Weekly Workout Thread 2 April till 8th April

[Mara]

yeah rod...i could be getting more muscle as well which as you know is more dense than fat, but the problem with that is that i am already at 19% BF and the trainer was telling me to not go any lower for my age (32). so i really shouldn''t be building more muscle i guess. but yeah i like looking more toned for sure. at this point i look pretty lean, so just want to keep it there. so it will be interesting to see if i add in some more cals and still maintain then i guess my body just wants more fuel.

it''s so true to just use the fit of the clothes to gauge!!

 

[Rod]

Date: 4/2/2007 7:37:39 PM
Author: Mara
yeah rod...i could be getting more muscle as well which as you know is more dense than fat, but the problem with that is that i am already at 19% BF and the trainer was telling me to not go any lower for my age (32). so i really shouldn''t be building more muscle i guess. but yeah i like looking more toned for sure. at this point i look pretty lean, so just want to keep it there. so it will be interesting to see if i add in some more cals and still maintain then i guess my body just wants more fuel.

it''s so true to just use the fit of the clothes to gauge!!

Not trying to dispute your trainer Mara, but our trainer really wanted us both to be closer to 12% BF. Maybe that''s a boy thing, but the last pictures of you I saw showed a stunning body and not at all too ''muscled'' for a pretty girl like you. So, I wouldn''t be too concerned about the number and I''m all about the clothes fit now as opposed to the scale. I only weigh myself like once a week now and sometimes not that often. As long as my clothes continue to fit better than they did the week before, I''m good!!

 

[KimberlyH]

Men are supposed to have less body fat than women. Here''s a chart I found: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/library/blbodyfatcharts.htm. Not sure how accurate it is, but it gives a general idea.

Enjoy your dinner out, Mara.

 

[Mara]

Date: 4/2/2007 7:46:01 PM
Author: Rod

Date: 4/2/2007 7:37:39 PM
Author: Mara
yeah rod...i could be getting more muscle as well which as you know is more dense than fat, but the problem with that is that i am already at 19% BF and the trainer was telling me to not go any lower for my age (32). so i really shouldn't be building more muscle i guess. but yeah i like looking more toned for sure. at this point i look pretty lean, so just want to keep it there. so it will be interesting to see if i add in some more cals and still maintain then i guess my body just wants more fuel.

it's so true to just use the fit of the clothes to gauge!!

Not trying to dispute your trainer Mara, but our trainer really wanted us both to be closer to 12% BF. Maybe that's a boy thing, but the last pictures of you I saw showed a stunning body and not at all too 'muscled' for a pretty girl like you. So, I wouldn't be too concerned about the number and I'm all about the clothes fit now as opposed to the scale. I only weigh myself like once a week now and sometimes not that often. As long as my clothes continue to fit better than they did the week before, I'm good!!

Oh yes it's different for women, Rod. Women are encouraged to have more bf than men for sure.

I did a little research on it after I talked to the trainer. Guys can go way lower than women. Apparently as we get older, women especially, our bodies like us to have a little fat on us...also I don't want to end up having that gaunt, taut face that so many overly fit women end up with. Also if your bf gets too low you can lose your period and possibly have problems conceiving children as your body thinks that you are not a hospitable host for a child hehe.

I definitely am not too muscled or anything visually, but I guess for my age range and the fact that I am a female, they were saying a desirable range is like 20-22ish for lean and up to 26 if I wanted to. Now I don't want to go to 26, as I was probably like 28-30 when I started, but I want to stay at 19...they said that was fine. So I am happy with 19...and I haven't been measured or anything in the last month I think. My clothes fit better than ever for sure...I'm a size 4 or 2 now depending on the designer (whereas I was a 10 when I started) so I am VERY happy...now just wanna stay here!!

(eta i see you added a chart kimberly, that's basically what the trainer was telling me for desirable ranges!)

 

[FireGoddess]

Thanks for the moving well wishes. I totally hate doing this but it has kept our ''crap'' pared down because we don''t want to drag it all over the earth!! LOL.

Amicis...Mara I''m so jealous. Stick to the pizza though...tried their eggplant parm sandwich once...

. Not good. But the pizza - and I usually just get the New York (plain) - so good!

 

[Rod]

Thanks Kimberly and Mara..........I learn something new everyday, especially when it comes to health and fitness!!! Sounds like you''re at an ideal BF then Mara!! It will probably take me the rest of my life to get down below 15% BF, but I will keep on it until I do. As it is, I''ve gone from 33% to 17%. Of course I haven''t been measured since we left Tampa, so maybe I have gone lower. I''ll get measured once we''re home again.

 

[Mara]

yeah i am all about trying their pizzas FG esp since they do have good reviews and they are healthy, bonus!! but i don't know, we may end up at the creole place, we said we'd figure it out when greg got home and see what he felt like hehe. i was eyeing their 4 cheese lasagna as well which is not bad at 450 cals for the small! have you ever had that one? but pizza and a cup of minestrone sounds so good right now!!

rod, 17% is no slouch for bf for your age, that is awesome!! but yeah it's fun to have something to strive for as well. i think that's also what i am sad about now that i am maintaining, there's really no new 'goal' to strive for. i am fit, toned, at a good bf, at a good weight. what now? not that i am whining, i feel very lucky. but i wish there was another goal to kind of reach for. i guess that goal for me now is maintenance. and continuing to pass on the GS cookies. hehee.

