Re-weigh in

I'm so happy this morning despite my lack of sleep. I just couldn't get over my weight gain yesterday so I decided to re-weigh myself this morning. So glad I did. The scale was lower. 211.2! Still higher then I want it to be but at least I can see the numbers decreasing which makes it easier to stay the course.

Food: 19/22 points

I just can't seem to get my points in the last couple of days. I'm not hungry at all & trying to force myself to eat isn't working out to well.

b= protien bar (4), ff milk (2), apple (1), 2 c water
l= pita (1), hummus (1), carrots (0), lettuce (0), 2 c water , strawberries (0)
d= chicken alfredo (7), peas (1), 4 c water
s= ww fudge bar (1), coffee (1)

water: 8 cups
cardio: 1.5 mile walk, 30 min step
steps: 10,439

Notes: I think I may have twisted my knee this morning. We were doing the neighborhood walk this morning & I turned back (while still walking forward) to see what a noise was. I felt a shooting pain right under my knee cap. It's been hurting ever since. Doesn't matter if I'm sitting still or up walking on it. It's a dull ache. I'll pop a motrin and see how it feels in the morning. I'm hoping I can get some sleep tonight. Hubby is working 3rd shift and comes in around 1:15 am. He can't sleep so he wakes me up for matress dancing. I told him if he ever does it again I'm gonna wake him up at 6 in the morning. The little brat started laughing at me ... so I woke him up this morning at 6 so he could start the day just like me. He didn't want to get up but I didn't last night either. =) He ended up sleeping this afternoon but I swear ... he better not wake me up for that chit again. I need my sleep too.

What went wrong?

Guess it's gonna be one of those days where I just feel bad. I woke up with a bit of a sinus headache, this I can get past. I decided I would weigh myself cause I have been on track all week long & haven't weighed in 2 weeks. I shouldn't have weighed in cause I weigh more then I have in the last few months of doing nothing. I know it's only a 4 oz gain (currently 212) and I know chances of it being muscle is very good but darn it ... why won't the scale ever go down for me? I'm the only person I know of who does everything right & gains weight & do everything wrong & maintain weight.

Today is my high points day in ww & honestly I don't know if I want to eat that much, what's the point? Maybe I'll just eat the points up in fruits & veggies? IDK ... I'm just really frustrated right now. I'll add more to this entry later today. Maybe I'll be in better spirits and have more darn energy!

Food: 36 points

B= cream of wheat (4), coffee (1), 1 cup ff milk (2)
S= 1 cup strawberries halves (0), apple (1), 2 cups water
L= pita (1), hummus (2), 14 carrots (0), 2 lettuce leaves (0), nectarine (1)
D= baked chicken breast (5), cucumber/tomato salad (2), 4 cups water
S= ww fudge bar (1)

ww= 20 pts Why can't I eat this low on days I'm supposed to and on days where I need high points I can't? Uggg!! Maybe I'll eat more than the above plan. If I do I'll come back & change things around.

Water: 10 cups
Cardio: 1.5 mile neighborhood walk, 45 min dance
Steps: 10,326

Notes: I couldn't get myself to eat much of anything today. I just was not even a little bit hungry. Maybe mentally I wanted the weight to be gone who knows. I just know I was pretty much forcing myself to eat everything. I'm not even sure I should count the chicken cause honestly I didn't eat even half of the breast.

Sore Muscles

The sore muscles are finally here. All I can say is OUCH!!! I'm proud of myself for getting in so many steps and I'm gonna have to make for sure that even though I'm sore today I still have to get in the steps. Starting off slow this morning so I'll really have to push myself after lunch.

Food: 23 points

b= coffee (1), ff milk (2), protien bar (5), 2 c water
s= apple (1), 2 c water
l= chef salad (6), orange (1), 2 c water
s= pita (1), hummus (1), 14 baby carrots (0), 2 c water
d= chicken curry (7), 2 c water
s= ww fudge bar (1)


ww= 26 <-- went over water: 10
cardio: 2 mile trail walk (big hills), 2 mile walk video

Steps: barely 10,000

Notes: I'm so tired today. Seems like no matter what I do I just don't have any energy. It can't be because of lack of water or food cause I'm doing fine with both. I do need to get in more steps tonight though ... not enough yet!

