Glute Magazine - Work That Butt!

One of my SparkPeople friends recommended a magazine and I'm sooo glad I picked it up. It's called Glute and it's one of Oxygen's special magazines.

This magazine is packed with lots of workouts for a great butt. Very useful recipes, especially if you're following Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle.

My calorie burning goal for today was 700. I really try to burn 600-700 on both Saturday and Sunday. It helps with my overall goal for the week. So today I did Day 15 of Jillian Michael's Making the Cut. This is a tough one! Then I did a glute workout on page 60 of the magazine. I did the advanced circuit - repeating 3 times. At first I just didn't see how this was possible, some exercises call for 4 sets. But I did the entire thing! It took 48 minutes and I burned 370 calories. Not bad. I think my form suffered a little as it went on. It's recommended to do it 1-3 times per week. 2 being the best choice for most.

These are the exercises:
Deep Squat
Hip Raise
Lateral Leap
Stiff-legged Deadlift
Bench Step-Up
Lunge Jump
Box Jump
Walking Lunge

I think next time I'll pair this with more cardio and make the exercises a little harder by making the step higher and using heavier weights. It was really great though! And there are probably 3 more of these full workouts in the magazine. Pick it up if you can!

WEEK #7 RESULTS / PLAN FOR WEEK #8

I can't believe it's been 7 weeks! I know that I've made progress, I just wish I was closer to my final goal.

Stats for this week:
Calories burned = 3,528
Calories consumed = 13,004
Deficit (11,900 - calories burned +calories consumed) = 2,424
Weight = 136 (Lost .4 lb) - Why won't this move?!
Tanita Body Fat% = 25.6% (lost .3%) - hurray!!
Waist = 29 inches (Gained 1/2 inch)
Hips = 34.7 inches (Gained 1/4 inch)
Number of cardio workouts = 5
Number of strength workouts = 3

I know that it says my numbers went up for waist and hips but they feel smaller to me. I guess that's all that matters.

I really did better with the grazing thing this week. I had a weak moment on Friday after a long and tiring week. I'm ok with that. It was good and I deserved it. I also had some alcohol and I know that did not help with the cravings. I bet I would have saved 300 calories if I wouldn't have had that one drink.

I counted all my creamer this week!! I feel that I really saved a lot of calories by doing that. I'm barely 1/2 way done with the carton of creamer so I'm also saving money.

I had a foot injury this week. It actually still hurts at times but I haven't taken much time off from working out. Basically just one day and I try to ice it after every workout. It's not swollen or anything so I'm not worried about it.

I did 4 higher carb days this week. I'm not sure that I noticed a difference from it. Overall I had less cravings. Could that have been from eating more carbs? This was also my time of the month. Of course the cravings were terrible the week before. This week I'm going to do 2 higher carb days.

I have a lot going on this week and I hope I can continue to stay on track. I'm going to shorten my workouts because I have to be at work at 7am instead of 8am. So I'll still get up at the same time but I'll workout for less time. Hopefully I can make them very efficient workouts. I thought about switching to nights (this is assuming that I would get off at a decent time to actually get to workout at night) and decided against it for now. I'm feel so much better in the morning after working out. The difference in my energy for the day is amazing.

I took my vitamins almost every day this week which is huge for me. I never remember to take them. I take a multi vitamin, fish oil, B complex, and calcium plus D. My nails have been so strong lately!

Hope everyone has a great week!! Next Monday is Memorial Day!

HIGH PROTEIN BREAKFAST RECIPES

I wanted to post a couple of my FAVORITE recipes. I think both of these actually come from Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle but I modified them a bit.

PROTEIN PANCAKES - makes 3 pancakes
1 pancake = 286 calories, 33g of protein, 24g carbs, 6g fat

6 egg whites
1 cup non-fat cottage cheese
1 scoop protein powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 cup oatmeal
2 TBSP FLAXSEED

Stir it all together and cook in a pan. This makes 3. I use a cup measure and each cup is about 1 pancake. These pancakes are very large so you really have to let it cook together before you flip it. Eat with peanut butter, banana, and sugar free syrup.

PROTEIN, APPLESAUCE OATMEAL
290 calories, 24g protein, 40g carbs, 4.5g fat

1/2 Cup Quaker Old Fashioned Oatmeal
1/3 cup natural (unsweetened) applesauce
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
Ground Cinnamon 2 tsp
1 tablespoon of Splenda

Heat the oatmeal first with 1 cup of water for 2 minutes. Then add everything else. I also like to chop up an apple and put it in the oatmeal.


HUNGRY GIRL COOK BOOK

I just picked up the Hungry Girl cook book. It's amazing!!!! This is a must have if you want to get creative and healthy in the kitchen. I'm going to try Meatlovers' Cheesy Pasta tonight! Only 301 calories.

My Passion is Life!

