Exercise - pro & cons query

Hello everyone,

I am really getting into the gym (shock, horror - I know this has never happened to me before... think I may have been abducted by aliens with a strange sense of humour, and they have sent me back with a passion for x-training! )

So, I'm loving (!) an hour a day doing CV work on the exercise bike, cross-trainer and treadmill. I am seeing good changes to my lower half - altho have not done any top end work, or weights as I don't understand the equipment yet - am sneakily peeking at the gym bunnies and trying to get my head around it though!

Do you think this exercise is advisable CDCs? I am also seriously slowing down with weight loss (see below) - is all my fat burning off but my new-found muscle weighing more, do you think? If so, I will have to reach a muscle limit soon, surely, and then start losing on the scales again?

I realise that strenuous exercise on CD is not necesary, but is it actually dangerous/harmful?

I am so enjoying exercise for the first time in years, and I believe that it is a habit I need to keep up because of the family history of heart disease and my high blood pressure since age 30 years and PCOS all my womanly life!

Any thoughts gratefully received!

What step of the diet are you on?

Ok, I found the answer on another thread. Are you actually doing an hour of cardio every day while on SS ? That's a lot (in fact it's a lot even if you're not on SS, particularly since you're not doing any resistance). What sort of intensity are you working at? Are you running or walking on the treadmill?

You can't build muscle while you're on a VLCD, in fact if you overdo it, particularly high intensity cardio, you run the risk of losing muscle instead, because your body will use it as fuel when it can't convert fat quickly enough.

Are you drinking lots of extra water before, during and after exercise? If you're not, that may be what's slowing down your losses, but it's certainly not the exercise itself.

Ask the gym staff about the weights machines and swap some of your cardio training time for resistance training. Also, make sure you have a rest day once a week. While you're on SS keep the intensity of your workouts low, even though it's tempting to work harder. Looking at your BMI, you'll be on a higher step soon anyway, and you'll not only be able to work harder, you'll also be able to build muscle, which is of course a huge bonus as a pound of muscle burns 25-30 times as many calories as a pound of fat.

Hi Kate,

That's great - it makes sense - I am on SS (altho it is AAM week). I will go and find out about resistance training, and reduce the cardio a bit.

It is difficult for me because I originally went to try and tone up my tum (a 10 month/44 week pregnancy wrecks your tum - thats why all the celebs deliver at 36 weeks!!!). I actually prefer being overweight because then it doesn't hang there, but the new boyf told me he liked skinny (not even slim or fit, but SKINNY girls) so I thought I would have to push for it. Then I started to think maybe I can do this for ME - the real reason I should be doing it, eh? Then I started to feel better and got carried away with exercising. I actually feel unpleasant if I don't go to the gym - I know this is starting to sound like exercise addiction.

I will try to reduce my exercise and trust in the diet.

Thanks!

Well, exercise is addictive, what can I say? I feel the same way. I currently have Sundays off and I have to stop myself going to other people's classes - so I know what it's like