 

[FireGoddess]

I''ve never tried their lasagna. I''m skeeered after having the bad (mushy, bland) eggplant parm. How can you mess that up? LOL. Since then I''ve just stuck w/ the pizza.

 

[Rod]

Date: 4/2/2007 8:29:42 PM
Author: Mara
yeah i am all about trying their pizzas FG esp since they do have good reviews and they are healthy, bonus!! but i don''t know, we may end up at the creole place, we said we''d figure it out when greg got home and see what he felt like hehe. i was eyeing their 4 cheese lasagna as well which is not bad at 450 cals for the small! have you ever had that one? but pizza and a cup of minestrone sounds so good right now!!

rod, 17% is no slouch for bf for your age, that is awesome!! but yeah it''s fun to have something to strive for as well. i think that''s also what i am sad about now that i am maintaining, there''s really no new ''goal'' to strive for. i am fit, toned, at a good bf, at a good weight. what now? not that i am whining, i feel very lucky. but i wish there was another goal to kind of reach for. i guess that goal for me now is maintenance. and continuing to pass on the GS cookies. hehee.

I feel as if I still have a MAJOR goal to achieve. It''s what keeps me so motivated to continue working hard (of course seeing my muscles grow and my arms fill shirts better helps too!). You''re already in fantastic shape. I guess maintenance is nothing to be sad about

. There are few "body builder" women in our gym and to me they just look odd. One of them can benchpress more weight than I can and she has such a ''manish'' physique. I hope you don''t ever go for that look.......LOL I''m betting Greg wishes that more than me though......

 

[Mara]

lol rod no worries, i do not want to have a mannish body builder physique by any means!! i want to still have my girly curves for sure. i am really happy with how i look right now actually. but i said that last week too. it seems like every week something new happens like i get little biceps or my hips shrink another 1/4" and i am like yyyeeeee haawwww. so maybe there is progress to still be made.

just talked to greg and he is saying he wants creole so that might be the plan. i LOVE their bread pudding (it's where i first had bread pudding so its my fave) so if i get it, i plan to ask them to give me a 1/2 piece, and just make it easy on me! i typically get this big salad they have with walnuts, bleu cheese and apples, and then we share a popcorn shrimp appetizer and a slice of cornbread. the shrimp is cornmeal breaded and flash fried so the cornmeal barely stays on which is good...hehee.

so i guess FG i won't get pizza (boo hoo) or lasagna tonite. but i am SOO on a mission to try them soon. i was planning to get us take out tomorrow night from this other local place downtown that has fab salads and minestrone, but maybe i will get amicis for us instead as greg has rehearsal so it's me making the decision tomorrow heheee.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday everyone! I had to make a day trip to Milwaukee today to conduct an annual review on my biggest vendor and it turned out to be quite the adventure. I''ll spare you all the details, other than the train back was about an hour and a half late and I was trying to talk myself into not working out, but it didn''t work LOL and I just got back from an hour at the gym. All nice normal people today, I''m happy to report.

Barring some sort of miracle, tomorrow and Wednesday will be the worst work days of the year for me (the review that I''m working on HAS to be done by midnight Wednesday) so I doubt I''ll get an workouts in again until Thursday. And I think I just might refuse to weigh myself on Wednesday given all the snacking I''ve been doing these past few days (although not really *bad* stuff, just a bit too much of it!) while I sit at my desk and work.

Not much else to report. I''m on my way upstairs to see if the brownies are cooled off enough to eat yet, and then I''ll be curled up in bed with The Demon and yet another audit report...

 

[Rod]

Date: 4/2/2007 9:15:20 PM
Author: Dee*Jay
Happy Monday everyone! I had to make a day trip to Milwaukee today to conduct an annual review on my biggest vendor and it turned out to be quite the adventure. I''ll spare you all the details, other than the train back was about an hour and a half late and I was trying to talk myself into not working out, but it didn''t work LOL and I just got back from an hour at the gym. All nice normal people today, I''m happy to report.

Barring some sort of miracle, tomorrow and Wednesday will be the worst work days of the year for me (the review that I''m working on HAS to be done by midnight Wednesday) so I doubt I''ll get an workouts in again until Thursday. And I think I just might refuse to weigh myself on Wednesday given all the snacking I''ve been doing these past few days (although not really *bad* stuff, just a bit too much of it!) while I sit at my desk and work.

Not much else to report. I''m on my way upstairs to see if the brownies are cooled off enough to eat yet, and then I''ll be curled up in bed with The Demon and yet another audit report...

Sorry you had such a frustrating day DeeJay, but a nice warm brownie might make everying better, right??!!

If you''ve been snacking a bit much, you might just want to do what you said and avoid the scale. It''s an evil monster anyway and can only serve to add additional frustration to what appears to be enough frustration already!!

