Ten Years of Working Out and...I'm FED UP!

[mmis29]

So many great responses - I am so grateful for your advice, sharing your experiences and words of wisdom.

On that note, I guess it was a bad idea to read this thread when I'm hungry!! LOL

Interesting that some have had better results when they cut down their workouts....I do feel much hungrier the more I lift. I've had myfitnesspal for awhile, and restarted using it yesterday. I also did a bit of research and want to get a Body Media so I can get a better picture of in/out as a whole and experiment a little.

[Vintage VFer]

Originally Posted by gigi

Deleted...my post was to whiney...I feel your pain though. And for me, I have to be very strict 80% of the time and count calories like mad.

If you can't whine on VF, where can you whine? Nobody else will listen!

[LauraBella]

Originally Posted by Alta-tude

If you can't whine on VF, where can you whine? Nobody else will listen!

LOVE it!!!!!!!!!!

What's kind of funny is that I come here and go on and on an on chattering and listening to lovely workout news...and if someone in "real life" starts talking about their diet---I kind of want to stuff their faces with a pillow. I think that's usually bc I'm 80% certain they are spouting nonsense and won't listen to reason bc they are on the obsessive compulsive gimmck train (like, say, my office mates and the 500 calorie all-meat diet they were convinced was the way and the only way. yeah---I was ready to stuff them with pillows. Or the friend who was convinced that you could never touch a weight or even a body-weight only strength workout until you had last all the weight. So glad we have healthy boundaries on diet talk here!)

So, true. this is the safe space for whining and seeking knowledge and getting excited about it!

[JackieB]

I totally understand why Wendy doesn't allow diet talk. It can be just as controversial as religion or politics! Sometimes I do feel like our conversations here leave out a big piece of being healthy, though.

I'm not a body builder, but used to subscribe to Oxygen. I love gawking at the pictures and reading the articles. It amazes me how little time those women spend in the gym up until competition. I mean, they all have a couple rest days in the week and they mostly follow a split schedule for weight training.

I've heard it said again and again, your results are in the kitchen and you can't out-exercise a bad diet. I'd sure like to lean out, trim up my abs, etc. If I focused more on eating cleaner I'm sure I'd see "results".

Jackie

[millie]

I share your frustration. I too am frustrated with working out with no results. I too am frustrated of being hungry all the time and watching every morsel in my mouth with little results. I am tired of people telling me to work out more and/or eat less. I have tried everything and they haven't worked for me. So, I share the original poster's pain.

So, how to gain perspective? Even though my body refuses to respond the way I would like, I take pride in what my body has achieved. My legs are shapely and toned, and my pants fit better and I look more svelte. My waist is unusually small for my size and my midsection is flatter than the norm. My cleavage looks great because of underlying chest muscle.

And when utterly frustrated. Give myself and my body a break -- take a week or 2 off without guilt and loosen up my diet.

Plus -- don't watch fitness infomercials!! Results are utterly unattainable and just demoralizing.

[Yvette69]

I was pretty chubby in my 20s and into early 30s. I worked out like a demon (three hours a day at one point) and thought I was eating well and was resigned to the fact that I would never be slim again.

I'm now almost 36 and am the same size I was when I was 16 - a US 4-6, closer to 4 than 6. I have a rather large build, so this is pretty good for me. Unlike like 16 year old me, I have some decent muscle definition and cardio capacity.

What I did is I sat down one day and wondered what was going so wrong. After a while, I too thought about body builders/figure competitors and did some research because I knew I was banging my head against a brick wall.

Tosca Reno changed the way I thought about food/weightloss and I used myself as a guinea pig to try and work out what type of exercise worked best. It turns out I can't do hardcore heavy lifting and intense cardio because they spike my appetite. I can't workout on an empty stomach because, again, it spikes my appetite.

Some serious self analysis is the key. Be prepared to throw out everything you think you know and start again from scratch. It's actually kinda fun.

[Jojo]

Don't be afraid to take breaks. Yes things might slide a bit, but I think these breaks helps rekindle the motivation. Sometimes I think we exercise nuts feel we must keep on doing the same thing over and over or otherwise all things will fall apart. Skip the "must dos" that you don't like anymore, but keep active in your daily life. For instance walk more and try out new exercise stuff.

I've had a year here and there when I just couldn't find the motivation to exercise. Yes my fitness level dropped and I didn't look and feel as fit, but things didn't fall apart

[Yvette69]

Originally Posted by Jojo

Don't be afraid to take breaks. Yes things might slide a bit, but I think these breaks helps rekindle the motivation. Sometimes I think we exercise nuts feel we must keep on doing the same thing over and over or otherwise all things will fall apart. Skip the "must dos" that you don't like anymore, but keep active in your daily life. For instance walk more and try out new exercise stuff.

I've had a year here and there when I just couldn't find the motivation to exercise. Yes my fitness level dropped and I didn't look and feel as fit, but things didn't fall apart

This. Don't beat yourself up if the wheels fall off. I could fill a zillion-wheeler the amount of times that's happened to me. Get back up on the horse and get riding again when you know you want to. It's completely OK.

Also, doing the same thing over and over is a recipe for boredom and failure, in my opinion. Find what works for you and explore all the options.

[shicks]

Originally Posted by Harantwanders

I am very close to twice your age and I still love working out daily, mostly walking these days with my pal the Fitbit, as my knees hurt more than they used to but they are better than they would be if I had gained weight instead of losing more than 100 over the decades. These days I lift lighter weights, walk instead of run, do more Pilates and just generally keep going at it, watching food and calories, but the whole aim for me is to stay active and strong and pain free and working and outta the sphere of giving up and going to live in a nursing home as I age further.

I get discouraged with life sometimes but have honestly never regretted the decision to keep exercising.

There hasn't really been a "slow sneaky weight gain over the years" for me. I sometimes gain some, then I get busy and lose that. I've never regained the major loss that took me two decades.

Thanks for sharing this as it pretty much sums up the reasons to continue to exercise even when we don't achieve the aesthetics that we are after for the moment, being able to continue to move, and I know I have less emotional swings when working out as well, this reply is so inspiring thank you!

[Pam61]

Marianne,

I think many of us feel as you do, at some point. I do like to exercise, but haven't been disciplined in my diet (and my lifestyle is rather sedentary, also.)

I'm 51 and the pounds aren't shifting in the right direction. I eat out too much, and haven't always watched my portions.

Thank you for starting this thread. Some very good insight by many of the women here!

Pam