2012 Weight Goals

I haven’t been weighing myself much lately. I checked my weight and measurements (waist and hip) before I started marathon training in September and sporadically throughout my training to make sure that I wasn’t over or under eating for the amount of exercise I was getting. I wanted my weight to stay consistent and it did. I hovered around 165lbs, give or take 2 pounds, for the entire 4 months (yes, I do know how much more 165lb is than 147lb)

I have been paying close attention to how my pants fit and while marathon training I found that they were feeling pretty damn tight around the waist (the first place on my body where weight starts to creep on). Since my weight was consistent I wasn’t too concerned though I was, quite frankly, uncomfortable. And I felt a bit schlumpy (<– not a real word, but you catch my drift).

I went straight back to weightlifting after the marathon with this workout and have been at it for almost 3 weeks now. Nothing makes me feel better than pushing some weight around (except maybe kicking teenage boys in the balls, but that’s another story) so I was happy to turn my focus to that instead of running.

It didn’t take long for me to start feeling awesome again. Last week I noticed that felt lighter and tighter and generally mahvelous.

My tight pants were fitting better which made my 8-hours-sitting-on-your-ass job more comfy. I checked my measurements right away because I like the validation:

Waist size – down a 2 centimeters (I knew it!)
Hip size – stayed the same (perfect! I like big butts and I cannot lie)
Weight – up 3 pounds (yes! . . .wait, I mean no! what? up 3lbs?!? say wha??)

I freaked out for about a second and a half, asking the scale if he was fucking kidding me. Didn’t he see my measurements!? Didn’t he know that I wasn’t stuffed like a sausage in my pants today?!

Then I told him to go to hell once again, because he lies and can’t be trusted.

I felt good and I looked good and that was good enough for me.

I’m really coming around and starting to realize that my weight has little to do with how I feel about myself and my body confidence.

So I’m going to focus on more important weight goals this year ie. how much weight I can push around.

2012 Beast Mode Goals

To be completed at some point by the end of the year

-Back Squats: 225lb (as deep as I can go with my tight shins)

-Bench Press: my body weight

-Pull Ups: 5 unassisted

-Push-Ups: 100 consecutive

Right now I’m adding a lot more push-ups into my training plan to complete the push-up goal, and generally trying to build back any of the strength I lost during marathon training.

BL Weigh In #1

So month 1 of our 2-month-long office Biggest Loser competition is over. I had my weigh-in the morning: Weight lost : 7.2lbs

This caused the eyes of the girls who weighed me in to widen. Mine too, actually.

I didn’t really lose that much weight in a month. According to my home scale I actually lost 3.5lbs, which I really am ecstatic about. I feel so much better and more comfortable in my body. Not gonna lie, I love the way my marathon training booty is looking these days too (even if it is bigger than before).

I have been maintaining my “get comfortable” plan including marathon training, regular yoga, and weightlifting. I have also been meticulously food journalling because my appetite is seriously out of control from all my running mileage. (My long runs are up to 14 miles!! Go me!) It has all been working very well for me and I am LOVING how energetic I feel right now.

But 3.5lbs? That’s pretty far off from 7.2lbs. Where did the rest go?

Well. . .

In an effort to win this thing I tried to make myself as heavy as possible for weigh-in #1 (does this make me a cheater? possibly. you tell me.)

The morning of weigh-in #1 I had eaten a huge breakfast and drank about a litre of water. I tried not to use the bathroom before I got on the scale. I wore the heaviest clothes I own and even wore winter boots. I contemplated wearing ankle weights too but thought that would cross the line between questionable practices and actual cheating, so I refrained. Today I did the complete opposite to make myself as light as possible.

Yes, I am THAT competitive.

But all these tactics aren’t going to help again next month. I’m going to have to actually lose some more real weight for the final weigh-in at the beginning of March. That’s going to take effort rather than cunning. Too bad. I’m so much better at cunning.

Six Months of Results

So, did you all see it? Me in my bikini glory? Tuesday was my birthday and I finally rocked a bikini for the occasion– the first bikini I’ve ever worn. Exciting? Yes. Stressful? Yes. I might have had a minor panic attack in the wee hours of Tuesday morning that nearly involved getting out of bed to delete my whole blog as if it never existed. But I didn’t. Accountability. I’m willing to let myself down, but random people who I don’t know from all around the world? Well, I wouldn’t want to let them down now would I? That would be a terrible thing.