I have no life!!! I have been feeling like this for a while but I guess I wasn't able to verbalize or I just didn't care. Career has ALWAYS been my passion. Since I was 16, I've lived to work. Career is what has always been the most important to me and I've been driven and I've worked my a** off. And I did it, I'm working in television and living in Hollywood just like I've always dreamed. Only I'm not happy. Television is a frustrating business. Even on a really successful show. The pace is insane. An unbelievable amount of money is wasted on the stupidest things. It takes a million people to make one small decision. I'm just about OVER it!

I live in Southern California and I don't take the time to really take advantage of it. I work at least 10 hours a day with a 45 minutes commute each way. That's on a good day. I've worked 18 hour days before and more often 12 hour days. And I just don't know why anymore. Starting from when I was in high school I took a trip to Europe every couple of years. The last trip I took was 7 years ago and it is just killing me. I want to be able to travel and have a dog and have more freedom during my day. I want to become a better person and not get so annoyed with my boyfriend or the people I work with. I don't want to have to drink to get through a job like my boss told me the other day. (Me: 'This is a crazy schedule' Her: 'That's why we drink') **Side note - I have NOT been drinking except for a small drink once a weekend**

I was talking with my friend about this and we just came to the conclusion that our passion is actually life. NOT work like we've always thought. I don't want kids or even to get married any time soon so that's totally not what this is about. I just don't want my job controlling my life anymore!

I think my blog is going to be my journey to finding passion in life, while staying fit and healthy, and getting out of debt. They all go hand in hand right?

I also have decided to make a career change. I thought one day I would want to move back to Chicago, and maybe one day I still will, but for now I want to enjoy Southern California for what it is. AWESOME weather, mountains, the beach, there are endless possibilities here. Anyway, career change! I want to work in health and fitness. I don't know how exactly but it is my new mission to figure that out. I've had these personal training study materials for over a year now and I need to do that! Even if I never train someone, at least I'll have the knowledge.

Thanks for listening. Stay tuned!!!

Revlon Run / Walk for Women's Cancers

Yesterday my boyfriend and I participated in the Revlon Run / Walk. This is the 3rd year we have done it and we always leave with a warm fuzzy feeling. They do an amazing job of organizing this event and getting awesome sponsors and celebrities. We ran the 5k in 28 minutes. We decided to walk from where we parked to the start line. This was probably about 2 miles there and 2 miles back. It was nice to have that long walk even though I was already tired by the time the run started (did I mention I need coffee in the morning?!). My boyfriend did a kick butt job! I was really worried he wouldn't make it because he doesn't do as much cardio as I do but I was trailing behind him for a lot of it. The downside was that I rolled my foot in a hole. I thought I was fine but it was really painful at the gym today. I'm sure it's just bruised but I wish just for one week that I had no pain while exercising....if it's not one thing, it's another. Still a great day and nice to do something for a good cause!

WEEK #6 RESULTS / PLAN FOR WEEK #7

Calories burned = 3,636
Calories consumed = 13,073
Deficit (11,900 - calories burned +calories consumed) = 2,462.5
Weight = 136.4 (Gained 1 lb)
Tanita Body Fat% = 26.3% (lost .1%)
Waist = 28.5 inches (Lost 1/4 inch)
Hips = 34.5 inches (Gained 1/4 inch)
Number of cardio workouts = 8
Number of strength workouts = 5

I had a tough week. I just wanted to snack / graze all the time and that's no fun. If I let myself snack then I feel bad about it. When I'm truly really hungry and I can't wait till my next meal I'm ok with having some extra calories. I don't believe in starving myself. I'm not sure that my calories consumed is accurate. I think I actually concerned close to 500 more than that.

I had a couple of realizations as I was buying groceries today. The first was when I bought half and half for the week. I buy a small, fat free kind but I've been buying it EVERY week and not logging any of the calories - not to mention the calories from evil creamer I have at work. That's almost 400 right there! I've also been using more cheese, sugar free syrup, and sour cream than I've been logging. So it could really be more than 500 not logged calories. Yikes. That's no good. I did include an extra workout but if you look at my stats I didn't make very much progress this week. I really wish this would speed up a bit!! It is my own fault for cheating. These are calories I wouldn't even notice were missing.

I think the reason for my snacking / grazing cravings this week was work. I'm just sort of fed up with it. I need a break! I work too many hours. And I also made a realization that I want to get out of my current line of work and start a career in health and fitness. This will probably be a couple years from now but it's fun to think about. I'm not sure what exactly I want to do. I need to do some research.

So for this week I'm really really really trying to stay within my calorie limits. I've upped them for the week (I will still come in less than this week if i stay on track) and made 50 free calories for the day that aren't worked in anywhere. I'm going to account for all cheese, creamer, sour cream, and sugar free syrup I eat this week. If I want more I can use the extra 50 calories for that. I am also going to try to only have coffee in the morning and just have tea at work.

