My weightlifting has tapered off. I took too much time off of lifting, and returning to it made me REALLY sore for several days. I couldn't even run for about 3 days. It was like starting over again. So I didn't lift again for 2 weeks! Then I got back in the gym, and the same thing happened. I decided to NOT let myself take that much time off, because when I got back in there to do my press, power clean, and squats (Day B workout. Day A is squat, bench, deadlift), I had to drop back down to 45lbs (from 65lbs) for the press!
I've been reading up on CrossFit. Their workouts are intimidating, amazing, and look REALLY fun. They have lots of alternatives to their exercises if your fitness level isn't up to doing their workouts, but I want to continue I've decided the following will be my new HARD fitness goals:
Complete C25k, transition to 10k. (I'm currently in Week 6, next run is W6D3, 25min run!)
Increase my bench to 130lbs (Currently at 70lbs)
Increase my squat to 200lbs (Currently at 105)
Increase my deadlift to 250lbs (Currently at 80lbs)
Be able to do 5 pull-ups (dead-hang)
Be able to do 5 dips (body weight!)
Note on my deadlift: It is commonly taught that if you can squat more than you deadlift, you aren't squatting deeply enough. I actually can probably deadlift a lot more than that, but I've been very concerned about my form, so as recommended by a lifting coach, I started out very conservatively with DL and will progress once I am confident in my form.
The biggest goals for me are the pull-ups and dips. I feel like only REALLY fit people are able to do pull-ups/dips. I have never, in my adult life, done a pull up without weight assistance. Same goes for dips. I want to be a person that can do that.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
A new weight loss tool. Do I love it?
So in early May, I came across a Groupon for a one month enrollment in "Biovive Medical Weight Loss." This included 4 weeks of nutrition counseling, supplements, appetite suppressants (if necessary), and the final most important tool--access to their fancy scale.
Their nutrition plan is rather paleo-friendly. It is a complete elimination of starchy carbs (already doing that), but it discourages most fats (fatty meats, avocados, olives, fat-free dairy, etc), and tons of veggies (already doing that, too). They informed me of portions, and allotted me a certain portion value of protein (10 boxes to tick off, each portion should not exceed Xg of fat or carbs, etc.), and carbs (4 boxes, net carbs should not exceed X value per portion). I get a dairy box as well as a few other boxes to tick off which help you remember to drink 125oz water a day, take a multivitamin, calcium supplement, and an excercise box.
I passed on the appetite suppressants, which I'm glad to have done. I feel like it's a crutch that I don't want to rely on. So, if you keep your portions at their recommended sizes, tick off all your boxes for food allotment, this is a roughly 1000-1200 calorie/day plan. Based on my paleo choices, I eat roughly 1400-1600 calories/day.
I still work out a heckuva lot more than I think the Biovive people expect their patients to do. I'm up to running for 20 minutes straight in my C25K program. I'm improving my lifts steadily (although I took a hiatus from lifting for a bit due to some muscle strain). They ask their clients to squeak in 3-4 20-30 minute sessions of light-to-moderate intesity exercise a week. This includes brisk walking, light weight lifting, and house cleaning or someshit.
Puh-LEEZE. Thier goal here is to not over-exert people on such a low calorie plan. Too much exertion makes the body break down muscle for energy. Muscle is a quicker access to energy when broken down than fat. Fat is VERY energy-dense, but it takes longer to break down for energy. Thus, when the body is over-exerted and starved, muscle comes first.
So...I don't want to drop my exercise. I love it, and I love keeping it as a habitual part of my life. I don't want to slack off of on C25K until the weight comes off, which is what they'd want me to do. They re-incorporate heavier exercise after the "weight loss phase" is over. In general, I think that's smart, but not quite for me.
I hate to sound like an "I-know-better-than-you" bitch, but I tweaked their "tried and tested" plan (which is obviously actually not a bad one, just not QUITE what I want to do). I follow their daily allotments generally--but I incorporate more fat, as per my paleo regimen. The carb boxes aren't hard to stick to, even with all the vegetables I eat. The Biovive guide has a few "zero box" foods which, when eaten in appropriate portions do not count as boxes (kale, broccoli, things with lots of fiber like celery, etc.). However, on days when I work out hard, I give myself an extra box or two on "Protein" which I tend to cound as "Protein and Fat."
This week, while watching my weight on the gym scale hover around 176-178 (and even up to 180 for a day), I wasn't too concerned--with a single exception.
I knew that on Wednesday, June 27 at 8:30am, I would be weighing in at Biovive and talking with a nutrition counselor to see how I was doing.
Now it's time to discuss their scale. They use an InBody (520, I think?) bioimpedance scale. It measures your weight (I weighed in with them on my first day, clothed, at 181.2lbs), and body fat percentage. It reports actual muscle mass for the right and left arms and legs, and for the trunk. It also measures body water content and calculates the ration of ECW (extracellular water) to ICF (intracellular water). It's really very cool and supposed be the most accurate bioimpedance method (and very nearly reflects the numbers for water submersion tests).
