It's all about me

Thank you for all your help previously!

I have been eating more fish and working on getting in the most protein I can..and Fiber.

I think I have been doing a little better, but still need to work on it!

I'm hoping my body has the same affect on me after working out in the morning! Have a great day!
 
I think discipline is largely a function of habit. And habit is largely a function of pushing yourself to do something day after day, even though you may not want to do it. And that takes will power.

So your willpower may be newly acquired too, but you DO have it!
 
Photocrazed: you are welcome!
Tom: I never looked at it that way...darn good point...it kinda made my day actually...I may just possibly have will-power - who knew?:)
 
dear cym

Thanks for that. I'll just keep thinking of running as a reward but I'd like to know that I'm at least burning calories out there.

Guess what, I was 186 today and I've lost an inch on my waist and hips, fat percentage down from 45-43%.

My confidence has grown to the point I that I know I'm gonna do it this time. This effort is going to be successful. I couldn't go back to not caring if I tried, because not caring is painful.

Discipline is a matter of habit is a matter of daily practice. Well put Tom.
 
Kelly, I don't know what's better: your trifecta of losses or your confidence and positive outlook! Either way I'm happy, happy, happy for you.

I totally understand why you want to know - or at least have an estimate of how many calories you burn when running. It makes sense, of course....I noticed from reading through random diaries and posts that pretty much every member of the this forum has some idea of their daily deficit/surplus based on a combination of food/exercie. I'm now procrastinating my last dreaded chore of the day :) (washing/measuring/packaging/putting away recently purchased food) by writing down something it made me think about.

I have no idea (other than jump roping) how many calories anything I do burns. None, nada, zip. Could not tell ya if you put a gun to my head. Which is a little odd because I am so anal about food. You'd think I'd have figured out some input/output formula to know what deficit or surplus I'm carrying based on activity. Nope. My maint. calories are simply based on how many calories I average over a couple weeks (just doing whatever I normally do including work-outs) without gaining/losing weight.

Thinking about it, I guess it's because I started out with such a huge problem with the food itself (years of binge, binge, starve, binge again) that it took pretty much all my effort, focus and time just to get that under control - running, lifting and yoga (my basic workout components) never got rolled into my weight loss plan (i.e. If I do this, I can eat this) because my food issues themselves were so big. So the working out part has always just been about health and appearance and fitness and even fun. In the end it worked out, but I think I had a touch of tunnel vision.
 
Hi cym :)

Debi told me to check out your diary so between some speed-reading and checking out your pics, all I can say is JUST WOW !!

Your effort is simply mindblowing :cool: It really came down to a diligent menu and stellar mind control - which you have mastered from what I can see.

I <3 inspiring people. Congrats to you for a tremendous turnaround :)

My apologies for not exploring your diary sooner :( After so long here, much gets missed - it's just the nature of the WLF beast.
 
training question for steve

Hi Steve...I wanted to ask you a question in the nature of "why" something is having a certain effect..

On MWF I lift, full body, heavy weight, compound movements, generally 5x5, 90 to 120 sec rest between sets, generally going to near failure on last rep, Tuesday I do a five mile straight run outside, sometimes I do a run on Thursday, sometimes HIIT on the track, sometimes intervals on treadmill - whatever, I run in some form. Saturdays I do a yoga class. This pretty basic formula has worked well for me, I vary it about every six-eight weeks in terms of which movements I do, which weight amounts, sometimes doing an upper/lower/full split, yada yada but the basic formula remains the same....cause at the end of every six/eight week period I end up with visible and measurable improvements.

Okay, here's the question, I have a work-out partner on weight days...she follows my exact weights routine but does not work out on tue/thurs/sat. She did have strength and endurance progress at the end of the last routine but no changes in weight, bodyfat% or measurements. Improvements in strength and endurance. She is eating at or slightly above what I'm guessing is her mait. calories. Her intake is not crap, probably healthier and cleaner than 99% of people eating at a deficit - just a little too much.

So the current routine (which started about two weeks ago) I figured I throw in an aerobic component just to see what happened. It goes something like this:

During the period when I'm doing a military press at 5x5 with 120 sec. rest, she's doing 12x3 with 20lbs lighter weight, 45-60 sec rest and 10 mountain climbers between sets. And on and on, basically each of her movements is simply lighter in weight, higher in rep, shorter in rest with an additional aerobic movement in between sets. I realize this probably sounds a little bizarre, and I freely admit to having made it up based on super limited knowledge and a desire to keep her motivated. The thing is, even after just two weeks, without changing her food intake she's dropped a couple pounds and this morning was all excited because waist, hip and thigh measurements are down and we can now actually see, not just feel, a nice little definition in her thighs. She's happy, I'm surprised.

So I'm now wondering, is the can you pick through this and tell me a) why this is working for her, b) is it a purely short term effect of a changed routine, c) (most important:) ) is it something I could incorporate for myself to still create a deficit without lowering my calories.

Any thoughts you have would be appreciated, I don't expect an immediate answer as I know this is kinda long and convoluted. But thanks in advance for your input.
 
