Quick Heads-Up

I wanted to give you a quick heads-up about a special that Craig Ballantyne will be running for Turbulence Training, starting on Monday and ending on Wednesday- 72 hours only. During this special, you'll be able to pick up the NEWEST edition of Turbulence Training, with updated workouts and five special bonuses that you won't get at any other time. These bonuses include Brad Pilon's controversial Eat Stop Eat book, an audio interview with Dax Moy that shows you how to get into the proper fatloss mindset, and Fit Yummy Mummy Fit-Fast 4-Week workout.

If I didn't already own Turbulence Training, I'd be heading over to buy it on Monday. Also, if you get the NEW deluxe edition of TT, you'll also receive the famous 4-week TT bodyweight 500 workout (which will be featured in Men's Health this coming month). I haven't tried it yet myself, but I plan to do the 500 within the next two weeks so I can let you know what a blast it is.

So there's a quick heads-up. If you haven't taken the plunge yet, now's the time to order Turbulence Training (it's only $39.95 for the basic edition), and it will be a perfect time to get in on the Transformation contest that I talked about here.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

I had a really great workout today, so I'm feeling pretty happy right now. I did Week One: Workout One from Josh Hillis' Holiday Fat Loss workout (which I got from the 12 Days of Fitness gift-giving extravaganza), since I finished with Turbulence Training's Hardcore Fat Loss last week. The workout was a wonderful bootcamp-style workout, alternating between two exercises for 20 minutes. Sound easy? Well the caveat is that the weight you use is heavy enough that you can only complete 5-7 sets within that time. I got 8, which means my weight was not quite high enough. Oh well- I'll just have to use a heavier weight next time. After that, I did HIIT for 20 minutes, with 20 minutes of easy steady state.

Am I mad that I didn't weigh in at 142 this past Monday? You betcha, and I plan to see that number this Monday! I don't believe I will win the challenge, but I did realize that I was one of the challengers who was closest to their ideal bodyweight, so no wonder. Oh well! I still made some great progress since Thanksgiving, and when I see that 142 on Monday, I will have lost those 8 pounds that Alwyn challenged us to lose in those 6 weeks!

Almost There...

I have officially spent almost all day today at my computer, so I'm going to make this short and quick so I can get some moving in before bed.

I was here working on the e-book and the website, working on getting everything ready to go. I've pretty much got the whole thing up and running now, and the book is on the way. I'll say one thing: Clickbank takes forever, and so do I. I decided to go through them on the e-book, and it's been interesting learning how they do things.

I decided to have a pre-launch "party" this Saturday for those who are looking forward to reading the book. It's got a special surprise, but you need to be on the early-bird list to find out what it is. If you want to get on the early-bird list, do it by tomorrow by signing up for the free sample chapter or the newsletter. It has those famous words named free in them!

I didn't get a workout in yet today, so that's why I'm logging off. I need to do some moving!

A New Post

Hey all,
I'm back and raring to go! I decided to put my internet addiction on the back burner over the Christmas holiday, and amazingly enough didn't hyperventilate too much! However, now I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll hopefully get around to everyone's blogs eventually.

Since last Thursday, I did okay in the workout department and worse in the eating dept. I worked out on Thursday, Sunday, and today. However, I did allow myself to enjoy the food that was available. I won't say I went off any deep end; I didn't binge at all, but I didn't limit the amount I was eating too much, and therefore know I surpassed my calorie limit most days. Most of it was evident by the fact that I really did not want to eat today at all, so I only had three meals.

Christmas was good; I got some new workout clothes that I'm excited to try, and all the clothes I got fit well. I kept getting comments about how much weight I'd lost, and while most were positive, I did get quite a few that said "you've lost enough" or "are you anorexic?". Yes, seriously, I got accused of being anorexic (after I'd eaten a fairly good-sized plate of food). I can't quite seem to get it into the others' heads that I'm still a size 10, and my hips and thighs still leave a lot of room for improvement. So I turned it around to them and pretty much just said, "I'm really looking to get a more muscular look." It was fairly well accepted, except by the anorexic commenter. And yes, those people were overweight. So I realize I've got a lot of work to do, even in my own family, on getting others to have a more healthy outlook on life.

Oh yeah- I also got the comment, "You're skinny now, you can eat this"- meaning junk. Ha! I replied, "I'm only skinny because I limit what I eat and work my tail off in the gym."

Now, the New Year is coming up and I should do a look-back one of these days. However, it's just exciting to see that a time of renewal is coming up, since I believe I need one. My last renewal was on Labor Day, and look where it got me!

Getting Complacent

I'll have to stop this one in its tracks: because I technically have hit my goal (145 by Dec 24), I find myself wanting to get complacent and wanting to eat the junk and not keep the discipline. I did stop it in its tracks earlier today- was going to have a glass of choco milk as a snack, and 1/2 cup into pouring it realized what I was doing. I stopped that immediately and had an apple with the 1/2 cup choco milk. So, I didn't completely turn it around by pouring the milk back into the container, but it was better than having 12 oz.

I'm still in the challenge. I still have one of the bottom standings. And there's still two weeks to go. So I'm not stopping. Oh, I'll enjoy myself at Christmas, but I'm not going all out and am going to enjoy myself in different ways other than just ingesting food. The last thing I'm going to do is backtrack! AND I'm going to keep to a tight workout schedule!

Off Stress Mountain

Remember how last week I was nearly hyperventilating? Of course, I now look back at it and wonder what the hell i was so worried about. At any rate, my workouts this week have been interesting:

• Monday's sucked, I did not feel well because of a cold, so did 10 minutes lifting and 10 minutes biking and called it good
• Tuesday was 60 min on the treadmill, running for 2-3 minutes at a time for the first 30 minutes, then walking for the next 30 minutes. I'm playing around with some endurance stuff lately, have you noticed? I'm just happy that I can run for 3 minutes straight...
• This morning was the pits, could not get any motivation going. I did do a weight workout, and it picked up speed halfway through, but then I skipped the HIIT. So I'll be going back in to kick it.

Oh and I got to post this in the challenge board yesterday: 143.5!!!! And the body is catching up too. I have really got the definition going on in the chest/upper back area. Seems that's the only place that wants to really let go of the body fat sometimes, however, the hips and waist are definitely shrinking, slowly but surely, so I know i will get there. I may have to have a push month again in January, but then I'm calling it good on the fat loss. My resolution for next year is to start training for some more endurance activities, since I'm sick of admitting to people that i can't run more than 3 minutes straight.

And, if you haven't read the latest article on Billy's Blog about the phoenix, then go and check it out right now (or when you have 10 minutes). It's awesome.

I'm On!

Hey all! A quick note to let you know my gift is listed in today's gift-giving package over at 12 Days of Fitness. If you haven't signed up yet, and you would like to know what I'm giving away, then head on over and sign up!

Push

I was just writing on Rob's blog and had some realizations.

I nearly had an anxiety attack this week.

It's the perfect storm, really- pre-finals are this week, it's the second week of the challenge and my weight did not hold onto last week's low, the Hardcore Fat Loss plan is basically a notch above my fitness level so I get lightheaded when I do it, it's the first week of the 12 Days of Fitness extravaganza, I've been pressuring myself to get my e-book done (haven't touched it in over a week), and one of my forum friends nearly had her marriage fall apart.

Deep breath... I have to tell myself to keep breathing. I also discovered this video on Joe Vitale's blog yesterday, which helped quite a bit when I was lying awake this morning, unable to sleep from the boulder sitting in my gut.




It's called "A 15-Minute Miracle," and it's true. Take the time to watch it and you won't regret it.

So, I'm breathing. I'm persevering. I'm telling myself the famous phrase, "I love you, I'm sorry, Please forgive me, Thank you," and I'm meaning it. I'm telling it to God. To Jesus (hey, we're celebrating his birthday in a week and a half, and that dude did so much for the human race it's not even something anyone should be able to brush off). To my problems. To myself, my body, and my inner self. I've created my reality, I need to take responsibility for it and deal with it. And I will. I am.

The scale was already down .5 a pound from Monday. I plan to see 145 before the end of next week. I'll see what I can do, behavior-wise, to keep the pressure off but still work toward winning the challenge.

Boy, a month has never felt so short!

In other news, I was referred to an eye-opening article this morning dealing with insulin and it's interaction with high fructose corn syrup. Here's an excerpt (you can read the whole thing here):

And then the third reason that exercise is important, which is somewhat not well known, but I'm trying to evaluate this at the present time, is that it actually helps detoxify the sugar fructose. Fructose actually is a hepato-toxin; now fructose is fruit sugar but we were never designed to take in so much fructose. Our consumption of fructose has gone from less than half a pound per year in 1970 to 56 pounds per year in 2003.

Norman Swan: It's the dominant sugar in these so-called sugar-free jams for example that you buy, these sort of natural fruit jams.

