"You may delay, but time will not."
Benjamin Franklin
Saturday, July 18, 2009
My Regime, Week 3
At least I warned you the Portland trip might throw me off track... right?
So I went to Portland, quit dieting, slowed the exercise, and put on another ten pounds (Ok, technically it's only like 5... but I was considering 123lbs. to be a mistake, so I thought of myself as only weighing 118 lbs...). Cool.
Ok, so after gaining ten pounds, what is the first thing you want to hear? That you're going on a rafting trip in two months with several of your boyfriends closest friends? Didn't think so. So now not only do I have a bigger goal to tackle, I have a real legitimate date that I'd like to achieve that goal by. That's so much worse than the cute little fake ones we make up when trying to encourage ourselves...
About three weeks ago now I decided that I wasn't going to let this new trip depress me or overwhelm me - I was just going to get back to business. I started the first week just doing about 60 minutes of walking, at varied inclines, keeping my heart rate above 60% the entire time. I did this 5 days the first week. I've now moved on alternating days between 60 minutes, and 30 minutes (30 minute days the heart rate stays above 70%, and then I do three separate two minute bursts above 80%) for 6 days I week. I'm also on week three of the strength training section of my book.
I still maintain that Steve Zim is a genius when it comes to his exercises. I've never felt so good about myself while still being so overwhelmingly depressed by a stupid number on a scale. His one downfall, that I mentioned before, is that he's no dietitian. The first time that I started this book, I did the 2-week introduction that was supposed to have me see up to 10 pounds of weight loss - this didn't happen. This time, after working out hard for three weeks and not losing more than two pounds, I thought I'd research this state of Ketosis he discusses in the book more in depth (will post more about later...).
Turns out, he's a bit too lenient on the carb intake. The way he tells you to eat involves too many vegetables for the first two weeks. I know what you're thinking, how could vegetables be bad? They aren't silly! This is just a stupid little way to trick your body into burning fat instead of carbs, and in order to do that you need to start by drastically cutting your carbs, to less than 20g per day (one big salad with some broccoli and cauliflower will usually be enough to make you eat meat and eggs for the rest of the day...). After the first two weeks you gradually start working your way back up to normal by adding about 5g per week (or two weeks if you prefer). Eventually you should be back to normal, and actually if you are an incredibly active person there is a chance you could still be in Ketosis even after drastically increasing your carb intake.
So why is it such a big deal that Steve says yes to veggies when he shouldn't? What I've learned from my experience is that if you don't STRICTLY follow the low carb instructions, you will likely hover between ranges of blood sugar, never high enough to be nice, never low enough to induce ketosis. This is important to know, because if you are hovering, you're going to be as big of a butt head as I was the last time I did this. You're body will constantly be tired, you'll constantly have headaches, and everyone around you will suck! Take it from me, it seems overwhelming to cut carbs down so far, but it's necessary for your sanity.
Ok so, now I've been in my state of ketosis for two days, although I spent the week gearing up for it so I've been "low-carb" for like 5 days. When I first restarted this diet I was 128 lbs.
Current stats:
Weight: 122.8
Body Fat: 16.2% (Much lower than last time! Thanks Steve!)
Thighs: 21,21
Biceps: 10, 10
Waist: 28
Hips: 35
So obviously most things have stayed the same, with the exception of weight lost, fat lost and hips expanding (what!??!?!). One thing I'd like to point out, that has helped me from being discouraged, is that when you are exercising a lot, not only should you be drinking more water therefore carrying more water weight, but your muscles will actual be holding fluid as well. Whenever you tear your muscles (i.e. lifting weights) lactic acid builds up in your muscles to help repair them. Unfortunately lactic acid is more of a solid than it is a fluid and the "sharp" edges of this substance are what cause muscle soreness post workouts. Lactic acid also weighs something. Sometimes, like me, you'll be losing weight slowly, but body fat % a little faster and you're not sure what is going on. Surely in three weeks you can't have gained 7 pounds of muscle - that's a lot! You haven't, you just have too much stuff waiting to get flushed out.
Keep up the good work, pay attention to your calorie intake, and the quality of the food you're eating and eventually it will pay off. Changing up your diet every once in awhile (like I am...) is also a great way to reawaken your metabolism and get back to shedding pounds instead of plateauing!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
She Said What!?!
You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is.