I'm going to switch up my protein / carb high & low days. I will have 4 high carb days. Will I notice a difference? We'll see!

Brandaid: Slim-Fast Pulls a Fast One

Have you heard of the website brandaid.com? 'A grocery guide to healthy brands'. It's incredibly helpful and a great resource if you really want to see some of your foods dissected. I get emails from them about once a week with findings and this one really gave me the shivers as they say in the article. It just goes along with my 'healthy' companies selling unhealthy / poisonous products. I had to post it!



Slim-Fast Pulls a Fast One

At first, the Slim-Fast weight loss program only gave us the shakes. But now that we’re label-savvy and aware of the scary junk ingredients that go into the Slim-Fast products, we also get the shivers!

The strategy behind the ever-popular Slim-Fast weight loss plan is easy and convenient. According to their website all you have to do is:

“Substitute two meals a day with Slim-Fast Shakes (or bars) and make sure you eat a sensible third meal. When you get hungry between meals, go ahead and enjoy a snack such as fruit or vegetables with any calorie-free beverage. Remember also to exercise and drink plenty of water daily.”

Okay, we love the sensible dinner, the healthy snacks, and the exercising part – these are no brainers for being healthy and slim. But what about their meal options? Has Slim-Fast performed magic and transformed an ordinary milkshake from a sugary high-fat treat into a healthy meal?

Well, according to their website, more than 30 clinical studies have been conducted proving that their products are a healthy and effective way to lose weight. They say that their meals contain lean proteins, complex carbohydrates and essential vitamins and minerals, making healthy eating convenient and tasty!

Hmmmm. We’ll let OUR food sleuths be the judge! Take a look.

---

Slim-Fast Optima Meal-On-The-Go Shakes Rich Chocolate Royale

Nutrition facts: per serving, 190 cals, 6g fat, 200mg sodium, 5g fiber, 18g sugar, 10g protein

INGREDIENTS: Fat Free Milk, Sugar, Cocoa (Processed With Alkali), Canola Oil, Fructose, Calcium Caseinate, Gum Arabic, Cellulose Gel, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Mono and Diglycerides, Potassium Phosphate, Soybean Lecithin, Cellulose Gum, Carrageenan, Isolated Soy Protein, Artificial Flavor, Maltodextrin, Sucralose and Acesulfame (Nonnutritive Sweeteners), Dextrose, Potassium Carrageenan, Citric Acid and Sodium Citrate. Vitamins and Minerals: Magnesium Phosphate, Calcium Phosphate, Sodium Ascorbate, Vitamin E Acetate, Zinc Gluconate, Ferric Orthophosphate, Niacinamide, Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Thiamin Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Chromium Chloride, Biotin, Sodium Molybdate, Potassium Iodide, Phylloquinone (Vitamin K1), Sodium Selenite, Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) and Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3).

---

Decoding the Fine Print

After a quick-scan of the ingredients list, we can assure you that this stuff ain’t magic! It’s just fancy experiments performed in a laboratory. Here’s what we found:

This Slim-Fast shake contains only four real ingredients (nonfat milk, sugar, cocoa and canola oil); coupled with a whopping 19 chemical additives. Plus, an additional 19 added vitamins and minerals (i.e., their nutrition blend). So, that’s a staggering total of 42 items padding out the ingredients list. Where’s the healthy part?

Here’s the breakdown of the goods:

• Sugar is listed as the second and fourth ingredient – and that’s never a good sign.

• Trans fats in the form of hydrogenated soybean oil. Eek!

• There’s one refined sweetener (maltodextrin) and two artificial sweeteners (sucralose and acesulfame). Yikes!

• And there are a slew of random additives that are hard to pronounce: calcium caseinate, cellulose gel, mono and diglycerides, potassium phosphate, soybean lecithin, cellulose gum, carrageenan, isolated soy protein, artificial flavor, potassium carrageenan, and sodium citrate.

The stink of false advertising is sending chills down our spines! Sure, there might be some added vitamins and minerals in these slimming diet products, but Slim-Fast has really skimped on the “healthy” part.

---

Reality Check

So will drinking a Slim-Fast shake every morning really help you lose weight. Call us cynical, but we doubt it. Plus, there’s nothing healthy about their shakes; they’re sugary, soupy milk drinks with added vitamins to make up for a lack of nutrients and taste.

Here’s a novel idea: Forget about replacing breakfast and lunch with Slim-Fast’s overly processed foods and eat three sensible meals, munch on healthy snacks, and find time for exercise. You’ll get slimmer faster without the added junk ingredients.