Robert Lustig: Right, originally it was used because since it's not regulated by insulin it was thought to be the perfect sugar for diabetics and so it got introduced as that. Then of course high fructose corn syrup came on the market after it was invented in Japan in 1966, and started finding its way into American foods in 1975. In 1980 the soft drink companies started introducing it into soft drinks and you can actually trace the prevalence of childhood obesity, and the rise, to 1980 when this change was made.

Norman Swan: What is it about this, it's got more calories than ordinary sugar weight for weight hasn't it?

Robert Lustig: No, actually it's not the calories that are different it's the fact that the only organ in your body that can take up fructose is your liver. Glucose, the standard sugar, can be taken up by every organ in the body, only 20% of glucose load ends up at your liver. So let's take 120 calories of glucose, that's two slices of white bread as an example, only 24 of those 120 calories will be metabolised by the liver, the rest of it will be metabolised by your muscles, by your brain, by your kidneys, by your heart etc. directly with no interference. Now let's take 120 calories of orange juice. Same 120 calories but now 60 of those calories are going to be fructose because fructose is half of sucrose and sucrose is what's in orange juice. So it's going to be all the fructose, that's 60 calories, plus 20% of the glucose, so that's another 12 out of 60 -- so in other words 72 out of the 120 calories will hit the liver, three times the substrate as when it was just glucose alone.

That bolus of extra substrate to your liver does some very bad things to it.

Wow, huh? I want to do more research on this guy Robert Lustig and the stuff behind everything in the article, because he makes some pretty bold claims regarding sugar, insulin, and the food industry (it's a bit conspiracy-theory-like). However, I understood what he was talking about in regard to liver damage, especially in the light of the research I just did regarding metabolic syndrome. That light shed is that one of the theories regarding why metabolic syndrome is such a high risk for those with abdominal adiposity (belly fat): "Rebuffe-Scrive et al first proposed that adipose tissue in the abdominal area was the biggest risk factor for metabolic syndrome due to its potential to release fatty acids into the liver, decreasing the ability of the liver to clear insulin." This is due to the liver's enzyme for fat, lipoprotein lipase, being decreased. To add salt to that wound, LPL activity is increased in the fatty tissues. Along with that, without exercise, the liver's glycogen levels are topped off and not reduced, which causes extra glucose to be changed into VLDL (the extremely bad cholesterol). So basically, obesity in the gut is the worst kind and is only exacerbated by the body. It boils down to a little bit more than calories-in versus calories-out (although that still plays the majority role).

That whole last part may not have made any sense to you, as I'm still working it out myself. However, it's a chain reaction thing, and there are always so many factors involved it's not even funny. So, it all comes down to personal responsibility. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WAY YOU LOOK. YOU decide to eat the vegetables vs the doughnut. YOU decide whether you're exercising today or not. What your body does with that is its business. The only thing you can control is your behavior.

Just understand that insulin is only your friend after exercise and first thing in the morning. Otherwise, we should all work on keeping it down as much as possible. Deal?

It's Midnight

Yep, I'm doing the extremely rare- blogging at 12:00 a.m. (or close enough). I'm exhausted. I just spent a bunch of hours revamping the website, since I just found out it looked awful in Internet Explorer (thanks Bill Gates). So, go visit in your different browsers and let me know how it looks- you don't even have to put your name in any boxes! (You'll understand the reference if you're involved in the 12 Days of Fitness Extravaganza).

Speaking of that, 2 great days are done and the third is coming! You can still sign up if you haven't, you haven't missed my giveaway yet, but don't wait too long or you might.

Why Craig is my favorite name

I know 3 men with the name Craig- one happens to be my father, the other happens to be our wonderful landlord, and the third happens to be the God of Workouts right now. *grin*

All right, so I found an email from Craig Ballantyne in my inbox this morning that contained an absolutely wonderful workout idea from the Turbulence Training member forums:

12-minute workouts.

Now, I'm a big fan of intense, short workouts, but sometimes one just cannot psych themselves up to do Wingates (I'll explain that one later). However, if you're busy and can only find 12 minutes to spare (happens quite often with me), then Craig's got a great idea for getting a great workout in a short time.

Here are his instructions:

Choose 2 exercises and perform them back to back without rest. For
example, if using dumbells, you could do a dumbell squat and a
dumbell chest press.

If doing bodyweight exercises only, you could use prisoner squats
and close-grip pushups.

The first time through the pair, use either 50% of the weight you
normally use, or do 50% of the reps you'd normally do (if you choose
bodyweight exercises). Then rest 30 seconds.

The second time through, work at 75% capacity. Rest 30 seconds.

Now you are ready to go at 100% capacity (using your normal weight
for 8-10 repetitions per set or doing as many reps as you can with
the bodyweight exercises).

Rest 30 seconds after doing both exercises, then repeat, and work
until 12 minutes are up.

How does this help?

You still burn calories and build muscle while losing fat, all in
only 12 minutes...so it saves you time you need to spend on holiday
activities.

Who knows, you may like it so much it becomes your regular workout
approach. 

Pretty cool, huh? I know I'll be trying it. If nothing else, it's a great way to get one last burst of exercise in at the end of a workout. If you like it, you can get three free months of the forum when you get Turbulence Training (which isn't fair, because when I bought it I only got one month, so the newest buyers are the lucky ones!).

Now, what are Wingates? They are quite possibly the most intimidating way to workout on the planet. I'll write it down, and you won't think it sounds hard, but you'll be praying to the porcelain god if you aren't careful! Wingate protocol: Warm up 5 minutes on chosen mode (usually stationary bicycle, but treadmill/outdoor sprints work too). Then, jack up the resistance to 75% of max and go to town as fast as possible for 30 seconds. Take 30 seconds to actively rest, then repeat up to 5 times. Cool-down for 5 minutes. Go pray. Then look at the clock. With the prayer, you only took 15 minutes to workout!

I wasn't praying last week, but boy did it take me a while to cool down. And I mean it when the resistance is high- no slacking on this one!

Your Horror-scope

I'm not a big believer in Horoscopes (generic pieces of $#!^ sometimes), but for some reason I clicked on this one today which had the horoscope for the entire year 2008. So what if all the months say the same thing? It's a great exercise in Mindset, Law of Attraction, and Positive Thinking anyway (also known as the self-fulfilling prophecy effect).

Here's an excerpt:
What goals do you have for 2008? You might think that it’s a bit early to start making New Year’s resolutions, but if there is ever a time to jump the gun with this tradition, it’s now. The year 2008 is a year of transformation and will be a hectic and tumultuous year. Those who are prepared for economic and political shakeups should be able to continue with their lifestyles, though even they may hit a few bumps in the road.

Global economic upheaval might cause larger personal expenses, and investments might not be as profitable as you had planned. Political tension worldwide could create a troubling atmosphere, and you might find yourself unusually irritable. Yet clever, insightful people who can sense the needs of a changing society will grow stronger by adapting and staying flexible. They might even find themselves suddenly wealthy. This year will NOT be a year to rationalize or to ignore the admonishments of economist. Very often we go through life wearing blinders like a horse, but those who take off those blinders and prepare for a rocky road can thrive in 2008.

First resolution:
Get your own life in order — NOW. Whatever is uncertain, firm it up. Pay off as many debts as you can, and avoid running up any new ones. Start setting aside a little nest egg for yourself, and clear up any tension there may be between you and friends or family members to improve the mood.

Second resolution:
Don’t depend on anyone but yourself to solve your problems. By taking matters into your own hands, you will be able to enact change in your life and in the lives of those close to you — if you want something done right, do it yourself! If you’re dissatisfied with your life, work to change it, perhaps by joining one of the grassroots movements that have been popping up like mushrooms all over the world.

Third resolution:
Get involved. What cause appeals to you the most? Is it world peace, health and fitness for all, sustainable energy, or perhaps the rights of the weak, such as children and animals? Doing good for others will give you inspiration in other areas of your life, and overcoming obstacles will give you a sense of pride and accomplishment. Now is not the time to back down from a challenge — you could surprise yourself with how successfully you dealt with a difficult situation.

You can read your own specific horoscope here.

And this is mine:
Gemini: There's no stopping you!

With your way with words and your gifts for persuasion, you could play an important role in world transformation. Even if you only serve as spokesperson for your own community, you’re still making a difference. Remember that.

Reaching your goals should be easier in 2008 than it has been in previous years, Gemini. The Grand Air Trine involving Mars in your sign, the Moon in Libra, and Neptune in Aquarius strengthens your mental quickness and in-depth thinking - thus improving your ingenuity. You'll be able to come up with new ideas and plans much more quickly - and thus reach whatever goals you want to attain faster than you'd ever thought possible. The difficulty may lie in making snap decisions too quickly. It's important to arrive at a happy medium: the ability to think and move quickly without compromising quality or good sense. You can do it - with a little encouragement. Your 2008 Forecast can give useful advice and turn you in just the right direction.
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SWEET!