Ellen Degeneres
Scary Stats: Obesity
Today's scary stats are going to shed light on the other side of the weight issue: Obesity. Obesity is quickly approaching the top of the "leading cause of death" list, and should therefore be taken very seriously.
Of course, most people reading this blog are thinking "ok I wanted to lose weight, I didn't say I was obese..." and you're super offended. Don't be, I just want to remind you of all the things that won't be happening to you because you've chosen to be responsible for your health and wellness.
Although the topic has been debated, several popular ingredients found in today's super markets have been found to increase your chances of becoming obese. Now if you don't subscribe to this line of thinking, consider for a moment that they are right. What if all these things, like high fructose corn syrup, and hydrogenated oils, and artificial colors really are somehow increasing your appetite, and/or slowing down your metabolism, and/or causing cancer? What if they are?
Isn't the slight possibility enough of an excuse to just give it a shot? Chances are you tried plenty of diets, and they've all failed, or you wouldn't be here. So now let's pretend that you're new diet is to listen to the hippies and eat organic vegetables, and sustainably raised meats.
· USA Obesity Rates Reach Epidemic Proportions
·
o 58 Million Overweight; 40 Million Obese; 3 Million morbidly Obese
o Eight out of 10 over 25's Overweight
o 78% of Americans not meeting basic activity level recommendations
o 25% completely Sedentary
o 76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 yrs old since 1990
· Obesity Related Diseases
o 80% of type II diabetes related to obesity
o 70% of Cardiovascular disease related to obesity
o 42% breast and colon cancer diagnosed among obese individuals
o 30% of gall bladder surgery related to obesity
o 26% of obese people having high blood pressure
· Childhood Obesity Running Out of Control
o 4% overweight 1982 | 16% overweight 1994
o 25% of all white children overweight 2001
o 33% African American and Hispanic children overweight 2001
o Hospital costs associated with childhood obesity rising from $35 Million (1979) to $127 Million (1999)
· Childhood Metabolic and Heart Risks
o New study suggests one in four overweight children is already showing early signs of type II diabetes (impaired glucose intolerance)
o 60% already have one risk factor for heart disease
· Surge in Childhood Diabetes
o Between 8% - 45% of newly diagnosed cases of childhood diabetes are type II, associated with obesity.
o Whereas 4% of Childhood diabetes was type II in 1990, that number has risen to approximately 20%
o Depending on the age group (Type II most frequent 10-19 group) and the racial/ethnic mix of group stated
o Of Children diagnosed with Type II diabetes, 85% are obese
I went ahead and bolded the 78% of Americans not meeting the basic activity level... Ouch. That one stung a little. I've been that American, which I blame mostly on the beginning of TRL and my strong aversion to sunlight as a teenager... Not anymore folks!
I haven't updated "My Regime" in quite awhile, because... well, it hit a snag. But I'm back on the wagon folks and you'll be happy to know that I most certainly do not consider myself among that 78%.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
She Said What!?!
"You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there."
-Unknown Author
-Unknown Author
In Review: The Denim Diet
Due to my slightly higher than usual interest in nutrition, I tend to read every new fad diet book (or at least a fair amount of excerpts from it online...) whenever one comes along. I recently heard of a new book titled The Denim Diet, written by Kami Gray, a wardrobe stylist out of Portland, OR. As a native Oregonian, and an individual who works in Media Production, I was not only intrigued to hear her take, but I also wanted to be supportive of this Oregonian's new endeavor.
The book was an incredibly quick read, and Kami's writing style is both humorous (without breaching on annoying) and concise. As she isn't a nutritionist or dietitian, I can only assume that she did thorough research to back up her "16 Simple Habits" before publishing the book - if she just had all the info memorized, it's fairly impressive; she doesn't skimp on scientific evidence.
All in all, I had a really good time reading the book. Good enough that I'll probably be sticking it on a shelf and NOT loaning it to people (diet books never come back...). Her tips are straight-forward and presented in a "common sense" kind of way that makes you feel empowered to make better decisions when it comes to food. That being said, for me, an avid diet and nutrition reader, most of it was redundant information. That's the problem with writing a book about common sense - it's common sense.
