Why is my belly the last place to lose fat, but the first place to gain it?

Now, really.  Why is it that my belly is the last place that loses fat, but the first place to gain it?

Week 3 of my ankle injury and I'm starting to slowly get back into the swing of things.  I'm still protective of my ankle, which can be a little sore at night.  At all of the classes, I hang around at the spot closest to the door so I can leave if I need to, which makes me feel like a "sore" loser.  "Sore" Loser:  Get it? No? Oh well...........

But it does feel good to be able to go pound a bit of stress out again.  High impact, I've "sorely" missed you.....  "Sorely" missed you. Get it? Still no? Oh well.............

Without the high impact, inevitably the weight has been coming back on a bit.  And of course, it won't go anywhere that I would like it go (like someplace where it can actually make me look like I'm either strong or womanly.). Nope, it's all got to go right to my belly (even though that's the last spot it's going from!) and make me look like I'm pregnant all over again.  (sigh!).  The joys of womanly metabolism......................

When Losing Weight is Actually a Bad Thing......

Gosh Darn it! I've lost weight but gained jiggle!

I now am at a BMI of 22. Down nearly 21 pounds since I started this blog, and nearly 31 pounds since the birth of my second daughter. Woot! Woot! (........I guess? See my post on whether any more weight loss is a good thing).

I figured for sure that this past week, I would have gained weight. I've been judiciously AVOIDING the scale, because I just assumed my weight change wouldn't be pretty.

And it wasn't. But not because it went up.  It was because it went DOWN while my belly jiggl-ability was decidedly up (and down, and sideways, and undulating....).That means.....I must have lost some hard earned muscle.

Sob! Sob!

See, though you'd think that given how I've solidified my routine over the past few months enough to absorb changes here and there,  I would have been able to handle a big change like this.
But.....
Week 2 of ankle injury, and I can already feel myself slipping! I haven't been exercising nearly as much as I would have liked. I've only been able to get in token amounts (less than 30 minutes) of cardio twice.  I did do weights (snore!), though I'm not sure of what good that would have done me since I didn't really know what I was doing since I dislike weights enough to not do them at all.

And also......,I'm not a person who can deny herself food.  EVER.  And so, I rely on the gym to both stay in shape and keep myself out of the refrigerator (literally...if I wasn't in the gym for the hour, I'd be eating second breakfast like a hobbit!). 

I kept telling myself to try and not eat badly, and for the most part, I succeeded--I managed to keep my eating routine (which was probably too many calories for a non-excersizer), and tried to load up on veggies. But then, inevitably, the weekend hit (that too, a long weekend!) and I ended up with more than my share of high-fat meals...... And now, I can already find more of a jiggle belly... :S.

And Yet.......I'm eager to let my ankle heal, bc one week of rest now will save me six weeks of rest later if my ankle doesn't mend properly.

And no, that's not my belly in the picture.  It's a random picture off the internet.  I have WAY more pinchable inches! 

Weight maintenance through injury

As my kids would saw, I've got an ouchy. On my ankle. And it's probably going to keep me off my feet for a week at least. So, no workouts, Which is a real bummer since I've come to view my workouts as my lifeline both physically for weight maintenance and mentally (it's nice to go make friends at the gym when so much of my life involves staring at a computer screen!)

So, what can be done about this? I've been given numerous fitness ideas to try instead of my regular classes. Here's a laundry list:

1) swimming

2) Aqua fit

3) seated free weights

4) mat Pilates 

5) core work

That's a lot of choice-- let's see how it goes. 

Beating Belly Fat (part 2)

Well, it's been a week since I decided to tackle my belly fat, and my waist-to-hip ratio has dropped to 0.84. For most meals, I've been trying to have 3 bites of vegetables for every 2 bites of protein and 2 bites of carbohydrate. I'll admit (blush!) that I haven't done my homework and officially found out which category fruit and dairy go into, so I've just been adding them to my diet anyway. It's been a challenge trying to fit this 3:2:2 ratio into different cuisines. Here's how I've managed with different foods:

Sandwiches: remove one side of the sandwich and have an open face sandwich

Salads: this was the easiest--just fix the salad by adding elements or taking them away

Italian: have a starter garden salad or vegetable soup and split two entrees (one pasta entree and one meat entree)

Indian: have an American style garden salad along with the meal, which in my case is usually skewed toward a greater ratio of carbs

Middle eastern: have an American style garden salad along with the meal, which in my case is usually skewed toward a greater ratio of proteins

Mexican: choose fillings for tacos and burritos to reflect the 3:2:2 ratio. 

You can see that there's a common theme here--add a salad to your meal. It's a great way to get in the vegetables (plus, you won't be starving to the point of overeating when the entrees arrive). So far, judging by the decrease in my waist-to-hip ratio, the eating plan seems to have worked. Now, to check with an analysis of my body composition. Stay tuned....

Beating Belly Fat?

Well, I've done it. For the past three weeks, my weight has been stable at a BMI of 22.7, which most would consider healthy. However, a big problem remains: belly fat.

Everyone loses weight differently, and everyone has a unique body fat storage pattern, with many having the belly fat depot being the most stubborn area when it comes to fat reduction.

In my case, it's a little more sinister because a) my waist to hip ratio is pretty high--about 0.87--and my percentage of body fat is still also pretty high--near 30%.  According to some present research, this puts me at greater risk than the general population for a multitude of heart-related health issues. 

