It Starts...

[Trops]

But the plan is to run 3x per week and Strength train 3x per week and go heavy.

That's what I've been doing. I'm making good strides on the running and lifting, but not really with the scale. Good luck.

 

[MissDFITT]

That's what I've been doing. I'm making good strides on the running and lifting, but not really with the scale. Good luck.

Hiya Trops, how the heck are ya?

Yeah maybe be at a plateau, we will see tomorrow what the scale says. I have to remind myself its just a number. I've been meaning to measure myself but haven't gotten a chance... plus I can't find my soft tape....

 

[MissDFITT]

Okay just a quick check in for the evening.

I did the FIRM body sculpt tonight 50 min strength workout. The first half I DIED. Its all legs, squats, lunges, and step ups on unto a 16" step. I typically do little or NO weight but tonight I grabbed the 10s and held on for dear life!! My legs are still pretty jello-y but I feel good. The second half is upper body and I usually use light weights but again I went heavier than usual and didn't once pick up my 3s... I know I'm a whimp... strength is not my forte, but I would like it to be someday.

Cals today were pretty low 1569, leaving me with a 1063 deficit. I drank alot of green tea today to. I'm actually considering having one last cup before bed. I feel like it helps to settle my tummy while TOM is visiting.

Tomorrow is school and a tempo run, hopefully I'm not too sore. I will stretch and foam roll tomorrow morning to help break up the stiffness that I might have.

I'm currently in a pretty good mood. I think over the weekend I was debbie downer but my spirits are brightening. Stephen is going to Denver for work on Wednesday and hopefully will be back Thursday evening if they get all their stuff done quickly. I think its only a 7 hour drive so if they leave early enough they can get a good half days work in on Wednesday... I don't think they have much to do just finish up. TJ and I already planned to have dinner on Wednesday evening. Then Friday is Step's birthday. He is so cute all he wants is Chicken Parmesan and brownies... nothing else... Well I bought him some accessories for his new truck and I might do a little more shopping while he is away. He was looking at a few things at REI that I caught onto soooo I might make my way back there.

Speaking of REI I've been looking into the garmin gps watches and I really like the 405 forrunner... of course the expensive one. Well I chatted with the guy behind the counter and he let me try one on... low and behold its too big for my tiny wrists... I was sooo bummed out... I would have to go with the 305 if I wanted it to fit on my wrist... or I could get the 405 and wear in on my elbow... LOL but I think that would defeat the purpose.

Anywho! I'd better finish cleaning up before bed.

Good NIGH!

 

[MissDFITT]

January 27

Just getting off work... wanted to check in. I was not sore until about 11 this morning and then it hit like a brick wall... plus sitting for 1:15 at a time doesn't help. I plan to roll it out and run tonight... then strength again tomorrow. I am realizing that I hardly ever strength train and that's most likely my problem. So I am getting my ass in gear damnit!!!

Cals are okay I'm at 1000 so far and honestly am starving!! I see chips and salsa in my near future!!!

Ha that's all for now I'm headed home!!!

Peace!

 

[MissDFITT]

January 28, 2009

So I think I had a realization last night. I was in the process of getting changed to do my run and I just happened to be standing in front of the mirror... and I’m not that fat girl anymore. So weird but true. I have a flat sexy tummy and my arms are thin and getting toned and yes my legs aren’t where I want them to be but my calves look great and my tush aint so bad. I know I haven’t lost any weight recently but DAMN I look good…. And I FEEL good. It’s still hard to say but I am starting to SEE it. And I know Stephen sees it because he was pawing at me trying to distract me from running and it almost worked but I needed to run.

My run last night was nothing short of amazing. I had 2 miles to do and I wanted to shoot for 24:00. Last week I ran my 2 miles in just over 30 mins and walked several times. Well I didn’t get 24:00 but I came close at 25:39, a PR thank you very much. I felt awesome other than getting used to my new shoes… my feet were a little hotter than usual and my left shoe was loose kinda. But other than that it was a victory for sure.

Stephen is off to Denver today leaving me all by my lonesome. But I already have my evening planned out: Salsa, then shopping for a few BD gifts, dinner with TJ, then clean house and to bed. He is supposed to be back late tomorrow night, but I have a feeling he won’t get back until Friday afternoon.