The thing to keep in mind, however, for all of us out there with emotional eating habits, and massive binge crashes after even the smallest attempt at a diet, is that sometimes we just need a gentle reminder of the facts. Yes I may have known most of what Kami was talking about, but I wasn't really practicing it, and when I was, it was in a begrudging fashion. Now, with the help of her humor and humanity, I've been able to realign my thinking back to the way it used to be, AND (here's the kicker...) feel good about it.
So to summarize the book, I would highly recommend it. She's got the cold hard basics down, she doesn't preach perfection, just a lifestyle, and it's entertaining. Sometimes we need a little entertainment to help us mourn the loss of our Wendy's Baconator Sunday rituals.
The book was an incredibly quick read, and Kami's writing style is both humorous (without breaching on annoying) and concise. As she isn't a nutritionist or dietitian, I can only assume that she did thorough research to back up her "16 Simple Habits" before publishing the book - if she just had all the info memorized, it's fairly impressive; she doesn't skimp on scientific evidence.
All in all, I had a really good time reading the book. Good enough that I'll probably be sticking it on a shelf and NOT loaning it to people (diet books never come back...). Her tips are straight-forward and presented in a "common sense" kind of way that makes you feel empowered to make better decisions when it comes to food. That being said, for me, an avid diet and nutrition reader, most of it was redundant information. That's the problem with writing a book about common sense - it's common sense.
The thing to keep in mind, however, for all of us out there with emotional eating habits, and massive binge crashes after even the smallest attempt at a diet, is that sometimes we just need a gentle reminder of the facts. Yes I may have known most of what Kami was talking about, but I wasn't really practicing it, and when I was, it was in a begrudging fashion. Now, with the help of her humor and humanity, I've been able to realign my thinking back to the way it used to be, AND (here's the kicker...) feel good about it.
So to summarize the book, I would highly recommend it. She's got the cold hard basics down, she doesn't preach perfection, just a lifestyle, and it's entertaining. Sometimes we need a little entertainment to help us mourn the loss of our Wendy's Baconator Sunday rituals.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
To The Mat: Water and Proper Hydration
I love how often people come out with new studies proving/disproving something we've been taught our whole lives. It's like math, you learn these simple rules for years and years, and then all of sudden you take college trig and they're like "forget this rule, it's not entirely true"... W.T.F. Why not just tell me that it isn't necessarily true in the first place so it's not like you're rocking my entire world! Idiots.
Anywho, today's discussion of annoying back and forths is going to be surrounding water and proper hydration. I've seen a bunch of Diet Coke fridge packs lately toting slogans like "recent studies have proven that drinking any liquid will help you stay hydrated" - which, by the way, is so reassuring when poison tries to convince you it isn't poison... As usual, I've digressed. Of course ANY liquid will keep you hydrated, but the big picture is, hydrated at what cost!?!
Drinking any fluid that has large quantities of sugar, or carbonation can not only add empty calories, but also leach important nutrients from our systems as well as decrease bone density (i.e. higher the chances of getting Osteoporosis, and increase potential bone fractures). Diet drinks are certainly not any better with their cancer causing aspartame, and possibly death inducing sucralose (read the toxicology report on Splenda - I don't think food items are supposed to mention death that often). All of the facts on other beverages would lead me to assume that of all the things that you CAN drink, water is the best possible choice.
SO let's get a few things straight here. Water is allegedly the majority of our entire bodies make-up, as in it's in our cells, and helps encourage our cells to operate at normal and healthy levels. It helps maintain hydration, without any side-effects, aside from, of course, more frequent bathroom breaks. (I like to think of large amounts of water consumption as my excuse for cigarette breaks. You always know that smokers get like one ten-minute break an hour. If you drink copious amounts of liquid, you might just well reach that some number yourself, and you smell far less disgusting).
Now, however, more and more reports are surfacing that the required 8 glasses a day may not be required at all. That drinking water may not help your skin, or help your health. Ok, fine, so that clear, flavorless (unless you live in L.A...) fluid doesn't necessarily benefit you. I could see that, I mean it's like as close to nothing as you can get. But, let's just say, that now you're on your high horse like "oh I don't need to drink water, I can drink what I want!" and you're downing like one regular soda, three diet soda's and four glasses of juice a day - but oh don't forget that Jamba Juice you had at lunch.
