The weight loss 'wall' - keep banging my head :-/

[indysteel]

Dang, V. You and Thom give new meaning to the term "power couple." You both look fantastic. Thom's abs are, um, enviable.

[Irulan]

V's suggestion is great, but there can be other options. My DH and I work out at a gym that has very small classes that are teaching "functional fitness" along the lines of what V and Catrin do. We do a noon class 2x a week for $75 a month. Usually there are just 4 of us. If a couple people don't show, it IS personal training. As it is the classes are small enough that there is lot of personal attention. It is through a gym here that is also a sports and athlete training facility that is run by a group of PTs.

The suggestion about trainer certifications is also spot on. The gyms have "personal trainers" that have done a weekend course? Pfft. Sorry but I have no respect for that - I know more than a lot of them. The trainers that have degrees in nutrition, exercise physiology and national certifications will help you to improve fitness without injury; guide you in nutrition, and be able to help you with your personal challenges.

[tealtreak]

V's suggestion is great, but there can be other options. My DH and I work out at a gym that has very small classes that are teaching "functional fitness" along the lines of what V and Catrin do. We do a noon class 2x a week for $75 a month. Usually there are just 4 of us. If a couple people don't show, it IS personal training. As it is the classes are small enough that there is lot of personal attention. It is through a gym here that is also a sports and athlete training facility that is run by a group of PTs.

The suggestion about trainer certifications is also spot on. The gyms have "personal trainers" that have done a weekend course? Pfft. Sorry but I have no respect for that - I know more than a lot of them. The trainers that have degrees in nutrition, exercise physiology and national certifications will help you to improve fitness without injury; guide you in nutrition, and be able to help you with your personal challenges.

triple ditto on the check the qualifications of personal trainers! I love my Y but am continually horrified by some of the improper form and incorrect use of equipment done while someone is paying for personal training....yikes ):

[Catrin]

Everyone has good advice Winding Road. Right now I am doing a mix of group and personal training. My group training (functional/metabolic training) happens twice a week for one hour each session + a "funday workout" on Sunday that is open to all of his clients. That costs me $96 a month and would be worth it at 3 times that price - it isn't quite the same as a normal group class as he knows who is coming and he tailors the training for who is present. My club had an auction in December to fund a scholarship program they have and I landed 16 individual 30 minute private sessions with the same trainer for not much more than I pay for 1 month of group training that I do in addition to my group training.

Look around and see what is available in your area. Around here personal training seems to average about $35 for a 30-minute session up to $65 for a 60-minute session (discounts are generally available for packages). Of course degrees and experience is very important, but also see if you can find a personal recommendation regarding him or her.

[OakLeaf]

I'd rank ACE and AFAA certification on the same level as the weekend courses, unfortunately. Now, there are trainers with those certifications who are highly qualified, but make sure you check them out thoroughly if that's all they have. With your history of injury what I might do is ask at a couple of your local physical therapy clinics. A lot of PTs do personal training for not much more than you'd pay in a gym or studio setting, and one would hope it would be safer. If not a physical therapist or PTA, look for someone with ACSM certification.

[Irulan]

look for this
http://www.nsca-lift.org/certification/

[Catrin]

ACSM (can also be ACSM-HFS or ACSM-PT, or both) is certainly a good one to have, along with/or CSCS, NSCA-CPT (there are also other good ones for kettle-bell training and other specialties). I agree with the caution against ACE and AFAA certification, sadly) That isn't saying that someone that only has that is bad - by no means - but in this case I would certainly seek out recommendations from current or former clients.

[Irulan]

I'm just super mindful of these kinds of things. My 19 year old niece, who works at a chain gym, got her "personal trainer" cert in an 8 hour course. In some ways I think that kind of scary.

[ny biker]

I love my trainer to pieces, and he's as knowledgeable as they come. But the only thing that got me to lose those last ten pounds was to eat less. Instead of eating everything on my plate, I stopped as soon as I started to feel full. I wound up eating only half my lunch at lunchtime, and then eating the other half a few hours later when I normally had a snack. And I cut my dinner portions in half, too.

[tealtreak]

I love my trainer to pieces, and he's as knowledgeable as they come. But the only thing that got me to lose those last ten pounds was to eat less. Instead of eating everything on my plate, I stopped as soon as I started to feel full. I wound up eating only half my lunch at lunchtime, and then eating the other half a few hours later when I normally had a snack. And I cut my dinner portions in half, too.

This resonates with me- my weight has always depended more on my food than my exercise....I have often been at my heaviest when my speed was the greatest....and my lightest recouping from a catastrophic car wreck (lost muscle too- not something to emulate...)

[WindingRoad]

I am going to start upping my protein levels. After looking over my food for the last month I notice a definite trend of if I don't eat 25% protein I eat a lot more carbs and fat. It's been a real challenge lately to find food that is high in protein that I can pack and sneak in clinic. Shhhhh don't tell :-) All kidding aside that's kinda hard to do. I mean there's boiled eggs, nuts, peanut butter sandwiches, chobanis, jerky. I'm starting to run out of ideas. I need things I can just reach for cuz like I said we aren't supposed to have food in clinic.