Now that’s a diet plan that makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

WEEK #5 RESULTS / PLAN FOR WEEK #6

This was a good week. Here are the stats:

Calories burned = 3231
Calories consumed = 12,971
Deficit (11,900 - calories burned +calories consumed) = 2,160
Weight = 135.4 (1 lb lost)
Tanita Body Fat% = 26.4% (gained .4%)
Waist = 28.75 inches (Lost 1/2 inch)
HIps = 34.25 inches (Lost 1/4 inch)

Overall my hardwork paid off. I'm a little disappointed that I lost some muscle. A little over a pound infact. BUT I've made my main goal to lose inches in my waist since I can't find a good way to measure my BF%, so I'm ok. This week I'm adding a workout (7 total workouts) and adding some more calories. There were three days this past week when I was soooooo hungry. I think 1600 or 1700 calories is getting to the low side for me. Especially since I lost muscle.

This is my plan for this week:
Sunday - Burn 600 calories / Eat 1700
Monday - Burn 400 / Eat 1800
Tuesday - Burn 300 / Eat 1700 - High carbs
Wednesday - Burn 500 / Eat 1800
Thursday - Burn 400 / Eat 2000 - High carbs
Friday - Burn 400 / Eat 1800
Saturday - Burn 600 / Eat 1700

My deficit should be around 2600 for the week.

I did pretty well at not snacking in the kitchen at work this past week but I think I can do better this week. I'm going to use my ugly green highlighter and highlight every time I cave! Hopefully I won't have more than 5 highlights this week.

I also need to drink more water. I think that's one reason for the hunger.

Madonna's Workout

I came across the following article about Madonna's trainer.

http://www.usmagazine.com/madonna-and-gwyn-diet-tips

I think this article is interesting for a couple of reasons. First off the workout. I need to try it one of these days because it really does sound like a killer!!

The Workout
While following this plan six times a week, use 3-pound weights, max. Anderson explains, “It’ll get you to your tiniest, tightest point without overdeveloping muscles.” Get video footage of the workout at tracyandersonmethod.com.

WEEK 1
Make a 20-minute iPod playlist and do a different cardio activity (treadmill sprints, jumping rope, running on a trampoline) for each song. Switching activities will keep any one group of muscles from bulking up. “You should be dripping sweat and taking very few breaks,” she advises.

Get crunching! Do these three moves on a mat:
1. Lie flat on back, legs straight, then bend legs and pull to chest, feeling exertion in abs (50 reps).
2. With legs at 90-degree angle, do 50 crunches.
3. Lie with legs straight, feet apart. As you slightly lift one foot, crunch straight up and down; return foot to floor and lift the other while crunching. Do 60 times, each side.

Tone Do 100 reps each, or 200 for moves that alternate sides:
1. With feet shoulder-width apart, hold arms out in a T and rotate palms from -facing floor to ceiling.
2. In same stance, bend one wrist and pull across body, arm straight, in a smacking motion across your body. Alternate arms.
3. Then, with arms straight behind you, palms to-gether, snap your wrists from side to side.
4. Hold a 3-pound weight above your head with elbow bent at a 90-degree angle. Then lift weight straight over head. Do all reps on one side, then switch arms.
5. With weight in hand, hold one arm out in a T, bend at elbow to cover eyes, then straighten, keeping arm lifted. Do all reps on one arm; switch.
6. Do grand pliés: Stand with feet -shoulder-width apart, toes pointing out. With hands on hips and back straight, slowly bend knees until thighs are parallel to floor.

WEEKS 2–6
Increase cardio 10 minutes each week, so by week six, you’re up to 60 minutes daily, plus toning exercises.

The workout seems a little strange / different. I love doing new things to my body though. I might give it a try this week, mixing it in with my Jillian Michael's workouts.

I am a little bothered by the way she says to eat. Actually a lot! It seems like the goal is to build muscle but how are you supposed to do that if you're not eating enough and doing an hour of cardio a day?

This is an example of a day:
Monday
Breakfast
1 pumpkin spice Kashi bar with 1 cup vanilla — or plain — nonfat rice milk
Lunch
1 cup plain penne pasta with ½ cup steamed peas
Dinner
3 to 5 oz fresh turkey breast with ½ cup each of chopped spinach, cucumber and tomatoes

There isn't even a snack built in! I guess you probably would lose 20 pounds in 6 weeks but I bet those 20 lbs would be back on in 4 weeks. Madonna does look fantastic but I don't believe that this is all she eats. I personally would be famished. I need to eat more than this and of course it goes completely against 'Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle'. I will give the workout a try though.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Ok what is with these 'healthy' products having high fructose corn syrup?! Come on!! The one that put me over the top was when I was at Ballys. They have protein bars at the counter and just because I was curious I looked at the ingredients. Not only was high fructose corn syrup listed, it was listed FIRST!!! What are they thinking?? I know it seems like MOST protein bars have it in them but to have it on the counter at a gym is just unacceptable.

Other products that just drive me insane are yogurts. It is not hard to make a healthy yogurt but even worse, Bob Greene puts his stamp on it! (I can't remember what kind it is exactly. I think Dannon.) I feel like that completely discredits him. How can he put his stamp of approval on products that have this poison in them?!

