Just sticking my head in to say that I have the stomach flu. Last week I thought to myself, Boy, I have all the signs of overtraining except the getting sick part.
Oh well. Did my last NROL FLworkout on Saturday. I've decided to go back to what worked for fat loss--fewer workouts and lower cals. I feel kind of mournful about not lifting heavy, but it's only for a little while. I did a bunch of reading and have come to the conclusion that I was doing what Leigh suggests for thyroid issues, maybe not as extreme as 800 calories, and that's what I'm going to have to do to lose scale weight again. I love the composition changes, but it's clear to me that I need to get the scale a little lower to be happy.
I'll be back when I'm not feeling so pukey. : (
Sorry you're feeling pukey...take care of yourself and feel better!
Just sticking my head in to say that I have the stomach flu. Last week I thought to myself, Boy, I have all the signs of overtraining except the getting sick part.
Oh well. Did my last NROL FLworkout on Saturday. I've decided to go back to what worked for fat loss--fewer workouts and lower cals. I feel kind of mournful about not lifting heavy, but it's only for a little while. I did a bunch of reading and have come to the conclusion that I was doing what Leigh suggests for thyroid issues, maybe not as extreme as 800 calories, and that's what I'm going to have to do to lose scale weight again. I love the composition changes, but it's clear to me that I need to get the scale a little lower to be happy.
I'll be back when I'm not feeling so pukey. : (
Feel better...
So Leigh suggested to you too to cut your cal down more and exercise less if you're not losing? She suggested that to me, but I want to wait one more week... Next Monday begins a rest week for me anyway.
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which leads me to, I made my first money! My BIL is getting married (finally) and wants to lose 10 pounds in a month. He's a pretty athletic guy, so it was just making recommendations on diet (stop drinking 24 oz of soda every day) and giving him some workout guidelines. I didn't ask, but he sent me a check for $100 and wants to refer his buddies to me! He owns a restaurant so he knows lots of people who need my services.
Feel better...
So Leigh suggested to you too to cut your cal down more and exercise less if you're not losing? She suggested that to me, but I want to wait one more week... Next Monday begins a rest week for me anyway.
Leigh didn't tell me anything directly. I was listening to her podcasts. I'm not necessarily doing exactly what she says--I can't handle calories that low--but I noticed that I had done something very similar to what she recommends for thyroid issues, without knowing that that was what she recommended. That is, low calories for 4-5 days, then maintenance for 2-3 days. I did that pretty much all winter 'cause I kept getting sick and couldn't work out regularly. And that's when I consistently lost. Doing hard core workouts makes me way way too hungry. Seems my intuitive eating only works for weight loss when I'm not doing heavy lifting.
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Originally Posted by realcdn
Anyway, take care of yourself and hope that you feel better soon.
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Originally Posted by msmogreen
Sorry you're feeling pukey...take care of yourself and feel better!
Thanks ladies. I feel somewhat better today but now I have the usual body aches I get whenever I"m sick--it seems to remind my body of the interferon days and my hips and shoulders get very achey. I suppose it's good so I can be thankful for being pain free most of the time now.
I'm laying low still--and not up for any sort of dieting at the moment. I'm very disappointed that June has been such a bust for scale loss, but I'm happy that I did lose some fat in my midsection. I figure I must have needed a break, and I'll return to fat loss in a few days.
The kids are now out of school so I am fried trying to keep them busy and do my studying.
Well, I've been MIA on my own logs 'cause I haven't worked out hardly at all--just yoga. I have had some sort of virus or another for two weeks now.
I've been really demoralized and kind of sad, I was really enjoying working out so much and it's hard to remember that my body just can't take it. I told my husband to remind me the next time. No 6 day a week workouts. Period. Getting sick for 2 weeks isn't worth it--I don't know what is wrong with my immune system, but that's just the body I have right now.
So after moping around and being demoralized, I started getting worried about a lump on my chest. I've been noticing it for the last month or so, and getting increasingly freaked out about it. It's along a rib under my clavicle on the right side. Now, I have noticed a lot of lumps recently, but it's mainly because I am seeing terrain on my body for the first time in 20 years, plus I am OLD and old people are kind of lumpy.