Eating more than you thought?

It's amazing how one can truly eat more calories than they thought they were. I found this site courtesy of the MTM forums:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-calories-look-like.htm




Both of these images are 200 calories each. Which would you rather spend your calories on?

On another topic, I actually did a LSB today (long slow burn). VERRRY unusual for me, as you may know by now I absolutely cannot stand doing something cardio for longer than 30 minutes max, so I usually go hard and short- intervals after weight training, or just intervals. However, I got into the gym and just could not psych myself up. So, I got on a bike, set the resistance at medium-high, noted my speed, and went to town. As I've said, I'm not an endurance person. The last 30 minutes were hell, and the last 10 were horrendous. My speed fell at about 35 minutes from 17 to 15 and I just couldn't get it back up. I had to reduce the tension at 45 min and still couldn't keep up my speed, which fell to a 14, and eventually a 12. My toes went numb somewhere around 30 minutes and my knee bugged me for awhile. And THOSE are the reasons I don't do steady-state cardio. I'll be back to my normal intervals by Monday if I don't get in tomorrow.

Playing with words

Did anyone ever notice that the words "moped" and "moped" are the same? One is just pity without action, and the other is a transportation mode (that little bike with a whiny engine). Which one would you choose?

I'm choosing to move along my journey!

I did not have a great eating day yesterday, but I kinda knew that it wouldn't be from the get-go. Oh well. Today's started off much better, and I'm looking forward to doing my workout today!

Interesting idea

I found a video at abcnews.com today (go to http://www.abcnews.com and type in the search box, "welcome to fat town") that talked about how a mayor in Italy is using a grant from a yogurt company to pay residents of his town for losing weight. They get approximately $8 US per pound lost, which is pretty major if you ask me. I'd love to be paid for losing weight... oh yeah, I'm in that challenge to win, aren't I? *grin*

http://fatcoalition.makeforum.org/ for the FAT Coalition forum
http://www.12daysoffitness.com to get over 250 free gifts over 12 days, starting Dec. 10.

Hips are down .5 an inch in the last week. Something must finally be kicking in (or I am...)

And, after everything,,,

Skip down if you want, as this is a rant and not real positive, and it may not make any sense:

And, after everything yesterday, There's nothing. I didn't have a great day today, but it had nothing to do with the challenge, my workout, or my eating habits. Ech. The one thing about the holidays is that too many people end up doing too many things, and then clients start dropping on me like flies. I've got this thing I do when clients quit- I mope. It's probably because I still haven't learned how to detach myself emotionally from it, and more likely because I want everyone to succeed and they don't perceive that they've even made any progress, so it's kinda a self-esteem blow. Current drop client said it kinda like a relationship breakup: "It's not you, it's me." Yeah, but how can one who's invested so much time into you not feel like you're being dumped?

So, note to others who want to go into the personal training business: watch out for those people who want miracles, for you to do all the work, and for them not to take a single piece of advice and homework home. (Wasting my time and theirs, as well as their money, and then the trainer gets blamed. Even Alwyn blames the trainers: "If your clients don't listen to you, then your advice is crap." Oh Jeez. Can't I find some role models who don't treat their prodigy like the scum of the earth? Sorry. I shouldn't say that in a public blog post.) I may start screening my clients a little more. A contract is definitely in the works, something along the lines of: "I understand that my personal trainer is not a magician who can whisk away the pounds without any effort on my part. In fact, I, ____________, will be doing 98% of the work. My trainer is only here to support, teach, and run me through my workouts. I'm the one who needs to control what I put in my mouth, make sure I'm working out with intensity, and get myself into the gym on days when I am not meeting with said trainer. I have stated my goals to my trainer, and s/he will do his/her best to help me meet them. I understand that I am the one responsible for my goals, not the trainer." Think I should have something along those lines? I think it would help weed out the people who promise me they're in for the haul and then back out two months in, or one month in, just because they didn't listen when I told them to do their homework or didn't get into the gym on their non-trainer days, and so don't make the progress they want to (and believe me, many expect that weight gone yesterday).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay. Rant over. I'm going positive now, because I've moped long enough!

Positive thoughts:

• I'm excited for the 12 Days of Christmas extravaganza that's going to happen. If you haven't signed up yet, please go and do so now- it's quick and easy, and how many people can say they got 250 free gifts for Christmas?
• I'm still excited about the scale showing 144.5 yesterday.
• The Turbulence Training Hardcore Fat Loss workout is a killer. 20 deadlifts yesterday made my legs sore. I'm glad I got my workout done this morning, or I may have seized up and not been able to move the rest of the day. However, today's workout was no easier. It calls for a bodyweight circuit that included 60 jumping jacks and 10 burpees (I changed burpees to mountain climbers, as my knee was scaring me and I never land right to go into the thrust position).
• The electricity was really wacked out this morning, continuing to flicker on and off. I don't know if that was a positive thing, but it certainly changed things up for me- I had to workout by natural light.

Anyway, I hope you skipped the rant and aren't feeling all screwed up now. If you are feeling screwed up, I apologize. Go and read something positive about 30 odd times and that should help! *grin*

12 Days of Christmas, only better

Here's the coolest thing in the world: Dax Moy and Pat Rigsby have set up an awesome gift-giving extravaganza that is promising to be the best thing since sliced bread (at least, in the fitness and weight loss world). Go to http://www.12daysoffitness.com and sign up, and you'll get 12 days of non-stop gifts from 250 professionals (all free, with nothing to buy).

And the best part: I'm a part of that extravaganza! Yep, I am one of those fitness professionals who submitted something, and it's all wrapped around the new website. If you checked out the new site, you noticed that there are five rules on the front page. I took those five rules and created an e-course designed to put you in a Healthy Person mindset, by not only changing the rules but by changing your values as well. Don't worry if you've already read the rules- the e-course may contain them, but there's other stuff in there as well, so you won't feel like you wasted your time by signing up for my gift. Plus, you'll also get access to 250 other gifts to really speed you into gear! Boy, if we don't start the New Year slimmer than we are now...

So now that I've plugged, it's time to get down to brass tacks. I weighed in at my lowest weight ever since about Middle School today. I've put out a couple of calls to action. If you still haven't kicked that butt into gear, or if you're blazing along and keeping pace with me (or passing me up, eek), then head on over to http://www.12daysoffitness.com and sign up. Then tell your family, friends, and everyone else you know. I did!

Dancing all the way

I weighed in at 144.5 lbs today! Yes, that is officially below my goal weight. And naturally, I had to use this number as the beginning number for the challenge. *grin* Haha, just gives me extra incentive!

So, since I think I'm still not bikini ready (although I need to scan and post my school i.d. photo from 2004, it's crazy), I'll be shoving that scale downward until I'm there. New goal: 135. I've been guessing that it would be 135 for awhile now, since I kept getting closer and closer to the goal but still am not getting rid of that fatty bump they call a stomach area and the thighs, that it would just have to keep moving down until I'm there.

I'll post pics if I can get my hubby to take some this weekend. My 3-year-old just doesn't do the camera justice (and it's a bleepy camera in the first place), plus there's that whole taking-a-picture-looking-up issue.

I actually ate 8 meals yesterday. I had 8 planned for today, but schedule got thrown off and I forgot to grab my protein drink for my workout (which I double-shot and count as two meals, one prior workout and one post-workout). However, as soon as I go eat my night snack I will have had 6 meals today. For this month, I'm going to follow Turbulence Training's Hardcore Fat Loss, which I may have picked up in the member forums (that you get 3 months free if you order TT through that link) and not as a bonus, but there is a fat-loss workout included (besides the fact that TT is THE BEST for fat loss anyway-yes, it has surpassed Afterburn, believe it or not). At any rate, in Hardcore Fat Loss he recommends 8 MEALS PER DAY. Pre-and post-workout drinks count as separate meals. So I've got to be on my ball this month.

This is insane because I've got 1) a presentation on both Mon and Tues next week, 2) a paper due next Mon, 3) Finals and another paper the week after, 4) an e-book to finish writing and editing and getting reviews on by mid-December (email me for the book, if you want to help review it and get a free e-book in the process). Hmm. I believe I'm a bit busy the next couple of weeks. So, if I disappear for semi-long stretches at a time, that's why- I haven't keeled over (yet)! However, I'm loving it!

I've updated the blog with the FAT Coalition Roster. If you've never heard of FAT, it means Fit And Trim, Thank You! It's a great little community of bloggers (and now forum posters) who support each other. There are challenges, support systems, and lots and lots of different perspectives of all those who are interested in attaining the same goal- Their Best Body EVER. I've now become an honorary member *grin* because I've been living on some of the blogs and the forum, and they got wind of the fact that I was still trying to lose weight too. If you want to be part of the Coalition, email Billy or Rob, and they'll get you on. I believe a website may be in the works for after Christmas.

Now, to get some actual work done (or dishes....).

