So despite Depo Provera being the devil in birth control form, I think I might be able to shed the fat I gained while using it (went off it in July). I'll be tracking my progress in my fitness blog (natfitness.blog.com) Would people actually read it there or should I copy the daily posts to here? Or is that cluttering the forum? I have no idea what the protocol is for this. But anyway I'll be tracking myself there daily, and probably updating here maybe not daily but regularly if you don't want to follow the blog. Advice, support, criticism, anything feedback at all appreciated. I need all the help I can get on this one!
Trying to get in better shape by mid December!
- Thread starter Red_Panda
- Start date
feel free to post your diet and exercise regimen here. we love reading!
Be sure to post your stats, goals, and what you're going to do to achieve those goals.
Good luck.
Be sure to post your stats, goals, and what you're going to do to achieve those goals.
Good luck.
Well here's a copy-and-paste of my first blog entry (because I am lazy about typing - I have better muscles to work out than my fingers haha):
So my fiance left today for bootcamp (joined the Army National Gaurd) and I won't see him again until Christmas. He'll be in great shape when he gets back, and I want to look just as good for him, so I'm going to use the time he's gone to kick up my exercise a notch! Here's the back story on my fitness...
I was in great shape until an evil nemesis called Depo Provera entered my life around January and caused me to gain over 20 pounds in fat in less than two months... well, I ditched Depo last month and I'm questing to regain a slim, toned figure around mid-December. I'll keep daily track of what I eat, the workouts I do, and my numbers - I'll be using a scale that measures weight, body fat percentage, and skeletal muscle percentage by sending a pulse through the body (I know these aren't totally accurate but its still interesting to see it change I think). I will also do weekly measurements. Wish me luck, cheer me on, give me advice - any input from anyone is welcome! The daily blog will be a record of the day before (since I'll be blogging in the afternoon, before I'm done for the day!) There will also be before and after pictures when I get to it. And so it begins....
Data from 8/11/08:
Weight: 168lbs
Fat: 37.7%
Muscle: 25.9%
Food and Workout
Zone nutrition bar, garden salad with chicken, two slices of pizza, bowl of broccoli and carrots.
Home gym workout: 4 sets of 20 reps each with each "part" of the machine (Which I don't know the names for. Basically the pulling down thing, the lifting legs things, the rowing thing, the arms together in front pec thing, and the push forward with the arms thing.) Also front and side crunches and some pilates style leg lifts.
Weekly Measurements
Bust: 36 inches
Waist: 33 inches
Hips: 41.5 inches
Thigh: 24.5
Arm: 11
So as the data shows, I'm not "fat" as it were, but nor am I in shape. Keep in mind I am 5'11" so I carry 168 pounds pretty well. I sure would like to fit back into the size 8 jeans I was wearing last December though. So hopefully a few people will follow along, give me encouragement, scold me if I'm not doing enough, whatever. More measurements and reflections to come.
So my fiance left today for bootcamp (joined the Army National Gaurd) and I won't see him again until Christmas. He'll be in great shape when he gets back, and I want to look just as good for him, so I'm going to use the time he's gone to kick up my exercise a notch! Here's the back story on my fitness...
I was in great shape until an evil nemesis called Depo Provera entered my life around January and caused me to gain over 20 pounds in fat in less than two months... well, I ditched Depo last month and I'm questing to regain a slim, toned figure around mid-December. I'll keep daily track of what I eat, the workouts I do, and my numbers - I'll be using a scale that measures weight, body fat percentage, and skeletal muscle percentage by sending a pulse through the body (I know these aren't totally accurate but its still interesting to see it change I think). I will also do weekly measurements. Wish me luck, cheer me on, give me advice - any input from anyone is welcome! The daily blog will be a record of the day before (since I'll be blogging in the afternoon, before I'm done for the day!) There will also be before and after pictures when I get to it. And so it begins....
Data from 8/11/08:
Weight: 168lbs
Fat: 37.7%
Muscle: 25.9%
Food and Workout
Zone nutrition bar, garden salad with chicken, two slices of pizza, bowl of broccoli and carrots.
Home gym workout: 4 sets of 20 reps each with each "part" of the machine (Which I don't know the names for. Basically the pulling down thing, the lifting legs things, the rowing thing, the arms together in front pec thing, and the push forward with the arms thing.) Also front and side crunches and some pilates style leg lifts.
