I have become extremely frustrated with my weight as of late. Despite being in first place in not one but two different fitness challenges, I’m still up about 10 pounds from where I was in June when I finished marathoning. I was really hoping that the fall marathon season would knock me back into shape, but my first marathon of the season has come and gone, and I’m still not down a pound.
It occurred to me that there may be a few problems with my current routine. The first is that I do primarily cardio – I’ve all but given up on weight lifting. I know that the more muscle you have in your body, the more calories your body will burn when at rest – which is key given my long hours sitting at a computer. However, I figured that my going to the gym so often (I’m now in the habit of going twice a day at least five days a week, and once a day on weekends!) would make up for it. Not so.
So maybe the weight lifting is more necessary than I thought. I did some Googling around, and found this forum post that shows some anecdotal evidence that cutting back on the strength training can have a huge impact on weight loss. This was disappointing news for me – part of the reason I’ve been so good about going to the gym lately is because I always watch my TV shows on my phone while doing my cardio. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy to find a place to prop up my phone and watch my shows when I’m lifting weights.
But like it or not, it has to be done. My extra ten pounds does not seem to be going anywhere, despite the frequency/duration of my workouts, so it’s time to take action. Weight lifting, here I come!
I’ve been having the same problem. I just don’t like weight lifting, and even though I know I have the most success with weight loss when I’m doing it, I just HATE it!! Lately, I’ve been so busy that I just can’t fit in anything other than my running and I miss being out on the bike. Weight training isn’t fitting into my schedule AT ALL. Ugh.
Le sigh, I’m having the same problem. I’m a cardio junkie and will not lift a weight unless I am instructed to by a trainer and even then I huff and whine about how much I ahhhhb-solutely hate lifting. I once did Kettlebell exercises with a trainer and loved it. It was like hiding medicine in juice for a 5 y/old. So, I ordered a kettle bell workout DVD and have to purchase some [ridic expensive] kettlebells. Hope that does the trick. Will let you know how it goes. Hang in there girlie. You’ve been in fighting shape before and will get there again!
I struggle with weights too. I don’t mind lifting them, but I feel like I never have the time because my workouts are always centered on running and the last thing that I want to do is lift weights after I run.
But it does help. I focused on weights for about 3 months before my wedding and lost like 7 pounds without changing anything else.