To my 'all of nothing' friends

Sorry this post has taken so long. I wrote it, realized it was too long, tried to edit, got overwhelmed and then deleted and started over again. Now I am a full week late. I read a book this week that I felt strongly about and I tried to write a post about my philosophies. Then I realized that this is not a blog about philosophies on health and fitness. It is a blog to document my own journey to my goal and to help others with this goal to reach theirs. That goal, if anyone has forgotten, is to lose body fat.

So what I found was that I was letting a bunch of philosophies on overall health overshadow the basic goal of this blog. Obviously I would like to live a long and healthy life. I would like that for all of you too. The last post that I kept deleting was all about the ideal lifestyle for a long, disease-free life. The problem, however, is that no one actually knows that formula. We have a basic idea: more fruits/ veggies, less 'junk food' (though the definition of what 'junk' is changes all the time), get to a healthy weight/ body fat percentage, and exercise more. We tend to argue, though, over the specifics: what is 'junk' (gluten, carbs, sugar, etc), ratios of macronutrients, ratios of food groups, etc. 

I ended up coming to the conclusion that it is kind of pointless for me to dwell on specific ideals for perfect health when I know I am so far from perfect it isn't even funny. I realized that, that kind of thinking has consistently contributed to my problem. I am an ALL OR NOTHING fat loser. I want to get to my goal and I am going to do it perfectly. When I don't, I tend to go off the wagon for the rest of the week until I can start again on Monday. I can't make this week perfect so I have to wait to start again on Monday so next week can be perfect. 

I shared my thoughts about this with my husband this past week. I told him that it was silly of me to try to be perfect when the smartest people in the industry, the people conducting thousands of really expensive studies have absolutely no idea and can't agree on what 'perfect' is. He quoted Voltaire by saying, "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good."

So the main point of what I am trying to say is: We don't know what perfect is. Focus on what you can do right now. For me it is simply staying at a calorie deficit every single day. Some days I hit my maintenance calories but I have not had a surplus in 36 days. Just focusing on calories (which is something that I can do REALLY well) I can get much closer to my goal much faster than trying to be perfect, failing, going off the handle, and then ending up with more ground to make up than I had in the first place.  Find something that will get you closer to your goal. Something that you can do really well right now. Make that your main focus and add to it little by little. 

You may have heard that, those who reach their goals more slowly tend to stay at their goals longer. Well that may be a little misleading. Many of us know of and have tried programs that promise to get us to our goals faster. The problem is that we end up getting close without actually finishing. So really, switching to a focus on little changes made over a longer period of time may, in reality be a faster course to a goal because the habits set during that course may actually get you to your goal. Period.

I know many of you are frustrated. I am too. But hang in there. The holidays are coming up and so many of us give up this time of year thinking that somehow the New Year will magically be easier. Focus on what you can do now. If it isn't a calorie deficit, maybe it is simply keeping a record of your calories. No matter what or how much you eat, log it all. That will make a huge difference in and of itself. Or find something else that works for you and that you can focus on. You know what you can do. My job is to believe you can do it!

My Progress: 

Weight: 169.1 lbs 

Successes: I went on my 2-year wedding anniversary trip this weekend and didn't overeat! I ate exactly what I wanted at the Old Spaghetti Factory with bread and spumoni. People, if you haven't figured it out yet, logging is a beautiful thing. It honestly and truthfully sets you free.

Confession: I may have been able to keep my deficit this week but I definitely did not do well this whole weekend with meal frequencies or overall health or macronutrient balance of the foods that I ate. I am excited to get back to a normal day tomorrow.

Month 2 Update

I just had my measurements this week and here are the results:

7/31- Start

Weight: 198 lbs
Body Fat %: 35.1
Lbs Body Fat: 69.5
Lbs Lean: 128.5


9/10- Last Measurements

Weight: 184.6 (-13.4)
Body Fat %: 33.5 (-1.6)
Lbs Body Fat: 61.8 (-7.7)
Lbs Lean: 122.8 (-5.7)

Total inches lost: 9.35

10/7- Current

Weight: 175.5 (-9.1 from last; -22.5 total)
Body Fat %: 32 (-1.5 from last; -3.1 total)
Lbs Body Fat: 56.16 (-5.7 from last; -13.4 total)
Lbs Lean: 119.34 (-3.5 from last; -9.2 total)

Here's where I started 

Last Month

Today

I didn't reach my goal of 31% this month. It seems that, along with my fat, I am also losing quite a bit of lean body mass. I'll be cracking down a little more on my nutrition and set a goal for five days in the weight room this month. 

Successes: I have been logging everything everyday despite an entire week of being sick and unable to work out. 

I set a goal not to have any 'cheat days' for 90-days (except Halloween and Thanksgiving). A cheat day means that I eat a surplus of calories. I used to allow myself at least one a week but I want a ceiling fan in my bedroom and this seemed like a fun way to earn it. It has now been three full weeks and I have either been at a calorie deficit or at maintenance. 