 

[TravelingGal]

Hi everyone!

I had to catch up on last week''s thread and this week''s! DJ''s post on gym crazies made me laugh...as last week I was next to a chick on the elliptical who was gabbing for 30 minutes on her cell phone. Sheesh...

Light day for me today...big boss is coming into town tomorrow so I have lots to prep. I had Fage for brekky, caesar for lunch, Fage for snack and bbq chicken and green beans for dinner. What can I say...I am addicted. Can you OD from yogurt?

So I won''t be able to check in much this week since he is here until Thursday and I will be working all day and entertaining a bit at night. My goal is to have 2 or 3 workouts in a week. I am also going to watch my carbs a bit as last week I had TJ''s pizzas for quite a few days. Calorically it was fine, but still...that''s a lot of pizza!

As for those that are discouraged, really...hang in there! My scale hasn''t moved either and personally as I get older, I consider it a victory that I don''t GAIN weight! I know that I could eat less (I don''t think I can workout much more as 5x a week is the most I can do without burning out) and I also derail any weekly gains by partying it up during the weekends. But life is about living. I feel strong, sexy and happy, and if this is my body, it''s what I live with! Sure, I''d like to lose weight, but I find that weight comes off for me when I stress about it less. Mentally now, I am working out to be healthy, not skinny, and that makes the peacefull difference. Working out and reading this thread is simply fun...as well as finding new things to eat.

Keep on inspiring everyone! I''ll keep reading when I can this week!

 

[gailrmv]

happy Monday all! Mara, I am so impressed with your transformation of body fat, wow!
Merrijoy, I have felt the same way as you sometimes, it is frustrating to put in so much effort for so little results. However over the summer I got my cholesterol tested and it was really great, better than the last test (bad cholesterol runs in my family) and I felt that at least I had SOME quantitative results to show for my efforts. Then some weight finally started coming off, after years of effort. So it can happen. Keep at it girl! It is definitely easier for some ppl than others and it does not seem fair, for sure.

So I did great with my eating goals today, started off with smarstart, skim and blackberries again. I did splurge on a mini bran muffin at work, but that served as a good mid morning snack. Had a peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat for lunch and an apple as a pm snack. At the dinner party I had reasonable portions of fish and turkey, grilled veggies, and salad w/ lf dressing, followed by fruit and a sliver of cake for dessert. Unfortunately, I''m up late doing work and am starved again, but I''ll hold off til the am! I wasn''t able to get a workout in today b/c it was a crazy busy day, I did walk 30 min and I look forward to a long run tomorrow. My upper body is still sore from Saturday''s workout. Actually I am thrilled my back is sore, b/c I often wonder if I am doing the back exercise right and I am so glad that it actually worked the back muscles sufficiently to make them sore!

i also got a new ipod nano to replace my broken ipod (my husband actually went to the store to get it b/c had a crazy day and he was off, wasn''t that sweet!) , and I got the nike running tracker device which I am super pumped about.

My old ipod still works OK when completely stationary in its cradle but when I use it while moving around, ie at the gym it skips and freezes up like crazy. The new nano was a little cheaper and the technology is more durable, so while I still will be careful with it, I think I can enjoy it more while working out. I want to get the armband holder for it. I almost got fun hot pink, but decided to be sensible and get silver. It''s so cute!

 

[Mara]

thanks gail!! it took me a while but i finally got here.

TG i totally agree with you re living life. as you know i''m a total foodie too and i love enjoying food out with Greg and our friends and family. there is definitely a balance. i wouldn''t want to be a stick thin gal who didn''t indulge at all or have favorites just to look good. it is about being healthy and strong and there is more to that than just measurements or what the scale says. it''s good to remind ourselves of that!! enjoyment is the spice of life...or something like that? hehee.

so it''s kind of funny, we ended up walking over to the creole place...with our new neighbors who have become fast friends with us. i mentioned to the gal online that we were going to this place for dinner and she was like oh we''d love to try it so we said okay! as usual it was really yummy...i get their big house salad which is apples, walnuts and bleu cheese with greens and a vinaigrette...and then we share a popcorn shrimp with cornmeal and a remoulade, and then a cornbread and bread pudding!! i was hoping they would share the BP with me but it was pretty much all me hehee. so yummy. and lots of good conversation and sharing with our neighbors who have tastes very similar to ours, so it''s fun to hang out with them..and of course with new people, all the stories haven''t been told...hehe. so lots to talk about.

so the walk was 1/2 mile each way (gotta love the pedometer) so i got another mile in today which was nice...and nice to stretch the legs after dinner too. tomorrow i have a list of things to get done, as well as my workout at the gym, the next few days will be busy as i get ready for starting work again next week...and we are leaving friday morning for our overnight trip so i just have 3 more days. gosh it goes so fast! today was my last real lazy day...ah well!!

hope everyone had a great day!! kudos on getting a new ipod gail, i love my shuffle, it''s so basic yet SOOO crucial to have the tunes hehee. TG have fun with the boss, hehee...and lol re the fage. i had some today with the Better nPeanut Butter and some cocoa powder and splenda, yumyum. we were talking tonite at dinner about granola with yogurt for breakfast, mmmm.

and yes to those who hate people talking on their cell during workouts and elliptical, i HATE that. esp if i can hear it through my ipod? that''s some loud talking...argh! plus who works out and talks on the cell???