IDIOT- You've had like a days worth of calories in liquid alone, not to mention an outrageous amount of carbs! If you have that many simple carbs with NO protein your blood sugar levels will sky rocket, leading to an inevitable crash, increased sugar cravings - and after awhile, A HUGE FAT ASS. So not only are you stupid, but you're also fat. Seriously.
Now that I've insulted your appearance and intelligence, let me fill you in on a little secret. If I don't force myself to drink water, I won't. I LURVE Diet Soda. I LURVE cancer-causing carcinogens. I go through periods where I ween myself, but I always go back in the end. So I guess the moral of the story is that you should own up to your shortcomings, and realize that you can make better choices most of the time. This might make you feel less guilty when you're hiding in your car chugging a Diet Hansen's Root Beer before going inside to your loving family who's still smarting from your "No More High Fructose Corn Syrup or Sugar Substitute" spring cleaning fest.
Everything in moderation. Except water... and lettuce. You can crazy with the water and the lettuce.
Anywho, today's discussion of annoying back and forths is going to be surrounding water and proper hydration. I've seen a bunch of Diet Coke fridge packs lately toting slogans like "recent studies have proven that drinking any liquid will help you stay hydrated" - which, by the way, is so reassuring when poison tries to convince you it isn't poison... As usual, I've digressed. Of course ANY liquid will keep you hydrated, but the big picture is, hydrated at what cost!?!
Drinking any fluid that has large quantities of sugar, or carbonation can not only add empty calories, but also leach important nutrients from our systems as well as decrease bone density (i.e. higher the chances of getting Osteoporosis, and increase potential bone fractures). Diet drinks are certainly not any better with their cancer causing aspartame, and possibly death inducing sucralose (read the toxicology report on Splenda - I don't think food items are supposed to mention death that often). All of the facts on other beverages would lead me to assume that of all the things that you CAN drink, water is the best possible choice.
SO let's get a few things straight here. Water is allegedly the majority of our entire bodies make-up, as in it's in our cells, and helps encourage our cells to operate at normal and healthy levels. It helps maintain hydration, without any side-effects, aside from, of course, more frequent bathroom breaks. (I like to think of large amounts of water consumption as my excuse for cigarette breaks. You always know that smokers get like one ten-minute break an hour. If you drink copious amounts of liquid, you might just well reach that some number yourself, and you smell far less disgusting).
Now, however, more and more reports are surfacing that the required 8 glasses a day may not be required at all. That drinking water may not help your skin, or help your health. Ok, fine, so that clear, flavorless (unless you live in L.A...) fluid doesn't necessarily benefit you. I could see that, I mean it's like as close to nothing as you can get. But, let's just say, that now you're on your high horse like "oh I don't need to drink water, I can drink what I want!" and you're downing like one regular soda, three diet soda's and four glasses of juice a day - but oh don't forget that Jamba Juice you had at lunch.
IDIOT- You've had like a days worth of calories in liquid alone, not to mention an outrageous amount of carbs! If you have that many simple carbs with NO protein your blood sugar levels will sky rocket, leading to an inevitable crash, increased sugar cravings - and after awhile, A HUGE FAT ASS. So not only are you stupid, but you're also fat. Seriously.
Now that I've insulted your appearance and intelligence, let me fill you in on a little secret. If I don't force myself to drink water, I won't. I LURVE Diet Soda. I LURVE cancer-causing carcinogens. I go through periods where I ween myself, but I always go back in the end. So I guess the moral of the story is that you should own up to your shortcomings, and realize that you can make better choices most of the time. This might make you feel less guilty when you're hiding in your car chugging a Diet Hansen's Root Beer before going inside to your loving family who's still smarting from your "No More High Fructose Corn Syrup or Sugar Substitute" spring cleaning fest.
Everything in moderation. Except water... and lettuce. You can crazy with the water and the lettuce.
Monday, May 11, 2009
My Regime, Week 2
SO here we are at week two. So far I've had no more changes to my weight or measurements, which I think would normally have made me a bit depressed and I'd want to derail from my diet - HOWEVER this diet program might just be doing what we all convince ourselves a diet program is supposed to do; making me feel good about myself!
In the book, Steve Zim says that after two weeks you'll notice that you look different and feel different. When I read that I was like, "uh huh... sure... get over yourself buddy. If your diet program was actually that good I would have heard of it by now." - well Stevie is laughing now.
