What is progress? I like to think of it as any movement in the right direction. But given that direction is determined by each individual, then I guess progress is whatever you want it to be.
For me, progress in the gym or with my health isn't determined by one factor, but many. This helps me when things do not go overall as I hoped they would. Take, for example, the last 5 months. If my only goal had been scale weight, I would have been sorely disappointed. Where I am, scale weight IS relevant. I am carrying extra weight from having a baby (or, should I tell the truth, from letting my self totally go while I was pregnant with said baby) and to lose that weight would require a drop in the scale. BUT....that scale weight isn't everything.
Now that the scale weight is finally in a downward trend, I feel like I can write about this. Before I talked about this, but for me, the scale weight was the elephant in the living room I didn't want to address. I have written about the nutrition issues in the last two blogs and my love of working out in earlier entries, so I am not going to rehash them all here in detail. But, although I was making progress in other areas, the scale weight became a focus for me (even if that focus was avoiding the scale like the plague). I am finally seeing progress in that area - down 10.8 pounds as of today. Which further reinforces that nutrition really is the majority of the equation.
Back to the scale weight not being everything.... I have also started seeing a change in the measurement tape, which also makes me happy.This also means that I have been able to wear a few of my old shirts, which adds some variety back into my wardrobe. I'm still working on the pants, but I can see that we will get there soon, so I have hope. I can see the outline of my hard earned muscle. I really love this. I know the muscle is there. Not only do I work hard for it, but I can also feel it. Oh, how I have missed that feeling!
The big thing for me is my strength. It has exploded recently and I am getting back to my pre-pregnancy strength...and more, in some cases. One thing that has frustrated me is my inability to really increase weight on my bench press. Not too long after getting back into the gym, I was up to 125 on my press, but I just couldn't get past there for some reason. I desperately just wanted to get to where I could put the 45s on the bar (yes, it's an ego thing!), but week after week, I found myself burning out at 125 and not being able to get even 1 rep out at 135. I especially found this odd since I have been increasing my flat bench dumbbell press over time - finally beating my pre-pregnancy weight (I pressed 60 lb dumbbells for 2 assisted the day before I found out I was pregnant - two weekends ago I pressed 60 for 4 unassisted and 2 more assisted). Last weekend I finally pressed 135 on barbell press - for 4 unassisted and 2 assisted. That put a big smile on my face for sure! JP just rolled his eyes as I did my own private version of a happy dance. Lol.
Another happy moment...when I pulled 125 on 1-arm Hammer Strength lat pulldowns last week! I had bruises on my wrists for two days from my straps, but it was so worth it! I pulled both arms for 6 reps each. I was doing pyramid sets, so I also pulled 115 with each arm for 10 in the set before and after. Then I pulled a full 135 on 1-arm wide grip Hammer Strength seated rows. I loved having those three plates on each side. I felt like a big girl! Ha! That one was a little more challenging because the seat sits so far off of the ground that I couldn't tighten my strap without a spot, so I had to grab one of the trainers to spot me, but I pulled that for each arm with one. Pre-pregnancy I got up to 115 on the seated row, so this is a significant improvement. However, my back is one of my strongest areas, so I have seen the greatest improvement in strength in all of my back exercises overall.
An area that I am still stuck is EZ Bar bicep curls. I have been trying to move up to 70 pounds for what feels like forever. As a result, I haven't done curls with any bar for the last two weeks. Four weeks ago I curled 65 on the barbell, so I was hoping I could hit 70 the next week. Not so much. I finally decided that I was focusing on it too hard, so I have stuck to using the EZ bar and straight bar on cable curls. I did finally get back up to curling 35 lb dumbbells this week, which satisfied me. This was my prepregnancy weight, so I am happy to be back there. Maybe I'll go back to the EZ Bar rack this week, and who knows? This might be my week.
Finally, endurance was something I wanted to see improvement in. I am slowly seeing improvement in my endurance on power exercises, as well as high intensity interval training, which I do 1-2 times per week right now. I also pick a day to do endurance exercises in between work sets lifting. Yesterday I did box jumps in between squat sets and reverse step ups in a circuit with good mornings and dead lifts to really work my glutes/hamstrings. I don't want to even talk about how much I can sweat (something that didn't happen before I had a baby), but there is no doubt I'm working hard! :) As I lose weight, adding plyometrics will get easier, and my endurance will increase. I am nowhere near where I was prepregnancy in this area, but I can see a lot of improvement. This is probably the area I have the most resistance to, and have force myself to focus on, since it is the area that I truly lost the most by letting myself go throughout my pregnancy. Now that doing a round of intervals or plyometrics doesn't automatically make me feel like I am going to pass out, I have to admit that I am actually starting to enjoy it again (not a lot, but a little is progress).