 

[Modified Brilliant]

I''d feel a whole lot better if the temps here would jump out of the 40''s. It''s damp and dingy
for April.

Enjoy the day everyone

 

[mrssalvo]

morning all.

TG- your words are very true and encouraging. I think you raise such a good point and making the focus overall health rather than being skinny. and I agree as we age, not *gaining* weight is a huge success. I love the fage too and even got hubby eating it too. it''s fun to try to find new combinations of mix ins. I actually had to buy the big tubs the other day b/c when I went to Wild Oats they were sold out.

Last night I took the girls and Zoe on a long walk. Zoe weighed in at 94 lbs at her last checkup and the vet put her on a diet and said she needs to be no more than 90. I never used to overfeed her but I think I''ve got two little munchkins that like to share

Anyway, I''ve been very strict with Zoe''s food, measuring each time, also making sure she doesn''t get too many dropped treats or leftover bites and walking her more. Last night when I put on her collar, she back up for some reason and the collar slipped right off. I think she''s losing weight too

.

so, it''s to the gym today on the elliptical and then the reward swim for the girls. nothing special planned foodwise today so calories should be fine.

 

[NYCsparkle]

happy workout week....theres so much fine tuning to try to maintain without gaining back more than 5 pounds. me and some of my other friends are trying to figure out maintaining

. exercising less isn''t the answer and when i increase portion size i just feel like i overindulged and need to pop a button. anyone found any maintaining secrets? tonight is baked ziti--

. its soooo yummy and i made it using lo-cal cheeses. i think i''m making ice box cake tonight...very easy and not too many calories. happy day to all!

 

[LucyL]

Good Morning everyone. Back with my sporadic postings. Good job to everyone who is keeping up their workouts and monitoring their food intake!!!!!

Well I have been working out at least 3 times a week now for about a month and still no change on the scale. I would like to work out more and I am active on the weekends I just don''t count it as a workout. I did walk 10 miles this past weekend so that surely did count.

I have noticed that my heart rate doesn''t get as high when I work out and that it is now taking me a lot longer to burn the same amount of calories (usually 600 or so a workout). It doesn''t seem to matter what I''m doing- whether it is the elliptical or running on the treadmill. Anyone have any suggestions or ideals on how I can ramp things up and start LOOSING weight. I''m also interested in how to sculpt and tone my arms. What is everyone doing specifically? Weights, etc. I usually don''t have access to any of the weight machines and mostly have to rely on free weights?

What workout do you guys think will give me the long, lean look? I feel like I''m gaining muscle and "bulking" up. I need long and lean because I''m short and I don''t want to look "stubby". In a word, I need the "Mara look!!!"

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[KimberlyH]

Morning WWTers!

Last night''s dinner is definitely going to be showing up on the scale! We started w/ a shared spinach salad w/ strawberries, red onions, and cotija cheese, which I shoved off to the side. For dinner I had 5 oz. flat iron steak, black beans, and slice of the most delicious quesadilla I''ve ever had. It was honey bbqed and oh so yum. I had to pieces on my plate but gave one to John so I wouldn''t eat them both. My dinner also came with a salad, and I picked at it a bit so as to get in lots of greens. For dessert we shared a lemon poppyseed cake, it was two layers with whipped cream and strawberries in between and on top. YUMMY!

So I didn''t get a sub job today, which means I get to put in another workout, awesome news! I''ve started covering up the monitor on my elliptical and just focusing on whatever dumb tv show I''ve choosen to watch and the time seems to go by a lot faster. I also grabbed my weights yesterday and did some arm exercises while on the elliptical.

All these crazy gym stories make me so glad to work out in my own house.

Hope everyone is having a terrific day!

 

[KimberlyH]

Hi Lucy: What are you eating? Do you keep track? Do you rationalize more food on exercise days? I recently heard (I think it was on a tv show) that losing weight is 20% exercise and 80% what you put in your mouth and I find that to be true in my own life. Exercise makes me feel fantastic and tones me up, but eating is key. It''s why programs like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers don''t emphasize exercise. It always upset me when I went to WW, but their goal was to get maximum results and that means less food...which doesn''t account for the importance of exercising to keep fit and heart healthy.

As for the maintenance thing, just like weight loss it''s like a puzzle and it''s pretty difficult, but, once you get into a groove you''ll find what works for you. But it can be a bit of a letdown once you''re through...it left me with a "now what" feeling when I lost all that weight 5 years ago. Not so fun.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Lucy - Kim is totally right about the eating vs. working out. The doctors who work in my lab actually say that its more like 90% what you eat and 10% exercise for most people. Maybe try tracking your calories for a couple of weeks (a lot of us here found sparkpeople.com to be helpful for that - either use their tracking tool or make a spreadsheet on your own). Its kind of a pain at first, but once you''ve entered a lot of the things you eat regularly, it takes very little time and it really forces you to be honest about how much you''re eating. You may find that you''re eating more than you thought in terms of calories - its kind of amazing how quickly little things add up, and really at the end of the day, calories in vs. calories out is the most basic equation of weight loss, though of course exercise is important for your overall health and also to maintain muscle tone, as Kim pointed out.

