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2006/08/31, 11:39 PM
I thought I was making progress. Since I kicked it up in April meticulously tracking everything I eat working out with a trainer and/or following the programs here 5 days a week, I've lot 9 lbs and dropped from a size 6/8 to a size 4/6 (or did they change the way they are sizing women's clothing again?) My waist went from 30.5" to 28" (I think 27" is the smallest I've ever seen it). And a guy the gym who hadn't seen me in a while commented on the dramatic improvement in my shape.
On May 1 a trainer he measured my body fat at 34% using calipers at the gym. This evening I thought it's been a while so maybe after all this hard work and dramatic improvement I should get it checked. Same gym and measurement technique...different trainer. The verdict was a disappointing 31%.
While I feel like I've been doing everything right (mostly), I'm obviously doing something wrong! No more drinking...too many parties for me this season. Although I my party days are my cheat days (no more than once a week), it think maybe it is still too much.
Mostly I wanted to vent...I really was so disappointed. And if you can believe it the trainer told me I'm probably not getting enough carbs! I let him talk but didn't give much credence to his ideas (after all, it is 24 Hour Fitness and I have you guys). It is so hard to know how to measure progress and to know what 'good' progress should look like.
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2006/09/01, 07:00 AM
Hey msmogreen... hard to know whether your trainer is right... how many carbs do you take in? What is your caloric intake?
In 4 months you have lost 9 pounds, that is good. It could be better, but I am guessing that you are getting rid of weight while shifting around weight as well. You say you are smaller/tighter, that is more of a result than weight lost, i think. And losing 3% bodyfat is nice!!! You have to look at the good. How many months have yopu been applying yourself like this? 4? Give it a few more , the results should come faster in a few months, your body is just starting to respond.
As far as the drinking/partying - yes it holds you back and doesn't really fit in with w weight loss goasl. You have to decide what you want more and stick to your guns. I know I can gains 10 pounds overnight from drinking (okay, maybe not overnight...but you know what I mean).
Any progress is good progress and if you [push through your disappointment and focus on the process, things will continue to happen - just don't get discouraged. It sounds like you are doing things right.
Maybe it is a matter of fine tuning your diet...why don't you give us an example of a typical day for your diet and we can help tweak it a little...
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Dont ever give up on a dream due to the amount of time it will take to achieve it. The time will pass anyway.
- Russ Ebsen
Aim high, time flies (fortune cookie saying)
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2006/09/01, 08:28 AM
Actually,, you should be damn proud of what you've accomplish so far. You've dropped a clothing size, you've reduced inches and people are noticing:big_smile: It's amazing how one number can put us right back to feeling depressed about our "wt". You're obviously doing the right things, you now know you could do a bit better with diet/partying (I stuggle with the same demons), so use it to ignite your determination to reach your goals. You're doing awesome, just tweak it and keep it up!
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Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.
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2006/09/01, 08:29 AM
I agree with fly.....DAMN proud you should be!!!!!
Great job!!!!!:)
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2006/09/01, 10:30 PM
Thank you for your responses. I was thinking too how one little number can have so much impact. I wanted to come in under 30% at most. I mean 30% is really overfat and my modest goal for starters was 23%. Now realizing how long it took me (5 months) to lose 3%, my goal seems that much further off. It's all a matter of perspective...when I told my bf he thought 3% was great.
A typical day of eating goes like this:
4:00 a.m. Preworkout shake with protein and berries and sometimes 1/4 c. raw oats (workout from 5:15 to 6:30 then get ready for work)
8:00-9:00 a.m. Bowl of oatmeal with a tablespoon of raisins, one whole boiled egg and one or two egg whites
11:30 a.m. (or sometime between breakfast and lunch)
1/2 slice whole grain bread with 1/2 T. hempseed nut butter
Lunch: Chicken breast (5 oz), cooked vegetable (green beans, mustard greens or broccoli rabe) and 3/4 c. brown rice.
afternoon snack: 1/2 slice whole grain bread with 1/2 T. hempseed nut butter (sometimes this is an apple and some nuts)
Dinner: Similar to lunch maybe fish or a pork chop instead of chicken and if it is to close to bedtime I'll skip the brown rice.
I usually only do a cheat day for social activities (those too many party opportunities that have come up this year) and that is no more than once a week and usually not that often. Weekends at home are usually the easiest for me to deal with. But if someone at work brings a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts back from Hawaii and leaves them out on the filing cabinet next to my desk, I am probably not going to fare too well :-).
Anyway, I really needed the words of encouragement :-). Thanks!
Kathy
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2006/09/02, 11:47 AM
Skinfolds make a huge impact on bf measurements, and then of course the person who is doing them. It is quite possible you lost more bodyfat, but error ocurred in one or both of the above instances.
It will show...I have dieted for contests quite a few times, and by the mirror and scale I was losing and getting very lean, yet the lady doing the calipers showed little to no change. I just finally learned to use that as a "tool" that at least it wasn't going up, so I knew I was proceeding in the right direction.
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Maximus from Gladiator....Strength and Honor!
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2006/09/02, 01:30 PM
I have found the same to be true as 1 trainer told me I use at 21.5 % and then later another told me I was 23% this was months ago I'm 17% now but was about 27% this time last year.
I have found that BF take time and alot of time if your strating offf with a tone like me lol, in average if in a perfect world .5% loss per week is good and where I have been for awhile now but sometimes tell go faster!
Rather then rely on trainer to do you a skin fold invest in a pari of Accu-Measures for like 4 bucks on amazon. This way you can use a spot mark on your body and do it yourself and see your progress. Keep in mind these aren't the worlds most accurate but it will show results, mine are off like almost 3% but it's the weekly results I'm looking for!
Within 6 weeks I have seen myself with these calipers go from 15.5 mm to 10 mm and thats the progress I need to see a constand drop in BF.
Oh plus the guys in the 24 hour fitness gyms do you BF over your shirts which IMO is totally stupid because they aren't taking the thickness of the shirt into account but they will aregue back that it don't matter but trust me it does, it's called a skin fold test not a shirt fold test!
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2006/09/02, 02:44 PM
SFG...I asked about taking the measurement over the clothing and he told me that he measured my shirt and deducted that. It was only the back measurement that was taken over my shirt, the others were not. Anyway, it was another 24 hr. Fitness trainer using the same method that took it the first time. Also, I do own my own Accu-Measure calipers and check myself, but find that I get radically different readings every time...from 25% to 29%. The pair I own now are the FatTrack II digitals (same company) and I don't trust it.
I think I'll rely on the mirror and measurements from now on.
Thanks...your comments help!
Kathy
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