IT's Alive! Alive!

I said I was going to do it, and I have: ThatHealthyPerson is now LIVE and ready to go! I'm still looking for feedback on the book, so if you'd like to critique what I've got so far (all 13 pages-yes, I need to write more and faster), shoot me an email at carrie@thathealthyperson.com and I'll send it to you in whatever format you like (pdf I'd prefer, but comments can be made in Word/Open Office (if you prefer that, don't use the bubble feature- I can't read them with Open Office)).

So go here and refer your friends, neighbors, relatives, perfect strangers you meet on the street... http://www.thathealthyperson.com.

Sign up for the newsletter or the free sample chapter. Let me know what you think. Pretty please? With cherries on top? *grin*

In other news, I've joined a challenge for December. I'm in competition to win! ('Which means I've got to plan my menu, big time!) I've decided that I'm aiming for 10 pounds. It's the final ten, and I can do it! I didn't have time for a weight workout today, and did 20 min of HIIT- strangely enough, I barely broke a sweat, and believe me, I pushed that treadmill up (2.5 incline and maxed out at 7 mph, did five rounds of 1 min on 2 min off). I did not, however, dare to go any faster for fear that my hip would pop out of place, and it's been doing so well lately. I'm thinking I'll get in tomorrow morning and do weights followed by another interval workout.

Anyone Else Notice?

Well, for some strange reason, I've just gone through a bunch of my old posts from the last few months. Has anyone else noticed how much I REALLY struggle with the eating issue? Man, that bothers me. I have no problem with workouts, they're hard, intense, 5 days per week usually. But food? There's my nemesis. There's my excuse, each and every time. It's always, oh, it was cold, or oh, my blood sugar was low, or oh, I didn't plan anything.

ARGH! I'm sick of it!! I'm making a commitment to STOP IT right now! Mind over matter, I'm going to tackle it head on. I'm going to LIVE the way I want to live!

Sabotage

The one thing I NEED to do:

Plan a menu and not deviate from it, no matter what.

It’s funny how I decide that, and KNOW it, but still don’t do it. Strange how the mind works, eh? I’ve been finding myself diving into little things the last two days, and can’t help but wonder why I sabotage myself. I have a goal, I WANT that goal, and yet- sigh.

December is my month. It’s started a week early, but I’m calling it my December Journey. It’s going to consist of 4 weight workouts a week, high intensity interval training 5 days per week, and any bodyweight workouts I can fit in between. Planning my menu is going to be key. I’m going to survive off as many vegetables as I can stomach. I’m going to survive finals AND get my e-book written.

Do I have too many goals?

Are you taxed?

I came across an interesting article from the FM Blog (Fitness Management), a site for health club owners and operators. It usually has an interesting take on health clubs and the like, of course.

The most recent issue was taxation of health club memberships. You can read the full article here, but I'll post some snippets:

"How can government justify taxing health club membership dues, and what are you doing to help put a stop to this? Especially at a time when the obesity epidemic is causing a national healthcare crisis! Federal officials have estimated that treating obesity-related illnesses costs about $93 billion a year, and that was from a report in 2004."

"Currently, 25 states (almost half) impose a tax on fitness center dues. (You can view a summary of these on IHRSA’s website.) Yet, in 2004, the IRS approved tax deductions for obese Americans for doctor-approved weight-loss expenses, which include stomach-stapling surgery, approved weight-loss drugs and nutritional counseling. What kind of a mixed message is this?"

"This issue should be at the top of the fitness industry’s list to nip in the bud before it’s too late. It’s time for every fitness facility operator to do their part in making a major impact on reversing the tax on fitness center dues."

I hadn't even thought of this before. Although, on another level, charging people to workout in the first place is somewhat absurd... (Yep, that's coming from a cPT!)

As for the December Journey, as I'm now calling this (I started a week early), it was going okay until after supper. Then, hunger set in and wouldn't leave, so I had some chips and a slice of pumpkin pie. Completely out of character for me, I'm more likely to have larger portions than I am to snack on junk. I quit that habit a long time ago. However, sometimes that monster still rears its ugly head. I said goodbye to it afterward (as I was STILL hungry even after the pie) and am going to stick to my menu for tomorrow. I'm going to have to keep an eye on myself- accountability a must! I may just have to re-start my priority list, no matter how much of a pain it was.

Cool or What?

Craig Ballantyne, of Turbulence Training fame, is now running a 12 week contest for those who want to complete a Transformation. Man, I wish he'd decided to do it 12 weeks ago (on Labor Day), as I would have joined up in a heartbeat. As it is, I'm still thinking about joining it. The grand prize is $2000, which is nothing to sniff at. It started on November 26 (today) and will go until April 15, 2008-- 84 days in all technicality.

I am thinking about joining it because it will extend my deadline to April, although I am planning on really buckling down this month to see what I can do before Christmas. I had kind of been glossing over this, but my weight has basically stopped at 150. The strange thing is that last week, I went in to get my bf% checked, and the scale at school weighed me at 158 in my normal clothes-I went back to the scale I had used the week before to check my weight right away, and it weighed me at 150 (the same as the week before) in my workout clothes (8 pounds of clothing! Gee, I think it's winter...). So, I don't think the bf% was correct, as it put me at 25% again. Clothes are smaller, weight is down, inches are down, I've definitely been weight training- doggone it if that bf% won't change!

So, what's gone wrong in the last month or so? Well, for one thing, I haven't been planning my meals (mayday!), and for another, I've been letting myself increase portion sizes slightly (mayday!) as well as allowing protein intake to decrease (mayday!). I do believe that's three strikes and I need to get back to where I was. I've been allowing life to get in the way again! So, I'm going to live off fish, oatmeal, eggs, fruits, and vegetables for the next four weeks as much as possible (theoretically 90%). Six meals a day. I've started today.

So, who else is joining the TT Transformation Challenge? 84 days to a new you, $2000 to show for it at the end! Of course, Craig put down a couple of rules in his blog post about the transformation:

• Rule#1: You must have purchased Turbulence Training and used the TT programs to achieve your results.
• Rule#2: You must keep a training journal in the Turbulence Training Membership forum (don't forget, you get 3 months free access to the Turbulence Training Membership site when you order Turbulence Training).
• Rule#3: You must post before and after photos in your training journal in the TT Membership section.
• Rule#4: The TT Transformation Contest runs from Nov. 26th to April 15th. All transformations must start and finish during this time period. Therefore, you could start as soon as today (which I hope you do!) or as late as January 21st...but I know you won't wait that long!
• Rule #5: Each client has 12 weeks to complete their transformation. Photos must be taken on Day 1 and Day 84.
• Rule#6: The Transformation Contest will be judged by a panel of experts, including but not restricted to: Craig Ballantyne, Brad Pilon, and Holly Rigsby.
• Rule#7: In addition to providing Before & After Photos, each contestant must write a 300 word essay on their before and after success story.

Wow, he's got a few rules. However, it's a bit BFL-ish, so of course the Body for Life person in me is all over it. If you join officially, let me know!

Happy Thanksgiving!

An early Happy Turkey Day to all in the US; right now I'm about 6 hours from home and am having an interesting week! I've worked out hard so far this week, and I plan to try and get some types of workouts in while I'm here- bodyweight mostly, or long walks.

I was able to use the travel hours to write some more of the book I'm writing for THATHealthyPerson.com, the website I mentioned last week. I'm going to have the book ready to go in Mid-December, and am looking for feedback on what I have written so far (as well as the website). If you sign up at the site for the first chapter, you can get that, plus whatever I send as it progresses- if you're lucky, you may just get the whole book for free, as long as you're willing to provide feedback.

Otherwise, I may just be disappearing the rest of this week, as who knows when I'll be able to access the net. Enjoy the holiday, and if you're like me, enjoy the food but don't go overboard!

Drooling over a new workout program....

Josh Hillis, author of The Last Stubborn 7 Pounds workout program (highly effective) is working on a new workout program called Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss. If you are female and haven't done the Stubborn 7 workout yet, you can get it here, and watch as your bodyfat% drops in 8 weeks (that takes you to New Years!) However, you can get 6 workouts free if you go to the Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss webpage and enter your email address.

Why do I recommend the Stubborn 7? Well, I charged into that one full-blast after I finished Afterburn, and it was actually a relief! Don't get me wrong, the workouts were tough as nails but a little easier on the body and did more for strength-building while also burning the fat. I also continued to move down in inches while doing this program, and I used it as a way to gain strength for the canoe trip I embarked on in July (in which I carried canoes on my shoulders for 20-70 rods (canoe lengths) without getting too winded)- canoes are 75 lbs and you're moving over rocky terrain, if you've never portaged in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota before. Josh's style is also similar to Craig Ballantyne's, so it's a bonus if you're a fan of Turbulence Training.