So my weigh-in. 181.2lbs. Not so scary. My body fat percentage was really high. Alarmingly high. It was 43.7%. I had 79.2lbs of fat on me.
But! this meant I had 102lbs of muscle. According to the "target values" for my height and age, I was in the tippy top percentiles of "normal" for trunk and legs and I was just a pip above "over" for my arms. OVER?!? I thought my arms were the weakest thing about me. Maybe they are, but I'm still stronger than the average lady. WOO!!!! Also, with my musclitude, this put my basal metabolic rate at 1369cal/day (this is the calories my body would burn on a totally sedentary day).
So when I saw that, I decided I didn't mind if my weight increased or stayed the same, so long as my fat pounds went down and my muscle pounds went up up up!!!
So, what I was worried about this week was:
a) What if I gained fat?!?! Oh lawd, that would be terrible.
b) Even worse, what if I lost muscle?!?
c) What sort of talking to would I get if I either gained weight or didn't lose any weight?
I weighed in at 181. My body fat% was 41.7. TWO PERCENT DIFFERENCE! I lost 3.7lbs of fat and have 75.5lbs. I gained 3.5lbs of muscle!! IN A WEEK!!!! 105.5lbs, baby. ALL of my body categories (trunk, legs, arms) are now in the "over" percentile of muscle. I also have increased my hydration levels and increased my BMR to 1404 calories/day. And I didn't get a talking to! The lady was HAPPY for me and told me to keep it up. She said that it's really frequent for people like me to see a weight loss stall and even some gains, but that eventually, the BMR catches up and the fat just comes right off.
SO! What does all this mean? Well, sometimes, when you are doing all the right things (eating well, exercising) and don't see the scale moving, when you can't tell for sure if those jeans feel tighter or if they're just loosened from wear, it's hard to convince yourself that the non-scale victories are really worth your hard work--this magical $7000 scale QUANTIFIES it. I'm still secretely worried that it's a bit hoax-y, but seeing those numbers today really made me feel good. I still have two weeks of Biovive left. Their client subscription seems pretty steep, but I'm secretly debating if it's worth it to stay with them, if ONLY for that scale.
We shall see, but it's a good god-damn day.
Their nutrition plan is rather paleo-friendly. It is a complete elimination of starchy carbs (already doing that), but it discourages most fats (fatty meats, avocados, olives, fat-free dairy, etc), and tons of veggies (already doing that, too). They informed me of portions, and allotted me a certain portion value of protein (10 boxes to tick off, each portion should not exceed Xg of fat or carbs, etc.), and carbs (4 boxes, net carbs should not exceed X value per portion). I get a dairy box as well as a few other boxes to tick off which help you remember to drink 125oz water a day, take a multivitamin, calcium supplement, and an excercise box.
I passed on the appetite suppressants, which I'm glad to have done. I feel like it's a crutch that I don't want to rely on. So, if you keep your portions at their recommended sizes, tick off all your boxes for food allotment, this is a roughly 1000-1200 calorie/day plan. Based on my paleo choices, I eat roughly 1400-1600 calories/day.
I still work out a heckuva lot more than I think the Biovive people expect their patients to do. I'm up to running for 20 minutes straight in my C25K program. I'm improving my lifts steadily (although I took a hiatus from lifting for a bit due to some muscle strain). They ask their clients to squeak in 3-4 20-30 minute sessions of light-to-moderate intesity exercise a week. This includes brisk walking, light weight lifting, and house cleaning or someshit.
Puh-LEEZE. Thier goal here is to not over-exert people on such a low calorie plan. Too much exertion makes the body break down muscle for energy. Muscle is a quicker access to energy when broken down than fat. Fat is VERY energy-dense, but it takes longer to break down for energy. Thus, when the body is over-exerted and starved, muscle comes first.
So...I don't want to drop my exercise. I love it, and I love keeping it as a habitual part of my life. I don't want to slack off of on C25K until the weight comes off, which is what they'd want me to do. They re-incorporate heavier exercise after the "weight loss phase" is over. In general, I think that's smart, but not quite for me.
I hate to sound like an "I-know-better-than-you" bitch, but I tweaked their "tried and tested" plan (which is obviously actually not a bad one, just not QUITE what I want to do). I follow their daily allotments generally--but I incorporate more fat, as per my paleo regimen. The carb boxes aren't hard to stick to, even with all the vegetables I eat. The Biovive guide has a few "zero box" foods which, when eaten in appropriate portions do not count as boxes (kale, broccoli, things with lots of fiber like celery, etc.). However, on days when I work out hard, I give myself an extra box or two on "Protein" which I tend to cound as "Protein and Fat."
