Week 16 – My Exercise Mistakes

Bonus Episode:

Video 16 Transcript:

Over exercise ruined my results – 3 exercise mistakes I made that led to weight gain

Are you still spinning your wheels on a stationary bike to nowhere in order to see weight loss results? Stop the madness! Watch this video to learn 3 exercise mistakes I made that actually led to weight gain! That’s right, Weight Gain…the exact opposite result of what most of us want!

Hit the subscribe button and click the bell so you can learn everything I learned about losing more than 100 pounds each Wednesday! I finally gave my stressed out body a chance to rest. Now let me show you some exercise mistakes you may be making that could result in weight gain.

Mistake #1 – Restricting calories to a very low level, while also over exercising most days

As I talked about in my last video, many people think this is what it takes to get to their fat loss goals…yet many following this method never make it to their fat loss goals. Coincidence?

When you’re not taking in enough calories to complete even the basic functions of your day, and then you add in strenuous exercise on top of that, your body will go into famine mode. It’s going to hold onto your stored fat for dear life because your body fears you won’t have enough food coming in just for survival.

While our bodies haven’t evolved much past the caveman days in some respects, they are smart enough to prioritize staying alive over burning more fat. Be thankful to your body for holding onto your stored fat if you’re not taking in enough calories on a daily basis to function – that’s what’s keeping you alive.

I kept my calories around 1200 and spent a minimum 60 minutes on cardio machines daily because I was told that’s what was necessary for me to get weight loss results. The only results I got from following this advice was a whole lotta health problems resulting from malnutrition, and a broken down body that felt like it was falling apart and also had zero energy to function on past my daily workouts.

My BMR, or basal metabolic rate, which is the calories I need to consume just for the most basic of functions at the time I was following all of this terrible advice was around 1600 calories. When I was only eating 1200 calories daily and adding excessive exercise on top of this, where was my body getting the extra energy just to function? Oh right, probably from my muscle tissue or other places I needed that nutrition to be for proper health.

I spent more than 20 years trying to follow this mainstream advice of moving more and eating less for weight loss results. I did it! I tried it! It didn’t work. I was miserable and stuck on the constant lose weight – regain weight diet coaster.

If you’re still following this advice to reach your health goals, just staaaaahhhhppp!

Another exercise mistake I made during my 20 year yo-yo diet history was

Focussing most of my energy on cardio, rather then stretching & resistance training:

Back in those days, I still fully believed in calories in versus calories out. I bought into that theory with all of my heart and soul, and I was ready to prove that it worked! Except, after burning far more calories than I took in on a daily basis for more than 20 years, I was still fat and struggling to lose weight. I won’t even get into how abysmal my health was during this same time period.

I never made much time for resistance training or stretching since every minute I spent on those activities meant less time for calorie burning cardio. After all, I’m a girl…what girl actually wants huge muscles anyway?

YOU DO! That’s who!

Well, maybe not big muscles, but you do want to spend time weight training each week in order to build your muscle tone as you age. Trust me, if you don’t put in this effort now, you’re going to spend a whole lot more effort just trying to get out of a chair later in life; and that’s if you can even lift yourself out of a chair at all.

Unfortunately many of our senior friends have trouble performing basic strength functions like getting out of a chair because they never took time to build the muscle that is necessary for everyday functions.

The truth is, if you’re a girl, the chances of building Hercules sized muscles from a strength training routine is rare. It’s just not in most of our genetics.

As for me, these days I go to Orange Theory Fitness because they provide a good mix of stretching, strength training and cardio. If it were up to me, I’d still spend all of my time sweating it out on a cardio machine. Thankfully, I’ve learned my lesson and workouts like that just aren’t productive.

Still, I go to Orange Theory because if I wouldn’t get an evil glare from the instructor if I decided to spend my entire time on the treadmill, I would spend the entire hour on the treadmill and be a happy girl.

Even after more than 2 decades of working out, strength training isn’t my favorite thing to do…but I know if I want to stay strong, improve my posture and stay youthful, it’s something I need to do. I’d much prefer high fives from the OTF instructors for completing my resistance training portion than being scolded by the trainers, so I comply and get this aspect into my routine.

Who’s with me? Is there anyone else watching this video that could do cardio all day long without a second thought, but still dreads resistance training? Let me know I’m not alone in the comments below.

Yes, we still need to get stronger, but no, we don’t have to like it!

OK…and onto mistake number 3 I made regarding exercise over my 20 year diet history.

Attempting to fit in extra cardio when I was already stressed out with school & work

(raise hand)

I, Nissa, was a cardio-holic. Throughout college, I was the girl who took her big old college textbooks, plopped them on the elliptical screen and attempted to study while I also got in a work out.

I was the girl who had a runny nose and headache, but still made it to the gym to get in another elliptical session, while constantly blowing my nose throughout.

I was the girl who prioritized another workout over spending time relaxing with friends.

I. Was. That. Girl.

The problem with consistently prioritizing cardio while I was stressed out with other daily life events like college classes, working a part time job and working out while sick is this excess cardio was placing even more stress on my stressed out body. I was adding stress on top of stress on a non-stop basis, and then I never allowed myself adequate time to destress.

Guess what happens to our bodies when they’re stressed – Our cortisol raises. Guess what happens when our cortisol raises – our bodies revert to fat storing mode. This means even if you do all of the “fat burning cardio” your body can handle, you likely won’t lose weight.

Going back to the caveman days once again, when our bodies were stressed, that typically signaled an event like being chased by a lion. If you’re being chased by a lion, do you think your body is going to focus on burning fat? Or will it focus on getting out of that stressful situation so you stay alive?

If you die, you won’t have any fat to burn…so of course, your body will prioritize getting out of that stressful situation over burning stored fat. If you’re constantly in a state of stress because you’re adding more stress to your already over-stressed body by exercising all of the time, when will you have time to bring your cortisol down so you can burn fat efficiently?

On this week’s Chat the Fat, I talk even more about all of the exercise mistakes I made for more than 2 decades that sabotaged my weight loss efforts. There is so much bad exercise advice in the diet mainstream, and I’m pretty sure I followed it all at some point. Be sure to tune into this week’s episode so you don’t make the same mistakes.

Do you know anyone else who will benefit from my exercise mistakes? As I said, the bad advice is plentiful, so I’m sure you do. Be sure to like, comment on and share this video so others don’t make these same common mistakes.

Find the ways we can connect below, and let’s connect!

I’ll see you next Wednesday to talk about the 50 Shades of Keto. No, I’m not going to talk about hidden sex chambers in relation to a ketogenic diet. I’m not sure that’s even a thing. In fact, I hope that’s not a thing…that would be…different. Next week I’m going to talk about the different versions of keto in order to help you figure out which version is right for you!

So be sure to tune in….for the different versions of keto, not for keto sex chambers, of course.

Let's Connect!