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!

Finally getting into my goal jeans....

Today, after 4 long years, I could finally zip up my "goal" jeans.  These are a pair of 20+ year old jeans that have no stretch in them, are the wrong style (remember when pants were bell bottomed and "high" waisted???), and a g*d-awful shade of blue that could only have worked for Steve Erkel (remember him from the 90's too?). They've been hanging front and center in my closet since the birth of my first child nearly 4 years ago. Since then, I've run two half marathons, had another baby, walked a third half marathon, spent hundreds of hours in the gym, joined a program to finally fix my broken eating habits..........

And today, I was finally....FINALLY........able to zip them up.

Of course.......I'm ignoring the muffin top :).

BMI dropped!

Good news--BMI has dropped down to 23.51 since I last blogged about it! As I've blogged before, I've joined a weight loss group that conducts weekly meetings and encourages food journaling  and excercise. What I've found through journaling is that I haven't been doing enough carbs, and that I've been doing too much dairy--I fixed that and it seems to have been working!

Wearing Work-out Clothes to the office!

As a work from home attorney, a mom and an aspiring writer, I've had to get creative in order to make time for my workouts.  And never has that creativity been more tested in the wardrobe department than this morning.  I had a conference to attend in the morning, and I figured I'd try to make a late morning abs class.  I was sure that there literally wouldn't be enough time to go home and change from work wear to workout wear, so, I just did something crazy--I turned workout wear into business casual.  I found one of my work-out shirts that had a blousy-looking V-neck collar.  Then, I found a pair of yoga pants that honestly could double for dress pants. Then I threw a complementary necklace on, and threw a blazer on over the whole thing and voila! Multi-tasking attire. The shoes, of course had to change, but I just wore my dress shoes with my outfit (bonus that the dress shoes matched my blazer!), and tossed my sneakers and socks into the car. 

And no one was the wiser.

Forget About the Protein Bars...........

A little while ago, I blogged about trying out different energy bars as a pre-workout snack.  At the time, I felt I needed something to get through some of my more high-energy classes.  I even went through a phase of trying different ones out, just for that extra shot of energy.
Well, fast forward a few months, and I don't need them anymore!
Really. Really, really.  I find that doing a few things, when done routinely, actually help maximize my workout:
1) making time to eat breakfast with my kids (I find that either oatmeal or toast and almond butter alongside some fruit works beautifully to fuel everyone),
2) hydrating well, not just the day of, but the day before, and the day after (heck--everyday!)
3) eating well (see my post on eating for nutrition and not calories!)
4) not giving up on your workouts! You have to work out enough to actually get your body conditioned to being exercised.  It will be painful at first, but stick with it, make a routine out of it,  and it will eventually pay off.

The Tabata--a "Fitness Miracle"

At one of my classes a few weeks ago, the instructor put us through a four minute segment of high-intensity interval training, which is also known by it's acronym-- HIIT.  Another name for it is a Tabata--named for the Japanese scientist that proved that this interval training method is as effective as 60 whole minutes of moderate exercise on a treadmill.  The Tabata involves doing one or more moves at high intensity for 20 second intervals, and then taking a 10 second break.  Repeat the whole process for 4 minutes, and voila! a whole hour's worth of moderate exercise in 4 minutes. You can pick whatever move you want, or you can do multiple moves. The catch (and there always is one--there's no such thing as a catch-free short-cut in fitness and weight loss!), is that you have to be working at very high intensity and literally empty your tank by the last interval.  If you're not gasping for breath and begging for salvation by the end of it, you're doing it wrong.  And, of course, you've got to time the intervals exactly, or you will likely end up doing shorter intervals than you need to. Luckily, there are Tabata "songs" available on online music stores that provide audio signals for when the intervals begin and end. Some even come complete with motivating shouts from coaches.  

Eating more to lose weight?

Can you really eat more to lose weight?  Well, I've been experiencing a weird phenomenon. I've been trying to eat all the recommended amount of foods in the food pyramid, which I'm finding is more food than I can handle most days--and I've been losing weight!  It's the most counter-intuitive idea in weight loss--but it's one that works. The foods that the food pyramid recommends--the foods that we are supposed to be eating--are rich in nutrients. Quite literally, every calorie that's consumed has nutritive value--and no food group is vilified. Presently, carbs are considered "bad", but the truth is, even after eating a generous 6-8 servings of whole grain carbs everyday, I've been losing weight.

Go figure.  

Finally--movement!

Well, I've been remiss in posting....but it's good news! My BMI is down this week--down to 24.2! Yeah! This past weekend, I was actually able to get into a blouse that I wasn't able to close since I got pregnant with my first child. Woohoo!

Trying a Group Weight Loss Program!

So..... despite all the effort, the scale hasn't moved.  And, of course, there was that eye-opening body composition analysis last week that actually said that I've got a whole lot more fat to lose!

