The Biggest Loser DGN Style

[torn asunder]

True...I guess I just need to force myself to go to the YMCA some day...

looking at it as having to force yourself just sets you up to be resistant to doing it. it may be just semantics, but if you look at it as something to look forward to, something to get excited about, it'll be much easier!

[Eevee]

looking at it as having to force yourself just sets you up to be resistant to doing it. it may be just semantics, but if you look at it as something to look forward to, something to get excited about, it'll be much easier!

Alright, I'll keep that in mind

[hunhee]

I'm forcing myself to go to the gym every day this week.

I try to go every day, sometimes twice a day, but not everyone has such an open schedule in the morning like I do. I tell myself to go to the gym, or exercise every day, that way if I miss a day, I've still got six days I worked out! I try not to miss any tho.

looking at it as having to force yourself just sets you up to be resistant to doing it. it may be just semantics, but if you look at it as something to look forward to, something to get excited about, it'll be much easier!

o0o0 good way of thinking! That's exactly what it is I had to do to go, and now after 12 weeks, I LOVE IT!!!! I actually switched gyms, because I liked this environment much better. The people there are more polite and up beat, and kinda made me enjoy going to the gym.

Alright, I'll keep that in mind

I'm proud of you Eevee, at least you're already thinking about doing it, I think the hardest thing to overcome is the mental obstacle, now that that's over, as Nike says it, "JUST DO IT"

[creatureofthenyte]

Day 4 of 7 at the gym...Done.

[hunhee]

Fitness Point Meeting:

Today I had a fitness point meeting with a personal trainer at my gym. I learned some interesting things from him today, that I didn't know before. I heard some things that I didn't want to hear, but overall, it was a good experience.

I learned that my body composition is 66.8% lean body mass, and of course 33.2% Fat mass, in order to optimize this, they want me to lose another 24 lbs. (that's it?!?!?!?) This part disappointed me. I want to be that number in my head I've had for a while now, and they want me to be like 20/30 lbs above that number. WTF?!?!?!?!!? BUT then again, that's less of a mental strain for me to lose the 24lbs, so I shouldn't complain. He said my body may shift, and junk, and I may lose lean muscle mass while working out, blah blah... I guess I should be more concerned about being healthy.. right?.. Right.

The other interesting thing I learned was that my BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is 1787 Calories.. WTF!?!?!? I do not eat anywhere NEAR that many calories.. My personal trainer actually yelled at me, and told me I was probably not eating enough, or consistently. By not eating enough, it forces my body to hold onto the fat, and lose muscle mass, this is BAD (apparently) Soooo... I guess since I've got the workout/motivation mastered, I need to master the eating thingie too.

I've got a lot to work on, but at least I know where to focus my attentions.

Edited May 19, 2010 by hunhee

[KatRN05]

My BMR is 1690. I have a hard time getting in 1400 calories...sheesh..

[Oh_My_Goth]

I am trucking on.. I have noticed more definition in Me abs lately, which makes Me very happy

[hunhee]

Went on a 8.5/9 mile walk yesterday, going backpacking this weekend, going 10 miles on Saturday, and 7.5 miles on Sunday!!! w00h00!!!

[creatureofthenyte]

Well I did day 5 at the gym today.

I may skip on Saturday, sounds like I'm gonna have a busy week back at work next week.

[KatRN05]

Ok, so last night I was bored at work and I decided to figure out my BMR again. So I went to sparkpeople and found this formula and it helped me figure out my BMR and the range of calories I need to eat in order to lose weight. So I need to eat between 1200-1600 calories in order to lose weight. I'm assuming the lower end of the range is when I am more sedentary and the higher end is when I am more active. Deciding how many calories I need to eat is very frustrating sometimes.

Here's the link: http://www.sparkpeop...culation101.asp

Anywho, I went to Krav Maga class this morning. Kicked my ass as usual but it had been about a week since I last went. Might go tomorrow after work if I'm feeling up to it.

Edited May 21, 2010 by KatRN05

[Druella]

Ran three miles yesterday and am getting ready to do 30 miles onmy bike

[Enishi]

Lately I've had a bit more fat on my frame than I would prefer. Time to cut the carbs again and do some one arm pushups and one legged squats...