1750

T2Trucker: well, I've never read your diary either - so I guess we're even:) There's probably about 5 million (slight exaggeration) diaries on this site and I guess there's only about five that I read every single day myself...though I do like to troll through random diaries occassionally for new food ideas. Seeing your starting weight vs current weight in you siggy line now has me off to check out your diary too.....impressive.

So, the food. Satisfied with cals at 1750, sat fat and fiber in line. Rethinking upper limit of sat fat (currently 20g) 80% of the time dairy when I buy dairy, I purposely do not choose non-fat...just consume the full fat but in small portions...the trade off for non-fat is increased sugar and I have a bigger problem with sugar than fat. Still, along with calcium, soy, vit D (OMG the list is growing), it's something I want to look at closer. Protein a bit lower than usual, but cals are getting higher each day so I'm okay with 101g.


liquids:
coffee, 8 oz
water, 60 oz

fruit:
apple, 1 medium
strawberries, 6 medium
blueberries, 1/4 cup
raisins/cranberries, .05 oz combined

veggies:
broccoli, 1 cup, chopped, cooked
tomato, 1 cup cherry, cooked

dairy:
yogurt, plain, 1/2 cup
cottage cheese, 1/3 cup
colby cheese, 1/8 cup
parm. grated, 1 tablespoon

meat:
ground beef, 87% lean, 4 oz
chicken, 2 med. thighs

grains/nuts/seeds/legumes
black beans, 1/4 cup
almonds/walnuts, 1 oz combined
whole wheat tortilla, 1 wrapper
whole wheat wonton wrappers, 1 serving
popcorn, 1/3 cup (kernals) air popped

other:
olive oil, 1 tablespoon
pudding, sf/ff, 1 serving

Total: 1750
Fat: 80 717 43%
Sat: 20 184 11%
Poly: 15 135 8%
Mono: 37 332 20%
Carbs: 164 529 32%
Fiber: 32 0 0%
Protein: 101 405 25%
Alcohol: 0 0 0%
 
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First, let me make sure I understand. What are her goals? If they are to lose some fat and thus, expose some muscle.... mimicking your routine originally while eating at around maintenance would lead to obvious differences in results between the two of you.

Where you made sure you were in a deficit, she did not. If you are not in a deficit, it doesn't matter what you do, you will not lose weight.

Then, you decided to throw in some lighter movements between the higher intensity stuff for her. This obviously was enough to throw her into a caloric deficit and trigger some weight loss.

Two things though:

1. What she is doing now is not optimal, IMO, for muscle maintenance. Lifting weights, again IMO, serves mainly to facilitate muscle maintenance and secondly to add in caloric expenditure. By doing what she is, she has reversed the order of importance. Yes, you triggered a deficit by adding more exercise. However, this was at the expense of training properly for muscle maintenance. Heavy, brief bouts. Not metabolically expensive bouts, which they certainly have become with what she is doing now. It would be better for her deficit to be created through nutrition, or maybe a little extra cardio a couple days per week.

2. It is hard to say that she started losing weight for this exact reason. Acute responses to exercise are very hard to pin-down for anyone. You said she just started recently, no? I can't remember, and I read too fast. If that is the case, she could just now be losing weight from the previous 2 weeks work. Explanation? Don't really have one for you.... but there are definitely delayed responses to exercise... especially weight training.
 
B]First, let me make sure I understand. What are her goals? If they are to lose some fat and thus, expose some muscle.... mimicking your routine originally while eating at around maintenance would lead to obvious differences in results between the two of you.[/B]She is 5'3 (barely), currently 140 lbs, size 4. Not a "big" girl by anyone's standards. She actually started out six months ago at a size 6. For most of her life (until the 30's hit) she was a size 2: frankly I think she looks perfect now, but, hey, I don't live in her head and she's one of my best friends, so that's why I'm kinda invested in trying to help make it happen for her.

Where you made sure you were in a deficit, she did not. If you are not in a deficit, it doesn't matter what you do, you will not lose weight.
The nutrition thing is a little dicey though. Every time (and there have been multiple times) we try to work on establishing just a small deficit, something gets triggered in her head that eventually turns even the slighest prolonged deficit into a prolonged (weeks) binge. So, nope, that's an area we don't venture into anymore.

Then, you decided to throw in some lighter movements between the higher intensity stuff for her. This obviously was enough to throw her into a caloric deficit and trigger some weight loss. Yea, I know I was thinking how to "sneak" some cardio in.

What she is doing now is not optimal, IMO, for muscle maintenance. Okay, that's something I was concerned about with the low weight/high rep....now, can you suggest a way around it that might be closer to optimal...cause I'm sure there is one - I just don't know enough to know what it is. But I do know that there's always a door number two when door number one is temporarily closed.

And, now I'm thinking about this as I type so it may not make as much sense as it does in my head, but what do you think about this:

There's only another 4 weeks left in this current routine. I know that if she accomplishes her goal in the next month she'll be perfectly content to resume with a heavier routine minus the cardio component. So I guess my question now is also, for this particular individual (not speaking in generalities at all)over the bigger picture (the next 12 weeks), if could this be a less than optimal short-term, but overall effective (in terms of a small amount of fat loss without significant muscle loss) approach?
 
