I Be That Very Witch

It is no secret that fat loss sucks. It sucks a heinous amount.  It's slow.  You're hungry.  You're tired.  It looks so easy for others. My brother tells me that he's lost 9 pounds in a week.  I weighed in a pound down yesterday, and then got it back this morning. So, while I sit here and groan at myself for my slow moving weight loss, I have to take inventory of what I am seeing since I dialed back my cardio. 1) I am nowhere near as hungry as I was a couple of weeks ago.  I could easily eat 6 times a day.  I hate eating 6 times a day.  Since I've started my cardio "diet", I eat three meals, and I can snack a bit here and there...but I'm only hungry at meal times. 2) Way more energy.  I have so much more in my day, and so much more to bring to my workouts.  Even on full leg days, I don't feel like I'm about to collapse when I'm done.  Not even on my HIIT day.  I also enjoy the gym even more.  Go figure. 3) I sle...

So, it turns out that there's this hormone called "cortisol".  And, although it's not as simple as saying, "it contributes to challenges with weight loss", there is definitely a link between elevated levels of cortisol, and difficulty with fat loss.  I have been advised that, when doing steady state cardio at 80% of your maximum heart rate, for an hour...it raises your cortisol. Do that 4 - 5 times a week, for 9 months, and I'm pumping plenty of cortisol.  As a result, I bounce up and down within the same 5 pounds, and have been for the last 3 months (at least). The long and short of it is that I've been advised to dial back my cardio...to maximum  2 - 30 to 45 minute sessions of steady state cardio, and 1 - 20 minute HIIT session each week.  This, in addition to continuing my regular lifting program.  This is a double edged sword for me.  On the one hand, I'm a little excited, because less cardio means less cardio .  The other side of th...