I guess the overarching theme for me this week is that I am finally seeing progress in all areas. So I am content. And tired. Lol.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
It really is all about nutrition...
There was once a time when I HAD to have a Diet Coke a day. And that was limiting myself. I genuinely was addicted to it. Before I got pregnant, I would have one every day for lunch. I had to drink 150 ounces of water a day to have it, so I had 150 ounces of water a day so I could have a Diet Coke. Then I got pregnant and anything with artificial sweeteners in them made me very ill. I have had one Diet Coke...no...make that two Diet Cokes since I was about 6 weeks pregnant. I look back on that and wonder how I ever drank it constantly. And I can't imagine life without water. I literally drink 150+ ounces of water per day. And that is a conservative estimate. I LOVE water. I literally cannot live without it. I feel like a slug on the days I don't drink much. Which is one lesson I have learned. Water is an essential element to include for my body to perform optimally.
Another lesson I have learned is that eating too much of even the good stuff is still too much. Over time, my house has become the house I always hated. Little to no processed foods. Fresh, organic (as much as possible, anyway) fruits and vegetables. Lean meats. Green juicing and smoothies. No sweets and crappy snacks. I even puree all of Jenna's baby food and take water from our specialized cooler to day care for her. In spite of all of this, I still couldn't lose weight. It was driving me crazy (and JP, too). I kept my head in the sand, telling myself that eating like this in and of itself was enough. And for the vast majority of the population, it is. But not for me.
I was at a loss as to why I couldn't lose weight (or inches, as a scale weight really isn't a measure of anything but loss of mass). I was very specific about what I would eat, even timing my meals (I even schedule clients at work around my meal timing). I was doing so many things that so many people don't do and I still wasn't seeing results. I started feeling frustrated. I told JP over and over that something had to be wrong. Back in the day, I used to eat out almost every meal (seriously) and when I wanted to lose weight, I would do a little cardio and find myself back where I wanted to be (or on the road to it). I had tests run by my doctor. All normal. People kept telling me to give myself time - that maybe I was being too hard on myself after having a baby. I don't I have unrealistic expectations - not having results proportional to the work being done would frustrate anyone.
So....when I finally sat down and entered all of my food into a daily food log, accounting for every little thing, including oils I used to cook with, I was shocked at how many calories I was taking in. I was good about weighing out portions - as stated in the last post - based on a past eating plan (that was more appropriate to my then heavily muscular frame rather than my now...ummmm...not as muscular frame). I was diligent about eating what I had planned and not varying outside of that. I guess what I am trying to say is that I have the discipline. And I am committed to the lifesytle. I don't white knuckle my way through clean eating like a lot of people do. I feel it when I have a cheat meal. And feeling it isn't a good thing.
What am I doing now that is working? Honestly, it's a combination of things. I want to eat in a way that allows me to continue to put on lean muscle mass while losing fat. When doing this, all calories are NOT created equally. What we finally did was:
The final result of the above formulation is a maximum of 2000 calories, 150 grams of carbs, 200 grams of protein and 66 grams of fat per day. Note: this is a maximum amount. To monitor this, I reactivated a SparkPeople account and started on there. It really is a good way of tracking your nutrition and fitness and it's free. To check it out, go to: SparkPeople
I determined a minimum for each and set a min/max scale on my SparkPeople account, and it tells me how I fall within that scale as I enter food in. I plan my entire day ahead of time, as I have found that meal planning ahead of time prevents pitfalls later. As a result, I determine my meals for the next day and prep all of my food/meals the night before.
I started my new breakdown this past Monday, and for the first time since Jenna was 2 months old, the scale dropped this week! With everything else I have done, the scale has literally stayed within 4 ounces (no kidding). Talk about frustrating. Of course, I am in my first week of this, so we will see what will happen over time, but I am very encouraged by this. Of course, at the end of each week I will need to do a new BMR calculation and adjust my breakdowns accordingly, but still, imagine my excitement when I saw the number drop....for the first time in months...after all of this work...and tweeking of my diet! Woohoo!
A final note: I get most carbohydrates through fibrous vegetables. I alternate eating a half of an Ezekial Raisin Muffin for breakfast one morning and 1/2 cup of rolled oats the next, as well as have one piece of Ezekiel Low-Sodium Bread with lunch. The only processed foods we have in our diet is Greek yogurt and Truvia with coffee (and coffee, I guess), as well as our supplements and protein powder. We use almond milk in place of real dairy and no more than one full egg for any recipe. No processed egg whites - we decided to pay the money for real eggs and use the whites from those. All of these decisions have a huge impact in terms of long-term health. And it also makes it very difficult to meet the caloric and macronutrient breakdowns without eating tons of food. Who doesn't like that?!?
