Hi Everyone

I've joined because I'm 43, 5ft 7 and weigh 11stone 4 but I'm not fat!! I wear size 10 jeans (that's a size 6 I think US size) for example. Yet everyone seems to weigh less than me and my BMI says that I'm just about in the 'OK' range. Yes I would like to be a little silmmer I admit but does anyone else out there weigh 'heavy' and thinks that some of the weight charts must be wrong.

Don't worry about weight as much as health. Talk to your doctor and a trainer about getting an accurate BF%. If you are athletic your BMI is not a good indicator. Remember, by BMI measurements, Arnold Swarchenegger's BMI is in the obese range, but I am sure he is healthy.

When I get to my target weight, my BF% will be in the 10-12% range, but my BMI will still be 30. Actually, if I got down to my lean body mass right now, my BMI would still be 27, so 0% BF and overweight by BMI. Again, if you are truely stocky and/or muscular, see a doctor or a trainer about getting a good BF% measurement to see where you are.

Vern

Thanks for your reply Vern - this is the first post I've done on here.

I have scales that measure body fat (bf) and judging by them I am 36% body fat which is scary and depressing since no matter how much I go to the gym I don't seem to shift much body fat and my weight just doesn't go down either. I go to the gym about 3 times a week and do the treadmill, cross trainer and the bike as well as a few weights. My attempts at losing weight this year have been an absolute failure and the weight just seems to be creeping on slowly.

It sounds like you really might want to consider weight lifting, especially if cardio alone has been of little help and your BF% is high.

I am incorporating some weights now as I've read somewhere that adding muscle helps to burn weight. I think I have been training too hard - for example I train at quite a high heart rate and I've also read that to burn fat you should have a really low heart rate (for my age around 120) but when I train at that sort of level it feels like I'm doing nothing.

there are a lot of interesting diets out there that people in traineo are experimenting with. if you take a look at their results, it might take the guess work out of choosing one. are u dieting and exercising?

i don't have much experience with dieting, but i've been an athlete all my life so i know a little about training and exercising. in that department, one of the keys to success is 'variation.' you don't always use the same routine, because you'll be likely to reach a plateau. also, you might just get bored and give up. do you vary your workout? if you're exercising 3 times a week, you might try switching it up every 2 or 4 weeks. also, if you're really set on seeing results, you could try to squeeze in a 5 minute workout every morning or afternoon. just some jumping jacks, pushups and crunches could make a significant difference.

i don't know if anyone's every had this thought before, but if varying your workout (to improve results) works so well, why don't people vary their diets every few weeks? sure, it might be hard at first, but if you find 3 good diets that work for you, and you alternate them every 2 weeks, that would be a good routine. good...assuming you keep losing weight, or getting healthier, or both, whatever your goal is.

i wonder if it would work...?

Sandra,

On a 24 hour period your high heart rate burns more fat than a lower intensitity workout. So decide whether you want to burn more fat in the short term (low intensity) or long term (high intensitity) Assuming same workout time period.

Example, If you compare a run of ten 6 minute miles (60 minutes) near 90% of you max v five 12 minute miles (60 minutes) near 70%, the amount of fat you burn as a percentage of the total expendature will higher in the second scenario, but the first run will take your body longer to recover from, and the entire recovery will continue to burn fat to supply energy to the recovery process.

@ Joel: I do vary my diet, and find that it can really help when I hit a plateau. Often eating more, or eating less, for a few days does the trick.