[creatureofthenyte]

I decided 5 days at the gym was enough for this week. I'm going back to work a day early tomorrow, so I will get yet another workout; but I'll get paid for this one lol

[torn asunder]

Ok, so last night I was bored at work and I decided to figure out my BMR again. So I went to sparkpeople and found this formula and it helped me figure out my BMR and the range of calories I need to eat in order to lose weight. So I need to eat between 1200-1600 calories in order to lose weight. I'm assuming the lower end of the range is when I am more sedentary and the higher end is when I am more active. Deciding how many calories I need to eat is very frustrating sometimes.

Here's the link: http://www.sparkpeop...culation101.asp

Anywho, I went to Krav Maga class this morning. Kicked my ass as usual but it had been about a week since I last went. Might go tomorrow after work if I'm feeling up to it.

just remember these are calorie *estimates* - if you find yourself running out of energy for exercise, you need to eat more. also, if you plateau, you might need to eat more. BMR is your basal metabolic rate, and doesn't include your activity level. just getting up & going to work (especially as an RN) will burn tons of calories; put the krav on top of that, and i'll bet you shouldn't be lower than 1600-1800 on a typical work/non-workout day.

anyway, my point is, sometimes, one has to eat *more* to lose weight which is very counter-intuitive, but often true.

i'll shut up now...

[KatRN05]

i'll shut up now...

Lol no, you're right.

[hunhee]

I'm very proud to say that yesterday, I went to the gym, got on the treadmill for almost an hour, and then I did Zumba class. Holy crap that stuff is FUN!

[Musashi]

I've recently upped the intensity of my workout routine, and man it is awesome! By awesome I mean "Ow my body is pissed at me!" Ha. For the last 4 days (Friday will be the 5th consecutive) I start at my house with some good hard warm ups i.e. 100 jumping jacks, push-up squat thrusts, stretches etc. Then it's a half-mile run and a fence jump to my subdivisions beach (oh yeah! private, sandy, and great!). After that it's swimming! Swimming is such a great workout even just by itself, but I've added a couple things that make it even better. The sandy part of the beach itself is on a slightly steep incline, so one thing I do is I'll swim out a ways (like a standard pool length), then swim back to the shore. When I get to the shallows where my hands will touch the bottom, I start bear crawling (on hands and feet not hands and knees) up the hill a ways, then stand up and run back in the water for more swimming. If I want to push myself I'll do like 10 push-up squat thrusts when I stand up (really could do anything at that point). Man just one trip out then back up the beach like that is INTENSE on both the cardio and working to tone muscles. I've been out at the lake about 1 to 1.5 hours every day. Add to that about an hour and a half of kendo practice total for the week with the mile run (half mile to the beach, half mile back) and my ass had been thoroughly kicked.

For Friday my friend Michelle and I are gonna be out at the lake for about 3 hours and I'm also gonna be adding a pretty brutal set of core excersises (about 15 minutes worth) to it. Rawr! It's getting serious now!

I've also done much better with my diet. I've stopped drinking soda (I'll have one a week maybe as a treat) and I've been eating good quality healthy stuff (being a cook has at least one perk I guess). I've also started using protein shakes......

I can now see the very very beginnings of a six pack starting to appear and my arms, chest and legs are all looking noticeably better too.

And the thing I'm most excited about: I'm starting kung-fu classes next week! (if all goes as planned anyway) I think if I take those classes 2-3 times per week, keep up on the diet, swimming and at-home martial arts practice, and add a full body weight lifting regimen once per week (found a super cheap gym for that) I might be able to get that Bruce Lee body I've always wanted. I'm so excited! Yay! As far as how much I weigh? Not really paying too much attention. I'm not a real big dude anyway, so it's all about the looks and the power. Rawr!

[KatRN05]

I'm testing tomorrow morning for Level 2 Krav Maga.

[Druella]

in 8 days I am gonna ride 585 miles... eeks I am sure I will come back more fit! or just really sore...

[Musashi]

Well, had my first kung-fu class. It kicked my ass, but I learned a few neat tricks. I am loving the chinese style a lot more than the korean styles so far. Seems a bit more difficult, but more fitting to my body and attitude.

On a related note, I finally checked my weight and fat% to muscle% today.....I must be doing something right, cuz in about 2-2.5 weeks, I maye have only lost 8lbs, but I've trimmed off about 20% body fat and gained about 10-15% muscle mass. I was seriously not expecting those kinds of results that fast. My muscles over my entire body are even starting to get visible definition. I just need to get that gym membership to add weight training to my week. I may be looking better, but really I'm still not very strong. Potentially very fast, yes. But not very strong yet. Anyone got tips on strength training aside from lifting weights? Anything regarding reflex training might be a help as well.

