The Exercise Enigma - both genders

[atomic sagebrush]

We have found trying to time weight loss to be a) totally ineffective and b) really stressful and with the capability of messing up people's sways.

This actually happened to me! With my 4th boy I was so sure that actively losing weight would sway hugely pink that I tried to take a month off and regained weight to relose, only to get pregnant the month I was regaining weight! And this has happened to several people. Additionally, when you've lost and then regained weight, your body can see this as "improved condition" and that may sway even MORE blue. Please just lose what you can, when you can, if you can, and hold steady instead of losing too much. We get by far best results that way.

[atomic sagebrush]

Why is tracking things more boy sway? Wouldn't it help either sway you were trying for - so you know what your body is doing etc to get the best sway possible?

NO, no no no no no nonononononononono......!!!!!!!

It is the SINGLE WORST thing you can do for your sway. Instead of doing this, please eat beef you will harm your sway far less.

For reasons we do not know, being super consumed with details and factoids and tracking things and analyzing data and that kind of hamster wheel brain that happens when you treat your sway like this project with bar graphs you must monitor constantly, sways blue HUGELY. More than eating the occasional hamburger, this is the #1 killer of otherwise good sways. So I do not want you guys tracking anything that it is not strictly necessary to track because I want you to avoid this pitfall.

We do not know HOW to have the best sway possible. People can know and track every detail of their body's functioning (and trust me when I say, many have tried) but we don't even KNOW what those numbers should even BE. So you drive yourself round the bend and to another boy tracking all these things for NO REASON since we have no baseline as to what we are even aiming at (and that baseline almost certainly would vary by individual anyway).

[atomic sagebrush]

I'd definitely like to know this as well, I've been keeping track of everything as well on my fitness pal to make sure I'm keeping to my limitations.

The only things you need to track are calories, protein, fat - and this is to make sure you get ENOUGH, not to guard against overeating. And your weight and again this is to be sure you don't lose too much.

Optional- potassium loosely to be sure you're getting enough, sodium if you MUST (and virtually all of us have given this up and our results have only gone up since)

That is IT. I don't want you guys tracking your CM or pH or mineral intake or blood sugar or heartrate while exercising or % of fat to muscle or anything along those lines. Ditch that stuff because none of it works and it only drives you cray in exactly the right way to wreck a sway that would have otherwise worked if not for the "control freakishness".

[Prayingforagirl67]

So good to know! The only thing I've been tracking is my calories and fat/ protein intake and how much I walk during the day. Those are the only things I've been focusing on. It's just kind of became a habit (I've been tracking to lose weight long before the thought of pregnancy came up) I've stoped tracking my sodium intake. The only thing I've been focusing on is losing weight. I'm trying not to obsess over this sway.

[atomic sagebrush]

That's good! You want to put it on autopilot and leave it there, barely even thinking about it!

[FinalPinkWish]

Hi Atomic,
I've been losing weight for about a year now mostly with diet tracking, counting calories. Last few months I've started seeing a personal trainer and changed my diet to high protein, low carb and low fat diet. Along with 30 mins of weights, 1-2 hours or cardio per week. I've been losing weight slowly and have continued to lose with the change in diet. I'm just becoming more toned now. So my question is. As I'm still losing weight do I really need to change to a low protein diet for a girl sway? If so, how long would you recommend being on the low protein diet before TTC? TIA

[atomic sagebrush]

Losing weight has unfortunately not been as predictive as we'd like it to be. So yes I do think you should change your diet. Even if you don't get as low in protein as some do, it really does seem to help just to reduce it overall.

[Prayingforagirl67]

That's what I'm trying to keep doing! Also, I was wondering, I read your post about regaining weight and then conceiving, and that your body takes weight gain as an improved condition. Last year I had lost a lot of weight, 75 lbs, then after some stressful events I had gained about 45 back from about March '16 to January'17, after that point I started to slowly lose, and my weight fluctuates a bit up until recently where I have been steadily losing or maintaining (for about a month and a half). Would that weight gain or the fluctuating of my weight be an issue for my sway? Or is that far off enough to not effect it at all?

[atomic sagebrush]

If anything, the losing and gaining and then losing again may even be better for a sway. I will say that after my "failed" sway that yielded DS 4, I gained a HUGE amount of weight when I was pregnant with him (seriously, like 70 lbs and then I stopped counting with 3 weeks to go ) and then lost it all again. I found that the second time through, I was a lot less muscle and a lot more mush than I had been when I got pregnant with him. So it very well may only help.

[Prayingforagirl67]

I'm really hoping I'm on the right track! It seems like I am but I don't want to over think it all! I was heavy when I conceived my son (I had a very by the book boy sway without noticing!!) then gained more weight while I was pregnant. Lost a lot of the weight from my pregnancy and then some. Gained 45 back and am now steadily losing (but it feels like it's going super slow!)I'm definitely not muscular in the slightest, am also very mushy Lol here's to hoping I'm doing this right! I don't want to get into the swing of a sway and be doing something wrong out of ignorance!
Again thank you for all of your feedback!!