So I had a really unhappy time at the dentist last night - I found out I have to get my wisdom teeth out

I know its supposed to not be a big deal (the dentist even said that mine would be easy to get out), but somehow the whole concept has just always freaked me out. I think it helps my level of anxiety that I know that I can''t take most painkillers because I can''t tolerate them. But apparently they have to come out, so I''ll need to schedule that over the next couple of months. At least she said they''d give me something to help me be less anxious during the procedure

I''m such a baby about this, I''m not sure why, except that my teeth have always been good and so I haven''t ever really needed dental work and so maybe its just that.

 

[Mara]

i agree that weight loss is like a puzzle, and it''s different for everyone which can make it frustrating since there is no tried and true guaranteed recipe. i know it''s calories in and out and that IS what worked for me, but it took me a while to really figure that out. i am not sure if you are tracking but until i tracked religiously, i was consuming probably more than i thought. i didn''t track weekends because it was too hard to estimate eating out and the like, but then i wouldn''t have an idea of what else i ate on the weekends...like a corndog or fries or a big breakfast with sausage. and i guess that''s okay but if you want to lose weight and you feel like you are doing the right things, write it down for a week to actually make sure you ARE doing all the right things.

i read in a mag from a nutritionist that many people think they are eating the right amounts but don''t count all these little things they eat all day which add up. she had her clients put everything they would consider eating that was outside of a regular ''meal'' range into a baggie and at the end of the day they sat down and looked at what this person would have eaten if she didn''t have the baggie and some of these clients had stuff in their baggies that could add up to almost another THOUSAND calories per day. now obviously that''s a little extreme but what if little things you don''t even think about add up to even 200-300 a day. that could negate a workout every 2 days kinda thing and slow weight loss.

another comment for those of you who are not seeing weight loss on the scales. Get your body fat tested!!!!!! if you feel like your motivation is waning, get your BF tested immediately. actually i recommend this for anyone just starting out too. because you can use that as a helping gauge for when the scale is not cooperating. for example if you start changing your lifestyle, working out, eating better and you get tested and you are 28% bf....but the scale doesn''t move for 2 months. get tested again after 1.5 months and find out that your bf is now 24% or something. that is PROGRESS. it means your body is changing fat to muscle which is a good thing. and it means most likely you''ll see scale changes like i did. i never got my BF tested originally and i really wish i had because i think it would have helped me to know that my body was busy doing things interally i could not see. those of you who don''t belong to gyms, find out where you can go locally to have BF tested, probably a local gym you don''t belong to would do it for a $10 fee or something. it takes literally 2 minutes.

the other thing is if you aren''t seeing any changes in your body, and you find out that your bf is quite low already, like 22% then maybe your body is just plain flat out happy where it''s at and does not want to change even if you want it to. so i think that knowing your BF % can be helpful in more ways than just knowing ratio of muscle to fat. it can help mentally as well...or help tell you when you might be ''okay'' and decide to maintain.

nyc i wish i had more maintenance tips but i am finding it hard to maintain as well! it seems like changing from that ''weight loss'' mentality to ''maintenance'' mentality is harder than i thought it would be. but i am trying different things. i have basically maintained since january...i was 134 then and i am like 131/130 now...but i catch myself with paranoid thinking like oh i dont want to gain weight back so i should be strict today! and that kind of thing. so i have to learn to be more zen about things.

anyhow, breakfast was egg white mcmuffin with bacon and 2% american cheese, mmmm!! i managed to get the egg to stay in the ring this time but i still want a silicon one that will conform to the shape of the pan, hehe. i am going to the mall today to get some clothes for work so i will stop at the CB and get a silicon egg ring...and maybe a set of calphalon pans, they are on sale for 8" and 10" for $39.99. i just have a 10" and a 12" and i always want another one or two for like one egg or bacon and i just love calphalon so why not?!

 

[merrijoy]

Date: 4/3/2007 12:41:26 PM
Author: Mara
i agree that weight loss is like a puzzle, and it''s different for everyone which can make it frustrating since there is no tried and true guaranteed recipe. i know it''s calories in and out and that IS what worked for me, but it took me a while to really figure that out. i am not sure if you are tracking but until i tracked religiously, i was consuming probably more than i thought. i didn''t track weekends because it was too hard to estimate eating out and the like, but then i wouldn''t have an idea of what else i ate on the weekends...like a corndog or fries or a big breakfast with sausage. and i guess that''s okay but if you want to lose weight and you feel like you are doing the right things, write it down for a week to actually make sure you ARE doing all the right things.

another comment for those of you who are not seeing weight loss on the scales. Get your body fat tested!!!!!! if you feel like your motivation is waning, get your BF tested immediately. actually i recommend this for anyone just starting out too. because you can use that as a helping gauge for when the scale is not cooperating. for example if you start changing your lifestyle, working out, eating better and you get tested and you are 28% bf....but the scale doesn''t move for 2 months. get tested again after 1.5 months and find out that your bf is now 24% or something. that is PROGRESS. it means your body is changing fat to muscle which is a good thing. and it means most likely you''ll see scale changes like i did. i never got my BF tested originally and i really wish i had because i think it would have helped me to know that my body was busy doing things interally i could not see. those of you who don''t belong to gyms, find out where you can go locally to have BF tested, probably a local gym you don''t belong to would do it for a $10 fee or something. it takes literally 2 minutes.


