Saturday stats -- vegan athletes and protein needs
Alright, lets get the bad news out of the way right away. That TOM will
soon be upon me, so I'm up in weight this week. Some months, like the
last one, I just didn't lose anything, and other months, like this one, I
gain a bit. I wish I didn't have to deal with that every month,
because it is really discouraging, but there's no point wishing on
things you can't change, so it's better to just accept it and move on.
I'm 113.4 kg (250 lb) this week, which is up 0.6 kg (1.32 lb) from last
week. I know it will pass in a week or so, but it still sucks big time.
As I said in my previous post, though I did well at the first official
weigh and measure since I started training a month ago -- other than
that pesky body fat percentage going up slightly, and dropping in muscle
mass. The head trainer sent me a text message during the week to come
in and talk to him about it. So I did -- he is concerned about my vegan
diet. He says I need to reduce my carbs and eat more protein,
preferably animal protein. Of course I told him that's just not going
to happen. So then he said to use a protein powder, but I'm not sure
how that will fit into my daily calories as he doesn't want me to use it
as a meal replacement. I work hard to keep my carbs at or below 60% of
my calories, but it's hard to do that without taking in too much fat.
He's not concerned about fat, just getting those carbs way down. You
can't convince him the body needs healthy (not processed) carbs -- in
fact I know he's got some of the other girls basically eating a modified
Atkins diet -- modified only in that it's probably lower in fat. He's
really not supportive of the vegan diet, but of course ultimately it's
up to me what I put in my mouth. Still I'd like to ensure I'm eating
the right balance for optimal health, so I've been doing some online
research.
Of course there are vegan bodybuilders and athletes out there -- and I
did find a site with suggested calorie / carb / protein / fat levels for
women, but it assumes you're a bodybuilder, and the recommended calorie
intake was WAY above where I should be. And it didn't really suggest
WHAT to eat. Then I came upon Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life.
This looked interesting, and more along the lines of what I was looking
for, so I've ordered a copy. I'm anxious to get that (though I'm
already in the middle of two books, so I'd better get reading! LOL).
It shouldn't be this hard. We shouldn't have to count calories and
obsess about food choices! Other than domesticated animals that live
with humans, animals don't get overweight! They just eat what nature
intended and stay a normal body weight. Maybe that's it -- eat what
nature intended. I'm eating almost totally vegan and low-fat as well,
but not always whole foods. I rarely eat bread, but I do have
wholegrain cereal and tortillas. And at this time of the month, I also
tend to give in to other binge-worthy treats that I know I shouldn't
have (like last night) but I'm working on that. I don't know about you
guys, but evenings are really the biggest challenge for me. That's when
I tend to crave things I know I shouldn't have, and though I usually
don't give in, some days I do. It's an ongoing struggle. I'm not
perfect, but I'm doing the best I can most of the time.
I'm also finding more time to meditate and focus on positive
affirmations. I know from experience that they work -- just change any
negative thoughts that creep in from time to time to positive
affirmations instead, and repeat them often. It really does need to be
about improving in body, mind AND spirit. Hope you've all had a great
week!
1st Official (4 week) Weigh & Measure at the Fitness Center
Today I had my 1st official weigh & measure since joining the
Fitness Center and participating in group training sessions for the last
four weeks. The results were very good, but also confusing -- both to
me and the trainer.
OK so Friday, January 7th was my initial
weigh-in (training started the following Monday) and their scale
actually said more than my home scale did at the time. So my official
start weight was 116.1 kg (256 lb). But today their scale said less
than mine did -- I came in at 112.9 kg (248.9) for a loss of 3.2 kg
(7.1 lb) -- now that total loss does match the total I get from my home
scale, so no big surprise there, but I'm not sure how accurate their
scale is. Not only with weight, but other measurements as well.
It's
supposed to calculate your % of body fat and water, and the weight of
muscle, bone, etc. I remember thinking the percentages do not total
100%, which I commented on at the initial weigh-in. He said it was
more to be used as a guideline to see if you're on track rather than
worrying if it's 100% accurate. Fair enough -- so how did today
compare to 4 weeks ago?
As
you can see at left, there were two areas of concern. Despite having
lost both kilos and cms, it says I went up in body fat and down in
muscle mass? What the?? They've been working me pretty hard -- I can
feel it getting easier to do sit-ups, push-ups, etc. I have more
endurance to jog further. I know I'm getting fitter -- and having lost
both weight and centimeters, how on earth could that be? The trainer
couldn't make sense of it either. He just said as long as I'm losing
weight and shrinking in size, just keep doing what I'm doing.