How to Make Sore Muscles Feel Good

Muscles can often feel sore after exercise or a long day at the mall. Use these simple tips to alleviate common muscle soreness.

Rest; This is the very best thing you can do for soreness. Try not to use the muscle in a strenuous fashion for 24-48 hours after exercise, especially if the soreness is due to a weight lifting routine.

Stretching; This will also help to get the lactic acid out of your muscles. Waiting a few hours after a strenuous workout before stretching is not best. Stretch after activity that caused the soreness to prevent becoming stiff.

Heat; After the first day of soreness, heat can be used to help blood flow to the muscle. This will help rebuilding take place and provide some soothing relief.

Proper diet; If your muscles are sore from intense activities such as weightlifting, your muscles are rebuilding themselves and need lots of protein. Aim to take in 1 gram of protein per day for every pound of lean body mass you have. For example, a 160lb. man at 20% body fat would want to take in approximately 130 grams of protein per day. This will speed up recovery times considerably, as well as prevent muscle loss from poor nutrition.

Tips:


An excellent source of protein would be chocolate milk, which can revitalize your body faster than most energy drinks after a long workout. It also provides sugar for your body which normal milk does not. No - milk contains plenty of sugar. Lactose is sugar, and your body readily uses it,unless you are lactose intolerant.

Saran Wrap. If you need to be moving around (cooking, cleaning, etc.) while using ice, saran wrap can help secure ice onto a muscle while you move.

5 gallon bucket. For soreness of the arms (like from baseball practice) a 5 gallon bucket filled with ice water will allow you to ice the whole arm at one time.

Sour cherry juice can also help your muscles feel better. Sour cherry juice is filled with antioxidants to help your working muscles during or after physical exercise. Sour cherry juice can be found at most health food stores.

Adding baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) to your bathwater is a home remedy that is very effective. Add 2-4 heaped tablespoons of soda to a full bathtub and stir a little to dissolve. Enjoy your bath. You should feel some relief immediately after you finish your bath.
Stretch while taking a shower. Use water which is slightly hotter than what you are used to. This increases blood flow around the muscle fibers with micro-tears.

If you do end up getting stiff from working out or some other physical activity where you have forgotten to stretch afterwards, massaging the stiff area will relieve you from the pain for a while.Then stretch and find another place of the muscle it hurts and massage there until the pain goes away.

You may want to consider a massage or sauna.

Some people believe that taking a shower with cold water for a few minutes,than with hot water for a few minutes, than finish with a cold shower again may relive sore muscles.

Workin my points

Morning started off great! Woke up at 7 and went for a morning walk with the hubby. It was a neighborhood walk with lots of big hills. My thighs felt like they were on fire but at least they weren't all itchy like they were yesterday.

Food: 28 points

B= coffee (1), egg beaters (1), cheddar cheese (2), roast beef (1), orange (1), 2 cups water
S= apple (1), 2 cups water
L= 2 cups water, chef salad (6), banana (2)
S= pita(1), 2 cups water, hummus (1)
D= 1/2 cornish hen (9), 1 cup mixed veggies(1), 2 cups water
S= 2 cups popcorn (1)

28 points, 3 fruits, 3 veggies

Water = 10 cups
cardio = 1.5 mile (hills) neighborhood walk, 2.3 mile nature trail (tons of BIG hills)
Steps = 11,200 at 3:30

End of day notes: I got really hungry during my big walk but it made my snack that more wonderful. I didn't time the walk but I made for sure I was breathing heavily. There were a couple times where my breath was slightly labored when I talked to hubby & kids. My feet are killing me, mainly my heels. I've been having a lot of problems with them lately. I'm hoping once I lose a bit of weight the pain will go with the weight.

Wendie Plan

The Plan

This was copied from an EZ board on the Wendie Plan. I'm moving it here for the sake of simplicity for those looking for it.

" The Wendie Plan" in a nutshell...

What is the 'Wendie Plan'?