I have a question because when I ask the employees at the gym for help I hate to do because it seems that they walways want to sell you something, so I want to get my BF tested and I want to ask questions but if you do so, a light goes off in their head to execute the salesperson persona.
I will be brave and ask the next time I am there though.
One of the employees said to me a few months back - "It is really easy, calories in + calories out = Weight loss". Ok, if this is true then why is it bad to go to down to 1000 cals per day and then burn 500 cals = 500 cals for the day. Or even 1300 cals in minus 500 cals out = 800. I don''t get it.

Another question, I view multiple diet boards and on one of them the people seem to be having stomach issues with Fiber One Bars. Anyone having that? Stomach issues that is? My stomach has recently started bothering me when I eat the La Tortilla Factory High Fiber Bread, Hummus, Luna Bars, Fiber One Bars, and grapes. I mean the pain is so bad and (TMI here) the gas is so bad, it makes it hard to run and workout. This pain will last the whole day and does not go away even after using the rest room.

And final question here. Now that I am hooked on Fage and buying it, and shopping more at the grocery store due to eating more little meals throughout the day and eating healthier which as we all know is more expensive – my husband thinks I am spending too much now at the grocery store. So my question is: How much do you all spend a day and/or week at the grocery store and specialty stores on food? Thank you for your time on these questions.

Also, just so no one here is confused, as I said I read on all types of diet boards and the die hards get really mad when people say fat turns into muscle. So I looked it up and found below. This is all interesting reading anyway.
Myths of Women''s Weight Training and Female Bodybuilding
From Hugo Rivera,
Your Guide to Bodybuilding.
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Women Bodybuilding Myths
The myths about women''s weight training and female bodybuilding do not ever seem to go away. With this article, I''d like to share the facts regarding weight training and female bodybuilding.

Women''s Weight Training Myth #1 -Weight training makes you bulky and masculine.
Due to the fact that women do not, and cannot, naturally produce as much testosterone (one of the main hormones responsible for increasing muscle size) as males do, it is impossible for a woman to gain huge amounts of muscle mass by merely touching some weights. Unfortunately, the image that may come to your mind is that of professional female bodybuilders. Most of these women, unfortunately, use anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone) along with other drugs in order to achieve that high degree of muscularity. In addition, most also have good genetics coupled with an unbelievable work ethic that enable them to gain muscle quickly when they spend hours in the gym lifting very heavy weights. Believe me when I say that they do not look like that by accident. Women who conduct weight training without the use of steroids get the firm and fit cellulite-free looking body that you see in most fitness/figure shows these days.

Women''s Weight Training Myth #2 - Exercise increases your chest size.
Sorry girls. Women’s breasts are composed mostly of fatty tissue. Therefore, it is impossible to increase breast size through weight training. As a matter of fact, if you go below 12 percent body fat, your breast size will decrease. Weight training does increase the size of the back, so this misconception probably comes from confusing an increase in back size with an increase in cup size. The only way to increase your breast size is by gaining fat or getting breast implants.

Women''s Weight Training Myth #3 - Weight training makes you stiff and musclebound.
If you perform all exercises through their full range of motion, flexibility will increase. Exercises like flyes, stiff-legged deadlifts, dumbbell presses, and chin-ups stretch the muscle in the bottom range of the movement. Therefore, by performing these exercises correctly, your stretching capabilities will increase.

Women''s Weight Training Myth #4 - If you stop weight training your muscles turn into fat.
This is like saying that gold can turn into brass. Muscle and fat are two totally different types of tissue. What happens many times is that when people decide to go off their weight training programs they start losing muscle due to inactivity (use it or lose it) and they also usually drop the diet as well. Therefore bad eating habits combined with the fact that their metabolism is lower due to inactivity, and lower degrees of muscle mass, give the impression that the subject’s muscle is being turned into fat while in reality what is happening is that muscle is being lost and fat is being accumulated.

Women''s Weight Training Myth #5 - Weight training turns fat into muscle.
More alchemy. This is the equivalent of saying that you can turn any metal into gold; don''t we wish! The way a body transformation occurs is by gaining muscle through weight training and losing fat through aerobics and diet simultaneously. Again, muscle and fat are very different types of tissue. We cannot turn one into the other.
Women''s Weight Training Myth #6 - As long as you exercise you can eat anything that you want.
How I wish this were true also! However, this could not be further from the truth. Our individual metabolism determines how many calories we burn at rest and while we exercise. If we eat more calories than we burn on a consistent basis, our bodies will accumulate these extra calories as fat regardless of the amount of exercise that we do. This myth may have been created by people with such high metabolic rates (hardgainers) that no matter how much they eat or what they eat, they rarely meet or exceed the amount of calories that they burn in one day unless they put their mind to doing so. Therefore, their weight either remains stable or goes down.