So, yes, I followed through. And, I intend to post more bikini pictures after partying at the beach this weekend with my friends and family (lucky you!). Until then I have a whole different set of pictures that I want to share with you. The muscle shots.You know, the stereotypical bathroom mirror pictures that only douche-bags take? Yup, I took ‘em (and you’ll have to scroll all the way down to see ‘em). Feel free to judge me right now. Don’t worry though, I kept to myself the one of me kissing my bicep. I might have framed it for my cubicle.

The Numbers

So, you all know that I broke up with my scale, and I’m really happy with how well I’ve been doing about not obsessing over my weight. But, at heart, I’m a numbers kind of girl, so I stepped back on the scale to see how they stacked up:

January 27, 2010:

Waist:                           81 cm
Hips:                             103 cm
Waist to Hip Ratio: 0.79
BMI:                              25.3 (overweight)
Weight:                        153.6lb
Body Fat %:               33%
Muscle Mass %:        33%

April 29, 2010:

Waist:                           78 cm
BMI:                              24.5
Weight:                        149.4lb
Body Fat %:               31.3%
Muscle Mass %:        33.8%

July 27, 2010:

Waist:                           77 cm
Hips:                             102 cm
Waist to Hip Ratio:  0.75
BMI:                               24.2 (healthy!)
Weight:                         147.4lb
Body Fat %:                29.9%
Muscle Mass %:        34.5%

Body Fat 29.9%, Hydration 48.1%, Weight 147.4lb

Muscle Mass 34.5%, Bone 10.9%, Suggested Calories 1995

So, my goal was to get down to 24% body fat. Big time fail, according to the scale. BUT recall that this is a bioimpedence  scale that you step on so the current runs through your lower body and belly where most of the fat is. That’s unlike the hand-to-foot bioimpedence analysis that I had done at the Naturopath in March when I learned that I was actually more fit than my home scale described. I had a body fat percentage of 25% (normal), and muscle mass of 40% (high). So, if I consider my progress since March, I can probably assume that my numbers are slightly below these.

The Strength Gains

Over the past 6 months I have made some pretty impressive improvements in my weight lifting abilities. My strategy was to strength training before cardio, splitting my schedule into 2 upper body and 2 lower body days each week, and lifting very heavy weights for 4 to 6 reps. Check out some of my weight lifting programmes here.

I used this nifty calculator to determine my one rep maximums for just a few of my favourite exercises. I’m most impressed with my new ability to do pull-ups and chin-ups, which I was never able to do before (check this post for tips on how to learn to do a pull-up). Also, with my gains in my squats (no wonder my bum looks so good! see pictures below)

Upper Body

Lower Body

The Visuals

And now what you’ve all been waiting for, here are the dreaded before and after pictures. I only took 2 “before” pics and no muscle shots in January because I really, really didn’t want to take pictures of myself. Here’s what changes I’ve noticed:

• slightly smaller abdomen
• less chi-cha (aka muffin top)
• way nicer bum! holy hell, how much better does my bum look, eh?
• bigger arms

Before

After

Feel free to comment whether you agree or disagree with what I see in these pictures, or, of course anything else you might be thinking.

day 155: progress report

My 8 Weeks to Awesomeness is going awesomer than last week. But, as I mentioned in my break-up letter, my scale lies. It told me I lost 3lb this week, but I’m doubtful.

There are only 6 weeks left until my birthday.

Let’s see how I’m stacking up with my goals:

Calories:

Goal: 1500 cal
Avg this week -> 1610 cal

• That includes Saturday too, so I think it’s pretty good. An improvement on last week.

Macronutrients:

Goal: 40% protein, 40% carbs (mainly before and after my workouts), 20% fat
Avg this week -> 21% protein, 45% carbs, 34% fat

• Yikes, not nearly enough protein this week.

Exercise:

Goal: Keep doing what I’m doing – weightlifting 4x per week; yoga 2x per week; cardio 4x per week
This week ->
Weightlifting: 2 upper body and 2 lower body days
Cardio: 4 cardio sessions @ 150 min total (all 4 were morning cardio sessions too!)
Yoga: twice this week

• I think I did pretty well with my normal exercise routine, but exercising is not usually a problem for me since I like doing it.

I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing and maybe check in with the scale again next week to see if it was being honest.

I love this ad. It makes me wish I lived back then.

Could you imagine the outrage if this ad ran today with the line: “There’s no excuse for being fat”? I think there would be an outcry.

Now, if only I could wear a swimsuit like hers for my birthday. No bikini wax or weight loss required! (…and it has a schnazzy belt!)

day 137: progress pt 2

So I mentioned on Tuesday that I would weigh-in on Thursday. Here it is. I had to avert my eyes.