It's
really weird though -- not sure what to make of it. I do recall,
however, that he measured my height again and asked me for my age
because they were not written down in the first record. So maybe he had
entered the height or age differently last time? I think those would
affect the results, because you have to enter those before the scale is
ready to measure. Who knows.
OK
another big day for me -- at group training tonight I got partnered
with a nice young guy who was very fit -- I'm thinking I'm just going to
hold him back! We're doing drills with boxing gear where you do 15
sit-ups, punching twice when you come up. Then your partner stands
behind you with the pads overhead and you punch straight up, and then
you flip over for push-ups and then back to the sit-ups again. You
repeat the cycle for 5 sets. I went first, and I warned him right away I
would likely get through the first set, but by the 2nd set my stomach
muscles usually fail me. He stood on my toes for me, which definitely
helped, and told me to just give it my best.
I got my first 15
sit-ups in, cycled through the punches and push-ups and got in position
for the second set of sit-ups. I was struggling, it was definitely
harder than the first set, and I didn't think I was going to get to 15.
But he was encouraging me the whole time to push a bit harder, stay up a
bit longer, and just telling me I could do it. It was like having my
own personal trainer. I was definitely straining to reach him with
those last few sets, but I did it, I got through all five sets. Not
with the best form, and definitely not as well or as quickly as other,
more fit participants, but I didn't quit, I didn't stop, and I didn't
even change to crunches when it got tough. I struggled through and got
all 5 sets. That's 75 sit-ups! Unreal -- I am feeling so great right
now! Let's hope I still feel great tomorrow. LOL
It wasn't long ago I reported that I couldn't do a burpee (squat thrust), and in fact I couldn't even do the modified burpee.
So instead at group training I had been instructed to just reach up
high, then squat down deep and touch the ground, then stand back up and
reach high again. That is the beginner modification I've done
throughout my 4 week trial membership.
So next week starts my official membership, and I wondered if I was up
for a modified burpee yet. I decided to try at home first so I didn't
fall flat on my face in training if I wasn't ready for it yet. I didn't
expect much, given that I couldn't do it four weeks ago. But I can
now! I did like 10 or 12 of them without too much
difficulty! Seems like such a small thing to get excited about, but I
really am! Now, at the time we do them in group training I'm not rested
like I am now, it's usually after we've been going for a good 15-20
minutes that we start doing burpees, so we'll see how it goes. But I'm
excited! Push-ups are getting easier too -- well, from the knees and
not going all the way down yet, but my form's improving each time. It's
cool -- it's like I can actually SEE and FEEL myself changing. I am
changing, and it's an amazing feeling. :)
Saturday stats -- still moving steadily downward. :)
So this morning I weighed in at 112.8 kg (248.68 lb) which is a loss of
0.6 kg (1.32 lb) since last Saturday and 3.2kg (7.05 lb) overall. I
hoped for more, but as I've said in previous weeks, they've warned me
that since starting group training I might not lose in the first few
weeks, and might even gain due to building muscle. Does that mean I'm
not building muscle then because I'm losing? I can sure feel my
muscles, even just during everyday activities. Reaching for something,
twisting or bending, I can really feel my ab muscles kicking in. Not
really soreness or even discomfort, just feeling them working, which I'm
not used to.
My four weeks is up now -- I have to officially join in order to
continue group training, and we've already decided I'm going to do
that. I also haven't had my official weigh and measure, which I'll have
to schedule in early next week so I can extend my membership at the
same time. I'm anxious to see how many centimeters I've lost.
I'm really proud of myself, because this is really tough for me, and yet
I keep going, no matter how difficult and no matter the weather. It's
been really hot lately! But I've gotten in at least 3 workouts each
week, which is what they recommended in the beginning. I'd like to try
adding a strength training class now. They only offer that one night
per week (there is another class but it's during the day when I'm at
work) but then there is both strength and cardio in the fit camp, and on
Thursday the sweat camp does have a lot of strength training in it. So
I'll either try that on Tuesday or another sweat camp on Thursday in
addition to the M/W/F fit camp workouts.
Well, off to grab some lunch, then back here to try and stay cool the
rest of the day, as it's another scorcher. I'll be checking in on some
favorite bloggers as well -- hope you all had a great week!