Women''s Weight Training Myth #7 - Women only need to do cardio and if they decide to lift weights, they should be very light.
First of all, if you only did cardio then muscle and fat would be burned for fuel. One needs to do weights in order to get the muscle building machine going and thus prevent any loss of muscle tissue. Women that only concentrate on cardio will have a very hard time achieving the look that they want. As far as the lifting of very light weights, this is just more nonsense. Muscle responds to resistance and if the resistance is too light, then there will be no reason for the body to change.
Women Should Train Hard
I have trained with girls that train as hard as I do and they look nothing but feminine. If you want to look great, don''t be afraid to pick up the weights and lift hard!
About The Author
Hugo Rivera, About.com''s Bodybuilding Guide and ISSA Certified Fitness Trainer, is a nationally-known best-selling author of over 8 books on bodybuilding, weight loss and fitness, including "The Body Sculpting Bible for Men", "The Body Sculpting Bible for Women", "The Hardgainer''s Bodybuilding Handbook", and his successful, self published e-book, "Body Re-Engineering". Hugo is also a national level NPC natural bodybuilding champion. Learn more about Hugo Rivera.
Have a good day all.

M

 

[Mara]

One of the employees said to me a few months back - "It is really easy, calories in + calories out = Weight loss". Ok, if this is true then why is it bad to go to down to 1000 cals per day and then burn 500 cals = 500 cals for the day. Or even 1300 cals in minus 500 cals out = 800. I don't get it.

--Merrijoy...well your body actually requires a certain # of cals per day to just FUNCTION. aka exist. aka If you laid on the couch all day and slept your body still requires a certain # of calories to just stay alive with all your typical body functions. Typically for women that's at least something like 1200 cals a day if not a little more depending on your level of activity and your weight/height/age. So if you drop to 1000 cals then your body may have trouble just doing it's regular thing. That is why it's bad. So it is cals in and out but to go too low is definitely not good, you could be starving your body for essential nutrients it NEEDS from calories in your food. This is how people die from anorexia. Their organs shut down. To me, this is why it's so important to give your body good things that it can use as fuel for your body. aka a cookie is not going to help it as much as some carrots with hummus. Same amount of cals, but way diff nutritional values.

Another question, I view multiple diet boards and on one of them the people seem to be having stomach issues with Fiber One Bars. Anyone having that? Stomach issues that is? My stomach has recently started bothering me when I eat the La Tortilla Factory High Fiber Bread, Hummus, Luna Bars, Fiber One Bars, and grapes. I mean the pain is so bad and (TMI here) the gas is so bad, it makes it hard to run and workout. This pain will last the whole day and does not go away even after using the rest room.

--No I haven't had any stomach issues in general but additional fiber in your diet WILL cause some intestinal discomfort and gas...that is just how your body deals with additional fiber. Those are side effects. Now not sure why you are having really bad PAIN...that's kind of odd. I consume about 35g of fiber a day if not more..and I have a little gas (you can just take GasX to make it go away) but nothing painful or where I can't actually function. Maybe take out the things that you know are causing you pain and try to eat more things like natural fruits to get more fiber? Also Luna Bars only have 3g of fiber which is nothing, so not sure why they would make you feel sick. Whereas the Fiber One Bars and La Tortilla have more like 9-12g fiber so I could see why maybe if your body is not used to additional fiber it could be weird. One other thing is you MUST MUST MUST drink enough fluids and water when consuming these high amounts of fiber. If you do not drink enough fluids, your fiber basically just hangs out and cannot move through your body and that might be causing some pain. The more you drink the better your body will process the fiber.

How much do you all spend a day and/or week at the grocery store and specialty stores on food? Thank you for your time on these questions.

--haha you don't want to know how much I spend at the grocery store. Suffice to say it's a lot. I go to Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and regular stores too. I do all the shopping and my husband doesn't really ever see anything but the food...but I definitely spend a lot. But our Trader Joes is actually the cheapest out of all the stores I go to so I try to go there more. Eating healthier DOES cost more for sure I have noticed....it's easy to get 5 packs of Mac and Cheese for $1 but fruit and veggies is $10 or something. But it's worth it!

As for the whole turning fat to muscle, what you posted is basically right, but the bottom line for me is that however it's 'phrased'...fat is gone and muscle replaces it. Whether the fat turns to muscle or the fat is burned and muscle replaces it....fat is gone and muscle is there. And muscle is more dense than fat so it ends up seeming like it weighs more (even though 1 lb fat = 1 lb muscle)....so I think people just tend to say 'fat turns to muscle' or 'muscle weighs more than fat' as just an easy way to convey that fat gone=muscle there kinda thing. The jist is the same.