So, if you've "done" Afterburn, are female, and are looking for something to get you through until New Years, then go get Josh Hillis' Stubborn 7 program. And be on the lookout for the release of his Fighter Workouts program. You can see a preview of a Fighter workout here:



After this video, of course I'm drooling! It looks insane and lots of fun!

Do I Sleep?

A question was asked of me today: Do I sleep?

The answer is yes. It seems that no matter how much I'm trying to accomplish, no matter how much has got to be done yet, my body will drag me (even kicking and screaming) into bed to sleep by a decent hour. My hubby says I'm like Cinderella's pumpkin, since I don't last past midnight except on rare occasions. The reason I write this is because sleep is incredibly important on so many levels: it's important for recovery and weight loss, increased activity levels, and better food choices. So many people walk around these days like zombies, surviving off 6 or less hours of sleep per night, and then wonder why they can't get the energy to exercise, or why they're constantly reaching for the double-shot espresso with the chocolate muffin on the side.

So, with that, I'm going to bed.

Hang on...I've gotta go Workout....

9:25 p.m. CST

I'll write more later, I promise!

10:10 p.m. CST

All right, I'm back. Just finished an at-home bw workout from TT, man it was intense! I had a couple of thoughts while I was doing the workout:

1. I'm going back on high protein. While I was still seeing results of weight loss with not focusing so much on getting it in, I could easily tell during my workouts that I wasn't getting it. Weaker muscles, not as able to push myself, more easily tired. So, I'm back on protein. I'm having a banana protein shake right now. That's how I convinced myself to do the workout, actually.
2. If you've never noticed, I hate working out at home. I prefer the "uniform" of my gym (I'm easily routined, which is probably why I change my workouts so often). However, work has been getting in the way of my workout times lately (as in, I go in to workout, and end up spending the next **minutes doing work, or someone asks me a question, etc. Now I see why many trainers end up finding a second gym to workout in...)
3. My stability ball sucks. Really. It was cheap, and it has way too much give. It made stability ball jackknifes the pits.
4. It's hard to type when you're muscles are shaking.
   

That's my thoughts for today! :-)

Are You IN?

From Alwyn's blog (he's great at putting out the little challenges):
-------
So close your eyes and picture yourself seven weeks from today at the last party of 2007. Picture yourself standing there - but ten, twelve, or even fifteen pounds leaner than you are today......

It's not too late. All that's left is for you to do it. Are you in?

--
AC
www.afterburntraining.com

------
In other words, if you haven't bought into the stuff I've been saying over the last 10 weeks, then buy into Alwyn- go get Afterburn and get the first 7 weeks done before everyone else begins their "weight-loss journey", so you can laugh when they're only 8 weeks in and you're just finishing up!

And if you don't want the insane intensity of Afterburn (or you aren't physically ready for it), then go get Turbulence Training. You won't regret either program.

I know that I'm in. I've got my ticker counting down, and I'm going to be that person that Alwyn's talking about! Who's going to join me??

Step Two in Passive income

Well, I went and did it- I took the next step in the passive income thing (description here- of course, I forgot to post it when I wrote it, so you may want to go back and read that first...). The first step, of course, was actually being conscious about it, and realizing that I actually wanted to do it. The next step: getting the website address.

Yep! Presenting: http://www.thathealthyperson.com. It's not live yet, meaning that I haven't gotten very far, but I've purchased the address, started writing, and now I have to go get an autoresponder (those little opt-in boxes they have so they can start sending emails to people). I plan to go live by the end of the month. Until then I'll ask for feedback (meaning you people). Since you read my blog, you already know my writing style, and I plan to keep the website and everything I put on there in pretty much the same style you see now. Maybe a little more professional, perhaps.

Does that mean my journey on this blog is done? No, not by a long shot. I've still got fat hanging around my middle, and those bikini pictures still aren't posted! I may start taking a bit of the focus off me and start rambling on about other things I'm thinking about, but hey, I did that anyway!

What's That?

Well, it’s Friday morning, my house is a mess, my in-laws are coming for the weekend, and

I SAW ABS THIS MORNING!

It was quite amazing. They’re still very well hidden below the belly button (I seem to be doing a great job of retaining the fat there, around my hips/buttocks, and thighs), but above the belly button, there’s now a solid line heading south and some definition with that. And here’s the thing: while food choices weren’t great yesterday, the common denominator the whole week was 6 meals a day. So, even if I’m surviving off Quaker Oatmeal granola bars, an indulgence of some pasta (chicken alfredo last night), and peanut butter/jelly sandwiches, if I eat 6 times a day, I’m able to keep portions small.

Now, I do realize that eating a bunch more protein helps keep my blood sugar more level and my appetite a little bit better, but if I’m eating at least 6 times a day (sometimes twice in the afternoon, but usually the 6th meal is sometime after supper), then I just AM much better. Portion sizes are controlled at least. So, I may take some pressure off myself in the protein dept for a week or two and see if I continue having results.

The ticker counter says 1 month, 1 week, and 5 days. I WILL MAKE THE GOAL OF 20% BF BY CHRISTMAS.

Not Much

Well, after the last two exciting days, I don't have much to write about already that you don't know about- busy at work and school, etc. I didn't eat much today; part of it was poor planning and most of it was the fact that my schedule got made up as I went (which is the normal case with me, no matter what, since I'm too nice to everyone at my gym sometimes). I got in a quick 25 minute workout this morning, the TT Intermediate Core workout.

I will admit that everyone and their Mom is signing up for a gym membership right now, since it's gotten cold around here. It's fun, but repetitive to do orientations again and again. Sometimes I would just prefer that people be required to sign up for at least two personal training sessions to get their orientation session. However, I also want everyone to be successful in their workout program and not start off "on the wrong foot," so to speak. So, I do orientations and answer questions and wonder how the fitness industry keeps so many people so ignorant for so long. I think it's time to go beyond "workout because it's good for your health" or "to increase your activity level, park farther away from the door". But how? That's the really good question.

Interesting Day

From my post at the Motivation to Move forum:

After I posted on my blog (last night), I returned to the authors’ sites and posted that my comments were on my blog. One author applauded me for it, the other one “chewed me out,” so to speak, for interpreting things incorrectly and jumping to conclusions on who he was talking about in the first place (he had deleted the name). I figured he must not have read very far into the post, because the bulk, if you did read it and take notice, is actually about it being a good thing when two experts express their beliefs and opinions and back it up (similar to the LSB vs. HIIT debate I had with Scott about a month ago). So, I wrote him back and clarified what my post was about and asked him to re-read it. I also stated that I was not the only one who felt it was a debate (as the other author had responded on his blog). I then received a positive reply, as he had not realized prior to that that the second author had responded, so he was able to leave his comment on the second author’s blog. Confused yet? I hope not. Basically, I’m just stating that it was weird to be “in the middle” so to speak, and it’s odd because I have a hard time being taken as a non-professional, which I forget that on the internet, ANYONE can say they are a professional but be lying about it. I may not have as much experience as the “gurus” out there, but I’m learning as fast as I can, and I believe that I can rival them one day!

So I’ve rambled enough about that subject. I ate 5 meals today, and although one was 3 hours late and the other was pizza, I still feel like it was a pretty good day. I got a very quick workout in, as I only had 20 minutes to workout. I made up last week’s missed workout and did TT2k3 Workout A (the upper body workout). Lowered my weights a bit b/c I could tell my body wasn’t fully up to par due to yesterday’s weight lifting workout (it definitely becomes more difficult for your body to generate the energy necessary when it’s busy fixing someplace else), but I also lowered them because I didn’t want a repeat of last week’s 4-day soreness.

Okay, I’d better stop avoiding housework now!

Two Gurus "Go at it"

While many of the experts I read on the internet agree with each other on certain methods, some of the experts also disagree with methods.

One is what I wrote about yesterday, Brad Pilon. He is often very controversial in his nutrition advice, and I do believe it's because he comes from a different viewpoint that most PT's. The other guru with a completely different viewpoint, that of a bodybuilder, is Tom Venuto (you'll see I recommend his program, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, especially for the goal-setting and mind-set part of it). Well, the two of them are now in a face-off.

Portions of Tom's post:

"I’m afraid the “fitnes professional” who wrote that article is mistaken about starvation mode. Not only is his article filled with technical errors, but anyone who sees what kind of products he promotes will realize where all his biases come from if you simply read between the lines a little bit. The pot calls the kettle black.

He accuses those of us who use the term “starvation mode” as being unscientific and he even says “dont buy diet books if they mention the starvation mode.” Yet in a moment, it will become clear that he is the one who is not very well read in the scientific literature on the effects of starvation and low calorie diets."

Portions of Brad's responsive post:

"Here is a little background for you, Tom makes a living selling a weight loss program that "is based on keeping you OUT of starvation mode or minimizing its effects", while my program Eat Stop Eat, is based on the idea that when it comes to short periods of fasting combined with weight training, starvation mode does not exist.

pretty confusing. Two guys saying two completely different things about what sounds like the exact same thing. Well let's take a deeper look.