Finally I went to the doctor. She thinks it is inflammation in the cartilage, but took an xray just in case and gave me anti inflammatory to see if it goes down. Of course, I was panicked because one of the things you're supposed to do with those breast self-exams is look for lumps anywhere in the upper chest.
It's probably nothing, but it helped me to be completely, totally, freaked out. However, I have been just not paying attention to diet since I figured I needed a break, but when they weighed me in the middle of the day I was surprised at how low the scale was. So the next morning I weighed, and sure enough, I've lost 2 pounds.
Sigh.
Here seem to be the facts of fat loss for me:
I can't lose weight when working out strenuously.
Period. No more experiments. I need to control what I can and acknowledge that at least in this life, this is how my body works. If I want the scale to go down, I have to do it with diet and keep the exercise to levels that do not cause me to be outrageously hungry.
One thing I've noticed over the last couple of weeks is that I just don't eat all that much anymore. I do have 3 little meals at 7:30, 10:30, 1:30, then dinner and maybe some small snacks at night. Sometimes I have a snack at 4:30 and then dinner, but if I want snacks after dinner or a glass of wine I don't. Remembering back to the short time when I weighed 115, in college, I remember I just didn't eat much then either. Small portions. I loosen up on weekends and eat what I want, but what I want is very different than it was 2 years ago. I eat fries, but only a few. I eat sweets, but only a little. It's like something just went "click".
So, I'm just trying to make this knowledge a little more systematic without going into a logging/insane/neurotic thing. I guess over the last 2 1/2 years I've gotten my body into a better nutritional state, so I don't have weird cravings or fierce hunger (unless I'm working out vigorously). During that time I got used to small meals and portion control. If I want cookies after dinner, I have to give something else up. Plus, I only get 1-3 cookies, not a box.
I guess it's just a process of learning. I am now 137, only 2 pounds from goal. At this point, I don't know how much lower I want to see the scale. Maybe 130. Then I can dump the fat loss mode and just focus on body recomp--I still have flab around my waist that I'm not happy with, but I think that if I add muscle in my legs I won't have to go much lower on the scale. Galya told me that my legs are proportionately thin, so I think that will be my next focus.
Well, I feel kind of guilty about losing this two pounds after having a drink and/or chocolate just about every night, but I'm sure it was because of all the work I did early in the month. And I am happy that in this challenge, since January, I have lost 16 pounds.
That's the report today. I did yoga with the challenging teacher--I also took my 71 year old mom--and I feel pretty good. Mainly I feel like I'm in control of the situation and I know how I am going to proceed. I have a lot of studying to do in the next month, so it helps to have this piece of the puzzle decided. Light workouts, fat loss for all of July through Aug. 8, then into body recomp.
Of course, I could be thrown into a morass of conflict and confusion tomorrow.
It does sound like you're in a good place. I'm always very jealous of those that seem to find a good place, on the intuitive eating. I don't think I've ever done that, so it's nice to hear that some people find that place.
Ditto on what Bytsi said...and it's awesome to have those moments of clarity, even if they are brought on by some overworking on our parts...sometimes our body just needs to give us the answers in the only way it knows how, by getting sick. I used to be sick ALL the time before I changed my workouts...now it's been awhile since I am sick *knocking on wood* and I'm much happier. I hope that your new combo works for you and you find that balance you are looking for. Being too far over on either end is never fun...somewhere right in the middle is nice but sometimes really hard to find! Glad you are feeling better...
Hey chicka, long time no stop. It isn't uncommon to not be able to be as active in deficit. I too am struggling right now with balancing of work and workout and food. I keep running into this overtraining wall and it is kicking my ass and my willpower. I am readjusting my attitude towards this whole thing just this month and am hoping to be able to ride this out as I go down in bf%. Good news is that we have a lot of resources to help us figure this stuff out and we have each other for morale support.