 

[royalasscherlover]

so this week will be an interesting experiment for me...passover started last night, so for the next week i won''t be eating any grains. i''ve mapped out my food for today, and am only at 950 calories, so i will need to find some extra snacks - probably some fruit and nuts, since i''ve already included quite a bit of dairy. i''m planning to weigh myself at the gym today and again next tuesday to see if there''s a difference. maybe this food restriction will shake things up a bit!

merrijoy, when people talk about fat turning into muscle, they don''t mean it literally. it just means that although you don''t see a change on the scale, your body may be losing fat and gaining muscle, but your weight doesn''t go down because muscle weighs more than fat. the reason you shouldn''t go below 1200 calories per day is because your body needs a minimum amount of calories just to live on, and if you go below that, your body will think it is in starvation mode and hang on to everything you give it. and your stomach issues may results from problems digesting all the extra fiber that is added to things like the fiber one bars. trying to ramp up your fiber consumption slowly rather than eating all those things on a single day. fiber is great for you, but you need to add it into your diet gradually. if you haven''t been eating much of it and and suddenly jump from 10 grams a day to 35 grams a day, you will be a little uncomfortable initially! some people (like me) also have trouble digesting sugar alcohols and splenda, which are used in lots of "diet" products, so you may also want to monitor whether your discomfort is associated with those ingredients as well.

 

[FireGoddess]

Oh boy it''s starting already!

DH started packing yesterday and packed up the whole kitchen. The whole thing, every pan, fork, and plate. I got home, saw a sink of dirty dishes, and then saw that he had packed up the dish soap.

Not to mention that he got dinner for me because he had effectively prevented me from making anything, and there were no forks to eat it with. AGH! I was kinda irked because I had wanted to use what was in the fridge (translation, COOK!) so we wouldn''t have to pack it all. Now I''m trying to find healthy foods that are premade since I can''t make anything this week. I refuse to be derailed because of this!!! Maybe Lean Cuisine is on sale and I can stock up on a few to get me through the week.

AG, sorry to hear about your wisdom teeth! If it makes you feel better, all 4 of mine were impacted and had to come out. It wasn''t so bad. Not fun, but not too bad. It looks worse (chipmunk face) than it really feels, and you get to eat ice cream.

 

[merrijoy]

Date: 4/3/2007 1:24:22 PM
Author: Mara

How much do you all spend a day and/or week at the grocery store and specialty stores on food? Thank you for your time on these questions.

--haha you don''t want to know how much I spend at the grocery store. Suffice to say it''s a lot. I go to Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and regular stores too. I do all the shopping and my husband doesn''t really ever see anything but the food...but I definitely spend a lot. But our Trader Joes is actually the cheapest out of all the stores I go to so I try to go there more. Eating healthier DOES cost more for sure I have noticed....it''s easy to get 5 packs of Mac and Cheese for $1 but fruit and veggies is $10 or something. But it''s worth it!

Is this more than $100 per week? More than $200. Less than $100? My husband and I discuss finances and this is becoming a small point of contention. Hopefully someone can let me know what is "normal"?

And Shortblonde, I stopped sugar alchohols years ago. I really don''t know how some people don''t get stomach pains from it. I have no problem with Splenda though (to a certain extent - I use max of 7 packets per day). Your body can not digest sugar alchohols.

 

[Mara]

haha i don't know what is 'normal' but i spend about $200 a week. sometimes more esp if we are 'stocking up' on something, aka our tide HE detergent is like $20 but i only buy it once every 1.5 months. however, at whole foods for just a few things i can easily spend $50.

 

[KimberlyH]

MJ: My grocery store spending has not increased since we changed the way we eat. We spend approximately $150 a week on all of the items we purchase at the store. I eat oatmeal for breakfast, there are 8 packages per box at $4, give or take per box + soy milk and tea, so I'd say breakfast each morning equals about $1.10. DH won't pay more than $2 for a box of cereal, he eats it every day, sometimes with bacon on the side and he buys whatever coffee is on sale. For lunch I typically eat soup, usually there is a good, low cal brand on sale, so I spend about $3 a day on lunch. John eats lunch out most days. Our dinners vary but when John cooks he typically makes a meat, veggie and green salad and selects the best low cal meat that's on sale. I'd say we spent about $4-7 per person on dinner when we eat at home. I don't keep lots of snacks around for me, usually just some fruit, yogurt and almonds and I eat them sparingly. John is the snacker and there are always cookies and chips in the house, but he eats them very sparingly so they last forever. We go to farmer's markets and bodegas to purchase our fruits and veggies as they cost less and are usually better quality than what you find in the store because they're grown locally. An example, for dinner tonight we're having eggplant lasagne, but we have all of the staples in the house already, we buy things like canned tomatoes and pastes in bulk, so all I need from the store is eggplant and fresh basil. I'll just go to the bodega to get it and won't spend more than $3. I think the key for me is not buying a variety of snacks, having two or three kinds on hand is more than enough. But my husband is also a fantastic grocery store shopper, he finds great deals on good quality food because it's a priority for him to do so. I have learned a lot from shopping with him about how to spend less at the store.

ETA: I had a great workout, burned 500 calories and am feeling terrific. Woo hoo!