I feel great, I can tell my stomach is getting flatter, my posture is improving, I feel in control of my eating habits and like I'm consistently putting healthy food into my system. To top it all off, I cheated for a meal this past weekend and went to Fat Burger, which is soooo delicious and sooo fattening. Not only did I not feel guilty at all for eating the meal because I knew that one indulgence wouldn't be enough to offset all my hard work, but I actually didn't even enjoy it as much as I usually enjoy a good bacon cheeseburger dipped in mayonnaise!
Now that I've completed my two-week initiation things are supposed to start getting intense. He sort of makes you work out until you can't move anymore, so it's going to take a lot of motivation and commitment to get through the next four weeks of exercise. The best part of coming out of these first two weeks is that I feel the hardest part is over, I can eat a half a bagel now if I want to (I'm SOOOO much nicer with normal blood sugar levels...), and I've already created the habit of five small meals, waking up early everyday, avoiding alcohol and doing cardio six days a week.
One small issue is that I'm taking a trip up to Portland in two weeks, and I know I'll spend the whole week eating my heart out - and there is a possibility I might extend the trip an extra week. So I'm nervous about undoing all my hard work, but I think as long as I stay committed until my vaca, it'll make me that much more likely to want to get back into this "happy place" once I return to LA.
We'll see. Until then I'll keep you posted on my incapacitating workouts :)
In the book, Steve Zim says that after two weeks you'll notice that you look different and feel different. When I read that I was like, "uh huh... sure... get over yourself buddy. If your diet program was actually that good I would have heard of it by now." - well Stevie is laughing now.
I feel great, I can tell my stomach is getting flatter, my posture is improving, I feel in control of my eating habits and like I'm consistently putting healthy food into my system. To top it all off, I cheated for a meal this past weekend and went to Fat Burger, which is soooo delicious and sooo fattening. Not only did I not feel guilty at all for eating the meal because I knew that one indulgence wouldn't be enough to offset all my hard work, but I actually didn't even enjoy it as much as I usually enjoy a good bacon cheeseburger dipped in mayonnaise!
Now that I've completed my two-week initiation things are supposed to start getting intense. He sort of makes you work out until you can't move anymore, so it's going to take a lot of motivation and commitment to get through the next four weeks of exercise. The best part of coming out of these first two weeks is that I feel the hardest part is over, I can eat a half a bagel now if I want to (I'm SOOOO much nicer with normal blood sugar levels...), and I've already created the habit of five small meals, waking up early everyday, avoiding alcohol and doing cardio six days a week.
One small issue is that I'm taking a trip up to Portland in two weeks, and I know I'll spend the whole week eating my heart out - and there is a possibility I might extend the trip an extra week. So I'm nervous about undoing all my hard work, but I think as long as I stay committed until my vaca, it'll make me that much more likely to want to get back into this "happy place" once I return to LA.
We'll see. Until then I'll keep you posted on my incapacitating workouts :)
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Scary Stats
Just an little warning here, most of the websites I pulled these statistics from made a point to say that the actually study of Anorexia is fairly new (as in 15-25 years) so some of this information may change. I'll try to keep it as updated as I possibly can.
• An estimated 8 million Americans have an eating disorder (7 million women, 1 million men)
• 1 in 200 American women suffer from Anorexia
• 2 to 3 in 100 American women suffer from bulimia
• Almost half of all Americans personally know someone with an eating disorder
• 10-15% of people with anorexia/bulimia are males
• Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness
• An estimated 5-10% of anorexics die within 10 years of contracting the disease; 18-20% will die after 20 years, and only 30-40% will ever fully recover
• The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of ALL causes of death for females 15-24 years old
• 20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems
• Only 1 in 10 people with eating disorders receive treatment
• Anorexia is the 3rd most common chronic illness among adolescents
• 95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25
• 50% of girls between the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight
• 80% of 13 year olds have attempted to lose weight
• 40 – 60% of high school girls diet.
• 40% of 9 year old girls dieted.
• Four of every five women in the United States are dissatisfied with their appearance.
• 7-9% of those practicing "normal dieting" will advance to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders.
• 45% of women in the United States are dieting today, as are 25% of men.
• According to a 1996 study, 95% of dieters will regain weight they lose within five years.
• Amount of money spent on dieting and weight-loss-related spending per year: $40 billion.
• As early as 1991, a study found that 81% of 10-year-olds fear that they will become fat.