First of all, let it be known that the Wendie Plan is NOT something different than good old Weight Watchers. Most of the people who regularly visit here are following the WW plan. However, this does not mean that the Wendie Plan can not be easily adapted for people who are using Richard Simmons, and/or counting calories. I suppose even people following a plan such as Atkins could adapt this to their program, however I do not recommend it. The reason is simple. I do not recommend the Atkins program or any other low/no-carb program like that. Why? Because it is not (or SHOULD not) be a lifestyle change, and because it is very dangerous to your health. I cannot advocate any program that would put your health at risk.

The Wendie Plan is very simple. You follow a simple plan of eating. You eat your regular foods that you have on WW. You work within your point range. You drink the water, get some exercise, etc., etc., etc. What is different? You alternate the amount of points you use each day. What could be more simple?

Let us assume for a moment that your point range falls between 22-29 points per day. (This is based on the original 123 plan, not the "Winning Points" plan) WW says that you can eat up to 29 points every day, and still lose weight. Do you? Maybe. Maybe not. Ever notice that on some days you aren't very hungry and on other days you feel you could eat all the points in the universe? After doing extensive research, I have discovered several things that don't always ring true.

At this point, if you are someone who has been doing the program and losing a steady 2+ pounds per week, you don't have to read on any further. Your body is doing what it needs to for you to lose weight. If you are struggling to drop a pound, and no matter how hard you have tried the pounds won't shake loose? Read on...this is for you.

First of all, just because you eat within the points you have been assigned, drink all of your water, exercise at least 20 minutes every day, journal till the cows come home... does not mean that you will lose weight. I don't mean to depress you, but it is the truth. We have countless people here, myself included, who can attest to this. They try really hard, but week after week they are struggling to even lose part of a pound. I see it all the time. So... what are they doing wrong?

Oddly enough, they are doing one tiny little thing wrong. It is one tiny, insignificant thing, but it is keeping them from losing weight faster and at a steady rate. The secret to The Wendie Plan is simple. Alternate your points daily. At the start of your week, alternate the number of points you eat daily. Your rhythm of your week should look like this: low/high/low/very high/very low/high/med. high.

For example. If your range allows you to eat between 22-29 points per day:

Day 1 - 22 points
Day 2 - 28 points
Day 3 - 23 points
Day 4 - 36-39 points
Day 5 - 22 points
Day 6 - 29 points
Day 7 - 27 points

On the WW plan, 22-29 points per day, you will eat between 154 points (low end) 203 points (high end) during the course of the week. On the Wendie Plan, you will eat 190 points during the course of the week. Which falls towards the high end of the range, but not the highest. (Adjust the points to fit your current range).

We have already seen some amazing results using the Wendie Plan. I developed this plan out of sheer frustration. After being on WW for 17 months, and having lost no weight in the last 9 months of program, but being too stubborn to actually quit, I found myself pouring over 17 months of anally kept journals, trying to find the one key which would unlock my door to success. In the first 8 months I was successful. I lost 40 pounds. What happened then to impede my progress? I was still following the program in every way. I was doing everything right, but experiencing no weight loss. Why?

Why, indeed? The most interesting aspect of my journey came at the end of May, 2000. I weighed in on WW and had reached a 40 pound loss. I decided I was close enough to a 50 pound loss and I wanted to reach it by the 4th of July. That was a reachable goal. So I worked even harder. I dropped my points down to 25 per day, and began exercising more. Everyday I was outside walking through parks or in the fitness center hitting the treadmill. At the end of 5 weeks, I had a net gain of 1.2 pounds! Muscle? To some degree, yes. But, as I never began to look like Arnold Schwarztenager, I realized that something had gone terribly wrong. I had "shrunk" a bit, which was to be expected, but still, at the end of 5 weeks, I was heavier. I continued. I worked out everyday, and kept my points down. This has got to work, right? Not necessarily. At the end of the next 5 weeks, I was down exactly 1.2 pounds. So my net loss for the 10 weeks after Memorial Day was zero!

I continued to work very hard, and by September, I had played around with the same 3 pounds all summer. Up, down, up, down but never gone for good. In October, I celebrated 1 year of WW, by maintaining my 40 pound loss for four months! What was up with this?

I stopped attending WW meetings in October, because first, I was making no headway, and I became so depressed at Monday's weigh-ins that it took until Tuesday afternoon to snap back out of it; and second, I did not get the support I needed through WW. They simply had no answers as to why I was not losing weight even though I was working the program very conscientiously. At the last couple of weigh-ins, when I was going up a pound each week, I got the general impression that my leader felt that I was not really working the program. At that point, I walked out for good.