[Oh_My_Goth]

I have finally lost the roll on my upper stomach

[Invictus]

Well, had my first kung-fu class. It kicked my ass, but I learned a few neat tricks. I am loving the chinese style a lot more than the korean styles so far. Seems a bit more difficult, but more fitting to my body and attitude.

On a related note, I finally checked my weight and fat% to muscle% today.....I must be doing something right, cuz in about 2-2.5 weeks, I maye have only lost 8lbs, but I've trimmed off about 20% body fat and gained about 10-15% muscle mass. I was seriously not expecting those kinds of results that fast. My muscles over my entire body are even starting to get visible definition. I just need to get that gym membership to add weight training to my week. I may be looking better, but really I'm still not very strong. Potentially very fast, yes. But not very strong yet. Anyone got tips on strength training aside from lifting weights? Anything regarding reflex training might be a help as well.

Well, the most efficient way to gain strength is to lift very heavy things, but you wouldn't go wrong with olympic rings and hardcore bodyweight stuff. Beast skills is a good place to start. Or try Ross Training if you'd rather a hybrid strength/conditioning routine. Also, how did you check your BF%?

[torn asunder]

Also, how did you check your BF%?

i was gonna ask the same thing, because losing 20% BF in that kind of timeframe is unlikely, unless one is quite overweight. that doesn't seem to be the case, based on the amount of work claimed in the posts...

[Musashi]

My BF% and muscle mass I checked with this digital scale that is supposed to measure weight, body water content, muscle mass and BF%. I was/am also skeptical about that measurement. All

I know is that the last time I checked it, I was at 33% (of whatever that reading is if not bf%?) and yesterday I was at 11%. I was pretty stunned myself, but was told it didn't seem out of the realm of possibility given the amount of work and diet I've been putting into it. I would like to do the pincher test, just don't have one available at the moment. But she (my mom, a nurse and well versed in at least nutrition if not fitness) assured me that it was accurate. You do have to enter in your age and height for it to get a reading.

As for being overweight, the first time I checked was at 153 with clothes on but no shoes, and yesterday was 145 with just a towel. So maybe not a full 8lb. loss, but close at least. But you're right, not overweight. I was just really flabby. Even at my fattest I was only about 165-170.

I did/do plan on adding at least somewhat of a lifting routine to all this, but I'm almost afraid I may be biting off more than I can chew. Still gonna do it, but phew, that's a lot more work to add in.

Also, Invictus, thanks for those links, I'll be looking into those for sure. I'm already watching the Bruce Lee documentary (he's easily one of my biggest heroes). That man was something else to say the least.

[Invictus]

My BF% and muscle mass I checked with this digital scale that is supposed to measure weight, body water content, muscle mass and BF%. I was/am also skeptical about that measurement. All

I know is that the last time I checked it, I was at 33% (of whatever that reading is if not bf%?) and yesterday I was at 11%. I was pretty stunned myself, but was told it didn't seem out of the realm of possibility given the amount of work and diet I've been putting into it. I would like to do the pincher test, just don't have one available at the moment. But she (my mom, a nurse and well versed in at least nutrition if not fitness) assured me that it was accurate. You do have to enter in your age and height for it to get a reading.

As for being overweight, the first time I checked was at 153 with clothes on but no shoes, and yesterday was 145 with just a towel. So maybe not a full 8lb. loss, but close at least. But you're right, not overweight. I was just really flabby. Even at my fattest I was only about 165-170.

I did/do plan on adding at least somewhat of a lifting routine to all this, but I'm almost afraid I may be biting off more than I can chew. Still gonna do it, but phew, that's a lot more work to add in.

Also, Invictus, thanks for those links, I'll be looking into those for sure. I'm already watching the Bruce Lee documentary (he's easily one of my biggest heroes). That man was something else to say the least.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0675/is_n2_v15/ai_19205606/ Yeah, the electronic testers are ridiculously inaccurate (40%+). The most accurate is the submersion test, and slightly (.1%ish) less accurate is the body fat caliper. Of course you have to pay for each submersion test, and a caliper is only $10-$15 online.