Firstly, the point of the grrlathlete email was that "starvation mode" as defined by most diet people as "a reaction to a caloric decrease that causes your body to slow down its metabolism and actually store more fat WHILE you are dieting", does not exist."

I do think that having the gurus "duke it out" every once in a while is a great thing. It provides a place and time to back up beliefs, allow the reader to form their own opinions based upon their own experience, and forces the gurus to make sure they know what they are doing. I've gone head to head with Scott Smith of Motivation To Move before, and it really made me think. Yes, it was somewhat upsetting when his response post read something along the lines of, "What makes you think you've got all the answers, because I'm the one who's right and I'm the guru here, not you, you silly personal trainer." However, it was also gratifying for me to clarify some of my points, and when he wrote back saying, "You know your stuff," that made it all worthwhile. It definitely made me examine my beliefs. The whole debate was over interval training vs. long slow burn, and it helped me understand why I believe in intervals so much. Since then, I've been able to get several more people turned on to them.

So, go check out the posts and form your own opinion. I'll see if I can dig up the original email, and I'll post it here.
-------------------------------------------
Here's the article:
Take Control of Your... Starvation Mode?

Part 6: Fads, gimmicks, and tricks

Now that we've covered the facts about how metabolism,
weight loss and weight gain works, I'd like to tell you about
some of the tricks the diet and food industry use to sell you
products.

I hope by now you have a good understanding of what your
metabolism is and how food and exercise affects it. Now it is
time to see how food and diet products are marketed based
on some misinterpretations of what metabolism and BMR
really are, and how diet and exercise affect these.

I'm sure you have heard of the popular term 'Starvation
Mode'. This is the concept that if you follow a calorie
restricted diet and eat too few calories your metabolism and
BMR will slow down. Even though you might lose weight,
when you got back to 'normal' eating your slower metabolism
will now be primed to store more calories than before.

I know this is a very popular theory, but it is not based on
scientific facts, and really is very illogical.

First of all, 'starvation mode' is not a scientific term, it is a
term created by the fitness and diet industry and has no
scientific definition. Therefore it can mean whatever someone
wants it to mean, so as far as I am concerned this makes it
meaningless.

Here are some of the convenient definitions of starvation
mode:

Def 1: When your metabolism slows down due to under eating

Def 2: When your body starts storing more fat while you're
eating less

Def 3: When your body gains the ability to store more fat
when you go back to eating 'normal' after a calorie restricted
diet

Def 4: Some combination of the above 3 definitions

As you can see by this loose and flexible definition,
starvation mode can be used to justify eating a specific
product, nutrient or type of food. It is also why it is difficult
to dispute the existence of it, because nobody can strictly
define it. Really, starvation mode, is just a term used to try
and convince you that dieting is bad for you.

Starvation mode is the basis for the concept of eating 6
small meals per day. It is also usually the basis for diets
that promote eating some form of food over another, calorie
cycling, and every other diet that does not promote eating
less overall calories, but instead promotes eating special
types of calories and with special timing.

In reality any diet that has been proven to cause weight loss
is always due to eating less calories. It doesn't matter how
you arrive at this caloric deficit (eating less carbs, or less fat)
all that matters is that you eat less total calories.

As you have learned, your muscle mass is a major
contributing factor to your BMR. If you eat less calories and
lose muscle mass your BMR will decrease over time. This just
means that you will need to eat less food to maintain your
new lighter body. It is simple math, a smaller body needs less
calories. Weight training/resistance exercise will prevent you
from losing muscle mass while you eat less, and therefore
maintain your BMR.

There are specific measurements scientists use to study how
much fat you are burning while you are dieting,how much
energy you are expending and how your fat is reacting to a
low calorie diet.

According to a very large number of research studies, even in
situations where caloric intake is greatly reduced, scientists
have found that if your muscle mass remains the same your
metabolic rate will remain the same. They have also found
that you will rely more on your fat stores for energy (therefore
you can't be storing more fat), and as a result the enzymes in
your fat and muscles will be primed to move fat out of your
fat stores to your muscles where it can be burnt as a fuel (so
your body is not building up the ability to store more fat).

These results are found in both short-term and long-term
studies. They are found with short periods of fasting or long
periods of caloric restriction. They are found with low-carb and
low-fat diets. And since they are consistently found to be true
in all of these different scientific studies, using many different
measurement techniques, it means that starvation mode
cannot possibly exist.

If you think about it, it doesnt really make sense that your
body would store more fat while you are dieting, after all, this
is why we store fat in the first place - it is stored energy, to
be used when food energy is scarce.

When reviewing new diet books, this is one of the first things
I do to see how credible the book is, and it is something you
can do too.

If the book says that starvation mode exists, I know that it is
not well researched. If it does not mention starvation
mode, then I know that the diet has a greater chance of being
based on sound scientific facts.

You can use this one single trick to help you weed through
the good and the bad in the world of diet programs and
weight loss books.

John and the team at grrlAthlete.com

PS- Now that we have covered the truths about metabolism,
and you know our opinion that the best weight loss program
is one that restricts your calories in a maintainable way, and
that promotes exercise that includes weight lifting, why don't
you check out our diet program Eat Stop Eat.

--------------------------------

Snow Flurries

Well, as I write this, I’m finishing up my sixth meal of the day. Yep! Actually got in all my meals today (and that’s not counting the hour split between pre-and post- workout drink)! Crazy what a weekend binge will do to a person- it definitely kicked me in the BUTT. I still am a little bloated, and I’ve had over 80 oz of water plus liquids today, and I can tell that my intestines are still full, but I kept calories down today by having small portions and actually eating all the meals I was supposed to.

So, consider me kicked. I have 6 weeks to go until my goal date, so that’s pressure, and so was the 158 lb weigh-in I had today. I won’t say I’m cracking down, because that’s what led me to the binge in the first place, so I’m going to take it steady and consistent.

• Plan meals.
  
• Work out 5 times per week, with intervals at least 3 times per week and bodyweight exercises at least twice per week, on top of TT2k3.

Only two goals right now, as it seems that’s what I need.

Oh, and we also had our first snow today- flurries only, but there were flakes!

Fasting for Weight loss?

Ate enough food yesterday to make me feel sick. Yeesh, when am I going to stop myself? How about right now?

Brad Pilon (I’ve submitted articles of his before, because he tends to be quite controversial on the subject of nutrition), has a theory of fasting for weight loss. He believes that it’s beneficial to fast for 24 hours at least one day per week, up to 4 times per month, and has even written a book on the subject called Eat Stop Eat (which I haven’t read). According to the quick and dirty research I’ve done in peer-reviewed journals on the subject, apparently the body has a tendency to burn more lipids (fat) for energy when other nutrients aren’t being supplied. Makes sense, considering that’s what our fat stores are for. So why the controversy? Well, of course everyone knows that skipping meals and not eating slows the metabolism by causing an eventual loss of muscle tissue, as it is often easier for the body to access and quicker to break down than lipids. Is that really true? Yes, in one sense. In long-term/chronic near-starvation or malnutrition, the body does burn muscle tissue, since it is more metabolically active than fat tissue (10-15 calories in muscle to maintain, versus 4-5 calories to maintain fat cells). So the fact that metabolism slows during chronic low-calories is true, in one sense: IF you are not weight training. Other studies have found that people can maintain muscle mass even on 750 kcals per day if they are weight training. All right, so not weight training + malnutrition/below maintenance kcals= slower metabolism. I do believe that muscle tissue is lost if the malnutrition is chronic (say longer than 2 months), no matter how much weight training is done (partly because hunger causes weight training to be less effective, since there’s no energy to lift heavy).

Mostly what I’m doing with the above is trying to sort out my thoughts on the issue. Should one fast for weight loss, or is it an ineffective weight tool? In the larger scheme of things, if one is not eating for 24 hours, that’s approximately 1600-2200 calories not taken in over the course of a week, which could result in a larger weight loss. However, if one does not exert control over oneself when eating is resumed, all those calories may be easily made up within the next three days. Second issue is hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). I get it pretty easily, and so will anyone who is used to eating 5-6 meals per day, or anyone with diabetes. How should one fast when that issue is there? Next positive to fasting would be the “rest” that would be afforded to the intestine. Since processed foods can take up to 72 hours to fully be excreted and whole foods take up to 48 hours to be excreted, lessening the load on the intestine would certainly seem to be a positive thing.

So I write this because I ate too much food yesterday, and thought of giving my intestines a rest today. However, I am also four hours into it and am already feeling the effects of hypoglycemia. I also tried it on Tuesday, and had the same problem (to which I promptly ate a granola and nut bar). So, is this due to my body being used to being fed every 3 hours and it just needs time to “catch up,” or should I really eat something and not do the fast for 24 hours? Hmm, the ponderous questions.