__________________
The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
I can really relate to what you are saying about the workouts/fat loss stuff. It stinks but for some of us, it is what it is. I am glad you are feeling better. I'm trying to catch up on everyone!
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Ginger
"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." ~ John Bingham
I don't have time to reply to everyone, but I wanted to post quickly--my main computer crashed--viruses that my son picked up "somewhere"--and I'm now fighting for the puny laptop with my Runescape-addict son, Facebook-addict son, and Club-Penguin addict daughter. It's getting pretty ugly around here. : )
However, I have a helluvalotta studying to do, so maybe it's for the best.
Rehabilitation update:
I have been doing lots of posture correction exercises and working on stretching my pec minor and pulling my shoulders down--scapular pushups, wall slides, etc. So, I was studying last night and I noticed that the origin of the pec minor is right around the cartilage on the third through fifth ribs.
Right where my lump is.
Well, duh.
I'm going to the chiropractor in a few minutes to see if he has any suggestions, I feel like I"m all out of whack. I did a spinning class last night which was lots of fun, and I feel ok generally, but somehthing's out. my concern is that there is a limit to how much I can fix--I have mild scoliosis--so the question is, how much more can be improved? I can't fix the curve of my spine. How much of this is bad habits and unfitness over years, and how much is just how my body is constructed?
My chiro is a nice guy, and a sports doc, but I can't seem to get a good answer out of him. I'm going to bug him some more today, but I guess ultimately he doesn't know, only my body does.
I also found the pictures that launched this whole odyssey three years ago. I was cleaning out some bathroom drawers, and there they were. I guess I got them in the mail and hid them out of shame. They're from a party in June, 2006. I wish I had a scanner to put them up. Wow, I was really big.
So now, I am begining to be able to look at my body objectively and not just in comparison to how I used to look. I am a short, stocky person and will never have a really skinny waist. But, I don't like the thickness around the waist I have now, so I will have to go down in bodyfat, maybe 3-5%. I am pretty unhappy with how my glutes and legs look--I think I have lost muscle there so after I finish this fat loss/rehab thing I am going to focus on my legs. My upper body/shoulders are pretty beefy, and I'm going to have to learn to love the look--I'll just plain never be a waify-type. I'm just a muscular person. I guess for that reason I am going to have to shoot for the lower bodyfat levels.
But, between now and Aug. 8, I am working exclusively on posture/rehab exercises and fat loss. Period. One of the posture exercises is squatting and watching my knees track, making sure that my torso stays upright. That means my thoraxic spine has to get more mobile as well. The main thing is that I have to get to a place where I'm not hurting myself all the time. So, form has to be the main thing right now.
Well, usually I edit my posts for coherence but I have to run. Disjointed ramblings will have to do. I miss being on the boards and reading everyone's logs--but duty calls.
Sounds like you're on a very good path now... thanks for sharing your thoughts. And I'm glad the lump isn't a scary/bad lump.
Now I feel stoopid since of course the lump is on the part of the rib where my pec minor attaches. And that's what I have been stretching like crazy. Oh well, $$$ for x rays and doctor visits....but thanks.
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Originally Posted by realcdn
It does sound like you're in a good place. I'm always very jealous of those that seem to find a good place, on the intuitive eating. I don't think I've ever done that, so it's nice to hear that some people find that place.
It only took my 46 years.
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Originally Posted by sidonia
Ditto on what Bytsi said...and it's awesome to have those moments of clarity, even if they are brought on by some overworking on our parts...sometimes our body just needs to give us the answers in the only way it knows how, by getting sick. I used to be sick ALL the time before I changed my workouts...now it's been awhile since I am sick *knocking on wood* and I'm much happier. I hope that your new combo works for you and you find that balance you are looking for. Being too far over on either end is never fun...somewhere right in the middle is nice but sometimes really hard to find! Glad you are feeling better...
My body tends to scream when it's trying to send a message. Prolly cause I'm not a very good listener.