I hope everyone is watching out for these products. It's really amazing how much corn we have hidden in our foods. Especially High Fructose Corn Syrup. The following article is about a woman that gave up everything with corn. It's sort of eye opening because it's never what I think about giving up. Sugar, of course but corn?! Isn't that supposed to be healthy?? I think that it mostly is when it's not hidden. She talks about a documentary called 'King Corn'. It is about our addiction to corn. Very interesting. Has anyone seen it??

http://commongroundmag.com/2008/05/healthyliving0805.html

WEEK #5 OF BFFM

This was a good week. I was busy and worked lots of hours and was still able to keep up with my new way of eating.

Here are the results:

Weight: 136.4 (gained .6 lbs)
BF%: LOST 1.8%
Waist: Lost .5 inches
Hips: Lost .5 inches

I kind of hoped for more but I did a lot of strength workouts thanks to Jillian Michaels. So I gained more muscle which is my goal! I decided her workouts in 'Making the Cut' are GREAT. i don't know why I stopped doing them! I honestly think I just got lazy. They're really tough! And they also take a lot of work moving around the gym. You can't do them all in one place. But I think that's a good thing....keeps you on your toes.

My deficit for this week was 2345.5 calories. Not bad. I want to try for more next week. I need to stop going over my calories. It's never more than 100 but it just bothers me that I can't 100% stick to my plan. Why do I have to sneak in a couple of chips or a couple of m & m's? Hopefully tomorrow I can do it!! I would love to get my deficit closer to 3000 but I don't want to be starving. This week I am going to throw in some lower calorie days, just by 100 calories. I think that will help.

Hope everyone has a great and healthy week!!

Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred

I did the '30 Day Shred' by Jillian Michaels today. I must say I'm not as impressed as everyone else seems to be. Yes, it's a decent workout but there is not much to choose from. If you do this for thirty days there are only 3 different workouts and if you're a beginner chances are you're not going to be ready for Level 3 at the end of the 30 days. She also doesn't say how often you should do the workouts or when you should move on. It isn't enough of a workout for me to do alone and only do 1 workout.

I did Level 1 and Level 2 today. I skipped the cool down of level 1 and the warmup of level 2.
Here are my stats:

Total Time: 50:58
In Heart Zone Time: 33:03
Average Heart Rate: 132
Max Heart Rate: 164
Calories Burned: 341

If I would have only done 20 minutes I would have burned only 150 calories. That is definitely not enough burned for the entire day. But she doesn't explain this either, even after all her talk about why it's important to burn calories.

Bottom line, I think these workouts could be misleading if they're used by themselves. I think I did get a decent workout and my muscles were definitely tired. I am glad I got a spin class in this morning and didn't use this by itself though.

WEEK #4 of Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle

Sorry I was absent for a couple of weeks! They were busy weeks and my weigh-ins weren't terrible but I definitely didn't feel like writing about them. I didn't really lose or gain. I'm pretty much where I was before.

I've decided to drop down to 1700 calories a day. I'll have one high day. I hope this won't be too difficult. I was getting hungry still eating 1800 calories sometimes but I just can't work out any more than I have been. For one thing my knee has been hurting. grr... I just never know how it's going to feel. And also it's been soooo hard to get my heart rate up lately. So between trying not to run on my knee but not having another way to get my heart rate up I've been in a little pickle. Hopefully this week I can definitely make some improvements.

I also need to work on not picking at things that aren't on my menu for the day. I am so good at just sneaking little things into my mouth and thinking they're so small I don't need to count them. Well I will not make any progress that way! So I'm going to work in some rewards......still pretty healthy. But rewards none the less. The first one will be on Tuesday - an Almond Ginger Chew. They are great. 150 calories, 2g of protein, 16 carbs, and 9 g of fat. It'll be good fat to have. I feel like I don't eat much fat. And it'll be a nice treat! Something else I might treat myself to is Newman's Own Caramel Cups. YUM!!! They are also 150 calories. Only 1 gram of protein, 21 carbs (yikes), and 8 grams of fat. But if I'm going to treat myself I feel like this is the healthy way to do it. Well, of course there are many ways but this is one of them. I LOVE Paul Newman's line of healthy foods. The salad dressings are amazing. And I heard that proceeds go to charity. That's always nice.

I do have a night shoot that's kinda throwing me for a loop. My call time will be 1:30am and I work that same day. AND I'll still have to be at work the normal time the next day. I was thinking about throwing in an extra 200 or 300 calories just because I'll be up for more hours. At least I'll have the weekend to recover. Or isn't it true that when you eat between the hours of 1am and 5am they don't count???? I mean come on, which day would they really count for?? Alright, I'm just kidding.

I need a new strength routine. I've ordered Jillian Michaels new DVD that I've heard amazing things about. I need something like that to do at home. I hope it kicks my butt!!