Weekly Measurements
Bust: 36 inches
Waist: 33 inches
Hips: 41.5 inches
Thigh: 24.5
Arm: 11
So as the data shows, I'm not "fat" as it were, but nor am I in shape. Keep in mind I am 5'11" so I carry 168 pounds pretty well. I sure would like to fit back into the size 8 jeans I was wearing last December though. So hopefully a few people will follow along, give me encouragement, scold me if I'm not doing enough, whatever. More measurements and reflections to come.
Welcome to the forum. And, good luck with your journal.
And, I want to re-introduce Red_Panda:
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Best wishes,
Chillen
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I'm not quite sure what that was, but thank you for it
Oh and here are my "before" pictures (as attachments, hopefully it works? Not used to this forum) for this project.... Just took them. *Cringe*. You can see I have a ways to go. As I said, I'm not "fat", I just have... a little extra fluff from the birth control. I swear there's toned muscle under there. I've seen it! Long ago.... Anyway. If I can just shed a little of that so that my toned-ness may emerge, that would be ideal. As I've said, I don't want to be "skinny". On a 5'11" girl it looks sickly. Been there as a teen. I want to be toned. My biggest pet peeve is that fold line on my back/side. That oblique and back chub is the worst of all to me. Sigh.
Oh and here are my "before" pictures (as attachments, hopefully it works? Not used to this forum) for this project.... Just took them. *Cringe*. You can see I have a ways to go. As I said, I'm not "fat", I just have... a little extra fluff from the birth control. I swear there's toned muscle under there. I've seen it! Long ago.... Anyway. If I can just shed a little of that so that my toned-ness may emerge, that would be ideal. As I've said, I don't want to be "skinny". On a 5'11" girl it looks sickly. Been there as a teen. I want to be toned. My biggest pet peeve is that fold line on my back/side. That oblique and back chub is the worst of all to me. Sigh.
Attachments
Welcome to the forum.
If you're interested in dropping fat, I'd suggest looking at your diet first. How many calories are you taking in in a day - reading your first entry it doesn't seem like there's enough there (unless you're relying on the pizza...) At any rate, it looks like you need more protein, and I'd drop the nutrition bar in favor of something more natural, and ditch the pizza for something more in line with your workout goals.
If you're interested in dropping fat, I'd suggest looking at your diet first. How many calories are you taking in in a day - reading your first entry it doesn't seem like there's enough there (unless you're relying on the pizza...) At any rate, it looks like you need more protein, and I'd drop the nutrition bar in favor of something more natural, and ditch the pizza for something more in line with your workout goals.
Funny enough that day, especially the pizza, was out of character, a new room mate just moved in and she brought it for us both. Of course thats the day I start recording with right?
I did examine my diet carefully with both my doctor and a trainer at my gym. I kept a food diary for two weeks and found that I was eating, on average, between 2000 and 2400 calories a day. I also recorded fats, carbs, sugars, fiber, and sodium. All were apparently good. I could type up some of my entries if that would help you all advise me based on a more typical two week period. Then the trainer at the gym put me on a diet program where I had to eat only 1200 calories a day for one week, then go up to 1600 for three weeks. And. I gained two pounds on this diet. Sigh.
I don't always have the bar for breakfast - they're Zone Perfect bars, and they are yummy! Often I have a power smoothie (strawberries, bananas, muscle milk powder, creatine powder, greens powder, flaxseed oil, liquid amino acids, and enough water to blend it all together) or eggs and orange juice. Lunch is usually something like a spinach wrap with honey chicken fruit and nut salad (my current favorite), almond butter and jelly, or a salad with chicken breast. Things like that. Dinner always involves veggies, usually a steamed blend of things like broccoli, carrots, and peppers; also something like rice or potatoes as the starch and either meat or fish. If I need to snack I have greek yogurt, fruit, whole grain oatmeal cookies, fat free ice cream snacks (moderation not deprivation right?), and reduced fat triscuits with pineapple salsa (mmmm) but I rarely snack.
Does all of that sound ok? I'm going with what my fiance suggested to me before he left. He works out a lot too but of course I realize he's no nutrition expert.
Have you tried eating 5-6 smaller meals a day? Also, how long after you get up do you actually eat breakfast? If you've been tracking your calories, have you been tracking your weight along with it, to know that you're gaining/losing on your current diet? (And one small suggestion - never drink your calories - you're better off having an orange vs orange juice.)
Breakfast is the only time I drink calories (smoothies or OJ) I drink water the rest of the day. I usually have breakfast about a half hour after I wake up (came to this conclusion by adding up how long it takes to do the things I tend to do before breakfast; brush my teeth, take the dog outside for morning business, and put in my contacts mostly).
