Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - The Doldrums

Blah, the last five days have been a plateau that has left me hovering around 282-283 pounds. I've upped my exercise and I'm not snacking more than I was. The first 3 weeks of this excursion into trying to get back to where I'm just overweight and not obese have been fantastic. A little more than 10 pounds has just melted off, but now I find myself not going anywhere. This is ok, I feel really good, I sleep very well. I even feel strong at times, but I want more, I want to keep the excitement going. The last 2 nights I've upped my time on the exercise bike to 3 sets of 20-min with hand weights included.

When I started this I could barely cycle for the 20 minutes, then I got stronger. Then I added the hand weights to the last 5-min, I got stronger, ..then the last 10-min, now the whole set. Then I upped it to 2 sets in a row. This is good I feel stronger, but have started to not loose weight. I'm thinking of switching to a heavier barbell, but I can't up the cycling resistance without feeling pain in my knee. Maybe I should do something else to mix it up. Any suggestions on other good low-impact exercises so I don't injure myself?

Big picture. Remember the trite but true saying: this is a marathon, not a sprint. Look at your weight loss over weeks, not days. Elliptical or walking are great low-impact exercises. Are you drinking enough water? Are you going at a constant speed for your 20 minute sets? If you are, consider adding some intervals to elevate your heart rate.

Lower the bike resistance and pedal faster!

Lower the bike resistance and pedal faster!

+1. The only way I can up the resistance on my rollers is to change the gearing on my fixie. For a better workout, I up the RPMs. The fat burning power of interval training is astonishing.


Big picture. Remember the trite but true saying: this is a marathon, not a sprint. Look at your weight loss over weeks, not days.

+1 to this, too. My weight can vary 4-5 pounds in a single day between when I wake up and when I get home from work. Track both your weight and your bodyfat percentage on a weekly basis, and monitor trending over the course of at least a month. Having a single data point as an outlier just means you had a bad week, as long as the overall trend is a lowering of weight and bodyfat.

Alrighty, I'll try to incorporate some more interval stuff. I've done a little, but to be honest, the exercise bike is boring boring boring, so I tend to watch tv and try to pretend that I'm not exercising because that makes it all go faster. I'm feeling better due to the exercise, but it's not enjoyable like actually being out in the world on a bike.

Alrighty, I'll try to incorporate some more interval stuff. I've done a little, but to be honest, the exercise bike is boring boring boring, so I tend to watch tv and try to pretend that I'm not exercising because that makes it all go faster. I'm feeling better due to the exercise, but it's not enjoyable like actually being out in the world on a bike.

Turn whatever you're watching into your interval cues. I've got a friend who does intervals while watching hockey games, and uses puck location relative to his team's blue line. You can make up similar stuff for pretty much any sport you're watching.
I watch horror and action movies: Car chase, gun fight, helicopter sequence, etc. is sprint time. Boring dialogue is recovery time. Bad guy killing somebody in a horror flick is sprint time, bad guy stalking somebody to kill is moderate uptempo, boring dialogue/no bad guy on screen is recovery time.

Alrighty, I'll try to incorporate some more interval stuff. I've done a little, but to be honest, the exercise bike is boring boring boring, so I tend to watch tv and try to pretend that I'm not exercising because that makes it all go faster. I'm feeling better due to the exercise, but it's not enjoyable like actually being out in the world on a bike.

IMO, media stuff on the bike is boring. I get on the trainer, 45 minutes and I'm done with a workout to remember. One two or three minute intervals (depending) and I don't have time to glance up at a movei!:D...I'm too busy thinking " I only have 3 minutes to catch my breath?!"

If you're bored, you're doing it wrong!;)

Beanz, I wish it worked that way for me, who knows, maybe in time. CliftonGK1, I like your suggestion, it turns out I was doing something similar to that last night. We started renting the old Monty Python's Flying Circus tv show, and I found myself saying OK, I'm going to sprint now until the end of this sketch. I also started really concentrating on how I was doing the hand weights, taking my time on the return, nice and slow to get the burn. I am sore today.

A couple things that have helped me. First, make your main focus to be fitness not weight loss. You want to work on getting stronger, faster, and healthier. If you do fat loss will become a by-product. Second, treat your workouts the same as you would a job. They are not always fun. There are days you don't feel like doing it. In those cases think of what you would do if it was your job? You still get up and go. Third, as has been mentioned understand it is a marathon. You don't get fit in a month. You likely won't get really fit in a year, probably more. That's okay. You focus on being healthier and more fit each month than you were the one before and each year than the one before. What kind of weight lifting are you doing? My guess is that adding more intense resistance excercises to your workout will help you see quicker gains. Most of all stick with it. I'm 52 and I can do things I never would have dreamed of when I was 20 much less 5 years ago.

Alrighty, I'll try to incorporate some more interval stuff. I've done a little, but to be honest, the exercise bike is boring boring boring, so I tend to watch tv and try to pretend that I'm not exercising because that makes it all go faster. I'm feeling better due to the exercise, but it's not enjoyable like actually being out in the world on a bike.

Check out the Sufferfest videos at http://www.thesufferfest.com I use them on the trainer and on the elliptical. Makes the time just fly by. At about $10 they're not too expensive either. Downward Spiral gives an awesome interval workout.

I tried watching movies and using the trainer. I found it even more boring than just listening to music Plus I found myself dropping to a slower pace as I tried to concentrate on the plot and dialogue.