I also had a light bulb go off about strength training…. If I train my legs more then it will ultimately benefit my running… DUH!!! More the reason to do it consistently. I don’t think I’ve strength trained consistently since I had a personal trainer back in 04…. So it’s time to get with it!!!

I think I’m going to keep my cals between 1700-1900, yesterday I apparently ate more than I thought almost hitting the 2000 mark… what’s that about??? Damn those goldfish… even though the serving size is 55 pieces I ate almost 3 servings… it was a mindless moment when I should have stopped waaayy sooner…. I could have eaten the whole bag, but thankfully Step finished them off.

That’s all for now, its another slow day at work so I will be reviewing my lipid metabolism in the mean time. I have a quiz tomorrow that I plan on aceing!

 

[Curvie Girlie]

I think over the weekend I was debbie downer but my spirits are brightening.

It wasn't your fault, it was totally hormones. And that's closely tied to the neurotransmitters in the brain, check this out, it's fascinating!

Then Friday is Step's birthday. He is so cute all he wants is Chicken Parmesan and brownies

I say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPH!" He sounds like such an awesome BF

Anywho! I'd better finish cleaning up before bed.

VIRGO!!!!! LOL!

 

[Curvie Girlie]

I’m not that fat girl anymore. So weird but true. I have a flat sexy tummy and my arms are thin and getting toned and yes my legs aren’t where I want them to be but my calves look great and my tush aint so bad. I know I haven’t lost any weight recently but DAMN I look good…. And I FEEL good. It’s still hard to say but I am starting to SEE it.

A Fucking FINALLY!! YAY!!!​

25:39, a PR thank you very much. I felt
awesome other than getting used to my new shoes… my feet were a little hotter than usual and my left shoe was loose kinda.

I also had a light bulb go off about strength training…. If I train my legs more then it will ultimately benefit my running… DUH!!! More the reason to do it consistently. I don’t think I’ve strength trained consistently since I had a personal trainer back in 04…. So it’s time to get with it!!!

Damn those goldfish… even though the serving size is 55 pieces I ate almost 3 servings… it was a mindless moment when I should have stopped waaayy sooner…. I could have eaten the whole bag, but thankfully Step finished them off.

Congratulations on the PR

Oh goody, I'm glad you're going to strength train more--I really think it'll help you get your legs where you want them--I SWEAR by it!

Annie's makes these Cheddar Bunnies that are sooooo cute and organic and delicious and I CAN'T buy them because I over-eat them I know exactly what you're talking about.

 

[MissDFITT]

LOL I know right, its just like all of a sudden things clicked... it was a weird moment and oddly its holding today aswell... its a new good feeling....

Thanks, it was cute Step was back and fourth from the office to the living room where I was running and he happend to be out of the room when I hit 2 miles and I yelled almost screamed 25:39!!! And he came running in whooping it up... and me totally outta breath (I always sprint my last 0.10) was just smiling... it was really a good moment.

Ha ha cheddar bunnies how fitting... and yes its hard to stop but I was STARVING when I picked them up... I should have gone with a glass of milk or something a little more filling. But oh well!

 

[Curvie Girlie]

Lately I have been gobbling snacks that are high in protein and unsaturated fats--whenever I ate high-cal-high-carb-high-sodium-low-nutrient-low-fiber foods like delicious cheddar bunnies, I overdid the calories and didn't even feel satisfied Check and see if are available--do you like peanut butter and honey?

 

[MissDFITT]

Yeah I have been eating alot of the powerbars recently, they had them on sale so we bought a few to try out... and of course I got peanut butter (my fave) and its a great snack for while I'm on campus and its well balanced as far as macros go.

Have you ever tried a TRIO bar, organic fruit, nut, and seeds... they are kinda high in fat with all the nuts, but VERY tastey.

 

[MissDFITT]

Ohhhhh Cranberry Crunch..... hey thanks for this link... I'm going to see if they carry these at whole foods and try them out.

 

[Curvie Girlie]

I'll try the TRIO.