So..... last week, I joined a 10-week weight loss program that includes a huge focus on nutrition counseling.  Plus, it does weight loss right by giving out a prize for the person who loses the greatest percentage of body fat over the next 8 weeks.  Not just weight--body fat.  I've been in the program for a week, and the first step was journaling everything. I can already see the difference in the way I'm eating. Because I have to journal everything, I'm not pecking at everything in sight while I cook.  Also, I'm a lot more aware of the fruits and vegetables that I should be eating every day and am pushing myself to get all my fruits and veggies in. The result is that I've focused on what I should be eating, rather than what I shouldn't be eating. I've taken a view that I can eat whatever I want--as long as I first eat what I'm supposed to eat. The result is that I eat all my healthy stuff happily, and then don't crave any junk anyway. 

The first week officially ends tomorrow and I'm going to get weighed to see how I've done.  That's part of the reason that I haven't blogged my weight this week--I'm going to see how I do tomorrow!

Finding time to exercise when..,,,

My little 2 yr old has been sick this past week and so I haven't been able to go to the gym, which has been making me cranky! So, today, as she napped, I managed to pound out about 2 miles at a  5mph pace on my treadmill and also get in some resistance workout time in before she woke up. It felt awesome!

Dressing up

So, today, I bought a belly dancing skirt to the Bollywood dance class that I go to on Friday. Yes, I know, I know, Bollywood and belly dancing are two different forms of dancing, but still--it felt fun to dress up.

Which brings me to the point of this post: have fun dressing up when you go to the gym!   It's important to both take pride in the way you look and to find ways to make a workout a little more fun. Why not do both by varying your work-out clothes a little in a fun and creative way? 

Front of the class!

So... I remember walking in to my first fitness class at my gym months ago. It was a hip-hop dance-based class, and I was dressed worse than anyone else there, and couldn't keep up with any of the moves. But, I loved the music and always wanted to learn some of the moves, so I kept at it, though I would always hide at the back, somewhere. 

Fast forward 3 months and today, I actually felt confident enough to go to the front of the class! Woohoo! Which goes to show you--don't get discouraged by your first cracks at fitness! It WILL get better. 

Insanity!!!

I took my first "insanity" class in Tuesday, and.... Wow! It really did feel a little insane while I was in the class. If you've never done it before, it's a series of not-very-complex calisthenic exercises that you do at full intensity for short bursts of time, interspersed with even shorter bursts of rests. At the end of it, I felt spent! But when I walked outside, the birds all seemed to chirp a little more, the sun seemed to shine brighter, and I realized--I was actually experiencing a workout high. And that actually made it worth the workout!

A smile for the day

So, this has absolutely nothing to do with working out, but I thought I'd capture some of the quirkier things that come out of my toddlers' mouths. 

My 2.5 year old reading the Alphabet: "L, M, N.....zero......P". 

Eye Opening Body Composition Analysis

Omg 

I just had the most eye opening experience today. My gym was running free body composition analysis tests, and yours truly signed up.

I have a body fat percentage of 34%, and according to the printout, could stand to lose about 21 lbs of body fat. Yikes. And this is after I've told you that I've gotten smaller even though the scale hasn't moved. I shudder to think of what my fat percentage would have been before I started going to the gym !

New Year, New You, Not So New Resolution?

Well, I blogged yesterday about getting older and wiser about fitness, but necessarily lighter.  Well, last night, after a great (and, according to my kids, mandatory!) birthday celebration, I felt a little......blah.  Really--I only got a 5 pound weight loss last year after everything that I had tried (a walking half-marathon with a group, joining a gym, blogging....)? 

The thought was very demotivating.  :(.  I mean, double :(.  

But then, I walked into my gym's bollywood class today.  Being the first class of the new year, there were a number of new ladies in the class, which brought back memories of what it felt like for me when I was new (about 3 months ago).  I knew absolutely no-one.  I felt out of place because I was wearing a hastily put-together outfit of an old running t-shirt and sweats. My core was so shot that I looked like a bad-postured-droopy mess in the mirror.  I bumbled through half the steps, sometimes going the wrong way and bumping into the poor schmuckette who was beside me. (Digression:  Yes, I know schmuckette isn't a word, but shouldn't it be????).  Well, I stuck it out, and here, 3 months later, I've gotten to know a few people and instructors at the class, got myself better work-out clothes (and am even buying a belly dancing skirt!) feel like I've gotten improved posture because of classes like this one, and (most importantly for the poor schmuckette,) I can follow the routines more comfortably than before. 

So, progress was made after all. 

Take THAT, weighing scale. :P

Another year older, another year fitter

So, I'm turning 35 today. Eeeep! Feels so old. I almost don't feel like celebrating--I know I can't stop the inevitable, but I sure don't have to acknowledge it! 