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Originally Posted by kfisherx
Hey chicka, long time no stop. It isn't uncommon to not be able to be as active in deficit. I too am struggling right now with balancing of work and workout and food. I keep running into this overtraining wall and it is kicking my ass and my willpower. I am readjusting my attitude towards this whole thing just this month and am hoping to be able to ride this out as I go down in bf%. Good news is that we have a lot of resources to help us figure this stuff out and we have each other for morale support.
Ride it out, baby.
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Originally Posted by GinnyLou
I can really relate to what you are saying about the workouts/fat loss stuff. It stinks but for some of us, it is what it is. I am glad you are feeling better. I'm trying to catch up on everyone!
Ha! Good luck on that (the catching up). I miss reading all the logs but gawd! How do some people find the time!
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Originally Posted by stingo
Nothing wrong with being all ript n shit - like spinning does for your calves.
Not quite there yet...I can't wait to start body recomp!
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Originally Posted by Karen411
Hey, Elisabeth, just stopping by to say you did wonderful in the challenge!
Thanks, same to you--I think we all should get awards for sticking it out!
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Originally Posted by beesknees
Great job in the challenge! Sounds like you have a great plan in place. Realizing what you need to do for you is so important.
Thanks for the support, everyone. It means SO MUCH to me.
I have a routine now. I get up in the morning, read paper drink coffee, then study for 2-3 hours in the kitchen with my son's ipod hooked up to drown out the sound of TVs, runescape, and electric guitar. Then take daughter to Water Polo. Then the afternoon is more studying and cleaning up after stoopid summer vacation kids. I get ONE HOUR on facebook and JP. It's working well, I just have to be efficient with my board-reading. I'm really trying to be disciplined on the intertubez 'cause I waste so much time normally. It actually helps to have to fight with children over laptop.
Anyway, the chiro taped my rib. He says it's perfectly normal and will calm down as my body readjusts itself once again. It appears that I overcompensated for the lordosis/kyphosis and ended up with a flat back. It never ends. I guess I'm just a work in progress, forever.
Here's the tape job--looks fearsome but I explained to my daughter, I am not wounded, there is no blood. Poor thing. She was really worried when she saw it.
This photo also shows the incredible shrinking boobage. I'm down to an A cup. Good thing I have big pec muscles or it would be lookin' pretty bad. I am going to have to go bra shopping as all of mine look terrible with empty, sad cups.
Spinning tonight. I was too rickety yesterday for yoga. I am not happy at all at my muscles deflating and I want to get back to lifting as soon as I can--hopefully in August.
The thing I figured out is that cup sizes aren't the same across band sizes....I went from a 38C to a 34C. But, the cup size of the 34C is much smaller than the 38C. I also could probably wear a 36B on the tightest hooks, and the cup size of a 36B is the same as the cup size of a 34C.
I recently saw a bra that was a 30E!! And, you wouldn't believe how small that actual cup was because of the small band size! Now, if it would have been a 42E.....that would be big enough to hold cantaloupes!
Wow... didn't know that about bands and bras.... Huh.
Congrats on the shrinking boobage! I know it sucks but shrinking boobage means loss of bf% in my mind. If you are losing weight and keeping boobs that is a sign of dropping scale weight and not bf%. If I could spot reduce, I would keep my boobs though... It is a bitter sweet thing.....
__________________
The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Found this snippet, which probably explains it better than I did:
There is a common misconception that cup sizes are the same across all bra sizes, meaning that a B cup on a 34 is the same size as on a 36, but in fact they are relative to the size of the band, so the same cup size is bigger on a bigger band size. Bra manufacturers refer to a cup volume instead of to a cup size as defined above. For instance, the cup volume is the same for 30D, 32C, 34B, 36A, etc. It is for this reason that bra sizes have sister sizes which are related by having the same cup volume. Although it is important that a wearer has a correctly fitting bra, it is sometimes possible that two adjacent sister sizes both fit reasonably well, since the cup volume is the same, and the difference in band size can be accommodated by fastening the back on a different hook. However, fastening a bra initially on the smallest adjustment does not allow for tightening the band as the fabric begins to lose its elasticity
The thing I figured out is that cup sizes aren't the same across band sizes....I went from a 38C to a 34C. But, the cup size of the 34C is much smaller than the 38C. I also could probably wear a 36B on the tightest hooks, and the cup size of a 36B is the same as the cup size of a 34C.
