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.