Another lesson I have learned is that eating too much of even the good stuff is still too much. Over time, my house has become the house I always hated. Little to no processed foods. Fresh, organic (as much as possible, anyway) fruits and vegetables. Lean meats. Green juicing and smoothies. No sweets and crappy snacks. I even puree all of Jenna's baby food and take water from our specialized cooler to day care for her. In spite of all of this, I still couldn't lose weight. It was driving me crazy (and JP, too). I kept my head in the sand, telling myself that eating like this in and of itself was enough. And for the vast majority of the population, it is. But not for me.
I was at a loss as to why I couldn't lose weight (or inches, as a scale weight really isn't a measure of anything but loss of mass). I was very specific about what I would eat, even timing my meals (I even schedule clients at work around my meal timing). I was doing so many things that so many people don't do and I still wasn't seeing results. I started feeling frustrated. I told JP over and over that something had to be wrong. Back in the day, I used to eat out almost every meal (seriously) and when I wanted to lose weight, I would do a little cardio and find myself back where I wanted to be (or on the road to it). I had tests run by my doctor. All normal. People kept telling me to give myself time - that maybe I was being too hard on myself after having a baby. I don't I have unrealistic expectations - not having results proportional to the work being done would frustrate anyone.
So....when I finally sat down and entered all of my food into a daily food log, accounting for every little thing, including oils I used to cook with, I was shocked at how many calories I was taking in. I was good about weighing out portions - as stated in the last post - based on a past eating plan (that was more appropriate to my then heavily muscular frame rather than my now...ummmm...not as muscular frame). I was diligent about eating what I had planned and not varying outside of that. I guess what I am trying to say is that I have the discipline. And I am committed to the lifesytle. I don't white knuckle my way through clean eating like a lot of people do. I feel it when I have a cheat meal. And feeling it isn't a good thing.
What am I doing now that is working? Honestly, it's a combination of things. I want to eat in a way that allows me to continue to put on lean muscle mass while losing fat. When doing this, all calories are NOT created equally. What we finally did was:
- Calculate my basal metabolic rate. Basal metabolic rate is the amount of calories you would expend just doing nothing. Here is a BMR calculator: BMR Calculator
- Applied the Harris Benedict Equation to determine my daily caloric needs. Here is the Harris Benedict Equation formulation chart: Harris Benedict Equation Chart
- From there we determined a nutrition caloric deficit amount, which would be the total amount of calories I would take in daily. My caloric needs are around 2600, so I went for 2000 calories per day.
- First, I had to decide what percentage I wanted for my macronutrient breakdown. I decided to go 40/30/30 with protein/carbs/fat.
- Then we determined 40% of 2000 (800) and 30% of 2000 (600).
- Carbs and proteins are worth 4 calories each, so we divided 600/4 to determine my maximum carb intake for the day (150) and 800/4 to determine my maximum protein intake for the day (200)
- Fats are worth 9 calorie, so we divided 600/9 to determine my maximum fate intake per day (66)
The final result of the above formulation is a maximum of 2000 calories, 150 grams of carbs, 200 grams of protein and 66 grams of fat per day. Note: this is a maximum amount. To monitor this, I reactivated a SparkPeople account and started on there. It really is a good way of tracking your nutrition and fitness and it's free. To check it out, go to: SparkPeople
I determined a minimum for each and set a min/max scale on my SparkPeople account, and it tells me how I fall within that scale as I enter food in. I plan my entire day ahead of time, as I have found that meal planning ahead of time prevents pitfalls later. As a result, I determine my meals for the next day and prep all of my food/meals the night before.
I started my new breakdown this past Monday, and for the first time since Jenna was 2 months old, the scale dropped this week! With everything else I have done, the scale has literally stayed within 4 ounces (no kidding). Talk about frustrating. Of course, I am in my first week of this, so we will see what will happen over time, but I am very encouraged by this. Of course, at the end of each week I will need to do a new BMR calculation and adjust my breakdowns accordingly, but still, imagine my excitement when I saw the number drop....for the first time in months...after all of this work...and tweeking of my diet! Woohoo!
A final note: I get most carbohydrates through fibrous vegetables. I alternate eating a half of an Ezekial Raisin Muffin for breakfast one morning and 1/2 cup of rolled oats the next, as well as have one piece of Ezekiel Low-Sodium Bread with lunch. The only processed foods we have in our diet is Greek yogurt and Truvia with coffee (and coffee, I guess), as well as our supplements and protein powder. We use almond milk in place of real dairy and no more than one full egg for any recipe. No processed egg whites - we decided to pay the money for real eggs and use the whites from those. All of these decisions have a huge impact in terms of long-term health. And it also makes it very difficult to meet the caloric and macronutrient breakdowns without eating tons of food. Who doesn't like that?!?
It's been a while...
Wow. I didn't realize how long it's been since I have posted here! There just isn't enough time in the day...