This morning's weigh in was 113.4 kg (250 lbs on the nose) which is a
loss of 0.8 kg (1.76 lb) since last Saturday. Again, since they said
not to expect any losses in the beginning, I'm happy with that. I had
to get up this morning at 7:15 to get to the park for Fit Camp at 8, and
it's my first time going to the Saturday morning class - but due to a
public holiday in the middle of the week, I had to get in Saturday if I
wanted to get my 3 workouts in. I'd hoped to do 4 this week, but that
will now be the goal for next week -- the last in my 4 week trial. They
say I've shown improvement in push-ups, and I can feel my overall
endurance increasing a bit after just 3 weeks. I'm told I'll really
notice a difference 8 weeks into training, so that's something to look
forward to. During this morning's class I naturally modified where I
had to, but did manage to do more than I expected. I kept up with the
joggers for the first few times around the course, but I was just
jogging while they were sometimes raising their knees up while jogging,
or jogging backwards or sideways. Anyway, I will definitely be signing
on for another 6 months of training after next week. :)
I've been doing a bit better the last few days at staying within my
calorie goals as well. I'm generally pretty good, but sometimes give in
to a snack or two in the evening, pushing my totals up another 1-200
calories. But I've done well the last few days keeping it at about
1650. Mostly that's because of something I heard on a podcast I was
listening to -- she talked about feeling deprived when you're dieting,
and said something that really made me think. Basically the idea was
that you're deprived no matter what you decide -- you can either be
deprived of the chocolate bar or deprived of a fit, healthy body. You
make that choice every day.
I'm interested to get the results of that choice next week -- I didn't
get a copy of my beginning measurements as their printer was down, but
when I do the follow up ones next week I'm hoping to see a big
difference, even if I haven't lost as much weight as I'd hoped. Now if
you'll excuse me, I'm going to go weed through my collection of DVD
workouts. There are some I'd like to check out that I haven't tried in a
long time. Wish me luck.
Well, they told me to get more active in general, so tonight hubby and I
went outside to play catch. Well -- we intended to play with the dogs,
but they were generally unmotivated. It's weird, they don't want to
hang out outside unless we go with them, but once we're out there they
go do their own thing and don't want to play much. So we had their
interest for a few minute tossing a tennis ball around, but quickly lost
interest when they realized they were supposed to give it back so we
could throw it again.
So we started tossing it to each other, and let the dogs do their own
thing. We probably spent 10 or 15 minutes tossing it back and forth --
and I put some oomph in it, and switched arms to keep it balanced. I
reached and stretched to catch it as often as I could, and when I missed
I had to run after it. Yeah, I did that a few times. LOL After a
while it felt like we were actually getting a good workout. It wasn't a
long one, but still felt very good after last night's fit camp workout.
Happy Australia day (Wednesday) -- I hope it's not going to be as hot as
they predicted. We've got the day off, so I'm hoping it's not so hot
that I can't enjoy some outdoor activities.
Went for a walk at 8:30 this morning -- trying to beat the summer heat
by going earlier. Hubby generally walks the dogs about 10AM but in
summer it's already getting pretty hot by that time. So I thought I'd
get up and walk earlier. I took one of the dogs with me and it was
pretty good for the first half of the walk, but by the 2nd half it was
already getting rather hot. I should have gone by 7:45 or 8 at the
latest, but I hate getting up early on weekends.
I may try it tomorrow, though. I will be going to fit camp after work of
course, but why not get in a morning walk as well? Is that too much
when I'm just starting week 3? I've gotten in 3 workouts (not counting
walks) for each of the first 2 weeks as instructed, and I wanted to step
it up this week. I could do that by adding another class to the
line-up making it 4 sessions, and maybe walking before work as well.
Not sure what's best right now, just figured I'd play it by ear. But
trying to get up early means getting to bed on time - I'm such a night
owl, so that's hard for me, but I'll try to be in bed by 10. Then I
should have no trouble getting up an hour earlier. Wish me luck. LOL
Today was weigh-day, and TOM is over, so I expected a drop, but hoped it
would be more. Then again remember the trainer said I should expect to
gain in the first few weeks, and last week I held steady and this week I
lost, so I really can't worry too much about that.