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!

This is actually exactly the same as I was last week, but 1lb more than the last time I weighed in.

Damn. I was hoping for a 1lb loss. I am not a happy camper right now. I guess I’m going to have to tweak my calorie intake.

Today I was pretty diligent about my food intake. I had to be because I was so embarrassed about what I saw on the scale this morning. I ate 1470 calories and got 121g of protein (which about one third of my calories).

I’m even more embarrassed because I have an appointment with my Naturopath tomorrow morning. YIKES! I’m nervous and worried because I’ve done terribly at following the diet that she provided me and I think I’m in worse shape than the last time I saw her 10 weeks ago. My fingers and toes are crossed.

Maybe I can attribute the weight gain to too much of this:

SOURDOUGH

Since I made sourdough starter last week, I’m on a bit of a sourdough bonanza. I made this loaf (which I wholeheartedly did not expect to rise) that ended up turning out amazing!

I have a loaf of a Poilane style miche rising on my counter as I speak, a sourdough pizza dough in the fridge, and plans to make a sourdough chocolate cake this weekend.

Bread is my weakness.

day 100: week 14 check in

So I managed to stay the same for yet another week. Last week I was at 149.4lb and this week I’m at 149.2lb.

Apparently my body likes hovering just under 150lbs and doesn’t want to budge too much. It might be time for some sort of shake-up.
I’m pretty content with my exercise schedule right now so I’m thinking something diet related. I’ve been neglecting the diet that my naturopath put me on, so that could be an issue. Here’s what I’m supposed to be eating right now:

On workout days (which is most days) I’m entitled to 1900 calories broken down as

• 2 svgs legumes
• 2 svgs starchy vegetables
• 3 svgs protein
• 2 svgs nuts/seeds
• 6 svgs oil
• 3 svgs fruit
• 1 svg grains
• 1 svg protein powder
• unlimited vegetables

I’m really going to plan out what I eat to fit in the right number of servings of these food groups. Also, I’m not going to neglect the weekends (like I mentioned last week, the weekends are a third of the week!). Now excuse me while I go figure out what’s on my menu for tomorrow!

P.S. Thanks for the tips on good reads. Apparently I chose the wrong Michael Pollan book and should have read Omnivore’s Dilemma instead. I guess I’ll add that to my reading list too. Let me know if you have any more book suggestions!

day 93: week 13 check-in

Okay, so technically my month 3 weigh in should have been last week, but since I was visiting my sister in Chicago I never got around to posting. I’ll compare today’s stats to my previous two months results.

Yikes. I knew this month would be bad. I’m off the elimination diet that my naturopath put me on and I’ve been really letting myself go wild on the weekends again.

On the plus side, my numbers are all down from day 1 (I guess that’s not really a plus for my muscle mass, but .2lbs is nothing to sweat over).

So here is my goal for May: BEWARE the Weekend.

Here’s an interesting, albeit blatantly obvious fact: the weekend is 2 days long and the work week is 5. That means, excluding Friday nights, the weekend is 29% of the week. Throw in Friday night and the weekend makes up EXACTLY one third of the week.

So if I’m letting myself eat uncontrollably on the weekend that means I’m practically throwing away all the hard work I’ve done, regaining much of what I’ve lost, and being left with only a couple of days to make a real impact in my diet. I really am working for the weekend and it has to stop.

So here’s my plan of attack for the weekend:

- keep hydrated. Easy during the week when I sit at a desk and sip water all day, tough on the weekend when I’m running errands all day. I guess I’ll have to keep my water bottle on me as often as possible.

- plan my meals. If I’m staying in, great! If not, I’ll check a restaurant’s website before going out and scan for healthier meal options or pick the unhealthy choice that I’m hankering for and adjust my other meals during the day.

- plan my snacks. I don’t usually get around to snacking on the weekends which leaves me starved at meals and looking for the quickest possible source of food (which is usually something from the junk cupboard)

- treat myself on special occasions. If there’s a reason to celebrate then I’ll have a dessert or an extra drink, but no indulgence otherwise. Isn’t cake so much sweeter when you’re having it for a reason?

I’d love to hear your tips on how else I can stop chasing my weekend weight gain!

day 79: week 11 check in

Shit shit shit. This has been my worst week ever.

Gained: 2.8lb of fat this week.

Maybe I should try staying away from these little devils:

But how can I say no to little girls who come to my door selling me heaven in a box. I guess it should be a no problem to stay away now that the box is empty.