2k3 Workout B

Go ahead, if you want to kill yourself, just go do Turbulence Training's 2k3 Workout B. Really. Wow, and I thought Monday that it wasn't so bad. Well, I couldn't even finish reps on a couple of exercises on B, so that means I've got to lighten the load. Darn.

Haha, while I will likely be sore tomorrow, I still consider it to have been a good workout. A good butt-kicker, literally, as it was a lower-body-only workout. I then got in a good HIIT afterward, although I didn't follow much of a pattern- warm-up for 5 minutes, then 3 minutes at 5.0mph, down for 3 min, up for 2 min, rinse and repeat 2x, then up for 3 minutes and cool-down. Felt good to run, as it was the first time in nearly two months or more, although my abs got a stitch in them before I was really out of breath- I find that interesting.

I'm figuring that I'm going to have to pick up my workout length if I'm going to continue eating like I have been in the last few weeks. Sure, I'm building muscle, but I'm trying to move down the scale, not up it, got that, brain? Size 10 jeans are feeling really good this week, even with the up scale. So, here's to making sure I get in more workout time!

Ponderous question: Why is it that I can RDL 40 lb dumbbells, squat 25 lb db (which doesn't seem to be moving up either), but only lunge 15 lbs? Huh. Stupid hip.

Owwie

Had to use today to recover from yesterday's workout- I started the TT 2k3 workout yesterday, and it was my first upper-body-only workout that I've done in nearly a year. I pushed it, and boy am I feeling it today! I think if I'd been able to get today's workout done prior to the pain setting in, I'd have been fine, but since I didn't get the chance (unless i wanted to skip eating today) until 5 p.m., it didn't happen.

Weigh-in yesterday was 153, so I'm definitely needing to get back on track if I want to see 145 or lower by Thanksgiving.

Still am not back on the priority list and haven't surfaced completely, but I took tonight as a night to just vegg and now I'm heading to bed.

Description of Passive Income

As requested, here is a description of the passive income thingie I was talking about in a post last week:

What I'm talking about is the income that happens on-line- you set up a solution to a problem and then sell it (gee- sound like TT, Afterburn, etc?). Basically, the field of nutrition and fitness is wide open for people who know their stuff to step in and be able to use their perspective to get others moving and eating right, losing weight.

Now, of course I do not profess to know everything- my experience so far is very small, but I'm learning, and therein lies the solution- people can learn from my perspective, because I write differently and from a different focus point than Craig Ballantyne, Alwyn Cosgrove, etc. Pat O'Bryan, www.yourportableempire.com, is the one who opened it up to me. I'd been seeing stuff about it for quite a few months from Dax Moy, Ryan Lee (who just released a similar book), and Craig, but wasn't really paying attention because I didn't know what it was about, didn't really want to get into something new. However, something told me to get Pat's book when Joe Vitale promoted it on his blog, and for once I actually acted on it (I'm rarely an emotional buyer- that whole being-in-graduate-school thing tends to put the kobosh on any spending outside things related directly to school or life needs). So that's the passive income thing I was talking about. I haven't acted on that though, because the book also made me realize how important graduate school is to me, no matter how sick of it I am. My goal right now is to graduate in May, and I know that, along with family and work, is going to take up 85% of my time. Workouts and my weight loss goal are going to take up at least 10%, and extras are going to take that remaining five, and there's always thousands of things I want to do or have to do (housework, egh).

So that's the bare basics. See? I'm going to write the book! :)

Bookmarking

I'm buried in homework right now, but I'm quickly posting a couple of thoughts here to bookmark them, and I'll write more later:

- I had an interesting chat with myself about motivation this weekend- seems it's flagging, my favorite podcast was grating rather than motivating, and I think most of it came down to a superiority issue- that of feeling like everyone's got it all together except me.

- I've discovered that i am actually an emotional eater- not a blatant one, mind you, which is why it's taken so long to identify it- it's a very subtle, underlying emotional contract with food, so that's why I dive into the junk even after weeks of "good" behavior- to me, it is a matter of becoming unemotional about food.

Likely these points don't make any sense, or at least any in the way that I want them to, so I'll write more later. As it is I'm already avoiding studying :)

No Weigh-in yet

Yesterday’s Priority List:
Workout Today? Yes/No
Planned workout today? Yes/No
Planned meals for today? Yes/No
Followed plan for meals? Yes/No
Healthy food choices today? Yes/No _70___% (__4__ out of 6 meals) *skipping meals denotes unhealthy food choice
Enjoyed my family today? Yes/No
Succeeded for school today? Yes/No

I have not weighed in yet this week, and realized that I don't believe I've been "good" enough to do so. Hmm, I'll have to change that. I ate decently today and yesterday, but I'm still skipping meals, which isn't good- I see the most results when I'm eating 6 meals a day consistently. Yes, it's coming down to poor planning, esp. with this crazy schedule that's honestly getting made up day by day.

I was actually sore today from yesterday's workout. I didn't do any workout today to give my body time to recover, even though I didn't really want to- I often want to push, push, push. A strange, firm belief that the only way I'm going to lose this weight is to have a hard workout every time. So, there's that all or nothing thinking again. I have a feeling I'm going to be dealing with that for a long long time.

I also can't type tonight- I keep having to hit the back button almost more often than I go forward. I can take a hint!

I can Tell...

Yesterday’s Priority List:
Workout Today? Yes/No
Planned workout today? Yes/No
Planned meals for today? Yes/No
Followed plan for meals? Yes/No
Healthy food choices today? Yes/No _70___% (__4__ out of 6 meals) *skipping meals denotes unhealthy food choice
Enjoyed my family today? Yes/No
Succeeded for school today? Yes/No

I can tell that school, work, and everything has picked uplately. I'm behind on the MTM forum, I'm behind on my blog, I do not have the costumes made for Halloween, and I have a paper due next Monday that I have no idea when I'll work on it. Feeling overwhelmed? Sure. Will I get everything done? Most likely, I usually do. Things that can be ignored will be, so I apologize if I'm only lurking and not posting like normal- I'm still giving everyone my full support, 'cause I know how much I myself have needed it!

I can tell I haven't posted in a while. Here's the few thoughts that meant to make it on here and didn't:

• It's no wonder I dived into the chocolate chip cookies last week, it was rainy, dreary, cold, and guess what showed up on Thursday? I'm female if you need a hint.
• I can't remember if I posted my intent to crack down this week. Of course, cracking down without a menu is like saying I'm going grocery shopping without the list...on an empty stomach...
• I'm really really starting to give the whole passive income thing a serious look. I've got a wonderful experience with nutrition and weight loss that I'm sure others would like a perspective into, and it may just help others get their head on straight when it comes to eating for health and weight loss. Now, if I could just follow my own advice...
• My gym's website is finally completed (sort of). I still have to add a link or two, and a bio here and there, but the bulk of it is done. Now I can pat myself on the back and count my third professional site a success (for a hobby, that's pretty cool, AND I've gotten paid for two of the three!).

There! I count myself as posted.

I had a really good workout today, with TT Week 3 Workout A completed at these weights: 40x3 RDL's, 30x3 Chest press on stability ball, 20x3 Reverse lunges, 20x2/15x1 shoulder presses. Then I took an hour break, convinced myself that it would be totally worth it to do the intervals, and did a bodyweight circuit that left me with a huge stitch in my side by the time it was done: Prisoner Squats x 20, Kneeling Pushups x 20 (x15 by the third go-around), Kettlebell swings x 15 w/ 25lbs, and ab curl on ball x 20. Rest one minute, rinse and repeat for 20 minutes. I got 5 circuits done. I needed 20 minutes of 3.0 mph walking on the treadmill to cool down from that one. And stretching. SOO important!

Not hiding...

Okay, I'm here! I'm not hiding, but the cookies are almost gone ;) I've been able to re-discipline myself yesterday and today, working back toward the spot I was before I crashed. Truthfully, it's actually about time I crashed- I am on week 7, and while I had a couple of shaky weeks so far, I hadn't had a full breakdown yet. So.

I'm back.

The cookies no longer call me, I've been working on getting back on track (still skipped morning midmeal today), and I'll be in to the gym by 4 for a good workout. School and work are picking up quite heartily, so my internet hours will be reduced over the next few weeks. I will still post (nearly) every day. I will also use this last week (3 days actually) as a learning tool.

Thanks for the support!

Call Me Out

Yep, I'm in a rut- I'll blame the weather for right now, and let myself come around when I can. However, being it's only Tuesday and I feel like it's Thursday already should tell you something.

Workouts- yesterdays' sucked, today's didn't happen
Eating- 3 cookies yesterday and one today along with ice cream and a fried fish sandwich

Exactly.

Marcol's latest blog post is a good one. I'll have to read it when I'm more awake, because I believe that it will motivate me. Eventually.

Good night!