I could try breaking up my meals, I had to have three solid ones the past few months because I've been so busy I wasn't home most of the day, just enough time for a lunch break and dinner when I got home. Things are more settled now.
When I was tracking my weight I was still gaining slowly but steadily until about two weeks after I stopped the depo. Then I just plateaued, which is why I'm hoping its starting to clear my system and I can finally start losing again. My scale broke and I just got a new one yesterday, so now I'll be tracking my weight again (obviously) and I guess we'll see how this goes now.
I could try breaking up my meals, I had to have three solid ones the past few months because I've been so busy I wasn't home most of the day, just enough time for a lunch break and dinner when I got home. Things are more settled now.
When I was tracking my weight I was still gaining slowly but steadily until about two weeks after I stopped the depo. Then I just plateaued, which is why I'm hoping its starting to clear my system and I can finally start losing again. My scale broke and I just got a new one yesterday, so now I'll be tracking my weight again (obviously) and I guess we'll see how this goes now.
Again, copy and pasted from the blog:
I know that day one the diet wasn't great as its been pointed out.... trust me, the pizza was out of character. And you'll see that yesterday I didn't eat enough probably, but I've been so busy. Running around = rushed food. Anyway, here is the...
Data from 8/12/08:
Weight: 167lbs
Fat: 37.3%
Muscle: 26.2%
Food and Workout
Power smoothie (my own home-made recipe), a honey-chicken-fruit-and-nut-salad wrap, a bowl of broccoli and cheese, and a lowfat ice cream cone (Skinny Cow brand... great taste, disturbing logo).
Curves half hour circuit, Bosu total body workout DVD
So the numbers all got better. I know stuff is going to fluctuate up and down (especially weight... mine can vary up to 3 pounds between measurings in the same day) but it'll make me happy to see things go down all the same.
I know that day one the diet wasn't great as its been pointed out.... trust me, the pizza was out of character. And you'll see that yesterday I didn't eat enough probably, but I've been so busy. Running around = rushed food. Anyway, here is the...
Data from 8/12/08:
Weight: 167lbs
Fat: 37.3%
Muscle: 26.2%
Food and Workout
Power smoothie (my own home-made recipe), a honey-chicken-fruit-and-nut-salad wrap, a bowl of broccoli and cheese, and a lowfat ice cream cone (Skinny Cow brand... great taste, disturbing logo).
Curves half hour circuit, Bosu total body workout DVD
So the numbers all got better. I know stuff is going to fluctuate up and down (especially weight... mine can vary up to 3 pounds between measurings in the same day) but it'll make me happy to see things go down all the same.
Yesterday was another busy day, I had to drive someone to a train station an hour away. Lots of fun. Some interesting people in Amtrak stations these days. Anyway, yesterday's data is as follows:
Data from 8/13/08:
Weight: 168lbs
Fat: 35.9%
Muscle: 27.3%
Food and Workout
Two hard boiled eggs with a little salt, tuna sandwich with american cheese, chopped smart-dog (veggie hot dog) mixed with peppers, potato, snow peas, and rice (sort of an improvised stir fry), and a small peice of yellow cake (remember, moderation not deprivation).
Curves circuit, half an hour of walking
So the weight is back where it was before, no big, as I said weight will always fluctuate from hour to hour (really, I've checked it before, it happens) so I don't expect to see weight results day to day, but the fat is down and the muscle up. As I said, I don't know how these machines work or how accurate they are, but its encouraging to see that at least. So. Go me! And now, sleep.
Data from 8/13/08:
Weight: 168lbs
Fat: 35.9%
Muscle: 27.3%
Food and Workout
Two hard boiled eggs with a little salt, tuna sandwich with american cheese, chopped smart-dog (veggie hot dog) mixed with peppers, potato, snow peas, and rice (sort of an improvised stir fry), and a small peice of yellow cake (remember, moderation not deprivation).
Curves circuit, half an hour of walking
So the weight is back where it was before, no big, as I said weight will always fluctuate from hour to hour (really, I've checked it before, it happens) so I don't expect to see weight results day to day, but the fat is down and the muscle up. As I said, I don't know how these machines work or how accurate they are, but its encouraging to see that at least. So. Go me! And now, sleep.
Another day, another adventure... I was going to have some sweet corn on the cob (delicious) for dinner, so I went and pulled it out of the bag and found... caterpillars. They were eating into my corn, so half the caterpillar was sticking out and the rest was inside the cob eating away. Gross! I guess thats the risk you take buying organic corn from the farmer's market huh? Needlessly to say, I was a little traumatized and ate no corn yesterday.
