: Examples of genetic/metabolic disorders would be something like hyperphenylalanine, or hemochromatosis. And sometimes is just absorbtion problem.

Also, there are things that effecty the metabolism in a positive manor, excersize is an obvious one, but Im talking about herbs, and they all have different effects, you just need to know what you are looking for and what you expects from them, a few good herbs are Guggulipids, Coleus, Yucca, Citrus Aurantium, Ephedra, Guarana, etc...

Ifoundhope, forgot to ask, what exactly what the problem with your metabolism and how did you come about finding out what it is.

Qaiphyx

"Reconfiguiring" the metabolism?....please....what kind of pseudoscience bull crap is this? Look, there are some of us that have problems losing weight due to hormonal issues, i.e. thyroid, cortisol, testosterone, and estrogen...fair enough. However, these issues need to be taken up with your doctor so that you can get blood work done and tested for any possible problems. Aside from that, easy weight gain (or weight loss for that matter) can be a genetic problem. A lot of us are genetically predisposed to gaining weight...look at your family members! Ok, what can you do about that? Nothing. So what do you do? Well, the tried and true methods always have and always will work and we all know what they are....Proper diet and nutrition coupled with a good mix of aerobic and anaerobic exercise...Case closed.

Lomatta, why do you think families are predisposed to weight gain? Disorders run in families, therefore, heavy families usually have disorders that cause the members to gain weigth. There is a way to fix the problem, unlike you stated, reconfiguring, or fixing your metabolism WILL solve the weight problem.

Have a nice day
Qaiphyx

i can't help but add one thing - in my personal experience, families that i have known who will be the first to tell you that they have a "genetic" tendency toward weight gain have (in my opinion) usually have family-encouraged unhealthy eating habits.

I tend to agree with Lamotta- You can make your metabolism more efficient - this is done by proper diet and exercise. I would like a definition of what "reconfiguring" exactly is??? Sounds to me like a someone read a Men's Health magazine article or possibly Cosmo-

I tend to stick to things that can be explained by anatomy and physiology

And the overall problem from the original post - is diet.

This is really less than 60 minutes of cardio a day. Ok, that's a good amount of cardio but again, the problem is diet! Come on people, this of marathon runners and triatheletes - If you eat a proper diet that takes uinto acount what you are burning off on top of your BMI this is hardly an over the top amount of cradio!

Yes, if this was a client of mine I would scal this back to 5 days a week but my focus would be diet

I also have to say that I'm confused about all this cause first off, my friend is a runner and she has muscles in her legs and she DOES NOT do any strength training in her legs. Second off, I do believe though, if one just ONLY does cardio, that SOME muscle will be lost without strength training. So much conflicting information can be so frustrating. Naxis, CHappy, what do YOU think?????

I had the same issue working out 5X week 1-2 hours weights and crazy cardio and with a very controlled diet. If your metabolism is not working for you check for sugar problems, candida and also get your thyroid and adrenals checked. My issue was I was Hypo thyroid which was "treated" but not my adrenals...I am working on this now. What you are doing is not working so don't kill yourself with overworkout and look to see what could be going on inside. Also get the numbers on the thyroid and adrenal tests if you do test because what is normal for one doctor is not normal for all docs or you. Good luck! Don't accept the repsonse of eat less exercise more and trust your gut!

wow, this is the best thread i've read in a while. controversial...

but anyway, i think everyone should remember that there isn't one end-all solution for somebody's fitness problem. people's bodies will respond differently based on their genetics. spreed skaters and basketball players stay ripped because they are freaks. most people can't train like they do. if they could, we would all be professional athletes.

as far as the original poster goes,
i would say she's way overdoing the cardio. a lot of heavy cardio on a light diet will kill your metabolism/muscle mass. add a chocolate binge and there's your weight gain.