Alright, time for bed. I spent a couple of hours cooking my meals for this week and I have to get up around 4am so I can go to the farther gym that's open that early. I just need to face the fact that I won't be getting very much sleep this week. I'll write again soon and actually put some useful information in my post. I hope everyone has an awesome week!!!!

Week #2 Recap, On to Week #3

I weighed in today BUT I ate sooo many more carbs than I should have yesterday. I found this more than delicious cereal yesterday and ate 1/2 the box. It is called Puffins. I've had the original and cinnamon before but now they have PEANUT BUTTER. It tastes like candy and other than all the carbs it's really not bad for you. It tastes really sweet but there's not much sugar in it.

So this is what happened when I weighed in on Wednesday:

Weight: 135.6
Body Fat %: 25.6%
Waist: 29.5 inches
Hips: 34.5 inches

And this is what happened when I weighed in today:

Weight: 136.2 (Gained 2.8lbs since last Sunday)
Body Fat %: 26.6% (Gained .8% - assuming this is accurate)
Waist: 29.5 inches (Lost 1.7 inches)
Hips: 34.5 inches (Lost .1 inches)
Calipers: 16.9%

The calipers are telling me I'm 16.9% body fat. I think I'm going to go with that. The scale just doesn't seem right. I feel like throwing it away! 16.% seems low. Grrrr....it's getting so frustrating not having something that I can totally rely on. Help!

But I did lose inches this week so I am definitely happy with that!

I did pretty well with the goals I had for this week.
I didn't add an add'l strength workout. To be honest I kind of just forgot about that one.
I did not have any pop this week other than Fresca!
I feel like I didn't neglect my boyfriend this week. He worked more than I did so we just didn't have much time to spend together. He's been super tired this weekend so still not much quality time.

For this week I'll be eating 2000 calories Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Those will all be 7:00am - 9pm or 10pm work days. I've added some more calories and a 6th meal to get me through it. My #1 goal is to not eat from the craft service table. Other than that, I just want to get through it. I'm going to try to squeeze in a small 20-30 minute workout at home on Tuesday.

WEEK #1 RESULTS, BEGINNING OF WEEK #2

I did really well this week. I stuck to my menus and workout schedules. It was hard work planning and packing five meals a day but it was worth it. I could definitely feel that it was doing a lot of good. And because I was eating so much protein and not much processed foods I felt better and was not hungry very often. Sometimes I had to make myself eat. It also helped me with mindless snacking while waiting for my food to be done cooking. It wasn't on the daily menu so I didn't eat it.

Today was weigh-in day!
Weight: 133.4 (LOST 1.8 lbs)
Body Fat: 25.8% (GAINED .6 %)
Lean Mass: 99 lbs (LOST 2.2 lbs)
Waist: 31.2 inches (GAINED 1.5)
Hips: 34.6 (LOST .4)

Overall this wasn't completely successful because I lost muscle! And gained in my waist. BUT Tom says in his book that this is normal for the first week. He says to make sure you're eating enough because if you lose muscle than there weren't enough calories to feed the muscles. I'm down a couple of pounds now, when I do all the calculations I should be eating a little lower or about the same this week. Since there will be two high days I'm going to stay at 1800 calories for my low days. I did think about going to 1900 on weight training days but of course everyone gets all freaked out when adding MORE calories. Even though I know that's probably the right thing to do, I still have a hard time. Overall I would call week #1 a success.

Other goals for this week:
1. Add one more day of weight training - The following week is going to be busy and I won't get 6 workouts in so I'm going to step it up this week.
2. No pop! I always drink diet but last week I was using it as a dessert in the afternoon and it's just not good for me. Now that I've adjusted more to this eating schedule I can skip the pop and drink tea.
3. Don't neglect my boyfriend. Sometimes I get all into this meal planning thing and packing meals, reading blogs, that my boyfriend gets pushed aside. I think he's feeling neglected. Not this week! Gosh I sound like a dork. Who would rather be on their computer and then spending time with their boyfriend.

Today was the end of my 12th week without alcohol. WOHOO!! I MADE IT. I really don't think I'll be drinking any time soon though. I felt so good the past 12 weeks. It feels amazing to know that I accomplished that goal. I really didn't think it would be as easy it was. I don't need alcohol afterall!! A few times today I got a HUGE urge to have a martini or a glass of wine but I think that's just because I knew that I could. We're having an end of the season party in a couple weeks I think I'll have a glass of wine then, but not until then.

Week #1 - Day #1 'Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle'

Today was my first day following 'Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle'. Although I only sort of followed it today. Ok i didn't really follow it very well today. But it was Easter and he said I could have a cheat meal. I did stay within my 1800 calories and the food I ate wasn't THAT bad. As for tomorrow, I have my lunch semi packed and will finish the rest in the morning after my crockpot makes chicken tonight and I hit the gym in the morning. It really is a lot of food and preparation but it was sort of fun in a way. I always bring my lunch and snacks to work but this time I'm actually really thinking about and cooking what I'm going to be eating tomorrow.