I tried several things between Halloween and Christmas to shake some pounds loose, but to no avail. I then went back to WW the day after Christmas. It is interesting to note what happened. First, I didn't start the program that first week. I weighed in on Tuesday, and then rather half-heatedly began the program on Friday. When I weighed in on Tuesday, I was down 3.5 pounds! I buckled down and worked very hard on program the next week. I measured everything, exercised, drank my water, and journaled every bite. The following Monday I weighed in and I had GAINED 2 pounds! What is up with that?

It didn't take very long for me to see that going to WW was not going to help me. My body was being incredibly stubborn and was not going to let me lose this weight. Do you see a pattern forming here?

In addition to having 17 months of journals, I also have kept a spreadsheet of my weight losses. I began pouring over my journals and comparing what I did on certain weeks to the amount of weight I lost at the end of that particular week. I made an astonishing discovery.

I have always been a moderate loser. Meaning, I usually lost about a pound a week. Other people may lose 3 pounds a week, but I usually lost a pound, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. But I was very consistent in losing. There were some weeks, however, when I did lose more than a pound per week. Interestingly, the weeks I had my biggest losses were weeks when I overate! The weeks were Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years! Christmas Day I ate 43 points! I lost 4.75 pounds that week! Upon further studies, I discovered something else. Every week that I overate one day, I had larger than average losses! How can that be?

It has long been thought that you have use 3500 calories less than you need in order to lose one pound. I simply don't believe it. I know it is mathematical, and mathematics was never my strongest subject, but science has always been an area in which I have excelled. I believe that our bodies are far more complicated than a simple mathematical formula can describe. The body is like a fireplace. If you build a fire, at first it takes awhile to warm up. You add more fuel and it burns more efficiently. The more fuel you add to it, the hotter it burns. Add less fuel, and it begins to cool down.

Our bodies were built for survival. If you go on a "diet" the body can become uncomfortable. This is especially true if you take so much food away from it that it feels as if it is going to starve. There is a lot of talk about not eating too little. Your body will go into "starvation mode" and you won't lose any weight. Well, to a point, this is true. Your body will lose weight if you starve it, but it won't want to, and it will take the weight from places you don't necessarily want to lose it from. That is why some people who lose a lot of weight look "gaunt", and is far more likely to hear comments like "have you been sick"? as opposed to "You look good!"

Why does "The Wendie Plan" work?

Your body has this wonderful little thermostat inside of it. It regulates everything you do. If you feed it lots of food, it turns the thermostat up and burns it as efficiently as possible. This is why you have been able to eat as much fast food before WW and didn't gain the amount of weight that you should have. Your body became more efficient and was able to burn off much of the excess amount of calories. Otherwise, with the amount of food we porked in pre-WW, we should have been gaining 2-3 pounds per day!


When you go on a "diet" where you dramatically decrease the amount of calories that you consume, your body thinks "Oh-oh, we're going to starve to death here" and immediately turns the thermostat down to conserve energy. After all, your body will do whatever it has to do to ensure that you stay alive. It doesn't know that you don't want to carry those extra pounds around. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to convince my body that I really do want to shed those extra pounds through talking to it.

That is where The Wendie Plan comes in. If I can't get my body to shed the extra pounds by talking to it, then I have to trick it in to letting them go! The Wendie Plan is the trick.
If you are on WW, or even just counting calories, and you stick with a set amount of calories per day, such as 1400 or say, 27 points per day, your body will adjust to that. It will become extremely efficient at using just the amount of calories (energy) that you are giving it. You may lose fairly well at first, but after the first week or so, you will find that your losses may slow ... way... down, and even stop. Isn't it nice to have such an energy efficient body? However, the body isn't extremely fast. If you give it the same amount of food every day, it will adjust itself. But if you change the points values daily you body never knows what's coming which makes plateaus at bay and weights loss continuous.

Guess I now know what I did wrong last year to constantly see the scale inch up instead of down ... my body was used to my 1200 calorie days and all the exercising in the world didn't change a thing. This time I'm being smart about how I lose. Not gonna kill myself with the cardio either. My body is getting to old for that crap.