The P.F. bars are MOUTH WATERINGLY delicious and have to be stored in the fridge They're REALLY nice and sweet which is great for me (sugar addict )

 

[Curvie Girlie]

yeah the cranberry crunch is super delicious and lower in calories AND just as satisfying!

 

[MissDFITT]

MMMMM sounds perfect!

 

[Steve]

So Dee and I have been communicating via PM for the past few days and the convos are starting to get a bit long. Given the text limits of PM, we decided to move the convo here.

Okay, I’m all done with the prescribed reading. I’m such a student, I read each twice and made notes in the margin and highlighted and everything!! You would be proud.

Awesome, thanks for spending the time!

To begin I have to SPECIFY what my goals are. Which for me is the tricky part but after reading all this it’s not so tricky. I want to gain strength in my legs, in order to run faster and longer as well as have a very strong toned upper body (including tight abs not 6pk but nice and firm). Preserving and maintaining my current muscle mass is #1 priority because I haven’t been doing this with any consistency.

If I were to lay out your goals for you, which I never would, this would be them. So good.

One note: you mention getting tight abs, but not 6 pack abs. Unfortunately, we don't get to pick and choose how the fat leaves us and how we'll look when it's gone. Given that your lower half is the stubborn area, you very well could get much leaner on the upper half before your body starts tapping into the fat on the lower half. How your abs look once that's done is merely a function of your abdominal muscles and at what point the fat becomes 'harder' to tap into on the belly.

As you suggested, I will do 2 workouts a week that consist of compound movements. Now from the readings I gather that circuit training it out for the time being.

If you need to, you can throw a circuit training into the mix for some additional caloric burn. B/c of the way circuit training is set up (low weight, high reps, low rest), even though it feels challenging (primarily on a cardiovascular and muscular endurance level), it's not too intense on the body systemically.

Wow that was quite the sentence, hopefully you followed that.

My suggestion would be to keep circuits out for the time being. If things aren't heading in the right direction, it might be something we add in.

And slow and heavier is the name of the game.

Yes ma'am.

In terms of rep speed, you don't want slow. The lowering phase should be controlled, possibly between 2-3 seconds. (eccentric) The raising phase should be as fast as you can while maintaining absolutely perfect form. (concentric)

If the weight is sufficiently heavy enough, it very well can be traveling slowly on the raising phase even though you're moving it as quickly *as you can*.

For instance, when I'm pushing out a 300+ lb bench press, the bar, from an outside onlooker, looks like it's moving slow. But I'm pushing as forcefully as I possibly can.

The thing I will need help with is rep – set – rest.

Surely. This is probably not a way you've trained before. Am I correct in saying so?

I'll also like to throw some exercise selections at you. They're not mandatory but it will give you an idea of what your workouts should resemble.

I'll get to this after you reply to this post and I go back through and read what equipment you have availabe. (I communicate with A LOT of people and after a while all things blur, lol)

I think you said you have some dumbbells and a bench.

And as far as weight goes, I want something that is challenging but not to heavy so that I can finish the rep strong and I think I will just have to experiment with the different weights I have.

I wrote an article discussing this extensively and for the time being, I can't find it.

In the first phase, if you will, you're sole focus should be on perfecting the movement patterns. Adding weight to said movements is silly, as it only makes learning proper movement that much more difficult.

During this phase, many of the exercises won't be challenging at all.

How long will the learning phase take?

Sometimes 1 week. Sometimes 1 month.

Completely depends on things like your experience, familiarity with same/similar movements, coordination, strength, etc.

Suffice it to say, once you're comfortable, you can begin adding weight to the movements, slowly but surely. Eventually you'll be at an appropriate intensity.

You'll know your at an appropriate intensity for the reason you mentioned. You won't be failing during the sets, but the reps will be challenging and by the end of each set you'll only have 1, maybe 2 good reps left "in the tank."

I currently keep a semi-detailed training log on a desk calendar, I will have to be a little more detailed oriented but it’s doable. As Val would say I am a virgo.

Yup, a training log is important. I've logged all of my workouts since I started training years and years ago. I never go into the gym without having a plan down on paper, and said plan is sequential relative to my last workout.

In my log, before starting each session, each exercise and prescribes sets, reps and rest are notated. I simply log my 'performance' under each exercise.