This week, while watching my weight on the gym scale hover around 176-178 (and even up to 180 for a day), I wasn't too concerned--with a single exception.
I knew that on Wednesday, June 27 at 8:30am, I would be weighing in at Biovive and talking with a nutrition counselor to see how I was doing.
Now it's time to discuss their scale. They use an InBody (520, I think?) bioimpedance scale. It measures your weight (I weighed in with them on my first day, clothed, at 181.2lbs), and body fat percentage. It reports actual muscle mass for the right and left arms and legs, and for the trunk. It also measures body water content and calculates the ration of ECW (extracellular water) to ICF (intracellular water). It's really very cool and supposed be the most accurate bioimpedance method (and very nearly reflects the numbers for water submersion tests).
So my weigh-in. 181.2lbs. Not so scary. My body fat percentage was really high. Alarmingly high. It was 43.7%. I had 79.2lbs of fat on me.
But! this meant I had 102lbs of muscle. According to the "target values" for my height and age, I was in the tippy top percentiles of "normal" for trunk and legs and I was just a pip above "over" for my arms. OVER?!? I thought my arms were the weakest thing about me. Maybe they are, but I'm still stronger than the average lady. WOO!!!! Also, with my musclitude, this put my basal metabolic rate at 1369cal/day (this is the calories my body would burn on a totally sedentary day).
So when I saw that, I decided I didn't mind if my weight increased or stayed the same, so long as my fat pounds went down and my muscle pounds went up up up!!!
So, what I was worried about this week was:
a) What if I gained fat?!?! Oh lawd, that would be terrible.
b) Even worse, what if I lost muscle?!?
c) What sort of talking to would I get if I either gained weight or didn't lose any weight?
I weighed in at 181. My body fat% was 41.7. TWO PERCENT DIFFERENCE! I lost 3.7lbs of fat and have 75.5lbs. I gained 3.5lbs of muscle!! IN A WEEK!!!! 105.5lbs, baby. ALL of my body categories (trunk, legs, arms) are now in the "over" percentile of muscle. I also have increased my hydration levels and increased my BMR to 1404 calories/day. And I didn't get a talking to! The lady was HAPPY for me and told me to keep it up. She said that it's really frequent for people like me to see a weight loss stall and even some gains, but that eventually, the BMR catches up and the fat just comes right off.
SO! What does all this mean? Well, sometimes, when you are doing all the right things (eating well, exercising) and don't see the scale moving, when you can't tell for sure if those jeans feel tighter or if they're just loosened from wear, it's hard to convince yourself that the non-scale victories are really worth your hard work--this magical $7000 scale QUANTIFIES it. I'm still secretely worried that it's a bit hoax-y, but seeing those numbers today really made me feel good. I still have two weeks of Biovive left. Their client subscription seems pretty steep, but I'm secretly debating if it's worth it to stay with them, if ONLY for that scale.
We shall see, but it's a good god-damn day.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Still going. 178.5lbs
Last time I had a disappearance from my blog, I abandoned weight loss, gained thirty pounds, and fell into a delightful bout of self pity.
Never fear. This time, it's just an incredibly busy/stressful schedule. I am still eating like I should and exercising. However, I decided to reassess my workout routine because I was starting to get fatigued really easily--even walking up stairs made me feel weary.
I dropped off of the weight-lifting for a bit and continued with the couch to 5k. I have completed week 4 and will begin week 5 today or tomorrow. Today, I started back up on Starting Strength (my weight-lifting regimen). I was still pretty strong in deadlift and squat, but I slowed considerably on bench.
Measuring my inches, I'm slowly going down, and in general, my arms, stomach, and thighs are getting smaller and smoothing out.
In other news, I don't know how else to say so--I'm happy. I still feel head over heels smitten with my fella. I enjoy his support with the new food-outlook as well as with the workouts. I'm stressed at work, but making steady progress. I've seen fun movies, tv shows, played fun video games, and listened to spectacular audiobooks.
Life is..fun!
Never fear. This time, it's just an incredibly busy/stressful schedule. I am still eating like I should and exercising. However, I decided to reassess my workout routine because I was starting to get fatigued really easily--even walking up stairs made me feel weary.
I dropped off of the weight-lifting for a bit and continued with the couch to 5k. I have completed week 4 and will begin week 5 today or tomorrow. Today, I started back up on Starting Strength (my weight-lifting regimen). I was still pretty strong in deadlift and squat, but I slowed considerably on bench.
Measuring my inches, I'm slowly going down, and in general, my arms, stomach, and thighs are getting smaller and smoothing out.
In other news, I don't know how else to say so--I'm happy. I still feel head over heels smitten with my fella. I enjoy his support with the new food-outlook as well as with the workouts. I'm stressed at work, but making steady progress. I've seen fun movies, tv shows, played fun video games, and listened to spectacular audiobooks.
Life is..fun!
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