Looking back on the past year, I can be happy about a few things. I didn't lose as much weight as I wanted to (I've lost about 5 pounds), but as I mentioned, I have gotten smaller, and I am definitely, in a fitness sense, in a better place. 

Maybe it's because my birthday kind of coincides with the new year, but I always make birthday resolutions. I've resolved for this next year to seek help when I need it--in all aspects of life. When talking about weight loss, I think I might benefit from a supervised weight loss program that my gym offers, so I've signed myself up. At this point, I'm going to the gym at least 5 days a week, but I suspect I'm consuming more calories than a thinner me would need. So, I'm going to a program that includes food journaling and supervised group journal discussions. 

I resolve to try and make the best of it. 

Update on this week's resolution--Drinking 8 glasses of water a day

Earlier this week, I resolved to drink 8 glasses of water every day.  Well, I have been doing so, and I noticed that I physically feel better during the workouts to the extent that I don't need to stop and drink water on a regular basis like I used to.  I might actually even start to say that I might not need my energy bar prior to workout (gasp!). 

Scale hasn't moved.....but looking thinner!

Today was a great day! Why? Because a very 'honest' friend, one who hadn't seen me in nearly 4 months, told me I was looking a lot thinner. 

Woohoo!!!

Now, I know I've been whining about how that darn scale hasn't been moving, but, thinking about it now, I have gone down at least two jean sizes since I started blogging (and at least one jean size since my BMI has stagnated around its present mark).

Which brings me to my point--be cautious about measuring your success with a weighing scale (cheesy pun intended!).  If you are working out on a regular basis (as I have been--still going to the gym at least 5 days a week!), then there is a strong possibility that you will trade fat for muscle.  Pound for pound, fat takes up more space than muscle, so, even if you see no movement on the scale (or in some cases, movement in the up direction!), this fat-for-muscle trade can make you look smaller.

Yay! 

So, if you're looking for motivation (specifically, motivation to keep working out when you feel like working out is pointless), look to more than one factor to judge your progress.  Sometimes, you can be getting smaller without a change in the weight scale.

Shedding your weight loss foibles-- A Toxic relationship with food--pt 1

When you think of a bad relationship with food, you often think of cases like anorexia and bulemia--where the relationship involves hating food to the point of not eating at all.
However, the truth is that overeating is also a sign of a bad relationship with food.   Over-eating, in my case (and I'm sure in many other cases out there!) often means that food has become a sort of compensatory mechanism in dealing with emotions such as stress or depression. Human beings, like all creatures on this earth, are built to eat to survive. Food intake is meant to be for nutritive value.  But when you start to see food as an emotional cure for stress or even boredom, that could lead to overeating in our stress-filled society, and of course, overeating can lead to weight issues, and all the health problems associated with it.  Thus, eating to alleviate an emotional response such as stress or boredom can ultimately be just as damaging to the body as starving to alleviate an emotional response such as low self worth.

Overeating for emotional reasons can be due to a number of different factors. Primary among these is that food is often associated with happy memories--special occasions are often celebrated with food (yours truly had THREE Christmas meals during the Holidays!), and food or cooking is often used as an expression of love or caring (think birthday cake or Valentine's day chocolates).  Thus, when under stress, humans look to the most readily available trigger of these happy memories--food--in an effort to alleviate stress. Unfortunately, of course, when there's a lot to be stressed out about in life, eating when stressed can mean eating all the time. 

Challenge of the Week!

So, continuing on last week's tradition of creating a realistic challenge of the week: this week's challenge is making my vegetables mandatory. 

According to every food guide out there, we should be getting about 5-7 servings of veggies a day, and most of us fall far short. So, here's to getting more veggies in. 

New Year, New Resolution......

Well, it's that time of the year again.  The time when everyone and their pet goldfish makes a resolution to...... lose weight. 

Well, that's been my resolution for months now, so I'm not going to make that resolution.  So, I will duly resolve to......blog everyday.   Or at least contribute a few minutes to a blog article everyday.  Just so I stay motivated.  Oh, and while I'm at it, I will resolve to adopt a good habit every week--on a revolving basis.

That's right.  I resolve to revolve.

I'd like to say I'd like to drop all my weight loss foibles and shed weight, but I figure at this point, I know myself well enough to not be able to change all bad habits all at once.  So I am going to try to focus on a different good habit every week and see how it goes. 

So, this week's good habit that I will try to work on:  drink 8 glasses of water a day (a glass being either 8oz or 250ml).   Let's see how it goes. 

Oh and by the way--I stepped on the scale today and noticed.....no change in BMI.   Though I did actually lose half a pound... during the bleepin' HOLIDAYS! Yay!  Let's see what that means in the post-eating season.