Weight: 168.6lbs
Fat: 35.3%
Muscle: 27.7%
Food and Workout
Zone bar, chicken fruit and nut wrap, small serving of applesauce, grilled fish filet, stringbeans, raspberry pomegranate green tea, fat free ice cream cone.
Half an hour structured training on the elliptical (part of a fat-burning class, the trainer walks around and coaches four people at a time), half an hour brisk walking.
Weight is up, but fat is down and muscle is up. Muscle weighs more than fat? I'll go with that because it makes me happy. And I realise my workouts don't look very intense of late, usually I work out harder than this but I'm finishing cleaning up the house and taking care of the fact that the dog is throwing tantrums (he misses my fiance, he's never been away from him this long) so hopefully by next week I can kick it up a notch.
Weight: 168.6lbs
Fat: 35.3%
Muscle: 27.7%
Food and Workout
Zone bar, chicken fruit and nut wrap, small serving of applesauce, grilled fish filet, stringbeans, raspberry pomegranate green tea, fat free ice cream cone.
Half an hour structured training on the elliptical (part of a fat-burning class, the trainer walks around and coaches four people at a time), half an hour brisk walking.
Weight is up, but fat is down and muscle is up. Muscle weighs more than fat? I'll go with that because it makes me happy. And I realise my workouts don't look very intense of late, usually I work out harder than this but I'm finishing cleaning up the house and taking care of the fact that the dog is throwing tantrums (he misses my fiance, he's never been away from him this long) so hopefully by next week I can kick it up a notch.
I guess they use all those pesky chemicals for a reason, eh? Sorry to hear about your corn!
You're making good progress--keep at it!
LOL We get the natural corn now and then, you just pluck off the little guys and go cook it up. It is kinda creepy though.
Hmm...the "extra protein" approach...interesting!
Ok, so I'm buckling down on myself now... this whole "workout as you see fit day by day" isn't making me feel like I'm pushing myself, so I'm writing up a weekly schedule for myself to follow. It'll be harder than what I did this week and hopefully will bring results (not saying I should have results after only one week, just saying it'll be better in the long run). So here is a brief breakdown of my weekly schedule first draft:
Monday: Circuit training, Pilates, machines at the gym, walking (this will happen ever day, my classes are a half hour walk away and its not worth driving to pay the parking expenses there)
Tuesday: Bosu workout, running, machines at the gym, walking
Wednesday: Circuit, Envy workout (an hour long workout video with Maxim models. sounds silly but I've done it and its pretty good, I have fun with it), walking
Thursday: Bosu, run, machines at gym, walking
Friday: Circuit, pilates, gym, walking
Saturday: Bosu, running, walking
Sunday: Jackie Warner workout video (again, sounds silly but I have fun doing it, which helps), walking, Spa day in the evening! (long shower, mud mask for my face, stuff to help me relax once a week).
I'll also try to stretch a lot more, in September theres a bunch of stretching and yoga classes in my area I'm probably going to start doing. Sooo. Opinions on my new plan?
Monday: Circuit training, Pilates, machines at the gym, walking (this will happen ever day, my classes are a half hour walk away and its not worth driving to pay the parking expenses there)
Tuesday: Bosu workout, running, machines at the gym, walking
Wednesday: Circuit, Envy workout (an hour long workout video with Maxim models. sounds silly but I've done it and its pretty good, I have fun with it), walking
Thursday: Bosu, run, machines at gym, walking
Friday: Circuit, pilates, gym, walking
Saturday: Bosu, running, walking
Sunday: Jackie Warner workout video (again, sounds silly but I have fun doing it, which helps), walking, Spa day in the evening! (long shower, mud mask for my face, stuff to help me relax once a week).
I'll also try to stretch a lot more, in September theres a bunch of stretching and yoga classes in my area I'm probably going to start doing. Sooo. Opinions on my new plan?
Replace machines with free weights.
Why a dedicated BOSU workout?
Seems like you're going to spend a LOT of time at the gym. Seems like you could streamline your efforts, but if you have the stamina to keep it up, more power to you.
I like to do a quick cardio to jump start my day; the bosu is a good half hour combination of cardio and things like squats and crunches at the end, so its something to fit in before I to go to class. Its also pretty fun. I don't think I'll be at the gym that much? The Bosu I have at home, the circuit I train on is down on the street, and the machines at the school gym won't take too long. I never really liked the idea of free weights somehow, machines are just easier for me to use, I wouldn't know what to do with free weights at all.