I recently saw a bra that was a 30E!! And, you wouldn't believe how small that actual cup was because of the small band size! Now, if it would have been a 42E.....that would be big enough to hold cantaloupes!
Ohhh...that explains a lot. My band size went up to 38 'cause of my upper chest (the Victoria's Secret size lady measured my UPPER chest). Maybe I should go back to a 34 with an extender--I don't think they make 38 A. It's all very confusing. I'm ok this summer because I just use tops with shelf bras....I am going to have to purge my bras soon. I should take a picture of my closet because I recently got rid of everything that doesn't fit and there's hardly anything in there....
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Originally Posted by kfisherx
Wow... didn't know that about bands and bras.... Huh.
Congrats on the shrinking boobage! I know it sucks but shrinking boobage means loss of bf% in my mind. If you are losing weight and keeping boobs that is a sign of dropping scale weight and not bf%. If I could spot reduce, I would keep my boobs though... It is a bitter sweet thing.....
Yay for tiny bewbies!
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Originally Posted by realcdn
Filing away that information for when I go buy new bras. At the moment I'll stick with my unbras though.
Well, yesterday I had a giant post typed and lost it because of my terrible computer. I am typing on the laptop now, but it's a pain in the butt.
Did spinning Thursday, yoga yesterday. For the first time I looked back at the people in the spinning class and realized that I am one of the few who actually keep up with the teacher. I always sit right up front in any class because I have ADD and I get distracted easily by any shiny objects that might be nearby. I noticed a woman in back who, by the first 15 minutes, had given up on any resistance at all and was pedaling very slowly. She stuck it out for the whole class although she looked as if she was going to die. I sympathized so much with her--three years ago that would have been me. And she looked younger than me, too.
While I'm disappointed that I didn't get as far as I wanted to during this challenge, I have to remember how far I have come. Right now, I'm working a lot on my posture and form and it is amazing how different my body feels. I think one of the reasons that I have been able to stick with this is because I have managed to make progress in SOME realm at all times...even though I wasn't losing fat, I was making stregnth gains, even though I wasn't making stregnth gains, I was improving my posture, etc.....and if worst came to worst I could always foam roll and stretch and improve somehow that way.
Here we go again. I will never get a full post done this summer, it seems.
Yup, it's your ride so you can make of it what you will. I have to try to get back to spinning but the classes aren't really convenient to my lifting times. Not really an excuse though, so I should try to get some classes in soon.
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Tom
No "happy hours" makes for a lot of miserable days. - Mahler
Yay challenge winner! Hey...are you going to be around this weekend??? Now that all my weekends are long I'll probably be coming to Pasadena this weekend...not sure which day yet. I want to hit Hansen Dam to check out the swim lake--feel like going swimming? LOL. I'll call you.
Yup, it's your ride so you can make of it what you will. I have to try to get back to spinning but the classes aren't really convenient to my lifting times. Not really an excuse though, so I should try to get some classes in soon.
Eh, lifting is most important. I just spin for fun.
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Originally Posted by outofcontrol
Congrats on winning the challenge! You look great!
Thanks so much. I wish my pictures were more clear.
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Originally Posted by dianas
I also wanted to pop in and add my congrats with the challenge. I think you did a great job.
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Originally Posted by realcdn
I'll add my congrats here as well.
THanks ladies.
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Originally Posted by msmogreen
Yay challenge winner! Hey...are you going to be around this weekend??? Now that all my weekends are long I'll probably be coming to Pasadena this weekend...not sure which day yet. I want to hit Hansen Dam to check out the swim lake--feel like going swimming? LOL. I'll call you.
My BIL is getting married this weekend, so Saturday is shot. Give me a call, I'd love to see you! Got lots to tell you.
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