What's up fatties?

I say that in a loving tone ... ha ha ha.

<-- Me at the beginning of August. Maybe you can't tell but that's me in my fat girl state. Sure I know how to hide my chunky monkey butt in photos ... but it's still there. =)

Ok, so I got up this morning at 6am so hubby & I could get in a morning walk. WOW ... it was chilly. I almost went back in to bed but I didn't, I sucked up the cool morning air. By the end of the walk I was feeling good, all the blood was making me itchy but it's all good. 6,000 steps down, only 4,000 more to go. I'm making it my daily mission to reach no less than 10,000 steps a day.

Got home & I know I should have grabbed a water bottle but I didn't ... I grabbed a fish bowl coffee mug, downed the whole thing within minutes. So, now I need to decide what's on the menu for the day. I'm sticking with WW/WP* cause I know it works ... if I stick with it, which I am!

Food: 22 point day

B= 1/4 c egg beaters, string cheese, 1 slice deli ham, coffee, 2 cups water (4)

S= protien shake,2 cups water (3)

L= Protien bar w/ 1 cup ff milk, 2 cups water (6)

S= apple, orange, 14 baby carrots, 2 cups water (2)

D= sausage, onion, potatoes, 2 cups water (7)

Water: 10 cups

Exercise: 1.5 mile neighborhood walk w/hills, 1 mile walk video, 1 mile neighborhood walk (hills) 10,000+ steps =D

*ww/wp: weight watchers, Wendie Plan

http://www.webmilhouse.com/pointcalc.php <-- ww calculator

TOM's sweet exit

<-- My bloated fat self on the 4th of July with my good friend from high school. Anyway, I was 11.6 then and that's what I still am. I guess I should be happy that I have maintained since then but darn it ... I'm tired of maintaining ... I want this weight off. I'm losing days before I make it t o Disney. If I don't lose weight quick then I know my hips are gonna be in pain from those seats that are made for normal size butts! =)

So TOM is gone so I'm back on track ... went for a walk with the hubby & daughter during church breaks. Tomorrow I'll be back to logging in my food, exercise & all that good jazz. Looking forward to getting back on track ... the walk made me remember how much I love to work out.

Plan of action for tomorrow is to get up early & walk with hubby then jet off to do all the errands before school starts. Once their done with their school work then DD & I will be doing the Yoga Booty Ballet video. She's still a bean pole but she's got a bit of a belly from sitting at the computer all summer long. Not good! I'm teaching her bad habits. Anyway, I'm not leaving my fast growing son out of the workout department, I just know yoga isn't his thang. So while DD & I are getting our yoga groove on he will be doing the Wii Fit program. Don't care which one he does as long as he's sweating his bum off for at least 30 minutes. he he he I'm such a mean mom. The boy keeps growing ... he's now taller than me at 5'7 ... a whole inch ... he wears a 36/30 jean which is the same size that DH wears. Yup he's gonna be a BIG guy! I don't mind him being a big guy but I want him to have muscle ... not flab.

Sidetracked by TOM

OMG ... TOM came in & I can'r seem to eat. IDK, am I weird or something? Most women I know eat like a horse when TOM is here but for me I have no desire toeat anything at all. Of course the week after all I want is food & lots of it. I haven't been able to hit my points at all this week. I got close yesterday but only because I had a chocolate c overed frozen banana that was 4 points. How sad is that? Today I may hit my points ... only 23, so far it's notlooking good though. It's after 10 am & I've only had 1 point ... that's from a cup of coffee. I've felt so crummy that I haven't even exercised. I know I will feel better if I do but I can't motivate myself enough to get up. I guess for the week I'm just not gonna try cause I know I won't feel like eating which means I won't have the energy for exercise. When TOM leaves, I'm back on track.

Day #4

My biggest food day of the week and I'm not scared to eat the points. This fatty is very very hungry. =D Today I can have between 36-39 points ... yeah baby! I want pancakes, cup cakes, any kinda cakes but I know if I have those things I won't really get to eat as much food cause those items come with huge points so I'm gonna play it smart & just eat right. I'm gonna work the points system ... not have it work me! Can you tell I'm more serious about losing this time? How long has it been that I'm still here on day 4 and going strong? S o long that I can't even remember.