Here's the menu:
7AM EGG WHITES
1 EGG
WHOLE GRAIN BREAD
AVACADO

10AM FAGE YOGURT
TJ OATMEAL COMPLETE
GO LEAN CEREAL
BLUEBERRIES

1PM CHICKEN
SWEET POTATO
MIXED VEGETABLES

4PM TJ'S TURKEY
SALAD

7PM TUNA
COTTAGE CHEESE
GREEN BEANS

I think it'll be good and I think I'll be fairly full.

WEIGHT IN FOR SUNDAY, 3/23/08
Weight: 135.2
Waist: 29.8 inches
Hips: 35 inches
% body fat from scale: 25.2% (still can't figure out those stupid calipers. I really think I bought the wrong ones.)
Lean mass: 101.2 pounds

I wanted to add a little more about my program / guidelines:

1. Eat 1800 calories except for every 4th day. I'll get 2300 on the 4th day.
2. Follow 40% carbrohydrates, 40% protein, 20% fat on my 1800 calories days and 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat on my 2300 days.
3. Eat 5 meals per day, every 3 hours. No starchy carbs at the 3rd, 4th, and 5th meals.
4. Drink 100 ounces of water per day
5. 40-60 minutes of cardio 6 days per week keeping my heart rate between 154 and 162 at least.
6. Strength training 3-4 times per week, working every body part only twice per week.
7. Drink no more than 2 glasses of wine per week.
8. Eat mostly NON processed foods.

I really believe this will raise my metabolism and is a great way to eat in general. I have a hard time losing weight so that's why I'm following the low carb plan. I might switch it up next week and eat a few more carbs than I am this week.

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle

I can't believe how much weightloss, dieting stuff is out there and how much of it is such crap. I'm watching 'I Can Make You Thin' on TLC. Now not everything he says is wrong. There are some good ideas but it's not about being healthy. He says, 'eat what you want, not what you think you should eat'. Meaning you can eat ANYTHING. He was going through someone's cabinets and she didn't like beans but thought she should include it in her diet. So he threw it away. Beans are actually important in your diet. How about instead of throwing it away, you teach her how to prepare the beans in a healthy way so she does like them. That was just one of my problems with the show. I think the bottom line is, losing weight and being healthy is not always that simple.

Which brings me to my first book review! 'Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle' by Tom Venuto.

It is awesome. He is very knowlegable and has done his research and his own experiments over the years with his clients. He teaches the body building principles and how to apply them to your diet to be fit and have the lowest % of body fat. Since those are my goals this is the perfect book for me. I do think that you can use these guidelines even as a beginner but you really do have to study the book. He explains EVERYTHING.....which is amazing. A lot of these fundamentals is usually skipped over and you don't understand why you're doing the things you're doing.

He starts with the #1 way to succeed - setting goals. Set the ultimate goal, 1 year goal, 90 day goals, weekly goals, daily goals.

Oh yeah, something that I think is extremely important and that he stresses in the book is that this really isn't a diet. It's a program to follow in your every day life. To lose weight you make changes in what/how you're eating and how you're exercising but then you change those things back when you're maintaining.

The tough part about this program is eating. I think this will get easier as the days / weeks go by. Basically he gives you a couple of formulas to use to figure them out. I like his quick way, even though it's not supposed to be accurate......it is close to what i get with the other formulas.

MULTIPLY TOTAL BODY WEIGHT WITH:
FAT LOSS = 12-13 CALORIES PER LB OF BODY WEIGHT
MAINTENANCE (TDEE) = 15-16 CALORIES PER LB OF BODY WEIGHT
WEIGHT GAIN = 18-20+ CALORIES PER LB OF BODY WEIGHT

So if you want to lose weight and you weigh 200 lbs you would multiply by 13 calories. 200 x 13 = 2600. Seems a little high. Doesn't work for everyone but maybe someplace to start.

The other two HARRIS BENEDICT FORMULA and KATCH-MCARDLE FORMULA require finding your BMR and then multiplying by your activity factor. Which is great idea if you want to be accurate like you really should be.

LIGHTLY ACTIVE = BMR X 1.375 (LIGHT EXERCISE / SPORTS 1-3 DAYS/WEEK)
MOD. ACTIVE = BMR X 1.55 (MODERATE EXERCISE 3-5 DAYS/WEEK)
VERY ACTIVE = BMR X 1.725 (HARD EXERCISE 6-7 DAYS/WEEK)
EXTRA ACTIVE = BMR X 1.9 (HARD DAILY EXERCISE & PHYSICAL JOB OR 2 X DAY TRAINING)

After doing all three I came up with 1800 calories per day. Now I was cycling my calories before and I'm going to do that again. He does it a little bit differently than I was. Basically he says to have a high day every 3rd day. My high day calories is equal to what I would eat if I were going to maintain my weight.