I`m not completely devastated by this news. It comes in light of the fact that this week I did my first ever unassisted pull-up! This has been a goal of mine for a long time.

I`m not talking about girl pull-ups (flexed arm hang) I`m talking about the real deal dead hang pull-ups. Because I am to short, I had to lower myself into a dead hang, but I pulled myself up from there. Although I must admit that I had to thrust my body a bit to get myself up. Step two: to do it without thrusting my body.

Here is a description of proper pull-up form from (from military.com):

Grab the pull-up bar with your hands placed about shoulder width apart and your palms facing away from you. Pull yourself upward until your chin is over the bar and complete the exercise by slowly moving to the hanging position.

Womens Health Magazine gives the following strategy for learning how to do pull-ups (which I never followed, but though you all might find interesting):

Start with step 1, do each exercise twice a week until you master it, and then move on to the next.

Step 1: Flexed-arm hang
Stand on a bench under a pullup bar. Grab the bar with an overhand grip and position yourself so your chin is right above the bar (A). Bend your knees and take your feet off the bench and hold for as long as you can (B), then come down and rest for 60 to 90 seconds. Repeat 3 times. When you’ve mastered 3 25-second holds, move to step 2.

Step 2: Negative pullups
From the flexed-arm hang position, lower yourself down as slowly as you can until your arms are fully extended. Place your feet back on the bench and let go of the bar. That’s 1 rep. When you can do 3 sets of 3 super-slow (around 20-second) reps, you’re ready to take on step 3.

Step 3: Mini pullups
Starting from the flexed-arm hang position, lower your chin to about 2 inches below the bar, then pull yourself back up. Lower yourself about an inch more with each rep until you can fully extend your arms and pull all the way back up. Aim for 3 sets of 2 reps each.

Step 4: Pullup
From a dead hang, have a friend slightly boost your legs as you start the pullup. Do one rep at a time with a minute of rest between pullups until you hit 3. When that becomes too easy, ditch the helpful boost and lose the rest between pullups. Keep challenging your now buff arms by adding reps as you’re able.

day 72: week 10 check-in

So I guess my weigh-in wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated it would be after all my holiday weekend eats.

I haven’t lost any weight in the past 2 weeks, but at least I haven’t gained any either:

146.4lb and 30.2% body fat (or 44lb or body fat)

34.3% muscle (or 50lb muscle)

My body fat percentage is much higher on my home scale than on the bioimpedence analysis that the naturopath gave me. But at least my home version gives me a frame of reference for my week to week check-ins. When I go back to my naturopath in 5 weeks I’ll have another bioimpedence analysis done with more accurate results.

Tonight I went on a bit of a health food shopping spree at Enchie Mart and the Bulk Barn. My intention was only to buy wheat berries to make sprouted grain bread this weekend, but left to my own devices I spend far too much money on health food.

When I got home I topped some mixed greens with some of my purchases: flax oil and apple cider vinegar, bee pollen, chia seeds, pepitas, dried mulberries, dried goji berries.

Bee pollen is new to my pantry. I’ve never tried it before. It tastes like honey and chamomile. I wouldn’t want to eat a spoon full of it, but a sprinkling on my salad is something I can take.

Bee pollen is flower sperm. It’s true. Pollen fertilizes the ovules of the flower. Now I don’t know anything about the nutrient benefits of sperm, but when it comes from bees, apparently, it’s “nature’s most complete food”. Evidently everything you need to sustain life (amino acids, vitamins/minerals, and enzymes) is all there stuffed into little tiny granules the size of coarse salt.
An added bonus for vegetarians and bee-exploiting vegans alike (and for my poor B-vitamin deficient self) is that it is a source of B12.

How do you take your pollen?

day 58: month 2 results

I wanted to lose 2lb this week so that I would be at a loss of 8lb in 8 weeks. It didn’t happen. I stayed the EXACT same as last week: 146.8lb.

That said, this week also marks 2 months on the Bikini Birthday program so let’s look at my change over the last 2 months:

So, in 2 months I have lost 6lb of fat and 1″ from my waistline. Not too shabby, I’d say.

I think the past 3 weeks have been helpful because, being on the Cleansing Diet has limited my intake of bread, nuts, and sugar. Once Lent is done I’m going to try to continue limiting my sugar intake to 1 treat per week. I’m also going to stop eating peanuts and buying nuts that I snack on mindlessly.

Other than that, I guess I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and you’ll all get to see me in a bikini in 4 months!