Kelly Actually started both pretty close together, but running alone the first couple of weeks. The funny thing is from the first time I picked up a barbell it was "love at first lift" - and I hated running for months...despised it actually. I used to ask every single person who was in great shape and lifted: "how often do you run?" "do you run?" and I got enough "hell no, I hate running" responses to validate my own negative feelings about it and my original plan was to ditch the running altogether once it served what I thought was it's purpose. Then the day came when I ran for three miles without stopping for the first time. And the endorphies came rushing in and I only stopped because my legs physically couldn't go any further. And the running gods smiled on me and said "told ya so".....and now I can't imagine not running for pure pleasure... but I'll never let myself forget how long it took to get to this point - my first "run" was a fast 30 min. walk that left me breathless.
 
If you want to do it for a few more weeks, go with it. Not much longer than that though. If for her, personally, hitting a specific number on the scale using a flawed approach will get her back to doing things optimally in the fastest amount of time, so be it.

And this said, there are plenty of people that go to curves and do circuit training, high rep, bullshit and walk away happy. She could reach her goals.

You have to understand, when you come to me, I tell you how it is, based upon my knowledge and opinion. I don't deviate from the course in terms of what I know. When people used to work with me in a client-trainer setting, if they didn't like what I had to say, I would say, "don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out," in the nicest way possible. :)

Thankfully I was not in a position where I NEEDED clients. And I will never put myself in that position. The starting place is not the same for everyone, certainly. But if you don't agree with my starting place, adios.

I tell you this, because you are helping this woman. Sometimes you have to lay it out there.

The bottom line is this. Her nutrition seems off to me. And even if she gets down to a smaller size, if her nutrition is off, chances are, she will not be able to maintain it.

Anytime, IMO, trying to mask poor nutrition (and I know hers is not "poor" but you get my point I hope) with a lot of exercise leads to short-term results, opposed to permanent.

People burn out from doing so much intensive exercise.

Let's see what happens with her continuing down this path. Worst case scenario, she finds out doesn't work and she changes things up. Best case, she reaches her goal weight, is able to maintain it nutritionally, and starts doing things optimally again.
 
Steve said:
You have to understand, when you come to me, I tell you how it is, based upon my knowledge and opinion. I don't deviate from the course in terms of what I know. When people used to work with me in a client-trainer setting, if they didn't like what I had to say, I would say, "don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out," in the nicest way possible. :)
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Steve, if I didn't want an informed opinion minus b.s. I would not have asked you...in fact that is the reason I asked you.

Steve said:
The starting place is not the same for everyone, certainly. But if you don't agree with my starting place, adios.
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That's what I'm thinking about. For six months she's been a friggin trooper as far as weight training for half a year...she's got a diet (in terms of nutrition) that would make a cardiologist weep with joy - she just has a problem (and who knows, it may be physiological) with rebound binging when she tries to eat at a deficit. She only has a relatively small goal (as far as fat loss) and she's committed to continuing with the weights long term. So, I'm looking at all this and thinking, maybe this is a time when a "short-term solution" can lead to long term success. Or maybe not. But I wanted, and, as I said, value, your opinion. It clarified things for me considerably.
 
You know, cyclical dieting may work really well for her. She should probably be doing it anyhow. You see, the less weight you have to lose, the more your hormones wreak havoc on your biological systems.

If she is relatively lean now, when she tries cutting calories, her body will fight it with every fiber its got. Not only will it plateau in terms of weight loss. It will also send every signal in its arsenal to trigger hunger (the ravishing type) to make you eat again. It thinks you are starving it.

So instead of a straight deficit in caloric intake, maybe try scheduling out a cyclical diet. Takes more effort to set one up, but I think that is the optimal solution for her. I could help you set one up.

I guess if this approach does not work, the cyclical diet is something we can try.
 
Actually doing a cyclical diet might be exactly what I need to consider for myself in the near future. I've only just gotten my own "raging" hormones back in their cage after coming off a straight deficit so I'm scared to fool with my limiting my calories again until I've worked completely back up to maint. and sat there for a minute...maybe at the end of this routine I can impose on you to help me set one up that we can both follow at the same time (misery loves company right?) seriously, thanks Steve.
 
cym said:
Actually doing a cyclical diet might be exactly what I need to consider for myself in the near future. I've only just gotten my own "raging" hormones back in their cage after coming off a straight deficit so I'm scared to fool with my limiting my calories again until I've worked completely back up to maint. and sat there for a minute...maybe at the end of this routine I can impose on you to help me set one up that we can both follow at the same time (misery loves company right?) seriously, thanks Steve.
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Certainly, when you are ready, come and find me.

And you are welcome. :)
 
Steve: Just so you know, I tried to "rep" you for taking the time and patience to help me think through this..but apparently I must spread some love around first....off to spread love:) :)
 
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