LOW 1800
LOW 1800
LOW 1800
HIGH 2300
LOW 1800
LOW 1800
LOW 1800

The reason for doing this is to keep up your metabolism. The guideline to follow is to eat 5 meals, 1 meal every 3 hours.

By reading this book I figured out I'm an Endomorph....meaning I have hard time losing weight. Great news! grrr But he gives guidelines to follow when you are an endomorph. I will be following the 40 / 40 / 20 on normal days and 50 / 30 / 20 on my high day. That means 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fat and 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat. I am having a heck of a time trying to plan my meals like this. Practice makes perfect I guess. I've definitely learned how to count calories in the past few years so I'm sure I can get the hang of this. I hope at least!

He also gives guidelines on what to eat in each of these meals. What kind of protein, what kind of carbs, what kind of fat, etc. This is helpful and hard at the same time. I feel like I don't have very many choices but in a way that's good.

Overall this book rocks!!! I don't want to say it's a bible, but it really kind of is. I usually enjoy holding a book in my hand and reading it but unfortunately it's only an ebook. That is refreshing because Tom is not out there to get rich and famous (although he probably is) he self published this book and only distros over the web. Here is the website if you want to give it a try. I'd love to hear what you think of it! http://www.burnthefat.com/

Tomorrow is DAY 1 - Eventhough it's Easter. I'm going to weigh in in the morning and post it at some point during the day. HAPPY EASTER!!!

I MADE IT!

I have been heavily buried in 'Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle' Great book if you haven't hear of it! That will be my next post later on today. I just wanted to pat myself on the back for last week. : )

I did not binge at all at work!!! It was a tough week but it was so great to not go home and feel bloated and totally full. I stayed away from the bad food and ate what I brought with me to work.

Stress, no sleep, and food - My confessions

Like I said, I work in Hollywood on a TV show. We haven't been shooting the past couple of weeks but we are this week. The confession I need to make is that these shoot weeks are the ones where I lose all respect for myself when it comes to eating. It's really terrible. Our craft service table lays out tons of packaged items, cooked foods (replenished ALL day), and tupperware bowls of trail mix, M&M's, all kinds of candy, nuts, etc. The tupperware containers are usually my weakness. I get a styrophone cup and fill it with a mixture of candy and nuts and trail mixes. I always think I'll just snack on this for a while but I choose a boring time of the day and sit there and eat it usually really quickly because it's so damn good! Then after I do that I say well I've already eaten terribly I mine as well not worry about what I'm eating and continue to eat bad things for the rest of the day. Sooooooo this time I'm going to use my blog to cope with the stresses of having stress, very little sleep, and lots of food.

I have purchased lots of snacks. This is my plan:

7am - Egg white omelet w/veggies and chicken - about 300 calories
9am - Yogurt - 130 calories
11am - Balance bar - 100 calories
1:30pm - Lunch - 400-500 calories
3:30pm - Homemade trail mix from Hungry Girl (see below for recipe) - 130 calories
5:30pm - Fruit - 100 calories
7:30pm - A frozen burrito if I'm eating dinner at work - 300 calories

I also go some hard candies to suck on through out the day. I feel like my mouth needs to keep busy for some reason. I'll also bring extra snacks just incase I get the overeating feeling. I'll STILL stay away from the dreaded table and just eat my snacks at my desk.

I think if I eat every 2 hours and plan out what I'm eating these three days will go much smoother without a binge. Keep in mind I've only made it ONE day with out binging. We've shot 25 days in the past 5 months. Last cycle was the one day I was able to not binge and I still ate about 1900 calories. My average calories for the week is a lot less because I'm working out two days less. My plan is to do a Billy Blanks boot camp DVD at home on Tuesday inorder to get some more exercise in. The good thing about my job is I'll spend a lot of time walking around and standing around as opposed to sitting in a desk for the entire day. My calorie intake should be 1700-1800 total each day.

The link for the Hungry Girl trail mix recipe is here: http://www.hungry-girl.com/chew/chewdetails.php?isid=894&idate=08-22-2006

Have you heard of Hungrygirl.com? it is the best site EVER. I get all my food ideas / recipes from her. They are yummy and healthy. I highly recommend signing up for the daily emails. I always look forward to them.

Alright, wish me luck!! I can do this!!

I BROUGHT MY GUN TODAY!

Yikes! That is what my spin instructor said to us at the beginning of class this morning. This was my first time with this teacher and I really thought it was some sort of sick joke because I heard she was kind of tough. So I brushed it off until later in the class when she started coming through the class and measuring our resistance with this gun looking machine. Phew! She was still tough but this was not the gun I thought she was talking about......it's actually pretty awesome. I've been taking spin class for years but I have not seen this gadget before. My number started at 19 and worked up to 29 and then to 37. Wohoo!! She told the guy next to me that I was kicking his ass. My lunges have paid off!! And I have yet ANOTHER number to track my progress! She said my goal should be 40. Maybe next week!