Maybe I'm more motivated this time cause next month we're going to Disney. I do not want the rides to be painful. My gosh, I can't even believe I have gotten so big that some seats are actually a little to small for my over grown behind. Also, in November we're heading to MO and Ill to see family & friends. Some friends I hahven't seen since high school & looking at their pictures I know their small. I know I can't lose all the weight but I can be smaller then I am now & feel much better about myself.

Food:
B=2 eggs, 3 bacon, 2 toast, 1 slice tomato, coffee,
S= apple, v-8 juice,
L= protein bar, chocolate covered banana,
S= roast beef, string cheese,
D= green beans, baked chicken, mashed potatoes,
S= 100 calorie pack, 1 cup 2 % milk.

cal 1796, fat 78.2, fiber 20.7, protein 88.2, wp 35

Water: 9 cups thus far

Cardio: didn't have the energy for it today.

Wendie Plan #3

Yesterday was a good day ... glad I was able to eat more cause dang was I hungry on Monday. Today I only get 23 points so I might be a cry baby about being hungry.

Food: coffee, protein shake, apple, protein bar, 14 carrots, ham w/ string cheese, sausage, potatoes, corn, string cheese.

1120 cal, 33 fat, 17 fiber, 50 protein, 23 wp

Water: 10
Cardio:25 min cardioke

Weigh In: 211.6

Notes: I was a little disappointed in where my weight is but after looking back over my journal I realize that I'm where I was a month ago so I guess I really shouldn't complain much cause it could be worse. I didn't gain!

Wendie Plan #2

Today I get 28 points so I won't feel hungry like I did yesterday. I thought I would cave around 9 last night but I didn't.

Food: coffee, oatmeal with protein powder, apple, protein bar, ham & string cheese, 14 baby carrots, 2 boiled eggs, pork chops with taters & a chef salad dressing included, string cheese.

1350 cal, 46.5 fat, 20 fiber, 77 protein, 28 wp

Water:13
Cardio: cardioke 2x

Wendie Plan #1

The Wendie Plan is basically a different way of using the Weight Watchers Plan. It's worked for me in the past so I'm going for it again. This time I don't care if I get tired of counting calories/points ... it's a must if I ever wantt o get healthy!

Food:
Shake, coffee, apple, protien bar, 14 carrots, 1 orange, cup of grapes,chicken salad with dressing & string cheese wrapped in ham.

1171 cal, 34.7 fat, 18 fiber, 64 protein, 24 wppoints

Water: 10 cups
Cardio: 25 min dance called cardioke by Billy Blanks Jr.