I also leave space for general notes and reminders for my next workout like, "increase weight used in bench press by 5 lbs next workout."

My only question lies in my diet.

Nutrition can be real tricky at your stage.

I've seen it where women your size need to get pretty technical with their diets in order to realize fat loss.

This primarily includes toying around with carbohydrates. But it can get messy. Not to scare you off, but just so you understand that some complex tracking may be required. We'll cross that bridge if we have to.

For now, and speaking very generally, I've seen it where women have to go as low as 8 calories per pound of body weight plus frequent exercise to realize the results they wanted.

From what I remember, you were 140ish, which would put you at 1120 calories!

When you go that low, you have to be very conscious about the foods you're putting in your mouth simply b/c the less calories you're eating the less room you have to 'wiggle' in terms of food selection since you MUST get adequate protein and EFAs in. Once you account for those things, there's not much allotment left.

The good thing is, I don't see you having to go to this point b/c....

As I mentioned previously I get between 1700-1900 cals per day

This puts you at about 13 calories per pound. That's the high end of intake required to lose fat, especially for someone in your shoes. This could be your only 'problem' or the sole reason you're not losing.

I'd drop to a true 12. If that doesn't work 11, then 10. It's all about tweaking based on feedback.

Here's my general thought process about setting up a diet:

For example, say you're 140 lbs. The rough estimate of maintenance calories is 2100 (140 * 15), so a 20% deficit would give you ~1680 cals (which is 12*BW in this example; I'd round to 1600 or 1700 for convenience).

The suggestion is to not go below 1g/lb of goal BW for protein, so call it 130g * 4 = 520 kcals of protein. You can get away with something like 30% of total calories from for or 0.25 - .5 g/lb of fats, so call it 50ish g * 9 = 450 kcals of fat.

From those you're up to 970 kcals, leaving you 630 cals for carbs. 630/4 = 160g of carbs.

Thing is, 12*BW (or 20% deficit in this case) is an upper limit of fat loss; you may not actually lose weight on that. Now guess what happens if you have to drop to say 10*BW?

You're down to 1400 kcals, or only 430 kcals to spare after your essentials are covered. In that case, you literally don't have room to eat more than about 100g of carbs without cutting back your essential intakes.

Now some people can benefit from dropping the fat back to keep carbs up; really the 0.5g/lb number isn't actually accounting for essential fats. However most people tend to find that appetite control is better with higher fat/lower carbs.

Set calories. Set potein. Set fats. See what's left to work with in terms of caloric allotment and fill it with carbs and possibly more fats.

Does shed any new light on the subject for you?

I recently have been eating more powerbars just because they are quick and easy while I am on campus, is this a good thing or not?

Hard to say. Not all bars are created equal. For me, bars don't cut it. When I'm dieting, I like good, satiating food and bars don't provide me those things.

If they fit your calories and macros, then I don't see anything inherently wrong with them.

Some contain shit ingredients but that doesn't affect physique so much it does health.

My previous trainer would say STAY AWAY, but now that I myself am more educated I now know he knows nothing about nutrition… so I don’t know if to trust that or not.

Imagine that.

I think that’s about it. I have only a single special need. I think you know but I have degenerative disc disease (which really isn’t a disease) in one disc in my thoracic vertebrae, right about bra line. I am not allowed to do any heavy lifting (10+lbs) over my head and all ab work that involves putting my legs in the air is out. I danced (jazz & ballet) for about 7 years and had really strong abs, but since this injury I don’t work my “core” as much as I used to and I would really like to get the strength back, but its difficult with this injury because I worry about irritating it.

No overhead work and no legs-up work.

Check.

 

[MissDFITT]

One note: you mention getting tight abs, but not 6 pack abs. Unfortunately, we don't get to pick and choose how the fat leaves us and how we'll look when it's gone. Given that your lower half is the stubborn area, you very well could get much leaner on the upper half before your body starts tapping into the fat on the lower half. How your abs look once that's done is merely a function of your abdominal muscles and at what point the fat becomes 'harder' to tap into on the belly.