I am going to sign up with one of the trainers at my school gym Monday. I'm not sure which one since I need to see what days can work. It's a gym for our school so I'm hoping they will be flexible. My schedule is different every week. I've also been doing some Jillian michaels DVDs at home to get myself started.

[Giulianna23]

I am strugglin with this as well. I have dropped around 35 pounds in the last year slowly not dieting but "trying" really trying to watch what I eat but that does not work all the time. I have gained about 8 from those 35 since I stopped commuting to work about 4 months ago. I didn't read everything that was said here but this may help. About 6 years ago I wasn't happy with my weight, and right after New years I decided to start going to the gym and start a diet. I went to the gym 7 days a week and I was strictly eating just white meats, chicken, turkey, seafood with salad, no soda nor juices just water and sometimes a flavored water o gatorade or something similar. For snacks I was eating fat free yogurt, oeatmeal or cereal with 1% milk, and energy bars. I was eating 5 times a day and counting calories (no more than 1300 a day). I was going to the gym and basically doing weights I just got on the cardio machines for warming up for about 12 -15 minutes and at least 1 hour weights+abs. I dropped 30 pounds in 2 months and by the third month I dropped about 35 then I got stuck on the forth month for about a month and a half and I was not cheating on my diet nor nothing...then the guy at the gym told me..u need to trick your body and metabolism, your body already used to you eating healthy and the same amount of calories all the time so it feels like you don't have nothing to burn. Pick one day a week and eat whatever you want and I mean whatever but just that one day. I was like..."are you serious"?...so I started doing that and I picked Saturdays...I had big breakfast.... about 2 fried eggs, toasted bread, some red meat , oatmeal and orange juice just to give you an example and for the rest of the day whatever I felt like but without abusing and f course I continued my workout routines but I dropped to 5-6 days instead of 7. All of the sudden I started losing weight again. And in the next 3-4months I dropped 30 more pounds until I got to my ideal weight. I went from almost size 18 to a size 10. You may need a cheating day. JMHO

[DebSP]

On a different thread some one suggested "It Starts With Food". It has a plan called "Whole30". I had read it a while ago but just wasn't ready to jump in. Pretty much goes against everything I had been doing. I just trained myself to eat 5 times a day. That's out. I eat low fat. That's out. I had just started to have a couple of vegetarian days a week. That's out. I have been between 149 and 155 lbs. for a couple of years now NO MATTER WHAT. I gave the Whole30 a chance. I am on day 16 and I know I am losing weight because my pants fit better. (I am not supposed to weigh myself). If nothing else, it sure makes me think about all the processed foods in my diet. I gave up dairy, sugar, legumes, grains, certain oils and avoid certain additives to food. (I didn't do it so much for weight loss at this time. I am not sleeping. I have low iron. I am tired all the time. The doctor wants me on cholesterol meds. Those are my reasons for starting it now.) Anyways, I know I won't stick to it strictly when my Whole30 is up, but I will certainly not go back to some of those foods. I am still craving sugar a bit, and I miss bread a lot! I am going to try to stick pretty close to the diet but I really want my morning coffee with cream! But I plan to go back to the doctor in 6 months and get my levels checked and see if I am improving which is incentive to carry on or stop because my levels are not better. My husband says I am definitely getting skinnier. I weighed 150 the morning I started and I have 14 days before I am supposed to step on the scale. It is a lot of extra work at the beginning. You basically can't eat anything unless you prepare it yourself. But it does get easier once you start freezing things to eat. Tulip do you ever eat sugar or bread?

[tulip]

Tulip do you ever eat sugar or bread?

I did a similar program, although I didn't know it had a name. No sugar and no bread/pasta and it made a huge difference. I see no problem with cream in my coffee--I did not give up dairy, although I drank less milk because I gave up cereal (grains) and hot chocolate (sugar). Fake sweetners were not in the program!

I did it really strictly for 30 days, and then eased up because I went on a multi-week bike tour and my choices were limited. Then I just got lazy--and gained back 5 of the 9 lbs I had lost. But I'm back on it now. Sugar is the hardest to give up, but the most effective. Bread and pasta and cereal are also hard but not as hard as sugar for me. Rice--that was hard to give up.

Fats are fine, but once you remove the sugar and the grains, you really eliminate a whole range of unnecessary and unhelpful foods. I ate as much fruit and vegetables as I wanted, and ate chicken and fish and occasionally beef. I eat kale like 3-4 times a week. Eggs are fine, so is cheese (but not the crackers or bread, so I didn't eat much cheese by itself). The hardest part for me are breakfasts; I often make a smoothie with yogurt, frozen fruit, yogurt and Spirutein powder (the only processed food that I allow).

[Crankin]

I'm getting pretty frustrated with trying the above type of eating and nothing is happening this time. Like Tulip, I haven't entirely given up dairy, but I never had a lot of it to begin with; an occasional piece of really good cheese or a sprinkle of cheddar on something. I drink almond milk and for the first time, I've found a "milk" beverage I like and my stomach can tolerate. I did a have a cheat day on Sunday, but other than that, I think I'll be able to handle 30 days of no grains or sugar, except for my nordic ski trip. Even going out for dinner isn't too bad, if I choose carefully.
So, why is my weight up 2+ lbs. every weekend and then by Friday it's down. The weight just fell off when I did this last winter.