Tweaking

A weight loss journey is all about trial and error. You are going to find eating and exercise plans that sound good on paper, but for one reason or another just doesn't always work out the way you think. That is why some people have great successes on some diets but not others. That's why what works for you won't always work for me. Why? Because just as in anything else, our bodies are all unique and respond in different ways to different things. Its the same with an exercise plan. What's going to be the most beneficial for you and your body may end up causing me trouble. Our bodies require different conditions to fuel our bodies properly, and while most of you already know this, it is something I've really experienced first hand.

I have been thinking hard about what it is I am doing different this time than I did a year ago on WW. It seems something must be different, because my losses are lower than compared to a year ago. During my first 8 weeks on WW last year, I lost 17lbs. Compare that to losing about 10.6 in the first 8 weeks this year. Another comparision: my percentage lost last year after 8 weeks was 8.13% versus a mere 4.91% during the first 8 weeks. That's nearly double!! After 17 weeks on, I am just barely over that first 8 week percentage. It's pretty frustrating because while I know I'm different from other people and the losses they see, I am not different from myself. I haven't had any changes to my body since my last try at WW to this one. So what's going on?? I've looked over my food journals and I'm either eating about the same or better now. I have found two differences between now and then, and while I'm not really sure they'd make a difference, it's definitely something to take into consideration. First, on WW when you exercise, you can earn activity points (AP's). Based on your weight, the duration of exercise, and how intense it was, you earn a certain amount of points. Basically, you earn points, which means you get to eat a little more. Last year, I usually ate my AP's. So perhaps, and this is just a theory I came up with a second ago, that when you exercise, you help your metabolism run. When you eat, you help your metabolism run. Maybe when you exercise more, and then you eat more, your metabolism runs better. I guess that might not be true for everyone, but maybe its what my body likes. We'll have to test this.....see.....trial and error.

Second, my exercise last year consisted of pretty much only walking and yoga. I did do some videos I have here, but it wasn't always consistent but the walking and the yoga were almost daily. My exercise now has been walking/jogging and elliptical, which could be raising my heart rate too high. From what I've heard, the best range to burn fat is in the 65-75% of your maximum heart rate, and on the elliptical its almost at 85%. Now granted, the cardio I am getting is certainly beneficial, but it might not be the most efficient for my body. So, I am going through some trial and error periods now, and I am going to try just walking and some yoga, and maybe a video or two for a couple of weeks and see how that goes. I am also going to try eating some of my AP's and see what that does. So, I'm tweaking my plans and will hopefully see some favorable results. I would still like to end up running, but for now, I need to find out what's best for my body during weight loss-mode. Eventually, if this is what my body favors, I will get more into running in maintenance-mode. We'll just have to see.