Honestly I would love to have a 6pk but I dont think Im gentically inclined, but if it happens great and if not thats fine to... I just want strength back in this area. Although I do have pretty good definition in my torso when I flex but its not strong. I'm sure you understand what I mean.

If you need to, you can throw a circuit training into the mix for some additional caloric burn. B/c of the way circuit training is set up (low weight, high reps, low rest), even though it feels challenging (primarily on a cardiovascular and muscular endurance level), it's not too intense on the body systemically.

Wow that was quite the sentence, hopefully you followed that.

My suggestion would be to keep circuits out for the time being. If things aren't heading in the right direction, it might be something we add in.

In general I like circuit training, its fun IMO. It keeps things interesting for 90 mins or so and I always feel like I'm getting pretty good bang for my buck, but I will do as told and cut them out.

In terms of rep speed, you don't want slow. The lowering phase should be controlled, possibly between 2-3 seconds. (eccentric) The raising phase should be as fast as you can while maintaining absolutely perfect form. (concentric)

If the weight is sufficiently heavy enough, it very well can be traveling slowly on the raising phase even though you're moving it as quickly *as you can*.

For instance, when I'm pushing out a 300+ lb bench press, the bar, from an outside onlooker, looks like it's moving slow. But I'm pushing as forcefully as I possibly can.

Surely. This is probably not a way you've trained before. Am I correct in saying so?

I'll also like to throw some exercise selections at you. They're not mandatory but it will give you an idea of what your workouts should resemble.

In the first phase, if you will, you're sole focus should be on perfecting the movement patterns. Adding weight to said movements is silly, as it only makes learning proper movement that much more difficult.

During this phase, many of the exercises won't be challenging at all.

How long will the learning phase take?

Sometimes 1 week. Sometimes 1 month.

Completely depends on things like your experience, familiarity with same/similar movements, coordination, strength, etc.

Suffice it to say, once you're comfortable, you can begin adding weight to the movements, slowly but surely. Eventually you'll be at an appropriate intensity.

You'll know your at an appropriate intensity for the reason you mentioned. You won't be failing during the sets, but the reps will be challenging and by the end of each set you'll only have 1, maybe 2 good reps left "in the tank."

As far as experience, familiarity with movement and coordination, I feel I have a good grip on these... but its the strength part that is really lacking. Whenever I've trained in the past and now I always concentrate on proper form and being aware of my body position. You had mentioned that you have online videos that I can view so that I can perfect my form and I plan on doing this. The last thing I need is to hurt myself... been there and done that and NOT going back!

Nutrition can be real tricky at your stage.

I've seen it where women your size need to get pretty technical with their diets in order to realize fat loss.

This primarily includes toying around with carbohydrates. But it can get messy. Not to scare you off, but just so you understand that some complex tracking may be required. We'll cross that bridge if we have to.

For now, and speaking very generally, I've seen it where women have to go as low as 8 calories per pound of body weight plus frequent exercise to realize the results they wanted.

From what I remember, you were 140ish, which would put you at 1120 calories!

When you go that low, you have to be very conscious about the foods you're putting in your mouth simply b/c the less calories you're eating the less room you have to 'wiggle' in terms of food selection since you MUST get adequate protein and EFAs in. Once you account for those things, there's not much allotment left.


This puts you at about 13 calories per pound. That's the high end of intake required to lose fat, especially for someone in your shoes. This could be your only 'problem' or the sole reason you're not losing.

I'd drop to a true 12. If that doesn't work 11, then 10. It's all about tweaking based on feedback.

Here's my general thought process about setting up a diet:

For example, say you're 140 lbs. The rough estimate of maintenance calories is 2100 (140 * 15), so a 20% deficit would give you ~1680 cals (which is 12*BW in this example; I'd round to 1600 or 1700 for convenience).

The suggestion is to not go below 1g/lb of goal BW for protein, so call it 130g * 4 = 520 kcals of protein. You can get away with something like 30% of total calories from for or 0.25 - .5 g/lb of fats, so call it 50ish g * 9 = 450 kcals of fat.

From those you're up to 970 kcals, leaving you 630 cals for carbs. 630/4 = 160g of carbs.