When I wasn't sick, I did walk to the gym four times a week and I did do my weights. I set my new steps goal to 10,000/ day.  

Confessions: Though I have been doing a decent job logging my food and staying at a deficit I have not been doing a great job focusing on my macronutrients (proteins, cards, and fats). 

My goal for October is to reach 30% or less. My prize is a carpet for my entryway. Wish me luck!

Week 9 - The body is a construction site

Sorry for the late post this week! I got a sinus infection and have been trying to catch up since.

I wanted to talk about the body today in the context of a construction site to dispel a few myths about nutrition, strength training and weight loss.

Myth #1: I should focus more on cardio when losing weight because it burns more calories.

- Cardio may burn more calories in an hour but only for that hour. You will be burning fat that you have already stored from food you have already eaten.

Now to the construction site analogy: I want you to think of your body as a Wreck It Ralph game. You build and repair tissues and cells constantly (and the materials used in your repairs comes from your nutrition). When you take in more nutrition than is needed for repairs, it is stored as body fat. When you lift weights properly, you unleash Wreck It Ralph on your muscles. He breaks them down and they need to be repaired by Fix If Felix. Felix gets his hammer and some proteins, carbs, and fats and goes to work over the next few days to make those muscles, not only withstand the weights you just put them through but also makes a few improvements so Ralph has to work harder next time to break them down (you get stronger).

When you lift weights and break down muscle, you send a work order for nutrients to go to repairing that tissue. You can't store something that is being used. Then, with denser (not necessarily bigger) muscles on your bones, your basal metabolic rate increases so you burn more calories simply by existing than you did before. In the long run, you will stay at your goal longer with a focus on strength training rather than cardio (but still do cardio! I am definitely NOT against cardio!).

Myth #2: Weight lifting will make me bigger.

- I have tried to explain this one until I have become blue in the face and I feel that the construction site analogy is most helpful in trying to dispel this silly myth.

If you try to build a 20 story building and you only provide 15 stories-worth of materials, how much of a building can you construct? This is not a trick question. The answer is only 15 stories. What if you pay your workers more (by lifting weights)? It doesn't matter. YOU CAN'T MAKE SOMETHING BIGGER WITHOUT GIVING IT MATERIAL TO GROW! So, ladies, if you are eating at a calorie deficit (you eat less than you burn), you CANNOT get bigger. (It also takes AT LEAST six weeks for any MEASURABLE muscle gain. Most strength gains in your first six weeks are neurological, not structural. Your body gets better at lifting, not bigger.)

If you have experienced a slight increase in circumference after lifting weights it is probably just water. Weight lifters often refer to that phenomenon as 'getting swole', referring to getting swollen. If you have caused tiny tears in your muscle you have essentially injured it. Any time you injure a body part, fluid rushes to the site to bring nutrients to repair the tissue. The bloating will subside in a day or so and will not happen every time you lift weights because your body will adapt.

Myth #3: It doesn't matter what I eat as long as I eat less of it

- Calories are key in losing fat. However, you probably want to keep the fat off long term which means that you probably want to keep as much muscle as possible. When you eat a low carb, high junk food, or any type of diet that is deficient in one or more of the macronutrients or too high in others, you will lose weight but it might not all be from the right source.

Last building analogy: You want to build a 20 story building. You have enough of all the materials except nails. You only have enough nails for 15 stories. How much of that building can you complete? You've got it! Only 15. What if you give your workers more wood? Still doesn't fix the problem. So your workers will do what they can and they will build you your 15 story building and put the rest of the materials into storage. Where is that on your body? Fat. So Wreck It Ralph will continue to beat your building down and you will continue to build up as much as you can (though Ralph will probably break it faster than your limited materials can repair it) and you keep storing the excess. You lose more pounds of muscle than of fat.

See how that is working against yourself? I would rather lose weight more slowly if it means that I am keeping the lean body mass if the weight that I am losing is coming straight from body fat. Last time I worked on this goal, I did it right. I focused on getting the right macronutrient balance and lifted weights. When I lost my first six pounds it looked like I had lost 15. That's because I was losing cleanly.

My next nutrition post will be on macronutrients but I encourage anyone who wants to start treating their bodies like the construction site to ask a knowledgeable trainer (or email me for help with this) to start seeing where they can improve.

My Progress: 

Weight: 175 lbs (There was a typo last week. I was actually 180.2 lbs. I am down this week, not up). I have measurements tomorrow afternoon so we will get an official verdict on how my last month has gone. 

Successes: I logged everything and stayed under my calorie burn all week despite my sinus infection and lack of workouts. I had family dinners, a trip to Burgerville, and a coupon for an unexpected free dinner for two at Chipotle (including chips and guacamole) and I STILL managed to stay at a deficit. To anyone who does not yet believe in food logging I must testify, LOGGING MAKES YOU FREE! You can enjoy so much more food if you know what you are eating and simply plan for it. 

Confession: I got a GREAT leg day in on Monday... and that was it.