Hi y'all I need some help with this question-
Is 50 mins of cardio on the ellipticals 5x week too much to do -- approx 500 cal. burned too much??
A year ago, I did the plan. Was v. effective but then started noticing hair thinning -- I'm not crazy, i assure you
I don't want this to happen again! Help!

I am a Jenny Craig Centre Director. I can tell you that you are not eating enought calories for the amount of exercise that you are doing. Talk to your consultant, she can help you. Most likely if your consultant calls our nutrionist they will suggest to up your calories to 1500 and trust me i have seen this time and time again, you will begin to lose weight again. Good luck!!

Thanks so much -- it's nice to have an "expert" opinion!
I'd really rather stay with the 1200 plan & exercise less this time round -- but I don't know how much to do -- this is the big dilemma.

Hello,
I'm starting to get serious about the increase on excercise. I've hovered at the same weight for 3 months. (granted it was over the holidays)
But I wanted to comment on the hair loss. I totally went through it at around 35 lbs. lost. It was so disturbing. I didn't know if it was the lost weight or turning 50 yrs. old. It is still thin on top but not falling out like it was.
I'm at 30 minutes on the precore machine and 30 minutes on the weight machines. Wish me luck. I so want to get to goal...but very tired of not eating with my husband etc.
Good luck to you.

I did this program when I was 20 in 1997 and at that time I was 5'3" and went from 130 to 117. I lost a patch of my hair in the front of my head. Eek! Once I started gaining the weight back the hair grew back. At that time Jenny Craig put me on the 1000 calorie program which is no longer allowed. I imagine I just wasn't getting enough nutrition and that is a side effect.

On 1200 calories a day, my personal trainer would only allow me 30 minutes of cardio a day, otherwise you run the risk of losing lean body tissue. He always adjusted my workouts, not my calorie intake. He thought since I went through the pain of adjusting to 1200 calories and I was comfortable, why fool with it.
When I tried to go under 1200 calories, I also lost hair (over 1/3 of it). It did grow back, but it took a long time. Don't do it!
Jackal

Thanks, Jackal, you're awesome!
Thanks everybody, too! I weighed in on Monday at my centre and lost 2.4 lbs. last week-- that was by doing 50 mins. 4x last week exer.
This week, I'm cutting back -- I'm aiming for 40 mins. 5x week -- we'll see what happens. My consultant didn't seem to think I was "overdoing it," but I'm still wary b/c my last experience with getting down to my goal weight and the hair loss.

One of the common causes of hair loss is starvation.
You need to find out what your rate of metabolism is, and then you need to aim for a daily calorie deficit of about 500 calories, part through calorie reduction, and part through exercise.
If you metabolic rate is 2000 calories a day (fairly common for younger women), that means you would want to be eating about 1750 calories, and exercising another 250 calories a day. If your metabolism is about 1750 calories a day, you can eat about 1500 calories a day and exercise another 250 calories a day. to lose about 1-1 1/2% of your body weight per week.
You sound like you are hesitant to eat enough because you think you will lose weight faster at 1200 calories than at 1500 calories. Not true. VERY not true. If you are exercising that much, you will probably find that you lose weight faster at 1500 calories than at 1200.
Why is that? Because insufficient calories cause your body to starve, and when it is starving, it shuts down your metabolism by burning muscle tissue instead of fat. If you lose too much muscle tissue, your metabolism is permanently reduced, and that makes increasing calories for maintenance very difficult, if not impossible.
So exercise moderately, and cut back on calories moderately, and you will do just fine.

Helen Wheels-- Thanks for your input!
I calculated my metablo -- I need 2070 cals to maintain my 131 frame.
2 things I want to comment on based on your reply:
1) the deficit of 500 cals. is good, that only applies to a 1 lb. loss per wk. I want to lose 2 lbs. per week, so I need to aim for a 1000 deficit.
2) Last year, I did lose the weight fast! Too fast! That's why I experienced the hair loss. On Jenny Craig, I do not feel deprived on the 1200 cals. a day, but based on the rate of weight loss I experienced last year, upping my calories to 1500, does not make sense to me. I consistently lost weight doing 1200 & 5 days of cardio for 50 mins. Upping my cals per day would just slow down my weight loss, which is not what I'm aiming for.

I need help with this question also! If I burn 550 cal. in cardio 6x a week plus weight training 2-3 times per week and I am at 1700 cal. a day on JC. is this a good balance to lose 2 pounds per week? thanks.....how do you figure out your metobolic rate?

I have the same question....how do you figure out what your metabolism is? Im very curious!!! Thanks.

Hi tennisgal & newlywed--
to figure out your metabo -- it's not that hard -- i just logged on to www.soyouwanna.com & they have a formula you can plug in your weight, etc. Shape magazine also has a spread about finding your metabo this month. But keep in mind, this is just a range, an approx. number!
Also, if anyone is doing the 1200 plan, I would be careful about 'over-doing it' with the cardio -- you don't want to burn lean muscle tissue! Bad! I did that last year & regretted it!
Good luck and keep me posted!

looking for a buddy ... Ive been a member since 11.10.05 s.w 194 today 11.08.05 184.7....is that normal..also i just started cardio is that a good idea?