• A survey of women on a college campus found that 91% had tried to diet to control their weight.
These are some scary scary stats here folks. I obviously (if you couldn't tell from the LARGE, bold, italic, redness of it...) want to make a point to talk about people moving from normal dieting to full-syndrome eating disorders. 7-9% might seem small, but it's like the lottery, you probably won't be the one, but you might be.
I think that it's good to make sure that you are maintaining healthy habits when you start a diet/exercise program. A good tool is to suck it up and have someone take that dreaded before bikini picture. With today's digital cameras and camera phones, you should be able to do this while rest-assured that no one will ever see it but you and the person who took the camera. If you're really luck, the other person will be the set timer on your camera.
Anywho, I digress. The point of the photo is that it can help you keep a visual on what you looked like before you began the program. Many of us lose weight and fail to see that we've lost it, because, obviously we were along the for the entire ride... so it happened s-l-o-w-l-y. Sometimes we can convince ourselves we so haven't progressed that we don't even attempt the "jeans" test because we're afraid it will depress us too much.
Other things to keep in mind are that most studies say that over 60 minutes of cardio in a day will not truly benefit you anymore than just the minimum 30. Your heart will not become exponentially stronger because you ran 17 miles today. It probably won't even have the calorie burning effect that you'd like it to have. Unfortunately for us, our bodies tend to be significantly smarter than our minds, and your body will switch into an efficiency mode after 60 minutes of continued cardio, preventing you from burning even a fraction of what you were burning before.
Think it's impossible for your body to run on nothing? It's certainly not. This is why Anorexia is such an awful idea. When you lose weight from not eating, the last place your body will go for fuel is to your fat stores. These live on your body because when we were cavemen we went for extended periods of time without warmth or food. Fat stores are the absolute last thing that your body wants to give up. Do you know what has more nutrients than fat stores? You're bones and your muscles... When you are anorexic, you have lost a lot of RANDOM weight, meaning bone, muscle and water weight NOT fat.
Please eat food. It's delicious, and it's necessary to lose body fat.
• An estimated 8 million Americans have an eating disorder (7 million women, 1 million men)
• 1 in 200 American women suffer from Anorexia
• 2 to 3 in 100 American women suffer from bulimia
• Almost half of all Americans personally know someone with an eating disorder
• 10-15% of people with anorexia/bulimia are males
• Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness
• An estimated 5-10% of anorexics die within 10 years of contracting the disease; 18-20% will die after 20 years, and only 30-40% will ever fully recover
• The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of ALL causes of death for females 15-24 years old
• 20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems
• Only 1 in 10 people with eating disorders receive treatment
• Anorexia is the 3rd most common chronic illness among adolescents
• 95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25
• 50% of girls between the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight
• 80% of 13 year olds have attempted to lose weight
• 40 – 60% of high school girls diet.
• 40% of 9 year old girls dieted.
• Four of every five women in the United States are dissatisfied with their appearance.
• 7-9% of those practicing "normal dieting" will advance to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders.
• 45% of women in the United States are dieting today, as are 25% of men.
• According to a 1996 study, 95% of dieters will regain weight they lose within five years.
• Amount of money spent on dieting and weight-loss-related spending per year: $40 billion.
• As early as 1991, a study found that 81% of 10-year-olds fear that they will become fat.
• A survey of women on a college campus found that 91% had tried to diet to control their weight.
These are some scary scary stats here folks. I obviously (if you couldn't tell from the LARGE, bold, italic, redness of it...) want to make a point to talk about people moving from normal dieting to full-syndrome eating disorders. 7-9% might seem small, but it's like the lottery, you probably won't be the one, but you might be.
I think that it's good to make sure that you are maintaining healthy habits when you start a diet/exercise program. A good tool is to suck it up and have someone take that dreaded before bikini picture. With today's digital cameras and camera phones, you should be able to do this while rest-assured that no one will ever see it but you and the person who took the camera. If you're really luck, the other person will be the set timer on your camera.
Anywho, I digress. The point of the photo is that it can help you keep a visual on what you looked like before you began the program. Many of us lose weight and fail to see that we've lost it, because, obviously we were along the for the entire ride... so it happened s-l-o-w-l-y. Sometimes we can convince ourselves we so haven't progressed that we don't even attempt the "jeans" test because we're afraid it will depress us too much.