I weighted in at 114.2 kg (251.77 lb) which is a loss of 0.8kg (1.76 lb)
since last week Saturday. I got in 3 group training sessions this
week, and because I wanted to try something new I ended up doing two in a
row with no rest day between. Bad idea. I already reported in my last
post that Wednesday I walked for half an hour before the classes was to
start, and then it started raining so I had to do the class in the
studio, which was a half hour of solid ab work. The next day I did
Sweat Camp, and that was more ab work as well as weight lifting, drills
and relays. My abs have been rather sore since, especially on the right
side. Like it actually hurts if I use my right side even the
slightest, like to raise up out of bed. Is it possible to pull an ab
muscle? Cuz that's what it feels like. But I'm still glad I did it.
I definitely didn't want to go again on Friday and make it 3 days in a
row, and I didn't make it up early enough to go to the Saturday morning
Fit Camp, so I'll have to do a workout at home this weekend. Probably
tomorrow morning, I had too much else going on this morning to fit one
in. But I will do it. I'm actually very proud of myself for DOING
this. It's not easy. No only the work, but getting yourself to do it
-- especially when I go to class and most of the people are very thin
and fit already. There are others who are not there yet, but no one is
as out of shape as me, I'm the fattest girl in the class. But you know
what? People were very encouraging and helpful in Sweat Class
Wednesday. One gal who was very fit and sexy -- the kind I would think
wouldn't pay any notice to someone like me -- gave advise on using the
weights and encouraged me while I was there. She was really nice. It
makes it easier to do this when you're not made to feel like the fat kid
in class.
I really am proud of myself even though it's only 2 weeks in right now.
I know I'll get through the next 2 weeks, and I'm already confident
that I'll purchase an annual membership and continue this journey. I
have to. It's who I want to be.
You know, I used to dream about who I'd be and the things I would do one
day when I was lean, strong and healthy. But I had it backwards. It's
actually by doing the things a lean, strong and healthy person does
that you BECOME lean, strong and healthy -- it's not going to happen the
other way around!
If your dreams are always 'one day' I'll be healthy and I'll be active
and I'll do all the things I want to do, then you'll never achieve it.
It'll always dangle in the future somewhere, just out of reach. 'One
day' will never come. But if you decide that TODAY you'll be healthy
and active, and you decide that again tomorrow, and the next day and the
next, then you will become that person. In order to BE a person who is
lean, strong and healthy, I have to do what that person does. And I
have to do it now, not wait for 'one day.'
Does a lean, strong and healthy person live a sedentary life and eat
unhealthy foods? Or are they more likely to work out and eat healthy
most of the time? They're probably more active in general -- not just
when working out. Maybe they go for walks or bike rides or dance or
play softball. So if what I really want is to be someone who is lean,
strong and healthy, then I just need to act as if I already am. Think
of it as playing a role if that helps, and really get into character. I
was always a bit of a drama queen growing up. (Being a Leo how could I
avoid it?) I wanted to act, but never let myself try because I wasn't
thin enough. That was one of the things I was gonna do 'one day' when I
was thin. Well here's my chance -- I can act as if I already am.
We waste so much time wishing we were something other than what we are,
when all we really need to do is decide who we want to be and just BE
that person. Act as if that's how we are, and we will be. I can be the
kind of person who works out. I don't have to like it, I just have to do
it. Soon, if I make it a habit, I will become the kind of person who
is lean, strong and healthy -- naturally.
You know what to do. When life throws challenges in your way and you're
tempted, or when you're not sure if you should have something you
shouldn't eat or feel like skipping a workout -- ask yourself what would
a lean, strong and healthy person do -- and then choose that.
I can feel every muscle in my body right now. Nothing is actually sore,
I just FEEL everything. Well -- nothing is sore unless I try to
actually USE that muscle! My stomach muscles complain rather loudly if I
attempt to use them in the slightest. I think I maybe shouldn't have
taken last night's half hour ab class and followed it with today's sweat
class! Seems no matter which class I attend, they focus on the abs. He
did say to get a days rest between, but I want to try the different
classes offered. So I'm glad I did, I liked this class, it was tough.
He had me alternating various exercises with the barbell and dropping to
do push-ups or running across the room to drop to the floor and get
back up again before lifting weights again. That was mostly the first
part of the class, and during the second part we did a lot of ab work.
We finished up with relay races where you had to drop and do one chest
drop, one push-up or one burpee on the other side before running back
and tagging your partner. It definitely held up to its promise to be a
'sweat class' I'd say. :) So tomorrow I'll rest, though I might walk.
We'll see how it goes.