Thing is, 12*BW (or 20% deficit in this case) is an upper limit of fat loss; you may not actually lose weight on that. Now guess what happens if you have to drop to say 10*BW?

You're down to 1400 kcals, or only 430 kcals to spare after your essentials are covered. In that case, you literally don't have room to eat more than about 100g of carbs without cutting back your essential intakes.

Now some people can benefit from dropping the fat back to keep carbs up; really the 0.5g/lb number isn't actually accounting for essential fats. However most people tend to find that appetite control is better with higher fat/lower carbs.

Set calories. Set potein. Set fats. See what's left to work with in terms of caloric allotment and fill it with carbs and possibly more fats.

Does shed any new light on the subject for you?

Ugh, I was hoping it wasn't going to get so complicated but yes is does shed light. I've never tracked marcos before so its going to be a new thing for me. Can I go off the percentages that fitday gives me? Or should I be tracking gram for gram of proteins and fats? And for the record I've NEVER done well with cutting carbs... makes me feel like I'm actually on a "diet" but its been a long time since I've low carbed and I'm willing to try it out.

When I was with my trainer I was on a low carb, low fat diet... that pretty much consisted of chicken or turkey, veggies, salads, brown rice, and oatmeal.... no dairy, no fruit, no red meat, no bread... No nothing pretty much.. and it wasn't doable... Granted I remember feeling pretty damn good but I was always craving... even something as simple as a glass of milk. So as long as I get a little of each food group then I will be happy.

Hard to say. Not all bars are created equal. For me, bars don't cut it. When I'm dieting, I like good, satiating food and bars don't provide me those things.

If they fit your calories and macros, then I don't see anything inherently wrong with them.

Some contain shit ingredients but that doesn't affect physique so much it does health.

Okay good to know. Like I said they are quick and easy for on the go, especially on school days because I tend to "forget" to eat because I'm so caught up with school shit... Know what I mean jelly bean???


I am very excited to be starting a new program designed to my needs and I understand that results vary... But in the same sense I've had some things click mentally recently and I'm beginning to realize that hey... I don't look that bad. Yes I could always have a better physique but what I've got aint too shabby. And I think with that I've also hit a new level of fitness for whatever reason... maybe having a PR on my last run or a really great salsa class was just a coindicence (spelling) and maybe not... but things are good and I'll leave it at that.

 

[Steve]

Honestly I would love to have a 6pk but I dont think Im gentically inclined, but if it happens great and if not thats fine to... I just want strength back in this area. Although I do have pretty good definition in my torso when I flex but its not strong. I'm sure you understand what I mean.

Yup.

In general I like circuit training, its fun IMO. It keeps things interesting for 90 mins or so and I always feel like I'm getting pretty good bang for my buck, but I will do as told and cut them out.

When people say this to me, I like to ask them, "What 'bang' do you need to reach your goals, and what does said bang feel like?"

Ugh, I was hoping it wasn't going to get so complicated but yes is does shed light. I've never tracked marcos before so its going to be a new thing for me.

What do you consider complicated so far?

Is it specifically the macro tracking?

Trust me, as I mentioned above, this is far from complicated compared to what I've seen necessarily have to happen. Imagine altering calorie and carb intake on various days throughout the week. Sounds rather simple, but that requires a lot of fine tuning, tracking, weighing, etc to make happen right.

So complicated is *really* a relative term.

To boot, maybe you don't need to track macros. Like I said above, you're caloric intake is actually on the high end for fat loss. If you prefer, you can simply try dropping intake down a bit from where you currently are and see where that leaves ya.

It would *sort of* be shooting in the dark but whatever.

Can I go off the percentages that fitday gives me? Or should I be tracking gram for gram of proteins and fats?

I'm not so much a fan of percentages given the fact they're not absolute. 30% protein for me is going to lead to a much higher intake for me than you. My intake is 3200 calories, yours is 1700.

30% for me is 240 grams of protein

30% for you is 127 grams.

That said, you don't *have to* go by grams.

If you're intake is 1500 for example, and you know you want to shoot for 130 grams or protein, you know that 35% of your intake needs to be protein. So in a roundabout way you can use percentages if you're making sure the absolutes are in check.