Other things to keep in mind are that most studies say that over 60 minutes of cardio in a day will not truly benefit you anymore than just the minimum 30. Your heart will not become exponentially stronger because you ran 17 miles today. It probably won't even have the calorie burning effect that you'd like it to have. Unfortunately for us, our bodies tend to be significantly smarter than our minds, and your body will switch into an efficiency mode after 60 minutes of continued cardio, preventing you from burning even a fraction of what you were burning before.
Think it's impossible for your body to run on nothing? It's certainly not. This is why Anorexia is such an awful idea. When you lose weight from not eating, the last place your body will go for fuel is to your fat stores. These live on your body because when we were cavemen we went for extended periods of time without warmth or food. Fat stores are the absolute last thing that your body wants to give up. Do you know what has more nutrients than fat stores? You're bones and your muscles... When you are anorexic, you have lost a lot of RANDOM weight, meaning bone, muscle and water weight NOT fat.
Please eat food. It's delicious, and it's necessary to lose body fat.
Monday, May 4, 2009
My Regime, Week 1
Last week I started a new diet/exercise program based on a relatively cheap book titled "6 Weeks to a Hollywood Body" by Steve Zim. I know the title sounds a bit far-fetched, but I found out about this trainer while trying to find an inexpensive boot-camp-esque option around town to help me dive back into an exercise program.
This guy, Steve Zim, has trained baseball players, Olympic athletes, and athletic celebrities (such as my FAV Hollywood ass, Jessica Biel). His big on spot toning, which tends to be a controversial subject among trainers, and about thinking of food as fuel rather than the deliciously scrumptious morsels it really is. Obviously he'll have a hard time converting me on the second part of the program...
So here are the basics. You can do every workout without having to have access to a gym. You simply need the following tools:
So now that we know all of the things we need, let's get to the lame stuff. The diet. Fortunately Steve sets things up in a short-term, albeit confusing manor. For the first two weeks you have to adhere to a pretty strict Zone-ish diet in order to sort of prepare yourself for the intense last four weeks of the program. Once again, the basics:
Of course, unemployment or working from home would also help you a great deal, as it's hard to stay on track in the stressful unpredictable working world... Or at least I would assume.
I've finished a week of the program, so I'll give you my starting measurements, and my current.
Starting:
Weight: 123.8
Body Fat: 22.6
Biceps: 10.5, 10.5
Thighs: 21, 21.5
Waist: 29
Hips: 34.5
Current:
Weight: 120.0
Body Fat: 20.7
Biceps: 10, 10
Thighs: 21.5, 22
Waist: 28
Hips: 34.5
What a post, eh? I'll leave you alone for awhile.
This guy, Steve Zim, has trained baseball players, Olympic athletes, and athletic celebrities (such as my FAV Hollywood ass, Jessica Biel). His big on spot toning, which tends to be a controversial subject among trainers, and about thinking of food as fuel rather than the deliciously scrumptious morsels it really is. Obviously he'll have a hard time converting me on the second part of the program...
So here are the basics. You can do every workout without having to have access to a gym. You simply need the following tools:
- Exercise Ball (Probably the small size would be best, I have the medium and it's a bit too big for some of the more advanced moves, then again, I am only 5'2")
- Two sets of dumbells, for us ladies that's a 2lb. or 3lb. and then a 5lb.
- Ankle weights, ranging from 1lb. to 5lbs.
- An exercise mat, but a thick one, not a thin little yoga thing
- Good shoes
- A heart rate monitor (not entirely necessary, if you have the drive to push yourself, you'll probably KNOW that you're working your cardio enough)
- His book, which is about $14 on Amazon (some of the new paperback swap websites have it as well)
So now that we know all of the things we need, let's get to the lame stuff. The diet. Fortunately Steve sets things up in a short-term, albeit confusing manor. For the first two weeks you have to adhere to a pretty strict Zone-ish diet in order to sort of prepare yourself for the intense last four weeks of the program. Once again, the basics:
- NO simple carbs such as bread, rice, or pasta (for good measure I cut out beans too, but he doesn't clarify this which is sort of annoying)
- Stay hydrated with 8-10 glasses of water a day
- Eat at least 5 small meals everyday
- Eat within an hour of waking up, then every 2.5 to 3 hours after that, last meal should fall about 2 hours before bedtime
- Portions should include unprocessed, low-fat protein (like chicken/turkey breast, egg whites, tofu or soy products) approximately the size of your palm and a vegetable portion to accompany it (you can go kind of crazy with veggies if you want)
- NO high fat veggies like avocado, or high sugar veggies like carrots
- Go easy on the fruit, keep it to a cup a day
- NEVER eat less than 1000 calories a day
Of course, unemployment or working from home would also help you a great deal, as it's hard to stay on track in the stressful unpredictable working world... Or at least I would assume.