I just went back and read my last two posts. I had a friend tell me it wasn't fair to attack WW like I did, since it works for so many people. Her point was that WW (and programs like it) encourage people to be healthier where they are and within the confines of their willingness. And this is true. No doubt this is true. And we all where we are. One size certainly does not fit all. So, I will put down that fight. I didn't mean to offend, and if I offended, or worse, insulted progress that anyone has made under these programs, I truly apologize. Any step that a person can take toward being healthier is a step in the right direction. And many times these small steps do have a domino effect, resulting in even better decisions toward better health. That has been my experience, for sure. I have learned all of the lessons I have learned the hard way!
Speaking of lessons...I have learned another hard one. Damn you, calories! After having the baby, I started back where I left off. It only seemed to make sense. Only, I don't have the muscle mass I did then. I am carrying an extra 25 pounds. And I did exactly what I have been railing against...I fell back on something that has worked in the past, but didn't take the time to research how doing this might be self-sabotaging. Since I had Jenna, I have been extremely diligent with my commitment to working out and even to the way I was eating. Problem was that, even though I was eating clean, I was eating too much, resulting in too high of a caloric intake....and resulting in no weight loss. Another example of how eating too much of even "good" stuff can sabotage progress. It seems like every couple of weeks JP and I have sat down and tweeked my eating. Everytime I started out hopeful, but ended up frustrated after a week or two because the results I was seeing were not proportional to the work I put in. So, it seems as though we were constantly back to the drawing board.
The first thing most people would ask when this would come up is, "What about your workouts?" And then, "Maybe you need to lift weights less and do more cardio." And in theory this idea sounds good. In application, it's all wrong, especially for my goals. We looked over my workouts every time we sat down to tweek the nutrition plan and each time we agreed that my workout plan was on target. I could go more into it, but as I have said previously, my overall goal is not weight loss. Although weight loss (or, more accurately, fat loss) is one of my goals, another of my goals is lean muscle gain. As a result, cutting back on lifting and kicking up cardio would actually result in muscle wasting, resulting in a loss of lean muscle mass. And lean muscle loss over time actually decreases the amount of resting calories burned, decreasing the resting metabolic rate over time. Definitely not what I am looking to do.
Back to nutrition...well...it seems as though we have finally found a combination that works. I'll outline what this is in the next post, but I am happy that, after all of this hard work, I am starting to see some progress. :)
I just went back and read my last two posts. I had a friend tell me it wasn't fair to attack WW like I did, since it works for so many people. Her point was that WW (and programs like it) encourage people to be healthier where they are and within the confines of their willingness. And this is true. No doubt this is true. And we all where we are. One size certainly does not fit all. So, I will put down that fight. I didn't mean to offend, and if I offended, or worse, insulted progress that anyone has made under these programs, I truly apologize. Any step that a person can take toward being healthier is a step in the right direction. And many times these small steps do have a domino effect, resulting in even better decisions toward better health. That has been my experience, for sure. I have learned all of the lessons I have learned the hard way!
Speaking of lessons...I have learned another hard one. Damn you, calories! After having the baby, I started back where I left off. It only seemed to make sense. Only, I don't have the muscle mass I did then. I am carrying an extra 25 pounds. And I did exactly what I have been railing against...I fell back on something that has worked in the past, but didn't take the time to research how doing this might be self-sabotaging. Since I had Jenna, I have been extremely diligent with my commitment to working out and even to the way I was eating. Problem was that, even though I was eating clean, I was eating too much, resulting in too high of a caloric intake....and resulting in no weight loss. Another example of how eating too much of even "good" stuff can sabotage progress. It seems like every couple of weeks JP and I have sat down and tweeked my eating. Everytime I started out hopeful, but ended up frustrated after a week or two because the results I was seeing were not proportional to the work I put in. So, it seems as though we were constantly back to the drawing board.
The first thing most people would ask when this would come up is, "What about your workouts?" And then, "Maybe you need to lift weights less and do more cardio." And in theory this idea sounds good. In application, it's all wrong, especially for my goals. We looked over my workouts every time we sat down to tweek the nutrition plan and each time we agreed that my workout plan was on target. I could go more into it, but as I have said previously, my overall goal is not weight loss. Although weight loss (or, more accurately, fat loss) is one of my goals, another of my goals is lean muscle gain. As a result, cutting back on lifting and kicking up cardio would actually result in muscle wasting, resulting in a loss of lean muscle mass. And lean muscle loss over time actually decreases the amount of resting calories burned, decreasing the resting metabolic rate over time. Definitely not what I am looking to do.
Back to nutrition...well...it seems as though we have finally found a combination that works. I'll outline what this is in the next post, but I am happy that, after all of this hard work, I am starting to see some progress. :)
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