The Zigzag Diet Plan

The Zigzag Diet Plan Okay. Let me hit you right between the eyes up front. The answer is so simple, yet I've NEVER in all my years of being in this business, heard ANYONE utter it. I claim it. Here it is:
You can't lose fat unless you're on a negative calorie balance diet
You can't gain muscle tissue unless you're on a positive calorie balanced diet
You can't lose fat and gain muscle unless you alternate periods of negative calorie balance with periods of positive calorie balance.
It doesn't matter if you're trying to lose total body weight, stay at the same total body weight or gain total body weight. The zigzag rule applies to everyone. All the time. The process if zigzagging is actually integrated into a more comprehensive plan which accounts for the factors noted earlier regarding personalizing and integrating your training efforts. There are five rules to the process, and they apply to everryone on Mother Earth, from cradle to grave: Rule One Always eat at least 5 meals a day (preferably 6 or 7). Two or three meals simply isn't often enough. Your blood sugar levels will be controlled (and thus your cravings), you'll get protein in small amounts throughout the day to support growth and recovery, and (most important) the enzymes that store fat will be produced in far smaller amounts, making your body far less capable of storing fat! Simply, by providing your body with a consistent and frequent supply of calories -- life-giving energy -- its need to store fat is significantly reduced. Conversely, when you eat infrequently, your body recognizes a "famine" situation, and the enzymes are produced in large quantities to "swoop down" on every calorie you consume in order to store it as fat in preparation for the "famine" to come. Rule Two Remember the 1-2-3 rule. In each of your 5 meals, approximately 1 part of the calories should come from fats, 2 parts from protein and 3 parts from carbohydrates. This is a guideline, not a hard-and-fast law. Just keep the fat intake down to a low level (do not eliminate fat, as some fat is essential for maintaining good health), consume enough protein to support growth and recovery, and carbohydrates commensurable to your energy output (carbos are your body's preferred energy fuel source). Remember that protein and carbohydrates both have 4 calories per gram, while fat has 9 calories per gram. Rule Three When you sit down to eat, ask yourself, "What am I going to be doing for the next three hours of my life?" Then, if you're taking a nap, eat less than the average amount of carbos; if you're planning on being active, eat more than the average amount of carbos. For average between-meal activities, eat an average sized meal. Always keep your protein intake up to an appropriate level. This simple system ensures that you'll never put fat on from eating excess calories, or cannibalize your muscles from eating too little. Rule Four Another thing to remember whether you're trying to lose fat or adding lean muscle is to "zigzag" your caloric intake. For example, if you want to lose fat, reduce your calories during the week, but "pig out" on Friday night and Saturday. This will 1) readjust your BMR upwards, 2) support lean tissue building, and 3) give you a psychological "lift." Remember, in Rule One you learned that your fat storing enzymes were no longer a threat, so you CAN pig out once in awhile! In fact, if you want to put on lean muscle, you MUST! There is no way you can maximize lean muscle mass while on a calorie-restricted diet. Rule Five Your reduced intake of calories makes it almost impossible to get all of the nutrients your body needs to remain healthy and active. So, it's important to supplement your diet with vitamins, minerals and other carefully selected substances to ensure maximum progress toward your fitness, health and fat loss goals. Also, no matter how hard you try, no matter how good of a cook you are, or where you buy your food:
You can't always eat 5 or 6 times daily;
There are many instances where your body either requires or can make good use of certain nutrients in greater amounts than what can be derived from Mother Nature alone;
A perfectly balanced diet cannot be maintained during periods of contest preparation or periods where there is a purposeful caloric restriction imposed;
Periods of high-stress training require supernormal intake of many nutrients without a commensurable increase in caloric need;
Periods of high-stress training creates a situation in which various benefits can be derived from nutritional substances not normally found in food or biosynthesized in the body in sufficient or significant quantities but which are either man made or derived from botanical sources
Soil depletion, toxins in the food chain, overprocessing, overcooking, free radical formation in the body, and a host of other (sometimes medically related) factors all interact to make food less than totally nutritious.
Because man has been able to improve on Mother Nature's original work in many of life's arenas, there are some "superfoods" available which are plain and simply BETTER than the normal diet for serious fitness training. So, you MUST use nutritional supplements! Where Your Calories Come From
1 gram of fat equals 9 calories.
1 gram of protein equals 4 calories.
1 gram of carbohydrates equals 4 calories.
It's clear that you should reduce your consumption of fat in order to decrease your body fat level, because fat is a highly concentrated source of calories.
It's also clear that in order to gain muscle weight, you must reduce your consumption of fat in favor of more protein, because 1) fat can't become muscle, and 2) only protein can. Will Cutting Calories Result In Fat Loss? There are 3500 calories in one pound of fat. That means that by reducing your food by 500 calories per day, you should lose one pound of fat per week, right? WRONG! Actually, much of the weight you'll lose will come from muscle tissue, NOT fat! Why? Because your body tends to use ("excess") muscle tissue for needed energy before it reclaims fat deposits.
5#'s of fat next to 1 # of fat.The answer is to TAKE YOUR TIME with fat loss, and either preserve or build muscle tissue by integrating scientific weight training, mild aerobics, dietary manipulation, supplementation and other technologies into your lifestyle. Follow the rules above!
This poor soul actually lost 21 pounds of muscle and only 9 pounds of fat! He'll yo-yo back up to 200 in no time (within 1-2 years according to information compiled during the Congressional investigation into the fat loss industry). However, in doing so, he or she will be 35 percent body fat instead of their original 30 percent. Why? They never regained all of the lean tissue they lost as a result of their crash dieting earlier.
NEVER attempt to gain or lose "weight!" Instead, you should always strive to gain muscle and lose fat!