You lose hair b/c of lack of fat, not just calories. You have to get a certain amount of good fat in your plan. Especially women!!!

Hmmm, reading this has me wondering if I should adjust my workout schedule.
I am 39 years old and currently weigh 152 lbs. I am on the 1200/day plan and I exercise 40-45 minutes 5 days a week on the Elliptical set on Interval training. The on-board calculator says I have burned around 600 calories at the end of my workout. I also do about 15 minutes of strength/weight training 3 days a week (some weight lifting, but mostly pilates-type exercise). So far with this workout schedule, I have lost an average of 1.7 lbs a week.
When I take a shower, I notice lots of loose hairs coming out but this is nothing new. This has been happening since way before I started JC but I always thought it was poor nutrition. Now that I am eating healthier I would have expected it to slow or stop but it hasn't. Now I am wondering if it's my workout. Should I do less cardio and more weight training?

To make your body function it needs a certain amount of calories per day to do that and not go into "starvation mode" where your metabolism shuts down and you no longer lose weight. The more calories you burn per day, the more calories you need to consume to make sure your body functions properly.
Losing weight is an equation. You want to be putting out more calories than you consume.
If you are exercising an hour 5 days a week of cardio work, you are most likely burning about 400-500 calories depending on your weight and intensity level. You also burn calories doing everything else you do.

Believe it or not, you burn calories just sitting around, or even when you sleep.
Because you are excersising so much, your body has slowed down it's metabolism, trying to keep some of the fat you have stored still on your body. If your body didn't do this it would begin to burn muscle for fuel which needless to say is bad.
Next time you have a consultation, have your consultant put your information back through the computer with your activity level corrected to be at the High level. If your calories don't change I will be very surprised.
If it is recommended that you go to a higher calorie level you will still lose weight! Or you can continue to be at a plateau and have your weight loss slow or even begin to go up.
You're not going to be on 1200 calories forever, eventually you will reach your goal and be given a maintence calorie level which will be much higher. It's much better to have your calorie level correct for the amount of activity you are doing than to have it incorrect and you begin to feel frustrated because you are no longer losing the weight you want to lose.
Ask your consultant to put you back through the computer or to call nutrition!!!

Every human loses about 150 hairs a day normally.

WOW!
I went to the metabolic calculator (Thanks krissyt) and figured it all out...and thinks me needs to speak to my Jenny consultant! My basic needs are just over 2600...I'm on 1200 a day AND I work out at least 30 mins. most days. This would equal a rate of loss that is much to fast. I'm new, so I'll see how it goes this week, but I think I may be fortunate enough to do 1500 a week when I get my exercise in.
THANKS SO MUCH for posting this info - you've helped me out a LOT!

Diane, I would definitely bring this up with them. I am heavier than you (238) and started JC this week. I exercise 3-4 times a week, for 45-60 min. each time. They entered my info in the computer, and put me on the 1700 cal a day diet. I go down to 1500 when I reach around 218 lbs. So I would think you would be at least at 1500.... Good luck!

I do tae kwon do at least 2-4 times a week-some days are more intense than others. My consultant suggested I eat a (small) peanut butter sandwich those days to supplement my diet-and it doesn't affect my weight loss in the least. (I have low blood sugar).

Jackal,
Your stats and before/after pics are amazing!
You should be so proud of yourself. What an inspiration. Congrats.

I lost 70 pounds 5 years ago (gained it back) and lost hair then. I had a baby and after I had the baby lost hair in heaps. I am now working out about 45/50 min cardio 5x;s a week, biking the other 2 days and doing 20 minutes of weights 10 - 20 min daily and am losing some hair. Hair loss goes hand in hand with numerous things. Hormones, anxiety, stress, excercise, nutrient loss..... I would hate to slow down on my working out b/c it's what is keeping me in this thing.

I am still confused about the whole exercising too much and weight plateau. I get that if you are exercising suddenly a lot you may not lose weight because your body is holding on for survival instinct. But isn't still the reality calories in vs calorie expenditure? Please someone clear this up.

You are right, it is calories in vs calories burned. Your body may try to hold at a certain weight level, but the laws of physics will win over everytime. If you can prove other wise I am sure there is a Nobel Peace Prize out there to be won. Calories is a measurement of energy, if you are burning more energy than you are taking in, where is the energy coming from? It can't come from nowhere.
Either the numbers are wrong (calories in or out) or the person is retaining fluids. 9 times out of 10, the numbers are wrong.
The human body can adjust and become more efficent, therefore exercise routines must be changed every so often. So an exercise that burned 500 calories last month, may only be burning 350 this month, and so on. This is where a lot of people miscalulate their numbers, it's not the food intake, it's the exercise. Mix it up!
Jackal