Best Article Ever

Beyond Billy's article on living a FAL, one of two other best articles ever written was one by Craig Ballantyne called "Politically Incorrect Fat Loss" (the other one is on Skwigg's webpage called "Merry Christmas, Bob". I just re-read Craig's article recently, and I love how he just pounds into the whole "politically correct lift soup cans and lose weight" theory. I honestly think he forgot one person to incriminate, however- the one person who stares back at you in the mirror every day. It's true. I am my own worst enemy. I had an interesting weekend, which resulted in a complete ignore of any healthy food on Sunday (except the Chili that I made, which was very yummy). I'm back on track today. I am starting to believe that I do need that one day where everything goes out the window (Bill Phillip's Body for Life started me on that one), since I'm such a perfectionist anyway.

At any rate, being that it's a dreary, rainy day around here, I'm figuring everyone needs some good reading material (don't tell me if it's not rainy where you're at!). So, without further ado, Craig's article:

Politically Incorrect Fat Loss Works

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

You know who is your worst enemy in the fight against fat?

Well-meaning fitness professionals that don't want to make you feel bad for being lazy and eating crap. That's who.

They write articles about how "diets are bad", how you can lift soup cans and get fitness model arms, and how you should exercise in the nice and easy "fat burning zone" to get results. Basically, they give you what want to hear - plenty of excuses for avoiding hard exercise and strict nutrition (the real keys to fat loss).

But I don't. You'll get no such excuses from me.

Here's the real deal on fat loss. You have to work hard in your workouts and even harder on your nutrition if you want results. Or you can take the politically-correct easy way out and have the same body in 3, 6, and even 12 months from now.

Love me or hate me, I promise you results. Let's take a look at why the PC-solutions don't work...

Q: I've been told to exercise in my "fat burning zone". What's the best cardio method for weight los.

Answer:
Cardio is not the only solution.

Clearly it adds to the energy deficit and overall calorie balance that favors fat loss.

BUT it's not the "be all & end all" of fat loss success - and that is anecdotally supported by the number of overweight distance runners.

I almost never recommend long, slow cardio...simply because no one I train or consult with has the time for this, and it doesn't work any better than shorter, less frequent, more intense interval training sessions.

Five or six days of 45-minute cardio sessions in my fat-burning zone? Yeah right, like anyone has time for that.

If I told you that you could get the same results (or better, as recent research suggests) in three 20-minute interval sessions each week as you could from three or five 45-minute slower cardio sessions each week, which would you choose?

Yes, intervals feel about 10x's harder than regular, slow, boring cardio. And yes, you won't be able to read your people magazine when doing intervals. And you might breathe a little heavy. So if you're worried about sweating, than maybe fat loss isn't for you.

But if you don't mind going against the crowd, intervals are worth every second for the superior results.

Q: Should men and women train differently for fat loss?

Answer:
Nope. Next question.

Seriously, the answer is no, but just to add to that, men and women don't have that many differences when it comes to fat loss, so they both do well with the Turbulence Training style workouts.

Now here's one reason why TT may actually work better for women than men...

More women tend to start Turbulence Training after having spent months or years using slow cardio and light (if any) weights. And selfishly, I could not be any happier - because when these dedicated women start using the shorter, more intense strength and interval sessions they make rapid progress and make me look like a genius.

The accolades come pouring in...I have dozens of testimonials from women thanking me for saving them TIME while helping them finally breakthrough stubborn fat loss plateaus (and eliminating the pain from their overuse injuries that occurred due to high volumes of cardio). Their words make me feel like a million bucks because the TT workouts are making these women feel like a million bucks.

That being said, I sometimes make small changes in TT workouts to adapt to a woman's pre-conceived notions about strength training. Some women are very hesitant to lift weights. But you and I know that is necessary for bodysculpting, fat loss, and health benefits such as building bones.

So what I do is sub a few (not all!) of the weight exercises out and replace them with equal intensity bodyweight exercises. Some bodyweight exercises can be classified as traditional strength exercises (i.e. for a woman that can only do 5 full pushups, the pushup exercise is almost a max strength exercise). But women "mentally" deal with this type of strength training better than putting a dumbbell in their hands.

On the other hand, some bodyweight exercises provide more of an interval training effect (i.e. bodyweight squats). Either way, bodyweight exercises can put turbulence (i.e. "stress") on the
muscle and boost metabolism and help female clients get the results they want and deserve.

Q: What differentiates Turbulence Training from other programs?

Answer:
That's a tough question to answer, as there are other systems out there that give impressive results in an acceptable time frame.

I will say this however, I am extremely dedicated to Turbulence Training and the entire "fat loss" cause.

One of the factors behind my dedication is that I find the general concept of fat loss to be so simple, and yet millions and millions of people around the world have an incredibly difficult time achieving their goals.

I want to give them every possible resource available to them to help them succeed.

So I am constantly tinkering with new workouts, exercises, and interval methods, and interviewing other trainers and nutritional experts for every single little fat burning advantage I can find. And that comes through in what I offer to the readers of my newsletters and clients that use my programs.

I said in a past newsletter that "Fat loss is easy, once you realize how hard it is." You have to respect that it's not something you put on "auto-pilot". Taking the stairs at work instead of the elevator, parking 100 extra feet away from the door, and subbing 1% milk for 2% milk is not going to help you lose 13 pounds of fat in a year like the politically correct articles
suggest.

You need a politically-incorrect plan to eat right 90% of the time (i.e. saying "no" when an office-mate brings in doughnuts) and you have to have the best workout plan available to you if you want to get the most results in the least amount of time.

And then you still have to have a plan to help you stick to those plans - and that should involve a social support group. There are many tricks and tips to success, so you always have to keep
learning and trying to improve. And that's what I help with in my programs and newsletters.

About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Sleep? Huh?

Wednesday’s Priority List:
Workout Today? Yes/No
Planned workout today? Yes/No
Planned meals for today? Yes/No
Followed plan for meals? Yes/No
Healthy food choices today? Yes/No _100___% (__7__ out of 6 meals) *skipping meals denotes unhealthy food choice
Enjoyed my family today? Yes/No
Succeeded for school today? Yes/No

Yesterday’s Priority List:
Workout Today? Yes/No
Planned workout today? Yes/No
Planned meals for today? Yes/No
Followed plan for meals? Yes/No
Healthy food choices today? Yes/No _70___% (__4__ out of 6 meals) *skipping meals denotes unhealthy food choice
Enjoyed my family today? Yes/No
Succeeded for school today? Yes/No

I'm starting to suffer from low-grade sleep deprivation. It's odd, because normally I have no trouble heading to bed and passing out by 10:30. However lately, I seem to be having trouble getting to bed by 11:00, and I'm really starting to feel it. Energy levels are dipping, it's taking me longer to get to sleep, and the last thing I want to do in the morning is get up. And here's the important piece: I actually took a nap yesterday for an hour (and actually slept). I NEVER take naps unless I'm really tired, and even then, I am not guaranteed to sleep. I think some of it has to do with stress; between school, work, daughter, and life, I'm feeling it right now. Some of it also has to do with not getting my daughter to bed before 8:30. I remember the time when she went to bed at 7:00, and homework time came after that. Now, by the time she gets to bed, I'm too tired to do much of anything beyond zombie-ing, and I feel like I still have too much to do before I can climb into my own bed. Sigh. I guess I'm also making excuses again ;) only this time it's on the matter of bedtime rather than nutrition/workouts.

I have another confession to make too: last night daughter and I went to McDonalds. I didn't blow it, but I didn't have a salad either. I had a 10 pc chicken mcnuggets and apple dippers without the caramel. I'm not going to feel guilty; I've been on-track this week. I haven't been following the menu too closely, but everything I've chosen in place has been healthy- except for the choc milk in place of the banana protein shake. :)

Intervals

Yesterday’s Priority List:
Workout Today? Yes/No
Planned workout today? Yes/No
Planned meals for today? Yes/No
Followed plan for meals? Yes/No
Healthy food choices today? Yes/No _70___% (__4__ out of 6 meals) *skipping meals denotes unhealthy food choice
Enjoyed my family today? Yes/No
Succeeded for school today? Yes/No

Intervals are a lot of fun, especially when you're doing them in a group. I was delighted to participate in a group cardio session at my gym after I taught a 30-minute circuit today, and two of the four of us were doing intervals. We encouraged each other, we pushed and challenged each other, and we provided a means of getting our minds off the pain (we yakked when we could breathe). It was a lot of fun, and it's starting to become a Wed evening habit. My daughter gets entertained by one of the younger girls who sometimes participates in the circuit, and we get in a workout. It's novel, really! Strange I hadn't thought of it yet. *sarcasm, thinking about the 30-minute circuit class I teach 3 days a week and is pretty well attended*

I can tell I've got my menu planned again this week, because the eating is just going easy as pie. I may change a thing here or there as I go, but it's better than trying to come up with several meals for a day when I'm hungry, tired, etc. Please remind me to keep doing it (as if those who have encouraged me haven't already *grin*).