I've finished a week of the program, so I'll give you my starting measurements, and my current.
Starting:
Weight: 123.8
Body Fat: 22.6
Biceps: 10.5, 10.5
Thighs: 21, 21.5
Waist: 29
Hips: 34.5
Current:
Weight: 120.0
Body Fat: 20.7
Biceps: 10, 10
Thighs: 21.5, 22
Waist: 28
Hips: 34.5
What a post, eh? I'll leave you alone for awhile.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Welcome Me!
Hey me, thanks for creating this hopefully fun and potentially informative blog!
I created this blog for all of us individuals who are trying to fight the fat and get in shape - but in a healthy way. As I've been searching the web for diet/exercise motivation lately I've been saddened to see how many Pro-Ana and Thinspiration sites have taken over the net. I get it, I was in high school once too, but NOW I'm an adult, who LOVES chocolate and having a nice tight ass. I don't know what sort of vodka/adderall/ambien cocktail all these girls are drinking, but THIS is not sexy:
I don't know about you, but I've dated guys before, and they all tend to respond to women the same way. Us ladies can sit there at look at Angelina Jolie when she's going through one of her "I'm starving like the babies in Africa" phases and be like "Damn, she's amazing!", but most guys we know are all going to say the same thing: "Yeah, she's super hot, but she's almost too skinny right now". Why would they say this you ask?? BECAUSE SHE IS!!
Aside from the train-wreck/emotionally-unstable lot of Angelina's, Lindsay's and Olsens', most celebrities and Victoria's Secret Super Models are not anorexic. They wouldn't have the tone and definition that they do if they were, nor would they have the ability to work 14-hour days.
So here I am. This is my tribute to real women, with real jobs, and a realistic body image. We don't need the perfect body, but we can get our bodies to be something we feel proud of and comfortable in, without going off the deep-end.
Why do I need to exercise? Because I love food, and yes I'm going to go to Chipotle and McDonald's, and when I can talk the boyfriend into it, The Olive Garden. So I exercise. Not always consistently, I can't fit into ANY of my jeans right now, but I know I will. I also know that when I do, I'll look toned and healthy, because I will be.
So here's to REAL thinspiration:
I created this blog for all of us individuals who are trying to fight the fat and get in shape - but in a healthy way. As I've been searching the web for diet/exercise motivation lately I've been saddened to see how many Pro-Ana and Thinspiration sites have taken over the net. I get it, I was in high school once too, but NOW I'm an adult, who LOVES chocolate and having a nice tight ass. I don't know what sort of vodka/adderall/ambien cocktail all these girls are drinking, but THIS is not sexy:
I don't know about you, but I've dated guys before, and they all tend to respond to women the same way. Us ladies can sit there at look at Angelina Jolie when she's going through one of her "I'm starving like the babies in Africa" phases and be like "Damn, she's amazing!", but most guys we know are all going to say the same thing: "Yeah, she's super hot, but she's almost too skinny right now". Why would they say this you ask?? BECAUSE SHE IS!!
Aside from the train-wreck/emotionally-unstable lot of Angelina's, Lindsay's and Olsens', most celebrities and Victoria's Secret Super Models are not anorexic. They wouldn't have the tone and definition that they do if they were, nor would they have the ability to work 14-hour days.
So here I am. This is my tribute to real women, with real jobs, and a realistic body image. We don't need the perfect body, but we can get our bodies to be something we feel proud of and comfortable in, without going off the deep-end.
Why do I need to exercise? Because I love food, and yes I'm going to go to Chipotle and McDonald's, and when I can talk the boyfriend into it, The Olive Garden. So I exercise. Not always consistently, I can't fit into ANY of my jeans right now, but I know I will. I also know that when I do, I'll look toned and healthy, because I will be.
So here's to REAL thinspiration:
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