And for the record I've NEVER done well with cutting carbs... makes me feel like I'm actually on a "diet" but its been a long time since I've low carbed and I'm willing to try it out.

Any idea how many grams of carbs you're eating now?

Protein and fats tend to be the most satiating nutrients. If you set them right, even consuming 100 grams of carbs (which I wouldn't necessarily consider low carb) isn't going to be that tough.

But some people definitely do better on carbs than others.

What are your typical carb sources too?

When I was with my trainer I was on a low carb, low fat diet... that pretty much consisted of chicken or turkey, veggies, salads, brown rice, and oatmeal.... no dairy, no fruit, no red meat, no bread... No nothing pretty much.. and it wasn't doable... Granted I remember feeling pretty damn good but I was always craving... even something as simple as a glass of milk. So as long as I get a little of each food group then I will be happy.

Your trainer was a boob.

Okay good to know. Like I said they are quick and easy for on the go, especially on school days because I tend to "forget" to eat because I'm so caught up with school shit... Know what I mean jelly bean???

mmmmm

I love jelly beans.

I am very excited to be starting a new program designed to my needs and I understand that results vary... But in the same sense I've had some things click mentally recently and I'm beginning to realize that hey... I don't look that bad. Yes I could always have a better physique but what I've got aint too shabby. And I think with that I've also hit a new level of fitness for whatever reason... maybe having a PR on my last run or a really great salsa class was just a coindicence (spelling) and maybe not... but things are good and I'll leave it at that.

Glad to hear, Dee!

 

[Curvie Girlie]

For instance, when I'm pushing out a 300+ lb bench press, the bar, from an outside onlooker, looks like it's moving slow. But I'm pushing as forcefully as I possibly can.

Dee, this is fantastic that you feel so great and motivated, and are getting happier with your physique!!!

I have to admit I got a little turned on, here, heh

Have a great Thursday!

 

[MissDFITT]

When people say this to me, I like to ask them, "What 'bang' do you need to reach your goals, and what does said bang feel like?"

Ha, meaning that its a workout that totally kicks my ass but at the same time I'm enjoying the hell out of it. The bang is just the entertainment part of it... I'm weird I like to exercise because its fun....

What do you consider complicated so far?

Is it specifically the macro tracking?

Trust me, as I mentioned above, this is far from complicated compared to what I've seen necessarily have to happen. Imagine altering calorie and carb intake on various days throughout the week. Sounds rather simple, but that requires a lot of fine tuning, tracking, weighing, etc to make happen right.

So complicated is *really* a relative term.

To boot, maybe you don't need to track macros. Like I said above, you're caloric intake is actually on the high end for fat loss. If you prefer, you can simply try dropping intake down a bit from where you currently are and see where that leaves ya.

Yes is the tracking macros that seems complicated. But I've never done it so I cant really judge it until I do.

I'm not so much a fan of percentages given the fact they're not absolute. 30% protein for me is going to lead to a much higher intake for me than you. My intake is 3200 calories, yours is 1700.

30% for me is 240 grams of protein

30% for you is 127 grams.

That said, you don't *have to* go by grams.

Okay I will try doing both ways and see whats easier for me to track.

Any idea how many grams of carbs you're eating now?

Protein and fats tend to be the most satiating nutrients. If you set them right, even consuming 100 grams of carbs (which I wouldn't necessarily consider low carb) isn't going to be that tough.

But some people definitely do better on carbs than others.

What are your typical carb sources too?

No clue, but I know from fitday that carbs make up the higer portion of my diet.

My carb sources are: fruits and veggies, whole grain breads, pasta (at least once a week), yogurts, granola bars... anything processed that I eat typically has carbs in it.

For example, currently I am eating a chicken wrap I just made with chicken, onion, cheddar cheese, salsa, and avocado, all wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla thing. I crave salty things so I do snack on chips and popcorn and such when I'm in a snacky mood.

Your trainer was a boob.

I could have gotten a SET of boobs for less than I paid for 3 months with him.... damn.

 

[Curvie Girlie]

I could have gotten a SET of boobs for less than I paid for 3 months with him.... damn.

Like these? Good old Marissa Miller! She's from Santa Cruz, HA! I met her once. She looked WAY skinnier in real life