So, what's to be done about this? Recently, I learned of the science of belly fat, and specifically, that the hormones relating to increased belly fat production, might be controllable through a specific combination of diet and exercise.  For people like me, who try to exercise at least 5 times a week, we get to have 3 meals, 2 snacks, where for each of the meals and snacks,  I would aim to eat 3 bites of vegetables for every 2 bites of protein and 2 bites of carbohydrates. 

Today is day one of trying this out, and I'm already confused--what about dairy and fruit? How many bites of those do I get? And what about the extras? I try to have at least 1 piece of dark chocolate every day (hey--it's chock full of stuff that is good for you!)--does that count as a bite of carb (because of the sugar?).  Well, questions and fear of the new has never stopped me before--I'll just have to find out.  Stay tuned to see how this goes! 

Why there's no such thing as a "Goal Weight"

Now that my weight loss is noticeable, I often get asked the question "When are you going to stop?" or "How many more pounds do you have to go?"

I don't know the answer to that anymore.  I used to know the answer--I used to think that the whole point of weight loss was to get down to a number and then:  voila! you'd be done.  Magically, the number would stay regardless of what I did (or ate).

I know better now.  If you aim to get to a certain number, you can, and probably will.  But, you'll get yourself on that dreaded dieting yo-yo roller coaster.  See,  if you focus on getting to the number, you will stretch and try to get there in some way that is unsustainable.  Since it's unsustainable, even if you get to a number, you will not be able to stay at that number.

So, I've learned to not aim for a "goal weight" but a "goal lifestyle" that basically involves what any doctor or medical organization will recite from rote memorization:  cardio exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, and all your recommended daily food intake from all the food groups.   This in itself is hard to do, what with being a lawyer, a writer, and a mom.  Even if I can get the time to exercise, it's hard to either prepare and eat your my own food everyday or judge calorie and nutrient content from something commercially prepared.  Nevertheless, I'll aim for it.   If weight comes off, fine.  If weight doesn't come off, fine.  At this point, I'm no longer hovering near the "Overweight" BMI that comes with all sorts of threats of health issues.  I'm no longer chained to the idea of getting to a number--all I want is to get to a healthy lifestyle--one that I can sustain, more or less, for the rest of my life. 

Falling off the diet bandwagon?

So....life had been going well.

Really well.

My BMI had dropped another .5.   I was feeling energetic from eating all the whole grains, lean proteins, veggies and fruits recommended by the USDA.  I was really keeping the extras to a minimum.

And then..... I fell off the bandwagon. I don't mean just a little teeny lean off the bandwagon, I mean I catapulted myself off, tumbled down a ditch and kerplopped into a muddy roadside pool. 

Yesterday, I had a muffin. And then I had a brownie.  And then, I had a cookie.  And then I had a croissant and a "teensy" key lime tart.

EEEEPP!!!!

After weeks of relatively good behavior (though I allow myself a 100 calorie 'sin' everyday), I had a very. bad. day.

Why? Lots of things added up.  Lack of sleep + change of routine + lack of willpower + not keeping track of what I was eating.   

First, I was at a full day conference, where these lovely treats were out in spades, and sometimes, were the only food items available.  In the morning, the breakfast choices were literally muffin or scone and coffee.  So, I had a muffin.  Lunch was much better, and offered a good choice of healthy grilled veggies, and lean proteins (I opted for grilled tofu), along with long grain rice.  But..... lunch offered a brownie.  So, I had a brownie. Because, of course, I wasn't logging anything and had TOTALLY forgotten about the muffin.  For mid-afternoon snack, there were cookies.  So I had a cookie. Because, of course, I was hungry and had TOTALLY forgotten about the muffin and the brownie.  And then, on my way out, the reception featured pastries, including croissants and "teensy" key lime tarts, so I had those. Because, of course.....that's right, I had TOTALLY forgotten about the blah and the blah and the blah. 

It was only after I got back to the house and logged everything that I realized what I'd eaten and said....."Eeep!"

The funny thing is, the lecture at my weight loss meeting last week was the effect of lack of sleep on eating-related willpower.  Lack of sleep is particularly damaging because it a) makes you too tired to care and b) increases cortisol, which makes you crave high-calorie salty and fatty foods.  So, if you experience a lack of sleep, the ideal thing to do is follow the same eating routine that you've built.  Except I couldn't.  And when you can't, you should remember that your lack of sleep may lead to overeating high-calorie foods. Except I didn't remember. 

Alas, I was too tired to remember that great lecture yesterday.  Of course, what's ingested has been ingested, and nothing can (or should) be done about that. I've been in the weight loss/maintenance game too long to try and compensate by starving the calories out of me over the next few days.

All that is left to do is learn my lesson and jump right back onto the bandwagon and continue doing what I had been doing.   Fortunately, when it comes to your own body, you are the driver of your own bandwagon.  Even if you fall off, it will wait for you and respond when you drive it again. 

So, I will be attending day 2 of the conference, but I will be looking closely at what I'm eating.  If there is nothing else to eat, and I'm hungry, I'll eat.  But I'll anticipate the times when only cookies or muffins are available and will load up on good foods when those are available.

And I won't regret the muffin, and the brownie and the cookie and the croissant and the (okay...not so "teensy") key lime tart.  'Cuz, darn it--they sure tasted good going down!